Category: Podcast

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In this episode, I explore the Dardenne brothers’ 2014 film, “Two Days, One Night.” Marion Cotillard stars as Sandra, a factory worker who tries to return to her job after a bout of depression only to find that her coworkers have voted to receive a bonus and eliminate her position. Over the course of a weekend, she visits each coworker and tries to convince them to support her in a second vote. I talk about my own experiences of working at a factory, struggling with depression, and living as a working class person. I also provide behind-the-scenes information about the making of the film and Marion Cotillard’s preparation for her performance.

Full Show Notes and Sources:

• The Cinema of the Dardenne Brothers: Responsible Realism by Philip Mosley
• Criterion Collection edition of Two Days, One Night
• English translation of Petula Clark’s “La nuit n’en finit plus”
• Interview: Marion Cotillard Talks ‘Two Days, One Night,’ Grueling Amount Of Takes, ‘The Immigrant,’ ‘Macbeth’ & More (IndieWire)
• Marion Cotillard on her Oscar-Nominated Performance in Two Days, One Night (Black Book)
• Marion Cotillard On Her Latest Cannes Film and Getting Over Edith Piaf (Variety)
• Marion Cotillard on the Political (and Personal) in Two Days, One Night (The Atlantic)
• Interview: Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night)(Trouble City)
• Outtakes: Marion Cotillard on Acting Prep and Understanding Depression for ‘Two Days, One Night’ (Thelma Adams)
• Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne Two Days, One Night Interview (Female)
• Two Days, One Night: The Dardenne brothers on making their ‘Belgian western’ (The Guardian)
• The Dardenne Brothers on Two Days, One Night and How They Work Together (Vulture)
• The Dardenne brothers interview: ‘The body is very important’ (TimeOut London)
• A Weekend with Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (Interview)

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In this episode, I explore Krzysztof Kieslowski’s 1993 film, “Three Colors: Blue.” Juliette Binoche plays a woman who loses her husband and daughter in a tragic car accident. Overwhelmed by grief, she tries to cut herself off from human connection and sever ties with the past and her memories. I provide behind-the-scenes information about the making-of the film and discuss key scenes and why they emotionally resonate with me. I also talk about the devastating loss of my father when I was just a teenager and detail my own struggle with grief. This episode contains spoilers.

Full Show Notes:

• My episode on Birth
• My episode on Jackie
• My episode on Cleo from 5 to 7
• My guest appearance on The Complete Podcast to talk about “No End” (1985)
• My episode on Dekalog
• My episode on The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
• My episode on L’avventura
• My episode on House of Sand and Fog

All My Sources

• The Criterion Collection boxset of the Three Colors Trilogy
• Three Colors: A Hymn to European Cinema by Colin MacCabe
• Blue: Bare Necessities by Nick James
• 10 Things I Learned: Three Colors by Abbey Lustgarten
• The Cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski: Variations on Destiny and Chance (Directors’ Cuts)
• Krzysztof Kieslowski: Interviews, edited by Renata Bernard and Steven Woodward (Conversations with Filmmakers Series)
• Double Lives, Second Chances by Annette Insdorf

 

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In this episode, I talk about Pablo Larrain’s 2016 film, “Jackie.” It looks at Jackie Kennedy’s grief in the days after the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy, in 1963. I explore how the film represents grief and trauma, delve into the real struggles Jackie faced after losing her husband, give information about the making of the film and Natalie Portman’s performance, explain why the film is comforting to me as someone who has known a great deal of loss, and more. As I recorded this episode, the 13th anniversary of my father’s death passed. I channel my heartbreak into the episode and go in-depth about losing him and how devastating his death has been for me. There are spoilers in this episode.

 

Full Show Notes:

• Mathieu Amalric’s “Barbara” (2018)
•  Separation by W.S. Merwin
• “Jackie’s Strength” by Tori Amos
•  La Vie En Rose (2007)
• My Episode on Jonathan Glazer’s Birth

All My Sources

• Pablo Larrain interview with Town and Country
• Stephane Fontaine interview with American Cinematographer
• Pablo Larrain interview with Film Comment
• Pablo Larrain interview with American Cinematographer
• Pablo Larrain interview with RogerEbert.com
• Pablo Larrain interview with Movie Maker
• Natalie Portman Interview with CNN
• Natalie Portman interview with SAG-AFTRA
• Natalie Portman interview with Collider
• Natalie Portman interview with Vanity Fair
• Natalie Portman interview with People Magazine
• Natalie Portman interview with The Scotsman
• The Despair of Jackie Kennedy (Biography.com)
• Jackie Kennedy’s interview with LIFE Magazine in 1963
• Jacqueline Kennedy’s Struggle After J.F.K.’s Assassination: The Nightmares, Drinking, and Suicidal Thoughts (Vanity Fair)
• Why Jacqueline Kennedy Didn’t Take Off Her Pink Suit After JFK Was Assassinated (Biography.com)
• Side-by-Side comparison of the White Hour tour in JACKIE and the real television special (Youtube)

