Marvel independent filmmaker Charles Burnett is an unsung hero of cinema. One of the pioneers of giving leverage to directors who want to tell their stories their way, his oeuvre is incredibly versatile while being a much-needed voice for other Black storytellers. With his 1999 hidden gem The Annihilation of Fish, he gave new life to the romantic dramedy, one with a little more gumption and maturity.
Buy The Annihilation of Fish Blu-rayThe equally hilarious and heartfelt tale stars the great James Earl Jones as Obediah “Fish” Johnson, a Jamaican immigrant/widower who has been recently released from a New York mental hospital despite his continuing attacks by an invisible demon named Hank. Being shipped off to Los Angeles, he moves into the boarding house owned by odd and oddly endearing landlady Mrs. Muldroone (Margot Kidder). While there, he meets the wistful Poinsettia (Lynn Redgrave), a lonely woman freshly removed from a relationship with the ghost of dead composer Giacomo Puccini. When their eccentricities mix together, they embark of an unlikely romance.
The film deals with people of an advanced age, giving them more of a relevance and understanding than most romantic comedies barely do. It also deals with race but not with scorn. There’s no judgement here. “Fish” and Poinsettia are not ridiculed because of their color; they’re both equal outcasts because their obvious mental health struggles. Jones and Redgrave (both legendary and award-winning artists) give their characters an emotional charge that is so involving and relatable, and their chemistry is incredibly believable. They make an unlikely but winning onscreen couple. Kidder is also wonderful in her pivotal role as Muldroone, who has her own stories and painful memories. I don’t think she was always taken seriously as an actress of range, but her performance in this film shows that she could be more than Lois Lane (her most popular character). All three actors are unfortunately no longer with us, but their legacies remain fully intact, including with this one-of-a-kind film.
The folks at Milestone always step up to the plate with their releases of independent and contemporary classics that are so deserving of rediscovery. Their release of Annihilation of Fish is no exception. The new Blu-ray has an amazing 4K restoration by UCLA Film & Television Archive and the Film Foundation, and comes with some great special features, such as The Final Insult, a 1997 docudrama by Burnett; audio commentary by Burnett moderated by film scholar Maya Cade; Q&A with Burnett moderated by film scholar Racquel Gates; and a re-release trailer.
I know that this is a cliche, but we don’t usually get films like this anymore, which is a shame because they are very life affirming, charming, realistically sad, and full of situations that we always find ourselves in, no matter what age or race we are. And we can definitely thank Burnett for that.
