In a new minimalist film hailed by some as a masterpiece, actor Ben Whishaw steps into the world of the late, celebrated photographer Peter Hujar. The film, 'Peter Hujar's Day', directed by Ira Sachs, is based on a rediscovered 1974 transcript of a conversation between Hujar and his friend, writer Linda Rosenkrantz.
Portrait of a Friendship in 70 Minutes
The entire film consists of a 70-minute conversation between Hujar, played by Whishaw, and Rosenkrantz, portrayed by Rebecca Hall. The script is taken verbatim from Rosenkrantz's transcript, which was found in 2019 when Hujar's papers were donated to New York's Morgan Library. Hujar died of AIDS in 1987 at the age of 53, while Rosenkrantz is now 91.
Whishaw describes the project as "a portrait of a friendship, almost a love story." The actors capture the intimate dynamic through subtle looks, touches, and comfortable silences, filmed in what feels like real time as the sun sets in Hujar's Westbeth apartment. While some critics have praised its quiet beauty, Whishaw suggests viewers can engage with it like a video installation, dropping in and out.
Capturing a Lost World and Its Libido
For Whishaw, the film and Hujar's work serve as a portal to a queer Manhattan demi-monde that was largely lost to the AIDS crisis. He first encountered Hujar's photography on the cover of Anohni and the Johnsons' album 'I Am a Bird Now'. He admires Hujar's mastery of monochrome and the profound psychological intimacy he achieved with his subjects, from drag queens to fragments of light on the Hudson River.
The actor also shares his personal affection for New York, stating, "You feel like there's a lot of libido... There's an energy that feels sexual." When in the city, he enjoys visiting Julius, the city's oldest gay bar, noting its uniquely accessible atmosphere compared to London.
The Challenge of Success and a Missing Generation
Whishaw reflects on the continued challenges for openly gay actors and directors in the industry. He observes that to achieve mainstream success, one often has to "be sexy in a heterosexual way", conforming to straight tastes amidst enduring, if subtler, homophobia. He expresses no blame for those who choose privacy but values the rare opportunity to work with a gay director like Sachs.
Like many queer people of his generation, Whishaw, 45, feels the profound absence of elders lost to AIDS. "I feel the lack of elders," he says. "It's like this massive gap, which is still so sad and shocking." He is chilled by the fact that Hujar stopped taking photographs immediately after his AIDS diagnosis, leaving his darkroom exactly as it was.
'Peter Hujar's Day' is now out in the US and will be released in the UK on 2 January. For Whishaw, the project was a labour of love, requiring the memorisation of 55 pages of meticulously recreated mundane chat, a testament to finding profundity in the everyday details of life.
