Danielle Solzman
Martin Scorsese’s underrated 1985 back comedy thriller, After Hours, is now available on 4K Ultra HD by way of The Criterion Collection.
In joining The Criterion Collection, the yuppie nightmare cycle (screwball comedy and film noir) becomes the 8th Scorsese film to get a release. This includes both Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese and The Last Waltz. Interestingly, the Academy did not honor Scorsese with an Oscar for Best Director until The Departed but Cannes awarded him with the Best Director Award for this film. In addition, both the film and Scorsese would win awards, respectively, at the Independent Spirit Awards.
There’s a universe where Tim Burton would have directed the film. Burton pulled out the very minute that Scorsese expressed an interest. It all has to do with Scorsese not getting financing for another film. Had things gone Scorsese’s way, it’s unlikely that he would have directed the film.
Synopsis
Desperate to escape his mind-numbing routine, uptown Manhattan office worker Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunne) ventures downtown for a hookup with a mystery woman (Rosanna Arquette). So begins the wildest night of his life, as bizarre occurrences—involving underground-art punks, a distressed waitress, a crazed Mister Softee truck driver, and a bagel-and-cream-cheese paperweight—pile up with anxiety-inducing relentlessness and thwart his attempts to get home. With this Kafkaesque cult classic, Martin Scorsese—abetted by Michael Ballhaus’s kinetic cinematography and scene-stealing supporting turns by Linda Fiorentino, Teri Garr, Catherine O’Hara, and John Heard—directed a darkly comic tale of mistaken identity, turning the desolate night world of 1980s SoHo into a bohemian wonderland of surreal menace.
Bonus Features
- New 4K digital restoration, approved by editor Thelma Schoonmaker, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- New conversation between director Martin Scorsese and writer Fran Lebowitz
- Audio commentary featuring Scorsese, Schoonmaker, director of photography Michael Ballhaus, actor and producer Griffin Dunne, and producer Amy Robinson
- Documentary about the making of the film featuring Dunne, Robinson, Schoonmaker, and Scorsese
- New program on the look of the film featuring costume designer Rita Ryack and production designer Jeffrey Townsend
- Deleted scenes
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by critic Sheila O’Malley
DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese
SCREENWRITER: Joseph Minion
CAST: Rosanna Arquette, Verna Bloom, Thomas Chong, Griffin Dunne, Linda Fiorentino, Teri Garr, John Heard, Richard Cheech Marin, Catherine O’Hara
Warner Bros. released After Hours in theaters on September 13, 1985.
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