Doc's Kingdom
Robert Kramer, FR/PT/US 1987Screenplay: Robert Kramer; Cinematography: Robert Machover, Robert Kramer; Editing: Sandrine Cavafian, Christine Aya, Julietta Roulet; Music: Barre Phillips; Cast: Paul McIsaac, Vincent Gallo, Ruy Furtado, João César Monteiro, Roslyn Payne. 35mm, color, 90 min. English/Portuguese with French subtitles
American doctor Doc (Paul McIsaac) lives in an abandoned building in Lisbon's port area, a undefined terrain located between refineries and warehouses. Back in Europe after having spent several years in Africa, he numbs himself with alcohol and goes about his daily routine at the hospital, interrupted only by ominous microaggressions from the locals. His son (Vincent Gallo) flies in from New York to confront his fugitive father, wrenching him out of his everyday life. After the failure of the sci-fi spectacle Diesel (1985), Kramer found his way back to his own style with Doc's Kingdom, which was made with the generous support of producer Paulo Branco. Played by McIsaac, Doc continues the development of a character whose fictional biography leads from the political radicalism of Ice (1969) via Doc's Kingdom to the travelling doctor in Route One/USA (1989). Kramer: "Doc's Kingdom gets back into my material: the USA, a home, a homeland, what you are inevitably a part of and what you are forever outside." (V.P.)
Courtesy Cinémathèque française
Screening dates:
