Awards Daily Tv's Water Cooler Podcast

Two people sitting alone in a room talking is the basic premise of Ira Sachs’ marvelous new drama, Peter Hujar’s Day. Some contemporary audiences might not be used to such a simple concept, but the performances from Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall (and Sachs’ direction) are an exercise in how communication can be balanced by nuanced listening. Wouldn’t you just die to have Rebecca Hall listen to you speak about your day? Would you be able to take in someone speaking about their day like Hall does as Linda Rosenkrantz? The famed journalist wanted to capture an ordinary day in the life of an artist in New York City in 1974, and it’s surreal to hear Whishaw’s Hujar casually mention names like Susan Sontag, Allen Ginsburg, and William S. Burroughs. Without seeing any of these other people, Sachs’ writing allows these titans of the literary and artistic worlds to become everyday people again. Sachs’ film is not a biopic as much as a sliver of time in the life of two fri