Why This Film?

"Blood only means what you let it."

In this episode of Why This Film?, I'm joined by Domino Perez to explore Lone Star, John Sayles's 1996 neo-western murder mystery and Criterion Collection Spine #1202.

A skeleton turns up in the Texas desert, and Sheriff Sam Deeds starts pulling a thread that leads straight back to his own father: Buddy Deeds, the legendary lawman the whole town reveres. What emerges is a film about how a community survives the gap between the story it tells about itself and the truth sitting underneath it.

My guest is Domino Perez, Professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin. She's the author of There Was a Woman: La Llorona from Folklore to Popular Culture and Fatherhood in the Borderlands, and her scholarship spans Mexican American and Latinx literature, film, and popular culture. She's also the person who wrote Lone Star's actual Criterion booklet essay, "Past is Present," which makes her about as close to the ideal guest as this show could find for a film built entirely on the questions she's spent her career studying.

We discuss:

• Reading Mercedes and Pilar as Mexican American women rarely given this kind of complexity on screen.
• The La Llorona folklore and the film's relationship to water and loss
• How four very different fathers are portrayed 
• Chucho's line in the dirt and what border means
• The real world 1836 project and how this 1996 film predicted it
• What "Forget the Alamo" actually means

Whether you're discovering Lone Star for the first time or returning to it decades later, this conversation explores why a film about a murdered sheriff ends up being about everyone else in the town. It's a story where solving the crime is almost beside the point.

Domino Perez

La Llorona from Folklore to Popular Culture

Fatherhood in the Borderlands

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"Why do you want to live?"

In this episode of Why This Film?, I'm joined by film critic and author Pamela Hutchinson to explore The Red Shoes, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's 1948 backstage melodrama and Criterion Collection Spine #44.

The Red Shoes follows Vicky Page, a rising ballerina cast as the star of a new ballet built from a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, in which a pair of enchanted red shoes dance a woman to her death.

Pamela Hutchinson is a writer, critic, and film historian specializing in silent and classic cinema. She's a columnist at Sight & Sound, the founder-editor of Silent London, and her writing has appeared in the Guardian, Empire, the Criterion Collection, and many more. In 2023, she wrote the BFI Film Classics book dedicated entirely to this film, drawing on Michael Powell's personal archive to trace how the film came together. There's no one better suited to help unpack why this film still holds power.

Together we move through the film scene by scene and discuss:

• The real Nijinsky and Diaghilev romance
• Boris Lermontov - Collector of Souls
• The blood and injury hidden beneath ballet's grace
• Powell & Pressburger's partnership
• Is Vicky's death a choice or the red shoes' spell?
• The 17-minute ballet sequence

Whether you're discovering The Red Shoes for the first time or returning to it, this conversation explores why a film about the price of greatness has haunted artists for over 75 years.

Pamela Hutchinson

Silent London

BFI Film Classics: The Red Shoes

The Curse of Queen Kelly

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"There was a great moment in the 90s with noir films, and I think Deep Cover should always be a part of that consideration."

In this episode of Why This Film?, I'm joined by film scholar Michael B. Gillespie to explore Deep Cover, Bill Duke's 1992 noir thriller.

Deep Cover follows Russell Stevens, a Cincinnati police officer recruited by the DEA to go undercover at "John Hull" and infiltrate the West Coast's largest cocaine supply chain. As Stevens climbs the ladder, the line between cop and the character he's playing starts to disappear.

Michael B. Gillespie is an Associate Professor in the Department of Cinema Studies at NYU and the author of Film Blackness: American Cinema and the Idea of Black Film, which examines Deep Cover as a defining case study. His writing has appeared in Film Comment, Film Quarterly, and The Criterion Collection. He served as consulting producer on the Criterion release of Deep Cover, where he also wrote the accompanying essay. There's no one better suited to help unpack why this film is included in the collection.

Together we move through the film and discuss:

• Why "neo-noir" fails to describe Deep Cover
• The police department weaponizing trauma as recruitment
• Jeff Goldblum's and Larry Fishburne's interracial coupling

Whether you're discovering Deep Cover for the first time or returning to it, this conversation explores why a film about a man forced to play a role became one of the defining noirs of its era, and why it still matters today.

Michael B. Gillespie

Who'll Pay Reparations on My Soul?

Film Blackness: American Cinema and the Idea of Black Film

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"You walk out taking away an awful lot of knowledge of American history that you were never told."

In this episode of Why This Film?, I'm joined by film scholar Jack Ryan to explore Matewan, John Sayles's 1987 masterpiece and Criterion Collection Spine #999.

Matewan follows Joe Kenehan, a union organizer sent to a small West Virginia mining town in 1920 to bring together workers all kept apart by a coal company determined not to let them realize how much they actually have in common. Sayles builds the tension until the ultimate massacre most of us were never taught.

