About

Hapless singer-songwriters Chuck and Lyle (Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty) finally catch a break when they land a gig as lounge singers in Morrocco. They soon find themselves caught up in an ever-expanding web of international intrigue after they become involved with a local revolutionary (Isabelle Adjani) in a plot to overthrow the Emir of the fictional country of Ishtar.

Writer-director Elaine May blends rapid-fire screwball banter with Hope and Crosby ‘Road to’ movie bombast in this comedy blockbuster. Critically derided and commercially calamitous upon its initial release, the film has since been reappraised by advocates such as Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino as a biting satire of Reagan-era American foreign policy and a hilarious examination of the creative struggle. Ishtar offers a fascinating example of the lingering influence of screwball sensibilities as they became absorbed into other genres and comedic forms.

Ishtar will screen from an imported 35mm print.