Deep Cut: A Film Podcast

We’ve finally done it: all seven Edward Yang films discussed on Deep Cut. The only podcast to give Edward Yang the time and space he deserves as one of the all time greatest directors (and Wilson’s favorite director)!We end our coverage on Yang with what is considered to be his magnum opus, 1991’s A Brighter Summer Day, an intimate epic of teenage angst, romance, and rebellion that also captures Taiwan in a specific era of political and social turbulence with incredible detail. Together, we discuss ABSD’s unique visual palette compared to Yang’s other non-period work, and go in depth into its thematic concerns regarding Taiwan on a scale both personal and national. Wilson highlights the virtuosic blocking in large crowd scenes, Eli makes a case for proper education as the salve for social ills, and Ben asks, can a film be “too perfect”?Are you lonesome? Join our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.comLinks:BFI: Edward Yang interview by Tony RaynsCriterion: Interview with screenwriter Hung HungCriterion: Chang Chen on ABSDTimestamps:(00:00) Intro(17:57) Synopsis and background(25:16) Directorial style(32:09) Subjectivity and Chang Chen’s performance(39:14) Misogyny and control(47:07) Ming’s characterization(52:48) Historical context(55:35) Tribalism and nihilism(59:53) “Novelistic”(01:04:57) Si’r as spectator(01:07:39) What is the movie about?(01:13:26) Education(01:18:54) Individual vs societal responsibility(01:23:09) Gang violence(01:30:41) Blocking(01:34:56) The film studio(01:42:39) The Little Park Boys(01:48:07) Favorite moments(01:52:14) “Perfect” films(01:55:11) Scale(01:58:10) Yang series wrap-up

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

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

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) Feel your way into our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com 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

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 Bunny hop over to our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com 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

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 Our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com is for the people!

Fancy a little cheese? We jump into the whimsical world of Wallace and Gromit created by Nick Park, and cover three early short films: A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers, and A Close Shave. Eli talks about his childhood love for the series and gives the boys a lesson in stop motion animation. Ben goes existential and talks about how stop-motion brings inanimate objects to life, and we accompany Wilson as he discovers these characters for the very first time.  Links: Children’s Media Conference Interview 2021 20 Questions with Nick Park (2009) Blast off to our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com Timestamps (00:00) Intro (02:15) Nick Park Introduction (14:25) General Reactions (19:45) Shorts Power Ranking (20:30) A Grand Day Out (33:25) The Wrong Trousers (51:46) A Close Shave

Qualley. Viswanathan. Coen. Cooke. In our second Co-Bros Upkeep, we floor it and review Ethan Coen's new road adventure-comedy, Drive Away Dolls. Find out what we think: does it stack up to Joel's solo outing, The Tragedy of Macbeth? Is Margaret Qualley's accent work tolerable? And is that a banana in your suitcase, or are you just happy to see us?  Driveaway to our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com  Links mentioned:  Devan Scott's Letterboxd review of DAD  krittikarc's Letterboxd review of DAD

Ben recently attended the 35th Singapore International Film Festival and watched a whole lot of films, and made a few new friends along the way. Listen in on his thoughts about the films, the festival programme’s overarching themes, and how beauty is a trap!! This episode is generally spoiler-free, spoilers are marked with timestamps below! Links DONATE to Singapore Red Cross Fundraising Campaign For Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza / Lebanon (campaign ends 31 Dec 2024) I is another by Sasha Han  A Close Watch of Small Hours of the Night by Aditi Shivaramakrishnan Ray Yeung Interview Neo Sora Interview Emerson Goo’s review of By The Stream  Ben's SGIFF Recap Part 1 , Part 2 Timestamps (00:00:00) Intro (00:05:14) Small Hours of the Night Directed by Daniel Hui (00:15:40) No Other Land Directed by Basel Adra & Hamdan Ballal & Yuval Abraham & Rachel Szor (00:21:14) Stars in Broad Daylight directed by Ossama Mohammed (00:25:45) An Unfinished Film directed by Lou Ye (00:30:32) Jafar Panahi Conversation  (00:34:36) Crimson Gold Directed by Jafar Panahi (00:35:37) The Circle Directed by Jafar Panahi (00:36:46) The Circle Spoiler (00:38:10) Spoiler End (00:39:13) Viet and Nam Directed by Truong Minh Quy; + small discussion on co-productions (00:47:52) All Shall Be Well Directed by Ray Yeung (00:50:20) All Shall Be Well Spoiler (00:50:55) Spoiler End (00:53:40) Happyend Directed by Neo Sora (00:58:25) By The Stream Directed by Hong Sang-soo;+ Wilson’s love of Hong (01:05:08) Vive l’amour Directed by Tsai Ming-liang (01:09:27) Stranger Eyes Directed by Yeo Siew Hua (01:13:54) Time to Be Strong Directed by Namkoong Sun (01:17:32) Ben’s Festival Highlights  (01:18:48) Don’t Cry Butterfly Directed by Linh Duong (01:21:19) Universal Language Directed by Matthew Rankin (01:24:28) La Cocina Directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios (01:25:20) Don’t You Let Me Go Directed by Leticia Gorge & Ana Guevara (01:26:40) The Shrouds Directed by David Cronenberg; Our NYFF62 Dispatch episode where Eli watched it (01:27:40) Familiar Touch Directed by Sarah Friedland; plus a very cool fact about the film’s production process (01:30:55) April Directed by Dea Kulumbegashvili (01:31:45) Brief spoiler for Kulumbegashvili’s first film, Beginning (01:31:53) Spoiler end (01:33:05) Closing Thoughts

In this engaging chat with Neo Sora, a talented Japanese-American filmmaker known for his Venice Film Festival premiere, Happyend, he shares insights on his filmmaking journey. He reflects on his admiration for Edward Yang and discusses the balance of friendship and activism within his work. The conversation dives into Japan's multicultural landscape, the impact of colonialism, and his passionate pro-Palestine advocacy during festival appearances. With humor woven into storytelling, Sora emphasizes the importance of connecting personal experiences with larger societal issues.