Films Change Lives

We discuss:Algeria’s War of IndependenceWillful forgetting and the obligation to remember colonial historyThe reality of France's (post)colonial impactPersonal and collective guilt and intentional amnesiaInter-generational traumaThemes of personal, national, and multi-national guiltThe obligation to confront the harms of history, even when they implicate one’s own familyThe massacre of French Algerians on October 17, 1961, led by Maurice PaponThe reality of France, and especially Paris, as a divided placeMaurice Bénichou’s performance in relation to the star power of Daniel Auteuil and Juliette BinocheHow we individually and collectively respond to the painful ripples of historyW. H. Auden’s poem, “Musée des Beaux Arts” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit filmschangelives.substack.com

We talk aboutThe deceptively simple plot of The Quiet GirlExquisitely nuanced visual and sonic details of life within itThe distinctively Irish vision and mindset of the filmThe Irish language being featured (unusually for a globally successful release)Sharing the film experience with loved ones who will understandThe difference between realizing and verbalizing what is to be understood in this very subtle filmThe significance of subtexts throughout the filmPainful suppressed truths of dysfunctional family life and potential domestic abuseMusic relaying consciousnessStephen Rennicks’ compositional styleSubtleties of sound effects and Foley artistrySonically being in the worldUnspoken but full loveSmall but crucial acts of kindness This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit filmschangelives.substack.com

We discuss:A children’s film for adultsFamily and friendshipGriefNon-linear timeMaximalist fiction in contrast with this minimalist filmFather/child dynamicsMother/grandmother/daughter dynamicsThe non-existence of objective timeThe value of subjective timeCarlo Rovelli’s work on time from a scientific POVHanna Meretoja’s “The Ethics of Storytelling”Freud’s fort-da game, and the reality of a child needing to “let go” of the parentInhabiting the space of the filmObjects that speakSharing the film with loved ones This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit filmschangelives.substack.com