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The Prestige
By KaijuFMTV & Film
The Prestige episodes
- 5.4 - CITY OF GOD (2002) & Corrupt Space
The title for this episode comes from something Rob says towards the end of this chat, which I think sums up this film brilliantly. After reviews (spoilers: we loved it), we talk about a number of things to do with the incredible artifice of this film, and its brutality, and (strangely enough) its use of architecture.
Next Up
Our next Latin American film is the Peruvian drama MADEINUSA, from 2005.Recent Media
MONEY HEIST (2017–21): Álex Pina, Úrsula Corberó, Álvaro MorteMALIBU HIGH (1979): Irvin Berwick, Jill Lansing, Stuart TaylorBLACK WIDOW (2021): Cate Shortland, Scarlett Johansson, Florence PughRecommendations
THE CONSTANT GARDENER (2005): Fernando Meirelles, Ralph Fiennes, Rachel WeiszTHE NEON DEMON (2016): Nicolas Winding Refn, Elle Fanning, Christina HendricksPREDATORS (2010): Nimród Antal, Adrien Brody, Topher GraceROMEO + JULIET (1996): William Shakespeare, Baz Luhrmann, Leonardo DiCaprioFootnotes
Firstly, find out more about Rio favelas here: catcomm.org/favela-facts. Sam mentions how touristy Rio’s favelas have become in the last 30 or so years; this site shows you what he means: www.daytours4u.com/en/travel-guide/rdj4u/favela-tourism. Roger Ebert wasn't always on the money, but this is a pretty good review of the ‘churn[ing…] furious energy’ of the film: /www.rogerebert.com/reviews/city-of-god-2003. And this is another good review about the story-telling genius at the heart of this movie: www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2004/06/the-movie-review-city-of-god/69527. Finally, this is a great piece (not only because the articles at Wallpaper are often very well-written) about architecture in film: www.wallpaper.com/architecture/architecture-in-film-through-the-decades.Find Us On Podchaser - https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-prestige-417454
Follow Us - https://www.twitter.com/prestigepodcastFollow Sam - https://www.twitter.com/life_academicFollow Rob - https://www.twitter.com/kaijufmFind Our Complete Archive on Kaiju.FM - https://www.kaiju.fm/the-prestige/0 min - 5.3 - 25 WATTS (2001) & Futility
Our film this week is the slacker comedy/drama 25 WATTS, from Uruguay. Post-reviews, we talk about movies with which this shares obvious roots, as well as how this captures the experiences of disenfranchised youth, and some borderline-colonial-tourist-y speculation about why this was such an important touchstone in Uruguayan film.
Next Up
The next film on our cinematic journey through Latin America is the 2002 film CITY OF GOD.Recent Media
KATE (2021): Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Miku MartineauGODZILLA VS. KONG (2021): Adam Wingard, Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby BrownSHIN GODZILLA (2016): Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi, Hiroki HasegawaRecommendations
THE MYTH OF THE AMERICAN SLEEPOVER (2010): David Robert Mitchell, Claire Sloma, Marlon Mortonwaydowntown (2000): Gary Burns, Fab Filippo, Don McKellarCLERKS (1994): Kevin Smith, Brian O’Halloran, Jeff AndersonSHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT (1986): Spike Lee, Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond HicksFootnotes
Firstly, it would be remiss of me not to include a reference to our CLERKS episode, from way back in the mists of time (remember how the world was, before COVID and Trump and Brexit? Ahhh…): www.kaiju.fm/prestige/clerks-slacker-cinema. For more on the cinema of Uruguay, see here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_Uruguay. If you’re a fan of 25 WATTS, why not try one of these: www.guruguay.com/5-uruguayan-films. Given our discussion of nationality, and why this might be a particularly ‘Uruguayan’ film, this is a good book (for the whole of this mini-season, in fact): books.google.co.uk/books/about/Latin_American_Cinema.html?id=MB-hBAAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y. Finally, I know it’s a comedy, not a drama, so doesn’t meet Rob’s criteria for authentic youth/university life on screen, but here’s a nice little summary of what made FRESH MEAT a good — and, it turns out, poignant — bit of tv: www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/mar/28/fresh-meat-farewell-good-luck-in-the-real-world-its-terrible-out-there.Find Us On Podchaser - https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-prestige-417454
Follow Us - https://www.twitter.com/prestigepodcastFollow Sam - https://www.twitter.com/life_academicFollow Rob - https://www.twitter.com/kaijufmFind Our Complete Archive on Kaiju.FM - https://www.kaiju.fm/the-prestige/0 min - 5.2 - THE ACCUSED (2018) & Intensity
After something of a hiatus from the main feed, this week the band is back together with our look at (the most recent, Rob) THE ACCUSED. We talk about how this film undercuts expectations, what it has to say about the experiences of children as opposed to adults, and the in some ways chilling ending of the movie.
