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Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind production of My

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Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey you welcome to Weird House Cinema. This

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Speaker 1: is Rob Lamb and this is Joe McCormick. And on

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Speaker 1: today's episode we're going to be talking about Fruit of Paradise,

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Speaker 1: what I would characterize as a biblical surrealist comedy drama

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Speaker 1: film made in the late sixties by the Check new

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Speaker 1: wave of director Vera Chitoalova. Now I'm going to go

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Speaker 1: ahead and apologize to Check speakers if I'm not saying

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Speaker 1: her name the way you would. I searched all over

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Speaker 1: and unfortunately just ended up hearing people say it like

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Speaker 1: seven different ways. So Chittollova's my best shot. That's what

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna say. And I think this movie is going

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Speaker 1: to be a little bit different than the kinds of

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Speaker 1: films we usually talk about on here for for a

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Speaker 1: number of reasons. So this movie Fruit of Paradise is

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Speaker 1: a lot of things at once. First of all, it is,

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Speaker 1: in its context, a Check film made against the backdrop

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Speaker 1: of the nineteen sixty eight Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia,

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Speaker 1: and Tittalova herself has said that this film can be

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Speaker 1: interpreted through the lens of that invasion. Uh. And I

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Speaker 1: think also the consequent clamped down on freedoms, including free

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Speaker 1: expression of artists and filmmakers. But if you're looking for

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Speaker 1: like direct, heavy handed political allegory where it's like odd,

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Speaker 1: you know this this one here is the is the

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Speaker 1: premier of the Soviet Union, and this one here is

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Speaker 1: what it doesn't really have that, you're not going to

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Speaker 1: find it because from scene to scene, I would say

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Speaker 1: that the main characteristic of Fruit of Paradise is the

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Speaker 1: wandering and humorous exploration of an unconstrained mind, sort of

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Speaker 1: hopping from one strange image and situation to another. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I think that's fair. I think that's fair. Uh. And

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Speaker 1: at the same time, despite having those characteristics, this movie

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Speaker 1: also does have a thematic frame, which is that it

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Speaker 1: is in some sense a very loose retelling of the

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Speaker 1: Garden of Eden story from the Book of Genesis, except

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Speaker 1: for most of the movie, after an amazing opening sequence

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Speaker 1: that's a little more like a psychedelic direct retelling of

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Speaker 1: the Garden of Eden story. For most of the runtime,

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Speaker 1: Adam and Eve are represented by Josef and Ava to

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Speaker 1: modern people wearing modern clothes, and the Garden of Eden

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Speaker 1: is represented as a central European health spa where couples

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Speaker 1: chase balloons on the sandy beach of a rock quarry. Uh.

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Speaker 1: And then also the snake or the devil they remember.

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Speaker 1: In the actual biblical narrative, it never says the snake

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Speaker 1: is a devil of any kind. He's just a snake.

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Speaker 1: But here I think it has both valances. Here, the

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Speaker 1: snake or the devil is Robert, a clumsy, awkward, frankly

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Speaker 1: almost adorable gentleman with a red beard, wearing a red

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Speaker 1: suit who rides a bicycle, falls over a lot, and

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Speaker 1: is probably a serial killer who murders women, and he

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Speaker 1: really loves rolling a big rock through the bog. He

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Speaker 1: has a strong doctor who character vibe to him. I

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Speaker 1: would say he has that kind of energy to him,

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Speaker 1: not saying necessarily a doctor a doctor himself, but I

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Speaker 1: could see him being the Master or something. Okay, I

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Speaker 1: don't think I'm familiar with the Master. I was going

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Speaker 1: to say his energy kind of reminds me of the

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Speaker 1: actor who they got to play Microft Holmes in the

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Speaker 1: BBC Sherlock. Yes, smart, gaddish. I think it's a good comparison.

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Speaker 1: By the way, a lot of great actors have played

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Speaker 1: microft homes over the years. I was just glancing. Of

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Speaker 1: course you have Charles Gray, but also like Peter Cushing, Um,

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Speaker 1: you have Resa Fauns. I mean, it's a whole list

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Speaker 1: of wonderful actors, but it's definitely a type. There's a

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Speaker 1: type of energy. Also, another thing that distinguishes this movie

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Speaker 1: is that while we've done a lot of really strange

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Speaker 1: films on Weird House Cinema before, I'm pretty sure this

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Speaker 1: is our first completely non narrative film, meaning it only

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Speaker 1: really has a story in the loosest possible sense. Uh.

