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The Stream Queen watches The Party
9 Plays3 years ago
We continue with our streaming of movies where people get together either for the holidays or for a celebration. Austin filmmaker and editor, Tyler Taliaferro joined me in watching The Party directed by Sally Potter. Available on Hulu. We hope you enjoy our last episode of Season 1.
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Transcript
Introduction and Humor
00:00:00
Speaker
to all the ladies I am big it's the pictures that got small
00:00:16
Speaker
All this way for my advice, I feel like Oprah. A woman! Person your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy night. What the hell? I'm not going to worry about if people accept me or not. I'm going to be in Hollywood wherever I am at.
Podcast Introduction: Stream Queen
00:00:33
Speaker
Hey, everybody, and welcome to the Stream Queen, where we select films by female directors to watch and discuss on the show. I'm your host, Tapia Leitodivo, and every week I invite a friend to join me in watching movies directed by women, and as a whole, just indulge in our love of cinema.
Film Focus: 'The Party' by Sally Potter
00:00:51
Speaker
Today, the Stream Clean watches The Party from 2017, directed by Sally Porter. Sally Porter, if you know her or don't know her, actually brought us Orlando, which is also a pretty fantastic film. So it is available on Hulu. It's a very short film, so you can watch it pretty quickly.
00:01:10
Speaker
I hope after listening to this podcast that you will go to Hulu and watch it, or if you have watched them before you get to rewatch it again, because I think that I might do so after the discussion today.
Meet the Guest: Tyler Taliaferro
00:01:21
Speaker
And joining me is a filmmaker with a very extensive background, because he's only 21. No, I'm kidding. Our filmmaker here, Tyler, Talia Farrow. Talia Farrow, is that how I pronounce it? Is that good? Yeah, you got it.
00:01:37
Speaker
Although, you got my last name right, you did not get the director's last name right. Her name is Sally Potter. Sally Potter! What did I say? Not Sally Porter. Porter? Oh yeah, there's an R. Gosh, I ruined it. I can always re-record that part. That's true, you could. But then this joke wouldn't make any sense. And then we just edit it out. But yes, I'm gonna call you Tyler Tallyafero.
00:01:59
Speaker
Oh my God, you saw how security yesterday. I did see how security yesterday. Highly recommend. And what else can I tell you about Tyler?
Black and White Cinematography Discussion
00:02:08
Speaker
Tyler, I have known for quite some time, met him as a young, up-and-coming film lover, film maker. Still that. And yeah, and I'm glad you're here. And additional background about Tyler, he's also a senior video editor and content creator for a full market.
00:02:28
Speaker
full service marketing agency. I feel like maybe you need to shorten your title a little bit. Just for the regular. I tried and then it turned out I wouldn't have a job anymore if my title got shorter. So that's my job. How's it going? Let's do this. You know what's going good?
00:02:48
Speaker
It's been it had been so long since I'd watched a black and white movie. And I thought that was like, kind of refreshing. You know, I, I spent so much time color correcting in my own job, that it was nice to be like, Oh, yeah, like, you don't need it. You know, it's, it's totally a perfect choice. That was an interesting choice. So Sally Colter, as we're gonna call her.
00:03:11
Speaker
I think I'm just gonna leave it in. Hopefully she's not upset with me because you know I too want jobs in the future and if she could hire me that'd be nice but yeah it was an interesting choice because you know
00:03:29
Speaker
you think about it's 2017 and I don't really know like what do you feel like her like why did she choose to have it in black and white because I didn't really it wasn't anything about the movie I think yeah I think that with with the cast that they had with you know having these like seven people basically that are
00:03:52
Speaker
all insulated into one environment, you know, they did the classic like low budget thing, which I actually don't even know what the budget of the film was. But, but before I get too far into that, like
00:04:05
Speaker
I think that what it really did was it unified the conflict into like one plane, right? Because when you started using color into your film, you start getting color theory, like, and you can start to mix metaphors or things can happen, you don't necessarily want to. But when everyone's black and white, it kind of puts everyone on the same plane. You know, characters can't dominate a scene of color. And like, that was one thing I really liked about the power dynamic of the film is it really didn't feel like anyone controlled.
00:04:32
Speaker
Like, even, you know, silly emergency character who has a gun at the beginning, like, even if he feels somehow like a neutralized threat compared to Patricia Clarkson's character, April, who's like, got such a can do attitude and like, give no fucks type, like, just walk around. He really did. She was a powerful character. Absolutely.
00:04:58
Speaker
But yeah, I think The Black and White really served that.
Film Plot and Character Analysis
00:05:01
Speaker
And let me give people kind of like a background of this movie. So basically what's happening is there are all these friends, I guess they've known each other. They're friends that have known each other forever. And they kind of come together to celebrate this achievement by Janet, played by Kristin Scott Thomas. Absolutely love her as an actress in general. She's been in like Mission
00:05:28
Speaker
The English patient is probably the first film I ever saw her in. And if you have an absolutely, absolutely, absolutely must watch in terms of cinema. And then Gossipat Park, also another great classic. And so, you know, you have all these people come together to celebrate this achievement. Getting together is something that we haven't really had the privilege to do because of the pandemic, but we're kind of getting back to it. And so all of these personalities get to collide in a room.
00:05:54
Speaker
And I think one of the reasons I selected this film specifically for you, Tyler, is because I know that just a few months ago, we're thinking about also doing a movie about a party and just about all the things that get revealed in the party. And so I'm just super excited to hear your take on the movie in general. Totally.
00:06:18
Speaker
Like, so one thing that I found fascinating, yes, actually, because I wasn't compliant, still am seeking to make a film that takes place all at a party, but that's beside the point. I think that what I was kind of trying to do throughout the films, like just kind of put together the overall context so that I could understand everyone a little bit better. But
00:06:46
Speaker
I think it's said a lot just about the way that people can just create conflict and then solve it internally in a way that's either really messy or pretty clean. In this case, it was pretty messy. It was pretty messy. But I don't know. No one ever felt like a terribly bad person despite all of the
00:07:16
Speaker
nefarious intentions that might have come into it. Tom, in particular, I'm speaking to, you know, coming in with a gun and all that, doing all this cocaine. And by the way, Tom is played by my screen husband, Silvia Murphy. If you are still available, I will leave my husband for you. So just give me a call.
00:07:41
Speaker
I really liked the characters of Bill and Gottfried. They were probably the two people who I was just, their whole dynamic of this kind of like Western versus Eastern philosophy was really fascinating. I think like Bruno Garensis, he's an actor who, he's the guy who plays Gottfried, and I think he was in a lot of German films. He's been in films forever, I think since like the 70s.
00:08:09
Speaker
I don't know much about his stuff. But it was, yeah, no, I did a little Google search. He was in a, he's been in a lot, like 40 plus movies, I think. And so many of them like unknown that I've like never heard of. He's been in a couple of movies I have heard of. Like he was in 2015's Look Who's Back, which is the film where Hitler is revived and walks around. Oh, yeah, he was in Downfall.
00:08:36
Speaker
Mentoring candidate. Oh, yeah. Wings of Desire. Now, that's an 80s movie, guys. 87, if you haven't seen it. But yeah. Man. He's got history, and I like how they were able to match these. Maybe that's another thing that Black and White kind of helped with. Black and White makes everyone feel more important. Yeah, yeah, mutual. It puts everyone on an even playing field, right?
00:09:04
Speaker
So you can have these uber famous actors like Philly and Murphy and arguably Bruno Genz. And you can put him against people who might be a little lesser known, like Timothy Spall. Timothy Spall is not lesser known, my friend. OK. You're so right. You should put that out. I will be very embarrassed because as soon as I said that, I clicked on his name and I saw that he's been in everything. Yeah. And that was a mistake. Everyone in the cast is pretty much alone.
Character Personalities and Dynamics
00:09:32
Speaker
This cast was stacked.
00:09:34
Speaker
No, it was, as soon as I said that, I started it and I was like, oh no, all these people have been in everything. There's not one, not one actor in this movie has been in less than 50 films. You got, so he was in Harry Potter, Prisoner, Ask a Man, he was King Speech, Blast Samurai, and everything he touches, everything he touches is just, ugh, so good. Very good.
00:10:04
Speaker
it's funny though because he just when i saw him he just had this like feeling of i don't know i'm gonna i want to cut that thread short because i don't like that i said that and i don't want that to be if the editor is listening right now please cut out the part where he did not recognize timothy's fall thank you yeah let's just let's just take it from a new question perhaps um well like outside of just the theory behind the movie like first of all like there are times when
00:10:31
Speaker
I've seen people make the choice to do black and white, and I question it. And then I think in this movie, I didn't really question it. At first, I was like, oh, it's in black and white. Is this a conscious choice? It didn't feel like it was a snobby choice. Do you know what I'm saying? It felt practical. No, absolutely. It was a political film, for sure. And I think once you walk into the realm of making political films, those choices become very
00:11:02
Speaker
It's intentional, but it may become very clear on why you make them. I think those notes we touched on, everyone's on an even playing field of life. That speaks to politics. It also speaks to life. It just speaks to the truth of life, which is that we are all really supposed to be on an even playing field.
00:11:22
Speaker
When we're all in a room together, it's like we really are. Anyone can pick up that gun out of the trash can and do something crazy. Exactly. And when the film started, I was like, where is this going? Because it's a very powerful, quick imagery. And then you're thrown back in time to kind of get
00:11:44
Speaker
where like the chronologically figure out how we got to this point. It's classic but it's not it's not sloppy you know. I mean I definitely I wonder if you have any thoughts on like the intentions behind um the they kind of spit on checkout just a little bit you know because you do see the gun go off but like the movie then ends you know and you
00:12:11
Speaker
But the consequences are pretty clear, I think. But do we know? Because we know that it's Marianne. But do we know that the gun is loaded? Could it be blanks? Because I don't know. Maybe. I don't know anything about Tom's character. Is it Tom? Silly and Murphy?
00:12:27
Speaker
Anything about his, I don't know what he does for a living. I don't know if he knows how to handle a gun. Because initially when he came in, I was like, is he a police officer? Like what's going on? And then as time went on, I found out like, okay, he's probably not in that career choice. Then I'm just like, okay, is this a guy who knows what to even do with a gun? Like who throws a loaded gun into a trash can? Like is it even loaded? Is it blanks? Like,
00:12:53
Speaker
Question mark, question mark, question mark, question mark. He was smart enough to wipe his hand, his fingerprints. I think everybody is at this point. Everyone's watching a movie. Tyler, would you not wipe your prints off a gun that you just touched?
00:13:08
Speaker
Well, I would, but that's because we can talk about it. We know about it. Yeah, that's true. But also, we all watch TV. Everyone does that. It's classic sopranos, classic godfather classic. Yeah, clean up after yourself. That's what the movie is really saying. Yeah, I guess we don't hear the gun go off. We just see her pointing.
00:13:31
Speaker
Which leaves you to wonder, like, is this act enough to make someone who's been elected to a high level government position act in such a way? In an irrational way. Which is really interesting that you say that because at some point in the movie she talks about how she's, you know, after she kind of releases this unfettered, unadulterated rage on her husband after finding out that he's been cheating on her.
00:13:57
Speaker
You know, and it's not who she thinks she is. And there's a lot of contradiction here between the way they perceive themselves and how they react to situations like her feeling that she's a logical, calm, diplomatic person and she's going to get this gun. She's also like slapping the shit out of Bill.
00:14:22
Speaker
And like, but then she's like, No, I can't do that. And then she sent it and slapped him again. Everyone just girl, you can't do that. You would just making googly eyes at some person on your phone sending like sexy messages to someone like literally 20 minutes before. So
00:14:41
Speaker
Yeah, maybe she was talking to Marianne too, you know. Maybe that's who I know. I think that was. I think that was. I don't want to spoil it for people, but we'll just sprinkle that in. Oh yeah. I mean, if you're going to watch a podcast on a movie, you might need to expect to read these spoilers. But yeah, Bruno Gansum.
00:15:03
Speaker
i think he died two years ago something like that yeah 2019 like this was a great performance yeah a great one to go and also complete opposite from what i've seen him in like he was a he was very much a hippie here yeah he's apparently played hitler yeah you know on the other end of the spectrum yeah did he play
00:15:28
Speaker
Oh, he did. He played Hitler in Downfall. And that's the famous like 999 memes that have come out of that film. Oh my gosh. Wow. I didn't even hear anything. Chef's kiss. Chef's kiss. Chef's kiss for Bruno Gans. Rest in peace.
00:15:48
Speaker
I think that's what I loved about this is like, one, this all took place in one place and it really just relied on the strength and talent of each of these actresses. Emily Mongeau, Cherry Jones, Cherry, Cherry Jones, the mother of America, basically. Patricia Clarkson, you know, like you see, 100%, if you don't recognize any of these names, guys, you have seen them in something that you love.
00:16:18
Speaker
period. And so then having all these six, seven people in in a room and just like letting
Emotional Drivers and Performances
00:16:26
Speaker
them just do what they have been trained to do. Like I'm just it was enough for me. I didn't need any flashy add on like they they know there really wasn't. Yeah.
00:16:42
Speaker
It was, it did do a good job just keeping your interest. And I think that can be the hardest thing that a writer encounters when you're making a movie that takes place on that page. It's like, what is interesting about this? You know, they have a good like, they string you along with like, okay, what exactly did like Janet accomplish? You know, like, what is, what is her position? And that becomes, by that point, though, all the characters have, have started to be so rounded out that, and they're, they're,
00:17:10
Speaker
Cares and goals have all started to become intertwined. Yeah, it's like okay now you have this not a story that you just want to unravel. Uh-huh But even with all their achievements and everything that they've pushed for like they have their they have their philosophies they have their values but even within that they their values aren't
00:17:35
Speaker
as strong as they believed them to be because real life gets in the way, you know, like, like, Ginny, Emily Mortimer's character, who is I mean, she's a lesbian, she's having babies, but somehow has not fathom the fact that she might have boys.
00:17:52
Speaker
even though, you know, she seems kind of a bit more of like a militant lesbian, like, you know, men are horrible, ew, like the idea that her partner had even had a man in her like 30 years prior was like, ugh, you disgust me, right? And Martha drops this line, like, men aren't the enemy anymore. I know. Like, what are you talking about? And she's like, and she comes,
00:18:18
Speaker
I think Martha also kind of says something that to me didn't sound like an attack, more like an observation. And she says like, you're handling the, the animal side of things. And she's quite literally just referring to like, you are a pregnant woman, he's going to be pregnant. I think that is what she meant by the animal side of things. I don't think it was meant with like, you know, as an insult, because that's just people are animals, you know?
