An Unmarried Woman

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An Unmarried Woman
Directed by Paul Mazursky
Written by Paul Mazursky
Starring Jill Clayburgh
Alan Bates
Michael Murphy
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date(s)
  • March 5, 1978 (1978-03-05)
Running time 130 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $24,000,000[1]
$12,900,000 (rentals)

An Unmarried Woman is a 1978 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Mazursky.

It tells the story of the wealthy New York wife Erica Benton (Jill Clayburgh) whose “perfect” life is shattered when her stockbroker husband Martin (Michael Murphy) leaves her for a younger woman. The film documents Erica's attempts at being single again, where she suffers with confusion, sadness, and rage. As her life progresses, she begins to bond with several friends and finds herself inspired and even feels happier by her renewed liberation. The story also touches on the overall sexual liberation of the 1970s. Erica eventually finds love with a rugged, yet sensitive British artist (Alan Bates).

The film was nominated for three Academy Awards. It co-stars Cliff Gorman, Kelly Bishop and Pat Quinn. It was released on DVD January 10, 2006.

Contents

[edit] Cast

[edit] Awards

It was nominated for three Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actress (Jill Clayburgh) and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. Mazursky's screenplay won awards from the New York Film Critics Circle and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.

Jill Clayburgh won the award for Best Actress at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival.[2]

The film was also nominated for several 1978 New York Film Critics Circle Awards, including Best Film, Best Direction, Best Actress (for Jill Clayburgh) and Best Supporting Actress (for Lisa Lucas).[3]

[edit] Reception

Vincent Canby wrote "Miss Clayburgh is nothing less than extraordinary in what is the performance of the year to date. In her we see intelligence battling feeling — reason backed against the wall by pushy needs."[4]

Pauline Kael in The New Yorker  :" An Unmarried Woman may give Mazursky the popular success that his films Blume in Love, Harry and Tonto and Next Stop, Greenwich Village should have given him - Erica (Jill Clayburgh), the heroine, sleeps in a T-shirt and bikini panties. There are so few movies that deal with recognizable people that this detail alone is enough to pick up one's spirits...Jill Clayburgh has a cracked , warbly voice - a modern polluted-city huskiness...When Erica's life falls apart and her reactions go out of control, Clayburgh's floating, not-quite-sure, not-quite-here quality is just right."[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "An Unmarried Woman, Box Office Information". The Numbers. http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1978/0UNWO.php. Retrieved January 27, 2012. 
  2. ^ "Festival de Cannes: An Unmarried Woman". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2008/year/1978.html. Retrieved 2009-05-12. 
  3. ^ "An Unmarried Woman: Awards & Nominations". MSN Movies. http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie-awards-and-nominations/an-unmarried-woman/?ipp=45. Retrieved June 4, 2011. 
  4. ^ Fox, Margalit and Dennis Hevesi contributed reporting, "Jill Clayburgh Dies at 66; Starred in Feminist Roles", The New York Times, November 5, 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
  5. ^ Reprinted in review collection, When the Lights Go Down, Pauline Kael

[edit] External links

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