Gray's Anatomy(film)

This article is about the film. For the television series, seeGrey's Anatomy.For other uses, seeGray's Anatomy (disambiguation).

Gray's Anatomy
Promotional poster
Directed by	Steven Soderbergh
Written by	Spalding Gray Renée Shafransky
Produced by	John Hardy
Starring	Spalding Gray
Cinematography	Elliot Davis
Edited by	Susan Littenberg
Music by	Cliff Martinez
Production company	BBC Films
Distributed by	IFC Films
Release dates	September 11, 1996(1996-09-11)(TIFF) March 19, 1997(1997-03-19)(U.S.)
Running time	80 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Budget	$350,000
Box office	$29,090

Gray's Anatomyis an 80-minuteconcert filmdirected bySteven Soderberghin 1996 involving a dramatized monologue by actor/writerSpalding Gray.The title is taken from the classic human anatomy textbookGray's Anatomy,originally written byHenry Grayin 1858. It was shot in ten days in late January 1996during a break Soderbergh had from post-production on his previous film,Schizopolis.

The monologist film is about Spalding Gray, the main character, who is diagnosed with a rare ocular condition calledmacular pucker.After hearing all of his options, such asChristian Science,Native Americansweat lodges,and the "Elvis Presley ofpsychic surgeons",and the dangers of what surgery could bring, he decides to go through the other forms of medicine provided. This in turn takes him on a journey around the world and steers him away from surgery more so because of religious reasons, often in a dramatic and humorous fashion.

This was the fourth and last of Gray's theatrically released monologue films, followingSwimming to Cambodia,Monster in a Box,andTerrors of Pleasure.

The film is available onDVD.A remastered version was released byThe Criterion Collectionon DVD andBlu-rayin June 2012.

Cast

Spalding Gray was raised inRhode Islandand attended school inMassachusetts.Gray's style as an actor was influenced byAllen Ginsberg,Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and the American Autobiographical movement. He mostly worked in experimental theater. In 1977, he co-founded the Wooster Theater Group in New York City. Two years later he performed his first monologue:Sex and Death at the Age of 14.In the '80s Gray traveled toThailandwhere he won two Independent Spirit Awards for the filmSwimming to Cambodia.He appeared in several independent films in the '90s beforeGray's Anatomywas published.

Critical reception

Janet Maslinof theNew York Timesgave a positive review, calling it "A chatty, colorful, nicely sardonic account of how a crisis led Mr. Gray to assess his medical state, consider his mortality and take one more funny, self-dramatizing look at the eccentric world around him."

Desson Thomson ofthe Washington Postalso reviewed the film positively, stating "Gray's Anatomy finds Spalding Gray turning a bout with a bizarre ocular condition into a dizzying, absorbing odyssey of the neurotic mind."

The Digital Fix describedGray's Anatomyas "very witty and a pleasure to listen to. As he passes fifty, Gray starts to worry about his own death before he finds the sight in his left eye is becoming distorted. Learning that he has a macular pucker, Gray seeks out alternative therapies, including mass nude encounters in a sweatbox, a raw-vegetable diet and a trip to the Philippines to meet a psychic surgeon."

On the other hand, theSan Francisco ChronicledescribedGray's Anatomyas an unremarkable story. "There's something intrinsically insincere about the whole quest. This creeping sense that Gray isn't really interested in anything he's talking about – that he, alone, is the subject of his own obsession givesGray's Anatomya distasteful edge. "

TheChicago TribunedescribedGray's Anatomyas "demonstrating that fully stimulating the senses isn't the same as fully engaging them. The film begins as ordinary as could be and then continues with scenery changes, lighting effects, and moody music."

External links

• Gray's AnatomyatIMDb
• Gray’s Anatomy: The Eyes of the Beholderan essay byAmy Taubinat theCriterion Collection