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Speaker 1: And the real organizing principle here is not plot. I

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Speaker 1: would say the theme, Like the movie is made out

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Speaker 1: of a series of weird impressionistic vignettes and images that

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Speaker 1: are chained together by associations. So you might have a

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Speaker 1: clipping herbs in the garden of Eden, and then the

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Speaker 1: devil almost peas on her, and then she's trying to

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Speaker 1: bury some carrots in the sand, and then the sand

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Speaker 1: kind of takes over and the health spa ensemble is

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Speaker 1: now doing a bizarre balloon volleyball ballet in the sand

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Speaker 1: at a rock quarry. By the way, not on a

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Speaker 1: like natural beach, um, And so it goes from thing

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Speaker 1: to things like that. And personally I loved this movie.

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Speaker 1: But fair warning that if you've never watched a feature

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Speaker 1: length non narrative film before, it's a different kind of

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Speaker 1: experience and one that really shows you the power of

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Speaker 1: narrative storytelling, like how a conventional plot really helps keep

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Speaker 1: your attention effortlessly while effortful attention would be requ aired

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Speaker 1: in its absence. Uh. And Chittelovah did make more conventionally

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Speaker 1: narrative driven films at different parts of her career, especially

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Speaker 1: later in her career. In fact, she did a really

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Speaker 1: odd looking uh sci fi horror movie in the late

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Speaker 1: eighties that I may want to come back to at

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Speaker 1: some point. But anyway, even if the idea of a

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Speaker 1: feature length non narrative film isn't usually your cup of tea,

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Speaker 1: I think it's worth giving Fruit of Paradise a chance.

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Speaker 1: It is an absolutely bizarre, funny, delightful and thoughtful work

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Speaker 1: of art. I think narrative in a film it's often like, um,

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Speaker 1: it's like sweetener in a drink. You can have too

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Speaker 1: much of it, uh, and you can think you have

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Speaker 1: too much of it sometimes, But then every now and

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Speaker 1: then a film comes along to remind you the purely

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Speaker 1: dry experience, um is a little different and perhaps not

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Speaker 1: for for all tastes, certainly. UM. So, yeah, this is

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Speaker 1: an interesting film to to talk about because it definitely

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Speaker 1: has its has it's weird. Uh, it's weirdness to it,

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Speaker 1: and I love things about it. Um. But yeah, when

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Speaker 1: you start looking at experimental art films, uh, you know

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Speaker 1: that those are dangerous words. Experimental art film is dangerous

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Speaker 1: as co starring George Eastman or something to that effect,

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Speaker 1: because there are plenty of experimental art films out there

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Speaker 1: that can be a chore to get through, uh if

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Speaker 1: you're not in the right mindset. Uh. Some are pretty

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Speaker 1: scandalous as well. And today's film certainly was considered a

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Speaker 1: little bit too much by the Czechosloakian authorities of the time. Yeah, apparently,

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Speaker 1: uh Tolova could not get films made for for years

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Speaker 1: after doing this. The Soviet censors were not a fan.

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Speaker 1: It's it's interesting considered. One of the things I'll come

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Speaker 1: back to later is that in other parts of the

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Speaker 1: world and in other decades, UH censors were far more

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Speaker 1: forgiving conser if a film had Adam and even it. Uh.

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Speaker 1: You know they're like, oh, it's based on the Bible.

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Speaker 1: Well then yes, then this is this is okay, this

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Speaker 1: is your erotic statement can can exist on the screen

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Speaker 1: because it is is biblically based. Uh that appeared that

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Speaker 1: obviously didn't fly in Czechoslovakia. Uh in what was this

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Speaker 1: nineteen Well, I think that might have been when it

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Speaker 1: was released in the I think this was made in

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Speaker 1: the late sixties. Late sixties, Czechoslovakia not ready for the

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Speaker 1: surrealist m uh feminist take on Adam and Eve. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: In fact, um, I was watching part of an interview

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Speaker 1: with Titolova where she was talking about the making of

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Speaker 1: Fruit of Paradise, and so I think they were at

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Speaker 1: least shooting part of it during the the invasion in

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Speaker 1: nineteen sixty eight, at least according to this story, if

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Speaker 1: I'm understanding it right, Because she's talking about how they

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Speaker 1: were shooting parts of the movie in a sandstone quarry. Um,

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Speaker 1: And she said, you know, they were shooting it sort

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Speaker 1: of on the sly because she says, quote, in the

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Speaker 1: meantime the occupation had started, but the place where they

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Speaker 1: were shooting was quote outside the turmoil. I happened to

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Speaker 1: be pregnant at the time. I learned about the occupation

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Speaker 1: in maternal home, and at night, when I was breastfeeding

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Speaker 1: my child, I heard the bombardiers. It was very early

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Speaker 1: morning when the air fighters came into Prague. After that

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Speaker 1: we were afraid we wouldn't be able to get out

