This film is part of the first installment of our summer series, which focuses on films about friendship.
A tragic tale of an unlikely friendship between two castaways in New York, late 1960s.
This masterful classic follows Joe Buck, a naive yet charming young man from Texas. Filled with hope, he heads to New York, convinced he can make a fortune as a male sex worker. But the only treasure he finds is a friendship with Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo, a down-and-out con artist with big dreams. As they face the harsh realities of New York’s underworld, the two form an improbable bond—one that transcends their shattered dreams and futile ambitions.
In Midnight Cowboy, John Schlesinger paints a harrowing portrait of the dark side of 1960s New York—one that had never been portrayed so brutally and candidly in an American mainstream film. Despite the controversy upon release over its explicit depictions of violence, nudity, and what the Motion Picture Association called its “homosexual frame of reference,” Midnight Cowboy remains the only X-rated film ever to win the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay.