Intercut Issue Six

ISSUE SIX

INTERCUT ISSUE SIX

INTERCUT

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

ART DIRECTOR

Julia Levine

Hannah Cooper

Annie Ning ILLUSTRATORS FINANCIAL MANAGER

Mary Ahlstrom

Sophia Dienstag

Joseph Cohen Maxine Go

EDITORS

Sam Hill

Arnaav Bhavanani

Sivan Piatigorsky-Roth

Clara Coggiano

Leslie Rosario-Olivo

Sophia Dienstag Sarah Lucente

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Theo Matza

Molly D’Arcy

Chase Mayo

Ginger Hollander

Olivia Miller

Eliza McKenna

Hannah Ratner

Lucie Plasse

Olive Wexler

Leon Ristov

Sherwin Yu

CONTENTS

I DON’T CARE HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Daniel Osofsky

1

MEANING-MAKING IN A MEANINGLESS WORLD: SOLIPSISM AND MORTALITY IN KAUFMAN’S SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK Hannah Ratner

7

PHOTOGRAPHY Ginger Hollander

14

THE RARE FEMALE PROTAGONIST: GENDER IN SCORSESE Olivia Miller

15

STREAMING AND THE VIEWING EXPERIENCE Thomas Hanes

21

PHOTOGRAPHY Leon Ristov

25

ATLANTA’S TRUTHFUL DEPICTION OF THE AMERICAN PENAL SYSTEM Inayah Bashir

27

JUDY GARLAND: AT LONG LAST LET THE LADY TALK Hannah Carroll

35

PHOTOGRAPHY Lucie Plasse

47

ANATOMY OF A SCENE: METICULOUS “MINIMALISM” AND DETAILED DRAWINGS OR, MY LOVE LETTER TO SHORT TERM 12 Hannah Gearan

43

PHOTOGRAPHY Eliza McKenna

49

NYMPHOMANIAC: VOLUME I—BODY VERSUS MIND Lucie Plasse

51

PHOTOGRAPHY Molly D’Arcy

59

THE DREAMER AND THE VAGABOND: UNPACKING THE REAL AND THE FANTASTICAL IN THE WORK OF THE 20TH CENTURY’S GREATEST POWER COUPLE Jack Warren

61

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS

DEAR READER, Thank you for taking the time to check out Issue 6 of Intercut.

It’s an exciting period of transition for us as we welcome a new generation of artists and writers and take over leadership of the publication from our beloved predecessors who have graduated.

Since the magazine first started our freshman year, Intercut has expanded and changed to reach its current iteration. And we’re proud to push this evolution forward.

In Issue 6, we continue the small-format print and inclusion of artwork created by students.

This time around, we searched for standalone images at the intersection of photography and

film, along with various pieces

around us. It seems like every

created to accompany the articles.

day, filmmakers and audiences

Intercut’s scope has broadened to

alike are in constant dialogue

encompass appreciation for film

about these changes and what

and television in a wide range

they might mean for the future

of forms. We encouraged our

of film, television, and beyond.

writers to let their personal voices

From streaming giants like Netflix

shine through, extending the

and Disney+ to the independent

focus of Intercut beyond academic

filmmakers attempting to work

analysis to the powerful impact

outside

this medium can have. There’s

current landscape raises many

so much more than just writing

questions:

those

systems,

our

on film, and we hope that you find this in the various ways

What gives art its worth? How

our contributors are working,

do the ways we consume media

conversing, and interacting across

change the media we consume?

these pages.

Why do we love what we love?

As you read through this issue,

We may not have all the answers,

the world of film and media

but we hope these articles can be

is

a place to start.

continually

transforming

WITH LOVE, JULIA LEVINE + ANNIE NING

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I DON’T CARE HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT CALL ME BY YOUR NAME

WRITTEN BY DANIEL OSOFSKY ILLUSTRATED BY SIVAN PIATIGORSKY-ROTH

1

MY SOPHOMORE YEAR, I

“No no no no, I...” He finished

remember waiting behind another

writing his message and handed

ranking nor awarding best films; it’s not all that interesting to me.

student to get my copy of Call

me the book. “Well, thank you,”

Me by Your Name signed by the

I added. He gave me a warm

I’ve gotten into a lot of fights

author. I couldn’t believe my luck,

smile and took the next person’s

about Call Me by Your Name. In

that Aciman had been chosen to

book. I think he’s mocking me.

2017, When people asked what

deliver the Sonnenblick lecture at

Gently. Kindly. But mocking. I

my favorite film of the year was, I

Wesleyan the same year the film

returned to my seat, overjoyed

replied honestly, mentioning Luca

adaptation was released, a film

and embarrassed, and read what

Guadagnino’s adaptation. Though

that moved me more than any

he wrote: “For Daniel. Thanks

it garnered near-universal acclaim,

other I’d seen in years. When I was

for saying this was you! André

I’d often hear light criticism,

up, he turned to me with a smile

Aciman.” I was such a fool.

and I remained entirely quiet. “Is it better to speak or to die?” I

***

lingering shots are a huge part of what made me love the film so

considered. Realizing there were people behind me, I finally spoke.

mostly that it was kind of slow.

This pissed me off because those

When we talk about how good

much. The pacing gave me time

a film is, at least when we’re a

to desire alongside the characters,

“I loved your book. It… You

major or just a snob, we often

time to breathe after an emotional

captured all the feelings I had. All

discuss its stylistic and narrative

scene. The problem is, I don’t

the little details. As I was figuring

merits, loosely asking the question,

think everyone could have felt

it all out…” I stammered. I felt my

“Did this film succeed in making

the same because not everyone is

skin crawl at my admission, but

the viewers feel as the director

a white gay man. I often blamed

Aciman listened intently. He asked

intended, and how innovative was

the film’s mixed reception on

my name, smiled, and began to

the filmmaker in this task?” The

that fact. If these critics were me,

write, “for Daniel.”

problem is, no matter how well

they’d understand how perfect it

made a film is, evaluating goodness

truly was.

“So you think this book is about

calls into question the viewer’s

you?” He smirked. Was he chiding

own subjectivity, so on some level,

Call Me by Your Name is a film

me? He continued to write.

I neither believe in the idea of

about the burgeoning desire of Elio,

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the 17-year old son of a professor, and Oliver, a 24-year old grad student who was invited by Elio’s father to live in his family’s home in northern Italy for the summer to study and work as an academic assistant. Over the course of the summer, the two of them share a once-in-a-lifetime love, a deep mutual desire that neither character will ever forget.

This isn’t all to say that I liked the film because it depicted experiences similar to my own, it’s just that the film is so desiredriven that I believe attraction to the characters and queer concern can heighten one’s experience of the film. Call Me by Your Name has virtually no plot and is instead organized around episodes of attraction rather than a through line of cause and effect. The film is rife with sexual tension as Oliver and Elio flirt and frustrate each other in the warm Italian summer.

Part of Guadagnino’s aim in filming Call Me by Your Name was to create a constant feeling of human observation. On a photographic level, Guadagnino chose to shoot the entirety of the film with the same 35mm lens—a focal length meant to approximate that of the human eye. The film’s

3

close-ups and wide shots are achieved solely through camera placement, so, when the frame is tighter, we feel physically closer to the subject than we would with a telephoto lens. The film is also characterized by many extended, continuous shots, especially in intimate moments.

This film was full of bare flesh, but not always sexy as one might expect.

Through

contrasting

shooting and editing styles, the film emphasizes the intimacy felt in homosexual encounters over heterosexual ones. Straight sex is characterized by disruption in both staging and film form as in a scene between Marzia and Elio where jarring cuts indicate lapses in time as the pair move throughout the attic. Guadagnino depicts much of the uneventful set-up for the sex and brings us into a bland subjectivity of preparation: the two enter the space and wander; Elio checks his watch again, grabs a blanket, sets down the mattress, turns on a crackly radio that plays a pop song about love, and takes off Marzia’s shoes. The scene is too bumbling, disjointed, and matter-of-fact to be particularly exciting for any reason other than the visceral eroticism of seeing two naked bodies engage in sexual acts.

4

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The sex itself feels like observing

office, nature plays a big role in the

is its wholly accepting depiction of

process rather than intimacy. On

film (think Brokeback Mountain

homosexual desire – a veritable gay

the other hand, the gay sex relays

and God’s Own Country). However,

love story. Rather than eschewing

the intensity and closeness of the

rather than using the great

violence

characters’ affection. Throughout

outdoors as a getaway from an

drama manifests within the film

the film, Guadagnino builds an

intolerant world, Call Me by Your

from the coded flirting between

association

duration

Name uses it to create a hallowed

the two main characters and the

between

space of acceptance and for Oliver

agonizingly difficult process of

and

between

intimacy;

shots

condemnation,

Elio and Oliver become longer

and Elio’s growing connection.

indicating a surreptitious interest.

as their relationship progresses,

Part of what characterizes Call

Additionally, the film poetically

culminating in their long sex scene

Me by Your Name is its minimal

promotes the touching idea that

with a transcendent instrumental

reminders of external pressures

love and desire are special, and

moment created by Sufjan Steven’s

on Oliver and Elio’s relationship,

whatever form that desire takes

Visions of Gideon, which plays again

and part of this bliss is achieved

should be felt and never forgotten.

in the final, heartbreaking scene.

through the creation of nature

This is most evident in the father’s

There is a sense of unyielding

as a beautiful and ephemeral

speech, but I won’t give that away.

intimacy in scenes of gay desire, a

untouchable space – cocooned,

refusal to cut away and relinquish

but not from hatred.

the moment. We are meant to understand that the most

5

and

All that being said, Call Me by Your Name is not a gay film, but rather

Aside from the prolonged exposure

a film about homosexual desire.

passionate love within the film is

of Armie Hammer and Timothy

Neither of the main characters are

felt between Elio and Oliver.

Chalamet’s gorgeous bodies, the

gay—Aciman actually described

innovative experience offered by

them in his speech as “sexually

In a gay film trope that always

Call Me by Your Name, at least in

fluid”—and there isn’t a shred of

seems to lead to success in the box

the context of Hollywood cinema,

gay culture or history referenced

within the story. Even so, in terms

that many audience members had

explore each other during their

of incremental advancement from

relayed to him, that their loved

first night together, the nature

classic

ones would cry inexplicably during

they continually found themselves

of

the film. In response, he said,

wandering within, and the dad’s

homosexuality under Production

“Fiction isn’t interesting unless we

final speech – a monologue of

Code guidelines, Call Me by Your

learn about ourselves.” It sounded

acceptance of which only people

that

Hollywood banned

filmmaking

depictions

Name is a milestone in queer

like he was calling the masses

who have kept their intimate

cinema for its emphasis on queer

self-centered, but he elaborated,

desires secret can fully understand.

love. The film is so moving for the

explaining he writes about what

I can’t imagine how much I’d have

opposite reason that Brokeback

we all already know, have already

loved it if I had a similar love of the

Mountain

heart-wrenchingly

felt. Only then did I understand

classics.

sad. In Brokeback, the tragedy is

his reaction to my statement. Style

is

that desire, and ultimately love, is

and skill aside, Call Me by Your

met with hatred. In Call Me by Your

Name had struck a chord with me

***

Name, desire, and ultimately love,

in ways I couldn’t expect any other

I realized that unwittingly, at his

is met with love.

audience member to appreciate;

speech, I’d paid André Aciman

the perceptual subjectivity that

more than a compliment about

So, was Call Me by Your Name a

captured precisely where I would

his novel; I’d admitted that

good film? I don’t care. That’s not

have stared at Oliver if I were Elio,

we

why I loved it. During Aciman’s

the simultaneously disgusting and

that, about desire, we felt the

speech—witty, empathetic, and

intimate gestures like Elio’s lick

same. And in art, I believe that’s

loaded with wisdom—he discussed

or the peach scene, the way they

the most powerful experience of

the adaptation and an observation

touched their toes together to

all.

shared

queer

fantasies,

6

MEANING-MAKING IN A MEANINGLESS WORLD: SOLIPSISM AND MORTALITY IN KAUFMAN’S SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK

WRITTEN BY HANNAH RATNER

SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK,

opens as Caden lies in bed and

the 2008 directorial debut of

listens to the morning radio: It is

Charlie Kaufman, is a movie that

September 22nd, the first day of

must be watched more than once.

fall, and the announcer recites an

In fact, I’d be impressed if anyone who isn’t Kaufman himself was

excerpt from Rainer Maria Rilke’s “Autumn Day”:

able to tell me precisely what the film is about—let alone after only

“Whoever has no house now,

one watch. After watching it, I felt

will never have one.

that I was teetering on the edge

Whoever is alone will stay alone,

of understanding something big

will sit, read, write long letters

that Kaufman was trying to say

through the evening,

about the absurdity of humanity

and wander the boulevards, up

and consciousness but never quite

and down,

getting there. Like watchers of

restlessly, while the dry leaves are

the movie, Kaufman’s protagonist,

blowing.”

playwright

Caden

Cotard,

struggles to construct meaning

The poem drips of hopelessness

where he cannot find it. The film

and stagnation, the psychology

8

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of late middle-age, of one who has passed their prime and plods on towards old-age—in essence, a person in the autumn of their life. We quickly see that Caden is a perfect representation of this mentality. Instead of helping his wife Adele raise their four-yearold daughter, Olive, he obsessively reads the obituaries and visits doctors about strange physical symptoms that he is sure indicate terminal illness. He immerses himself

in

theater,

ignoring

real-world responsibilities, in an attempt to construct meaning from the aimlessness of an existence leading to inevitable death.

As Caden distances himself from his family life, Adele becomes more and more disinterested in Caden’s work as a playwright.

His work lacks inspiration: he restages existing plays and seems unable to find his own creative voice. Tensions in their marriage grow, and Caden and his box office woman, Hazel, maintain an explicit flirtation that seems to exist in some grey area of infidelity.

Finally, Adele leaves Caden and moves with Olive to Berlin, where she quickly finds success as a miniature portrait artist. With Adele out of the picture, Caden and Hazel try to sleep together, but

9

Caden cannot go through with it without breaking into tears. But just as Caden reaches a low point in his life, he gets miraculous news: he has been awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant. He becomes determined to use the money to stage a masterpiece, and, though his relationship with Hazel is strained by their failed attempt at intimacy, he convinces her to join the crew.

Caden envisions a piece of theater that will reveal the gritty truth of humanity, that will break the boundaries of writer, actor, and audience,

fiction

and

reality.

(“Here’s what I think theater is,” he tells Hazel, “it’s the beginning of thought. The truth not yet spoken. It’s a blackbird in winter.

The moment before death. It’s what a man feels after he’s been clocked in the jaw. It’s love... in all its messiness. And I want all of us, players and audience alike, to soak in the communal bath of it, the mikvah, as the Jews call it.

We’re all in the same water, after all, soaking in our very menstrual blood and nocturnal emissions.

This is what I want to try to give people.”) He hires actors to portray himself and significant people from his life. Claire, one of his most devoted actors from previous

10

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productions, joins the cast playing

significant (Adele, Olive, Hazel,

“nearly thirteen million,” implying

herself, and they eventually marry.

Claire) to the insignificant (Adele’s

that some sort of cataclysmic

As the play develops, it becomes

cleaning woman Ellen, neighbors,

extinction has occurred. Residents

more

convoluted.

and pedestrians). Caden’s attempt

of real New York camp outside

Caden’s actors begin to become

to portray “truth not yet spoken”

Caden’s life-sized recreation of

significant themselves in Caden’s

is ultimately a portrayal of his

New York seeking safety; in his

and

more

life, requiring new actors to

own truth. His attitude toward

egotistical delusion Caden assumes

play the actors. The boundaries

the world is representative of the

they are fans waiting to see his play.

between the play and reality, and

philosophy of solipsism– the belief

Kaufman suggests that we live in

between actor and character, blur

that one’s own perception of reality

denial of our mortality—“each of

to near nonexistence. Claire and

is the only reality. Caden can only

us knowing that we will die, each of

Caden’s marriage dissolves over a

know his own mind, thus his mind

us secretly believing that we won’t.”

fight instigated by the fake Caden.

must be the only one that exists.

Towards the beginning of the film,

Yearning for Hazel, Caden sleeps with the actress who portrays her.

11

Hazel tours a house for sale which Similarly, Caden fixates on his

is entirely engulfed in flames. “I

ailing body and impending death,

like it, I do,” she says to the realtor,

Through his play, Caden reaches

while remaining absurdly oblivious

“but I’m really concerned about

the epitome of self-absorption.

to the death and destruction that

dying in the fire.” Yet Hazel buys

He recreates New York City

surrounds him. We gradually see

the house, and lives there until

with himself at the center. Every

that the real world is devolving

she dies of smoke inhalation in

character is defined by how they

into chaos—at one point, Caden

her sleep beside Caden on their

fit into his narrative, from the

refers to the world’s population as

first night finally together as a

couple, after decades of failed connections

and

unrequited

feelings. Hazel’s decision to ignore the fire that ultimately kills her is a powerful metaphor for the human condition—we love knowing that we will get hurt, we live knowing that we will die.

Ultimately, Caden’s search for truth through theater leads to the disintegration of his insular, solipsistic view of the world. After the actor who played Caden dies, the part is taken on by Millicent, an actress who previously played Ellen, the cleaning lady. Caden, in turn, takes on the part of Ellen.

As Caden embodies Ellen, the boundary between his identity and hers begins to collapse, and Ellen, previously an insignificant background character, is suddenly allowed complexity. The collapse of the external world mirrors the collapse of the inner: New York continues to disintegrate as Caden lives according to Millicent’s instructions through an earpiece and attempts to accept his fastapproaching confrontation with mortality.

“You have struggled into existence,” Millicent narrates, “and are now slipping silently out of it. This is everyone’s experience. Every

12

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13

single one. The specifics hardly

shared by every nameless face that

individual. The scale of the work

matter. Everyone’s everyone.”

passes on the street. Thus we are

is

Kaufman shows us that Caden is

synecdoches of the human race—

miniscule portraits to Caden’s

Ellen is Hazel is Adele is Claire

parts which are made to represent

life-sized recreation of New York.

is every one of the 13 million—

the whole. Caden’s attempt at

The concept of the synecdoche

is the watcher. As the saying

meaning-making through theater

suggests that the smallest part

goes, we are all main characters

falls short because of the scale of

can represent the whole; in some

in our own stories. Kaufman

the piece: he wanted to portray the

cases, this whole is impossible

insignificant—Adele

creates

suggests that there is only one

human condition by portraying

to represent except through the

main character: humanity. The

everyone, when in fact he should

part. Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New

individual is one manifestation of

have focused on the individual as

York is thus a strong argument not

the shared human condition, and

the representation of the whole.

only for doing away with the idea

each instance of suffering and joy

For this same reason, Adele is

of the “other” and the self as the

a mere stand-in for the suffering

successful in her art where Caden

center of the universe, but also for

and joy of humanity. What the

is not—she recognizes from the

narrowing the scope of one’s art to

individual experiences as unique

beginning that the window to

access the meaning hidden in the

and personal suffering is in fact

universal truths is through the

small, mundane, and individual.

GINGER HOLLANDER 14

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ALICE PEEKS her head into

indicating the emotional distance

It was also his first film with a

the bedroom and tenderly calls,

that separates his disgruntled

female protagonist and arguably

character from Alice.

