WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:03.480 The Projection Booth podcast is sponsored by Scarecrow Video. Tryout 2 00:00:03.480 --> 00:00:06.719 Scarecrow's rent by mail service. Choose from over one hundred 3 00:00:06.759 --> 00:00:09.480 and fifty thousand films again blu rays, four k's and 4 00:00:09.560 --> 00:00:13.640 DVDs delivered directly to your door. Visit scarecrow dot Com. 5 00:00:13.640 --> 00:00:21.960 To the oh geez, folks. 6 00:00:22.039 --> 00:00:23.039 It's showtime. 7 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:25.679 People say good money to see this movie. 8 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:28.640 When they go out to a theater. They want clothed, sodas, 9 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:30.160 hot popcorn in. 10 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:32.280 No monsters in the projection Booth. 11 00:00:32.439 --> 00:00:34.280 Everyone pretend podcasting isn't boring. 12 00:00:35.320 --> 00:00:36.000 Got it off? 13 00:00:55.799 --> 00:01:01.320 Said guy Ye saw school. 14 00:01:01.479 --> 00:01:02.840 Naha Smiths. 15 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:10.480 So he's a mulis nawstrata las. 16 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:17.280 What did ski fi? The romance. 17 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:22.079 Fudo not sirs formal. 18 00:01:24.840 --> 00:01:27.079 Welcome to the Projection Booth. I'm your host. Mike White 19 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:31.040 joined me once again is Ms Emily Barney Hey. Also 20 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:32.959 back in the booth is mister Spencer Parsons. 21 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:33.640 Hello. 22 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:37.319 We continue Cheptember twenty twenty five with a look at 23 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:41.920 Adakar Vavra's Romance for Bugle, also known as Romance for 24 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:45.480 lugol Horn. It's a lyrical movie based on a poem 25 00:01:45.519 --> 00:01:49.359 of the same name written by franticek Kruben and adapted 26 00:01:49.400 --> 00:01:53.040 and directed by Adakar Vavra. The film is a classic 27 00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:56.439 love triangle about two men, Voita and Victor, and their 28 00:01:56.519 --> 00:02:01.079 shared fascination with the same woman. Tarina will be spoiling 29 00:02:01.079 --> 00:02:02.640 this film as much as we can, so if you 30 00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:04.920 don't want anything ruined, please turn off the podcast and 31 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:07.799 come back after you've seen it. We will still be here. 32 00:02:08.199 --> 00:02:10.240 So Emily, when was the first time you saw Romance 33 00:02:10.280 --> 00:02:11.919 for Bugle and what did you think? 34 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:14.520 So this was a new one for me. I know 35 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:19.319 it was on my watch list. Odacar Babra is such 36 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:22.599 a major figure in check film, so I'm always interested 37 00:02:22.639 --> 00:02:25.599 in seeing his movies. Of course, I've seen witch Hammer 38 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:31.919 and Krakate his first kind of avant garde film, so 39 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:35.680 I was very interested seeing it, and I really loved 40 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:39.680 the movie. I'm kind of a sucker for sad social dramas, 41 00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:43.199 and it's a very sad movie. It's a really beautiful 42 00:02:43.319 --> 00:02:48.039 sense of nostalgia and sweetness before it kind of crushes 43 00:02:48.120 --> 00:02:50.599 your soul. So I really enjoyed the movie. 44 00:02:51.039 --> 00:02:53.919 And Spencer, how about yourself, Yeah, this is my first 45 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:56.560 time seeing it and really loved it. This is a 46 00:02:56.599 --> 00:02:59.759 new filmmaker to me, Yeah, really terrific work, and I 47 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:02.039 want to see more of his stuff. 