Next Up
The next film on our Latin American road trip is 2001’s 25 WATTS from Uruguay.Recent Media
EMPIRE RECORDS (1995): Allan Moyle, Anthony LaPaglia, Maxwell CaulfieldTHE SUICIDE SQUAD (2021): James Gunn, Margot Robbie, Idris ElbaRecommendations
THE ACCUSED (1988): Jonathan Kaplan, Kelly McGillis, Jodie FosterTHE ACCUSED (1949): William Dieterle, June Truesdell, Loretta YoungTHE REVENANT (2015): Alejandro Iñárritu, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom HardySTAGED (2020–21): Simon Evans, Michael Sheen, David TennantFootnotes
Normal footnote service will resume next time: I hurt my hand this morning, and typing’s painful; I could leave it to Rob, but who knows what this section would look like then...Find Us On Podchaser - https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-prestige-417454
Follow Us - https://www.twitter.com/prestigepodcastFollow Sam - https://www.twitter.com/life_academicFollow Rob - https://www.twitter.com/kaijufmFind Our Complete Archive on Kaiju.FM - https://www.kaiju.fm/the-prestige/36 min - Small Batch - Free Guy (2021)
Another Small Batch, this week talking about FREE GUY and the return to the cinema!
Find Us On Podchaser - https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-prestige-417454
Follow Us - https://www.twitter.com/prestigepodcastFollow Sam - https://www.twitter.com/life_academicFollow Rob - https://www.twitter.com/kaijufmFind Our Complete Archive on Kaiju.FM - https://www.kaiju.fm/the-prestige/11 min - Small Batch - White House Down (2013) & Olympus Has Fallen (2013)
Another Small Batch episode, looking at the cinematic twins of White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen
Find Us On Podchaser - https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-prestige-417454
Follow Us - https://www.twitter.com/prestigepodcastFollow Sam - https://www.twitter.com/life_academicFollow Rob - https://www.twitter.com/kaijufmFind Our Complete Archive on Kaiju.FM - http://www.kaiju.fm/the-prestige/16 min - Small Batch - Pirates Of The Caribbean
The first of our brand new Small Batch episodes, this week looking at the Pirates Of The Caribbean, all the from The Curse Of The Black Pearl (2003) all the way to Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017).
As with the smaller shows, also smaller show notes, so enjoy!
Find Us On Podchaser - https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-prestige-417454
Follow Us - https://www.twitter.com/prestigepodcastFollow Sam - https://www.twitter.com/life_academicFollow Rob - https://www.twitter.com/kaijufmFind Our Complete Archive on Kaiju.FM - https://www.kaiju.fm/the-prestige/0 min - 5.1 - EMA (2019) & Seeds
We launch into Season 5 (FIVE!!! madness, I tell you) and our ‘world tour’ with a film from the country at the southernmost tip of the Americas, Chile, and Pablo Larraín’s 2019 film EMA. After expressing awe at the visuals of the film and the impact that it had on us as viewers, we discuss the idea of new growth (‘seeds’ to be sown after fire, in a central metaphor of the film), the plan that Ema has, and how underestimating this is something that is not only done by Gael Garcia Bernal’s character, but by many (male) members of the audience.