“Honey, dinner will be ready in

his last. The plot, characters, and location of Alice Doesn’t Live Here

about 30 minutes.” The camera cuts to her husband, Donald, lying

The described scene is from

Anymore

from Scorsese’s highly acclaimed,

are

starkly

different

motionless on the bed and flipping

the film, Alice Doesn’t Live Here

through a magazine. He replies

Anymore, a 1974 comedy-drama

classic works, such as Taxi Driver,

coldly, “Whatever you say, you’re

directed by Martin Scorsese. It

Raging Bull and Goodfellas, all of

the cook.” His face, covered by

was his third feature length film

which grapple with masculinity,

a door, is omitted from the shot,

and first Hollywood production.

violence, and Italian American

THE RARE FEMALE PROTAGONIST: GENDER IN SCORSESE WRITTEN BY OLIVIA MILLER

identity in the gritty streets of New

rather limiting to bypass female

his lack of female leads, and

York. The conspicuous absence of

protagonists solely out of affection

Scorsese responded: “If the story

female leads in Scorsese’s work

for select male actors or genre

doesn’t call for it… It’s a waste of

could stem from his gravitation

preference.

everybody’s time. If the story calls

With his new film, The Irishman,

not?” Online media reported on

towards characters that resonate with him personally, the nature

15

for a female character lead, why

of the crime-mafia genre, or his

arriving on Netflix in November

this statement, which essentially

fondness for working with actors

2019, there has been an influx

claims women can distract from

such as Robert De Niro and

of press featuring and criticizing

narratives, with headlines like

Harvey Keitel. However that might

Scorsese. One journalist at the

“Martin Scorsese Shoots Down

be too simplistic. It would seem

2019 Rome Film Fest questioned

Accusation His Films Lack Female

Characters”

(IndieWire)

or

in 1970s New York. In Goodfellas,

female characters they played

“Martin Scorsese Rejects Question

1990, Lorraine Bracco captivated

may not have been tokens of

Over Lack of Female Characters”

audiences as a mob wife who

independence or feminist thought,

(Deadline).

exemplifies

vulnerability,

but Scorsese directed phenomenal

madness and wealth that a life

the

acting equivalent to his male leads

It is important to note that Scorsese

of crime entails. However, all

in depth and skill.

has directed many memorable and

of these female characters were

masterful female supporting roles.

inflicted with drug problems,

In Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,

In Casino, 1995, Sharon Stone gave

prostitution, or superficiality, and

Scorsese

a riveting performance as an ex-

ultimately were dependent on

constructing a film featuring a

hustler wife. In Taxi Driver, 1976,

their male leads. That being said,

strong female lead and imbued

Jodie Foster played a teenage sex

Scorsese enabled actresses like

it with ample commentary on

worker in an iconic, controversial

Stone, Foster, and Bracco to give

gender roles—although that may

performances

proved

capable

of

role that captures the intricacies

powerful

which

be attributed to the screenwriter,

of youth plagued by corruption

were pivotal to their careers. The

Robert Getchell. Ellen Burstyn,

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who played Alice Hyatt, was even

Eating dinner, Alice hopelessly

a household fraught with tension.

awarded the Best Actress Oscar

seeks

Donald’s

Scorsese’s use of a shaky camera

for her performance. Perhaps the

approval on the quality of the lamb

while the family sits around the

absence of more female leads in

and only receives emotionless

table eating dessert further reflects

Scorsese’s work is a product of

nods in response to her attempts at

the instability and messy nature of

his own troubled personal life

conversation. Their young, clever

their collapsing relationship.

and relationship with women;

son, Tommy, endlessly provokes

throughout the span of his career,

his father, playing music too

Although Alice uses a submissive

husband

he has been married five times.

loud, replacing sugar with salt at

tone in the presence of her

Nonetheless, Alice Doesn’t Live

the table, and insulting him with

husband, her character is far more

Here Anymore offers rare insight

disrespectful manners. Donald

expressive bantering with Tommy

into Scorsese’s breadth as a

is passive, yet when provoked,

or her friend, Bea. Standing in the

director

17

her

violent;

backyard as Bea tailors her dress,

interprets a female character

regarding

how

he

this, paired with Alice’s ardent

becomes

harsh

and

Alice frets about her husband: “I

that is not merely defined by her

desire to build “a meaningful

thought he was going to kill Tommy

dependence on men or sexual

family relationship,” as she puts

this

objectification.

it while scolding her son, creates

her saying, “I sure couldn’t live

morning.”

Bea

consoles

without some kind of man around the house” and Alice immediately interjects, “Oh I could.” Bea denies this, but Alice remains firm, “Oh, yes I could, easy… could be just as happy if I never saw one again, ever.” Changing the subject, they begin to playfully fantasize about Robert Redford when the phone rings. Alice listens to the other line silently, and an expression of dread washes over her face. Learning of her husband’s death, she cries in agony and, against Bea’s shoulder, weeps, “My Donald is dead.”

Alice’s lighthearted musings of

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life without a husband has now

the challenge of raising a moral-

by expensive clothes, jewelry, or

become her reality. Rather than

minded son amidst her own

sexualization, is a fairly authentic

lamenting her loss in prolonged

loneliness and grief. Alice Doesn’t

portrait of a middle-aged women.

sorrow, Alice uses the tragedy

Live Here Anymore paints a complex

By

as an opportunity to follow her

portrait of a woman struggling to

Stone’s character in Casino, is an

abandoned dream to become a

balance self-liberation with the

object of beauty and desire. She

singer and move to Monterey,

desire for a male companion.

California. Though she bubbles

19

contrast,

Ginger,

Sharon

has men wrapped around her gilded fingers, using the lure of

with enthusiasm for independence,

Compared to Scorsese’s other

her opulent appearance to get

she is brutally awakened to the

films, Alice Doesn’t Live Here

just about anything she wants.

reality of single motherhood and

Anymore is uniquely open in its

When she first meets her husband

ultimately resorts to the comfort

critique of gender roles and raw

Sam, played by De Niro, they are

of other men. On her journey, she

representation

womanhood.

kissing on a banquet at the casino;

is met with rejection, abuse, and

Alice’s character, unembellished

of

Ginger pulls away, and seductively

says, “I’m going to go powder

one decked in fur, gold, and

my nose.” Sam unfolds a fifty

an effortless allure. While her

from his wad of cash and hands

wealth and luxurious lifestyle

it to her, the camera pans from a

may not be relatable, some may

close up of the money to her face,

empathize with aspects of her

smirking devilishly. The camera

tumultuous marriage. Nonetheless,

pans back to Sam, with a bemused

the challenges Alice faces are

expression and then moves back

far more universal, and her

down again to the wad of cash.

energetic charisma, strength, and

He hands over another bill, and

determination make her not only

the camera pans up to her elated

a relatable figure but a lovable one.

face. The triangular movement of the camera seems to exemplify the

It is unfortunate that Scorsese

omnipresent role of money in their

chose not to work with more

relationship.

female protagonists throughout his career, however it may simply

Greedy and manipulative, Ginger’s

be that directors gravitate toward

immorality

projects that suit their strengths.

and

materialistic

values make her easily unlikable,

Rather than criticizing his lack

but just as men are drawn to

of female leads, perhaps we

her in the film, the audience is

should marvel at the women

enchanted by her breathtakingly

he has directed; behind every

erratic yet glamorous persona.

powerful, suffering, or conflicted

What differentiates Ginger and

male Scorsese crafts, there is a

Alice most distinctly may be

brilliant

their character’s relatability. Most

that helps carry and ground the

female

performance

women might find it difficult to

film—psychotic, money-crazed, or

identify with a hustler, especially

oppressed as her character may be.

20

INTERCUT

STREAMING AND THE VIEWING EXPERIENCE WRITTEN BY THOMAS HANES ILLUSTRATED BY JOSEPH ISAAC COHEN

WE FORGET THIS NOW,

content would give Netflix the edge

experience was emerging. The

but

Netflix

over other streaming platforms

multiplicity

original content was exciting.

who were not releasing originals by

venues allowed much greater

House of Cards, Stranger Things,

being the kind of content you can’t

differentiation by taste, and digital

Narcos, Orange is the New Black,

miss. The point of original content

technology massively lowered the

Jessica Jones, Bojack Horseman,

was not to create more hours of

price of interesting camerawork

and Unbreakable: Kimmy Schmidt

television to fill afternoons, but

and a professional looking gloss.

were released at rapid pace to

programs you yearn to see. Despite

America, and the wider world,

wide acclaim, and I personally

its high cost of production, it

could have a new relationship with

liked them. I was excited for the

would support the overall business

cinema, a more intimate one built

return of Arrested Development

model by giving viewers pressure

on dialogue and character driven

and the “Netflix Original” tab

to keep their membership: there

narratives where the auteur cinema

was something I searched out.

was television of such cultural

revolution of the 1970s had been

The direct-to-streaming-platform

significance you couldn’t be the

driven by pacing and composition.

model also appealed to directors,

one person at the office who hadn’t

Streaming services would be the

offering them significantly more

seen it.

vanguard in this movement, at

when

it

began,

channels

and

their forefront Netflix, principal

independence than the traditional

21

of

film studio. The selling point,

In the airy peak-tv atmosphere of

and suzerain by right of greater

business-wise, was that the original

the time, it seemed a new cinematic

initiative and greater operating

revenue.

released

musical cues for getting into and

talk about with my friends. I can

directly to streaming platforms

out of commercial interruptions.

do it on my own time, we can talk

were creatively free from the

Surely this would lead to better

about it any time, and more people

yoke of strict scheduling and

television.

will have watched these programs

commercial

Programs

breaks.

Episodes

than HBO shows because so many

couldn’t rely on the tension of

Much of the appeal of Netflix

more people have Netflix. Original

a week’s wait and would avoid

original content was also the new

content is the perfect vehicle for

gimmicky cliffhangers. They could

shared cultural space this content

this. The business incentives are

pace themselves naturally around

opened. I don’t need to go to the

there: they should be the kind of

the development of the characters

movies during their theater run,

shows you want to talk about, the

instead of wrapping plot into tight

or stay up for a particular weekly

shows you want to have watched

seven minute segments with neat

showing to share something to

just as much as you want to watch.

22

INTERCUT

The first releases were certifiably

replacing any shared cultural

friends, favorite writers, and critics

fresh. Kevin Spacey’s Washington

space which television formed

watch, and I benefit from having

felt so much more real than The

historically.

watched them, to some extent,

West Wing, and the interesting

the same way. We had a shared

television dynamic between Jones

The apotheosis of this collapse

experience, even if I had mine in

and Killgrave was unmatched in

of shared experience is a feature

bed in front of a laptop, and she had

Marvel’s productions for the big

which Netflix has only begun to

hers in stolen moments at a desk. It

screen.

test: adjustable playback speed.

also allows a greater aggregation of

That is, you can watch your

talent and ideas into fewer options,

Yet, the revolution never quite

(presumably) least favorite shows

so that there should be more

arrived. HBO and the BBC have

at a range of speeds, from half to

produced which is memorable,

reclaimed the spots they always

one and a half times the speed at

feels worthwhile, and has broad

had as the best regarded television,

which it was filmed. That means

appeal. If there is a benefit to

with

and

you can watch the same show as

everyone

Succession likely the most reported

your friend without having had

around a few shows but this

on programs of the last year. The

anything like the same emotional

benefit is distributed while the cost

streaming services do occasionally

experience, to say nothing of the

is concentrated in one person (I

release content to wide acclaim

difference between watching on

have to watch a show I personally

(The

Fleabag,

Marvelous

Chernobyl,

Maisel,

a television, laptop, or phone.

find less enticing), then there

Response

has

won’t be enough coordination. At

Tale all come to mind), but as the

been overwhelmingly negative.

the same time, there are costs to

amount produced has increased, its

Brad

too much coordination. There’s

significance has sharply declined.

spectacularly bad idea, and another

not

Most importantly, the particular

cut to the already bleeding-out

much is reduced to the lowest

hope that streaming offered has

cinema experience” while Judd

common denominator, and there’s

been

did

Apatow threatened to fight Netflix

not enough of a creative space

not restore cinema, it is merely

himself. There are likely costs to

to explore. This coordination

one more option in the gradual

the changes taking place.

was forced in the era of three

Streaming

Bird

from

directors

tweeted,

“another

dispersal of video consumption to

23

coordination

Russian Doll, and The Handmaid’s

dashed.

