Chelsea on the Rocks

New York's notorious poet of the street, Abel Ferrara (King of New York, Bad Lieutenant), takes a fascinating personal journey inside the walls, history and mythology of Manhattan's celebrated bohemian landmark, The Chelsea Hotel. Famed home to such icons as Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Tennessee Williams, William S. Burroughs, Charles Bukowski, Andy Warhol and Mark Twain, and perennial shelter to artists great and small, new management has recently begun evicting boho tenants in favor of a more upscale crowd, prompting long-time resident Ferrara to capture the ragged splendor of the place before its unique spirit is lost forever. Trolling the low-lit halls, visiting the hotel's cast of memorable characters and raconteurs, and hanging out in the gallery-like lobby strewn with tenants' paintings, the film is shot through with an infectious brio, gallows humor and a hard-knock warmth to match its uniquely beloved subject. Includes interviews with residents past and present such as Milos Forman, Ethan Hawke, Dennis Hopper and R. Crumb, vintage music and archival footage, and dramatic re-enactments summoning ghosts of the Chelsea's storied past—Nancy Spungen and Sid Vicious, Janis Joplin—performed by Bijou Phillips, Adam Goldberg, Giancarlo Esposito and Grace Jones.

Director:

Abel Ferrara 

Cast:

Vito Acconci, Donald Baechler, Stanley Bard, Sathima Bea Benjamin, Jamie Burke, William S. Burroughs (archive footage), Ira Cohen, Sherry Cosovic, Quentin Crisp (archive footage), Walter Cronkite (archive footage), Robert Crumb, Giancarlo Esposito, Milos Forman, Jerry Garcia (archive footage), Adam Goldberg, Ethan Hawke, Gaby Hoffmann, Dennis Hopper, Grace Jones, Janis Joplin (archive footage), Aline Kominsky, Shanyn Leigh, Lance Loud (archive footage), Caitlin Mehner, Robert Oppel, Bijou Phillips, Elizabeth Pugh, Rockets Redglare (archive footage), Christy Scott Cashman, Sid Vicious (archive footage), Andy Warhol (archive footage), Arthur Weinstein