The Prestige

KaijuFM

A podcast for cinephiles of all stripes. Join Rob & Sam, two life-long friends, one a veteran of the film industry, the other a Cambridge-educated writer on books, movies and graphic novels. Each week they talk about a film and some of the ideas it throws up.

  1. 01/08/2022

    YUNIOL (2007) & Tone

    Our Latin American journey leaves the South American mainland behind this week, and dips into Caribbean cinema with a 2007 film from the Dominican Republic, YUNIOL. After some reviews, we talk about class differences, telling multiple stories, and how this is not an ‘uneven’ film. Recent Media ALL OR NOTHING: TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (2021): Rob Worsoff, Kyle Dubas, Will Arnett STRANGER THINGS S4 (2022): Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Winona Ryder Recommendations HEROES (2007–09): Tim Kring, Jack Coleman, Hayden Panettiere SHARKTOPUS VS. PTERACUDA (2014): Kevin O’Neill, Robert Carradine, Katie Savoy SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (2017): Jon Watts, Tom Holland, Michael Keaton BLINDSPOTTING (2018): Carlos López Estrada, Daveed Diggs, Rafael Casal Footnotes This week’s links: [where this film comes from, Part 1] www.barcelo.com/pinandtravel/en/from-the-godfather-to-jurassic-park-the-best-dominican-cinema [where this film comes from, Part 2] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dominican_Republic_films [what this film could have been] www.tasteofcinema.com/2016/15-poetic-films-about-mundane-subjects [our episode about the film to which we compared this one] www.kaiju.fm/prestige/5-04-city-of-god-2002-corrupt-space [finally: yes this is about the UK, but it’s still a good article!] aaronguthrie.medium.com/the-representation-of-class-in-contemporary-british-film-and-tv-afc5882dd7d3 Find Us On Podchaser - https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-prestige-417454 Follow Us - https://www.twitter.com/prestigepodcast

    31 min
  2. 06/06/2022

    EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT (2015) & Madness

    After something of a hiatus: we’re back! With the award-winning 2015 Colombian film EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT. After some reviews, we dive in with a reference to Rob’s favourite theatrical director, as well as exploring why it’s good that this film was made and how it might be important that some people don’t get on board with it. Recent Media THE HARDER THEY FALL (2021): Jeymes Samuel, Idris Elba, Zazie Beetz ENCANTO (2021): Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Stephanie Beatriz THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS (2021): Lana Wachowski, Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss TITANE (2021): Julia Ducorneau, Vincent Lindon, Agathe Rousselle TICK, TICK…BOOM! (2021): Lin-Manuel Miranda, Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (2021): Jon Watts, Tom Holland, Zendaya THE MAN WHO DIED TWICE (2021): Richard Osman The Jack Reacher Book Series (1997—): Lee Child, Andrew Child Recommendations THE MOTORCYCLES DIARIES (2004): Walter Salles, Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, Gael García Bernal NARCOS: MEXICO (2018–21): Carlo Bernard, Chris Brancato, Michael Peña A FIELD IN ENGLAND (2013): Ben Wheatley, Julian Barratt, Peter Ferdinando SORCERER (1977): William Friedkin, Georges Arnaud, Roy Scheider Footnotes Firstly, this is what we seem to be talking about a fair bit this episode: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_revisionism. As Rob mentions at the start, this film is two different versions of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey. Here’s the obligatory Brecht link: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bertolt-Brecht. It’s interesting that IMDB actually have this as a tag: https://www.imdb.com/search/keyword/?keywords=in-medias-res. This reviewer seems to have similar thoughts to Sam about the film: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/embrace-of-the-serpent-2016. Finally, here’s a link to our FIELD IN ENGLAND episode, for more on a film like this one in several ways: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-prestige-417454/episodes/a-field-in-england-and-psyched-29626170.

    31 min
  3. 07/03/2022

    MADEINUSA (2005) & Dislocation

    The next stop on our journey through Latin America is 2005’s MADEINUSA. After some reviews, we talk about how this film is itself a disturbing experience for the viewers, to what extent it presents the main character as a ‘femme fatale', and why it works as a complete disruption of the ‘white saviour’ myth. Next Up The next film in our Latin American Odyssey is Colombia’s EL PASEO (2010). Recent Media MIDNIGHT MASS (2021): Mike Flanagan, Kate Siegel, Zach Gilford SQUID GAME (2021): Hwang Dong-hyuk, Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo Recommendations LA MALA EDUCACIÓN (2004): Pedro Almodóvar, Gael Garcia Bernal, Fele Martínez HIGH NOON (1952): Fred Zinnemann, Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly THE PURGE (SERIES, 2013–21): James DeMonaco, Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey THE WICKER MAN (1973): Robin Hardy, Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland Footnotes Rob mentions a few cinematic touchstones for some of the visual stylings of this film: kabuki (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabuki), the morality play (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morality_play), and anime (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime). Some of this film’s ideas are also reminiscent of the film noir (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_noir), particularly at the end. This is an interesting analysis of ‘white saviour’ films: movies.mxdwn.com/feature/a-critical-analysis-of-white-savior-films-and-why-you-should-avoid-them. Finally, Rob mentioned tourism, in the context both of this film and of CITY OF GOD; this is a useful article about this, focused on the film’s geographical setting: barbieri.wordpress.ncsu.edu/files/2020/07/2020_Peru_SusTmo.pdf. Find Us On Podchaser - https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-prestige-417454 Follow Us - https://www.twitter.com/prestigepodcast Follow Sam - https://www.twitter.com/life_academic Follow Rob - https://www.twitter.com/kaijufm Find Our Complete Archive on Kaiju.FM - https://www.kaiju.fm/the-prestige/