Mrs.

from

enough

competition,

too

channels, to a lesser extent in

different media, with personalized,

The economics are simple. I benefit

the time of cable: there were

individual

from watching shows that all my

only so many options available

experience

slowly

for everyone to watch. But this

King (2019) starring Timothee

is over, and streaming service

Chalamet

original content did not become

Hundred Years War, particularly

the unifying cultural force it

Shakespeare’s Henriad. The latter

promised to be. Instead, the result

three have notably lower rotten

of the presence of so much old

tomatoes scores than the former

content on streaming platforms

(48%, 62% and 71%, respectively,

is that watching the same shows

against 92%) and they deserve

as my friends at the same time

it. While the budgets were ten to

has become nearly impossible,

twenty times the size of the first,

especially given the multiplicity

talent failed to coalesce around

of services, of which any given

the projects, and the storytelling is

person will only have one or two

uninspired.

and

depicting

the

subscriptions.

What results is the media landscape Even in terms of pure quality, the

we see today. At first, there

products no longer offer anything

weren’t enough program options

better than their services’ general

and

catalogues.

We

can

television

didn’t

matter.

observe

Suddenly, in the late aughts,

this decline in quality original

quality production grew from a

content in the four mid-budget

few isolated treasures (My So Called

war epic star vehicles Netflix has

Life, Arrested Development, and

released. Beasts of No Nation (2015)

of course The Sopranos) into a

starring Idris Elba and depicting

cultural force to rival feature

the alphabet soup conflicts of

films in cinematic scope and

West Africa, War Machine (2017)

significance. But the moment

starring Brad Pitt and depicting

could only last as long as there was

the war in Afghanistan, Outlaw

enough shared. That era is over.

King (2018) starring Chris Pine

And streaming services have done

and depicting the Scotch rebellion

as much as anything to bring that

under Robert the Bruce, and The

about.

24

INTERCUT

LEON RISTOV 25

26

INTERCUT

ATLANTA’S TRUTHFUL DEPICTION OF THE AMERICAN PENAL SYSTEM

WRITTEN BY INAYAH BASHIR ILLUSTRATED BY LESLIE ROSARIO-OLIVO

27

THE WILDLY INACCURATE

cultural critic Gina Dent: “The

depictions of prison that define

history of visuality linked to the

most people’s insight into the

prison is also a main reinforcement

penal system serve as a barrier in

of the institution of the prison

the progression towards bettering

as a naturalized part of our social

a highly defective and unjust

landscape. The history of film

system. In the first chapter of her

has always been wedded to the

book, Davis shares a quote from

representation of incarceration…

Thus, the prison is wedded to our

depicts the reality of the American

experience of visuality, creating

penal system by providing a fairly

also a sense of its permanence as

“true-to-life”

an institution.” Ultimately, Dent

American prison system and its

and Davis highlight the disconnect

implicit socioeconomic and racial

between the reality of the prison

bias.

1

portrayal

of

the

system and the ways in which the media reinforces the narrative of

Atlanta follows the story of two

the prison as a necessary and just

cousins navigating the Atlanta

system. In fact, “scholars argue that

rap scene in an effort to improve

the distorted image of the prison…

their family’s financial situation.

contributes to misunderstanding

Earn, a Princeton drop out, has

of the public about the nature

connections in the management

of

reinforces

side of music. His cousin, Alfred

the popular support of its faille

this

institution,

or Paper Boi, is an up-and-coming

and additionally researchers are

rapper who sells drugs to fund

pessimistic whether this negative

his rap career. Earn, currently

effect can change.”

homeless and struggling to provide

2

for his daughter, leverages his TV

have

connections to help his cousin’s

transformed the penal system

shows

career take off. Donald Glover

into an object of entertainment

effectively showcases the realities

that tends to falsify reality by

of being black and low-income

bolstering the prison as a necessary

while also incorporating a comedy

punishment

and

that exposes the absurdity of these

psychotic criminals. In contrast

realities. With details such as the

to the prison narratives saturating

constant sound of sirens in their

film

and

and

for

film

terrible

Donald

neighborhood or the mentally ill

Glover’s Atlanta, an American

television,

prisoner who always comes in and

comedy-drama series, effectively

out of the jail, Glover establishes

1. Angela Y. Davis, Are Prisons Obsolete? (Open Media, 2010).

2. Stavroula G. Bougadi, “Fictional Representation of Prison in Films and TV’s Series Genre: Public and Academic Perceptions of Prison,” Foresic Research & Criminology International Journal 2, no. 1 (2016): , doi:10.15406/frcij.2016.02.00041.

28

INTERCUT

the reality of living between “the

clearly exposes the penal system as

twin terrors of poverty and the

a system of social and racial control,

police.”3 In Season 1, Episode 2

echoing

“Streets on Lock,” Glover illustrates

conclusion that “the nature of

how these terrors manifest in

the criminal justice system has

the penal system; specifically,

changed. It is no longer primarily

this episode exposes issues of

concerned with the prevention and

police

brutality,

Michelle

Alexander’s

transphobia,

punishment of crime, but rather

homophobia, mental illness and

with the management and control

unjust legal processes that are ever-

of the dispossessed.”4 One of the

present in the American justice

most subtly profound examples

system. At the end of Season 1,

during “Streets on Lock” comes

Episode 1, Alfred shoots another

from another man sitting in jail.

man while having an argument.

A middle aged black man yells,

Earn and Alfred are both arrested,

“I should’ve just went home!” As

and the second episode follows

his story unfolds, the audience

Earn during his time in jail. In

discovers that this man was

fact, Earn sits in the jail alone

arrested outside of his house for

because Alfred (the assailant) can

sharing a beer with a friend (whom

afford bail. This is the first lesson

he hadn’t seen in 11 years). This

that Atlanta provides about the

highlights the continued tactics of

privilege of wealth in the penal

surveillance that the police use to

system.

control black and brown people, especially those within low-income

Overall, Earn’s experience in jail

communities. In Balto’s “Occupied

3. PATRISSE BANDELE ASHA. KHAN-CULLORS, WHEN THEY CALL YOU A TERRORIST: A Black Lives Matter Memoir (S.l.: CANONGATE BOOKS, 2019), 7.

4. Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (Place of Publication Not Identified: Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, 2011).

29

Territory,”

“The

reality of the prison system: most

flooding of black neighborhoods

crimes are non-violent. According

with officers engaged in tactics

to the Prison Policy Initiative’s

of ‘close surveillance,’ as well

Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie

as the practical, if not formal

2018, 70.9% of the people being

development of a policy in black

held in jails for local authorities

neighborhoods that emphasized

are in for nonviolent offenses.6

overzealous behavioral policing

The middle-aged man, who the

and control of public spaces, meant

audience learns is very familiar

that overtly racist officers were far

with the prison system, huffs

from the lone determinant in the

because he could not afford to

evolution of racially prejudicial

post bail. His experience speaks

law

practices.”5

to the reality of jail churn, which

While Balto referenced the plight

is “particularly high because most

of policing in 20th Milwaukee,

people in jails have not been

he highlights the racist and

convicted. Some have just been

institutionalized evolution that

arrested and will make bail in

has occurred in law enforcement

the next few hours or days, and

practice,

continues

others are too poor to make bail

to

he

states,

enforcement

which

profiling,

and must remain behind bars until

close surveillance in minority

support

their trial.”7 This scene critically

neighborhoods, and overzealous

combats the typical narrative of

policing

criminals arrested for extremely

of

racial

minority

spaces.

Additionally, Earn’s exchange with

violent

this man exposes an important

Atlanta shares the truthful reality

crimes

and

instead,

5. Simon Ezra Balto, ““Occupied Territory”: Police Repression And Black Resistance In Postwar Milwaukee, 1950–1968,” The Journal of African American History 98, no. 2 (2013): , doi:10.5323/jafriamerhist.98.2.0229, 234.

6. Peter Wagner and Wendy Sawyer, “Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2018,” States of Incarceration: The Global Context 2016 | Prison Policy Initiative, accessed December 16, 2018, https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2018.html.

7. Wagner and Sawyer, States of Incarceration: The Global Context 2016 | Prison Policy Initiative.

30

INTERCUT

of jail, bail, and the mistreatment of

minority

and

low-income

individuals.

Atlanta also used this episode to grapple with homophobia and transphobia within the prison system and culture more widely.

During this scene, a man speaks with a transgender woman who was his former partner. While the scene largely focuses on the relationship history between these two people, the conversation and the presence of a transgender person (more generally) illustrated a truthful depiction of the prison system and those who are hurt by it. In the mid to late 20th century, there was briefly a movement to end police harassment of the LGBT

community;

however,

after achieving less harassment in

predominantly

white

and

high income spaces, the fight against police harassment was halted. Police harassment for sexual minorities didn’t end with this movement, but rather, the harassment was narrowed with a focus on queer people of color living in poverty. “In 2005 an Amnesty

International

report

on the United States found that ‘within

31

the

lgbt

community,

transgender individuals, people

period and one in 10 young adults

of

immigrant

ages 18-25 experienced a form of

individuals,

homelessness over a 12-month

experience

period.9 Glover adeptly produced

heightened risk of police abuse

a scene that is important and

and

that

valuable for raising awareness

‘transgender people, particularly

about the struggles faced by the

low-income transgender people

LGBTQ+ community of color.

and and

color,

youth,

homeless sex

workers

misconduct,’

and

of color, experience some of the most egregious cases.”8 The mere

Interestingly,

presence of a transgender woman

team of Atlanta utilized music to

(who is placed in a men’s jail) shares

communicate

a radical reality and truth about the

that is necessary to understand

transgender experience with the

the plight of the American justice

law. Moreover, in conversation, the

system. At the start of “Streets on

man mentions that the transgender

Lock,” Yo Gotti’s “Law” is playing.

woman was his girlfriend when

Law is a rap song that speaks about

he was kicked out of his mother’s

the codes of the street. Yo Gotti

house. This comment speaks to

states, “Know your bail bonds

the issue of homelessness faced

man and your lawyer number by

by young people in the LGBT

heart, that’s law/ Interrogation

communities, which often leads

keep your tongue in park, that’s

to jail and prison. Chapin Hall at

law.” Essentially, Yo Gotti is

the University of Chicago released

providing principles for survival

a report on youth homelessness,

and

Missed Opportunities: National

minority

Estimates, and it was found that

violence is prevalent. By contrast,

that LGBTQ young adults had a 120

the closing song is a classical soul

percent higher risk of reporting

song entitled “Grandma’s Hands”

homelessness compared to youth

by Bill Withers. Withers sings,

who identified as heterosexual

“Grandma’s hands sooth the local

and cisgender. The report also

unwed mother/Grandma’s hands

found that one in 30 youth ages

used to ache sometimes and

13-17 experienced a form of

swell.” This song tells a completely

homelessness over a 12-month

different story about community.

success

the the

in

production compassion

low-income,

communities

where

8. T. Stewart-Winter, “Queer Law and Order: Sex, Criminality, and Policing in the Late Twentieth-Century United States,” Journal of American History 102, no. 1 (2015): 72, doi:10.1093/jahist/jav283.

