Film Series
Jonathan Demme: Heart of Gold
With the passing of Jonathan Demme earlier this year, American cinema lost one of its most profoundly human voices. Since cutting his teeth in the New Hollywood of the 1970s, Demme had something distinctive that set him apart from the era’s other Movie Brat auteurs: a warm-hearted worldview and empathic concern for his characters, which marked him as an heir to the tradition of great cinematic humanists like Jean Renoir, Leo McCarey, and François Truffaut. From spiky 80s comedies to 90s prestige dramas, definitive concert videos to documentary passion projects, the films of Jonathan Demme overflow with his generosity of spirit.
Melanie Griffith and Jeff Daniels star in Demme’s screw-loose screwball.
Demme’s breakthrough satire about a milkman’s life-altering brush with Howard Hughes.
Michelle Pfeiffer is a Mafia wife in Demme’s fabulously 80s, day-glo mob comedy.
The 70s CB radio craze yielded this loving ode to offbeat Americana.
Tom Hanks delivers a powerful performance in the first major film to address AIDS.
Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, and Liev Schreiber star in Demme’s update of the classic thriller.
Demme traces one woman’s journey to rebuild her life and home in post-Katrina New Orleans.
Thandie Newton and Mark Wahlberg star in Demme’s French New Wave-esque thriller.
Anne Hathaway is the wedding guest from hell in Demme’s late-career comeback.
Demme channels Hitchcock in this twisty mash-up of classic noir and 70s paranoia thriller.
Goldie Hawn stars in this tender 1940s-set comedy, with a 1970s feminist twist.
Anthony Hopkins delivers one of cinema’s most indelible portrayals of psychopathy.
Demme’s tribute to Jean Dominique, the voice of democratic resistance in Haiti.
Demme catches up with the former president and national treasure as he tours America.
Oprah Winfrey stars in Demme’s harrowing adaptation of Toni Morrison’s novel.
Demme’s directorial debut may be the ultimate women-behind-bars shocker.
Peter Fonda is a crossbow-wielding vigilante in this Roger Corman production.
Three women hit the road for a crime spree in Demme’s freewheeling tour of 1950s kitsch.
Demme trains his camera on his activist minister cousin in this documentary gem.
Demme lends his unobtrusive style to this film version of Spalding Gray’s acclaimed one-man show
David Byrne dons the big suit in Demme’s rapturous concert classic.
Demme captures a unique Robyn Hitchcock performance with sublime results.
The rock legend tears through blistering renditions of classics and deep cuts alike.
Demme captures the legendary troubadour at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.
Demme’s finest musical moments, with videos for New Order, Springsteen, and the Feelies.
Demme directs legendary duo Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory in this Ibsen adaptation.
Meryl Streep goes to 11 as an aging rocker in Demme’s heartfelt final narrative feature.
Demme’s populist spirit shines through in these rousing, socially engaged documentaries.