Hogg Heaven: Talking about theories of acting with Shonni Enelow

In which we discuss the acting in Joanna Hogg's films, like The Souvenir, or Unrelated, and also Barbara Loden's Wanda

Dear Last Thing I Sawfolk,

Well, hello there! I’m back after taking a little time to cool the podcast engines following the Cannes 2022 series, which were many in number. I also devoted some time to cat photography. You have to put in the work.

The latest episode was a treat to record: a conversation with scholar Shonni Enelow about acting in the films of Joanna Hogg. Enelow is writing a book on the subject, and after getting a sneak preview, I couldn’t resist talking to her about her analysis and what distinguishes Hogg’s use of performance, from her debut feature, Unrelated, to The Souvenir, Parts One and Two.

So have a listen! We also talk about Wanda because, as I’ve explained before, why wouldn’t you talk about Wanda? Bonus: it’s relevant to the Hogg discussion.

You know what to do if you enjoy listening to the podcast. Namely, scream at the top of your lungs “good heavens how I do enjoy these critical dialogues” and then purchase a year’s subscription for yourself or 9 of your close personal friends.

Yours, &c.,

Nic

NEW PODCASTS

Acting in Joanna Hogg’s Films, plus Wanda, with Shonni Enelow

Also available to add on Spotify, Soundcloud, and other podcast places.

Shonni Enelow is the author of Method Acting and Its Discontents: On American Psycho-Drama (Northwestern University Press, 2015) and an associate professor of English at Fordham University. She is the winner of the 2015-2016 George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism.

For more information on the podcast’s opening and closing music by The Minarets (gratefully used with permission):

Follow the band on Instagram

@theminaretsmusic

RECENT WRITING

For The New York Times, I made a Critic’s Pick: Bitterbrush, a documentary about two women working as range riders (rounding up and keeping tabs on cattle on the range).

Also for the Times, I wrote about the often overlooked art documentaries by Michael and Christian Blackwood. In some ways, they can feel like throwbacks, but maybe it’s because they just give you the goods: artists and musicians at work and talking about their work, from Thelonious Monk to Jean Dubuffet—the beautiful and thought-provoking nitty-gritty often lacking from other documentaries that are too busy desperately reassuring you that the particular artist is worth your time.

And not very recent but relevant to the latest episode of The Last Thing I Saw: last fall I spoke to Joanna Hogg and Honor Swinton Byrne about The Souvenir, Part II, for the Times.

THIS CRITIC’S PICKS

Delectable selections for home viewing.

Burning (MUBI)

Z (HBO MAX) – Jean-Louis Trintignant R.I.P.

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (Hulu)

Irma Vep (HBO MAX) – A rare series rec from moi

Total Recall (HBO MAX)

Chameleon Street (Criterion)

Drive My Car (Criterion) – Own it now on Digital Video Disc or Blu-enhanced Ray-movie!

How the Proud Boys Breached the Capitol on Jan. 6 (The New York Times) – Incredible journalistic analysis of the January 6 attack as not just a random series of events

THE END

Here I may end with a song.

ABOUT ME

Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw! I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold.

Besides hosting a podcast, I’m a writer and an editor. My features, interviews, festival dispatches, and reviews are published in The New York Times, Sight & Sound, Artforum, Filmmaker, and W Magazine (and appeared in dearly departed publications such as The Village Voice, Stop Smiling, The New York Sun, and The L Magazine). If you’re an editor, drop me a line!

I worked as editor-in-chief of Film Comment, where I was for 15 years. I assigned and edited both web and print editorial, hosted its podcast and talks and screenings, learned from brilliant writers, curated Film Comment Selects, and wrote a lot, including interviews with Spike Lee, Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, and Frederick Wiseman. Film Comment was subsequently awarded the Film Heritage Award by the National Society of Film Critics (an honor historically awarded to the Museum of Modern Art and other institutions).

Feel free to get in touch re: writing, editing, moderating, programming, podcasting, etc.

nicolas.rapold@gmail.com