Probably the most maligned American Playhouse production ever aired, All the Vermeers in New York inspired unanimous contempt
from TV reviewers. This 1990 anti-rhapsody in Manhattan landscapes
forewarned its viewers of a tedious experience, and People magazine
said it was "as exciting as watching a painting dry." What
they objected to as
"arty" may have had something to do with Jost's static photography
or minutes-long lyrical interludes. Composed in, on top of, and around
steel and stone urban monuments--as opposed to the warm and unabashed
human subjects of Vermeer--Jost's brash depiction of a post-Reagan-era
Manhattan and its inhabitants (at various turns a usurious art dealership,
a cutthroat Wall Street brokerage, and the superficialities of the
New York dating scene) may make Woody Allen's Manhattan seem
like a scenic flight in positive-thinking guru Tony Robbins's helicopter,
but Jost's dramatic interest isn't in mere exposé. A stock
trader's lust for the killer deal is juxtaposed with his obsessions
for a rare painting and later for a homesick, unemployed French actress
(Emannuelle Chaulet). He spies her in a room looking at the same painting--but
what they are looking at becomes, in the psychological context of
the film, as mysterious and elusive as what they are looking for.
Jost's most expensive movie to date--a mere $250,000--turned out to
be the most virulent of his unflinching critiques of the destructive
powers of materialism in the American--or, by the romantic and historical
associations he provides, European--psyche.
-Christopher Chase, Amazon.com
"I hated VERMEERS. I found it to be self-indulgent,
vacuous, irritating, boring, and pretentious. About a quarter of the
audience disliked it enough to walk out before the end...This film
won the L. A. Film Critics Award for Best Independent Film. I hate
to think what the competition must have been like."
- George V. Reilly, Internet Movie Database
"Hi Jon,I just wanted to say that All the vermeers is the best film I've ever seen.I caught it on a late night showing on channel 4 in england ten years ago and it just blew me away.It's stayed with me ever since.It's very hard to get hold of your work in england.I have only seen Sure fire and Vermeers so I am looking forward to when you make your other work available on dvd.You have inspired me to start making my own films.Your films have taught me that you don't need to have a huge budget to make films that are truthful and have a heart.Thank you for making my life a little richer with your work,and for never selling out-You are a true artist.All good wishes.Kevin eric Gardner.Bath,England. "
-Kevin Gardner
