''We Can't Go Home Again'' is an

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

feature film directed by

Nicholas Ray Nicholas Ray (born Raymond Nicholas Kienzle Jr., August 7, 1911 – June 16, 1979) was an American film director, screenwriter, and actor best known for the 1955 film ''Rebel Without a Cause.'' He is appreciated for many narrative features pr ...

in collaboration with his film students at

Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public research university with campuses in Binghamton, Vestal, and Johnson City, New York. It is one of the four university centers in the State ...

. Ray and the students play fictionalized versions of themselves. The film was the major project of the last decade of Ray's life, and he and his collaborators continuously re-edited it. Rough versions of the film were screened at

festivals A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holida ...

as early as 1972 (including a

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ci ...

premiere in 1973), and the most well-known cut was completed in 1976. Ray was still making alterations to it at the time of his death in 1979.

Production

In 1971, Nicholas Ray received an invitation to lecture at

's Harpur College, which had at the time just established a film department.Gallagher, Cullen
Not Coming to a Theater Near You: We Can't Go Home Again.
/ref> This led to Ray being offered a two-year teaching position at the department, which had been founded by

Larry Gottheim Larry Gottheim (born 1936) is an American avant-garde filmmaker. Early life Gottheim was born December 3, 1936. He attended a high school for music and the arts. Gottheim went to Oberlin College for undergraduate studies, where he became intere ...

and the experimental filmmaker

Ken Jacobs Ken Jacobs (born May 25, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American experimental filmmaker. His style often involves the use of found footage which he edits and manipulates. He has also directed films using his own footage. Ken Jacobs direct ...

. Ray became close with his students, and together with them moved into a house off-campus where the group formed a filmmaking

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

. There they began work on ''We Can't Go Home Again'', sharing all filmmaking duties. The film soundtrack features the song “God Bless the Family” written by

Norman Zamcheck "The Real Stormin" Norman Zamcheck (born 1947) is an American pianist and singer/songwriter, best known as bandleader of the New York-based Real Stormin' Norman Band, and the rock/vaudeville group Stormin' Norman and Suzy. Considered an innova ...

and performed by him and

Suzy Williams Susan Dimiti "Suzy" Williams is an American singer-songwriter. She rose to notoriety in the musical duo Stormin’ Norman & Suzy. Williams has performed at venues ranging from Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center to the Hotel Palmas in the Canary Is ...

as the duo Stormin’ Norman & Suzy. The film was made using a wide variety of equipment and shooting formats, including

Super 8 Super 8 or Super Eight may refer to: Film * Super 8 film, a motion picture film format released in 1965 * Super 8 film camera, a motion picture camera used to film Super 8mm motion picture format * ''Super 8'' (2011 film), a science-fiction fi ...

16mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, ed ...

35mm 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film 35 mm film is a film gauge used in filmmaking, and the film standard. In motion pictures that record on fi ...

and a

video synthesizer A video synthesizer is a device that electronically creates a video signal. A video synthesizer is able to generate a variety of visual material without camera input through the use of internal video pattern generators. It can also accept and " ...

which had been donated to the project by

Nam June Paik Nam June Paik (; July 20, 1932 – January 29, 2006) was a Korean American artist. He worked with a variety of media and is considered to be the founder of video art. He is credited with the first use (1974) of the term "electronic super hi ...

Preservation

''We Can't Go Home Again'' was preserved by the

Academy Film Archive The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of m ...

in 2011.

References

External links

* *
Podcast documentary on ''We Can't Go Home Again''

Tom Farrell, ''We Can't Go Home Again'', "La furia umana" (www.lafuriaumana.it), n° 3, winter 2010
{{Nicholas Ray 1976 films American avant-garde and experimental films American independent films Films directed by Nicholas Ray Films shot in New York (state) Films set in New York (state) 1970s English-language films 1970s American films