48 00:03:03.240 --> 00:03:06.919 This was also a new one for me. I remember 49 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:11.240 seeing the DVD or poster image for this a lot 50 00:03:11.400 --> 00:03:13.960 for whatever reason, maybe it was in like the Facets 51 00:03:14.039 --> 00:03:18.000 catalog or something, But as soon as I saw Yerimer Hanzlik, 52 00:03:18.039 --> 00:03:20.800 I was like, Yeah, I love that guy. I love 53 00:03:20.919 --> 00:03:24.080 watching that guy. I really like to see more things 54 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:26.879 with him in it. So I said, yeah, let's do it, 55 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:29.800 and had no idea really walking in what it was 56 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:33.159 about that it was based on this poem, what the 57 00:03:33.240 --> 00:03:36.879 poem was, how significant it was for Czech culture, that 58 00:03:36.919 --> 00:03:40.919 they've made this movie several times or made the poem 59 00:03:41.479 --> 00:03:45.680 adapted it several times for usually the stage, but yeah, 60 00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:48.120 checking out this movie, and also that it was nineteen 61 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:51.080 sixty seven, which is an interesting year in Czech history, 62 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:55.879 just right before the whole progue spring, and seeing where 63 00:03:55.919 --> 00:03:58.759 we were with the world at that point, and how 64 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:01.240 this film kind of flex things back. It feels like 65 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:04.000 there's not a care in the world sometimes but other 66 00:04:04.080 --> 00:04:08.120 times it feels like, you know, we have some looming danger. 67 00:04:08.759 --> 00:04:12.680 And then also noting a little bit of Vava's past 68 00:04:12.840 --> 00:04:16.439 and just how he was such a huge influence on 69 00:04:16.920 --> 00:04:20.800 Czech filmmaking and especially being a teacher at FAMU and 70 00:04:21.279 --> 00:04:24.279 teaching so many of the filmmakers that I know and 71 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:27.199 love so much. So I'm always up for seeing whatever 72 00:04:27.240 --> 00:04:30.279 he does. And then, yeah, like you said, Emily Witchhammer 73 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:33.199 really blew me away, so again I wanted to see 74 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:35.879 more of his work. This morning, I was on a 75 00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:39.240 podcast about Memoirs of an Invisible Man, and I was 76 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:42.000 saying that one of my least favorite things in all 77 00:04:42.120 --> 00:04:45.199 movies is to start with a framing story and never 78 00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:47.759 come back to the framing story. I'm so glad that 79 00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:50.040 we start with a framing story and actually come back 80 00:04:50.079 --> 00:04:52.560 to it. And it's such a fitting end for this film. 81 00:04:53.079 --> 00:04:55.560 And I like that we set up this relationship between 82 00:04:55.560 --> 00:04:58.279 these two men that just kind of meet in a 83 00:04:58.360 --> 00:05:01.360 bar and we know some thing has gone on between them, 84 00:05:01.639 --> 00:05:05.759 and that they start talking about this woman, Tarina, and 85 00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:08.639 the one guy, Victor, is like, oh, you want to 86 00:05:08.680 --> 00:05:11.480 see her? You want to go see Tarina and immediately 87 00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:16.480 heads to the graveyard on his tractor, and I'm like, oh, okay, 88 00:05:16.519 --> 00:05:18.360 what's going on between these two guys? 89 00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:21.319 All right? Can we just also give due respect to 90 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:25.279 this tractor ride as probably the most like alarming ride 91 00:05:25.319 --> 00:05:29.360 on a tracker in cinema. I've never seen anything quite 92 00:05:29.399 --> 00:05:33.040 like it. They're on their way and it is clearly 93 00:05:33.079 --> 00:05:35.920 a little frightening and heavy just on the ride there. 94 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:41.000 It's filmed as if it's Alex and the drugs driving 95 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:45.399 their little crazy car through London. What a way to 96 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:48.120 open the film. As soon as the movie ended, I 97 00:05:48.279 --> 00:05:51.360 started it over again to go back to the frame 98 00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:55.000 story because it is evocative. It's such a great way 99 00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:57.879 to start the movie. But I also had this desire 100 00:05:57.959 --> 00:06:01.199 to revisit because the rest of the store went into 101 00:06:01.720 --> 00:06:05.560 zones that had made me almost forget it. As evocative 102 00:06:05.560 --> 00:06:08.319 and intense as it had been, and as much as 103 00:06:08.319 --> 00:06:10.920 it was about her death right out of the gate, 104 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:13.639 when we got to the mention