It is weird to live long enough to bury your heroes, and a hero to many comics who left us too early was the legendary Saturday Night Live original cast member Gilda Radner, who died from ovarian cancer in 1989.
For more than a decade, Gilda amused us with the sensitive and hilarious characters she created on the big and little screens from television to motion pictures. And lucky for us who fondly recall Gilda’s unique brand of humor, we will have three unique chances over the next two weeks to see her on the big screen again.
“Love, Gilda” has all that one would expect from a film about the comic, from clips from her performances to home movies, and even her time fighting cancer. But the real heart of this story is the inclusion of her actual voice from a series of recently discovered cassette tapes and a handwritten journal that modern comic stars like Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph read from within the film. And very quickly, it becomes clear that this picture is about a woman breaking out in a man’s world.
You will have three opportunities to enjoy the new documentary “Love, Gilda” as it arrives locally, starting with a one-night-only (two screenings) Thursday, September 20 viewing at the ArtPrize Hub theatre as a part of their ArtPrize on the Screen series. (See the
complete list here of all the films being screened this year including Joel Potrykus’ “Relaxer” with breakout actor Joshua Burge.)
And while the ArtPrize screenings are free, the other two showings of the documentary will be screened as fundraisers for
Gilda’s Club of Grand Rapids on Sunday, September 30 at Celebration! Cinema’s Woodland theatre and then on Monday, Oct. 1 at the Knickerbocker Theatre in Holland. Tickets for these screenings can be purchased
here.
Gilda Radner always made me laugh as a kid and I am lucky to have lived long enough to see her life re-introduced in such a moving and timely piece of cinema. If you want a good tear-jerker of a trailer to tease you to attend, then watch the “Love, Gilda” trailer
here.