9. Human Rights Campaign. “LGBTQ Youth Disproportionately Experience Homelessness.” Human Rights Campaign. Accessed December 16, 2018. https://www.hrc.org/blog/new-report-on-youth-homeless-affirms-that-lgbtq-youth-disproportionately-ex.

32

INTERCUT

Withers addresses the tenderness

as have almost all of us.”10 Glover

sense of compassion or the need

and care that his grandmother

reflects this sentiment throughout

for more consideration about the

provides.

this well-produced episode.

people who become trapped in

However,

the

song

ends, “But I don’t have Grandma anymore/If I get to heaven I’ll look

Donald Glover does an astute

of Davis’ Are Prisons Obselete, she

for/Grandma’s hands.” This subtly

job at presenting the audience of

states, “An attempt to create a new

reflects the lack of compassion,

Atlanta with crucial social and

conceptual terrain for imagining

tenderness, and care within low-

political commentary. If TV and

alternatives

income and minority communities.

film continue to flood popular

involves the ideological work

Arguably, Glover recognizes that

culture with misleading prison

of questioning why ‘criminals’

a stronger sense of community is

narratives, very little change will

have

necessary to combat the horrors of

come about in the reform of the

class and, indeed, a class of

a racist, homophobic, and terrible

prison system; however, perhaps

human beings undeserving of

system. Arthur Waskow of the

television and film can create

the

Institute of Policy, once stated, “A

a shift in popular culture by

accorded to others.”

decent sense of community that

developing accurate depictions,

episode of Atlanta allowed for

can support, reintegrate and truly

like Atlanta’s. In this particular

his audience to consider the

rehabilitate those who suddenly

episode of Atlanta, Glover creates a

humanity of the people who are

become filled with fury or despair,

jail scene that shows the humanity

“criminals,” which is a step towards

and that can face them not as

of the prisoners and the lack of

abolishing a defunct and unjust

objects—‘criminals’—but as people

humanity within the prison system

system that asks to do the complete

who have committed illegal acts,

itself. The episode ends with a

opposite.

10. Davis, Are Prisons Obsolete?, 112.

11. Ibid.

33

this system. In the final chapter

been

civil

to

imprisonment

constituted

and

human 11

as

a

rights Glover’s

WORKS CITED Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. Place of Publication Not Identified: Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, 2011.

Balto, Simon Ezra. ““Occupied Territory”: Police Repression And Black Resistance In Postwar Milwaukee, 1950– 1968.” The Journal of African American History 98, no. 2 (2013): 229-52. doi:10.5323/jafriamerhist.98.2.0229.

Bougadi, Stavroula G. “Fictional Representation of Prison in Films and TV’s Series Genre: Public and Academic Perceptions of Prison.” Foresic Research & Criminology International Journal 2, no. 1 (2016). doi:10.15406/ frcij.2016.02.00041.

Davis, Angela Y. Are Prisons Obsolete? Open Media, 2010.

Human Rights Campaign. “LGBTQ Youth Disproportionately Experience Homelessness.” Human Rights Campaign.

Accessed December 16, 2018. https://www.hrc.org/blog/new-report-on-youth-homeless-affirms-that-lgbtq-youthdisproportionately-ex.

KHAN-CULLORS, PATRISSE BANDELE ASHA. WHEN THEY CALL YOU A TERRORIST: A Black Lives Matter Memoir. S.l.: CANONGATE BOOKS, 2019.

Stewart-Winter, T. “Queer Law and Order: Sex, Criminality, and Policing in the Late Twentieth-Century United States.” Journal of American History 102, no. 1 (2015): 61-72. doi:10.1093/jahist/jav283.

Wagner, Peter, and Wendy Sawyer. “Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2018.” States of Incarceration: The Global Context 2016 | Prison Policy Initiative. Accessed December 16, 2018. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/ pie2018.html.

34

JUDY GARLAND: AT LONG LAST LET THE LADY TALK

WRITTEN BY HANNAH CARROLL ILLUSTRATED BY MAXINE GO

FOCUSING narrowly on the last year of the great Judy Garland’s life, the recently released biopic, Judy, offers at best a limited view of a transcendent performer that in its preoccupation with its subject’s substance abuse and financial

strains adds up to one more

20th century through an eclectic

a true “singular sensation” to

exploitation of the star and her

collection of performances from

which no actor’s impression can

name. Far more than just the frail,

the Garland Catalogue. These

do full justice. In a time when

struggling drug addict portrayed in

selections range from personal

her ability to communicate with

Judy, Garland made contributions

appearances

movie

her public was greatly censored

to the entertainment industry

roles from Garland’s extensive

by studio publicists and other

extending

well

beyond

to

iconic

the

career (she began performing

handlers, Garland’s performances

performance for which she is best

in vaudeville as Frances “Baby”

stand as peerless expressions of

known: Dorothy in The Wizard of

Gumm of “The Gumm Sisters”

vulnerability and resilience.

Oz. As her daughter Liza Minnelli

at age two, in late 1924). With

once aptly remarked, “All I know

this array of Judy-gems, I hope to

In her own words: “Let’s just think

is that she was always alive. She

provide a more complete portrait

about my trying to be heard. Do

still is. I don’t think she’ll ever die,

of the legendary performer and an

you realize how many people

and I don’t think we’ll ever find

appreciation for the legacy she left

have talked about me, written

out exactly everything about her.

behind.

about me, imitated me?… I have a

I don’t want to. She’s a marvelous mosaic to me.”*

rather good intellect. I have a good Garland lived just 47 years but

sense of humor, but it’s high time

left behind a wonderful “mosaic”

to cut the comedy and high time

I would like to offer, to all those

of pieces that have immortalized

to stop the trolley ride. Because I,

interested, a more in-depth look at

her. The best way to appreciate

Judy Garland, am gonna talk. And

Judy as one of the most illustrious,

Judy? Let the real Garland dazzle

everybody just better sit on the

virtuosic

you as only she can. She was

bench and watch the ball game.”**

entertainers

of

the

*Sourced from an undated recording of a young Liza Minnelli, after her mother’s 1969 passing. **The quote from Garland was pulled from preliminary recordings of an unrealized autobiography, taped in the mid-1960s.

36

INTERCUT

IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, AN ABRIDGED CATALOGUE OF TREASURES FROM THE GARLAND LEGACY:

“BLUE BUTTERFLY” (1929): This rare taping features a sevenyear-old Judy, known then as Frances Gumm, in one of her earliest recordings. Though her tone and control have not yet developed into the force that they would become in just a few years’ time, the performance spotlights Garland’s innate musical gifts and the sheer, freakish power of her singing voice, especially considering how young she was.

“SWING, MR. MENDELSSOHN” (1938):

37

At just 15 years old, Garland shines

It should be noted that only the

in this musical number from the

“Swing, Mr. Mendelssohn” scene

film Everybody Sing. Her already

is recommended from Everybody

precocious voice, refined to an

Sing, as others from the movie

unbelievable caliber, is on full

contain dated material that is

display. Her free-styling swing

insensitive and objectionable. The

interpretation of the melody paired

“Mendelssohn”

with her endearing, vulnerable

available on YouTube as an isolated

persona is a winning combination.

entity.

performance

is

MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944): This lovely film, directed by

be standard “Have Yourself A

her eventual second husband,

Merry Little Christmas,’’ earnestly

Vincente Minnelli, sees Garland

sung by Garland to a forlorn

in her first mature role. Minnelli

Margaret O’Brien, is reason alone

captures Garland for the first time

to consider watching. Also in the

as a glamorous leading lady. Of

film is a delightful performance

the many resplendent moments

of “The Trolley Song”; the song

in the masterfully composed film,

would become a staple of Garland’s

the introduction of the would-

during her concert years.

THE DANNY KAYE SHOW (OCTOBER 5TH, 1945): Though not well known today,

Sinatra and Garland—in addition

Garland had an extensive radio

to being some of the foremost

career that began in her early teen

talents of the 20th century—were

years. Judy appeared alongside

lifelong friends, and their obvious

Frank Sinatra as guest host of

enjoyment of each other’s company

this radio variety program while

and their vocal prowess elevates

Kaye was away on a six-week

the listening experience. The two

USO

sing an assortment of songs, most

is

tour.

This

particularly

performance

compelling

as

notably a duet of “My Romance.”

38

INTERCUT

“A GREAT LADY HAS AN INTERVIEW (MADAME CREMATANTE)” (1945): This

comedic

Ziegfeld

sequence

Follies—directed

from

acting,

ability dancing,

to

combine

singing,

and

the two talents continued for years.

humor. Thompson and Edens were

The campy number is quite meta in

special

arrangements

hugely responsible for helping to

the way that it pokes fun at some of

by Kay Thompson and Roger

shape Garland’s sound and vocal

the more absurd aspects of stardom

Edens—triumphantly

stylings; beginning during her time

and celebrity.

showcases

“OVER THE RAINBOW” (1952): In October of 1951, Garland

of her record-breaking residency.

reopened New York City’s Palace

Diverging from the rendition

Theater, a prestigious vaudeville-

immortalized in The Wizard of Oz,

era venue, and brought back the

this performance is tinged with

abandoned tradition of two-a-

a new feeling of heartache and

day shows, for which she was

hard-won hopefulness. Nearly in

awarded an honorary Tony. The

tears, Garland can be heard baring

Palace

39

at MGM, her collaborations with

Vincente Minnelli with lyrics and musical

by

Garland’s

marked

her soul to the silent, bewitched

the first of Judy’s post-MGM era

performances

audience. Beginning during her

comebacks. Listen to the recording

concerts in the early ‘50s, Judy

of “Over the Rainbow” made on

would often sing the anthem

the closing night (June 1st, 1952)

seated at the stage footlights.

