Episode 241 – LES MISERABLES (2019)

Runtime76 minutes Show Contents 0:00 Introduction 2:14 Know Your Enemy: Stevee Taylor 19:20 The New Slang: LES MISERABLES 59:13 The Other Side: Stevee and Ryan talk further reading after Ladj Ly’s’ new film Thoughts From Your Host… Greetings, and welcome to a new world order. It took nearly a century, but The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has finally given its top honour to a film whose dialogue isn’t English, and a film that isn’t American or British-made. What is and is not “an Oscar film”, “the year’s best movie”, “a best picture contender” and many other high honours has changed forever and for better. Like many of you, I let out a whoop and a holler when Jane Fonda opened that envelope and spoke aloud those three historic syllables. It seemed as though some of the toxic arguments that have been happening amongst film-lovers were momentarily ceased. That bells of armistice had rung-out, and we could all agree something wonderful had just happened. So it goes that I rise this morning with a spring in my step….hoping that we’ve turned some sort of corner…that so much more is possible. Perhaps. Perhaps not. As for the matter at-hand, I must say that it’s fitting that the occasion of an international film taking Oscars top honour is mirrored in this space with discussion of another international film. This is a movie that any other year could have taken the prize for Best International Film itself. All the same, it’s debatable if it’s even the Best International Film coming from France over the last twelve months! These are conversations worth having, and stories worth chasing. It’s my hope that these conversations and these stories begin to stretch beyond the art houses that they’ve been confined to for so long. Here’s hoping. Links Mentioned in Episode 241: Adrianna Grande evoking “Bridesmaids” at the 2020 Grammy Awards: Stevee’s Twitter feed can be found here. Comments and feedback are welcome, and thank-you very much for listening. Enjoy!