Episode #107 - Neil Bahadur (Judith of Bethulia)

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"People like Chaplin are inspiring because of their audiences—that cinema had that kind of audience and that kind of potential."

It is easy to get caught up in the names that have already become known throughout the cinephile world and their accomplishments and great works. But who will carry the torch through the future? One curious fellow worth noting to the is Toronto-based writer and filmmaker Neil Bahadur. With his iconoclastic ramblings, larky wit, and soft-spoken but all so engrossing enthusiasm, Neil's writing on cinema seems to be pointing toward something different that splices together the past and the future in hope of creating a cinema entirely alien to what we often limit. Peter talks to Neil about his writings on silent films in conversation with more recent art house filmmakers, the role of the marketplace in cinema that hopes to speak politically, and his ambitious first film, From Nine to Nine. They then dive into D.W. Griffith's first feature-length film, Judith of Bethulia, and examine how this curious expansion into length allowed the pioneer to bring together questions of aesthetics and politics. Plus, former guest and eating expert Carman Tse joins Peter to discuss the legacy of one of their favorite critics, food writer Jonathan Gold.

0:00-4:01  Opening
6:02-28:59 Establishing Shots — Remembering Jonathan Gold with Carman Tse
29:45-1:26:57 Deep Focus — Neil Bahadur 
1:27:58-1:31:34  Sponsorship Section
1:32:34-1:48:10 Double Exposure — Judith of Bethulia (D.W. Griffith)

1:48:16-1:50:00 Close / Outtake

Notes and Links to the Conversation

—Read Neil on MUBI Notebook, Letterboxd, and follow him on Twitter.
—Watch From Nine to Nine and read an interview with Neil about the film.
—Follow Carman Tse on Twitter.
—Peter talks to Sean Baker for Olive Films
—The LA Times obituary for Jonathan Gold
—Gold's 101 Best Restaurants and Essential 99.
—99 Things to Eat in LA Before You Die
—"The Year I Ate Pico Blvd"
—JGold on Omar's, Killer Noodle, Chengdu Taste, Night + Market Song, Meals by Genet
—How JGold saved Night + Market Song
—Pete Wells's negative review of Locol and Jonathan Gold's response
—Watch the documentary City of Gold on Hulu and read Carman's interview with Gold
—Alissa Wilkinson on Jonathan Gold
—Takoyaki comes to LA!
—A truly wild interview with JGold
—Kurt Walker and John Lehtonen's Vulgar Autuerism posts are sadly lost to the internet, but the Tumblr still exists.
—Peter's research tracing the origins of Vulgar Auteurism. 
—Neil's "Our Daily Bread" Posts
—Watch Isaiah Medina's 88:88
—Tag Gallagher on the Straubs and Pedro Costa
—The MUBI Star Wars Dialogue
—Cahiers Du Cinema writer Bill Krohn on the prequels
—Kurt Walker's Hit 2 Pass
—Watch Erich Von Stroheim's half-directed sound film Hello, Sister!
—Joel Finler has more information about Stroheim's Walking Down Broadway, see Joel W. Finler's article.
—Storheim by Arthur Lenning
—Leo Perutz's From Nine to Nine
—Richard Schickel addresses Griffith's The Fool and the Girl in his biography on the director
—Opening of Godard's Tout Va Bien
—Neil on Dawn of Justice and Justice League
—The #ReleaseTheSnyderCut Campaign
—Watch Griffith's Judith of Bethulia
—Kevin Brownlow's The Parade's Gone By

Theme Music: “Forward” by Northbound

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