00:18:40
Speaker
People are at the end of the day, just like dogs and cats with animals. I don't know what to say. People are terrible at saying the right things. True. People are terrible at saying the right things. And that's this whole movie.
00:18:57
Speaker
Yes. This whole movie is people with their beliefs and then how life can walk around and make your beliefs just turn into dust because you care about what's going to happen to you and the people you love. At the end of the day, everybody is acting.
00:19:13
Speaker
in their animal instincts. The first reaction from Jenna is rage. The first reaction from Tom is rage. The first reaction from Jenny is rage. Everyone thinks that they're these educated, high class, super disciplined, calm, logical, diplomatic people. But at the end of the day, we're just being run by our emotions.
00:19:40
Speaker
I mean, it's funny because April for the longest time is like keeping her cool and playing that same like high and mighty like this shit that can't touch me. And then she's like, Janet, you might consider. Just if you may consider like, I mean, it's not the worst option. That is a right to die friend right there. Fun fact, Cherry Jones and I have the same way. Well, happy birthday to Cherry Jones, too.
00:20:08
Speaker
You know, for the longest time, I thought she was related to the bridges, like Jeff and Bo. I was like, she kind of looks like them. I can see it, I can see it. So I'm not the only person. I was like, maybe she's like their sister and they're this trio, like the arcettes.
00:20:27
Speaker
Oh my God, like the architects. One of my favorite line from Cherry Jones playing Martha is, oh no, no, it wasn't. Cherry Jones said, I think it was April, said this to Martha. She was like, Martha, you're a first-class lesbian and a second-rate thinker. And a second-class thinker. Second-rate thinker. I was like, OK, I'm going to just tuck this away in my purse so I can just throw this out in a compost. Drop that in some way there.
00:20:55
Speaker
That was such a brilliant, brilliant line. One of my favorites. God, I think like, I think April really had to like be all like if anyone in those rooms had to be like, write about something, it was definitely April. Like,
00:21:15
Speaker
in terms of self-interest. She's always the proper one. Even in the way that she's breaking up with her partner, Godfrey, it's so sterile. She's so by the book.
00:21:32
Speaker
you know, the values and the philosophy above all else, you know, and she's just, I loved her character, even though technically her character could be seen as a villain, like, she was staring the pot at every opportunity. Every opportunity she would throw the pot, she really did not care. What was her other line that she said? She's like, I expect the worst in everyone in the name of realism.
00:21:59
Speaker
Oh, she is a cynical realist. She is, she is. Great character. So for you, thinking about how you are going towards making this film of yours, what did you take away from this movie that you think would be great to transfer over to your movie? That is an interesting question. What did you learn from Sally? What did I learn from Sally Potter?
00:22:29
Speaker
Well, what's really fascinating is that if you give a character an identity and something they very obviously care about or love, like, it serves as a really great jumping off point. You know, you have this character with a very clear sense of satisfaction around having been elected into this shadow minister position. And that pretty much immediately gives you
00:22:58
Speaker
the other characters feelings towards her and that starts the web, you know, like some people are like, it was weird. It feels like April should be like very excited. Being sorry, being April. April seems like she should be very excited for Janet. But she's too cool and too calm.
00:23:28
Speaker
like it doesn't really seem to feel much about it. Do you think there's a level of jealousy there maybe? Oh yeah, oh yeah. Like this was if she was in the same position this was because like I think it's probably important to also say that like Janet is British right and April is American and in a way um I don't know how easy it is to kind of
00:23:52
Speaker
ascend in the political hierarchy in either of these countries, right? And so maybe April sees it as like, I couldn't do this where I'm from, but you're able to get here. So I'm like resting all my hopes and my dreams on you. And I kind of also am annoyed, maybe just jealous that it wasn't me. Yeah, I think there's definitely a sense of like, why be?
00:24:23
Speaker
you know, how did I find myself in this position? Because she wants to think that she can see everything so clearly that it just makes sense that, you know, she's great, but she's also totally in shoes she can't get out of. But like, it's so fascinating that she's also invested in Gottfried, who's such a, so on the other side, like, I can't control anything, but like,
00:24:52
Speaker
I will, I will vibe my way through this, you know? Like, this man's gonna die. You have the wrong music line. Like, you need to change that record so that we can revive this man. You know, he's like, the vibes are wrong. It's just like that. And the whole time April was telling Gottfried, like, not during that same scene, but, you know, throughout the film, it's just like, shut the fuck up, Gottfried.
00:25:17
Speaker
I don't care what you're saying. Honestly, I feel, and this just occurred to me right now, but what if Godfrey's personality is an external representation of who April really wants to be, but she constrains herself? Because these two are complete, complete opposites. Complete opposites. And they've obviously been together for a while.
