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Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the legacy of Rashomon, directed by Japanese cinematic master Akira Kurosawa.

Mark examines Kurosawa's enduring screen legacy and why he is one of the most influential directors in film history. He talks to director Asif Kapadia, who is co-programmer of the BFI's upcoming Kurosawa retrospective. They discuss Kurosawa's filmography and what makes him one of the greatest directors of all time as well as Kurosawa's influence on his own work. Mark then speaks to author Kazuo Ishiguro, screenwriter of the recent film, Living, a remake of Kurosawa's 1952 film, Ikiru. They discuss how Rashomon became one of Kurosawa's and Japan's most iconic films as well as debating how successful cinema is at depicting memory.

Ellen investigates the longlasting impact of Kurosawa's 1950 film on the small screen. The film inspired the term 'the Rashomon effect' which is used to describe a narrative technique where different characters offer differing opinions and perspectives on the same event. Ellen talks to TV and film critic Roxana Hadadi about how this has become a staple of television storytelling. She then speaks to Chris Lang, creator of the TV series Unforgotten, who explains how Rashomon has influenced his work and why exactly it's so well suited to the crime genre.

And director and Kurosawa super fan Alex Cox tells us his favourite Kurosawa film.

Producer: Tom Whalley

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore how a couple of Christmas TV traditions have developed over the years - the made-for-TV Christmas romcom and the festive ghost story.

Inspired by The Hallmark Channel's first ever gay Christmas film, Ellen speaks to made-for-TV film aficionado Linda Holmes. They discuss what The Hallmark Channel is and why it has taken until 2022 for the channel to feature a gay lead in one of its films. Ellen also speaks to critic Caspar Salmon about what the recent increase in queer Christmas romcoms might mean for LGBT+ audiences.

And Mark explores how the ghost story became a British TV Christmas staple, talking to writer and director Mark Gatiss about the 1968 film Whistle and I'll Come to You, which inspired the A Ghost Story for Christmas series, continued by Gatiss to this day. Mark then speaks to composer Rachel Portman about her score for the chilling 1989 ITV adaptation of Dame Susan Hill's The Women in Black.

And Tangerine and Red Rocket director Sean Baker shares what he'll be watching this festive season.

Producer: Jane Long

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode investigate whodunnits and murder mysteries on screen, ahead of the streaming release of new Knives Out mystery Glass Onion.

Mark talks to Glass Onion director Rian Johnson about why whodunnits are so enduring, who left him star-struck on set, and the classic films and books that inspired his new mystery.

And Ellen takes a deep dive into the camp 1973 cult whodunnit The Last of Sheila, written by actor Anthony Perkins and composer Stephen Sondheim following their own outlandish murder mystery parties. Ellen talks to writer Kyle Turner about Sondheim’s love of mysteries and the real life stories behind the film. She also speaks to the legendary Dyan Cannon about the larger-than-life Hollywood agent Sue Mengers who inspired her role in The Last of Sheila, and about the film's legacy as a cult classic.

This week's Viewing Note is courtesy of actor and director Richard Benjamin.

Producer: Jane Long

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode revisit Titanic in its 25th anniversary year, looking at James Cameron's epic blockbuster as both a disaster film and a story of immigration.

Ellen explores the forgotten tales of immigration onboard the Titanic, talking to journalist Ray Hanania about the Syrian refugee stories only hinted at in the 1997 film. She also speaks to Sally El-Hosaini, director of new Netflix film The Swimmers. They discuss how immigration is depicted on screen and how Sally wanted to portray immigration in her own work.

Inspired by the grand spectacle and ground breaking special effects of Titanic, Mark talks about disaster films with theme park ride designer Peter Alexander and legendary sound designer Randy Thom from Skywalker Sound. They discuss the 1974 film Earthquake, the theme park ride it inspired and the innovative Sensurround sound system created for the movie.

This week’s Viewing Note is courtesy of Joanna Hogg, director of The Souvenir and the new A24 film, The Eternal Daughter, and disaster movie fan.

Producer: Freya Hellier

From the melodramatic gestures of silent movies to the immersive, intricate performances made possible by 21st century technology, acting styles have gone in and out of fashion.

But no acting technique is more mythologised or misunderstood than The Method.

Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones are getting under the skin of method acting to find out what it is, how it changed the face of American cinema, and why it’s not to blame for some truly weird on set behaviour.

Ellen talks to writer and historian Isaac Butler to trace The Method’s roots back to the Russian actor, director and theorist Konstantin Stanislavski. They discuss The Method’s founding father in America Lee Strasberg, some key Method performances, and how acting is changing today. To learn what it’s like to study The Method, Ellen talks to British actor and writer Louise Brealey about her time at the Lee Strasberg institute, learning to laugh at yourself, and never giving in to bad behaviour.

Mark talks to British actor Adeel Akhtar about how an opportunity to study method acting changed the course of his life, and not taking your character home at the end of the day.

And in a moving discussion, Mark realises a long held ambition to interview Ellen Burstyn, who played - in a long and glittering career - Chris MacNeil in his favourite film, The Exorcist. Ellen studied The Method with Lee Strasberg himself and now, at the age of 89, she is co-President of the institution he led, The Actors Studio. Ellen shares her memories of Lee and brings his creative exercises back to life.

In this week’s Viewing Notes, actor Jason Isaacs shares his favourite method performance.

