First Impressions: Thinking Aloud About Film

https://notesonfilm1.com/2023/02/05/three-shorts-by-charlotte-wells/ A discussion of the three shorts Charlotte Wells made before Aftersun: Laps (2016), Tuesday (2016) and Blue Christmas (2017). All were made while she was studying for an MA in film in New York, two of them sharing some themes with Aftersun. We discuss the way she sets up tension and meaning without dialogue and how this in turn h...

https://notesonfilm1.com/2023/01/30/thinking-aloud-about-film-aftersun-charlotte-wells-2022/ Are the most interesting British film directors currently working women? Charlotte Wells’ textured, precise and poetic Aftersun begs the question. Clearly influenced by Lynne Ramsey (and Chantal Ackerman), and working in the same indie vein as Andrea Arnold, Wells has an eye for the original expressive ima...

https://notesonfilm1.com/2023/01/24/jose-arroyo-in-conversation-with-matthew-hays-on-queer-film-classics/ José Arroyo talks to Matthew Hays about Queer Film Classics. Matt is, along with Thomas Waugh, the co-editor of the series, first for Arsenal Press and currently for McGill-Queen's University Press. The conversation touches on the concept behind the series, the rationale for selection of indiv...

https://notesonfilm1.com/2023/01/21/thinking-aloud-about-film-black-girl-ousmane-sembene-france-senegal-1966/ A discussion of Ousmane Sembène’s BLACK GIRL (France/ Senegal, 1966), a rich and poetic evocation of post-colonial subjectivity. A young girl (M’Bissine Thérèse Diop) goes to work as a nanny for a French family in Dakar and then joins them in France later to continue working for them. But...

https://notesonfilm1.com/2022/11/21/thinking-aloud-about-film-a-time-to-love-sevmek-zamani-metin-erksan-turkey-1965/ We were so impressed by Metin Ersksan’s Dry Summer (Susuz Yaz, 1964), that we decided to continue exploring his work. We’ve just seen A Time to Love/ Sevmek Zamani (1965), and remain impressed. This is the first in-house restoration by MUBI and fully understand why they chose this p...

https://notesonfilm1.com/2022/11/18/in-conversation-with-josh-bullen-on-untamed-the-resilience-of-queer-cinema/ I was very excited to discover Josh BullIn's new programme of queer films scheduled to be presented at the Rio Cinema in London from November 24th to the 5th of December . In this podcast we talk about the individual films --WET SAND, LEITIS IN WAITING, GRACEFULLY & MEMORIES OF MY BODY b...

https://notesonfilm1.com/2022/11/13/the-practice-of-film-criticism-podcast-2022-fran-hughes-and-tom-farrell-on-twentieth-century-women-mike-mills-2016/ Fran Hughes talks to Tom Farrell about Mike Mill's 20th Century Women, a coming of age film that deals with masculinity from various feminist perspectives. These get explored in the podcast along with considerations of Jimmy Carter's Crisis of Conf...

https://notesonfilm1.com/2022/11/10/thinking-aloud-about-film-dry-summer-susuz-yaz-metin-erksan-turkey-1963/ A melodrama about two brothers. Osman and Hasan. Osman is the eldest and has power and rights over how their land is run. A complex film about patriarchy in agrarian culture and the damage it does to all the individuals involved whilst tearing a community apart. A melodrama that seethes wit...

Lizzie Uzzell discusses Joe Wright's adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice with José Arroyo. The podcast touches on the various adaptations of Austen's work, the particular virtues of this one, the uses of light and landscape, the interplay between the uses of Chatsworth and the uses of mud and livestock , achievements of wit and tone, and what individual cast members add to it all.

Exit Through the Giftshop is a documentary on the commodification of street art directed by Banksy but placing Thierry Guetta, a Bansky acolyte who was inspired to enter the art world by Banksy, as the central figure through which to explore its themes. The podcast discusses Guetta's journey, and questions Banksy's perspective and attitude towards Guetta, whilst questioning whether the figure of G...

The first fiction feature made in the Ivory Coast. A land-mark film. But is it good? And by what criteria? And if not good, how is it nonetheless very interesting? Art cinema, post-colonialism, and psychoanalysis as imbibed through Hitchcock films, all get an airing in this podcast.

and Luke Brown return to the podcast, this time to discuss Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan (2010). There are three foci of discussion: body horror, the coming-of-age film and mother/daughter relationships. Lily and Luke explore how the film makes us question what truly happens in the narrative. We see the action through the perspective of Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) but the whole film is about her...

Luke Brown and Lily Edwardes-Hill get together for a stimulating exploration of Shin Godzilla (Hideaki Anno & Shinji Higuchi, 2016), the first Japanese Godzilla film since 2004, and a considerable financial and critical success: it was made for 15 million and grossed 78 million whilst also winning the equivalent of Japan’s Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director. The podcast discusses ho...