of her death at 105 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:17.639 the very end, I was like, Oh, but I just 106 00:06:17.959 --> 00:06:20.720 didn't want to believe it. I'm told upfront, and I 107 00:06:20.759 --> 00:06:24.319 don't want to believe this major event of the story. Yeah. 108 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:28.079 I revisited that sequence a lot as well. It's just 109 00:06:28.120 --> 00:06:33.040 such a nightmare kind of scenario, and it also it 110 00:06:33.079 --> 00:06:35.240 makes it kind of the tractor kind of makes it 111 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:37.920 hard to place, like when in time is this happening 112 00:06:38.519 --> 00:06:40.680 and you're trying to orient yourself, you know, is this 113 00:06:40.759 --> 00:06:43.839 the present, is it just because they're in a rural 114 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:48.360 area that this is a thing people do, or you know, 115 00:06:48.519 --> 00:06:52.079 is this the past. So it's a little insuttling in 116 00:06:52.120 --> 00:06:55.040 that respect. I wanted to point out kind of a 117 00:06:55.079 --> 00:06:59.439 cultural thing with cemeteries. You know, here in the US 118 00:06:59.480 --> 00:07:02.199 we have lots of you know, one person. You know, 119 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:05.120 you buy your plots and you're there forever or until 120 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:09.199 they move it. But in the Checklands, you rent and 121 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:11.319 usually like a whole family will be in like a 122 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:14.160 plot together and then like every ten years you pay 123 00:07:14.199 --> 00:07:18.439 your cemetery bill. So that moment where you know, they 124 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:20.879 go wake up the caretaker, we want to see her, 125 00:07:21.399 --> 00:07:25.000 and he's like, well, someone else took the space. I 126 00:07:25.079 --> 00:07:27.720 don't know where she is now, She's she's not there 127 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:30.199 any longer. You know, you don't know who these people are, 128 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:33.279 but you know that they knew each other, they had 129 00:07:33.279 --> 00:07:35.800 this connection. And then here you know, this man Voita 130 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:37.920 is just finding out oh not only is she dead, 131 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:41.160 but like she wasn't cared for, you know, her body's 132 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:43.920 just gone. And now this strunk Man is going to 133 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:47.040 take him on a tractor ride through the fields, and 134 00:07:48.040 --> 00:07:48.439 it's like. 135 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:49.920 The wind in the willows. Suddenly. 136 00:07:50.199 --> 00:07:52.319 I love the string music that kind of comes in 137 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:56.759 and just really like reinforcing, like, yeah, this is terrifying. 138 00:07:57.480 --> 00:08:01.240 It's not just you. This is kind ofa's nightmare that 139 00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:04.480 we're witnessing, and just seeing him looking like he's about 140 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:06.399 to throw up on the tractor there. 141 00:08:07.399 --> 00:08:09.680 Yeah, the soundtrack of this, and I don't mean just 142 00:08:09.759 --> 00:08:14.040 the music, which is obviously majorly important. We start off 143 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:17.680 with an accordion playing and then we go into Victor 144 00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:22.399 playing his bugle, and the bugle comes back when they 145 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:26.000 end up right before the credits start. They end up 146 00:08:26.040 --> 00:08:27.959 in this kind of open area and he starts playing 147 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:31.959 the bugle again. But I'm talking about the sound mix 148 00:08:32.200 --> 00:08:37.240 of all the dogs barking. There are some sirens. Whenever 149 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:41.600 he Voita goes to see his grandfather, there are these 150 00:08:41.639 --> 00:08:44.759 flies that are buzzing like crazy. I think they do 151 00:08:44.840 --> 00:08:47.200 a great job of just setting so much of the 152 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:50.720 tone with the music bed or the soundtrack that's going 153 00:08:50.759 --> 00:08:53.960 on with the sound effects, and it's not always just 154 00:08:54.039 --> 00:08:56.919 the music, it's just the sounds of what this world 155 00:08:57.039 --> 00:08:57.759 is that they live in. 156 00:08:58.519 --> 00:09:02.159 Yeah, the sounds of bugs in this movie are really intense, 157 00:09:02.200 --> 00:09:05.679 and I love the dogs. The dogs make that seem 158 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:09.080 so unsettling. It's like all the dogs in town are 159 00:09:09.159 --> 00:09:13.200 all barking at once at night. How can anybody manage it? 160 00:09:13.480 --> 00:09:16.440 But it's yeah, wonderful and nightmarish. 