Dear Last Thing I Sawfolk,
It’s been a busy couple of weeks here, thanks to a series of assignments and of course spring break (cf. one of this edition’s picks below). So I thought I’d let you know what I’ve been up to.
Last week was a doozy, because I found myself writing about two movies that (sharp intake of breath) could qualify as entries in subversive film art. One for the substance of its narrative and the lack of the usual moralizing about its bomb-building characters; the other for the graphic nature of its forays into the human body. I dunno, just throwing that out there.
I was also grateful to talk to Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne about their new film, Tori and Lokita. They don’t call them “The Reality Brothers” for nothing. They do not, in fact, at all. But we talked about realism a little.
In conclusion (applause): podcasts are on the horizon! And thank you to all the supporters of The Last Thing I Saw and America’s most adorable film podcast.
Sincerely,
Nic
RECENT WRITING
Here’s my breakdown of How to Blow Up a Pipeline at the Times, talking with the filmmakers to walk through the steps to making a film about climate activists undertaking sabotage. It’s sort of rare to see a story that explicit about taking action in that way, and everyone was all-in.
Also at The New York Times, I gave a Critic’s Pick to the wild worlds of De Humani Corporis Fabrica, in which Verena Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor takes us very up close to the human body as examined and operated on in French hospitals. Here’s my review. Cute bonus: my review of Leviathan from the same filmmakers.
My latest interview at W Magazine is with Jayme Lawson. In the space of a couple of years, she’s been in high demand, from roles in The Woman King and Till to The Batman and Farewell Amor. She spoke about her personal milestones and the principles that guide her.
I interviewed Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne—two filmmakers that might just be taken slightly for granted—about their latest film, Tori & Lokita.
And one more Times review: the contemplative Danish film, Giraffe.
Finally, the New Essentials screenings of Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York keep packing the house at the Roxy Cinema in New York, so more were added! There’s still one more (on 35mm) so catch it on the big screen. And stay tuned for the next one...
THIS CRITIC’S PICKS
Delectable selections for home viewing.
No Bears (Criterion)
Spring Breakers (HBO MAX)
The Triplets of Belleville (MUBI)
The Last Seduction (Criterion)
Haywire (MUBI)
Hard to Be a God (Metrograph) Here was my New York Times review of the fabled Anthology run
The Inheritance (MUBI)
THE END
Here I may end with a song. Just bees and things and flowers.
ABOUT ME
Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw! I’m your host, Nicolas Rapold.
Besides hosting the podcast, I’m a writer and an editor. My features, interviews, festival reports, and reviews are published in The New York Times, Screen Slate, Sight & Sound, Artforum, Filmmaker, and W Magazine. (Plus dearly departed publications such as The Village Voice, Stop Smiling, The New York Sun, and The L Magazine.) For notes on past programming, drop me a line.
On the editorial side, I worked as editor-in-chief of Film Comment magazine, where I was for 15 years in all. I assigned and edited both web and print, hosted The Film Comment Podcast and Talks, curated and hosted Film Comment Selects screenings, learned from brilliant writers, and wrote a lot, including interviews with Spike Lee, Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, Pedro Costa, and Frederick Wiseman. Film Comment received the Film Heritage Award by the National Society of Film Critics (an honor historically given 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