After Yang (2022) and Late Spring (1949)

About this episode

The episode discusses the thematic connections between After Yang and Late Spring, exploring AI, family, and emotional depth in cinema.

In our third episode of The Rise of A24 series, we are covering Kogonada's quiet meditation on familial AI, After Yang (2022) alongside the wondrous Late Spring (1949) by Yasujiro Ozu. Special Guest - Lillian Crawford is a freelance writer covering film and culture for publications including Sight & Sound, BBC Culture, The Guardian, Times Literary Supplement. In addition to her writing, Lillian is a prolific programmer and curator, including for the BFI, the Barbican, the Garden Cinema, and the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Dan is unable to hide his adoration Kogonada's debut film Columbus (2017). It currently ranks 7th on his best films of the 21st Century (so far) List. His follow-up, After Yang , is a more murkier affair. Set in a future where robots have become immediate family members, Kogonada attempts to humanize and ground sci-fi in a hazy emotional uncanny valley. Are we supposed to feel for the AI as we would a human or are we just mirroring our own subjective experiences onto an avatar? Rather than providing answers, the film drifts between aching grief, transcendent love, and non-dystopic visions of the future. Yasujiro Ozu is clearly a massive influence…

People in this episode

Host: Dan

Guest: Lillian Crawford

Topics covered

• AI in film
• family dynamics
• emotional storytelling
• film analysis
• influence of Ozu
• A24 films

Keywords

• After Yang
• Late Spring
• Kogonada
• Yasujiro Ozu
• AI
• family
• film analysis
• A24

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Sight & Sound, BBC Culture, The Guardian, Times Literary Supplement, BFI, Barbican, Garden Cinema, Edinburgh International Film Festival

Books & works: After Yang, Late Spring, Columbus

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