Instructed by Warhol to write a vehicle for Edie Sedgwick in a “completely white” setting, scenarist Ronald Tavel created one of Warhol’s most iconic films. Here a group of performers of all stripes – the sink and litter basket receive equal billing to the human actors – are forced into Warhol and Tavel’s cruelly comical theatre of the absurd. Inside this cramped domestic space, boredom, confusion and a sense of existential dread hang heavy in the air. Warhol and Tavel transform the modern 1960s kitchen – replete with the latest gadgets and conveniences – into a chaotic laboratory for self-creation and interpersonal conflict.
Direction
Warhol's static camera turns boredom into performance art.
Production
The blinding white set as psychological torture chamber.
Acting
Sedgwick's unraveling in real-time, impossible to fake.
Director
Andy Warhol
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Warhol shot this in his actual apartment kitchen, with Sedgwick reportedly on amphetamines throughout the 66-minute single take.
US
