News · 25 June 2026
Director Elaine May's genius finally getting recognised
NBC Television via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Director Elaine May's experimental films like “Mikey and Nicky” have been getting the appreciation they deserve in recent years, decades after facing studio pushback and critical misunderstanding. Her ambitious vision and improvisational methods often clashed with executives, leading to conflicts over creative control and sometimes bloated budgets. A retrospective at Lincoln Center in New York in early 2024 celebrated her work, including the 2019 4K restoration of "Mikey and Nicky" and her 1987 film "Ishtar."
Reported by The Guardian · How we write briefs