Lost in Criterion

Sam Fuller was hired to adapt a novel that was written by a French diplomat friend of his as an attack on that man's ex-wife Jean Seberg and her anti-racist activism. Sam Fuller attempted to remake this book into an anti-racist movie. This was a fool's errand, and as the NAACP said at the time there were better books from Black authors that took a more nuanced look at racism that could be adapted into a better movie. But Sam Fuller wasn't hired to make that movie, he was hired to make this one. And he made the heck out of it.

Years ago we watched Lars von Trier's The Element of Crime and Pat loved it. At Spine 80 it was the first time in our journey that Pat's reaction to a movie genuinely surprised me.

I'm happy to report that von Trier is 2 for 2 with Pat. Europa is an ambitious and weird movie that wears its pedigree and influences on its sleeve. And it's got trains! AND it's about the failings of American foreign policy! What's not to love?

Long time friend of the show Jason Westhaver makes his main podcast debut talking about one of his favorite movies: Wong Kar-Wai's Chungking Express (1994). Jason's been on a few of our Patreon bonus episodes before (www.patreon.com/LostInCriterion), so we're very happy to have him join us for a proper episode to talk about this beautiful film.

Friend of the show Donovan H often shows up for our episodes on samurai films as he’s been a life-long fan of the genre. His other big obsession isn’t covered as often but we finally get one: the spy fiction of John le Carré. Martin Ritt’s 1965 adaptation of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is among the best le Carrê films and stars Richard Burton at nearly his Richard Burtonest. We’re happy to have Donovan join us to talk about the film and give him room to talk about le Carré in general and other adaptations of his work.

Christian-Jaque's Fanfan la Tulipe was, apparently, an incredibly popular film across Europe in 1952, despite the fact that it cannot decide if it wants to be a satire of the French war machine or a silly, sexy swashbuckler. A movie could, theoretically, be both, but this one doesn't seem interested in that prospect either?