Ep. 50: La Jetee & the Films of Ken Russell

Flixwise Podcast

On today's show, Lady P is joined by Martin Kessler, Marcus Pinn, and Flixwise newcomer Lisi Tribble Russell. Lisi is on hand talk about the work of her late-husband, Ken Russell - the acclaimed British director behind such classics as Tommy and Women in Love. Lisi shares the story of her and Ken's longtime-friendship and eventual courtship, and describes what it was like to live and work with one her favorite directors. In addition to those biographical details, the panel also digs deep into selects from Ken Russell's enormous and diverse body of work. They describe the evolution of Russell's style and how he managed to grow and change throughout his decades-spanning career, while still maintaining his signature iconoclastic touch.

But before they get to all that, there's a Sight and Sound entry to cover. At long last, we've reached the 50th film on the Greatest of All Time List, Chris Marker's La Jetee. La Jetee's narrative about a man traveling through time to save humanity from extinction has been imitated (see every intro to filmmaking class ever), remade, and remade again. However, Marker's original 1962 short remains the repudiated best of the bunch. Listen up to hear why this low-tech, sci-fi, mind-bender of a tale as proven such an enduring masterpiece.