161 00:09:16.600 --> 00:09:19.799 The clock in their cottage just always ticking, just this 162 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:22.120 sense of time is coming. 163 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:25.039 And it wasn't until the second time I watched it 164 00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:29.159 that I realized what the opening credits were going over. 165 00:09:29.679 --> 00:09:32.320 That it's this kind of carousel that they have, and 166 00:09:32.360 --> 00:09:35.639 it's all of these beautiful paintings that they have on 167 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:39.840 the carousel. And it's such a lovely way of having 168 00:09:39.919 --> 00:09:43.840 the credits and showing these beautiful images and also getting 169 00:09:43.879 --> 00:09:47.039 to see that one of my favorite people, Esther Kombakova, 170 00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:51.120 did the costumes for this. Interestingly, it's listed as a 171 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:54.320 sixty seven film every place I look, but the copyright 172 00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:56.240 on the actual film is sixty six. 173 00:09:56.799 --> 00:09:59.080 That's when they shot it, Okay. 174 00:09:58.759 --> 00:10:01.440 I wasn't sure if there was the and release or whatnot. 175 00:10:02.360 --> 00:10:05.440 And then having that little I wish he had subtitles 176 00:10:05.480 --> 00:10:08.120 for this. The OVID quote that opens up the. 177 00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:12.320 Film, I translated it, oh please, So yeah, it's it's 178 00:10:12.360 --> 00:10:16.240 Ovid's version of the myth of Phaetone, and it says, 179 00:10:16.360 --> 00:10:18.799 you ask for great things, Faeetone, but this gift is 180 00:10:18.840 --> 00:10:22.080 beyond your power. Your boyish age cannot achieve it. You 181 00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:25.519 are mortal, but what you desire is not mortal. And 182 00:10:25.559 --> 00:10:28.919 I guess the myth is Fayetone is the mortal son 183 00:10:29.159 --> 00:10:32.480 of the god Apollo. There's different versions of it with 184 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:36.240 different gods, but in his it's Apollo. And to prove 185 00:10:36.279 --> 00:10:39.480 that he is Apollo's son, he wants to drive Paula's chariot. 186 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:43.000 So the quote is Apollo saying, like you're too young, 187 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:45.919 you can't control it. And then the myth, he does 188 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:49.600 end up taking the chariot and it goes terribly and 189 00:10:49.679 --> 00:10:52.679 causes a lot of destruction and death, and so then 190 00:10:52.759 --> 00:10:55.360 Jupiter throws a lightning bolt at him and kills him. 191 00:10:56.159 --> 00:11:00.120 So another little tid that we're not in for a fun. 192 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:04.720 Time here, no, And I have to say every version 193 00:11:04.840 --> 00:11:08.200 of this that I've been able to track down horrible subtitles, 194 00:11:08.600 --> 00:11:14.279 really bad subtitles like broken English, bad spelling coming up 195 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:17.840 sometimes at the wrong time, and I hope that the 196 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:21.039 DVD of this has better subtitles, and I hope that 197 00:11:21.080 --> 00:11:23.399 there's a blu ray of this on the horizon, because 198 00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:27.679 it looks gorgeous. Even with these bad subtitles, the movie 199 00:11:27.720 --> 00:11:28.679 looks fantastic. 200 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:32.120 The Check DVB. I looked into ordering it and having 201 00:11:32.120 --> 00:11:35.399 it shipped, but it didn't have English subtitles, so this 202 00:11:35.480 --> 00:11:40.759 is definitely due for a restoration and proper subtitles. 