The Film Comment Podcast

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Paul Verhoeven Nov 15, 2016

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What are the uncanny forces at work behind Paul Verhoeven’s visceral and transgressive cinema? In anticipation of the Film Society’s complete retrospective of the Dutch master’s films and the U.S. release of Elle, this episode offers a comprehensive discussion of the director’s audacious and eclectic career encompassing art-house Dutch films (Turkish Delight [1971], Spetters [1980]) and big-budget Hollywood productions such as Basic Instinct (1992), Total Recall (1990) and Starship Troopers (1997). In the first part of the podcast, Film Comment Digital Editor Violet Lucca sits down with a panel of Verhoeven connoisseurs, including Cinema Scope critic Adam Nayman, Film Comment Deep Cuts columnist Margaret Barton-Fumo (also the editor of a forthcoming book of interviews with Verhoeven), and Fort Buchanan director Benjamin Crotty, to tackle the controversy that lies at the core of Verhoeven’s work. In the final part of the episode, Margaret Barton-Fumo speaks to Verhoeven about the uncomfortable eroticism that pervades Elle and his Brechtian influences.

Election Day Nov 08, 2016

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It's finally here: Election Day. After you've cast your vote, hopefully this new episode of the Film Comment podcast will help you relax as the results come in. This week, we spotlight two writers whose work has never shied away from the political: blacklisted screenwriter Walter Bernstein, whose numerous credits include The Front, Fail-Safe, and The House on Carroll Street; and Cuban novelist Edmundo Desnoes, whose seminal work Memories of Underdevelopment investigated the bourgeois mindset during the Cuban revolution and was subsequently adapted into the 1968 film by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea. Each talks with Digital Editor Violet Lucca about exploring different forms of subjective experience within objective political realities, as well as harnessing their art to provoke further questioning from viewers.

NYFF Live Filmmaker Chat Nov 01, 2016

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Although one-on-one interviews with filmmakers are often accessible (depending, of course, on the personality at hand), group roundtables with a variety of filmmaking talent can be more difficult to come by. To counter this void, Film Comment assembled such an event at the 54th New York Film Festival—and now, in this week's episode of the podcast, you can listen to the complete talk. This Film Comment panel brought together three NYFF filmmakers—Olivier Assayas (Personal Shopper), Alison Maclean (The Rehearsal), and Kleber Mendonça Filho (Aquarius)—to discuss their practical approaches to the craft of filmmaking, as well as their grander philosophies about the art form. The conversation, moderated by Film Comment Editor Nicolas Rapold, covers a swath of topics, from on-set collaboration to transnational cinema. Questions from the audience also make a requisite appearance near the end.

Kristen Stewart and Chloë Sevigny Oct 26, 2016

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Kristen Stewart took a quick breather from promoting her triptych of new films at NYFF to reflect on collaborating with Olivier Assayas and Kelly Reichardt. She also shares her excitement about stepping behind the camera for the first time. And speaking of directorial debuts, Chloë Sevigny discusses making her first short film, Kitty, on the heels of its North American premiere at NYFF, as well as the pursuit of a unique, substantive acting career in a white male-centric independent film landscape.

Face Your Fears Oct 25, 2016

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Is it possible to pinpoint what is so scary about an unsettling moment of a well-made horror film? It could be the image itself, but it could also be an unexpected sonic flourish, or an abrupt cut, or a lingering long take. A truly frightening horror film often derives its power from the uncanny specificity of its techniques or mise en scène, instilling a fundamental sense of unease that can't easily be shaken. With Halloween on the horizon, Film Comment Digital Editor Violet Lucca is joined by a panel of FC mainstays to reminisce about the haunting appeal of (often uncomfortably) memorable cursed images. Guests include Michael Koresky, Editorial Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center; Margaret Barton-Fumo, author of FC's Deep Cuts column; and Ina Archer, FC contributor and student at NYU's Moving Image Archive and Preservation Program.

Errol Morris Election Special Oct 19, 2016

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Photography is by nature bittersweet: a warm moment with a loved one is captured forever, a reminder of an instant in time that can never be repeated. These conflicting feelings are deftly explored in Errol Morris’s latest documentary, The B-Side, which traces the career of Elsa Dorfman. Never seeking fame, Dorman forged lifelong friendships with counter-culture giants like Alan Ginsberg, and shot everyone from Bob Dylan to Jonathan Richman. A perfect expression of the challenges female artists have faced without overstating them, the film is a significant departure from Morris’s other work. However, when Film Comment Digital Editor Violet Lucca spoke with him the day after the second presidential debate, many of the themes that have run throughout his work—namely, the nature of truth—naturally arose. The director also talks about his upcoming Netflix series, documentary technique, and a few of his dream collaborations with heads of state.

NYFF 2016 Live Roundtable Oct 18, 2016

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The fanfare of the 54th New York Film Festival may have officially wrapped on Saturday, but the films themselves live on—so let's talk about them. As part of an aptly named "Festival Wrap" free talk, several of Film Comment's frequent contributors and editors recently came together before a live audience to reflect on the highlights of a robust NYFF slate. Listen below to the full conversation before these films make the rounds in the coming months. The panel includes FC columnist Margaret Barton-Fumo, critic K. Austin Collins, MOMI programmer and FC columnist Eric Hynes, and Metrograph programmer Aliza Ma, as well as Film Comment Digital Editor Violet Lucca and Editor-in-Chief Nicolas Rapold.

The Living Cinema Oct 11, 2016

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The September/October issue of Film Comment re-envisioned the magazine’s style and sharpened its focus, celebrating the vibrancy of cinema as well as delving into tough critical issues. As part of the 54th New York Film Festival’s free talks series sponsored by HBO, critics whose work appears in the current issue—Farihah Zaman, Nick Pinkerton, Imogen Sara Smith, and Shonni Enelow—joined Film Comment Editor Nicolas Rapold and Film Society Editorial Director Michael Koresky before a live audience to discuss their ideas and find points of comparison between the big films of the season and the pressing issues facing the medium.

Social Media and Criticism Oct 04, 2016

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Aside from search engines, the most visited sites in the world are social media: the old mainstays Facebook and Twitter. Their impact on film culture and cinephilia has been profound, giving voice to people who were formerly outside of the established critical conversation, but also providing a new outlet for seasoned critics. However, not all of the changes fostered by social media have been positive: hasty and reductive festival “takes,” the performative nature of “callout culture,” and straight-up trolling, to name but a few. To discuss and elaborate upon ideas from Nick Pinkerton’s feature on social media and criticism in the September/October issue, Digital Editor Violet Lucca was joined by Pinkerton, Kameron Collins of The Ringer, and Mark Harris of Vulture for this episode.

Classical Cinema, Now Sep 27, 2016

Show notes

Great works of art transcend the passage of time, but the cinema of years past has its own special qualities of transcendence and immersion. This episode of The Film Comment Podcast explores how we relate to older films in the modern era, and examines the culture that surrounds their appreciation in an era of revival runs, film festivals, and restoration efforts. The discussion, led by Film Comment Digital Editor Violet Lucca, touches on modern audiences' emotional distance from older works, the enduring power of the film medium, and the particular experience of younger generations of cinephiles. Rounding out the panel are Vulture critic Mark Harris; FC columnist Farran Smith Nehme; and critic Imogen Sara Smith, whose September/October feature on classical cinema and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival inspired this conversation.

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