Rembrandt Laughing (1989) Plot Summary Explained

Release, runtime and language

1989 · 100 mins · English

Directed by

Jon Jost

Starring

Nathaniel Dorsky, Roger Ruffin, Kate Dezina, Kathleen Dezina, Ed Green, Barbara Hammes

Set in 1988 San Francisco, the film follows a year in the lives of a small circle of friends before the dot‑com boom. Told in a slow, marijuana‑hazed style that drifts like the city’s fog, it sketches the quirks of a generation, touching the AIDS crisis, the casual sexual revolution and lingering ’68 counter‑culture. The quiet, very San Francisco comedy was improvised over about a month by Jost and his friends, most of whom are non‑professional actors.