00:25:43
Speaker
And by the end, I think April is coming around to Godfrey again. Like I actually probably would typically, you know, it's really just more of her like habitual like status quo. It's just, it's what it probably is. It's her being like, I'm going to end it with him. He's so not me. Like I can't see that, but really she finds it endearing because I think as someone says in the film, like as Godfrey says, I think like, um, I don't have the exact line in my head, but you know,
00:26:11
Speaker
She wishes that Gottfried was wrong about something. And Gottfried says, you're glad that you aren't wrong. It's about the placebo effect. He says the placebo effect is proof of the human body's capability to heal itself, which I think was a really cool spiritual Eastern medicine point.
00:26:32
Speaker
that I'd agree with, honestly. And then, you know, having April be like, that's, like, I hate how right you are, more or less, right? You know, like, I think that really pointed out how those two people could be together and stay together. Yeah, they balance each other out because I think that April probably have had a coronary, if it wasn't for Godfrey. Like, he's so chill. Like, she's, like, decided to break up with him and has told him he's still just kind of like, yeah, man, let's pour a glass of wine.
00:27:02
Speaker
Yeah, you want to go to this party? Let's yeah, and I maybe they maybe that's even like a cycle with them. Like they just they just break up and they say they're gonna break up and never break up and then they stay together and it's like every year they just do this thing over and over again. Because it doesn't bother Godfrey. It doesn't. You know, Godfrey feels so concrete. I mean, they said to Bill on point like, aren't I I'm such a lucky man. She's such a beautiful, you know, puts it very basically but like,
00:27:31
Speaker
you know, he doesn't have obviously has no fear, even though she like literally walk into the room just to be like, this is our last dinner and then walk back out and got things like whatever. She gives us I think we should talk about
00:27:48
Speaker
um jenny and martha a little bit more because they have an interesting relationship like why don't you why don't you share share with the the group they say the group the people who are listening like what their what their situation is because martha like not martha jenny just like runs in there she's not there initially yeah so yeah um
00:28:10
Speaker
I can't remember exactly how everyone shows up. I think Ginny is one of the last to show up. And she shows up with such urgency. Maybe so. Because she needs to go talk to Martha. Yeah. Right, right, right. She needs to go talk to Martha. OK, so yeah, that's right. So Ginny needs to talk to Martha because Ginny has to tell her that she has
00:28:39
Speaker
She's pregnant to go to film with not one, not two, but three children, which is ludicrous.
Relationship Dynamics and Challenges
00:28:47
Speaker
I think they know, I think Martha is aware that Ginny was pregnant. I think this was a scan to like see the babies. And then the discovery is that they're not having one baby, they're having three. Three babies. Yeah, that could be it.
00:29:04
Speaker
Which, to be honest, for any couple stranger otherwise, that's a lot to take in. I think there's definitely some stuff with Ginny that I picked up on, which is, it points to her kind of being one of those people who's kind of
00:29:18
Speaker
um who attaches to like phrases and sayings instead of the ideas behind them like for instance she keeps saying that she's with child like she says that multiple times to which you know april's like you are with children yeah like stock with is with child you know yeah um she definitely gets into the ideas of things um yeah
00:29:45
Speaker
But their relationship is fascinating to me. It really is. Yeah. I'm trying to formulate a cohesive thought. Well, I think it's kind of, there's that, maybe it's not a trope here, but I think they kind of touch on it in that idea of like an older lesbian with a younger lesbian, right, forming a relationship together. And at some point, like maybe when they got together, they're like on the same page about everything. And at some point, one of them ends up
00:30:15
Speaker
growing in a different direction. I'm thinking about blue as the warmest color right now. If you have not seen that, that's kind of the foundation in which I'm coming from, although this probably is a little better. And I don't think it calls me just a lot of people. Well, there are some great things about that movie, I will admit, but there are some things that maybe didn't need to happen, like that 10 minute sex scene.
00:30:43
Speaker
that went on forever and ever and ever and ever. Yes. But no, with this, I can tell that Martha really loves Ginny, but there is that fear you get. And I think this is not exclusive to an LGBT relationship, but I think it's every relationship where children might come in, there's a fear that you might lose this beautiful thing that you have that you spend so much time crafting. Yeah.
00:31:13
Speaker
they've cultivated this relationship. And now there's this weird feeling of like, okay, you I'm the one, you've been the older one. And like, now, we both kind of have to be the older one. But like, now it also feels like how much like, I think she said like you were still like the eighth gap was like explicitly stable going to be like 20 to 30 years. Yeah, maybe more. It's like, bro, like you could be these children's grandma, like off the bat.