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Speaker 1: of the city. It was quite a risky trip we

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Speaker 1: were driving against those tanks. Yeah. Yeah, obviously, I always

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Speaker 1: have to to take into account the time period in

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Speaker 1: the world out of which an environment out of which

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Speaker 1: a film emerges. So yeah, there's some some fascinating backstory

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Speaker 1: for for this one. Now, before we go any any

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Speaker 1: further here, you might be wondering, well, where can I

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Speaker 1: watch this film? Uh, perhaps you want to see Fruit

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Speaker 1: of Paradise as well. Well, it is available on DVD,

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Speaker 1: but you can also stream it on Criterion Channel. As

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Speaker 1: I believe I've said before, there's a lot of weird

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Speaker 1: and wonderful stuff on Criterion Channel. So if you want

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Speaker 1: to watch the Three Colors trilogy, if you want to

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Speaker 1: catch up on the works of the Karakasawa, Uh, done obviously.

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Speaker 1: But you can also watch Elliott Gould in the boxing

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Speaker 1: kangaroo movie in which the kangaroo is a human in

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Speaker 1: a kind of uncanny kangaro root costume Matilda. You can

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Speaker 1: watch a bunch of Godzilla films, you can watch Fiend

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Speaker 1: without a Face, you can watch you can watch Eyes

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Speaker 1: without a face, and much much more. So it's well

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Speaker 1: worth that two week trial window no matter what you're

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Speaker 1: you're looking for. Actually, it also has multiple films of

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Speaker 1: very Chidlova, so I may end up watching more, including

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Speaker 1: that that sci fi horror one from the eighties. Are

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Speaker 1: you talking about Wolf's Hole? Yes, that one? That one

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Speaker 1: looks very interesting. Yeah, I'd love to see, you know,

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Speaker 1: what she does when she has the structure of genre

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Speaker 1: to work with, because you know, when I think about

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Speaker 1: the art films that i've that I like but also

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Speaker 1: something I don't like, you know, there's generally some sort

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Speaker 1: of trappings of genre there to give it, to help

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Speaker 1: give it that structure, And this one has, you know,

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Speaker 1: the mythic structure of the myth of Adam and Eve. Certainly,

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Speaker 1: um and I can't imagine you know that this film

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Speaker 1: without it. I mean that that's kind of its guiding framework. Uh.

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Speaker 1: But yeah, I'd love to see what she does with

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Speaker 1: a with a kind of um rural camping snow horror movie.

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Speaker 1: Warning A sort of vague spoilers here, but I think,

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Speaker 1: as best I understand, Wolves Hole is sort of about

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Speaker 1: like aliens who kidnap a bunch of children for like

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Speaker 1: a for a mountain a winter a winter mountain camp,

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Speaker 1: and then try to make them turn on each other.

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Speaker 1: But it's maybe about the children discovering how to work

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Speaker 1: together against their alien captors. Well, that sounds good. I

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Speaker 1: like that. All right, Well, let's come back to Fruit

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Speaker 1: of Paradise. Though um elevator pitch for this, I would

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Speaker 1: I would summarize that, especially the middle portions of the

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Speaker 1: film by saying, sometimes you chase the devil, and sometimes

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Speaker 1: the devil chases you. Yeah, And sometimes you want to

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Speaker 1: kill the devil, and sometimes the devil's gonna kill you,

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Speaker 1: and sometimes the devil isn't going to kill you. And

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Speaker 1: sometimes you're in love with the devil, yes, And sometimes

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Speaker 1: the devil p's in your garden. That's true, that's true.

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Speaker 1: All right, Well, let's have some some audio from this.

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Speaker 1: I believe we have some trailer audio. H m hm,

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Speaker 1: that is said, m h yeah. All right, Well, let's

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Speaker 1: talk about the people and we we've already talked to

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Speaker 1: You've already talked a good bit about Vera Chitalova here

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Speaker 1: the director. Also she's credited with writer Dialogue. She lived

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Speaker 1: through Check film director and writer of note, who often

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Speaker 1: ran a file of state. Since there's her nineteen sixty

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Speaker 1: six surrealist comedy Daisies was banned and at one point, yeah,

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Speaker 1: she was banned herself from making films. Other films of

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Speaker 1: note include comedy The Inheritance of Uh and I'm not

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Speaker 1: going to say the full title here, and he's the

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Speaker 1: English one, but it's like f off guys, go odd

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Speaker 1: dead Day. I think it's good day, good Day. Okay,

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Speaker 1: it's all run together. These are like it's the f

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Speaker 1: and then off guys, good day anyway, surrealist comedy I'm

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Speaker 1: to Understand. And The Seven Wolves Whole, which we already

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Speaker 1: talked about, which is a psychological horror movie that or

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Speaker 1: perhaps an alien film. I don't know. We haven't seen

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Speaker 1: it yet, but it seems like it's very well regarded.

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Speaker 1: I was reading getting some biographical details from her obituary

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Speaker 1: in the New York Times by Margolite Fox, and so

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Speaker 1: Chittilova was born in nineteen twenty nine in Ostrova, now

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Speaker 1: part of the Czech Republic. UH. Czechis Floki when she

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Speaker 1: lived there, and she went to university where she originally

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Speaker 1: studied philosophy and apparently architecture UH, and then after that

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Speaker 1: worked a interesting assortment of jobs. She was quote a

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Speaker 1: technical draftsman, a photo retoucher, a fashion model, and finally

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Speaker 1: quote clapper girl at the Czech National Film Studio. I

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Speaker 1: think clapper girl refers to somebody who manages the film slates,

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Speaker 1: you know, the slates that used to uh designate the

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Speaker 1: beginning of each shot. But I read that she also

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Speaker 1: just did odd jobs around the studio as well. UH.

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Speaker 1: And it was apparently while managing slates at the National

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Speaker 1: Film Studio that she became more interested in filmmaking and

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Speaker 1: eventually went to film school at the Academy in Prague,

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Speaker 1: where she was the only woman in her class. Chitalova's

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Speaker 1: early career is often grouped with the movement known as

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Speaker 1: the Check New Wave, which is a term used for

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Speaker 1: a a style of boundary pushing filmmakers in Check Slovakia

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Speaker 1: in the nineteen sixties, UH characterized I think just by

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Speaker 1: defiance of pre existing film conventions and kind of dissident

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Speaker 1: attitude and personal freedom. So this might include more sort

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Speaker 1: of casual, mundane, down to earth film subjects that were

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Speaker 1: less the sort of lofty, pretentious films of the past.

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Speaker 1: Or it might include totally avant garde films, avant garde techniques,

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Speaker 1: nonlinear narratives, surrealism, absurdism, usually dissident politics, and satirical or

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Speaker 1: dark comedy. And I think I would say the comedy

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Speaker 1: is one of the most interesting elements to me because

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Speaker 1: one of the things about Fruit of Paradise is that

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Speaker 1: it's I would not say it's overtly a comedic film,

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Speaker 1: at least not most of the time, because it's not

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Speaker 1: packed with like jokes, but almost every scene is sort

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Speaker 1: of humorous in some way. It's kind of like happening

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Speaker 1: with a with a strange edge of irony, and and

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Speaker 1: you can tell that the actors are like almost always

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Speaker 1: about to break into laughter. I would say it definitely

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Speaker 1: creates an air of levity that that that helps with

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Speaker 1: with this film, because to come back to the to

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Speaker 1: the Spirit's analogy, it's um it's like this cocktail has

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Speaker 1: no sweetener in it. It's it's more like, you know,

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Speaker 1: it's the straight art, but there is a there is

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Speaker 1: an umbrella put in it. There's a there's a nice

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Speaker 1: garnish to it, and that is the comedy that provides

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Speaker 1: a sense of levity. Uh and uh and I think

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Speaker 1: and that that is something I really like about it.

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Speaker 1: Like if this, if this had been like an ultra

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Speaker 1: serious film, I I mean it just it would it

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Speaker 1: would have been an entirely different film. I don't know

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Speaker 1: if it would have been anywhere nearly as enjoyable. I

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Speaker 1: would say, actually, the tone is exactly the opposite of

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Speaker 1: what you would expect if somebody told you it is

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Speaker 1: an avant garde retelling of the Adam and Eve story,

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Speaker 1: So you'd think, okay, serious, heavy handed art film. But no, instead,

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Speaker 1: this is like it's it's such a feeling of um,

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Speaker 1: of amusement and lightness and freedom. Yeah, yeah, it's Uh.

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Speaker 1: It also doesn't have that that crushing feel like you know,

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Speaker 1: you read the the account of Adam and Eve. It um,

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Speaker 1: it's it's kind of a downer. It's about the fall

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Speaker 1: of man and and it has you know, all of

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Speaker 1: the it also has all these other connotations of you know,

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Speaker 1: they make you question the nature of God, and uh,

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Speaker 1: you know the overtly um you know, anti feminine um

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Speaker 1: attributes to the tale as well. Uh you know, it's

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Speaker 1: it's Eve's fault for listening to a snake and and

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Speaker 1: uh and and eating an apple and so forth. Uh So, yeah,

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Speaker 1: it's not the kind of thing that you you might

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Speaker 1: instantly think like this, this will be a nice light