Produced by Freya Hellier

A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4

Inspired by the record-breaking success of huge action epic RRR, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore the global popularity of contemporary Indian cinema, with the help of some of its key players.

Ellen takes a closer look at the box office smash that is RRR. She talks to the film's director SS Rajamouli, who is responsible for three of the top five highest-grossing Indian films of all time. They discuss Rajamouli's role in the Pan-Indian Cinema movement and why he thinks RRR has become such a hit across the world.

And Mark, with the help of British-Tamil film critic Ashanti Omkar and superstar composer AR Rahman, investigates how Indian cinema has gone global over the last two decades and asks whether it might be time to retire the term 'Bollywood'.

Also, actor Nikesh Patel, star of hit romcom Starstruck, shares what he's been watching recently.

Producer: Jane Long

Ellen and Mark take a turn into the exclusive gated community of housewives in cinema and television, ahead of the release of new film Don't Worry Darling.

Ellen investigates why we're so drawn to housewives on screen, from original housewife satire The Stepford Wives to global reality TV phenomenon The Real Housewives, with the help of critic Anna Bogutskaya and Real Housewives exec producer Andy Cohen.

And Mark celebrates director Todd Haynes' cult 1995 film Safe, starring Julianne Moore in her first lead role, as a housewife suffering from a mysterious ailment. He speaks to pioneering independent film producer and long-time Haynes collaborator Christine Vachon about the making of Safe, and hears from composer Gazelle Twin and director Desiree Akhavan about the personal and emotional responses both had to the film.

This week's Viewing Note is courtesy of Olivier-nominated Home, I'm Darling star Katherine Parkinson.

Producer: Jane Long

Ellen and Mark examine the legacy of the quintessential blonde bombshell ahead of the release of Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde.

Mark speaks to Blonde’s director Andrew Dominik and US pop culture critic Angelica Jade Bastien about the very different personal connections both feel to Monroe and the reasons for her enduring star power.

Meanwhile, Ellen explores some of the bombshells compared to Monroe on this side of the Atlantic. She speaks to Diana Dors biographer Anna Cale about how the label of 'the British Marilyn' affected Dors' varied and colourful time in the spotlight. And she learns about the elusive and often tragic careers of British starlets including Belinda Lee and Sabrina, with the help of Professor of British Cinema Steve Chibnall.

Also, musician Warren Ellis talks about what he was watching while composing the score for Blonde with Nick Cave.

Producer: Jane Long


Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode celebrate 40 years of Film4 with a quartet of famous film-makers who have been part of its rich history and legacy.

Founded in 1982, Film4 soon became an iconic and vital voice in British film. It has fostered a reputation for producing gritty, diverse stories from unheard voices as well as championing the more leftfield and experimental side of British cinema.

Ellen looks at Film4's origins in conversation with Stephen Frears who directed the very first Film4 film, Walter. Walter stars Sir Ian McKellen as a young man with learning difficulties and the film documents his struggles in Margaret Thatcher's Britain. Frears continued to explore life in 80's Britain in the now iconic and still ground-breaking My Beautiful Laundrette. Stephen and Ellen discuss what the film meant at the time and why it remains relevant.

Mark talks to Gurinder Chadha. In 1993 her Film4 produced debut, Bhaji on the Beach, became the first full-length feature film made by a British Asian Woman. Gurinder and Mark discuss the importance of Film4 in championing minorities and what the British film industry was like before and after Film4's emergence.

Ellen chats with Ben Wheatley about Film4's response to his irreverent 2011 folk horror film Kill List as well as the multi-platform release of 2013's A Field in England. They talk about how Film4 has always made space for the more uncommercial and experimental side of British cinema.

Finally, Mark talks to Clio Barnard about her 2013 Film4 debut, The Selfish Giant. A social realist adaptation of an Oscar Wilde story, Clio discusses how Film4 supported her as an artist and allowed her to share her unique and touching tale.

This week's Viewing Note is courtesy of former Film4 head and veteran producer, Paul Webster.

Producer: Hester Cant

To mark the 80th birthday of one of cinema’s most enigmatic and polarising characters, Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones explore the work, myth and legacy of Werner Herzog.

An encounter with Herzog is always compelling, and sometimes risky. When Mark interviewed him in the Hollywood Hills in 2006, the director was shot - an incident he dismissed as ‘not significant’.

From the safe distance of a few thousand miles away, Mark and Werner reconnect (over Zoom) to address the conspiracy theory that the shooting was staged. Herzog also looks back at the enduring appeal of Fitzcarraldo, how his world view informs his work, and why there’s a lesson to be learned in keeping up with the Kardashians.

To separate fact from fiction, Ellen E Jones talks to volcanologist and co-director of two Herzog documentaries, Professor Clive Oppenheimer. They discuss Herzog’s scientific mind and why Clive kept quiet about a near miss with a lava bomb as they filmed Into the Inferno.

Writer and director Zak Penn used the Herzog legend as the inspiration for his mockumentary Incident at Loch Ness, which starred Herr Herzog as himself. Ellen and Zak discuss the tricks he played on his leading man, how he’s easy to surprise but impossible to shock, and why Werner Herzog is such a beloved and supportive collaborator.

And DJ and broadcaster Edith Bowman gives her Viewing Notes.

Producer: Freya Hellier

A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4