  4. 26/10/2021

    CITY OF GOD (2002) & Corrupt Space

    The title for this episode comes from something Rob says towards the end of this chat, which I think sums up this film brilliantly. After reviews (spoilers: we loved it), we talk about a number of things to do with the incredible artifice of this film, and its brutality, and (strangely enough) its use of architecture.  Next Up Our next Latin American film is the Peruvian drama MADEINUSA, from 2005. Recent Media MONEY HEIST (2017–21): Álex Pina, Úrsula Corberó, Álvaro Morte MALIBU HIGH (1979): Irvin Berwick, Jill Lansing, Stuart Taylor BLACK WIDOW (2021): Cate Shortland, Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh Recommendations THE CONSTANT GARDENER (2005): Fernando Meirelles, Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz THE NEON DEMON (2016): Nicolas Winding Refn, Elle Fanning, Christina Hendricks PREDATORS (2010): Nimród Antal, Adrien Brody, Topher Grace ROMEO + JULIET (1996): William Shakespeare, Baz Luhrmann, Leonardo DiCaprio Footnotes Firstly, find out more about Rio favelas here: catcomm.org/favela-facts. Sam mentions how touristy Rio’s favelas have become in the last 30 or so years; this site shows you what he means: www.daytours4u.com/en/travel-guide/rdj4u/favela-tourism. Roger Ebert wasn't always on the money, but this is a pretty good review of the ‘churn[ing…] furious energy’ of the film: /www.rogerebert.com/reviews/city-of-god-2003. And this is another good review about the story-telling genius at the heart of this movie: www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2004/06/the-movie-review-city-of-god/69527. Finally, this is a great piece (not only because the articles at Wallpaper are often very well-written) about architecture in film: www.wallpaper.com/architecture/architecture-in-film-through-the-decades. Find Us On Podchaser - https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-prestige-417454 Follow Us - https://www.twitter.com/prestigepodcast Follow Sam - https://www.twitter.com/life_academic Follow Rob - https://www.twitter.com/kaijufm Find Our Complete Archive on Kaiju.FM - https://www.kaiju.fm/the-prestige/

  5. 19/10/2021

    25 WATTS (2001) & Futility

    Our film this week is the slacker comedy/drama 25 WATTS, from Uruguay. Post-reviews, we talk about movies with which this shares obvious roots, as well as how this captures the experiences of disenfranchised youth, and some borderline-colonial-tourist-y speculation about why this was such an important touchstone in Uruguayan film. Next Up The next film on our cinematic journey through Latin America is the 2002 film CITY OF GOD. Recent Media KATE (2021): Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Miku Martineau GODZILLA VS. KONG (2021): Adam Wingard, Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown SHIN GODZILLA (2016): Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi, Hiroki Hasegawa Recommendations THE MYTH OF THE AMERICAN SLEEPOVER (2010): David Robert Mitchell, Claire Sloma, Marlon Morton waydowntown (2000): Gary Burns, Fab Filippo, Don McKellar CLERKS (1994): Kevin Smith, Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT (1986): Spike Lee, Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks Footnotes Firstly, it would be remiss of me not to include a reference to our CLERKS episode, from way back in the mists of time (remember how the world was, before COVID and Trump and Brexit? Ahhh…): www.kaiju.fm/prestige/clerks-slacker-cinema. For more on the cinema of Uruguay, see here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_Uruguay. If you’re a fan of 25 WATTS, why not try one of these: www.guruguay.com/5-uruguayan-films. Given our discussion of nationality, and why this might be a particularly ‘Uruguayan’ film, this is a good book (for the whole of this mini-season, in fact): books.google.co.uk/books/about/Latin_American_Cinema.html?id=MB-hBAAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y. Finally, I know it’s a comedy, not a drama, so doesn’t meet Rob’s criteria for authentic youth/university life on screen, but here’s a nice little summary of what made FRESH MEAT a good — and, it turns out, poignant — bit of tv: www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/mar/28/fresh-meat-farewell-good-luck-in-the-real-world-its-terrible-out-there. Find Us On Podchaser - https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-prestige-417454 Follow Us - https://www.twitter.com/prestigepodcast Follow Sam - https://www.twitter.com/life_academic Follow Rob - https://www.twitter.com/kaijufm Find Our Complete Archive on Kaiju.FM - https://www.kaiju.fm/the-prestige/

4.3
out of 5
9 Ratings

About

A podcast for cinephiles of all stripes. Join Rob & Sam, two life-long friends, one a veteran of the film industry, the other a Cambridge-educated writer on books, movies and graphic novels. Each week they talk about a film and some of the ideas it throws up.