Episode 342: NIGHTSHIFT (1981)

Robina Rose’s bewitching NIGHTSHIFT invites viewers into the private rooms of a surreal London hotel in the 1980s during the wee hours of the night. An enigmatic receptionist (London artist, model, and counter-culture icon Jordan) is the go-between, performing a nearly wordless ritual of check-ins, sorting, prepping, tidying, and bearing witness to her tenants’ idiosyncrasies.

NIGHTSHIFT’s 4K restoration brought it to the Trylon, giving Jason and Harry the perfect reason to shine a halogen bulb right at its pallid, smirking face and see what’s underneath the stony visage! (That means we talk about it for almost as long as the movie actually is.)

References:

• “Sleepless Nocturne: On ‘Nightshift’” by Elena Gorfinkel for MUBI
• “Love’s Labors: NYFF62 Revivals” by Imogen Sara Smith for Film Comment
• “Robina Rose’s Nightshift: a restored vision from the punk-era British avant-garde” by Charlotte Procter for the British Film Institute
• “Portobello Radio Show Ep 481 with Zakiya, Isis, Piers Thompson & Greg Weir: Remembering Robina” (stories about Robina Rose at 52:00)
• Candidate Manifesto: Robina Rose, Green Party candidate for Kensington
• Biography: Artist Robina Rose by Cinenova
• The Portobello Hotel by Hyatt
• “Never mind the shambolics: London's most legendary hotels” by Kate Weir for Mr. & Mrs. Smith 
• The History Of Portobello Hotel
• Nightshift at Lincoln Center
• NIGHTSHIFT - Official Trailer (4K Restoration) by Arbelos Films
• Nightshift at Arbelos Films
• Give to the Trylon’s Film Forever Fund so they never have to increase ticket prices!
• Check the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy tickets
• Contribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog

#OtherProgramming #DCP

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Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: “Cutting Branches For A Temporary Shelter” by Penguin Cafe Orchestra from the NIGHTSHIFT soundtrack.

Timestamps

0:00 - Episode 342: NIGHTSHIFT (1981)

3:11 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary

5:42 - What NIGHTSHIFT is "about"

10:30 - The Portobello Hotel as a real place

21:30 - A movie about performance, construction, and maintenance of the self

25:50 - Pamela Rooke/Jordan as the audience lens and a surreal character of her own

29:58 - The strange lodgers and the worlds they inhabit

37:17 - That song the receptionist keeps playing

42:47 - What do we make of the world waking up?

52:46 - The Junk Drawer

1:01:26 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 1981

1:07:04 - The Harry Hotel (hotel-adjacent movie trivia)