Coming Apart (1969)

Coming Apart is a 1969 film written and directed by Milton Moses Ginsberg, and starring Rip Torn and Sally Kirkland.

Torn plays a mentally disturbed psychologist who secretly films his sexual encounters with women. Ginsberg filmed the entire movie with one static camera setup, in a manner simulating a non-constructed "fake documentary" style, influenced by Jim McBride's David Holzman's Diary.

Critical reception was mixed. Life reviewer Richard Schickel praised Torn's performance, Ginsberg's inventive use of camera and sound, and the "illuminating" portrayal of a schizophrenic breakdown. Critic Andrew Sarris gave it a less favorable review, however, and the film was a commercial failure.

The film has since attained a cult following among critics and filmmakers.

Synopsis

Joe Glazer, psychanalyste à New York, se sépare de sa femme enceinte. Il loue une garçonnière dans laquelle il dissimule une caméra et filme la vie sexuelle débridée qu'il mène pour oublier sa douloureuse rupture. Il pense au départ contrôler la situation en manipulant la fragilité et les besoins de toutes ces femmes - patientes, maîtresses, voisines, passantes, conquête d'un jour...- mais, lentement, il sombre dans la décadence sexuelle et la déchéance psychologique...

Acteurs