Jack Ryan brings his perspective as the author of John Sayles, Filmmaker (2nd ed., 2010), the definitive critical study of Sayles's career. Having spent years studying Sayles's entire body of work, Jack understands the patterns in how Sayles builds his films. This makes him the perfect guide for understanding Matewan not just as history, but as a film.

Together we move through the film scene by scene and discuss:

• Sayles as a filmmaker
• How direct contact with people of the region shapes the feel of a film
• Haskell Wexler's use of darkness and palette sans primary colors
• The role of music bringing people together
• Joe Kenehan's pacifist's philosophy
• Why the film refuses us any comfort at the end
• American labor history that schools don't teach

Whether you're discovering Matewan for the first time or returning to it, this conversation explores why a film about a massacre most of us never learned about became one of Sayles's most beautiful works and why it still matters.

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"See how far the truth gets you."

In this episode of Why This Film?, I'm joined by film scholar Sid Gottlieb to explore The 39 Steps, Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 masterpiece thriller and a Criterion Collection essential, the film where Hitchcock became definitively Hitchcock.

The 39 Steps follows Richard Hannay (Robert Donat), an ordinary Canadian accused of murder he didn't commit. Fleeing across the Scottish Highlands, he's handcuffed to Pamela (Madeleine Carroll), a woman who doesn't believe him. What starts as a spy story becomes a meditation on trust and survival. To survive, Hannay must convince strangers he's telling the truth. But truth doesn't always help.

Sid Gottlieb is a Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Sacred Heart University, where he's taught since 1976. He co-edits The Hitchcock Annual and has spent decades inside Hitchcock's own words and interviews through books like Hitchcock on Hitchcock, Framing Hitchcock, and Hitchcock: Interviews. His writing extends to Welles, Capra, and beyond, the kind of range that comes from thinking deeply about how directors construct meaning. He's the ideal guide for understanding how a 1935 suspense thriller became the blueprint for everything Hitchcock would make for the next 40 years.

We discuss:

• Why The 39 Steps is the film where Hitchcock's career took shape
• The "wrong man" motif
• Performance and storytelling as survival strategies
• Hitchcock's critique on institutions
• Pamela refusing to be won over on charm alone
• Class consciousness
• The MacGuffin and why it doesn't matter

Whether you're encountering The 39 Steps for the first time or returning to it, this conversation explores a film that moves at breakneck speed while asking questions about who we trust and why. It's a thriller that is also political. It's a love story where the couple barely knows each other. It's a comedy and also a suspense. And it's the film that taught Hitchcock how to be Hitchcock.

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"It captures an uncanny feeling that relates to grief, that there's something after, the hope we could get more time with someone we love."

In this episode of Why This Film?, Film critic Carlos Aguilar joins me to explore Birth, Jonathan Glazer's 2004 psychological thriller and Criterion Collection Spine #1298.

Birth follows Anna, a widow living a comfortable Manhattan life who has finally agreed to remarry, ten years after the sudden death of her husband Sean. Then a 10-year-old boy appears at her mother's birthday party claiming to be him. What follows is an unsettling exploration of grief, obsession, and the desperate ways we cling to those we've lost, asking whether the person we mourn is ever truly the person who died, or just the story we've constructed in their place.

Carlos brings his perspective as a film critic, writer, and member of both the LA Film Critics Association and the National Society of Film Critics. His work has appeared in The Wrap, Vulture, IndieWire, RogerEbert.com, and The Criterion Collection. He's a passionate advocate for representation and the cinematic legacy of Latin America, and his deep connection to the "mystery of the heart" in film makes him the perfect guide for Glazer's haunting formal precision.

Together we move through the film scene by scene and discuss:

• How grief constructs the dead
• The role class and wealth in Anna's grief
• Nicole Kidman's devastating performance and why this remains one of her most daring roles
• The concert scene
• Whether Anna ever truly completes the grieving process
• The bathtub scene's reception in 2004
• What happens when we lose someone twice

Whether you're discovering Birth for the first time or returning to it, this conversation explores why a film initially dismissed and misunderstood has become recognized as one of the most essential meditations on grief in contemporary cinema.

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"It's an incredibly rich film."

In this episode of Why This Film?, I'm joined by film critic and scholar Girish Shambu to explore La cérémonie, Claude Chabrol's 1995 masterpiece and Criterion Collection Spine #1199.

La cérémonie follows Sophie, a withdrawn live-in maid hired by the welcoming Lelièvre family at their country estate. The family is pleasant. The job is fine. And then Sophie meets Jeanne, the local postmistress. Jeanne is sharp, reckless, and already on bad terms with Sophie's new employer. The two women become close. And that friendship, combined with a secret Sophie has been hiding since she arrived, sets the film on a course it can't turn back from.

