AFTER HOURS Guest Artistic Director

Martin Scorsese won Best Director at Cannes in 1986 with the black comedy AFTER HOURS for the masterful way he externalizes the protagonist’s paranoia on one harrowing, interminable night in New York City. – Wonsun Choi

AFTER HOURS is a nightmare in Soho that is pleasant and funny to watch – a sophisticated combination of characters and situations. Scorsese holds the threads of the puppet and plays it with dexterity. Paul, played by Griffin Dunne, is like a ping pong ball sent from one place to another, trying desperately to get home, meeting women who are all hysterical – which disturbs me, but this is the story and, as we say in France, “c’est la faute à pas d’chance” (“blame it on bad luck”)! Nobody can forget when Paul hands his $20 bill to the taxi driver but it flies out the window, and that’s it: he doesn’t have enough money to get back home or do anything. The infernal wheel returns to his departure point, and he starts another day of work. The film fascinates me since I avoid shooting anything at night and I try to present strong female characters. We learn by looking into what we don’t understand. –Agnès Varda