203 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:46.120 I really hope one of our boutique disc companies can 204 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:48.840 see clear to put this out. I think this movie 205 00:11:49.240 --> 00:11:52.799 is really remarkable. It's definitely my favorite new to me 206 00:11:53.159 --> 00:11:58.279 movie of this year. As a filmmaker, Vabra feels incredibly important, 207 00:11:58.840 --> 00:12:03.559 spanning the history a lot of complicated stuff about his life, 208 00:12:04.440 --> 00:12:09.159 but this particular film, and when I was watching it, 209 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:12.120 I really just went in cold. I did not read 210 00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:14.360 any of the materials in advance. I didn't look up 211 00:12:14.759 --> 00:12:18.320 anything about him. Part of my approach was like, Okay, yes, 212 00:12:18.519 --> 00:12:23.200 it was a very check new wave filmmaking. It definitely 213 00:12:23.240 --> 00:12:26.039 fit into my notion of that. And now I'm really 214 00:12:26.039 --> 00:12:30.480 interested in what really were the styles of check filmmaking 215 00:12:30.519 --> 00:12:34.080 before the New wave, because that's where my clock on 216 00:12:34.360 --> 00:12:39.519 Chech filmmaking begins, and then finding out that Vava's an 217 00:12:39.559 --> 00:12:43.639 older filmmaker. Yes, he has a big influence on Check 218 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:47.799 new wave filmmakers. It really did have me asking questions 219 00:12:47.879 --> 00:12:53.679 about check style in general, and that, for instance, some 220 00:12:53.720 --> 00:12:55.840 of the writing on him says that his style is 221 00:12:55.840 --> 00:12:58.759 not that unusual. And I didn't pig this movie for 222 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:04.559 being a big innovative film. But the shooting, cutting and 223 00:13:04.600 --> 00:13:10.000 blocking is impeccable throughout and also very it feels very particular, 224 00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:15.679 very handmade for this particular story, really careful and beautiful work, 225 00:13:16.360 --> 00:13:19.399 even some small things. The sudden cut early on in 226 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:22.840 the movie from the carousel. It's a carousel, but it's 227 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:26.600 on these long chains that are I will admit a 228 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:29.840 little bit frightening to me, which just wonderful, but it's 229 00:13:29.879 --> 00:13:33.879 a very sudden and jarring cut to the razor blade 230 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:38.120 as he's shaving, and then not long after that, it's 231 00:13:38.279 --> 00:13:44.919 very disorienting that little scythe pricking at his back. Beautiful 232 00:13:44.919 --> 00:13:47.879 shot of his shoulder blades, and then the scythe comes 233 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:51.879 in and we start revealing the scene moving out. Yeah, 234 00:13:51.919 --> 00:13:55.759 this initial cut from beautiful, romantic but also slightly dangerous 235 00:13:55.799 --> 00:14:00.000 feeling moment to these like sharp objects is really beautiful 236 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:05.080 visual storytelling, and the movie is full of that all throughout. 237 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:10.000 Lava. He started making movies in the thirties and was 238 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:13.720 kind of an avant garde filmmaker, active in kind of 239 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:18.120 The Left Bank. His kind of second film he worked 240 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:23.480 on with Alexander Hackenschmied The Future Mister Maya Darin. So 241 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:27.519 he kind of has these avant garde bona fides that 242 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:30.639 you know, as time went on, as he worked under 243 00:14:30.679 --> 00:14:35.480 different authoritarian regimes, you can still kind of see little 244 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:37.759 bits of that in his movies. And then I think, 245 00:14:37.879 --> 00:14:41.639 just yeah, working with the New Way filmmakers, you know, 246 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:44.159 he learned from them as much as they learned from him, 247 00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:46.720 and he really was able to kind of embrace that 248 00:14:46.840 --> 00:14:50.480 side of himself again, which is really, you know, lovely 249 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:55.159 and it's too bad it didn't last, but you know 250 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:57.879 that's the best films of his career, and you know 251 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:01.960 that he felt himself as well. They were the films 252 00:15:01.960 --> 00:15:03.039 he loved the most that he made. 253 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:07.039 Yeah, there were I think a few filmmakers him and 254 