Desperate Souls, Dark City, and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy
# Desperate Souls, Dark City, and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy

Desperate Souls, Dark City, and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy is a 2022 American documentary film, written, directed, and produced by Nancy Buirski. It is loosely based and inspired by Shooting Midnight Cowboy: Art, Sex, Loneliness, Liberation, and the Making of a Dark Classic by Glenn Frankel.

It had its world premiere at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on September 1, 2022, and was released on June 23, 2023, by Zeitgeist Films and Kino Lorber.

## Plot

The film follows the journey of making and producing Midnight Cowboy (1969), as well as the era the movie was released in. Brenda Vaccaro, Jon Voight, Jennifer Salt, Bob Balaban, Brian De Palma, Michael Childers, Lucy Sante, James Hoberman, Adam Holender, Charles Kaiser and Edmund White appear in the film.

## Production

In May 2021, it was announced Nancy Buirski would direct a documentary film revolving around Midnight Cowboy, based upon the book Shooting Midnight Cowboy: Art, Sex, Loneliness, Liberation, and the Making of a Dark Classic by Glenn Frankel.

Buriski reached out to cast members from Midnight Cowboy, with Sylvia Miles passing, and Dustin Hoffman being unavailable to interview.

## Release

The film had its world premiere at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on September 1, 2022. It also screened at the Telluride Film Festival on September 4, 2022. In March 2023, Zeitgeist Films and Kino Lorber acquired distribution rights to the film.

## Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 26 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's consensus reads: "As engrossing as it is ambitious, Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy contextualizes a landmark film within the pivotal moment of its creation."

