Unseen for 25 Years - The Annihilation of Fish - A Review

A future cult classic

It is hard to imagine that a 1999 film starring James Earl Jones, Lynn Redgrave, and Margot Kidder could remain unreleased for twenty-five years, yet that is what happened with “The Annihilation of Fish”

The cause?

One bad review - really, that is all it took. ‘Variety’ magazine published a negative review after the film screened at the Toronto Film Festival, which scared away potential film distributers. This then contributed to the collapse of the production company, which led to a rights dispute that remained unsolved until film preservation charities became involved and a 4K restoration was undertaken by Kino Lorber and Milestone Films.

In 2025, J. Kim Murphy, writing for Variety, applauded “The Annihilation of Fish” as ‘a complete charmer: a masterwork of tonal control that deserves to be reckoned with as much more than an archival curiosity.’

The Film

In ‘The Annihilation…’ James Earl Jones stars as ‘Fish,’ a widowed Jamaican immigrant recently released from a mental institution, who rents a small apartment from Mrs. Muldroone, who is very particular about the spelling of her last name. Fish is a quiet older gentlemen, who has no vices, but he wrestles (literally) on an almost daily basis with a demon called Hank, which only he can see. The next day Lynn Redgrave, who stars as Poinsettia, arrives and rents the room opposite. She has recently broken up with her imaginary lover, Giacomo Puccini. The story follows the relationship between these three characters, each of them in the margins of society, aged, lonely and seeking connection and friendship.

The tone of the film is respectful. The humor comes naturally from the absurdity of the situations that the characters find themselves in. Nothing is played ‘for laughs’ nor to ridicule. To my mind it harkens back to other films dealing with mental illness as a theme, where the purpose of the film is to destigmatize and humanize those who ‘live’ with the condition. Remember before 1960’s long-term stays in mental institutions were the norm, and these people were often hidden away.

Two movies come to mind, the first is classic 1950 film “Harvey” starring Jimmy Stewart, in which he sees and speaks to a human sized imaginary rabbit. The second (and to a lesser extent) is “The Dream Team” starring Michael Keaton, an ensemble comedy-drama which follows four psychiatric hospital patients who are accidentally stranded in New York City with their doctor, who must survive on their own when their doctor becomes incapacitated.

In the grand scheme of things, the main theme of the movie is not mental illness at all - it is about aging, it is about loneliness, it is about friendship. it is about love and connection. It is a love story at heart, and is a rare movie where all the main actors are over 50 years of age.

The film humanizes those that society often dismisses, a theme that independent director Charles Burnett has returned to throughout all his work. I must admit, as a white guy in Australia, I had never heard of Mr. Burnett, but from all accounts he is pioneering figure in African American independent cinema, and his direction in this film is top notch. He gets wonderful performances out of his actors. It would have been so easy to make everything over-the-top yet the actors and the filming are restrained. Lynn Redgrave inhabits her role completely, you can feel the trauma from her past long before it is revealed in the story. She is completely believable in her loneliness and depiction of alcoholism, which leads to her passing out outside her apartment, which is where she meets Fish, and the story truly begins…

Where to watch:

This film can be watched for FREE on Kanopy, which is a streaming service you can access if you have a library card. It is also available to buy or rent in the usual places and can be purchased on DVD or Blu-ray.

End Matter

Dear friends, I hope you take the time to watch this movie. If you like movies that are a little off-beat, and less mainstream, I am sure that you will enjoy it.

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