My pal Jason Bailey and his pal Mike Hull host a fascinating podcast called A Very Good Year, which they describe as: “Each week we invite a guest (filmmakers and actors, critics and historians, comedians and musicians) who loves movies, and ask them to select their favorite year of movies. Some pick a year from their movie-going past; some go deep into film history. Whichever the case, we spend (about) an hour talking about that year: we ask them to share their top five films of the year, and tell us why they love them; we look at the year’s news headlines, award winners, and box office champions; and we finish with a lightning round, where we talk about as many films as possible in as few minutes as possible.”
It’s SUCH a fun format, because you get good movie talk – old faves and probably some you’ve never heard of, but are happy to learn – and you also get the year’s headlines, an attempt to put the film into the larger context of the world. I love it! So I was happy to come on board as a guest.
I chose 1953 as “my year”. It’s not in any way “my favorite year” but it’s an important and interesting year and I thought it would be fun to dig into why.
Thanks Jason and Mike for having me on!
That was fun!
I liked the comment that Tokyo Story was a best case scenario. It goes along with the notion that there are only two True Outcomes in romantic love: either you die first or you get your heart broken. Or Ricky Gervais’ comments about it being great to be alive, too bad we’re all going to die. Almost makes me agree about the journey being the reward.
I definitely loved Earrings of Madam d’, just stunning and beautiful. I need to get off my lazy butt and watch Stalag 17.
Thanks so much for listening – it was a blast. I love what they’re doing there – the other episodes are great too – I always learn a lot!!
That whole Tokyo Story conversation really blew me away. Because he’s right. Once you live it, you know how right he is. The movie is so beautiful and real, I have no distance from it – and CLEARLY Mike didn’t either!!
Stalag 17 is so fantastic – one of my all-time faves. Avoid spoilers, mutecypher!!
Came here to say “That was a lot of fun to listen to”, and find I’m repeating mutecypher. Oh well, it’s true!
Mike – always appreciate it. Glad you enjoyed – I never know what I’m gonna sound like on these things, so I’m glad I didn’t (to quote my dad) disgrace the family name. It was his only requirement of us as we went out into the world. “Don’t disgrace the family name.” lol I try!!
Thanks for listening!
thirding the fun to listen to! you guys discussed a lot of movies on The List (I’ve only seen Stalag 17 of your five) and bumped them all up a few notches. I’m excited to see Darrieux’s transformation one day! Of the not enough films of ’53 I’ve seen I suppose Stalag and How to Marry A Millionaire might be my favourites, but I feel like Toyko Story is waiting in the wings. And From Here To Eternity was one of my earliest introductions to the classic era so I will always have a soft spot for it, and in particular the central mail trio performances and how different they are while working so well together. The throughline you identified of being ‘on the cusp’ was a great one to think about in the period of enormous technological and social change, where the old guard were very much still around and defining the era in their own ways.
I had to laugh when the 2005 House of Wax came up. It always comes back to Jared Padalecki and Supernatural!
House of Wax!! I know!! hahahaha. Paris. So funny!
Thanks for listening – it was so fun. Those guys are so great! It was really hard to choose – I wanted to pick Niagara too – or at least one of the Marilyn movies since that was a huge year for her – but I had to go with my whole theme of “the moment before” – and so people like Bergman and Ozu and Ophus are making these films that paved the way for these MASSIVE careers – still influencing people today – and here they are in 1953! It’s so weird, too, because James Dean arrived so soon after – he’s “there” in The Wild One, at least in retrospect – it’s a precursor to Rebel, really – except Rebel was from the kids’ point of view, NOT the square townfolk, like Wild One. It’s such a huge difference if you think about it! Marlon Brando was a MAN, and Dean “read” as a kid. No wonder he became such an avatar. Just amazing to think about how everything was changing – and nobody (except the kids) were ready for it!!
oh and Earrings of Madame De is just a sumptuous pleasure – an epic opera of emotion – and her performance is really something to see. She is this perfect silly vain little doll – and she completely disintegrates. It’s just unbelievable – and the FILMING is just to die for. Paul Thomas Anderson narrated a whole video-essay about how he was so influenced by the first shot of the film – it’s a really long shot, through all these mirrors – he really loves the film. I’ll see if I can track down that clip!
Yay! I found the clip on YouTube!
Paul Thomas Anderson dissecting The Earrings of Madame De from a filmmaking standpoint:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leSsMwI0hMA
I didn’t realise I hadn’t come back to this thread (sorry) but I watched Madame de… tonight and loved it — loved how strong and determined that arc was from comical to tragic. Darrieux is all you said and more. Her whole world breaks down once she feels something real, full in her life! She cannot exist within it any longer — that it comes through as a sickness! I loved hearing PTA talk about it too, and especially his observation about her as an actress during that scene where she’s dancing with Boyer and her body language is so heavy, her body helplessly expressing her emotion. The same when Boyer takes her to visit his niece and he has to basically hold her upright. It reminded me, bizarrely, of Leterrier in Bresson’s A Man Escaped in those scenes where he’s creeping about absolutely flooded with fear. Such incorporated performances. Also watching that PTA clip I was genuinely surprised at how many of those captivating shots were long takes — the lie confession scene, the one in her room where he brings the earrings back — there’s so much to observe in them I never noticed there were no cuts. I am sure there are many more I will enjoy on the next watch. So glad you bumped this up my list with your discussion!
Ooooh this is so fun to read, Jessie! I had this weird feeling you’d really dig it – the melodrama and passion and sincerity of it all! plus the filming – all those mirrors. and twirling bodies on the dance floor.
// Such incorporated performances. //
This is such an insightful way to put it.
The whole body is the storytelling vehicle. The heaviness of Darrieux – how her head is too heavy for her neck, she can’t resist gravity anymore – you really FEEL it. it’s as visceral as anything De Niro did, as connected to the body.
There are so many long takes!! I honestly don’t know how he did it a lot of the time, especially with all those mirrors – and how big and heavy the cameras were. Just amazing.
// Her whole world breaks down once she feels something real, full in her life! //
Right. Nothing can make sense to her after that.
Even if she could have left her husband and been with her lover (how great is de Sica) – could she have even tolerated it? Could she have just settled down to everyday life? It doesn’t seem sustainable. She could have gone through her whole life without knowing she had that much feeling in her – and … it’s almost scary!!
so glad you saw it!
Even if she could have left her husband and been with her lover (how great is de Sica) – could she have even tolerated it? Could she have just settled down to everyday life? It doesn’t seem sustainable. She could have gone through her whole life without knowing she had that much feeling in her – and … it’s almost scary!!
just following up to say this thought has haunted me haha, it sits on the edge of my mind as being the story of a different movie that I can’t place. But the ‘what if’ for Madame de… is so hard to picture — just returning to the opera on a different man’s arm? Maybe Emma Woodhouse could do it! But Madame?
// it sits on the edge of my mind as being the story of a different movie that I can’t place. //
I know, right?
It’s like she was just completely unprepared for any real actual emotion – she has no boundaries for it, she didn’t even try to erect a defense – she had no idea how to do it, and so she just FELL.
But if he hadn’t come along … would she have gone her whole life without ever knowing she was capable of that much feeling?
This is the thing that really sticks with me about this movie and her performance.