The Last Thing I Saw

Ep. 239: Bertrand Bonello on The Beast, Experimenting with AI, Crafting Melodrama, Reading Henry James, and more Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. Bertrand Bonello’s latest film The Beast has been melting minds with its time-skipping saga of star-crossed lovers and strangers played by Léa Seydoux and George Mackay. Inspired by a Henry James story, The Beast spans three different time periods and pairings: a married woman and a suitor in the 1910s (Belle Époque), an actress and a madman in 2010’s California, and a woman facing a fateful choice in a not-too-distant future where artificial intelligence promises to remove individual trauma. I chatted with the restless French auteur (Nocturama, Saint Laurent) about the struggle for connection across these stories, being tempted by AI, directing Mackay and Seydoux, and more. The Beast is in theaters now, and Bonello’s previous feature, Coma, will have its first U.S. theatrical run on May 17. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 238: Time director Garrett Bradley on instincts, Devotion, America, and Satyajit Ray’s Devi Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw, with your host, Nicolas Rapold. Garrett Bradley is the director of Time, the Oscar-nominated 2020 documentary about Sibil Fox Richardson and her efforts to get her husband released from prison. Bradley has directed several incredible short films, including Alone (2017, about a friend planning to marry her imprisoned boyfriend) and America (2019, an amazing visual historical pageant that includes shots from the 1914 film Lime Kiln Club Field Day starring Bert Williams). Bradley has described her work as being about Black life, and also as a series of love stories, and she’s just published a new book of dialogues, essays, and images, called Devotion. The book will be celebrated with a program at Metrograph screening some of her shorts, Time, and a film of her choosing: Satyajit Ray’s 1960 film Devi, about a young woman believed to be a goddess. We spoke about the instincts that guide her filmmaking, the importance of editing and immediacy in her practice, her thoughts on her film America, and what she’s working on now (which may include an adaptation of Octavia Butler’s The Parable of the Sower...). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 237: Screen Slate leader Jon Dieringer on Civil War, plus Roadhouse, Quiet on Set, The Eclipse Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw with your host, Nicolas Rapold. With the country in the grips of Civil War fever, I join forces with Screen Slate editor-in-chief Jon Dieringer, who was fresh from seeing the much-anticipated movie at a local Regal Cinema. We talk about the different layers to Civil War and Alex Garland’s approach to depicting a future United States that’s broken up into separate regions and armies and has a belligerent president in the White House. (The plot follows four journalists—played by Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, and Stephen McKinley Henderson—who are driving to Washington, D.C., to try to interview the president.) Jon and I also share some other recent watches, including the documentary series Quiet on Set (directed by Mary Robertson & Emma Schwartz), the Road House remake (Doug Liman), Larry Fessenden’s latest horror movie, Blackout, and nature’s own mighty contribution to cinema. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 236: CPH:DOX 2024 with Mads K. Mikkelsen on Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other, Kix, and much more Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw with your host, Nicolas Rapold. For this episode I journeyed to Copenhagen for the 2024 edition of CPH:DOX, and talked about my favorite documentaries from the selection with the festival’s Head of Program Mads K. Mikkelsen. These include films about a Hungarian skateboarder growing up (Kix, directed by Dávid Mikulán and Bálint Révész), about the relationship between photographer Joel Meyerowitz and writer Maggie Barrett (Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other, directed by Jacob Perlmutter and Manon Ouimet), and about Brazilian love motels (Eros, directed by Rachel Daisy Ellis). We also discuss The Limits of Europe (directed by Apolena Rychlíková, featuring journalist Saša Uhlová), Balomania (Sissel Morell Dargis), La Base (Vadim Dumesh), Once Upon a Time in a Forest (Virpi Suutari) and the documentary that went on to win the festival’s top prize, The Flats (Alessandra Celesia). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 235: K.J. Relth-Miller on Berlin Retrospectives: Lubitsch, Helke Sander, Carlos Saura, and more Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw with your host, Nicolas Rapold. For a number of festivals now, I’ve been fortunate enough to delve into the retrospective selections with programmer K.J. Relth-Miller from the Academy Museum (who also teaches at CalArts). This time we talked about the special Retrospective selections drawn from the Deutsche Kinemathek and films in the Classics section at the Berlinale. We start with Ernst Lubitsch’s 1921 silent comedy Kohlhiesel’s Daughters, which screened with live musical accompaniment, and then move on to later selections such as The Germans and Their Men (1989, Helke Sander), Herzsprung (1992, Helke Misselwitz), Angels of Iron (1980, Thomas Brasch), and Deprisa, Deprisa (1981, Carlos Saura). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 234: Radu Jude on Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw with your host, Nicolas Rapold. This week I present a chat with Radu Jude, the director of what’s already the most acclaimed movie of the year: Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World. The wild, funny, multi-layered movie follows a young production assistant, Angela (the incredible Ilinca Manolache), on her endless days working in Bucharest, Romania. Jude creates a crazy quilt that captures what it’s like to get through the world today, folding in Angela’s hilariously foulmouthed Instagram videos and weaving in clips from a Communist-era 1981 film about a female taxi driver. Nina Hoss and Uwe Boll also have memorable roles. I first saw Jude’s continually surprising film at its world premiere in the Locarno Film Festival, and we spoke on the eve of its U.S. release on March 22. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Christine Smallwood, an author and critic known for her insightful writings, dives into Chantal Akerman's film 'La Captive'. She discusses how the film's interior spaces reflect complex emotional states like desire and entrapment. The conversation touches on themes of jealousy, intimacy, and repetition in film viewing. Smallwood also examines emotional depth in Akerman's work, offering reflections on aging and memory. The haunting presence of characters and the unique visual compositions further enrich the dialogue, showcasing Akerman's significant artistic contributions.

