A treasure chest of narrative fragments, The Decay of Fiction lacks the itinerary and “instructions for use” that automatically comes with a linear story. The shards of its many implied plotlines are the fruit of O’Neill’s all-encompassing sense of form, which for better or worse is conceptual rather than technical or material.– Jonathan Rosenbaum, The Chicago Reader, May 30, 2003, https://jonathanrosenbaum.net/2023/03/ghosts-of-hollywood/

“I am interested in exploring the boundaries of believability. The narrative tradition insists that, no matter how fantastic the story, its surface must be seamless. By contrast, I call attention to the artifice, all the staged aspects, and allow the well-worn stories to slip over and through one another. The film’s intention could be described as wanting to take stories off the screen and into the imagination. I like to work within the gaps between reality and story, to look at what is going on around the story, its context, and to make that a part of my conversation with the audience.” – Pat O’Neill

Tickets: $15 general, $10 students/seniors (purchased at door), free for Filmforum members.