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Speaker 1: feminist art film. Yeah. And I think that spirit of

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Speaker 1: freedom works really well with the Adam and Eve subject

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Speaker 1: matter in multiple ways. So in one sense it comes

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Speaker 1: through in that sense of irony that we have infusing

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Speaker 1: every scene. But the other thing is about the like

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Speaker 1: symbolic ambivalence of the story, because there are multiple things

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Speaker 1: about the Adam and Eve story that you can take

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Speaker 1: in diametrically opposed uh meanings. So like what is the

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Speaker 1: what what is the role of the snake. You can

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Speaker 1: look at the story in one way where the snake

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Speaker 1: is the corruptor, the corruptor who you know, who gets

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Speaker 1: them kicked out of the garden. But the other way

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Speaker 1: of looking at it is that the snake is the

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Speaker 1: prometheus figure. The snake is the one who tells them

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Speaker 1: the truth that they can eat of the tree and

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Speaker 1: it will not kill them to eat of it. Uh.

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Speaker 1: And that they have been they have been living a

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Speaker 1: lie inside the garden. And I would say both readings

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Speaker 1: of the story I think are found in this film. Now.

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Speaker 1: Fruit of Paradise is not Chiallova's most famous film. I

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Speaker 1: would say her most famous easily is a nineteen sixty

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Speaker 1: six surrealist comedy she made called Daisies, which is about

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Speaker 1: two girls who are both named Marie. They are Marie

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Speaker 1: one and Marie too, who essentially decide that the world

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Speaker 1: is spoiled and wicked, and so they make a conscious

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Speaker 1: decision to become spoiled and wicked in return. And from

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Speaker 1: here they engage in a string of bizarre, high energy,

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Speaker 1: surreal and decadent acts. Some reviewers have characterized these as pranks.

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Speaker 1: I think that's true for some things they do in

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Speaker 1: the movie, but it doesn't really capture other things like

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Speaker 1: So this does include uh, like like pranking lecherous older men,

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Speaker 1: but it also includes things like running around trying to

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Speaker 1: snip each other's arms off with scissors, I think, and

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Speaker 1: to some extent succeeding with the help of film editing

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Speaker 1: techniques that move their arms around on the screen, or

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Speaker 1: dancing around on the top of banquet tables, like stomping

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Speaker 1: high heels on what British film critic Mark Kermode characterized

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Speaker 1: as phallic foods. Take that patriarchy. Chitellova herself seems to

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Speaker 1: be and I totally understand this from artists all the time,

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Speaker 1: she seems to have resisted attempts to characterize her work

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Speaker 1: with a any particular like stamp of ideology or artistic style.

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Speaker 1: She she tended, you know, so like I don't want

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Speaker 1: labels that kind of thing. Though her movies have been

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Speaker 1: characterized by others as feminist, as individualist, as anarchist or

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Speaker 1: anti authoritarian, as socialist, as manic or absurdist, I think

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Speaker 1: you can find elements of all of that in there. Yeah, absolutely,

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Speaker 1: especially you know, the manic vibe is very present. Uh,

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Speaker 1: definitely definitely a feminist take on the Adam and Eve.

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Speaker 1: And I think this is this is something that I

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Speaker 1: really ended up ruminating moron when I looked at some

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Speaker 1: of the other Adam and Eve movies that have come

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Speaker 1: out over the years. And I'm gonna get to those

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Speaker 1: later in the episode, but almost all of them one

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Speaker 1: thing that I found in common is you would have

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Speaker 1: pretty much a name actor like a pretty boy or

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Speaker 1: a muscle boy playing Adam. But then Eve was very

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Speaker 1: often played by an unknown, essentially a model that had

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Speaker 1: no acting experience and sometimes did not after the film.

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Speaker 1: So you know, obviously there's all this energy being put

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Speaker 1: into Adam and Eve is just a prop. Eve is

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Speaker 1: not really a character in the portrayal for the most part. Uh,

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Speaker 1: this film is very is very much the opposite, I mean,

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Speaker 1: and Eve's front and center. She is the focus. She's

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Speaker 1: the If there's a character that we truly identify with

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Speaker 1: and can imagine the internal world of it, is Eve

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Speaker 1: or or Eva? Uh is this a film where she's

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Speaker 1: called Eva? Well, I think that's I think Eva is

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Speaker 1: just the check way of saying Eve. So it's the same,

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Speaker 1: I think. But yeah, it's it's Ava in the movie.

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Speaker 1: But when you are great, She's She's the center of

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Speaker 1: this film. And I would the main characteristic I would

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Speaker 1: identify of of Ava in this movie is freedom. There

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Speaker 1: is something about her that just exudes a at an

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Speaker 1: infectious almost dangerous freedom, and I think that's funny and

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Speaker 1: how it aligns with something that Chilova actually said about herself.

