Deep Cut: A Film Podcast is a director-focused film podcast featuring deep-dive discussions about international, art-house, and independent cinema. Each episode...
094. Edward Yang: That Day, On The Beach (featuring Natalie Ng)
We’re thrilled to be joined by Natalie Ng, a huge Edward Yang fan and friend of the podcast, to dive into Yang’s feature debut, That Day, On The Beach! Natalie, who works at the Asian Film Archive, tells us about AFA’s recent Edward Yang retrospective (complete with a physical exhibition) and shares her deep love for Yang’s work.Together, we explore the film’s place in Yang’s filmography, its inventive narrative structure, and how it set the stage for his later masterpieces. Natalie highlights the agency of female characters in the film, while Ben argues that De-wei should have been hotter. Wilson leads us in discussing Christopher Doyle’s first feature work as a cinematographer and the stylistic choices of the film, and we very importantly discuss Sylvia Chang’s iconic perm, and whether girlbossing is an ideal ending for Yang’s female characters.Links:Natalie’s Letterboxd review on That Day, On The BeachFollow Natalie on X (@schatzepages), Letterboxd (@wednesdaydreams), and read her writing on filmedinether.com.That Day, On Our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.comTimestamps:(00:00) Intro(11:17) General Reactions(25:18) Natalie’s personal reaction to the film(29:47) Melodrama and female agency(34:35) Edward Yang’s “Women without men” + Digression into other Yang films(41:49) Ending of That Day(45:47) Qing-qing and Jia-sen’s roles in the story(50:52) Jia-li’s love interests(54:40) Tone and filmic style(01:02:55) Other films That Day relates to(01:07:15) Babies(01:10:32) The Perm and costumes(01:15:04) Yang’s early fascination with women’s stories(01:21:36) Wrap-up
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1:26:56
093. Edward Yang: Mahjong
We prepare for Edward Yang’s game of Mahjong and all we’re looking for is a fourth player (you!). The last of his works to get restored, and possibly his most cynical film, we find much to discuss with A Confucian Confusion’s evil twin in Yang’s filmography. Ben explores Yang’s depiction of sexual relationships, Eli expounds on Yang’s fascination with intergenerational misunderstandings, Wilson compares its heightened depiction of violence, and finally we answer the question… why’s it called Mahjong?Join our gang at FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.comTimestamps:(00:00) Intro(02:29) General Reactions(08:35) Plot Summary; why’s it called mahjong?(12:10) Transactional relationships, East and West(16:07) Sex work(24:00) Narrative and thematic construction(31:30) Intergenerational misunderstanding(36:48) Violence(41:55) Romance and ending(54:45) Outro
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56:50
092. Edward Yang: A Confucian Confusion
Girl, so Confucian. We sit down to unpack Edward Yang’s dark horse masterpiece, 1994’s A Confucian Confusion. Eli talks about his first time watching this zany comedy and how it reminded him of a lot of college friend groups. Wilson explains why he thinks this is Yang’s true deep cut film, and doubles down on the film’s belief on ‘emotional work’. Ben discusses how Yang injects A Confucian Confusion with an easy relatability and argues that this is a great starting point to Yang’s filmography. Is this a comedy of errors, a biting critique of modern society, or both? Join us as we unravel the layers of Yang’s underappreciated classic.
When Cinema Reflects the Times: Hou Hsiao Hsien and Edward Yang (1993) (Dir: Hirokazu Koreeda)
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Timestamps
(00:00) Intro
(04:43) General reactions
(11:57) Plot summary and context
(15:51) Character discussion
(30:30) Themes discussion: capitalism and emotion
(43:00) Behind the scenes documentary with Hou
(48:33) More character discussion
(55:00) Ending of the film
(58:50) Yang’s career
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1:09:38
091. Nick Park & Steve Box: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
The classic genres… horror, rom-com, monster film, bunny-comedy? In our preparation for the recently released Vengeance Most Fowl, join us as we cover Nick Park’s 2005 Wallace & Gromit feature, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, co-directed with Steve Box. Eli recounts the experience he had watching this in theaters as a kid. Wilson talks about why stop motion animation scares him. And Ben leads us into an interesting conversation about genre, and how comedy operates in this film and in our lives
Paul Santilli: Culture, Evil and Horror
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Timestamps
(00:00) Intro
(06:49) Plot summary
(08:58) General reactions
(13:17) Types of humour
(20:55) Genre
(28:30) Payoffs
(35:30) Stop-motion and humanity
(41:42) Margin of safety
(45:35) Comedy and horror
(47:57) Childhood movies and tragedy
(51:27) Outro
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53:05
090. The People's Joker: Interview with Director Vera Drew
Tune in for a very special episode as Wilson chats with The People’s Joker director, writer, star and editor Vera Drew about her feature film debut! Vera Drew talks about getting into filmmaking, the incredibly collaborative process behind making The People’s Joker, as well as the tough road it took for the film to reach the public.
The People’s Joker is streaming exclusively on Mubi.
Timestamps
(00:00) Intro
(03:29) Interview
(30:44) Outro
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Deep Cut: A Film Podcast is a director-focused film podcast featuring deep-dive discussions about international, art-house, and independent cinema. Each episode we discuss either a director's most popular film or a "Deep Cut Pick": a personal favorite chosen by one of us. We've covered movies from filmmakers like Hirokazu Kore-eda, Agnes Varda, Éric Rohmer, Kelly Reichardt, Wong Kar-wai, S.S. Rajamouli, Bong Joon-ho, and more.
Looking for film recommendations off the beaten path? This is the pod to follow!
Links to our Discord and other socials here: https://deepcutpod.com
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