Shelf Life (film)

Last updated
Shelf Life
Directed by Paul Bartel
Written by
Produced by
  • Anne Kimmel
  • Bradley Laven
Starring
  • O-Lan Jones
  • Andrea Stein
  • Jim Turner
CinematographyPhilip Holahan
Edited byJudd H. Maslansky
Music by Andy Paley
Distributed byNorthern Arts
Release date
Running time
81 min.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Shelf Life is a 1993 American comedy-drama film directed by Paul Bartel. The final film Bartel directed before he died in 2000, it stars O-Lan Jones, Andrea Stein, and Jim Turner. [1]

Contents

Plot

Following the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, a Californian family head to their nuclear bunker. The film returns thirty years later and 40 feet underground with a typical day for the children, Tina, Pam and Scotty, still in the bunker, together with their now dead parents.

Cast

Production

The film originated as a stage show, written and performed by Jones, Stein and Turner. [2] Bartel saw the show at the Lex Theater in Hollywood and the film went into production six weeks after the show ended. The film was shot on a very low budget. [3]

The film is dedicated "For the Garys" in reference to the founders of Filmex who died in 1992. [2]

Release

A work-in-progress was screened at the Palm Springs Film Festival in January 1993. [2]

Thirty-two years after its limited festival run, a 35mm print was discovered and the film was released for the first time to the public on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD by distributor Liberation Hall. [4]

Reception

Todd McCarthy of Variety called it a "microcosmic commentary on vaunted family values and media generation" and that it "features some of the best direction in any of [Bartel]'s films". [2]

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References

  1. "Shelf Life (1992) - Paul Bartel | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie".
  2. 1 2 3 4 McCarthy, Todd (February 9, 1993). "Film reviews: Shelf Life". Daily Variety . p. 14.
  3. Flew, Thomas (April 2022). "Lost and Found". Sight and Sound . p. 99.
  4. "Shelf Life - Blu-ray announcement". blu-ray.com. Retrieved January 21, 2025.