After the long wait for TARGETS, it would appear that cinema lovers, have their fill of Peter Bogdanovich. One of, if not the key film of the American seventies cinema renaissance, THE LAST PICTURE SHOW is a sublime example of his best work. Forgetting the director, it has a cast of old and new Hollywood greats, from Ben Johnson (who would go on to win an Oscar for this), Timothy Bottoms, later  Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges and Cybil Shepherd. It also has a great source, adapted from Larry McMurtry’s novel.

The story follows a small town in early fifties United States. Among the dust and tumbleweeds of the dying West, three  teens stumble through their lives. Sonny (Bottoms) is in a relationship with his coaches wife, Duane (Bridges) is a jock and widely loathed all around, and his ex Jacy (Shepherd), who is a rich girl looking for the next best thing. Their lives are interrupted by the death of town patriarch Sam the lion (Johnson). His love above all was the town but also an affection for Jacy mother, Lois (Ellen Burstyn).

Right to the good stuff. The release is the directors cut. That’s about an extra 30 minutes that was removed because it was felt to be padded. I dont agree, It adds texture to character and also allows space for the praxis of acting to deliver. This in all means the film holds up and is still exceptional. From the direction, that is tight but relaxed. The cinematography that frames the space with empathy and of course the acting, which is filled with pathos. Then the bad. So many who have and have not seen this will know of this advertised element of the film. ‘Featuring evocative black-and-white imagery’. I have to say that the Blu ray release, is a disaster. It is grainy, suffers from white out, harsh and washed out. This is a real shame.

In the US they get the sequel, which we dont get here. Instead we get some excellent extras (its Criterion) François Truffaut extracts interview is punchy, personal and passionate. It explores how he saw the ‘New Hollywood’ as it was emerging. Q&A with Bogdanovich from 2009 is a lovely thing. He might have gone but he has a lot said and so we are treated to the filmmakers rationales and some points about life, art and decay. Finally the commentaries, which have been around before. They sound better on return for a variety of reasons. Mostly because it is lovely hearing artists talk art…