The Cinephilicas: Episode #13 - C. Mason Wells (The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums)

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"I think it's the duty of people to find whatever excuse they can find to show obscure movies. You need to have a reason to dig up these things, but they have to be seen."

It is a little odd how similar Peter and his guest C. Mason Wells are in certain ways. Both are New York cinephiles from the Midwest who are also passionate fans of Andrew Sarris Both went to Columbia University (and both participated in one of its oldest traditions), and now both are 35mm repertory junkies. However, Chris diverges in that often he's the one programming the great content, while Peter simply writes about it. Chris takes Peter through his journey of becoming a cinephile, including his work making films like LOL and The Color Wheel, and eventually how he found himself programming. The two give a look at his latest series, "Andrew Sarris: Expressive Esoterica," dedicated to the late critic, before diving into Chris's favorite film of all time, Kenji Mizoguchi's powerful 1939 drama, The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums.

0:00-1:18 Opening

2:08-4:57 Establishing Shots - Child Acting

5:58-57:35 Deep Focus - C. Mason Wells

58:38-1:18:55 Double Exposure - The Story of the Last Chrysnathemums (Kenji Mizoguchi)

1:18:58-1:23:44 Trivia Round, Close, and Outtake

"Andrew Sarris: Expressive Esoterica" begins February 22nd at Anthology Film Archives. Learn more about the series here.

Follow Chris on Twitter.