Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

Director: Martin Scorsese

1974 / 112min / 35mm

When her husband dies unexpectedly, Alice (Ellen Burstyn), a New Mexico housewife and mother of a twelve-year-old boy, decides to start over from scratch, trying her hand at the singing career she’d always dreamed of. Burstyn took a chance of her own, recommending a still-young Scorsese for the directing gig, and came away with an Oscar for her gamble, doing luminous, career-high work alongside Kris Kristofferson as the handsome stranger who offers Alice a second chance at love. A sweet and humane ’70s turn on the classic “women’s picture,” which gives supreme respect to its characters’ feelings, and an oft-overlooked masterpiece.

Part of Metrograph Selects