THE GREAT PRETENDER
The Great Pretender
Nathan Silver, 2018
Catalog No.: FTF-090
Length: 72 minutes
The Great Pretender is a roundelay set in the off-off-Broadway world of New York theatre. Trying to exorcise her past, lovesick French director Mona comes to America to mount a play based on her last relationship: a tumultuous affair with hard living street photographer Nick. For the on-stage rendition of her real-life story, Mona casts seemingly naïve French actress Thérèse to play herself and bumbling Brooklynite Chris to play Nick. Mona develops feelings for Chris, Chris falls madly in love with Mona, while Thérèse falls in love with Chris. The film is told in five chapters, each centered around a different character, culminating in the production of the play.
Directed by Nathan Silver
Written by Jack Dunphy
Story by Nathan Silver and Jack Dunphy
Produced by Matt Grady, Danelle Eliav, Nathan Silver, Jack Dunphy, Pierce Varous and Jere B. Ford
Executive Produced by Aziz Isham, Kuye Youngblood and Diane Lanyi
Cinematography by Sean Price Williams
Music by Seth Kaplan
Cast: Maëlle Poesy, Keith Poulson, Esther Garrel, Linas Phillips, Craig mums Grant, Brigitte SY, Julian Grady, Isabella Jackson, Tashiana Washington, Carl Kranz, C. Mason Wells, Danelle Eliav, Emilie Blythe McDonald, Bruce Smolanoff
Festivals: Tribeca Film Festival, AFI Film Festival, Maryland Film Festival, Cucalorus Film Festival, Mar del Plata Film Festival, Gijon International Film Festival, Berlin Critics Week, New Hampshire Film Festival, American Film Festival, Sidewalk Film Festival and American Independents at La cinematheque Francais
WATCH THE FILM
PRESS
"Energetically crafted. Well-acted. Striking and stimulating."
-Glenn Kenny, The New York Times
"With this film, Nathan Silver has created one of modern American cinema's great not-quite-romances."
-Chuck Bowen, Slant
"Shares a fascinated delight in the sloppy, blundering follies of hormones, heart and artistic hubris."
-Steve Dollar, Filmmaker Magazine
"The Great Pretender finds comedy in art, self-deception, and gonorrhea."
-Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club
"A magnificent, tight exploration of romance. “The Great Pretender” is a film about personal mythmaking and the art of self-absorption...A raw and honest view of something everyone has experienced, yet few have seen."
-Warren Cantrell, The Playlist
"Nathan Silver, an Iconoclast Who Probes Group Dynamics, Is Back at Tribeca" Interview with Nathan Silver
-Mark Asch, The Village Voice