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Speaker 1: Apparently this is a quote that she said about herself

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Speaker 1: in a documentary by somebody named he as Amina Blajevich

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Speaker 1: Chitlova said, I was daring enough to want absolute freedom,

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Speaker 1: even if it was a mistake. I think that's perfect.

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Speaker 1: I mean that that really sums up I feel like

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Speaker 1: the whole vibe of of of the ev character in

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Speaker 1: this film, because it's not like a she's not like

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Speaker 1: a righteous rule breaker, where where again we would have

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Speaker 1: to imagine this maybe super serious take on this that

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Speaker 1: that handles it differently. But but yeah, she is. She

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Speaker 1: is dangerously free. She's gonna she's gonna do what she wants,

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Speaker 1: and yeah, it might actually screw up paradise, but that's

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Speaker 1: that's the price of freedom she in this movie. She

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Speaker 1: is not chaotic good. She's not chaotic evil. She's chaotic neutral. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and chaotic neutral and dungeons and dragons like that's that's

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Speaker 1: often characterized as a as a type of character that

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Speaker 1: is difficult or annoying to play. So it's also you

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Speaker 1: might you might well find her character maybe difficult and

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Speaker 1: annoying in this film because again, the chaotic neutral mindset,

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Speaker 1: it's not something that necessarily works well as the central

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Speaker 1: focus of a traditional narrative. Uh and and that's the

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Speaker 1: problem you get into a Dungeons and Dragons like, Oh,

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Speaker 1: you're just gonna be You're just gonna be a crazy person. Well,

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Speaker 1: I'm we're trying to all tell a story here together.

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Speaker 1: But in an art film like this, I mean, that's

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Speaker 1: that's kind of perfect an art film, or I would

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Speaker 1: say any kind of like a surrealist kind of comedy,

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Speaker 1: something where where the character, the central character is the jester.

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Speaker 1: The jester. That's a good way of putting it. I

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Speaker 1: would agree with that characterization here. Um uh. One more

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Speaker 1: quote about herself that I found was Chittolova apparently once

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Speaker 1: called herself an overheated kettle that you can't turn down.

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Speaker 1: I think she was describing her her sort of filmmaking style,

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Speaker 1: that it's very like, it's very passionate and high energy

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Speaker 1: and relentlessly pursuing the freedom to realize what she what

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Speaker 1: she feels like putting on screen, even if somebody's telling

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Speaker 1: her don't do this. I will say that that that

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Speaker 1: is one of the great things about an art film,

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Speaker 1: even ones that that I haven't particularly enjoyed in the past. Um. Uh,

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Speaker 1: just to I keep I keep alluding to this, let

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Speaker 1: me actually say which film I'm thinking of, because some

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Speaker 1: of you might be familiar with it. Yes, a nineteen

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Speaker 1: nine film called Begotten. Uh. This is uh by e

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Speaker 1: Elias Marriage. Uh. This is the guy who, believe went

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Speaker 1: on to make Shadow of a Vampire. Oh, so a

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Speaker 1: talented director. But Begotten is very much a weird art film,

407
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Speaker 1: often described as an experimental horror film. Uh. That is

408
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Speaker 1: visually very impressive, but also very serious. And I thought,

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Speaker 1: and for me, I've rather boring so so uh yeah,

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Speaker 1: that that, I think is often the kind of conundrum

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Speaker 1: with an art film. It's like you get this pure

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Speaker 1: vision and that vision is not it's not it's not

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Speaker 1: necessarily a narrative. It's not a commercial film. It's not

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Speaker 1: it's not that it's not really about entertaining you per se. Um,

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Speaker 1: it's it has a different agenda in place. And um

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Speaker 1: in in in that respect, yeah, you can't really judge

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Speaker 1: it with the same criteria. Uh. That being said, I

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Speaker 1: will drive home again that yes, um, Fruit of Paradise

419
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Speaker 1: far more enjoyable, a far more enjoyable experience. And um

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Speaker 1: and certainly and nobody disembowels themselves. Like I was thinking

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Speaker 1: of what would be kind of like the bingo card

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Speaker 1: of art films based on one's I've seen, and it

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Speaker 1: would be stuff like okay, um, you know, copious amounts

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Speaker 1: of nudity, um, disembowment. I don't know what else. I

425
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Speaker 1: didn't get very far with this experiment. Your personal history

426
00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:55,720
Speaker 1: may trend towards more like sort of horror themed experimental films. Yeah, yeah,

427
00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:58,840
Speaker 1: in in large part, I guess it has like and

428
00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:02,000
Speaker 1: uh you know, you certainly when you think of the

429
00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:04,240
Speaker 1: films have say, like, um, a lot of like the

430
00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:08,800
Speaker 1: psychedelic experimental films or getting into the work of of Doodorowski.