Next Up
The next film in our journey up through the continent is the Argentinian film from a year earlier, THE ACCUSED.Recent Media
THIS IS MY HOUSE (2021): Stacey DooleyTIME (2021): Lewis Arnold, Jimmy McGovern, Sean BeanFEAR STREET (2021): R.L. Stine, Leigh Janiak, Kiana MadeiraPIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 1/2 (2003/2006): Gore Verbinski, Ted Elliott, Johnny DeppRecommendations
AS IF (2001–04): John Duthie, Paul Chequer, Emily CorrieHARD CANDY (2005): David Slade, Elliott Page, Patrick WilsonTHE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES (2004): Walter Telles, Ernesto Guevara, Gael Garcia BernalY TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN (2001): Alfonso Cuarón, Maribel Verdú, Gael Garcia BernalFootnotes
Before we get into the serious footnotes, I just wanted to link to this review of Sam’s first choice of Recent Media this week, which is actually, bizarrely, quite good: www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/mar/20/bbc-one-this-is-my-house-stacey-dooley. Onto the good stuff. Here’s our NEON DEMON episode, to link to a film mentioned early on this week: www.kaiju.fm/prestige/3-27-the-neon-demon-and-beauty-consumption, and here’s another one by the director Sam mentions at the start: www.kaiju.fm/prestige/3-17-21-grams-change-and-grief. There were some great reviews of this week’s film: www.smh.com.au/culture/movies/mesmerising-film-gives-us-a-vengeful-goddess-for-the-metoo-generation-20210511-p57qu9.html, www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/nightlife/alex/13350302, and indeed anything on www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ema. Here’s more about the dance form that structures both Eta’s character and this film as a whole: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggaeton. And finally, one of the film’s emotional climaxes (ha, ha) deserves to be on this list: www.vulture.com/2014/12/30-most-important-sex-scenes-in-movie-history.html.Find Us On Podchaser - https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-prestige-417454
Follow Us - https://www.twitter.com/prestigepodcastFollow Sam - https://www.twitter.com/life_academicFollow Rob - https://www.twitter.com/kaijufmFind Our Complete Archive on Kaiju.FM - https://www.kaiju.fm/the-prestige/0 min - 200! - 300 (2007) & Fourteen Years
Some six years (not five, Rob! we’ve been doing this aaaaages) after our first episode — and fourteen years after the…’discussion’ that prompted us to start doing this podcast (eventually), we’re revisiting Zach Snyder’s 2007 epic 300. After we read through that fourteen-year-old transcript, we talk about how our views of the film have changed, its roots in Spartan propaganda, and the aesthetics of a piece that were very much of its time.
Next Up
Next, we begin Season 5 — watch this space!Recent Media
A QUIET PLACE (2018): John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Millicent SimmondsBO BURNHAM: INSIDE (2021): Bo Burnham, Josh SeniorRecommendations
WONDER WOMAN (2017): Patty Jenkins, Gal Gadot, Chris PineSTEVE JOBS (2015): Danny Boyle, Michael Fassbender, Kate WinsletAUSTRALIA (2008): Baz Luhrmann, Nicole Kidman, Hugh JackmanKONG: SKULL ISLAND (2017): Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. JacksonFootnotes
If you’re not familiar with the battle on which this is based, then probably read up on that first, as this isn’t an incredibly historically accurate film: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thermopylae. (Although, as Sam mentions, the history in the film is actually better than you might think, as explained here: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07n8p9m.) For more on the sometimes unsavoury career of Frank Miller, author of the original, see here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Miller_(comics). A few links for our 2007 selves: www.britannica.com/biography/Bertolt-Brecht, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orientalism_(book), www.jstor.org/stable/20455133 (on 300 and the ‘war on terror’; subscription needed). Finally, here’s that list of 2007 films, to highlight the point that 300 was unique (visually speaking, that’s quite an underwhelming top 10): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_in_film.Find Us On Podchaser - https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-prestige-417454
Follow Us - https://www.twitter.com/prestigepodcastFollow Sam - https://www.twitter.com/life_academicFollow Rob - https://www.twitter.com/kaijufmFind Our Complete Archive on Kaiju.FM - http://www.kaiju.fm/the-prestige/51 min - 4.50 - MULAN (2020) and Honour
The final film in our Disney-animation-and-remakes sub-season is the 2020 iteration of MULAN. After some reviews, we delve into discussions of Disney ‘humanisation’ (sometimes, you just want bad guys to be bad guys), the fact that this movie is aimed at a very different audience from the original, the changes that are made to make this more of a human film, and how honour and ch'i (two big concepts here) mean very different things for different (gendered) characters.