Girish brings his perspective as a critic who has spent years thinking about films that take economic inequality seriously from the works of Ken Loach, the Dardenne brothers, and Aki Kaurismäki. He's currently writing a book about the marginalization of women in the history of auteurism, which gives him a precise eye for how class, gender, and power operate in everyday life.

Together, we move through the film scene by scene and discuss:

• How class war can still operate through politeness and generosity
• The role secrets and shame play in shaping Sophie's identity
• How critical reception of the film has recently changed
• Chabrol as an underappreciated filmmaker of the French New Wave

Whether you're discovering La cérémonie for the first time or returning to it, this conversation explores why a film dismissed for years suddenly became recognized as one of the essential films of its era.

You can find more from Girish Shambu below:

Girish Shambu

The New Cinephilia

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"It's a perfectly imperfect film."

In this episode of Why This Film?, I'm joined by film editor Caleb Tyson to explore Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022), the Academy Award-winning stop-motion feature and Criterion Collection entry that reimagines one of the world's oldest stories through an entirely new lens.

Set in Mussolini's fascist Italy, del Toro's Pinocchio follows a grieving woodcarver named Geppetto who, lost in sorrow after losing his son Carlo, carves a puppet from a pine tree grown near his son's grave. When a wood sprite brings the puppet to life, Pinocchio must navigate a world that sees him as either a miracle or a monster - all while Geppetto struggles to accept this strange new creation for what it is, rather than who he wishes it could be. 

Caleb Tyson brings his perspective as a working film editor and animator to the conversation. His background in pacing, rhythm, and visual storytelling gives him a uniquely technical eye for how del Toro uses stop-motion, shadow, score, and imperfection to build a world that feels entirely tactile and alive.

Together we move through the film scene by scene and discuss:

• How del Toro uses fascist Italy as a backdrop to ask: who is the real puppet?
• Guillermo del Toro's craft - his use of lighting, intentional imperfection, and stop-motion animation
• The Christ imagery woven throughout the film and what del Toro is saying with it
• Themes of grief, identity, disobedience, forgiveness, and the father-son dynamic at the heart of the story
• The film's voice cast, including Ewan McGregor, Cate Blanchett, Christoph Waltz, Tilda Swinton, and David Bradley
• Why a puppet who refuses to obey is more human than the people around him
• Why Pinocchio earns its place in the Criterion Collection as a perfectly imperfect film

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"Is our identity predetermined or something we can create?"

In this episode of Why This Film?, I'm joined by Michael Repsch, President of Dark Star Pictures, to explore Kagemusha - Akira Kurosawa's sweeping historical epic and Criterion Collection Spine #267.

Released in 1980, Kagemusha follows a thief who is spared execution because of his uncanny resemblance to the powerful warlord Takeda Shingen. When Shingen dies, the thief is forced to assume his identity, and the fate of the entire clan depends on if the illusion can be sustained.

Michael brings his perspective as a longtime film distributor who has helped release over 200 films and now leads Dark Star Pictures. He discusses what makes Kagemusha endure not only as a viewer, but as someone who understands how films are preserved and passed on to new audiences.

Together, we move through the film scene by scene and discuss:

• Akira Kurosawa's style and use of color, shadow, and movement
• How Kagemusha differs from the traditional samurai epic
• Themes of identity, power, and succession
• Why the film rewards repeated viewings
• Why Kagemusha remains one of the most visually stunning, thought-provoking, and essential films in the Criterion Collection

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"To me, it's a perfect film."

In this episode of Why This Film?, I'm joined by assistant director Chris Cook to explore The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), Wes Anderson's meticulously crafted family drama and Criterion Collection Spine #157.

Released in 2001, The Royal Tenenbaums follows the once-brilliant Tenenbaum siblings - Chas, Margot, and Richie - whose early promise has long since faded. When their estranged father Royal suddenly re-enters their lives under false pretenses, the family is forced into a reluctant reunion.

Chris Cook brings his perspective as an assistant director working across film and television, with credits including The Killer, Ted Lasso, and The Morning Show. He talks about what stands out in The Royal Tenenbaums not just as a viewer, but as someone who understands how a film like this has to come together behind the scenes.

Together, we move through the film scene by scene and discuss:

• Wes Anderson's visual style and early run of films
• The ensemble cast
• The film's production design, soundtrack, and use of montage
• Royal Tenenbaum as both a deadbeat father and an oddly compelling force within the family
• Themes of early success, failure, grief, and reconciliation
• Why The Royal Tenenbaums remains one of the most emotionally resonant and distinctive films in the Criterion Collection.

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