Tate Modern Film

Rebecca Horn: Buster's Bedroom

8 May 2016 at 20.00–22.00

A group of people stand and pose in a sunny mountain landscape including two in nurses uniforms and a man pushing an empty wheelchair

Rebecca HornBuster’s Bedroom 1990film still

Rebecca Horn’s tribute to slapstick comedy icon Buster Keaton and his tragic personal life, featuring mesmerising cinematography by Bergman’s favourite Director of Photography Sven Nykvist

This film still is shot from the backseat of a car. The driver in the front seat wheres a blue blind fold. There is a framed picture of a person to the right of the steering wheel. — Rebecca Horn Still from Buster’s Bedroom 1990

A couple look at each other and start to embrace in front of a green tree — Rebecca Horn Buster’s Bedroom 1990 film still

Buster’s Bedroom

Germany/Canada/Portugal 1990, 35mm transferred to video, colour, sound, 112 min

Intent on immersing herself in the life of Buster Keaton, Micha (Amanda Ooms) visits Nirvana House, the sanatorium where the actor was once a patient. Unbeknownst to her, the residents of the asylum have taken over the institution following the death of their physician. Their leader, the charismatic ‘Doctor’ O’Connor (Donald Sutherland), champions paralysis as a means to obtain mental and physical liberation. Other residents include a wheelchair-bound ex-swimmer (Geraldine Chaplin), a former prima donna (Valentina Cortese), a soft-spoken beekeeper (David Warrilow), a nervous pianist and a gardener with something to hide. A dream-like ensemble piece, whose surreal tone is only heightened by its Hollywood-like production values.

Tate Modern

Bankside
London SE1 9TG
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Date & Time

8 May 2016 at 20.00–22.00

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Artist

Rebecca Horn

1944–2024

Buster’s Bedroom

Tate Modern

Date & Time

Find out more

Artist

Rebecca Horn

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