An insightful conversation on a film that's difficult to grasp in terms of plot but which nonetheless offers us enough to have returned twice more to see it. In the podcast, we discuss the famous 59 minute tracking shot, how the film shifts gears narratively and stylistically; how the first half may deal with memory and the second with dreams; we talk of the film's texture, how sound often works a...

A thoughtful, exploratory discussion of a landmark gangster film, a story about America made by one of Italy's greatest directors. We discuss how the film might have re-defined the gangster genre; the film's aesthetic and how particular choices serve expression, we talk of the violence in the film and the charges that it might be misogynist; the distinctions between script and mise-en-scène; what...

https://notesonfilm1.com/2022/10/13/thinking-aloud-about-film-pedro-almodovar-5-matador-with-special-guest-harry-russell/ We continue to think aloud about Pedró Almodovar, this time focussing on Matador. Richard is ill so I am joined by Harry Russell to discuss the film. Some of the topics touched upon are the themes of sex and death, Spanish-ness and bullfighting, camp, masculinity, the classical...

Almost a quarter century after its first release, LOCK, TOCK & TWO SMOKING BARRELS remains immensely stylish and entertaining, a landmark film that drew on the tradition of the British Gangster film and succeeded in changing the genre's direction. In this podcast we discuss, the film's style, the cadence, pace and editing with which movement and action are constructed and conveyed. We talk about i...

The greatest work of the first phase of Almodóvar’s career; the first to be released in the US; the second for the Tesauro S.A. Production Company. In this podcast we discuss the film in relation to his three previous features, to Eloy de la Iglesias’ ‘quinqui’ films dealing with working class kids encountering the wave of drugs then flooding into Spain, to Italian neo-realism, and to camp. We pra...

https://notesonfilm1.com/2022/09/01/thinking-aloud-about-film-pedro-almodovar-podcast-no-3-entre-tinieblas-dark-habits/ In our third podcast on Almodóvar’s work we discuss his third film, ENTRE TINIEBLAS/ DARK HABITS (1983), the first film he did for a commercial production company, Tesauro SA. A very funny and subversive film, the plot revolves around a bolero singer (Cristina S. Pascual) whose b...

https://notesonfilm1.com/2022/08/21/thinking-aloud-about-film-pedro-almodovar-2-labyrinth-of-passion/ We discuss Almodóvar's second feature, Labyrinth of Passion, where Almodóvar himself appears both as director and rock star in minor roles. We talk about its convoluted plot, its verbal and visual campyness, its anti-authoritarian stance and its status as a youth film. We note how even in his seco...

https://notesonfilm1.com/2022/08/15/thinking-aloud-about-film-pedro-almodovar-1-pepi-luci-bom-1980/ The first of a series of podcasts on the work of Pedro Almodóvar. We begin the series with his first film, PEPI, LUCI, BOM Y LAS CHICAS DEL MONTON/ PEPI, LUCI, BOM AND OTHER GIRLS LIKE MOM (1980). The podcast discusses the historical context for the film; the 'nueva movida madrileña'; his style and...

https://notesonfilm1.com/2022/07/26/cinema-rediscovered-2022-bristol-watershed-2022-final-round-up/ We discuss the last two days of the program and then take a step back to discuss the event as a whole. We praise the variety of programming, the extraordinarily efficient organisation and the very welcoming community feel to the whole event. I'm very jealous we don't have anything like this in Birmi...

https://notesonfilm1.com/2022/07/23/cinema-rediscovered-2022-day-three-round-up-2/ We discuss the second of our full day of viewing at Cinema Rediscovered, and name-check a wonderful introduction to The Joker by Matthew Sweet. We discuss The Laws of Love, Jewel Robbery, The Afterlight, Queen Christina, Harold and Maud.... and much else.

https://notesonfilm1.com/2022/07/21/thinking-aloud-about-film-cinema-rediscovered-round-up-day-1-2022/ We continue our discussion of Cinema Rediscovered 2022 with a round-up of the first full day of programming and two of the events that kicked off the program yesterday: The Philip French Memorial Lecture with Samira Ahmed and the UK premiere of the restored version of Lost Highway. We touch on tw...

https://notesonfilm1.com/2022/07/20/thinking-aloud-about-film-cinema-rediscovered-2022-in-conversation-with-mark-fuller-on-cinema-history-in-bristol/ We talk to Bristol Film Historian Mark Fuller about the history of cinemas, film and filmgoing in Bristol, touching on the different processes, periods and personalities that stand out in this fascinating local history. Mark will flesh this out in tw...