“The Annihilation Of Fish” wholeheartedly renders the enchanting eccentricities of a senior romance

I’m compelled to let you know about The Annihilation Of Fish (1999) and its screening on 35mm at UW Cinematheque on Friday, December 5, at 7 p.m.; not because it is thought-provoking or charming or cute (spoiler: it’s all of these), but because it’s the film that almost wasn’t.

Adapted from a short story from The Annihilation Of Fish And Other Stories by Jamaican novelist Anthony C. Winkler and directed by the legendary UCLA alumni Charles Burnett, the film was almost lost to the seas of time due to one Variety review that painted the film as a “minnow of a movie” and effectively canned widespread distribution after its debut at the Toronto Film Festival in September 1999. Thankfully, at the request of Burnett in 2003, and after almost two decades of legal and technical efforts thereafter, UCLA Film & Television Archive and The Film Foundation in collaboration with Milestone Films—with funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation—were able to accomplish a whale of a loving 4K and analog 35mm restoration and resurrection effort.

Charles Burnett is one of those directors who hasn’t stopped swimming around in my mind since I slid Killer Of Sheep (1978) out from a shelf at Four Star Video Rental. I was entranced by the way the film wove intimate portraits of joy with ones of sorrow, softheartedly joining adult tears with children’s play. Maybe you were lucky enough to catch his thesis project-turned-National Film Registry selection at UW Cinematheque just a few weeks ago. But don’t fret—if you haven’t seen any other Burnett to date, The Annihilation Of Fish is fresh with emotional drama and existential tension and ready for you (if you’ll have it) to dive right in.

Set in 1990s Los Angeles, Fish (James Earl Jones) and Flower’s (Lynn Redgrave) fraught and comedic courtship is the perfect mystically motivated and senior-focused antidote to your weekly “hurt” watch of Rachel Sennott’s debut HBO television series I Love LA with its scope set on the young and extremely online. There is something so enchanting and deeply moving about watching two older people fall into step with one another’s eccentricities to enjoy the simple pleasures of companionship (without a smartphone in sight): dancing, card-playing, dining in, and even bathing.

The story is enigmatic but lighthearted enough, even with the lingering, invisible presence of a demon manifestation that Fish must combat regularly through knockdown, rock-’em, sock-’em wrestling, and the spiraling, destructive effects of Flower’s alcoholism. Flanking their movement from aloneness to togetherness is an internal collapse of mutually massive walls built up through years of intense isolation and attachment to old ways of being and seeing their external worlds. Through candid kitchen table conversations and tender pillow-talk sessions, the duo explore their past lives, past heartbreaks, and present contentments.

A nostalgic twinge of comedy and creative acting vibrato swirls in the softly lit space in the hallways and living areas of Fish and Flower’s shared apartment building in the film. James Earl Jones brings an impeccable sense of deadpan humor to declarations like “All my friends were dead or bowling in a league.” I also found myself smiling knowingly at how human and vulnerable Lynn Redgrave makes an action like sneaking off to the bathroom to re-apply lipstick or the slightly off-kilter rendering of the notes in her mournful opera songs (by Giacomo Puccini).

Although the trials that the couple endures from their initial courtship to their on-again, off-again relationship were admittedly difficult to watch through bouts of screaming, crying, and slammed doors, it’s easy to “ship” Fish and Flower as they tend to the grief in each other’s hearts one game of rummy at a time.

Whether you’re pining for a romance or need a break from fishing digital on-demand streams, make the wintry (and likely blustery) trek to the Cinematheque. You’ll most certainly love it and most definitely make impressive waves in your Letterboxd circle by logging this unique and heart-forward movie.

_{Editor’s note: Additional details about the restoration effort have been added to the second paragraph.}