Rembrandt Laughing (1989)
This film is a portrait of the passage of one year in the lives of some San Francisco friends, circa 1988 (before the dot.coming of the city), a slow marijuana hazed story which drifts like the fabled fog, encompassing the quirks and habits of a generation that made the city theirs, if only for a while. Very obliquely Rembrandt Laughing sketches the time and place, encompassing the AIDS epidemic, the casual sexual revolution, the debris of '68 lingering in the air. A quiet, very San Francisco comedy of life among a small group of friends. Rembrandt Laughing was improvised over the period of about a month by Jost and his friends, mostly acting non-professionals.
Director: Jon Jost
![]() |
Jon A. English as Martin |
![]() |
Barbara Hammes as Claire |
![]() |
Jennifer Johanson as Jennifer |
![]() |
Ed Green as the framemaker |
![]() |
Nathaniel Dorsky as Daniel |
![]() |
Janet McKinley as Janet |
![]() |
Roger Ruffin as Roger #1 |
![]() |
John Powers as Roger #2 |
![]() |
Henry S. Rosenthal as Stephen |
![]() |
Kate Dezina as June Brandt |
![]() |
Jerry Barrish as Mr. Bondsman |
![]() |
John Bassett as Stacy |
![]() |
Peter Machel as Crazy Tony |
![]() |
Marshall Gaddis as |
![]() |
Jim Nisbet as Jim |
![]() |
Kathleen Dezina as |
| Directing | Jon Jost | Director |
| Writing | Jon Jost | Writer |
| Camera | Jon Jost | Director of Photography |
| Editing | Jon Jost | Editor |
| Production | Jon Jost | Producer |
| Sound | Alenka Pavlin | Sound Recordist |
| Sound | Henry S. Rosenthal | Sound Recordist |
| Sound | Jon A. English | Sound Recordist |
| Sound | Jon Jost | Sound Recordist |
| Sound | Jon A. English | Sound |
| Sound | Jon A. English | Original Music Composer |