 

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On this episode, I talk about Agnès Varda’s 2000 documentary, “The Gleaners and I.” It looks at people who glean in modern society, whether in the fields, at orchards, or after the markets have closed in Paris. With her camera, Varda inserts herself into the film, reflecting on ageing and how she gleans images. I talk about Varda’s presence in the film, how she critiques the wastefulness in society, and why the film remains deeply relevant. I also include a discussion of the follow-up documentary she made in 2002, called “The Gleaners and I: Two Years Later” and how it’s a powerful look at the afterlife that a film can have.

 

Full Show Notes:

• The Gleaners and I: Two Years Later (2002)
• My episode on Cleo From 5 to 7
• My episode on Vagabond
• 60 Minutes segment on E-Waste
• China won’t take our recycling
• Pressing On: The Letterpress Film
• My episode on I, Daniel Blake
• Monty Don’s French Gardens
• My episode on The Secret Garden
• Who Killed My Father by Edouard Louis

All My Sources:

• Agnès Varda’s Films Made the Invisible Visible (The Atlantic)
• Decade: Agnes Varda on “The Gleaners and I” (IndieWire)
•  2001 Interview with The Guardian
• Agnès Varda’s last interview: ‘I fought for radical cinema all my life’ (The Guardian)
• “Curiosity is a good thing”: An Interview with Agnès Varda (Cleo Journal)
• An Interview with Agnes Varda (The Believer Magazine)
• Trash And Treasure: The Gleaners And I (Senses of Cinema)
• The Cinema of Agnès Varda: Resistance and Eclecticism by Delphine Benezet
• Agnes Varda: Between Film, Photography, and Art by Rebecca DeRoo
• Gendered Frames, Embodied Cameras: Varda, Akerman, Cabrera, Calle, and Maïwenn by Cybelle H. McFadden

 

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In this episode, I explore Todd Haynes’s 2002 film, “Far From Heaven.” It’s an homage to 1950s melodramas and stars Julianne Moore as Cathy Whitaker, a Connecticut housewife who develops a deep connection to her African American gardener (Dennis Haysbert) while her marriage starts to crumble when her husband (Dennis Quaid) starts struggling with his repressed homosexuality. I talk about melodrama, woman’s films, Douglas Sirk, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, how the film looks at race, sexuality, and gender, and much more! Spoilers are in this episode.

Full Show Notes:

• My episode on Birth
• Douglas Sirk films: All That Heaven Allows, Written on the Wind,Magnificent Obsession, Imitation of Life
• Frida by Julie Taymor
• The Hours by Stephen Daldry
• Melodrama
• Woman’s film
• Rainer Werner Fassbinder
• Ali: Fear Eats the Soul by Fassbinder
• My Safe episode
• “Shallow” by Lady Gaga
• “Hey Jupiter” by Tori Amos
• My episode on Brief Encounter
• Carol by Todd Haynes

All My Sources

• Todd Haynes: Interviews (Conversations with Filmmakers Series), edited by Julia Leyda
• Todd Haynes: From Fassbinder to Sirk and Back (A 2003 interview with the Criterion Collection)
• Todd Haynes interview with BBC
• Julianne Moore interview with Film Monthly
• Douglas Sirk interview with Film Comment
• Richard Brody – “Douglas Sirk’s Glorious Cinema of Outsiders” (The New Yorker)

 

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In this episode, I talk about Todd Haynes’s 1995 film, “Safe.” It stars Julianne Moore in her first collaboration with Haynes. Moore plays Carol White, a California housewife who comes down with a mysterious illness that could be a result of the chemicals and toxins in the environment. When her doctor and mainstream medicine offer her no help, she seeks relief and answers at a New Age treatment center called Wrenwood that espouses individualist self-help ideas. I talk about my own struggle with chronic health issues, how women are often not believed by doctors, why the film remains so relevant to the modern world we live in, and I also critique self-help messages.

 

Full show notes:

• My episode on Birth
• My episode on Wanda
• My episode on Vagabond
• My episode on The Double Life of Veronique
• Close to the Knives: A Memoir of Disintegration by David Wojnarowicz
• Unrest documentary

My sources:

• Todd Haynes: Interviews, edited by Julia Leyda
• Todd Haynes by Alison MacLean for Bomb Magazine, 1995

 

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In this episode, I talk about the mysterious power and beauty of Jane Campion’s 1993 film, “The Piano.” It stars Holly Hunter as Ada McGrath, a Scottish woman who goes to New Zealand with her daughter, Flora, for an arranged marriage to Alisdair Stewart. Their marriage is troubled from the start, and Ada ends up falling for George Baines. I share my memories of watching the film for the first time and talk about themes of muteness, violence against women, and the complicated relationship between Ada and Baines.