00:31:41
Speaker
You know, like, I think that would probably make her scared. Martha's tired. Martha doesn't want to deal with three children. Martha was probably scared of one child. But like, you know, and that's exactly what she's scared of, like,
00:31:58
Speaker
Just losing that comfortable thing that she had, it was low stakes. Like, no random babies were just gonna pop up. Like, just doesn't happen. But also, I'm sure Jenny, being as young as she was, brought a certain level of youth to the relationship and made her feel young. And, you know, that kind of will go away with the children because Jenny now has to, like, be the parent and she has to be the parent. So the fun part, the easy going, oh, we can just drop everything and go to a party.
00:32:24
Speaker
um is kind of disappearing so and also philosophically they seem to have drifted apart too because um jenny's still in that early stages of of well i say early stages
00:32:39
Speaker
She's still kind of a young lesbian where like men are the anime and they're awful. Whereas like, Cherry has been fighting this battle since before, you know, it was okay to come out. And, you know, has finally got to a point where it's like, they can be our allies too. And this revelation that she had sex with a guy that one time is literally
00:33:01
Speaker
It's like, it's like her whole thing has been undermined, you know? It's like, you've been corrupted by a penis. You've been corrupted by a penis! And, um... It's like, that's, you know, obviously overstayed, but, you know, like, that's kind of the core. I remember just, like, watching that, being like, oh, Ginny, I feel like you're overreacting a little bit. At the end of the day, she is with you, and you are with children with her. With, you are with children. And she is there, like,
00:33:29
Speaker
I think that that does, you know, point to something. I do wonder how like what the implications of Martha being there before Jenny are like Jenny does say like you don't support me like I do wonder like
00:33:44
Speaker
you know if you had time to go to the party early did you have time to like get to the doctor's thing earlier like those are all valid points and I think that but that also comes with like being with an older person is they're more tired you know like young people can just jump from like thing to thing to thing and it isn't really like gonna throw them off because you know everything's a bit more of an adventure but you know when you're how old Martha is who's presumably like in her 50s or even 60s like um
00:34:17
Speaker
Like, it comes down to that. And she just probably wanted this relationship as a comfort point. It really did. You know, I don't know that she was... It just... It flowed into her glory hours, you know. But I think also maybe Martha didn't go to the hospital with her for the scan because seeing the children makes it real. Like, seeing them on the monitors. Yeah, you see those, the ultrasound... The ultrasound makes it real and it's... Because she was like, well, my friend is having a party and this is important. It was like, well, I am...
00:34:39
Speaker
You know, you're just fucking tired.
00:34:47
Speaker
I'm here with this big bump and it's important. I was like, Martha, to be honest, this party, the food isn't even ready. It's going to get burned. There's never food. No one eats a single piece of food in the whole movie. No, because Bill is dying of cancer.
00:35:05
Speaker
Yeah, Bill's dying of cancer. Poor Bill. As soon as I Am a Man by Bo Diddley came on, I was like, all right, I know where we're going. There's going to be some drama. Yeah. It's funny, that record, I don't remember Bill changing the record, but it turns into like some kind of smooth jazz. It really does, it really does. It was just fun. I like maybe doing a little bit of cheating there.
00:35:33
Speaker
Ms. Potter, but hey man. I loved every single song that came on because it really just fit every beat of that film. Agreed. And I'll take good music over bad music. See, there you go. That's something to take into your movie. Make sure there's some good music. If you can afford it. Thankfully, I'm good friends with some of my folks back at NYU who are composers.
00:36:02
Speaker
Um, but yeah, so like, let me, let me tell you this. Like, what was your favorite part of the movie? Honestly, it was probably, um, when Tom punches still in the face, like straight up. Cause there's, there's that quick cut right on the punch.
00:36:23
Speaker
And we I think you go to the bathroom, but right after that, I could be wrong if you go to the bathroom, Janet. Yeah. But that was just one moment. It was nice seeing that that conflict come to a boil. What else? I think honestly, I love the conversation between Bill and about
00:36:45
Speaker
spirituality and like Western medicine, I thought watching watching Bill like really question his beliefs after such a long life and like one of, you know, like being a scholar, and like finally being in this very vulnerable moment in life and being like, man, you know, maybe I need to take a trip to the Andes, you know, like, I really, yeah, like, I thought that was, um,
00:37:13
Speaker
That was really, that was real. You know, that didn't feel real to me. Like, I could see people in my own life who I know who might want to do something like that. Like, not far from that much. Yeah, mortality makes you, like, just strip away all the things that don't matter, that are not important, which is why, like, he just sat there in a daze, like, just absorbing the music. Like, he's just like, nothing, none of this matters. Like,
00:37:37
Speaker
Yeah, you know, you really just sit there and it's so poetic the visuals in black and white you can see every little detail on his face. He's just sitting there like mouth just open with this cold like
00:37:52
Speaker
lazy stare that's like he's like I could just see yeah he probably went to the world Shakespeare Academy or whatever and like I just I could just feel that energy from him um but yeah that that was a
00:38:09
Speaker
I think my favorite scene, well my favorite actually part of the movie, I have many which I've already voted, but when he goes, he tells her that he's gone, he went to the doctor and it's a private doctor and she's like, you didn't go to the public doctor, like to the NHS, which is such
00:38:31
Speaker
As someone who has grown up in England, this is something that just hit me in a way that it probably is not going to hit other people. The idea that they've run on this platform of the National Health Service. We need to support them and public equal health for all. He basically went to a private doctor because he could see them quicker.
