So you can’t go to the movies. Looks like the movies will just have to come to you, and The Criterion Collection has an essential from the early days of the American independent film scene, Girlfriends on Blu-Ray and DVD:
More than a time capsule of New York in the ’70s, Girlfriends is the timeless tale of a young artist trying to make a name in the city legions have called home.
Boulder Weekly Vol. 28, No. 14, “Too cool to be forgotten“
Photography is Susan’s métier. Arty black and whites are her aspiration, but weddings and bar mitzvahs are paying the bills. She says she dreads them to anyone who asks, but you get the feeling she kind of loves them. She also loves her roommate, Anne. The two are so close they’re practically inseparable, but then Anne goes and gets married, leaves the city and has a kid. Susan feels abandoned, yes, but also feels an invisible hand pushing her toward adulthood, which includes fulfilling work and relationships that don’t end with her sneaking out of someone’s apartment at 3 a.m.
That probably sounds familiar from today’s viewpoint. Hell, coming-of-age-in-the-city could be a genre itself. But revisiting Girlfriends in 2020 revives the freshness that enchanted so many before the concept got mimicked and parodied to death.