Full Show Notes

• Dave Grohl quote about Billie Eilish
• My episode on Jonathan Glazer’s Birth
• My episode on The Passion of Joan of Arc
• My episode on La Jetée
• My episode on James Ivory’s Maurice
• My episode on Girl with a Pearl Earring
• My episode on Nancy Savoca’s Dogfight
• My episode on The Enchanted Cottage
• My episode on Patricia Cardoso’s Real Women Have Curves
• The Piano novel by Jane Campion and Kate Pullinger

All My Sources

• Jane Campion: In the Scene by Ellen Cheshire
• Senses of Cinema profile of Jane Campion
• Alicia Malone’s interview with Holly Hunter for Filmstruck
• Michael Nyman and Jane Campion on creating the soundtrack for the film (The Guardian)
• 20 Years After The Piano, We’ve All Failed Holly Hunter (The Atlantic)
• bell hooks’s essay that includes critiques of The Piano
• Colonialism in The Piano (Cinema Oceania)
• Romanticizing Colonialism: Power and Pleasure in Jane Campion’s The Piano by Reshela DuPuis

 

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In this episode, I talk about Maïwenn’s “My King,” a raw and intense film that stars Emmanuelle Bercot as a woman struggling to heal her body and mind in the wake of a toxic and destructive relationship. I discuss how the film looks at emotional abuse, shows a woman reconstructing herself, and questions culturally-held beliefs about love. At the beginning of the episode, I also talk about how Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1979 film, “Stalker,” recently helped me through a difficult time.

Full Show Notes:

• Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker
• Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda
• More about Chernobyl
• More about Fukushima
• My episode on Under the Sand
• Private Life by Tamara Jenkins
• “Easy” by Son Lux
• Cold Podcast
• All About Love by bell hooks
• New York Times story on Ryan Adams

All My Sources:

• Eye for Film Interview with Maiwenn
• France Today interview with Maiwenn
• Observer interview with Maiwenn
• Vice interview with Maiwenn
• Numero Magazine interview with Vincent Cassel

 

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In this episode, I talk about Peter Webber’s 2003 film “Girl with a Pearl Earring.” It’s an adaptation of the 1999 Tracy Chevalier novel by the same name, which imagines how Johannes Vermeer’s 17th century painting, “Girl with a Pearl Earring” came to be. It’s 1665 in Delft, Holland and a young girl named Griet goes to work at the home of the Vermeers to provide for her family after her father is injured at work. She enters a home rocked by domestic and financial instability. When Vermeer starts to paint Griet to appease his lecherous patron, more drama ensues as Vermeer’s wife becomes jealous and the attraction between Vermeer and Griet intensifies. I discuss the profound impact that both the book and the film had on my life because it sparked my deeper engagement with art. For this episode, I talk about Johannes Vermeer’s life and art, and I explain why I think the film is so powerful in the way that it centers the life of a teenage girl who is a maid, explores the difficulties of women’s lives in the 17th century, and shows the power of art to expand and enrich our minds.

Full Show Notes

• Russophiles Unite! Podcast
• My episode on Jonathan Glazer’s ‘Birth’ (2004)
• My episode on David Lean’s ‘Brief Encounter’ (1945)

All My Sources

• Jan Vermeer: Light, Love, and Silence (documentary, 2007)
• Exhibition on Screen: Vermeer and Music (documentary, 2013)
• Exhibition on Screen: Girl With a Pearl Earring (documentary, 2015)
• Tracy Chevalier interview with Essential Vermeer website
• Roger Ebert’s review of the film

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In this episode, I talk about Pete Travis’s dreamy 2015 film, “The Go-Between,” produced by the BBC, based on the classic L.P. Hartley novel of the same name, and starring Jim Broadbent, Vanessa Redgrave, and Lesley Manville. It focuses on a 12-year-old boy named Leo Colston who, in the summer of 1900 in England, goes to stay at the opulent estate of his friend, Marcus Maudsley. During his time there, Leo becomes the messenger, or go-between, for Marcus’s sister, Marian, and her secret lover, Ted Burgess. After the summer, none of their lives will ever be the same and Leo will be forever haunted by what he experienced. I talk about class, nostalgia, loss of innocence, and the devastating wounds of childhood. At the beginning of the episode, I also discuss how cinema has helped me cope with trauma. This episode contains spoilers.

Full Show Notes:

• The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley
• My Call Me By Your Name Episode
• My Maurice Episode
• My Real Women Have Curves episode

All My Sources

• More about L.P. Hartley
• Ali Smith’s review of “The Go-Between” (The Guardian)
• The Go-Between: How the BBC Re-Made a Classic (The Telegraph)
• –The Go-Between, BBC One, review: ‘Deeply moving and true’ (The Telegraph)

 

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