00:38:55
Speaker
That hits her first before the cancer thing eventually hits her. And that moment for me was hilarious. I think I burst out laughing even though it was supposed to be a serious moment. I totally hear that. I was thinking about that too because you know here in America obviously we do not have free healthcare. That's a different podcast. At least as of today.
00:39:19
Speaker
But like, yeah, I was thinking like that makes perfect sense, even as an outsider who's not, you know, tapped into that. It makes sense that when you would have free health care that people would start going to doctors and hospitals way more often because it's no longer a luxury.
Healthcare and Social Commentary in Film
00:39:34
Speaker
It's a fact of life.
00:39:35
Speaker
Whereas now in America, you know, it is, it's a luxury not to get a flit to go into the doctor's is in fact, I mean, not everyone can afford to, which makes it a prayer. Even when you're bleeding out your liver, you still have that confiscation. Even when you're bleeding out your liver, you might have to stress out an Uber driver before you can stress out an ambulance. You know, this is life. Like, God, you gotta laugh at the darkest shit in our lives.
00:40:05
Speaker
I did really like how that side of things was mentioned. And I also thought it was like, fascinating how no one ever was like, should we call a ambulance for Bill? I mean, even there. It seemed like his situation was like a gradual decline as opposed to like, he was gonna just, okay, I suppose when he got- Acutely dying. Yeah, I suppose when he got punched in the face and was not like conscious, that was-
00:40:33
Speaker
He was out when you cut away from a scene like that and then cut back and the person is still unconscious.
00:40:42
Speaker
I understand how editing is not necessarily a linear time frame. We might have seen that conversation happening before Billy was knocked out. We don't know, right?
Music and Atmosphere in 'The Party'
00:40:51
Speaker
But it implies passing with time in a way that's like, guys, he's still unconscious. And all they did. And you are changing the record. All they did was change the records. If you set the right mood, he'll come back. And honestly, I can relate. There are times that certain types of music get me up out of it.
00:41:11
Speaker
They make me conscious. Oh, absolutely. 100%. They make me conscious. That's real. And also it did take his wife giving him CPR. That's true. A very medically improper CPR, albeit super slow chest compressions with some extra weighting in between. Everybody thinks they can do CPR until they actually have to do CPR.
00:41:35
Speaker
Oh, true that. And I will never claim to be able to do it, but I do know she was not going to the beaches or the other song. I think it's no longer Staying Alive, it's some other song. I'd love to do Staying Alive, just like, you can tell by the way. Don't quote me, I'm not really a great singer, but that was me doing it. We're on video right now, so you can't really sing.
00:41:59
Speaker
Well, this is a question that I ask everybody, or I try to ask everybody, particularly film people, is that if you were involved in the production of this, what would you do differently? The production, we're just like the making overall. Or maybe the editing of it, like whichever part, I mean, I guess you're an editor, so you. Yeah, I have a lot, I could say more on editing, I would think.
00:42:29
Speaker
I think that some of the like when you're working in black and white, you make a very specific decision about how deep your blacks go and how bright your whites go. There were overall, I think it was like the biggest thing that didn't work for me when you run in black and white is your inter shot, like inter scene continuity is much more difficult.
00:42:57
Speaker
right? Because you don't have color continuity to help you figure out where you are in the room. So there were some like early on in the film, like when there were when, when they were all in the room together, and we were cutting back and forth between close ups and medium close ups and wides, like, it was not always totally clear where everyone was to me. And, you know, you could blame that on a lot of things. Maybe I just have a bad memory of the wide shot. There is one
00:43:27
Speaker
Like, that's just kind of the downside, right? In old school Hollywood black and white movies, honestly, before Hollywood really, old school black and white movies, everything was shot in wide because they didn't know the language of cinema yet. It was just open and big.
00:43:45
Speaker
Yeah, it was, it was like, well, we, this is a stage play that we're recording on a camera, you know? So wide shot, like, that's all, because that's how people would watch it. So it's like, why would we do anything else than that? You know, now we've like, which I think is to close up. I think that's yep. I think that's why part of the film is a little harder to read is just because those
00:44:09
Speaker
exit like new camera angles did start to come along as color started to come on. Obviously, it wasn't a direct one to one progression. But like, it's easier to read a color movie than it is black and white movie. So I would say that like, perhaps using your production design in a way to try and like, play people in the scene a little bit better.
