Two Altercations 35mm 1.85:1 2002 | Director: Julie Lipper

Directed by Julie Lipper, Two Altercations was produced in part by the American Film Institute as a thesis project.  Shooting on location in the Arts District of Down Town Los Angeles, and Sherman Oaks, CA, Two Altercations required the use of an traffic jammed bridge and process truck and trailer for the driving scenes.

The calm, early-summer afternoon that “in the flash of a moment would be shattered by gunfire”—the newspaper writer expressed it this way—had been unremarkable for the Blakelys: like the other “returning commuters” (the newspaper writer again), they were sitting in traffic, in the heat, with jazz playing on the radio, saying little to each other, staring out. Exactly as it usually was on the ride home from work. Neither of them felt any particular pressure to speak. The music played, and they did not quite hear it. Both were tired, both had been through an arduous day’s work—Michael was an office clerk in the university’s admissions office, and Ivy was a receptionist in the office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences.

Short Story written by Richard Bausch (1945).

Bausch, an American novelist, and Moss Chair of Excellence in English at the University of Memphis. He holds a B.A. from George Mason University, and an M.F.A. from the University of Iowa. His novels usually focus on American family life. He is a contributor of short stories to various periodicals, including Harper's, Ploughshares, Esquire, Atlantic, and The New Yorker. His work has also been represented in anthologies, including O'Henry Prize Stories and Best American Short Stories. He is the twin brother of Robert Bausch.