Part of Weekend Classics
In Charles Burnett’s long-awaited 1999 comedy — finally being released after 26 years in limbo and capping off a happily coincidental trio of films starring the great James Earl Jones (CLAUDINE in February, BINGO LONG in March) — Obediah “Fish” Johnson (Jones) is an aging Jamaican widower who has spent decades wrestling an invisible demon named Hank. De-institutionalized, he takes a bus to Los Angeles and finds lodging in the eccentric boarding house of Mrs. Muldroone (Margot Kidder). There Fish meets Poinsettia (Lynn Redgrave), who has moved from San Francisco, fleeing her spurned long-dead fiancé, composer Giacomo Puccini. The two lodgers become friends, playing endless games of gin that Poinsettia always wins. Fish persuades her to referee his demonic wrestling matches — Hank does not fight fair.
See also: KILLER OF SHEEP
Restored by UCLA Film & Television Archive and The Film Foundation in collaboration with Milestone Films from the 35mm original picture negative and 35mm optical track negative.
“Charles Burnett is one of the finest filmmakers in this country. His pictures speak in a cinematic voice that is uniquely and completely his own. For much too long, THE ANNIHILATION OF FISH has been in limbo. It took many years and endless persistence to rescue this beautiful, delicate picture and get the original materials properly restored and preserved.… I’m so happy that it’s finally ready for the world to discover.” —Martin Scorsese “A modest movie modestly told, THE ANNIHILATION OF FISH sneaks up on you; it’s as stealthy as Fish’s demon and can pack just as powerful a wallop. It’s a story about two people who find each other, and while love stories are often irresistible, what distinguishes this one is the tenderness of Burnett’s touch and the generosity of his worldview.” —Manohla Dargis, NYT Critic’s Pick, New York Times “He doesn't deploy his characters as cheap comic relief, or treat their strangeness as a problem to be solved; he finds the loopy logic even in their most illogical behavior…. Burnett has made a simple yet beguiling film about how two imperfect people can find a kind of perfection in each other's company — and how sometimes in life, and in the movies, good things do come to those who wait.” —Justin Chang, Fresh Air, NPR “Within the first five minutes of THE ANNIHILATION OF FISH, it’s not only clear that a great wrong has been righted. It’s also obvious this film is the essence of what makes Burnett’s hold on the American mythos peerless and exceptional.” —Robert Daniels, rogerebert.com