00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:10.759 I can't remember the gentleman's name that did The Devil's 255 00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:15.279 Trap and the Fifth Horseman is Fear. They really got 256 00:15:15.320 --> 00:15:17.120 a shot in the arm when it came to the 257 00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:19.279 New Wave and being able to have a new lease 258 00:15:19.320 --> 00:15:23.039 on life, which was very nice to see. And then 259 00:15:23.080 --> 00:15:26.919 even yeah, posts Prague Spring, I mean witches Hammer or 260 00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:29.720 witch Hammer, whatever you want to call it. It is 261 00:15:30.200 --> 00:15:34.440 such a great film and you know, such a condemnation 262 00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:38.039 of all the show trials and things that had happened 263 00:15:38.120 --> 00:15:42.279 in Czechoslovakia. So even though some people had real problems 264 00:15:42.279 --> 00:15:45.559 with him, he didn't necessarily you know, in the US, 265 00:15:45.559 --> 00:15:47.919 like he didn't name names kind of thing. But he 266 00:15:48.039 --> 00:15:52.919 wasn't as loved by the younger filmmakers after he aligned 267 00:15:52.960 --> 00:15:56.519 himself with more of the Communist government after the Progue Spring. 268 00:15:57.080 --> 00:16:00.360 But I feel that Witch's Hammer really redeems him, at 269 00:16:00.440 --> 00:16:01.320 least in my mind. 270 00:16:02.159 --> 00:16:05.279 I guess the first kind of instance of it is 271 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:09.000 with Alfred Roddock in nineteen forty nine he made Distant. 272 00:16:08.759 --> 00:16:11.480 Journey, and god, that's such a great film. 273 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:16.240 Yeah, so Bavra was very outspoken, this is bourgeois and 274 00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:19.840 this is a terrible movie, and you know, so they 275 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:23.120 didn't like ban it, but then you know, they didn't 276 00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:27.120 didn't have a wide release, and it destroyed his film career. 277 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:29.919 You know, he never could quite get back to film. 278 00:16:29.960 --> 00:16:32.440 So I think a lot of people, especially you know, 279 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:35.159 because that was before the check nude wave and everything, like, 280 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:39.679 he was a party man and it did some damage there. 281 00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:42.600 So I think there's kind of a long history of 282 00:16:43.320 --> 00:16:45.919 you know, he is the establishment spencer. 283 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:49.399 You mentioned the cut to the razor blade and then 284 00:16:49.480 --> 00:16:53.279 the little scythe that goes into his back as he's shaving. 285 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:59.399 The sudden cut to the grandfather character was pretty startling 286 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:02.120 as well. The way he is there saying home, we 287 00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:05.000 have to go home and things, and I'm like, okay, 288 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:07.640 I'm not sure exactly what's going on. I mean, I'm 289 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:11.160 pretty sure that he's got dementia of some sort. He 290 00:17:11.240 --> 00:17:13.839 just seems pretty out of it. And it really feels 291 00:17:13.880 --> 00:17:18.039 like Vadka as spending most of his life taking care 292 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:21.200 of his grandfather and putting a lot of other things 293 00:17:21.240 --> 00:17:24.799 on hold. Though he is going to be a teacher, 294 00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:27.319 even though it sounds like that's not necessarily what he 295 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:29.599 wants to do. It sounds like what his father wants 296 00:17:29.640 --> 00:17:33.359 him to do. And it's nice that we realize from 297 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:36.920 that opening framing device that that's what he ended up 298 00:17:36.920 --> 00:17:40.519 doing so, he ended up not following his dreams. 