A STAR IS BORN (1954): This George Cukor film is widely

protagonist Esther Blodgett/Vicki

show-stopping delivery of “The

regarded as Garland’s cinematic

Lester juxtaposed with great effect

Man That Got Away.” (Viewers

pièce de résistance. Judy both

against James Mason’s downfallen

should be aware that parts of the

starred in and co-produced her

Norman

Maine.

first and only Warner Brothers

numbers

are

film a mere four years after being

truly shines, particularly in her

The

musical

film regrettably contain outdated

where

Garland

cultural stereotypes that would be unacceptable today.)

fired by MGM. She was nominated for her work on ASIB in the Best Actress category at that year’s Academy Awards and was the overwhelming favorite but lost to Grace Kelly (for The Country Girl) in one of the greatest Oscar upsets to date (a true serving of irony would be for Renee Zellweger, who portrays Garland in Judy, to win in 2020). The film showcases Garland’s wonderful

acting

abilities

and

showmanship

via

“JUDY AT CARNEGIE HALL” (APRIL 23RD, 1961): This album, recorded live in front

of the Year and Best Female Pop

of an audience of over 3,000, marks

Vocal Performance; it has since

perhaps the greatest of Garland’s

been inducted into the Grammy

many career comebacks. Having

Hall of Fame. The two-hour

recovered from what was thought

whirlwind showcases numbers

to be a permanently debilitating

from

the

Garland

Songbook

bout of hepatitis, Garland stopped

spanning nearly the entirety of her

for one night at Carnegie Hall

career and captures her signature

on her national tour. Thankfully,

robust sound in peak form. What’s

the sellout concert was recorded

more, Garland can be heard

professionally by Capitol Records.

exchanging cheerful banter with

In 1962, the concert won four

the enraptured audience between

Grammy Awards, including Album

numbers.

40

INTERCUT

THE JACK PAAR SHOW (DECEMBER 7TH, 1962): This personal appearance was

the lively studio audience with

Judy made several appearances

Garland’s

nighttime

stories about her childhood on the

on Paar’s show during the ‘60s,

television. Paar, familiar with Judy’s

first

on

MGM lot. Particularly funny are

and the tales she shares are witty

proficiency as a raconteur, hands

her stories about fellow child star

and entertaining, especially those

his guest the floor, and she regales

and box office rival Deana Durbin.

about her pal Marlene Dietrich.

THE JUDY GARLAND SHOW (1963-4): The

hybrid. A performance of “There’s

sings in tribute to the assassinated

show aired for only one season

Emmy-nominated

variety

No Business Like Show Business,”

President Kennedy, a devastating

on CBS, but its 26 episodes are a

with audience member Ethel

recital of “By Myself,” and “Come

time capsule of Garland’s famed

Merman at the end of the episode

Rain or Come Shine”—a personal

“concert years”; they are also the

is not to be missed either. Other

favorite, largely due to Garland,

closest audiences today can get to

knockouts from the season include

overtaken by the intensity of her

viewing footage of Garland during

a chilling rendition of “Battle

performance, mouthing “oh my

this period, apart from a grainy

Hymn of the Republic” that Judy

goodness!” upon its conclusion.

tape of her sellout November 1964 performances with daughter Liza at the London Palladium. If you can’t watch the entire season, choose the episode with thennewcomer,

Barbra

Streisand,

which aired on October 6, 1963.

Judy is at her best here, working wonderfully

with

the

young

Streisand; their mutual respect for each other’s artistry radiates during numbers such as the “Get Happy/ Happy Days Are Here Again”

WHERE TO LOOK: Today, almost all of Garland’s discography is available through subscription music services. Also, many original LPs of Garland’s albums are still in circulation. Garland’s movies are available on DVD and select streaming platforms. Her more popular films often air on Turner Classic Movies (TCM), as well. A fair number of obscure clips, largely from private collections, are available on YouTube, though they are often subject to removal. Much of Garland’s extensive radio archive can be found online in podcast form.

41

LUCIE PLASSE 42

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ANATOMY OF A SCENE: METICULOUS “MINIMALISM” AND DETAILED DRAWINGS OR, MY LOVE LETTER TO SHORT TERM 12

WRITTEN BY HANNAH GEARAN ILLUSTRATED BY SAM HILL 43

TODAY my dear friend Abby and

This fall, after years of watching

I realized that I might possibly be

it on my home TV screen, my

Short Term 12’s biggest fan. Though

computer, and my phone, I finally

I rarely rewatch it in full, I have

watched it on the big screen for the

probably collectively watched the

first time at the film series. Like I

film at least twenty times. Like

expected (well, hoped, as I was

anyone’s favorite piece of artwork,

going to feel incredibly unfulfilled

the film never gets old for me and

if not), it was a magical experience.

never fails to help me process an

I know Joel P. West’s score way

emotion. When I’m sad, I watch

better than anyone probably should,

some Short Term 12. When I’m

and hearing his idiosyncratic

extremely happy, I watch some

metallophone chimes paired with

Short Term 12. When I found out

the choreographed pedaling of

that I got into Wesleyan and was

Grace on her bike (oh, Floyd) in

super excited? That night, pretty

surround sound was as beautiful

sure I watched some Short Term 12.

and chilling as I hoped it would

Ever since Short Term 12 came

seeing Short Term 12 for the first

be. It was as close as I could get to into my life around 2014, it has

time again. It was so refreshing to

become one of the most important

get some experience of newness

films to ever grace my screens. In

from something I’ve been so well

fact, I would say that I’m a tad

acquainted to.

obsessed with it. I don’t have the script memorized. . .but for some

It feels cliche to say that I notice

scenes, it’s pretty close. I don’t

things every time I see the film,

see myself in any one particular

and quite frankly, I don’t. I’ve seen

character in Short Term 12; I see

it so many times that I often feel

myself in all of them, and I think

like I’ve noticed most of what one

that is a testament to the beautiful

can notice about it. But in the last

storytelling it creates and why I

scene, when Mason throws in that

return to this film time and time

Marcus is working at an aquarium,

again.

it was one of those moments. It’s

44

INTERCUT

one of the subtleties that makes

and Mason, draw each other and

One of my favorite ways to dissect

this film work so well, and why

end up making out on their living

a cinematic work is through

I keep coming back to it. Short

room couch. Narratively, in the

the Anatomy of a Scene model

Term 12 is the kind of so-called

moment we’re seeing it, it’s a pretty

frequently used in the The New

“minimalist” film whose written

straightforward and simple scene

York Times. Within this framework,

intricacies disguise themselves

towards the beginning of the film.

you find the body of a film through

as organic dialogue in a way so

Some may even call it cheesy. I call

the study of its complex parts

authentic that you don’t even

it genius.

and how those parts operate to

know what hit you until it all does.

Its beauty almost doesn’t want to be seen; it’s too good to be fully seen the first time. The film gains meaning not from grand gestures and obvious imagery, but from cues that hide everywhere in the frame, whether in the corners or in plain but subtle sight. It’s genius is so unpretentious that it is sometimes too shy to show itself.

Which brings me to one of my favorite scenes in the film and probably in the limited film history which I have been exposed to. In it, the film’s central couple, Grace

45

serve and create the body. Scenes,

a shot-reverse-shot method. As a

that Grace detaches from her

namely good ones, become a

standard way of shooting dialogue,

sense of safety when an intimate

microcosm of the film’s operation

this gives the scene a sense of

moment with her partner brings

as a whole. That’s what I strive

structural stability. After the slap,

back past memories of sexual

to do when taking apart some of

however, the stability fades away,

violation that left her feeling as

the little details (an exhaustive

and the camera wobbles when

out of control as the camera is.

analysis would take far too long) of

showing both of the characters.

In this way, it sets a framework

this beloved scene.

It’s a wonder how well this shaky

for how the film will continue to

cam brings us closer to Grace

use this device, and also provides

When Short Term 12 screened

in this scene. Unstable camera

subtle but key context for Grace’s

at the film series, I sat next to a

work can be jolting, especially

character traits and background.

friend who I’d convinced to come

when largely steady-cam work

see it with me. Her first comment

dominates mainstream Hollywood,

This scene also has one of my

after the screening was “wow

thus setting a visual precedent for

favorite uses of soundtrack. It

that was a lot of shaky cam.” I

viewers. Short Term 12 as a whole

employs the obscure “Maybe, Baby”

guess I’ve watched the film so

upends viewers’ expectations by

by The Shivers as background for

many times that I don’t notice

maintaining a handheld style for

the romantic scene. The music

how aggressively handheld, or

the bulk of the film. In this scene

is ambiguously diegetic. It’s low

unstable, it can feel at times. The

specifically, the use of unstable

and distorted enough that it could

camera is likely handheld for the

shaky cam towards the end of the

very well be coming from some

bulk of this scene, but the level of

sequence reflects the fractures in

source on screen, but if there is

motion shifts dramatically when

Grace’s own emotional stability

such a source, we never see it. In

Grace hits Mason. During the pre-

that develop throughout the rest

my eyes, the scene dances, in a

makeout conversation, director

of the film. It jolts audiences from

large part due to this music. The

Destin Daniel Cretton employs

positional safety in the same way

two draw each other and then

46

INTERCUT

proceed to have a conversation

cannot verbally express herself in a

that feels in tempo to the words

way that is decipherable to Mason.

and beat of the background. Maybe

And Mason, while perhaps not as

because I adore this film and its

attuned to her physical cues as he

characters, the rhythmic beauty

should be, cannot read her mind

is more pertinent in my eyes than

all the time. Cretton flashes small

what can be concretely defined by

signals in front of the audience’s

the cinematic techniques at play.

eyes that tells more to viewers

But I think there’s something to

than the two characters can convey

the way director Destin Daniel

to each other. The strongest of

Cretton allows the placement of

these signals comes in the form

the sparse but prominent lyrics

of

Grace’s

quickly

trembling

to seep through the gaps in their

hand, focused on for a second.

conversation.

