Judy Berlin (1999) User Reviews

Dreams and Deceptions in a Day of Eclipse

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 28 February 2010]

In a day of eclipse in Babylon Village, in New York, the thirty-two year-old aspirant actress Judy Berlin (Edie Falco) is moving to California expecting to make her dream come true. Her mother Suzan 'Sue' Berlin (Barbara Barrie) is a bitter school teacher that likes to flirt with the principal Arthur Gold (Bob Dishy), who is married with the housewife Alice Gold (Madeline Kahn) that is close to a breakdown. Their thirty year-old son David Gold (Aaron Harnick) has just moved back home after a frustrating experience as filmmaker. While wandering on the street, David meets Judy who studied with him in the elementary school and they spend the day together. Meanwhile the confused Arthur kisses Sue during the eclipse.

"Judy Berlin" is a delightful low-budget movie with entwined stories in the suburb of Babylon. The performances are excellent, disclosing the intimacy of the characters in a realistic way. This movie was released in Brazil on VHS by Cult Films Distributor. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Judy Berlin"

A wonderful little film.

[dvanhouwelingen · 8/10 · 3 November 2000]

JUDY BERLIN was obviously inspired by the many comedies of Woody Allen. Everything from the black and white look (that Allen used in MANHATTAN and STARDUST MEMORIES among others), to the neuroses of it's main character David (a struggling filmmaker) to the girl he tries to win (THE SOPRANOS' great Edie Falco) to the portrayal of the parents (including the late, great Madeline Kahn, in her final performance), all suggests Woody. But the director, Eric Mendelson, making his first film, captures all these people in the same way Allen does in all their humour- but also suggests a level of sadness that Woody hardly ever did. This is a wonderful little film that should be enjoyed by all.

6/10

[charly1 · 6/10 · 8 August 2000]

This film has a quiet beauty and some very wonderful performances. However, the poetry of the movie is too disjointed for my personal taste. I understand the ideas the director is going for, but I felt the movie lacked enough charm to pull it off. The dialogue has moments of reality, yet often tries too hard for truth, missing the mark. This is a very artistic effort, not meant for the average movie-goer. With a bit more practice and polish, the director could one day be quite great. He needs to stop imitating others and find his own voice.

I was torn between admiring it's gentility and screaming to have the monotony end! That is real life, isn't it? Sometimes moments last too long and others pass too quickly.

It is a film for film lovers, yet needs a tighter reining by the editor/director.

Remember when art films weren't "independent films"?

[John-405 · 9 January 2001]

Remember when art films weren't directed by teenagers for teenagers? Remember when they didn't have anything to do with pop culture. Remember when there was actually something as an adult culture?

Neither do I. But there must be some old people out there who do.

"Independent films", a new genre that has replaced what used to be called "art films", are not worthy of their name. They're, on the whole, hip, mass-marketed screwball comedies, "chick flicks", novelty films, etc. Little other than budget separates an "independent film" from a slick, cynical Hollywood marketing effort. In fact, many independent films are slick, cynical Hollywood marketing efforts.

Seeing Judy Berlin is what it used to be like seeing art films. The very fact that nothing in it is designed to shock or surprise you will shock and surprise you. The very fact that nothing in it was test-screened for maximal emotional manipulation will maximally emotionally manipulate you. The fact that no surprising plot twists were inserted to make you want to go see it again will so surprise you that you will want to see it again.

This is not necessarily an endorsement. But I want to stress that this is a film that will not remind you of any other film. It will not be die hard on an anything. It doesn't count Gilligan's Island and My Favorite Martian among its influences, but Checkhov, Camus and Bergman--the sorts of things you've been taught to think are pretentious and stodgy. It is something new--even dare I say it, experimental. Gasp! Avant garde. It wasn't made to make the most money possible. There will be no toy tie-in available with your happy meal.

Whatever you think of this film, cherish it as a kind of throwback, a one-in-a-million, the last dodo bird yet living.

