FilmWonk Podcast – Episode #189 – “The French Dispatch” (dir. Wes Anderson), “Last Year at Marienbad” (1961) (dir. Alain Resnais)

FilmWonk Podcast – FilmWonk.net

This week, Glenn and Daniel check out a French Dispatch, and a series of meandering vignettes which may or may not coalesce into a coherent narrative. And it’s up to our intrepid podcasters (with special guest and friend of the show Jason) to determine which is which. First, we check out Wes Anderson’s vision of The New Yorker as a star-studded anthology film, then venture back to the 1961 French Left Bank film, Last Year at Marienbad, a bizarre and experimental film that mesmerized us (01:01:03).

May contain NSFW language.

FilmWonk rating (The French Dispatch): 5 out of 10
FilmWonk rating (Last Year at Marienbad): 7.5 out of 10

Show notes:

• [01:09] Review: The French Dispatch
• [25:35] Review: Last Year at Marienbad
• Connect with Kanopy via your local library, and you too can watch Last Year at Marienbad!
• Daniel referenced an extremely self-aware Wes Anderson interview in The New Yorker:
  “How Wes Anderson Turned The New Yorker into ‘The French Dispatch’“.
• Daniel referred to a real-life incident not depicted in the film which occurred during the May ’68 protests: student protestors temporarily occupied (and attempted to set fire to) the Bourse (the Paris Stock Exchange). The building did not burn down (it is largely built of stone), and still exists today as Euronext Paris.
• The matchstick game in Last Year at Marienbad is Nim, which features a variety of mathematical strategies you can read all about on Wikipedia.
• We mentioned a few previous review selections that came to mind while reviewing Marienbad, including Holy Motors, Under the Shadow, Fish & Cat.

Listen above, or download: The French Dispatch, Last Year at Marienbad (right-click, save as, or click/tap to play)