Milton Moses Ginsberg

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Milton Moses Ginsberg
Born(1935-09-22)September 22, 1935
The Bronx, New York, U.S.
DiedMay 23, 2021(2021-05-23) (aged 85)
Manhattan, New York, U.S.
EducationColumbia University (BA)
OccupationDirector, Writer, Editor,
Spouse(s)Nina Posnansky

Milton Moses Ginsberg (September 22, 1935 – May 23, 2021) was an American film director and editor. He was noted for writing and directing Coming Apart, a 1969 film starring Rip Torn and Sally Kirkland, and The Werewolf of Washington starring Dean Stockwell.

Early life[]

Ginsberg was born in The Bronx on September 22, 1935. His father, Elias, was employed as a cutter in the garment district; his mother, Fannie (Weis), was a housewife. He attended the Bronx High School of Science, before studying literature at Columbia University, where he obtained a bachelor's degree.[1]

Career[]

Coming Apart[]

Ginsberg directed his first feature film, Coming Apart, in 1969. It starred Rip Torn as a mentally disturbed psychologist who secretly films his sexual encounters with women. Sally Kirkland, who was simultaneously filming at the time, also stars.[2] The film was shot in a one-room, 15 ft × 17 ft (4.6 m × 5.2 m) apartment in Kips Bay Plaza, on a budget of $60,000. Shooting lasted three weeks.[3] Ginsberg filmed the entire movie with one static camera setup, in a manner simulating a non-constructed "fake documentary" style, influenced by Jim McBride's David Holzman's Diary.[4]:86​

Critical reception was mixed. Life reviewer Richard Schickel praised Torn's performance, Ginsberg's inventive use of camera and sound, and the "illuminating" portrayal of a schizophrenic breakdown.[5] Critic Andrew Sarris gave it a less-favorable review, and the film was a commercial failure.[3] The film later attained a cult following among critics and filmmakers.[3]

In a 1999 volume of Film Comment, Ginsberg stated:

... the film was about a psychiatrist encased in his own reflection, using a hidden camera to record his own disintegration. The film was also about the pleasures and price of promiscuity, and about the form and duration of cinema itself - or so I hoped. And to a degree that still embarrasses, it was about me. Appropriate, the title, Coming Apart.[6]:4​

Subsequent work[]

In 1973, Ginsberg wrote and directed the satirical horror film The Werewolf of Washington starring Dean Stockwell.[7] Eschewing the minimalism of his previous feature, Ginsberg demonstrated a more technically complex film style.[8][9]

After a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 1975, Ginsberg became depressed and withdrew from filmmaking.[1] He returned to directing in 1999 and 2001, with the short films The City Below the Line and The Haloed Bird.[3][6]:6​

After his final feature film, Ginsberg primarily made a living as a film editor,[3] working on two Academy Award-winning documentaries, Down and Out in America and The Personals, among others.[1] He edited both parts of the miniseries Fidel (2002) for director David Attwood.[10][11]

Personal life[]

Ginsberg married Nina Posnansky, a painter, in 1983. They remained married until his death.[1]

Ginsberg died on May 23, 2021, at his apartment in Manhattan. He was 85, and suffered from cancer prior to his death.[1]

Filmography[]

Year Title Notes Ref.
1969 Coming Apart Director [11]
1973 The Werewolf of Washington Writer and director [11]
1986 Down and Out in America Editor [1]
1990 Listen Up: The Lives Of Quincy Jones Editor [11][12]
1995 Catwalk Editor [11]
1997 Pronto Editor [11]
1998 The Personals: Improvisations on Romance in the Golden Years Editor [11]
2000 Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light Editor [11]
2002 Fidel Editor [11]
2005 A Father... A Son... Once upon a Time in Hollywood Editor [11]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Sandomir, Richard (June 12, 2021). "Milton Moses Ginsberg, Unconventional Filmmaker, Dies at 85". The New York Times. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
  2. ^ Smith, Howard (March 13, 1969). "Rip Torn, Sally Kirkland, and the Sexual Revolution on Stage and Film". The Village Voice.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Smith, Dinitia (September 10, 1998). "After 'Coming Apart,' a Life Did Just That". The New York Times. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
  4. ^ Horwath, Alexander (2004). "A Walking Contradiction (Partly True and Partly Fiction)". In Elsaesser, Thomas; King, Noel; Horwath, Alexander (eds.). The Last Great American Picture Show: New Hollywood Cinema in the 1970s. Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 90-5356-493-4.
  5. ^ Schickel, Richard. "Cracking Up On Camera" Life, October 17, 1969
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Ginsberg, Milton Moses (1999). "How to Fall Into Oblivion and Take Your Movie With You: COMING APART". Film Comment. 35 (1): 4–6. ISSN 0015-119X. JSTOR 43454642.
  7. ^ Malcolm, Derek (October 23, 1976). "Yawning space: Derek Malcolm reviews more new films". The Guardian. Retrieved June 13, 2021.
  8. ^ Puchalski, Steven (2002). Slimetime: A Guide to Sleazy, Mindless Movies. Headpress/Critical Vision. ISBN 1-900486-21-0.
  9. ^ Senn, Bryan (February 6, 2017). The Werewolf Filmography: 300+ Movies. McFarland. p. 238. ISBN 9781476626918.
  10. ^ Wertheimer, Ron (January 26, 2002). "Television Review – Castro's Road, a Historical Pageant". The New York Times. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j "Milton Moses Ginsberg". British Film Institute. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
  12. ^ Ebert, Roger (October 5, 1990). "Listen Up: The Lives Of Quincy Jones movie review (1990)". www.rogerebert.com. Retrieved June 13, 2021.

External links[]

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