A Sparkling Gem

[Malkovich-2 · 10/10 · 22 December 2000]

After reading all the reviews of people complaining about either how pretentious or boring "Judy Berlin" was, I just had to write something about how incredible this movie is. It is the complete opposite of pretension. Real people, living real lives, catching us up in their emotion as we recognize and identify with their loneliness. I just don't get how this is pretentious. Perhaps it could be because "pretentious" is a word most people throw around to sound smart without knowing what it means. "Pi" is pretentious, "Judy Berlin" is not. Filled to the brim with haunting and incredible performances, it evokes Allen's more insightful dramas, such as "Interiors," as well as Ingmar Bergman's best work. And yet, Bergman is not in style now. Mass culture goes more for the insane mind-benders, like "Fight Club" and "Being John Malkovich." Even though both were great movies, "Judy Berlin" is better. It is an exploration of the souls of a small town. Madeline Kahn, Edie Falco, Barbara Barrie, and Bob Dishy are all superb, completely immersing themselves in their roles. Not to mention the gorgeous cinematography or the incredible harpsichord soundtrack. "Judy Berlin" has a lot to say, if you'll just listen to it.

A Little Gem

[fubared1 · 7/10 · 30 December 2004]

This is an overlooked and sadly neglected little gem of a film, primarily because of some wonderful performances, especially the sadly underused Barbara Barrie. The other 3 main players are also wonderful, Bob Dishy, Madeline Kahn, and Bette Henritze. Edie Falco is competent without reaching their high standards. I don't understand the negative comments about the score as it's one of the better one's I've heard in years. Certainly better than anything by minimalist Phillip Glass, which another reviewer compared it to, and light years better than Danny Elfman or any of his other bombastic compatriots could devise. And it was nice to see a film of this nature done in black and white for once...and done so just because black and white can be as beautiful as color (though it's clearly not up to the standards of earlier Hollywood films), not because it's attempting to be some kind of pseudo-noir film.

Madeline Kahn in her last film gem.

[DomCom1957 · 10/10 · 31 December 2005]

Judy Berlin is a unique independent film and stands out also because it was the final film of the late and great Madeline Kahn.

Filmed in black and white and directed by Eric Mendelson, I was actually an extra in the diner scene with Edie Falco and Aaron Harnick. You don't actually see me, because Iam far off from the scene. I met Edie and she was very nice. A good friend of mine is her first cousin. I was hoping to finally meet Madeline Kahn, but she wasn't in the scene they were filming that day. Even Edie was disappointed she didn't have any scenes with her in the whole movie. The rest of the cast is so great. Bob Dishy, Barbara Barrie, Julie Kavner, Anne Meara and the rest all are a pleasure to watch. It was filmed here in New York, all over Long Island. The film is funny and so bittersweet. It played all the film festivals in 1999 and was officially released in 2000. Madeline Kahn passed away in December of 1999, so it was released 2 months after. Even though she didn't live to see the year 2000 she has this one remarkable film for her only movie of the 21st century. If she had lived, she may have won an academy award for her outstanding performance. Watch it and you see if she wasn't Oscar worthy.

The DVD has some great deleted scenes too. If you haven't seen this movie yet, you should really give it a try. Its not a big budget comedy or drama, just a small independent film with a big name cast of pros. I have to say though this is the perfect film for us to remember the wonderful and beautiful and the very multi-talented star Madeline Kahn.

Good, but could have been better

[CHendri887 · 6/10 · 11 April 2001]

Well, what to say about this odd short movie? I like the music--Baroque, Bach-like, wistful. I like the use of black and white film. I like the way the characters are presented in a disjointed way. I like the idea of presenting a small suburban town "as it is." I like some of the dialogue. I like some of the acting.

But then there are some things in the film that seem like they were not really thought through completely by the director/writer. I like some of Madeline Kahn's character in this film, but other parts, I just don't get. The same goes for the characters portrayed by Edie Falco and Aaron Harnick. There's a sense for me that the writer doesn't know whether he wants to make all of these characters "real" or "melodramatized." Case in point would be scene when Kahn is talking to her neighbor during the eclipse and the dialogue sort of veers from reality-based to comic melodramatic. Perhaps this was intentional on the part of the writer/director, but for me, it was disconcerting. And what was up with the whole part where Kahn keeps saying, "We're spacemen"? That got annoying to me after about one minute.