299 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:45.960 Part of the beautiful structure of that scene is that 300 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:51.839 because there's been a framing device, I initially took the 301 00:17:51.880 --> 00:17:56.359 pictorial elements as being possibly out of time, cross cutting 302 00:17:56.559 --> 00:18:00.400 two different timelines, and we're not. But it gives us 303 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:03.839 that feeling, which is then very important to understanding the 304 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:07.319 character of the grandfather, who, in his own weird way, 305 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:10.440 because of his stroke, is unstuck in time. There are 306 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:15.680 really wonderful kinds of poetic devices that Devabra is finding 307 00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:20.079 within setting up a very simple scene to get us 308 00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:22.440 a little bit wrong footed in one way that then 309 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:25.279 gets us very right footed for the rest of the story. 310 00:18:25.960 --> 00:18:28.920 This is actually the third film that Barbara made with 311 00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:34.960 the writer Frantisha Khrubin, and the movie before this one 312 00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:37.880 the Golden Rennet. It's based on a book, but it's 313 00:18:37.960 --> 00:18:40.559 very much like the timelines are kind of interweaving together. 314 00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:45.079 And it didn't do very like it won you know, awards. 315 00:18:45.160 --> 00:18:48.880 It did great critically, but audiences didn't understand it. So 316 00:18:49.400 --> 00:18:53.079 they really kind of use that experience to refine kind 317 00:18:53.079 --> 00:18:57.039 of the timeline because the poem is very mixed up, 318 00:18:57.480 --> 00:18:59.960 so they kind of made it a little more audio 319 00:19:00.039 --> 00:19:00.599 and is friendly. 320 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:03.400 I wasn't able to see that movie. Did you manage 321 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:04.119 to track it down? 322 00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:09.680 Yeah? There's no English subtitles though, And I could understand 323 00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:12.359 the check, you know, if I'm like Kyd of rewinding 324 00:19:12.359 --> 00:19:14.519 and relistening, So it would have taken me like six 325 00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:18.279 hours to do that, so I kind of just let 326 00:19:18.279 --> 00:19:21.640 it ride, you know. And so I did understand a 327 00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:25.200 fair amount of it. And it's very, yeah, surreal and dreamy, 328 00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:30.079 so maybe it's not totally necessary, you know, it's very beautiful, 329 00:19:30.119 --> 00:19:34.039 and I mean that would be like a great double feature, 330 00:19:34.200 --> 00:19:39.200 I guess, or double package Golden Rennet and Romance Rebeugal. 331 00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:41.920 And it's a very similar story as well. A man 332 00:19:41.960 --> 00:19:45.599 in his fifties who's kind of disappointed with the choices 333 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:48.680 he's made and goes to visit his home village and 334 00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:52.160 you know, there's a girl he loved where he didn't 335 00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:54.839 show up to their meeting, and you know, so it's 336 00:19:55.000 --> 00:20:00.279 there's very similar themes happening. They're kind of cosmic twins. Yeah. 337 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:02.920 I saw there were clips of that in that Golden 338 00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:07.519 sixties episode about Vavra, and they had subtitles on there, 339 00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:10.079 so I was very excited and got to see a 340 00:20:10.119 --> 00:20:12.599 few clips and I said, oh, I want to see this, 341 00:20:12.680 --> 00:20:15.039 but I couldn't find a version of it. So I'm 342 00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:17.519 glad that you were able to see it even without subtitles. 343 00:20:17.960 --> 00:20:18.119 You know. 344 00:20:18.200 --> 00:20:21.440 I searched everywhere for subtitles, but so I'm sure somewhere 345 00:20:21.480 --> 00:20:22.000 they exist. 