Whether you know him from his performances in “The Great White Hope” and “Field of Dreams” or as the voice of Darth Vader, James Earl Jones is undoubtedly among the most terrifying actors alive.
In the same way, Lynn Redgrave is her own kind of legend: The actress, who died in 2010, assured herself a place in the history of cinema with British New Wave classics like “Georgy Girl.”
Twenty-five years ago, Jones and Redgrave starred together in a humane and thought-provoking comedy-drama called “The Annihilation of Fish” — and you’ve probably never heard of it.
Due to a mixture of apathy from potential distributors and legal problems on the part of the financiers, the film was hardly seen. Following its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in September 1999, the film was shown at a few film festivals but did not receive theatrical distribution or release on home video, TV or streaming platforms.
That will change next month at the Wexner Center for the Arts.
The film, directed by widely admired Black filmmaker Charles Burnett, is about to be given a wide release from independent-cinema distributor Milestone Films — a release that will launch with a sort of “second premiere” at Wexner Center on March 2.
“The Annihilation of Fish” stars James Earl Jones as Obediah Fish, a Jamaican immigrant who thinks he’s fighting the Devil, a mental state that causes him to be institutionalized at the film’s opening. Lynn Redgrave co-stars as Poinsettia, an opera aficionado whose own relationship to reality is equally contested. Together, Obediah and Poinsettia form a bond that is both funny and emotionally affecting.
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The screening is part of the annual “Cinema Revival” festival of restored and rediscovered films, which will take place from February 28 to March 4.
A good director
In a recent interview with The Dispatch, Burnett expressed relief about the film’s resurgence.
“You feel the weight off your shoulders,” said Burnett, 79. “Now let’s see how to do it — and that’s the next thing.”
For his vivid yet poetic depictions of contemporary Black life — including “Killer of Sheep” (1978), “To Sleep with Anger” (1990) and “The Glass Shield” (1994) — Burnett won critical commendation, a MacArthur Foundation fellowship. and, in 2017, an Honorary Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
“Charles Burnett is one of the finest filmmakers in this country,” Martin Scorsese said in a statement accompanying a press release announcing the release of “The Annihilation of Fish.” “His images speak in a cinematic voice that is uniquely and completely his own. For too long, ‘The Annihilation of Fish’ has been in limbo.”
However, such recognition does not necessarily make it easier to get a film off the ground.
“It’s hard to be an independent filmmaker,” said David Filipi, head of film/video at the Wexner Center. “It’s always been a struggle to get the money together to make a film. . . . You’d think these guys could just walk into people’s offices and make a movie, but that’s not the business.”
A challenging project
In the case of “The Annihilation of Fish,” the road was especially rocky.
The film originated as a screenplay by Anthony C. Winkler commissioned by producer Paul Heller, whose notable films include “Withnail & I” (1987) and “My Left Foot” (1989). Heller died in 2020.
“It took Paul Heller dedication and determination to make the movie,” Burnett said. “He set out to do it, and spent a lot of effort trying to pursue it.”
Between 1990, when Winkler wrote the earliest versions of the script, and 1999, when the film went before cameras, Heller tried and failed to find funding for the film, with a final budget of about $2.5 million. Potential cast members floated in and out, including Sidney Poitier as Obediah.
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“(Poitier’s) agent led us to believe he read (the script) and was going to do it, and then it’s like he never read it,” Burnett said. “It really hurt us, because we spent a lot of time trying to get him.”
Burnett remained committed to the project as he saw it as a welcome departure from his other films.
“I’ve never done a comedy like this,” Burnett said. “That’s a challenge.”
Finally, Heller secured financing from American Sterling Productions, headed by married couple Lawrence and Kristina Dodge. Although the producers weren’t filmmaking veterans — Lawrence Dodge ran the American Sterling Bank, among other things — Burnett remembers the shooting process without incident.
“We had a great production team that did everything right, so it wasn’t a strain or anything like that,” said Burnett, who singled out praise for his star, James Earl Jones and Lynn Redgrave.
“He’s a big guy and has this deep voice,” Burnett said of Jones. “He’s just fun to be around.” And, of Redgrave, Burnett said: “You couldn’t ask for a more helpful person. She was going through a family problem and she didn’t let it bother her. . . . She was a woman all the time.”
A definite release
After its premiere in September 1999 at the Toronto Film Festival, “The Annihilation of Fish” received an unequivocal, and unusually, negative review in the trade paper Variety.
This statement, according to Burnett, messed up the chances of getting a distributor.
“It’s the first time I’ve had a diagnosis like that that killed everyone,” he said.
In 2001, Regent Entertainment signed on for a limited release, but, following a short-lived “test” of shows in Pittsburgh, the distributor bowed out.
The film may have been permanently unseen by the wider public had Burnett not contacted, in 2002, Dennis Doros, co-founder of Milestone Films (and distributor of other Burnett films).
“We really liked the movie,” Doros said.
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First, however, the rights had to be seized from American Sterling Productions. For more than a decade, Doros has contacted and communicated with company representatives.
Then, in 2009, in the midst of the Great Recession, American Sterling Bank failed — the first in a chain of events that affected other Dodge-owned companies, including American Sterling Productions. Ultimately, “The Annihilation of Fish” became part of a bankruptcy. Legal proceedings have been opened over the years; Lawrence Dodge died in 2016.
Finally, in April 2021, Milestone secured the rights through the court system to “The Annihilation of Fish” for what Doros described as “in the low five figures.”
A much-belated release
Following the restoration of the UCLA Film & Television Archive, “The Annihilation of Fish” will be shown for the first time in a 4K version at the Wexner Center on March 2, with Burnett in attendance. Milestone was happy to give the arts center the “premiere” screening of the film.
The arts center has been booking Burnett’s films for decades: “Killer or Sheep” was first shown there in 1990, with many other screenings to follow. In 2017, Burnett visited the Wex for a screening, and in 2020, he produced a film for the institution’s “Cinetracts ’20” program of newly commissioned short films by leading directors.
Additional screenings of “The Annihilation of Fish” are scheduled in Los Angeles and at the Cinematheque Francaise in Paris before worldwide theatrical distribution and, eventually, will be released on DVD, Blu-ray and on streaming platforms.
Usually, Burnett doesn’t want to see his own movies after these.
“It’s pretty scary,” he said. “I’m going in to see if the first reel is OK, and then I’m going to the lobby.”
However, at the Wexner Center screening, he admitted that he would stay for the whole thing. He was eager to see how audiences would react to a film made a quarter of a century ago.
“(The film) gives you a little insight into these people who are alone and they find each other,” he said. “They are able to survive just by having each other’s presence.”
At a glance
“The Annihilation of Fish” will be presented at 7 pm March 2 at the Wexner Center for the Arts, 1871 N. High St. Director Charles Burnett will appear in person. Tickets cost $9, or $7 for ages 55 and older and Wexner Center members, $5 for students. For more information, and a full “Cinema Revival” schedule, visit www.wexarts.org.
