MOVIE OF THE MONTH
MAY ‘25
MOVIE OF THE MONTH
MAY ‘25
MIDNIGHT COWBOY
Directed by John Schlesinger | 1969 | 113 min
“I bet you are lonesome.”
“WELL, NOT TOO.”
Joe Buck (Jon Voight) is on the run from himself. Tired of a thankless job washing dishes in a Texas diner, he heads for New York City with hopes of making it big as a cowboy hustler. Before the opening credits even roll, Schlesinger slips the audience into Joe’s oversized cowboy boots. As Harry Nilsson’s Everybody’s Talkin’ comes into swing and Joe steps out his front door, you’ll find that suddenly you’re the one boarding a bus bound for New York.
We came across Midnight Cowboy while shooting Rearview in the fall of 2024. Though at face value the two films appear to have very little in common, thematically, they share a quiet resonance. However you choose to interpret the bond between Joe and the eccentric Ratso Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman)—as friends, roommates, or something more—it’s clear that their relationship is rooted in shared loneliness. That same feeling—of being emotionally marooned by the monotony of life—sits at the center of Rearview. But where Midnight Cowboy finds hope in the two mens’ desperate willingness to connect, Rearview leans on emotional paralysis and a protagonist who actively resists connection with others.
Visually, Midnight Cowboy shaped our edit in unexpected ways. As we cut together key scenes from Rearview, we sensed something missing—a rhythm, a breath between beats. Inspired by Joe’s cinéma vérité meandering through New York, we returned to shoot additional footage of Eli drifting through Philadelphia’s suburbs. These small moments became essential, bridging together the film’s fragmented structure and showcasing Eli’s growing isolation.
MIDNIGHT COWBOY
Directed by John Schlesinger 1969 | 113 min
“I bet you are lonesome.”
“WELL, NOT TOO.”
Joe Buck (Jon Voight) is on the run from himself. Tired of a thankless job washing dishes in a Texas diner, he heads for New York City with hopes of making it big as a cowboy hustler. Before the opening credits even roll, Schlesinger slips the audience into Joe’s oversized cowboy boots. As Harry Nilsson’s Everybody’s Talkin’ comes into swing and Joe steps out his front door, you’ll find that suddenly you’re the one boarding a bus bound for New York.
We came across Midnight Cowboy while shooting Rearview in the fall of 2024. Though at face value the two films appear to have very little in common, thematically, they share a quiet resonance. However you choose to interpret the bond between Joe and the eccentric Ratso Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman)—as friends, roommates, or something more—it’s clear that their relationship is rooted in shared loneliness. That same feeling—of being emotionally marooned by the monotony of life—sits at the center of Rearview. But where Midnight Cowboy finds hope in the two mens’ desperate willingness to connect, Rearview leans on emotional paralysis and a protagonist who actively resists connection with others.
Visually, Midnight Cowboy shaped our edit in unexpected ways. As we cut together key scenes from Rearview, we sensed something missing—a rhythm, a breath between beats. Inspired by Joe’s cinéma vérité meandering through New York, we returned to shoot additional footage of Eli drifting through Philadelphia’s suburbs. These small moments became essential, bridging together the film’s fragmented structure and showcasing Eli’s growing isolation.
