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"Thirteen works by popular American painter Edward Hopper spring to life in this experimental Austrian tour-de-force." - Hollywood Reporter
Edward Hopper's compositions are renowned for their cinematic appeal, and have long influenced filmmakers. In this ambitious film, director Gustav Deutsch (FILM IST.a girl & a gun, MIFF 2009) recreates scenes from 13 of Hopper's most beloved realist paintings (including 1932's Room in New York, 1938's Night Windows and 1940's Office at Night), reimagining their central figure as one character: Shirley, an ageless New York actress. Her journey charts the triumphs, tragedy and social changes running through the USA from the 1930s to the 1960s.
With some of the 20th century's most iconic art as both its inspiration and its primary setting, Shirley - Visions of Reality honours Deutsch's experimental ambition as it explores and speculates on the mesmerising internal life of these instantly recognisable works. Propelled by a visual aesthetic that is at once beautiful and unique, and which shows utmost fidelity to Hopper's tone and style, this profound feature shines on the big screen to deliver a sumptuous and unparalleled synthesis of painting and cinema.
D Gustav Deutsch WS Austrian Film Commission TD DCP/2013