Next Up
The next episode is our 200th — stay tuned to find out what we have planned for this, which may be something of a retrospective.Recent Media
ARMY OF THE DEAD (2021): Zack Snyder, Dave Bautista, Ella PurnellSTEELERS: THE WORLD’S FIRST GAY RUGBY CLUB (2020): Eammon Ashton-Atkinson, Nic Evans, Simon JonesPALM SPRINGS (2020): Max Barbakow, Andy Samberg, Cristin MiliotiRecommendations
ROGUE ONE (2016): Gareth Edwards, Felicity Jones, Diego LunaBACK TO THE FUTURE, PART II (1989): Robert Zemeckis, Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd2046 (2004): Wong Kar-wai, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Faye WongTHE ASSASSIN (2015): Hou Hsiao-hsien, She Qi, Chang ChenFootnotes
To start with, almost in passing, Sam mentions the concept of magic(al) realism, when talking about the phoenix; more on that here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_realism. When Rob mentions the film’s Wuxia moments, there’s a throwback both to the genre and to some episodes of The Prestige discussing this: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuxia; particularly, www.kaiju.fm/prestige/the-assassin-and-cultural-tourism, www.kaiju.fm/prestige/4-05-come-drink-with-me-1966-and-war, and www.kaiju.fm/prestige/4-08-the-legend-of-drunken-master-1994-and-comedy-action. Next, I looked at the title of this article and thought ‘uh-oh, we missed something significantly wrong with this film’; no, it’s just a terrible take: www.sceneandheardnu.com/content/2020/9/18/mulan-is-bad-and-that-was-inevitable. (It’s here to remind us all that other opinions do exist, which is rather the point of film…) Finally, here’s more on the ‘life force’ we discuss a lot in this episode (spelled in any number of ways in the English transliteration): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi.Next episode is our 200th, and we want your help! - https://www.notion.so/The-Prestige-200th-Episode-0556dca9b5ea4821807e524bfe3be263
Find Us On Podchaser - https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-prestige-417454
Follow Us - https://www.twitter.com/prestigepodcastFollow Sam - https://www.twitter.com/life_academicFollow Rob - https://www.twitter.com/kaijufmFind Our Complete Archive on Kaiju.FM - http://www.kaiju.fm/the-prestige/0 min - 4.49 - MULAN (1998) & Gender
Our final Disney film is 1998’s MULAN. After some reviews, we talk about the ways in which this film starts from a position of naivety, but grows into a much more adult movie: which leaves us both intrigued as to what the reboot will be like.
Next Up
Next time, for the last time, we turn to the live-action version of a Disney animation, with the 2020 MULAN.Recent Media
SAFE (2012): Boaz Yakin, Jason Statham, Catherine ChanNOMADLAND (2020): Chloé Zhao, Jessica Bruder, Frances McDormandRecommendations
JURASSIC PARK (1993): Stephen Spielberg, Sam Neill, Laura DernMARY POPPINS RETURNS (2018): P.L. Travers, Rob Marshall, Emily BluntSTREET FIGHTER (1994): Steven E. de Souza, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Raul JuliaARTHUR CHRISTMAS (2011): Sarah Smith, Barry Cook, James McAvoyMR ROBOT (2015–19): Sam Esmail, Rami Malek, Christian SlaterFootnotes
We start off (and end, actually) by talking about Disney sidekicks; this is a fun article, if only for nostalgic reasons, remembering all the films: www.buzzfeed.com/jamiespain/times-disney-sidekicks-were-terrible (While we’re on the subject of Disney sidekicks, I also quite enjoyed this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=J46XJImeQbc). Rob goes all academic (oooh, get him) and talks about the Greek chorus, of which more here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_chorus. Here’s the promised link to Orientalism (from which this film is, refreshingly, remarkably free): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orientalism_(book). If like Sam — not Rob — you were a nerdy kid in the late 90s, you might remember this, around the time of MULAN: www.imdb.com/title/tt0188478 — not actually Shakespeare, but something even more academic……Here’s another reminder of one of the concepts Rob mentions towards the end of this episode: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey#:~:text=Summary%20%20%20%20Act%20%20%20,road%20back%20The%20resurrection%20Return%20wi%20...%20. Finally, as Rob says, neither of us are best placed to be authorities on the subject of Gender Studies; if you’re interested, here’s a short reading list to get you started: www.lse.ac.uk/gender/Studying-Gender-at-LSE/recommended-literature.35 min
About The Prestige
From the publisher's feed
A podcast for cinephiles of all stripes. Join Rob & Sam, two life-long friends, one a veteran of the film industry, the other a Cambridge-educated writer on books, movies and graphic novels. Each…
week they talk about a film and some of the ideas it throws up.