00:44:31
Speaker
Um could be helpful at certain points, but that's such a minor note because overall the movie does I think the only and I can't tell if I wanted this because I wanted to know how this drama continues or whether it was like a film critique but
00:44:49
Speaker
When it ended, I literally screamed at the TV and was like, wait, that's it? That's where you're going to leave me? Where's the other 30 minutes? Where's the rest of the tea? I need to know what happens. And so in a way, Sally, you have successfully kept me on the edge for however long it's taken me to watch this movie. It's been like a week, and I'm still like, Sally, what happened?
00:45:19
Speaker
So I don't know that that's necessarily a critique. I think that was just me wanting to see. I was still in each of the characters that I was just like, I didn't know what happened to Max. I'm like invested in all these people. I totally agree. I definitely wanted to see more, which is... Sorry, Greg. Hold on.
00:45:43
Speaker
I definitely wanted to see more of everything. I mean, every character had enough investment for me that I wanted to know what their life looked like after this party because it seemed earth shattering, you know? Insane. And you know, as people go into the holidays, they'll probably have a party just like this.
00:46:09
Speaker
Oh my god, I hope not. For everyone, every listener is sick. I hope you don't. I hope you don't. But if you do, the bathroom is a safe space, okay? And Silly and Murphy made you cook on that. Yeah, but that's fine, because he's all our husbands, so it's no worries. Wow, Silly and Murphy has a lot of responsibility. He does, but he's rich, so he can afford it. Okay, this is true. Okay, well, what else do you have about this movie? You have so much to say. I'm getting my laugh.
00:46:38
Speaker
No, my last thing is like, this is maybe just a little note, if I was working the effects. And maybe I just don't know about soft-skinned old men, but... I'm gonna write that down. Janet slaps Bill so hard that he gets a massive gash in his face. Yeah. I felt that slap in my components, okay? Like, it was... And you don't have them, which is impressive.
00:47:05
Speaker
I wonder if he, if they told him it was going to happen or if it was a surprise. Yeah. I mean, that is one thing I wondered about. It kind of boils down to like, how do you want to treat your actions on set? Because I'm notorious.
Director's Techniques and Film Closure
00:47:24
Speaker
People who've worked with me understand that I oftentimes have moments in my films where I need to either surprise or scare my actors.
00:47:32
Speaker
And I have always had a great strategy for it, which is I'll send someone else on the crew to talk to the actor and ask them and like kind of put something on their mind about some issue or another. And then they'll kind of ask the actor, can you just like do what you do and see him for a minute? Just go back into it. And then I or someone else, someone else on set will just fucking scream. You know, or like just do something terrifying and it always, you know, gets that look of genuine shock and surprise because it's not acting.
00:48:02
Speaker
It's because sometimes it's easier to just go for that genuine
00:48:07
Speaker
instinctive reaction because it's real. Some slaps will make you bleed on the nose, that's for sure. Maybe I haven't said anything offensive enough to get slapped that hard. That's probably for the best, Tyler. For now, maybe I just need to widen my strings. So I can feel it. All right, well then, what would be your rating out of five for this movie?
00:48:35
Speaker
I think I'd give this a solid 4.2 out of 5. Yeah, 4.2. Love it. That's great. Yeah. I want another 20 minutes, at least, for it to get a better score. And those 20 minutes need to feature some serious post-story what's happening. I'm just saying, Marianne, who we never see, has a lot to talk about. She's got a lot to explain. Imagine if Marianne was actually just like,
00:49:02
Speaker
or like, you know, someone really random. Like Theresa May. That would explain why everyone is so obsessed with just being mad about this situation. I mean, I kind of love that angle of the mystery character. I know, me too. Because you could make it anybody. Well, in my head, I was thinking about Leah Sedow. Yes.
00:49:26
Speaker
like that's actually like perfect that's exactly i think if she had shown up i would bring a gun for the incident like uh well unless you have more to say about this movie this brings us to the end of our podcast tyler
00:49:49
Speaker
Oh my god. I think that's safe. Shout out to Leah Sedillo. She did a great job and no time to die. For no time die and for obviously not realizing that she was being guest starred in this film that we put her in.
00:50:05
Speaker
That's the main take-away that I should have been in this film. But also thank you to Sally for making such an interesting great film that we could just get wrapped up in and not want to end. So if you haven't seen it, it is available on Hulu.
00:50:21
Speaker
And if you haven't seen Orlando, it's a very head tripping type of film, very different work from Sally, so go. I'm calling her Sally like we know each other, like we don't, me and Sally Potter do not know each other. But I just feel like after this film, I know her better than anybody, obviously.
00:50:40
Speaker
So thank you everyone for listening today. I hope you learned something new and I hope this made you want to go watch the film. Remember you can subscribe to this podcast and get notified when our next episode drops. This is our last movie for the season so stay tuned and we will start the next season.
00:50:57
Speaker
of amazing films by female directors. We're going to be going way, way back in time to the 1900s. What? 1900s. I know. From 1999. No, no. Like early 1900s, guys. Early 1900s. But yeah, thank you. And until next time, it is me, your stream queen. Ciao. Ciao.