Deep Cut: A Film Podcast

Following his interview with Mary Stephen at the 50th Hong Kong International Film Festival, Wilson has invited the storied director to return to Deep Cut to discuss her new hybrid documentary feature and her work editing the films of Éric Rohmer. As Palimpsest: Story of a Name garners praise around the international film festival circuit for its sensitive, witty exploration of her family’s history, Stephen dives into a different side of her personal history with the French auteur. Listen in as we ask Stephen’s thoughts on Rohmer’s process with actors on set, the authority Stephen had over the edit, and how parents tell–– or, don’t tell–– stories to their children.
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Timestamps
00:00 Intro
03:51 Melvil Poupad: Hot or Not 
05:21 Rohmer’s personal and professional life
08:42 Working as a Rohmer collaborator
11:10 A Summer's Tale preproduction 
13:02 The Rohmerian Type of Woman
14:40 Blocking and editing in A Summer's Tale
21:06 Creative input as an editor 
25:10 Mary’s sense of time
27:52 An Autumn’s Tale
35:55 The themes of Palimpsest
38:19 The Ending of Palimpsest
45:29 Mary's Relationship with her father
51:11 Mary as a director
54:34 Advice for younger filmmakers and personal deep cut

Fall in love with three beautiful podcast hosts; fumble the bag with all three. To prepare for our upcoming interview with director Mary Stephen, we study her work editing Éric Rohmer’s A Summer’s Tale. Almost five years following our initial series on the French auteur, have our thoughts changed on his calm naturalism? We compare his work to more recent Deep Cut director Hong Sang-soo, discuss the structure of his scenes, and wonder about how Stephen helped sculpt time in this film. Most importantly: do we really find that pouty French twink hot?
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Timestamps:
00:00:00 Intro
00:06:00 A Summer Tale context
00:10:38 General reactions
00:20:02 Film structure and opening
00:24:47 Gaspard’s conundrum 
00:30:48 Margot
00:36:08 What is the film trying to say?
00:38:15 Naturalism and conversations 
00:44:05 The passage of time 
00:46:15 The audience’s trust
00:50:17 Hong v Rohmer, closing tangents

Eli flies in from his foray into his favorite film fest, the 64th installation of the New York Film Festival. It’s a year full of delicate, considerate, humanistic films: Sandra Wollner’s Everytime, Ira Sachs’ The Man I Love, Jordan Firstman’s Club Kid, and Mike Leigh’s Tender Loving Care. Ben and Wilson share their thoughts on two more films in the lineup, Hong Sang-soo’s The Day She Returns, and William Greaves’ Once Upon a Time in Harlem. Also, just for the heck of it, hear what Wilson thinks about Kore-eda Hirokazu’s latest, Look Back.
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Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
06:40 Everytime (2026) dir. Sandra Wollner
13:05 The Man I Love (2026) dir. Ira Sachs
23:17 Club Kid (2026) dir. Jordan Firstman
27:31 Tender Loving Care (2026) dir. Mike Leigh
32:37 For The Moon (2026) dir. Eric Baudelaire
38:44 The Day She Returns (2026) dir. Hong Sang-soo
44:07 Once Upon a Time in Harlem (2026) dir. William Greaves, David Greaves
47:25 Look Back (2026) dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda
50:59: Upcoming festival coverage

Before Paul Verhoeven was Hollywood’s pervert-auteur of choice, he was making massive hits in Dutch cinema like this episode’s focus, Katie Tippel. Ben’s main question for this episode: what is Paul Verhoeven’s worldview? To answer, the Deep Cut trio explores the economic and sexual exploitation of Tippel’s world, the surprisingly modern-feeling period filmmaking, and lots of nudity.
Links:
Adam Nayman on Katie Tippel
Ben’s review of Mahjong
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Timestamps:
00:00:00 Intro
00:03:51 Summary, context, and general reactions
00:19:08 Verhoeven's worldview
00:33:43 Prostitution and sexuality
00:48:47 Historical films and the feeling of modernity
01:04:00 Exploitation?

Sex, violence, and metanarrative critiques of the audience! Our series on the films of Dutch auteur Paul Verhoeven begins with several bangs in 1992's Basic Instinct. After getting to know the thrilling perv, Wilson gets grossed out by Michael Douglas, Ben gets enthralled by Sharon Stone, and Eli gets confused about the ending. What big ideas lie beneath this spectacular erotic thriller? Listen on…
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Timestamps:
00:00:00 Intro
00:01:50 Introducing Paul Verhoeven
00:10:00 Moral complexity 
00:17:08 Context on Verhoeven
00:27:15 Introducing Basic Instinct
00:33:00 Nick as the protagonist; Michael Douglas as an actor
00:41:25 The interrogation scene
00:52:30 The end of the movie 
01:02:29 Car chases and murder
01:06:15 Themes and big ideas 
01:14:30 Closing thoughts