That second is telling of much of Grace’s struggle in the rest of the

It is also important to mention how

47

film; she feels things so viscerally

this scene so subtly sets up several

that she is rendered speechless.

key thematic and plot details.

Mason and Grace have a wholly

As Grace and Mason get more

consensual moment of intimacy

physically intimate with each other,

that is pleasurable for them both,

the camera takes their lead in

until it abruptly isn’t. It changes for

the closeness it provides. Cretton

her in an instant, and the moment

gives us some extreme close ups,

devolves when she reacts to the

the most notable of which being a

physicality with physicality when

brief fixation on Grace’s hand. The

words fail her, a concept that will

scene ultimately ends with a lack of

come back to her in an infamous

communication. This isn’t the fault

baseball bat scene towards the end

of either character. For one, they

of the film. Cretton doesn’t script

fail to communicate because Grace

Grace’s change, but rather relates

this in sparse images and limitedly annunciated words. As audiences, we are handed a modicum of visual cues that are as inexplicable to us in the moment as they feel to Grace when things in her life surface so abrasively.

Sometimes,

when

rewatching

certain scenes, or the whole film, I forget that this isn’t one of everyone’s favorite films. I forget that

not

everyone’s

personal

cinematic canon includes this small-scale

indie

gem.

And

everytime that thought hits me, it feels that much more special to me.

Having watched and experienced this film so many times feels like a little secret superpower to me and only bonds me more with the few people I have met that have seen it. I will never fully grasp the complexity that is Destin Daniel Cretton’s masterwork, but even after all this time, I’m enchanted by the possibility of further uncovering the endless and fresh intricacies it has to offer.

48

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ELIZA McKENNA

49

50

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NYMPHOMANIAC: VOLUME I

BODY VERSUS MIND WRITTEN BY LUCIE PLASSE ILLUSTRATED BY SIVAN PIATIGORSKY-ROTH

51

IN 2013, Danish filmmaker Lars

realistic portrayal of sex addiction

von Trier released his newest

and a scholarly interpretation

film, Nymphomaniac. Divided into

of sex through imagery and

two volumes, the film centers

assimilations. Because the sex is

around the sexual journey and

depicted as clinical rather than

development of a self-described

erotic, and the film provides both

“nymphomaniac� named Joe. After

light-heartedness and meaning

being left beaten in an alley, a

to its portrayal, Nymphomaniac:

man named Seligman finds Joe

Volume I should not be considered

and brings her back to his home.

a pornographic movie.

In order to explain to him how she ended up there in such a state,

The

Joe recounts her lifetime worth

arguments

focus

of will

the

following be

based

of sexual experiences through

entirely on the theatrical cut of

eight different chapters. In this

Nymphomaniac: Volume I, since

film, Lars von Trier provides

that is the version that general

a discussion about the human

audiences were presented with.

condition by offering, through both the narrative and style, a

To

properly

understand

why

balance between displaying a

sex was treated so explicitly in

52

INTERCUT

this film, one must take into

a film about eroticism without

by stating: “To begin with the bait, I

consideration the fact that Lars

seeing a condom and a dick, you

discovered my cunt as a two year old.”

von Trier wished to deliver a

know? That’s not possible for me.”

Here, Joe’s strong sexual language

realistic portrayal of sex addiction

Nymphomaniac: Volume I is a film

is used naturally and explicitly,

and thus used the sexually explicit

that aims to be told subjectively

which plunges the audience into

aspects of his film as a way to do

through the eyes of the protagonist.

Joe’s truth. During her flashbacks

this. In order to be as realistic as

The audience experiences sex the

in her story, the film includes

possible, he had porn doubles have

same way that Joe does, and the

close-ups of genitals, pubic hair,

un-simulated sex and then digitally

narrative approaches sex in the

and breasts, as well as actual sexual

replaced their faces with those

same way that Joe speaks about it.

acts. As Joe’s descriptions of her

of the main actors during post-

53

story to Seligman are extremely

production. Although this aspect

Nymphomaniac: Volume I is explicit

explicit, by making the images and

of the film was one of the most

in terms of the language used by

the language explicit as well, Lars

talked-about during its release,

Joe to describe sex and general

von Trier adds a layer of truth to

Lars von Trier defends his choice

sexual terms. When she first opens

his film. He doesn’t want to lie to

by stating, “I can’t see myself doing

up to Seligman, she starts her story

his audience, the same way that

point of view as she takes up most

eroticism in his depiction of sex

of the screen and the angle of the

by showing how sex can be used

camera corresponds to the angle of

as a coping mechanism by sex

her body compared to the bed. In

addicts such as Joe. This is shown

each encounter, Joe is at the center

in particular in a black and white

of the frame in the event of medium

sequence in chapter four which

shots or she is the only person in

demonstrates the way sex can

frame if the shots are close ups.

be used as pain relief. When her

All shots emphasize her pleasure,

father has his second panic and

while the men are half cut by the

hallucination attack, Joe turns to

edges of the frame or not there

sex to not feel anything and detach

at all. By introducing repetition

herself from the discomforting and

and the idea that Joe repeats the

stressful emotions she feels as a

same process with each man, von

result of her father’s illness. Here,

Trier downplays the element of

although there is clear depiction

eroticism. Images which may

of sexual intercourse, it is again

seem erotic because they focus

depicted in a non-erotic light, thus

on Joe’s pleasure are then revealed

providing deeper meaning to the

to be clinical, mechanical, and

explicit sex and keeping it far away

calculated. Although genitals are

from the realm of pornography.

clearly shown, scenes do not come Joe doesn’t shy away from sex.

across as pornographic, as the use

Ultimately, by portraying sex

There’s no taboo for Joe, thus there

of repetition normalizes the nudity

through the eyes and lens of a sex

shouldn’t be any for the viewers.

and Joe’s sexual process with

addict, Lars von Trier provides a

numerous men, thus mirroring

depiction of sex that is removed

her addiction both narratively and

from any real passion and one

Furthermore,

von

Trier

uses

repetition through editing as a

stylistically.

which is instead quite clinical,

technique to demonstrate Joe’s

crude, and emotionless. By doing

countless sexual experiences with

Although

personal

so, he mirrors what sex feels

various men, which also serves

pleasure in her affairs, Joe uses

she

seeks

like and how it is used by those

to kill any eroticism that the sex

sex as a way to fill a void, one of

suffering from sex addiction. As

might depict, as it represents a

extreme loneliness and internal

such, he uses the explicitness of

habitual and mechanical process

numbness, which she continuously

sex in his film to provide a sense

that Joe must go through in order

refers to throughout her story. By

of realism. He doesn’t want the

to satisfy herself. During sexually

using both narrative and style to

film to be something that it is not;

explicit scenes, it seems clear that

humanize Joe and get into her

nothing is suggested, everything is

the act is depicted through Joe’s

head, von Trier again lowers the

shown, as he relies on authenticity

54

INTERCUT

55

to tell this story. Furthermore,

to hide anything. The explicit

of emotion in the film might have

none of the sex scenes mentioned

images of sex don’t serve to make

simply missed the mark in terms of

above include any music during

a point of exploiting sexuality but

how Von Trier was attempting to

the act, which is unique compared

rather support the aim of making

explore a female addict’s sexuality

to the typical portrayal of sex on

sexuality the main topic of the

as realistically and subjectively as

screen. While music is often used

movie’s premise. This is a film

possible for the audience.

as a way to cover the sounds of

that is all about Joe’s personal

sex and maintain a safe distance

experience with sex and her lack of

As controversial as Lars von

between viewer and the act

emotion and connection due to her

Trier may be, he makes sure

represented, von Trier refuses

addiction. This suggests that most

that his explicit portrayal of sex

to do this since he is not trying

critics complaining about the lack

is made meaningful and non-

gratuitous, which differentiates

account of her various affairs

the concept of polyphony which,

Nymphomaniac: Volume I from

is

continuously

like he said, is “distinguished by

any pornographic film. The most

or

interrupted

Seligman’s

the idea that every voice is its own

flagrant way in which von Trier

explanations of different modes of

melody but together in harmony.”

brings depth to his story is by

behavior or attributes of countless

Joe then goes on to compare it

making a film that functions on

elements in the world. For instance,

with her nymphomania. As she

followed by

by

the balance between body and

in the final chapter of Volume I,

describes, “a nymphomaniac is seen

mind, sex and intellectualism.

when Seligman has Bach playing

as someone who can’t get enough and

Throughout

on his record player, he brings up

therefore has sex with many different

the

film,

Joe’s

people, which is true, but to be honest,

montage of each man having sex

totally

it is seen precisely as the sum of all

with Joe, alternating with shots of

intellectualism. Furthermore, the

different:

Seligman’s

these different sexual experiences, so

an organ playing the three voices at

way this shift between body and

in that way, she only has one lover.�

the same time. Although all three

mind is balanced offers a sense of

To deepen the assimilation, Joe

sex scenes are depicted as erotic

distance for the viewers, which

starts telling Seligman about three

through the use of close ups and

helps remove them from the

lovers who constitute each voice

individual parts of the body being

explicitness of the sex. Almost

of polyphony: F, G, and the secret

touched, the use of a scholarly

like a piece of theatre or a book,

ingredient. Within the scope of her

concept in conjuction with the sex

the fact that the film is divided

sexual needs, F represents nurture

downplays the eroticism.

into chapters with the launch of

and care as he is the one whose

each motivated by the exchanges

highest priority is her orgasm; G

Indeed, since sex is all Joe

represents animalistic behavior

actually does, her story is almost

viewers aware that there is a story

and

and

entirely constituted of sexual

carefully crafted behind all the

roughness; and lastly, the secret

experiences, which would be

nudity. Also, the constant back

ingredient,

represents

incredibly shallow to depict as the

and forth between the flashbacks

offered

dominance Jerome,

between Joe and Seligman makes

love. After having gone through

only thing on screen. Von Trier

of Joe and the commentaries of

all three, the frame becomes a

needed a counterbalance, which

Seligman provides a discussion

triptych, featuring an explicit

he found by bringing in something

about the link between sex and a

56

INTERCUT

wide range of subjects: literature,

exploration as a fun development,

mathematics,

politics,

thus underplaying any serious

breaking any taboo of discomfort

fishing,

and

implications or judgment on her

that explicit sexual depiction

actions.

might bring.

when the film could be called

Along the same lines, Lars von

In Nymphomaniac: Volume I, Lars

pornographic as these elements

Trier also uses humor in order to

von Trier uses both storytelling

pull the audience’s attention away

lighten up any kind of seriousness

and style to offer a film centered

from the story and remind the

that the audience might associate

around

the

journey

of

art,

history,

more.