Ep. 232: Eric Hynes on First Look and True/False 2024: Flying Lessons, There Was, There Was Not, Knit’s Island, Achilles Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw with your host, Nicolas Rapold. As I did last year, I joined forces with Eric Hynes, curator of film at Museum of the Moving Image, for a double fest discussion, covering True/False, the Missouri nonfiction festival, and MoMI’s own annual First Look in New York. We discuss titles including: Flying Lessons (directed by Elizabeth Nichols), Magic Mountain (Mariam Chachia & Nik Voigt) Knit’s Island (Ekiem Barbier, Guilhem Causse, Quentin L’helgoualc’h), A Photographic Memory (Rachel Elizabeth Seed), Achilles (Farhad Delaram), Spermworld (Lance Oppenheim), I Like It Here (Ralph Arlyck), Obsolete (Sumira Roy), and There Was, There Was Not (Emily Mkrtichian). Listeners will find that many movies discussed on here and in previous episodes can be seen in First Look at MoMI (March 13 to 17). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 231: Berlin 2024 with Jordan Cronk: Who by Fire, Tu Me Abrasas, Abiding Nowhere, Chime, Direct Action, More Docs Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw with your host, Nicolas Rapold. For the latest episode about the 2024 Berlin Film Festival, I’m pleased to reunite with Jordan Cronk, who helped kick off this year’s series. We round up some vital highlights that hopefully will wend their way to other cinemas: Who by Fire, Philippe Lesage’s prize-winner in the Generation section; Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s mid-length Chime; Ben Russell and Guillaume Cailleau’s Direct Action, winner in the Encounters section; Matías Piñeiro’s Tu Me Abrasas; and Abiding Nowhere, the latest in Tsai Mingliang’s Walker series. Plus some words on the documentaries At Averroes and Rosa Parks (directed by Nicolas Philibert, last year’s Golden Bear winner), Favoriten (Ruth Beckermann), and Intercepted (Oksana Karpovych). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass

Ep. 230: Berlin 2024 with Keva York: Christine Angot’s Une Famille, Spaceman, Berlin Critics’ Week Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw with your host, Nicolas Rapold. I continue my reporting from the 2024 Berlin Film Festival by welcoming my latest guest to the podcast, critic Keva York, who is writing for Reverse Shot and ABC Arts (the Australian Broadcasting Corporation). We discuss the new film from French writer Christine Angot, Une Famille (A Family); the Adam Sandler movie Spaceman, directed by Johan Renck; and two selections from Berlin Critics’ Week, An Evening Song for Three Voices (directed by Graham Swon) and the Riar Rizaldi short Notes from Gog Magog. Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass