Mikey and Nicky

Elaine May’ magnum opus and one of the most important films of the seventies. Let’s debunk a myth: this is not a John Cassavetes movie directed by May. Cassavetes himself noticed a crucial difference – a woman’s perspective on male relations sheds a completely different light. And yet this is undoubtedly a film signed by this artist’s characteristic nonchalance: Cassavetes plays one of the title parts. Peter Falk is his partner in this melancholic piece set over one night: they both walk around Philadelphia, remember their childhood, and abuse women. May brings out peculiarly tender notes in the gangsters, which makes Mikey and Nicky truly tragic characters: connected and imprisoned by destiny, the bonds of which they desperately kick against. May wouldn’t be herself though if she didn’t spice things up with humour: all this kicking can be cruelly funny.

Patrycja Mucha