They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
WHAT THE FEST 2! Based on Horace McCoy's novel, Sydney Pollack directs the rarely-screened 1969 psychological drama THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY? Nominated for 9 Academy Awards, the film stars Jane Fonda, Bruce Dern, Susannah York, Michael Sarrazin, Gig Young and Red Buttons in an existential tale of a Depression-era dance competition offering a $1,500 cash prize. With contestants hoping to be spotted by Hollywood talent scouts or embraced by the wealthy sponsors cheering them on, the dance competition drags on far longer than anyone could have expected... Undoubtedly the inspiration behind many endurence narratives that followed, Pollack's prescient film has come to be recognised as one of the greatest American films of the era; praised by its unforgettably disturbing vision of people being "the ultimate spectacle".
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