431
00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:10,840
Speaker 1: You know, that's stuff that is going to again have

432
00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:14,639
Speaker 1: at least one foot in some sort of genre experience,

433
00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:20,119
Speaker 1: be a Western, or fantasy or or horror. Uh so.

434
00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:22,359
Speaker 1: Um yeah, But then again you come back to this

435
00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:24,480
Speaker 1: film and it does have one foot firmly in the

436
00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:26,840
Speaker 1: world of myth. Anyway, I got off on a tangent there,

437
00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:28,880
Speaker 1: abobub we got. I don't even remember what my original point.

438
00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:35,080
Speaker 1: That's all right, man, We're all good, okay, So, uh

439
00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:38,280
Speaker 1: so we've just been talking about Chenollova herself for a while,

440
00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:41,320
Speaker 1: but she did not make this movie completely alone. She

441
00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:46,600
Speaker 1: had collaborators, including somebody named Esther Krumbakova, who Tenollova had

442
00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:49,639
Speaker 1: worked with multiple times before, or at least worked with

443
00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:57,280
Speaker 1: multiple times. Yeah. She lived primarily check costume designer, but

444
00:25:57,320 --> 00:26:00,560
Speaker 1: also a writer who also wrote in direct to nineteen

445
00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:03,399
Speaker 1: seventies Killing the Devil, and she also worked on the

446
00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:07,080
Speaker 1: screenplay for Daisies. Like you said, she was a frequent collaborator. Now,

447
00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:10,679
Speaker 1: we mentioned how much we loved, uh the character Ava

448
00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:12,840
Speaker 1: in this movie, and a lot of that is not

449
00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:15,679
Speaker 1: just the weird things she does from scene to scene. Uh.

450
00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:18,280
Speaker 1: The actress who plays her is also really great. And

451
00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:22,240
Speaker 1: this is somebody named Ytka Novacova. Yeah. Yeah, she lived

452
00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:25,960
Speaker 1: ninety two through two thousand and eighteen. Check actor, most

453
00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:29,800
Speaker 1: mostly active during the nineteen seventies. And yeah, it's just

454
00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:32,359
Speaker 1: such a great screen presence. I would I was thinking

455
00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:34,440
Speaker 1: of how to describe it. I would say she has

456
00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:37,440
Speaker 1: an impish energy to her, getting again into that Jester

457
00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:41,159
Speaker 1: vibe that she has going. Like I said, that dangerous

458
00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:43,639
Speaker 1: sense of freedom that's even there in the expressions on

459
00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:47,720
Speaker 1: her face. And it's trending very much towards a mischievousness. Yeah.

460
00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:51,119
Speaker 1: And again this just stands in start contrast to I

461
00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:55,120
Speaker 1: think most cinematic Eves. You'll see Adam and Eve movies

462
00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:57,919
Speaker 1: tend to fall into that category that I think of

463
00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:01,560
Speaker 1: as doll people movies where you of some sort of

464
00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:05,800
Speaker 1: of overly innocent people that often they often end up

465
00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:08,480
Speaker 1: playing it kind of dumb like innocence as kind of

466
00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:12,040
Speaker 1: a stupidity. I think of, you know, movises like the Clonus,

467
00:27:12,119 --> 00:27:15,919
Speaker 1: Horror anything, where you have adults of behaving sort of

468
00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:20,440
Speaker 1: like children, but but again often going in this sort

469
00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:24,400
Speaker 1: of daft direction of that. But here I feel like

470
00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:28,720
Speaker 1: Eva is very much uh, you know, we were talking

471
00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:31,560
Speaker 1: about a character who is innocent, who is in a

472
00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:34,639
Speaker 1: sense a person with the mind of a child, but

473
00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:37,760
Speaker 1: in the chaotic sense, but in a way that is

474
00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:40,760
Speaker 1: still very much a part of the innocence of childhood.

475
00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:43,960
Speaker 1: And uh, and it's just it's beautifully captured, beautifully active.