346 00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:26.720 I am surprised that Tonka doesn't play more of a 347 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:30.319 role in this film. She's very present in the opening 348 00:20:30.359 --> 00:20:33.519 of this and that's also where we get a lot 349 00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:35.960 of the more avant garde kind of things, the way 350 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:39.880 that were cutting to her in the river and cutting 351 00:20:39.920 --> 00:20:42.200 back to him on shore as he's reading this book 352 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:44.720 with this big spider crawling up the book. I thought 353 00:20:44.759 --> 00:20:47.319 it was a really nice image, and just the images 354 00:20:47.359 --> 00:20:50.720 of the insects. And he was talking again in that 355 00:20:50.759 --> 00:20:54.960 Golden Sixties episode about how his cinematographer on this was 356 00:20:55.480 --> 00:20:58.880 very patient and really understood what he was going for 357 00:20:59.079 --> 00:21:01.720 and wanted to capture some of these images of these 358 00:21:01.720 --> 00:21:05.240 insects because they weren't cgi, you know, and they weren't 359 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:08.759 a little puppets on strings being pulled by a fishing 360 00:21:08.759 --> 00:21:11.640 wire or anything. These are real bugs that they were 361 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:16.960 capturing and this lyrical you know, I used that word before, 362 00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:21.240 but just the use of nature and these insects and things. 363 00:21:21.319 --> 00:21:24.000 And again going back to the insects, sound of the 364 00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:28.319 grandfather being tied into that almost like he's rotting before 365 00:21:28.319 --> 00:21:31.440 he's dead. I think it's gorgeous. And some of these 366 00:21:31.480 --> 00:21:35.480 images of those two Tanka and Vatchya in the river 367 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:38.279 floating around very erotic stuff. 368 00:21:39.160 --> 00:21:44.599 This is a wonderful lesson in eroticism with like minimal 369 00:21:45.240 --> 00:21:49.920 minimal nudity or specific action. And it isn't just this, 370 00:21:50.359 --> 00:21:52.960 it's this scene is the big one and the most obvious. 371 00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:55.920 This is a very horny movie, and in a really 372 00:21:56.000 --> 00:22:00.079 wonderful way, from right out of the gate introducing the 373 00:22:00.119 --> 00:22:06.440 younger versions of our triangle characters. One the very first 374 00:22:06.440 --> 00:22:12.079 shot of this young woman is not necessarily so erotic, 375 00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:18.279 but she is riving. She's absolutely riveting. And then it 376 00:22:18.319 --> 00:22:21.079 does the cuts to the male gaze kind of things, 377 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:25.759 and then she returns the gaze towards them, and that 378 00:22:26.119 --> 00:22:31.240 little sequence is like a really beautiful kind of reciprocal 379 00:22:31.559 --> 00:22:34.599 kind of experience of at least two people within the 380 00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:39.200 situation seeing noticing each other and wanting to be together 381 00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:42.880 in a way that is done without any words, done 382 00:22:42.920 --> 00:22:47.200 without a whole lot of action, an invitation to ride 383 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:51.960 the ride as it were, and really beautifully done, and 384 00:22:52.039 --> 00:22:55.519 the introduction of Tanka with the side of touching his back. 385 00:22:56.519 --> 00:22:59.599 The movie is really full of this, and yeah, placing 386 00:22:59.640 --> 00:23:04.160 it within and nature that is not precisely eroticized, but 387 00:23:04.440 --> 00:23:10.000 these images of nature definitely placed them into the natural 388 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.240 flow of things. The whole movie until the end really 389 00:23:14.279 --> 00:23:18.559 takes on a kind of beautiful eroticism. The shapes created 390 00:23:18.680 --> 00:23:22.279 by their faces in relationship to each other in a 391 00:23:22.359 --> 00:23:28.319 number of tight two shots are just beautiful, really lovely, 392 00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:31.920 and the kind of thing that we're in a little 393 00:23:31.960 --> 00:23:37.160 bit more censorious moment commercially within American cinema and whatnot. 394 00:23:37.440 --> 00:23:39.559 These are the kinds of tricks that I wish people 395 00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:43.519 would learn if they're uncomfortable with nudity, if they're uncomfortable 396 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:47.920 with depicting a sexual behavior, than a movie like this 397 00:23:48.200 --> 00:23:52.880 is a perfect example of how to visualize this kind 398 00:23:52.920 --> 00:23:55.880 of attraction. And yes, the one scene in the river 399 00:23:56.039 --> 00:24:00.440 that one's more traditionally much more traditionally erotic, but the 400 00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:05.000 whole film really has a kind of really beautiful observed 401 00:24:05.720 --> 00:24:12.359