Veteran film critic Marshall Fine picks a quintessential Minnesota film

Marshall Fine’s career as a film reviewer included work in Colorado, Kansas and Mississippi. But his love affair with pop culture began in St. Louis Park and then at the University of Minnesota, where he wrote for the student newspaper and the Minneapolis Star.

Fine, former chairman of the New York Film Critics Circle and director of the 2017 documentary Robert Klein Still Can’t Stop His Foot, now adds novelist to his list of accomplishments. This week saw the release of The Autumn of Ruth Winters, set in the Twin Cities.

Fine, 73, who wore a T-shirt with a picture of the twins on it, recently talked about movies over oatmeal at the Good Day Cafe in Golden Valley.

Question: What films influenced you while growing up in the Twin Cities?

A: “Enlargement” by Michelangelo Antonioni. I remember reading about it in Will Jones’ column in the Minneapolis Tribune and thinking I needed to watch it. It was his column that got me interested in cinema as a teenager. Blowup changed my mind about what a film could be. I was also impressed by John Cassavetes’ Faces, which I saw in college.

Question: When did you start writing about cinema and music?

A: My first day of freshman year, I walked into the Minnesota Daily and told them I was looking at everything they had, not realizing that they had older journalists who had been doing this kind of thing for years. I wrote reviews of everything I saw and submitted them. Then one Friday during my freshman year I opened the entertainment section of the newspaper and there were 12 of my reviews. The editor told me that at the last minute he was given a bunch of extra pages. He looked around, saw the big pile of things I was handing over, and went through them.

Question: How many films would you watch a week at the peak of your career?