I guess what bothered me, what I wanted from this film, was acting and dialogue that matched the melancholy-ish soundtrack better. Something more intimate, less distancing with moments of comedy. Lots of potential, but in the end, doesn't deliver in my opinion.

Classic Independent Film!

[Sylviastel · 9/10 · 26 May 2008]

This film has a first rate cast including some famous faces like the wonderful and missed Madeline Kahn, the brilliant and subtle Barbara Barrie, the under-appreciated Julie Kavner, and Emmy Winner Edie Falco in the title role as an aspiring actress from Long Island. The suburbia has become the new it thing. Of course, suburbia is not as boring as we like to make it out to be on screen. There are some brilliant moments and casting of Barrie and Falco as mother and daughter is perfect casting. Kahn plays the bored housewife and loving mother who needs assurance from her husband played by Bob Dishy who is a school principal where Berlin's mother Sue works as a teacher. Kavner plays a cafeteria lady while Anne Meare plays his secretary. It's shot in black and white which is a departure from the normal color. The shots are quite first rate and the film has a slow but steady peace. The characters are realistic at least to my lifelong suburban eyes. I can identify with almost all of them.

An uneven oddity...talent in abundance, though the film works only intermittently

[moonspinner55 · 4/10 · 18 September 2010]

News of an impending solar eclipse has an irrational affect on the residents of a stifling New York suburb, particularly between parents and their now-grown children. Writer-director Eric Mendelsohn has an undeniable talent for ferreting out quirky human behavior from chance meetings and ordinary interaction. He has assembled a solid cast of actors, though he seems to have allowed his players to self-define their characters and, as a possible result, the picture doesn't have much meat on its bones. Mendelsohn is amusingly cognizant of how people react in uncomfortable or embarrassing situations, yet he sets up ideas for potential scenes that never quite come through (such as having the schoolchildren being told how to view an eclipse--though when the big moment arrives, their reaction is to jump up and down as if a parade were passing by). "Judy Berlin" has some courage, but it's crass; an arty series of vignettes which feels long at 97 minutes. Moments of vitality do stand out, and the black-and-white cinematography by Jeffrey Seckendorf is expressive, if derivative. Michael Nicholas' mandolin-heavy score works to create a quirky mood, and yet intimate conversation and revelations do not a movie make. *1/2 from ****

Great performances caught on stunning black & white film

[AGG · 10/10 · 3 March 1999]

Great performances by Madeline Kahn and Edie Falco, as well as the rest of the cast push this fine independent movie. The story revolves around one day on Long Island in the lives of a half dozen or so people, connected by various relationships (family, school, work). From the depressed would-be filmmaker to the talentless, but ever hopeful, aspiring actress the movie finds a way to take you deep inside the characters without really letting you know much about their lives beyond this single day. The eclipse at the heart of the story allows for some great lighting effects on the black & white film.

Boring Berlin.

[anaconda-40658 · 2/10 · 4 May 2015]

Judy Berlin (1999): Dir: Eric Mendelsohn / Cast: Aaron Harnick, Edie Falco, Bob Dishy, Barbara Barrie, Madeline Kahn: Beautiful black and white photography wasted on a film so dense. Final film for Madeline Kahn who believes her husband is having an affair. Bob Dishy plays a high school principal showing interest in a teacher played by Barbara Barrie. Edie Falco plays Judy Berlin who wishes to be in movies. Aaron Harnick plays Kahn's son is detached who hardly notices anything going on around him. Director Eric Mendelsohn shows little promise and the screenwriter shows even less. This all takes place during an eclipse although the screenplay could have easily done without it. Of the cast only Dishy and Barrie pull off performances with elevated levels of interest. Harnick and Falco play characters that never seem to clue in and are a distraction within their idiotic mannerisms. Rarely are two individuals as difficult to watch as these two are here. They are not sympathetic and viewers may likely care less for their visions on life. How sad it is that Kahn's final film appearance is within a film as stupid as this one. She is best remembered for her great comic moments in Mel Brooks as well as What's Up Doc? This is an unfortunate send off. Supposedly about family dysfunction but it is so unfocused and boring that the only thing that comes across as dysfunctional is the screenplay. Score: 2 / 10

The Neglected Gem of 2000

[luca-33 · 12 May 2001]

This is the neglected gem of last year, and in my estimation the best film of the year.

