Monday, May 27, 2013

My Movie Monday


The Flame Throwers




The year is 1975 and (Penelope Mitchell) Reno—so-called because of the place of her birth—has come to New York intent on turning her fascination with motorcycles and speed into art.


Her arrival coincides with an explosion of activity in the art world—artists have colonized a deserted and industrial SoHo, are staging actions in the East Village, and are blurring the line between life and art.



Reno meets a group of dreamers and raconteurs who submit her to a sentimental education of sorts. Ardent, vulnerable, and bold, she begins an affair with an artist named Sandro Valera (Stanley Weber), the semi-estranged scion of an Italian tire and motorcycle empire. When they visit Sandro’s family home in Italy, Reno falls in with members of the radical movement that overtook Italy in the seventies. Betrayal sends her reeling into a clandestine undertow.

 Based on Rachel Kushner's novel, The Flame Throwers.

5 comments:

  1. Oh, this novel sounds incredible - I love the era! :)

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  2. 1975? I came up in this era and it was no picnic. People were pretty wild and did whatever they felt like doing. Looking back at it is a hellva lot easier and glamorous than living the life--especially in cities where the do-your-own-thing factor was amped!

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  3. Wow, sounds like a crazy story!

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