Genres: Experimental, History
Starring: Nicholas Ray
Director: Nicholas Ray
Plot Synopsis: The most complete restoration of legendary director Nicholas Ray's 1973 experimental masterpiece, made with his college students in upstate New York, WE CAN'T GO HOME AGAIN embodies Ray's approach to filmmaking as a "communal way of life." Ray plays himself in the film, serving as mentor, friend, and reference point around whom his students' stories of love, sex rebellion, and lost innocence constellate. Exhibiting Ray's groundbreaking use of multiple-image storytelling and dramatic colorization, the film takes an anthological angle on recording the "history, progress, manners, morals, and mores of everyday life" at a critical moment in 1970s America. DON'T EXPECT TOO MUCH, a feature-length documentary by Nicholas Ray's wife Susan, investigates the making of WE CAN'T GO HOME AGAIN and the complex relationships within Ray's life and art. Drawing on his archive of never-before-seen film, video, and stills, as well as new interviews with directors Jim Jarmusch, Victor Erice, Ray's students, and others, Susan Ray provides a compelling and unparalleled exploration of the revered American auteur.