Think of it as a middle-class Ice Storm, but while the upper-class suburbanites of Ice Storm were too distant and unreal to care about, the middle-class lives depicted in Judy Berlin are very real and both heart-breakingly sad and genuinely funny (without caricature or directorial mocking). I've often heard the phrase laughing through tears, but never experienced it until seeing this film.

The performances are without exception incisive and dead-on. Of particular note: the counterpoint of Aaron Harnick's sad, lost David and the open-faced lifeforce that is Edie Falco's Judy; Barbara Barrie's portrait of a loving schoolteacher -- with an edge; Bob Dishy's sullen and conflicted Arthur, among the most subtle work in this usually comic actor's long career; and Madelyn Kahn in her final film role, touching and hilarious (as always) as a housewife on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Her scene when she encounters her psychiatrist while aimlessly wandering the streets during the eclipse, and manages to offer him words of comfort, is the film's defining moment -- a film of beautifully etched characters behaving in very real yet very surprising ways in moments of conflict filled with shades of gray.

Speaking of which, the film is shot brilliantly in black and white to point up both the beauty and the horror of this suburban landscape.

However did this film languish on a shelf for two years? If film scripts were eligible for Pulitzer Prizes, Eric Mendelsohn's would have surely been a contender.

A moving film that touched me.

[gabel-3 · 10/10 · 12 December 1999]

This is a film that should be seen. Judy Berlin is funny, sad, touching and thoughtful, moving you from laughter to tears and introspection. The cast is great, starting with Edie Falco of Sopranos fame, who is endearing and comical as the title character, a wannabe actress with dreams of success in Hollywood. Her optimism is offset by the glum David Gold, who has been there and done that in Tinsel Town without any luck. Plucky Judy won't be dissuaded however, and her blind optimism is one of the lasting treasures of this movie. Another reason to go out and see Judy Berlin is that it's the last feature role in the brilliant career of Madeline Kahn, who is fantastic as a housewife with a wandering soul. As Madeline wanders the streets of suburban Long Island during a prolonged solar eclipse wondering if there's ever been a Wednesday, you can't help but identify on some level with her. Judy Berlin also features great performances by Barbara Barrie (who I personally loved in Breaking Away) and Bob Dishy. I'd never really seen Dishy before, but his performance made me go look up what he's done because he was really great. Go see this movie! You'll get a glimpse of a director on the rise, Eric Mendelsohn.

A wonderful piece of film making.

[pdillon · 10/10 · 22 December 1999]

Why can't more films be like this? Mr. Mendelsohn has created a gem. Without any flash, this film takes you down an uncomfortable path and at the end makes you want to get back on it. Wonderful score as well.

A quite excellent movie

[jean-no · 10/10 · 8 August 2003]

I don't know if this movie uses a little or a lot the author's own past, but it could have, it is, somehow, very much like a memory exploration (and it talks a lot about memory actually : remembering school pals, remembering teachers word, remembering the 19th, etc.). The storyline is a mess, but that is not the point, this movie doesn't offer a message like "the good one wins", "the girl married the nice guy". The image is fantastic sometimes. The acting is great. The whole thing reminds me a lot of Mark Kalesniko's comic book called "Alex" (a very good comic book, too)

boring

[andysdeformedtwin · 1/10 · 7 January 2002]

This is an excruciatingly dull, slow movie. Amateur night all the way. Just another boring movie about boring people doing boring things. But here's the twist: it all happens during an eclipse! Still boring, though. Now it just looks poorly shot, as well.

A Weird Indie

[Chad-11 · 8/10 · 21 October 2000]

