Matt and Travis encounter an unusually constructed film: Cinévardaphoto, a set of three shorts stitched together to create a feature that could be shown in theaters and distributed on DVD. The first two of these films, Ulysse and Salut les Cubains, were previously created in the 1980s and 1960s, respectively. We covered these films in episodes 3 and 10, so here we focus on Ydessa. A profile of Ydessa Hendeles and her Teddy Bear exhibit that Varda encountered on a visit to Germany, the film is an interesting mix of profile and Varda’s own complex perspective on the work and the person. I’m not going to lie, we get a little silly here, but I hope you enjoy anyway.

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On the twelfth episode, Matt and Travis welcome longtime Friend of the Show Ericca Long back to discuss Varda’s idiosyncratic portrait of actress, model and icon Jane Birkin. Along with many tangential topics including modern arcades, getting older, and the musical genius of Steely Dan, we discuss the film’s unique blurring of document and fiction and Varda’s insightful use of the many tools at her disposal to present a multifaceted presentation of someone her audience likely believed they already knew everything about.

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• Ericca doesn’t have links but wanted to include her deepest thanks to the show and say RIP forever to JB and AV!

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On the third episode of the fifth season, Matt and Travis discuss one of Varda’s most insidious works of cinematic irony, Le Bonheur. Created in the wake of her international success with Cleo, Varda’s third feature is a joyful evocation of man’s ability to find happiness under any condition.. or a viciously funny and damning critique of the patriarchy, wrapped up in a bright and shiny little package. We discuss the gap between what the film seems to be and what it really is, along with its impressive technique and visual sumptuousness in the director’s first fictional work fully in color.

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On the second episode of the fifth season, Matt and Travis quickly encounter Varda’s most famous and praised film, the New Wave masterpiece Cléo from 5 to 7. Made seven years after her debut, Cléo from 5 to 7 is a portrait of a young woman waiting for medical test results and wandering through contemporary Paris in real time. We discuss Varda’s role in the FNW movement, her use of narrative and technical devices to present her feminist themes, and the film’s enduring legacy and new appearance on the 2022 Sight and Sound list of the best films ever made.

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For the final episode of the season, Matt and Travis are joined by Andrew Osmond, a writer and journalist who specializes in film and animation and the author of Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist, the only book in English that focuses entirely on Kon. We discuss his interest in animation and anime in particular, along with … Continue reading The Complete Kon 6 – Wrap Up with Andrew Osmond →

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Satoshi Kon’s final film is the culmination of his career up to this point: an amalgamation of his most ambitious technical experimentation and the meta and philosophical themes deeply infused into all of his films, here made literal in a story that provides an opportunity for Kon’s vision to play out in a free-flowing manner. … Continue reading The Complete Kon 5 – Paprika →

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For the fourth episode, Matt and Travis cover the epic and extraordinary Paranoia Agent, Kon’s 13-episode television series. The first and only thing Kon did for TV began as a combination of many of his smaller ideas and story concepts that didn’t have a home but eventually morphed into something more ambitious and far-reaching. We … Continue reading The Complete Kon 4 – Paranoia Agent →

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For the third episode, Travis and Matt discuss the magical comedy adventure Tokyo Godfathers, Kon’s third feature. We discuss the vividly rendered central characters, the small details and recurring motifs that Kon layers into his work, and the departure from the reality/fantasy merging of his two previous films. We wanted to get this out for … Continue reading The Complete Kon 3 – Tokyo Godfathers →

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In this episode, Matt and Travis cover Satoshi Kon’s second feature, Millennium Actress. In many ways a reworking of the themes and techniques Kon explored in his debut, the film is nevertheless an entirely different viewing experience: an uplifting and deeply moving exploration of a woman’s life in movies and her quest to find the … Continue reading The Complete Kon 2 – Millennium Actress →

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