Guest Co-Hosts: Tim Luz, Chris StachiwWe’re kicking off a month of discussing comedy films with a look at Martin Scorsese's After Hours (1985). When The Last Temptation of Christ was put in turnaround again, producers Griffin Dunne and Amy Robinson approached Martin Scorsese about helming a Kafkaesque story about a yuppie stuck in Soho by first-time screenwriter Joseph Minion. Originally called Lies, Dunne would go on to star as Paul Hackett, surrounded by an amazing cast of characters.
Chris Stachiw and Tim Luz join Mike to discuss one of Scorsese's more unusual films and the controversy surrounding it.
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Music:
"Chelsea Morning" - Joni Mitchell
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I really loved this show! Thanks for the dive into one of my favorite movies. I've been watching this since the late 80's when I rented it on VHS. You guys got a lot of ideas out of this film, I can't wait to watch it again given your fresh perspectives. What you say is true about it being a "one crazy night film". I always thought of it as an encapsulated tiny universe, a bubble, where the rules apply to their own conventions, not ours. Kind of like Donnie Darko.
ReplyDeleteOne thing you may have missed (or didn't have time to cover) was the direct reference to Kafka's "Before The Law". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Before_the_Law
This would be the scene with the bouncer outside Club Berlin. The dialogue is lifted straight from the story. (Is this another copyright infringement?) Published as a short story and eventually written into "The Trial", I'm going to guess they were referring to Orson Welles' amazing 1962 film adaptation, for which this short story serves as an illustrated prologue, also narrated by Welles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlKEybkVl0M
I HIGHLY recommend this film if you haven't seen it.Find the crisp european Studio Canal print, all the american versions are shit. I'd also love to hear an analysis of this movie.
Also this was the first time I've heard Bad Brains music in a movie soundtrack, I was very surprised when I heard it. Again during the Club Berlin scene, they're playing the Brain's first single "Pay To Cum". THis is the slower, funkier 1980 single version which I greatly prefer to the album version. Of course it's all over youtube now, but back then good luck finding the single! It was re-issued on the excellent punk comp "Let Them Eat Jellybeans" which was about the only way to hear it back then.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp7Vj0IO6hI
Thanks again, love the work, much appreciated.