I love indie film, I like art films, I am split on this one. It is about nothing really, it's performances are fine, it's photography is decent (The Eclips scenes look great), yet this story goes no where. Should it go somewhere? No, but it doesn't stay with it's characters long enough to be about them! I feel awful about not enjoying this film, it's slight and sweet, it's not a hip indie and it doesn't have to be. Wonderland was a film about real people, doing real things, it's the most beatuful film of 2000, this film is pointless. The film isn't a comedy, it has dramatic elements, a film should have to fit into a certain genre (like what was American Psycho, The Virgin Sucides and Run Lola Run really....A horror film or a comedy, a drama or a comedy, or an action or foreign art film, repectively). This film has no genre because it is nothing. It's like a documentary about boring people living their boring life...it's not groundbreaking...but it's not good either. First Love Last Rites and Wonderland are two very overlooked films about real people that are much better than this art film wannabe. At Orlando's Enzian it would have been laughed off the screens by the art film crowd and the film professors that attend the theater. I understand why this film got picked up by the Shooting Gallery, it's not a real film, it's someone's life told without homor, insite or excitment. On the other hand it's charactors and direction were ok-I don't totaly hate this film-there are worce places to be in (like a screening of Adam Sandler's latest opus)-yet I am split on to what the message and the story the filmmaker is trying to tell? What is he saying, what is he telling us....he may be talented but the script is pointless, sure these people exist in real life by is it a documentation of these "real people"? If it is Wonderland is the movie to see (that film gets a 10, this one a 4)

decent, but not a masterpiece

[savage miser · 5/10 · 14 June 2002]

i'm getting a little tired of the the whole idea about putting characters who are filmmakers in movies, having them say "i want to make a movie about a boring town" when the movie that they are in is about a boring town. kind of like in those TV shows where the characters say "Something like this only happens in movies, this is real life!"

anyways, the movie is decent. It isn't particularly good or bad, but there was nothing that really did all that much for me. i won't try and dissuade you from seeing it, maybe it WILL do something for you.

has anyone else noticed that all these movies filmed in black and white on modern cameras look like they are stifling things, holding it back? it doesn't look natural, it doesn't look like the way the old black and white movies did. you can almost see in modern black and white movies that the shot is established by someone used to seeing in color. old movies were different in that that was all they knew, composition and lighting were more well thought out.

Kahn's Oscar-worthy performance

[tonyfyffe · 26 April 2004]

In a film full of wonderful, low-key performances by actors playing lonely, unhappy characters, Madeline Kahn is the standout as a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Unlike any other performance she gave in film, Kahn -- known for her comic roles -- turns in a marvelous, dramatic turn that should have netted her a posthomous Academy Award nomination. She is simply brilliant, and she should have been given a lot more dramatic roles in her career. After all, they say that comedy is the hardest thing for an actor to do, and with all the great comic roles she had -- in "Paper Moon," "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein," just to name a few -- directors should have known that behind those funny faces was a great actress who could play any role.

An Independent gem that eclipses many Blockbusters

[tm-sheehan · 8/10 · 26 April 2022]

My Review - Judy Berlin ( 1999)

My Rating 8/10

Yesterday I had a retro movie day seeing 2 films of the late 1990's and thoroughly enjoyed them both .

Most of my readers know I have a very wide taste in my film viewing and I often find a small independent movie can offer more viewing satisfaction than 2 so called Blockbusters put together.

I only came across Judy Berlin a rare movie to trace from reading Madeline Khan's Biography . She was so proud of her final performance in this movie cast as Alice Gold saying she was glad she had the chance to make the film before she tragically died from ovarian cancer that same year.

Judy Berlin is a 1999 American independent drama film directed by Eric Mendelsohn who won the directing prize for Judy Berlin at the 1999 Sundance International Film Festival.

It centres around the characters and events that occur during a full eclipse of the sun and they all are interesting characters that live in a small town on Long Island called Babylon . At the center of the story is aspiring actress Judy Berlin (Edie Falco), the daughter of a local teacher Sue Berlin ( Barbara Barrie ) Unlike many of the characters in the film, she is upbeat, excitable and enthusiastic reminding me a little of Lulamae before she left for New York and became Holly Golightly .

The local school Principal Arthur Gold (Bob Dishy) is married to Alice (Madeline Kahn). Alice lives on her nerves babbling away and trying to control both men in her life husband Arthur and their son David (Aaron Harnick), who is thirty, and depressed after a failed attempt at being a Hollywood filmmaker.

It soon is apparent that School Principal Arthur Gold and Alice are experiencing marriage problems.

When a hilarious interruption to Sue Berlin's class by an elderly ex teacher and resident of Babylon who is in the early stages of dementia Dolores Engler played delightfully by Bette Henritze during the start of the eclipse a connection between teacher and Principal sets of an intriguing chain of events .

