Bill Gunn's Ganja & Hess Heading Back to U.S. Theaters
HomeBill Gunn's Ganja & Hess Heading Back to U.S. Theaters
Posted May 4, 2018 05:45 PM by Webmaster
Kino Repertory will bring back to U.S. theaters director Bill Gunn's cult film Ganja & Hess (1973), starring Marlene Clark, Duane Jones, Bill Gunn, Leonard Jackson, and John Hoffmeister. The theatrical rerun will start at Metrograph in New York on May 30.
In the U.S., Ganja & Hess is already out on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. You can see our listing and review of this release here. (In the UK, the film is available on Blu-ray courtesy of local label Eureka Entertainment. You can see our listing and review of this release here).
Synopsis: Flirting with the conventions of blaxploitation and the horror cinema, Bill Gunn's revolutionary independent film Ganja & Hess is a highly stylized and utterly original treatise on sex, religion, and African American identity. Duane Jones (Night of the Living Dead) stars as anthropologist Hess Green, who is stabbed with an ancient ceremonial dagger by his unstable assistant (director Bill Gunn), endowing him with the blessing of immortality, and the curse of an unquenchable thirst for blood. When the assistant's beautiful and outspoken wife Ganja (Marlene Clark) comes searching for her vanished husband, she and Hess form an unexpected partnership. Together, they explore just how much power there is in the blood.
Later recut and released in an inferior version, this edition represents the original release, restored by The Museum of Modern Art with support from The Film Foundation, and mastered in HD from a 35mm negative. (The text addresses the presentation of the film on the Blu-ray release).
In the U.S., Ganja & Hess is already out on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. You can see our listing and review of this release here. (In the UK, the film is available on Blu-ray courtesy of local label Eureka Entertainment. You can see our listing and review of this release here).
Synopsis: Flirting with the conventions of blaxploitation and the horror cinema, Bill Gunn's revolutionary independent film Ganja & Hess is a highly stylized and utterly original treatise on sex, religion, and African American identity. Duane Jones (Night of the Living Dead) stars as anthropologist Hess Green, who is stabbed with an ancient ceremonial dagger by his unstable assistant (director Bill Gunn), endowing him with the blessing of immortality, and the curse of an unquenchable thirst for blood. When the assistant's beautiful and outspoken wife Ganja (Marlene Clark) comes searching for her vanished husband, she and Hess form an unexpected partnership. Together, they explore just how much power there is in the blood.
Later recut and released in an inferior version, this edition represents the original release, restored by The Museum of Modern Art with support from The Film Foundation, and mastered in HD from a 35mm negative. (The text addresses the presentation of the film on the Blu-ray release).