The

interruptions create distractions for

audiences

at

moments

exploration a

and

viewer that they are watching

with the controversial depiction

a film. Nymphomaniac: Volume

and treatment of sex. One instance

I is not about showing explicit

of this is when Joe declares to

by offering a balance between

sex. It’s about understanding and

Seligman that “it was time for a

displaying a realistic portrayal of

discussing sexuality and how it is

serious education.” The camera cuts

sex addiction and an intellectual

intertwined with human nature,

to a close up of Seligman smiling

and scholarly interpretation of sex

behavior, and development, which

slowly. Then starts a sequence of

through imagery, metaphors, and

it does through Joe’s subjectivity.

four consecutive shots in which

assimilations. Although marketed

Joe is dressed up as a teacher in

around its explicitness, supposed

uniform and using tools from

eroticism, and initial NC-17 rating,

In addition, Lars von Trier also

57

that helps at taking a step towards

“nymphomaniac.”

self-described He

does

so

decides to approach sex in a light-

the classroom to masturbate and

the treatment and depiction of

hearted manner, one involving

do playful sexual poses while

sex comes across as far more

playfulness, games, and humor

pretending to teach a class to

mechanical, unattractive, clinical,

as a way to decrease the shock-

slow but lively classical music. In

and

value of the controversial behavior

the film, it is the only sequence

Most importantly, the film aims

and sexual explicitness. First, he

that is from Seligman’s point-

at providing the audience with a

emotionless

than

erotic.

does so by having Joe’s character

of-view. As such, it provides an

realistic insight into sex addiction,

approach sex as a game in several

absurd, funny, and light-hearted

all while remaining non-gratuitous,

instances during the film. By

depiction of a sexual fantasy about

light-hearted, and meaningful in

having Joe treat sex in such a way

Joe that makes Seligman smile

order for the film to maintain a

and having cinematic techniques

cheerfully. By using this approach,

distance between the audience

support that game-like approach,

the audience thus interacts with

and the sex, differentiating it from

Lars von Trier portrays Joe’s sexual

sex in an unseriousness manner

a pornographic film.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Megan Gibson, NC-17 Rating wouldn’t necessarily spell financial doom for Nymphomaniac, Entertainment Weekly, 11/27/13. Link: http://entertainment.time.com/2013/11/27/nc-17-rating-wouldnt-necessarily-spell-financial-doomfor-nymphomaniac/ Robert Weiss, Nymphomaniac – A Realistic Look at Female Hypersexuality?, Psychology Today, 04/04/14. Link: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/love-and-sex-in-the-digital-age/201404/nymphomaniac-realistic-lookfemale-hypersexuality Boyd van Hoeij, Charlotte Gainsbourg On Being Lars von Trier’s “Nymphomaniac”, Indie Wire, 03/04/14. Link: http://www.indiewire.com/2014/03/charlotte-gainsbourg-on-being-lars-von-triers-nymphomaniac-i-wasdisturbed-embarrassed-and-a-little-humiliated-28659/ Author N/A, Nymphomaniac, Critics Round Up, 2013. Link: https://criticsroundup.com/film/nymphomaniac/ Celluloid Filmmagazin, Lars von Trier on “Nymphomaniac”, Audio Clip, recorded in May 2011. Link: https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=545ThYz7eJc Freja Dam, Lars von Trier Speaks! 9 Takeaways from His First Interview In Three Years, Indie Wire, 12/01/14. Link: http://www.indiewire.com/2014/12/lars-von-trier-speaks-9-takeaways-from-his-first-interview-in-threeyears-67422/

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MOLLY D’ARCY

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THE DREAMER AND THE VAGABOND: UNPACKING THE REAL AND THE FANTASTICAL IN THE WORK OF THE 20TH CENTURY’S GREATEST POWER COUPLE WRITTEN BY JACK WARREN ILLUSTRATED BY MARY AHLSTROM

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AT THE TIME of writing this

sharing the gaze of two of the 20th

article, the desktop background

century’s greatest filmmakers?

Analyzing director power couples like Demy and Varda allows for the unique experience of putting

hiding behind my Pages document is a black and white photograph

Over the past three years at

in conversation the work of two

of the great French auteurs Agnes

Wesleyan,

artists who shared their lives with

I’ve

found

myself

Varda and Jacques Demy, sitting

increasingly drawn to studying by

way

of

one another.

in what appears to be their living

movies

director

room, and staring at either each

filmographies. While keeping in

The worlds of Jacques Demy

other, or at the large, garish lamp

mind the variety of social factors

are cinematic dreamlands, built

in between the two of them. While

and creative voices that go into

on the always inquisitive dark

this truly Sasquatch-sized piece of

the filmmaking process, watching

subconscious of the French New

furnishing may distract from the

film after film directed by the

Wave but shining with a childlike

cinematic giants on either side of it,

same pair of eyes is a useful lens

wonder that distinguished him

it offers the perfect hypothetical;

for observing how different artists

from his gloomy contemporaries

in this photo, would you rather

see the world around them and

and the shallower Hollywood

be Jacques, Agnes, or the object

reconstruct it in their own image.

directors whose work inspired

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him. In Umbrellas of Cherbourg

husband and wife working through

and Young Girls of Rochefort, Demy

their marriage and documentary

creates a technicolor world of

footage of locals engaged in

studio-era

song-and-

community activities. Many of

dance eschewing the real world. In

Varda’s films were documentaries

Donkey Skin and Lady Oscar, Demy

in which she turned the camera

inspired

goes even further, constructing

on herself as in Diary of a Pregnant

fantastical

spaces

Woman, or on other communities,

fairytale

featuring magical transformations,

as in her short Black Panthers,

the French revolution, and a

exploring the protests surrounding

court of medieval subjects painted

the arrests of Huey Newton. In her

entirely blue. Even when filming

later film, Vagabond, Varda uses

in black and white, as in Lola

documentary stylings to present

and Bay of Angels, Demy deploys

a fictional narrative story across a

sweeping

movements

number of character perspectives,

that evoke fantasies of Hollywood

camera

fracturing the male gaze and

grandeur.

creating an in depth portrait of her female protagonist. Varda’s

Varda’s work is far more grounded

blending of documentary and

in reality, frequently exhibiting

narrative is evidence of a constant

documentary

and

premise throughout the careers

blurring the line between narrative

techniques

of both her and her husband:

and nonfiction. Her first film, La

the blurring of the line between

Pointe Court, was filmed at a fishing

the real and unreal.

village she was visiting at the

63

time and cuts between sequences

While Demy’s films may appear

of professional actors playing a

initially

to

be

Hollywood

confections without depth or

tragedies

people,

Both Varda and Demy’s fascination

substance,

utilizing a genre known for its

with the space between cinema and

hide a darkness that complicates

operatic splendor and joy and

real life is perhaps most apparent

the

applying it instead to subtler

in Jacquot de Nantes, Varda’s tribute

screen. Often, this is reflective

expressions

to her late husband, which was

of a similar passion for social

compromise.

the

fantasies

bright he

colors

builds

on

of

everyday

of

regret

and

released shortly after his death

issues as Varda. When Gene Kelly

and includes documentary footage

and Catherine Deneuve aren’t

Varda evokes Demy in her musical

of him as well as a narrative story

singing about spring or sisterhood,

One Sings, the Other Doesn’t, in

about his journey to becoming a

Young Girls of Rochefort features

which two young women must

director. In addition to the footage

an imposing French imperial

navigate

marriage,

of real-life Demy included side-

army marching across the titular

suicide, protests, and divorce

by-side with the fictional Jacquot,

city,

to

across the years of their friendship.

Varda also includes footage from

consider the violence at the heart

Her film, Le Bonheur, makes

across Demy’s filmography as

pushing

the

viewer

of

abortions,

of such prosperity in a manner

use

hypersaturated,

his younger self watches puppet

they never would were they

Demy-esque color palette to tell a

a

shows and constructs stop-motion

watching Singing in the Rain.

story centering around infidelity

animation movies. While Jacques

Issues of class and gender are

that leads to the dissolution

may have leaned to the fantastical

often brimming under the surface

of a marriage and eventually

and Agnes to the real, both had a

of these films, exploding to the

suicide. Cleo from 5 to 7 takes

fascination with the other side, and

surface in the unusually gloomy

its titular model protagonist out of

represented it across their body of

Model Shop, or the left-leaning Une

the gaze of the men in charge of

work. Whether this interest helped

Chambreen Ville. The Umbrellas of

her life and gives her an interior

bring them together upon their

Cherbourg, Demy’s most famous

life, essentially making “real” a

meeting in 1958 or emerged in

film, uses the power of the

character fictionalized by the

the life they shared together until

Hollywood musical to chronicle

ideations of the men surrounding

Demy’s death in 1990, only they—

the daily struggles and mundane

her.

or perhaps that lamp—will know.

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OTHER DIRECTOR PAIRINGS TO EXPLORE: Jacques and Agnes aren’t the only hot couple in the last 100 years of moviemaking. Examples of director/director relationships are relatively rare but always interesting. Below are some potential areas of study:

KATHRYN BIGELOW AND

NOAH BAUMBACH AND

JAMES CAMERON

GRETA GERWIG

Divorcees both obsessed with

New

women in men’s worlds, with

making

Cameron fetishizing moms and

York

York

intellectual

movies intellectual

about types

types New (or

Bigelow fetishizing the military.

SPIKE JONZE AND

Massachusetts intellectual types,

Squared off in the single highest

SOFIA COPPOLA

once Little Women is released and

stakes Best Director Oscars race,

Both processing their breakup/

takes the Best Picture Oscar it

ending in Bigelow becoming the

calling the other out for how

deserves).

first woman to win the award,

they behaved during and after

instead of Cameron, who really

their breakup, featuring obvious

only would’ve looked like a jerk

caricatures of the other in their

anyway.

films (reedy voiced photographer Giovanni Ribisi as reedy voiced filmmaker Spike Jonze in Lost in Translation and bougie hipster

BARRY JENKINS AND

writer Rooney Mara as bougie

LULU WANG

hipster filmmaker Sofia Coppola

Absolutely adorable fresh-faced

in Her) and also starring Scarlett

lovebirds (at the time of writing,

Johansson.

Barry’s twitter profile is still the poster for The Farewell) interested in films about people isolated by social forces or foreign landscapes, but ultimately overcoming the odds and finding connection.

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