The eclipse seems to effect all the characters a little like some people experience during a full moon .

I think Judy Berlin is a little gem of a movie but as I mentioned a difficult one to track down but well worth it .

I read that in memory of Madeline Kahn, who died of ovarian cancer, the profits from this film's premiere were donated towards ovarian cancer research.

Rent the DVD!

[cbest4 · 9/10 · 9 September 2003]

because the commentary with the director, producers and Edie Falco is quite enlightening, in respect to both the film and the making of any low-budget film. Well worth it for me (I own it).

The performances are all fine, and it is a fitting role for Madeleine Kahn's last film appearance. Too bad that she was gone from movies for so long, especially after seeing this.

**Possible Spoiler Ahead**

To respond to the person who felt that the movie is named for its most "appealing" character, I disagree. It would seem to me that the film is named so because Judy is the one character in the film who has any real desire to leave this community and, however misbegotten, acts upon that desire. One hopes that it will inspire the lead to be less skeptical about such a crazy type of dream and to take the chance to pursue his own dreams, e.g., to go away and actually learn how to make the movie about this town that he wants to make.

Like the eclipse, Judy Berlin that overstays its welcome

[Ysman · 5/10 · 27 January 2003]

Judy Berlin focuses its attention on a small New York suburb on a day where an eclipse lasts a little too long, enveloping the town in a darkness somehow enabling its citizens to open and express themselves.

Judy Berlin meanders and strolls through characters and situations that have no real connections other than an Alzheimer patient that ties everyone loosely together. Characters spout off supposedly meaningful dialogue while staring off in the distance. They do quirky things that seem like they have a greater significance than they really do. The problem is that none of this particularly engaging or even interesting. Even the title of the film seems misplaced, focusing attention on the actress that is currently attracting the most attention outside of the film (Eddie Falco from The Sopranos). The film's moniker could have easily been the name of any one of the random characters. With a cast filled with great character actors, most of them are wasted on bit parts or cameo roles. Those that do have larger roles appear confused to as exactly why they are there. The premise of the extended eclipse symbolizing the mediocrity of the characters lives while also providing the inspiration for their actions should have been enough fodder to carry an independent film. Unfortunately, it is not and ultimately the film is a disappointing mess.

fun but odd film.... one of M. Kahn's last films

[ksf-2 · 8/10 · 11 July 2015]

I found this one only because it was on the resume of the Great Miss Madeline Kahn... one of the last things she did. So sad, she went WAY before her time. Julie Kavner, aka Marge Simpson, or for those over 40... Brenda, Rhoda's sister, is in here too. M. Kahn is Alice Gold, married to Art, the school principal (Bob Dishy) who is thinking about dallying with one of his teachers. Lots of fun names in this one. Anna Meara. Edie Falco, who has done TONS of stuff over the past ten years. Unfortunately, the sound sucks, at least on the DVD. Had it cranked ALL the way up. Then it's too loud. then too quiet. Annoying. It's in black and white, and has the feel of a very old film from the 1950s or 1960s. Aaron Harnick is the son David, who can't seem to get motivated. A little slow, very dry humor. We follow them around for a couple days as an eclipse happens and makes everything a little extra strange. A sweet little movie. I liked it. A fun film, if you have the patience. Written and directed by Eric Mendelsohn. Wonder if it's based on his life experiences.

Truly in black AND white..its gray

[Boyo-2 · 4/10 · 19 February 2002]

I had a hard time watching this movie. I need characters to care about, and a decent reason why I should. This has neither.

Madeline Kahn is married to Bob Dishy and they are unhappy. Their son, David, is living at home again and he is unhappy. Barbara Barrie is a school teacher, and unhappy although she does not know it. Edie Falco is Judy Berlin, who's too clueless to know she's unhappy.

This is all well and good..but WHY are they unhappy? Why hire actresses like Anne Meara and Julie Kavner and then use them in two scenes each? Why should I care about these people? They are not particularly interesting, and they can't even be articulate about why!

There's some nonsense with an eclipse..an Alzheimer's victim walks in a classroom and stays there..a possible affair..and then its over, thankfully. 4/10.