PETER HUJAR’S DAY

What did you do yesterday? On December 19, 1974, writer Linda Rosenkrantz posed this question to her good friend Peter Hujar, a since-celebrated photographer and noted New York personality. Working in the “nonfiction fiction” mode she pioneered in her novel Talk, this taped conversation was meant to be just one sliver in an anthology of chats detailing the daily routines of cutting-edge Downtown artists. Instead, the lengthy transcript sat on the shelf and was published on its own some 40 years later. Director Ira Sachs’ (Passages, Love Is Strange) evocative restaging of the day-long conversation takes the simple setup and makes it feel marvelously romantic. Of course, most of us don’t spend our days chasing down checks from Vogue, partying with Glenn O’Brien, or hobnobbing with Allen Ginsberg. This chamber piece stars Ben Whishaw as the eponymous artist, and he gives a transformative performance, making reams of meandering dialogue and all of Hujar’s musings and half-thoughts feel spontaneous and lived. And Rebecca Hall, as Rosenkrantz, plays off him beautifully as a quietly receptive sounding board, gently shaping the dialogue in real time. Sachs films this exchange with uncommon warmth and sensitivity, always finding fresh angles on their conversation and making this dream of New York immersive and surprisingly cinematic. ~OO