Episode 44: Pierrot le Fou + The Awakening of the Beast
Samm Deighan joins us today to talk about the cinema of resistance, as profiled in her fantastic new book, Revolution in 35mm: Political Violence and Resistance in Cinema from the Arthouse to the Grindhouse, 1969-1990. In addition, we discuss a double feature plucked from the pages of this fantastic book: Pierrot le Fou (1965), directed by Jean-Luc Godard, and The Awakening of the Beast (1970), directed by José Mojica Marins.
Samm is one of the finest film historians working today in the cult and exploitation cinema space (and beyond), and we were super excited to have her on the show. Our discussion takes in the diverse and fascinating world of cinematic political violence but we also take the time to marvel at Coffin Joe's plucky provocation, recognise Godard as one of film's most important innovators and bemoan the ridiculously long runtime of modern superhero movies.
It's not really possible to spoil The Awakening of the Beast, but we will call out Spoiler Territory for Pierrot le Fou. If you want to skip ahead from that point, you can rejoin the conversation at the 1:12:20 mark to avoid spoilers.
Join Samm Deighan's Patreon here.
Listen to Samm's great podcast, Eros + Massacre here.
Want to get in touch? You can reach us on caliber9fromouterspace@gmail.com
Theme music: "The Cold Light of Day" by HKM.
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