4.35 - THE STING (1973) & Façades

The Prestige

This week’s film is the 1973 multiple-Oscar-winning classic THE STING. After (certainly not mixed!) initial reviews, we talk about how this film is more about a con not a heist, it’s links to more modern films like John Wick, and the use of obvious artificiality on screen.

Next Time
The next in our heist mini-season is 1981’s THIEF.

Recent Media
HAMILTON (2015): Lin-Manuel Miranda, Philippa Soo, Leslie Odom Jr.
WE SUMMON THE DARKNESS (2019): Mark Meyers, Alexandra Daddario, Keean Johnson
VFW (2019): Joe Begos, Stephen Lang, William Sadler

Recommendations CLUE (1985): Jonathan Lynn, Eileen Brennan, Tim Curry
SLAP SHOT (1977): George Roy Hill, Paul Newman, Strother Martin
BLUE HAWAII (1961): Norman Taurog, Elvis Presley, Joan Blackman
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (2014): Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Chris Evans
JAWS (1975): Steven Spielberg, Roy Sheider, Robert Shaw

Footnotes
Firstly, this gets to the root of exactly why I (Sam) love this film: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/28/movies/the-sting-robert-redford-paul-newman.html. On the subject of screen artificiality, this article is really good: https://sites.lafayette.edu/fams202-sp15/2015/01/30/artificiality-of-cinema-vs-reality-of-production/. This is more about a film that we discuss as being related to this one, our namesake; but it is a really interesting piece: https://www.altaonline.com/the-pledge-the-turn-the-prestige/. When thinking about THE STING, the last line is especially pertinent: ‘How can you be certain you saw an illusion?’ This definitely isn’t a Brechtian film, as Rob says, but these films are: https://www.tasteofcinema.com/2015/the-15-best-movies-influenced-by-bertolt-brechts-theater-techniques. (Ok, this link was a bit of a stretch, but I just didn’t want to link to the Brecht Wiki page again...) Finally, please do leave a review for the show, so we can keep doing what we love doing!

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