476
00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:46,560
Speaker 1: This Eva is not going to go to America when

477
00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:48,919
Speaker 1: they say it's time to go to America, She's like, no,

478
00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:52,000
Speaker 1: I'm going to run with scissors now. Yeah, Like I mean,

479
00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:54,480
Speaker 1: because seriously, you think of like Eve you think of

480
00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:56,760
Speaker 1: of of children, and you think of Adam, you think

481
00:27:56,760 --> 00:27:59,280
Speaker 1: of children, and yes, a child may say something like

482
00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:02,719
Speaker 1: what the flower father? What is a butterfly? I don't know,

483
00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:05,320
Speaker 1: But they're also going to be the type of the

484
00:28:05,359 --> 00:28:08,280
Speaker 1: individual to say, smears something sticky on the wall just

485
00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:11,440
Speaker 1: to see what it looks like. Children are are innocent

486
00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:14,000
Speaker 1: that they are there is this chaos to then they are.

487
00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:16,680
Speaker 1: They are testing the world, and you get a strong

488
00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:19,240
Speaker 1: sense of that in this performance. Now, Rob I didn't

489
00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:22,560
Speaker 1: think about this beforehand, but the two named male characters

490
00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:26,879
Speaker 1: in this movie are Robert and Joseph, which are our names. Unfortunately,

491
00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:31,080
Speaker 1: my name corresponds to the boring one. I am Adam. Who.

492
00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:33,359
Speaker 1: How would you characterize Adam in this movie? He's a

493
00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:36,720
Speaker 1: weird kind of back note to everything, like he's this

494
00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:43,680
Speaker 1: uh uh kind of alternately well meaning and devious but

495
00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:48,719
Speaker 1: also sometimes oblivious older man. Yeah, it's a strange energy

496
00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:52,400
Speaker 1: because again stands out from other Adam and E films

497
00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:55,880
Speaker 1: because it's not a muscle dude. It's I though he

498
00:28:55,920 --> 00:28:58,280
Speaker 1: seems to be in good shape, but he's obviously an

499
00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:00,800
Speaker 1: older guy. It was really kind of hard to put

500
00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:04,520
Speaker 1: a finger on. But yeah, there's something kind of unsettling

501
00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:08,160
Speaker 1: about him, but not overtly so. I I anytime he

502
00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:10,320
Speaker 1: was on screen, I was just kind of puzzling over

503
00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:14,080
Speaker 1: his presence. But this is this character Adam in this

504
00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:17,760
Speaker 1: movie Yosef played by Carl Novak. I guess I would

505
00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:20,760
Speaker 1: say that at times he has more of a partner

506
00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:23,640
Speaker 1: vibe and other times he has kind of a a

507
00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:26,040
Speaker 1: would be controller vibe. I don't know if I'm reading

508
00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:29,320
Speaker 1: too much into the film, but uh, I guess I

509
00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:32,880
Speaker 1: was also thinking about sort of a more feminist betrayal

510
00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:35,360
Speaker 1: of Adam and Eve, one in which you're going to

511
00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:38,200
Speaker 1: lean less on the idea that that Eve has messed up,

512
00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:40,920
Speaker 1: and let's get into the flaws of Adam in all

513
00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:43,320
Speaker 1: of this as well. But it's interesting because it doesn't

514
00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:46,280
Speaker 1: just simply recast the Adam figure as like the villain.

515
00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:48,520
Speaker 1: I would not call him the villain of this movie.

516
00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:53,760
Speaker 1: I would just call him, uh, kind of morally confused

517
00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:57,480
Speaker 1: and ambiguous. Yeah. Now, to get to the more interesting

518
00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:00,280
Speaker 1: to your namesake here in the film, the character Bert.

519
00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:04,440
Speaker 1: This is our snake slash devil played by Jan Schmid. Yes.

520
00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:08,560
Speaker 1: Schmid was born ninety six and if IMDb is correct

521
00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:12,960
Speaker 1: still alive as of this recording check. Actor, writer, and director.

522
00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:15,520
Speaker 1: I'm not familiar with most of the films that he's

523
00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:18,520
Speaker 1: credited with, but I was taken by the fact that

524
00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:21,800
Speaker 1: he's in a two film titled what is this of

525
00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:28,320
Speaker 1: Thay Vampire? Vampire? I'll just I'll just skip to the summary.

526
00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:32,680
Speaker 1: This is off of IMDV quote. A dr Marek is

527
00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:36,360
Speaker 1: shocked when his beloved nurse Mima signs a contract with

528
00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:41,360
Speaker 1: foreign car manufacturer Ferrat or Farrey Uh in order to

529
00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:44,400
Speaker 1: work for them as a rally driver. A fellow doctor

530
00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:46,840
Speaker 1: makes him believe that human blood is being used as

531
00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:50,360
Speaker 1: fuel for Mima's ever winning car. But does that really work?

532
00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:55,000
Speaker 1: We have to watch this and this must be seen. Yeah,

533
00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:58,960
Speaker 1: so that that grabbed my attention. But yeah, in this movie,

534
00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:02,000
Speaker 1: Schmidt play is Robert, a weird guy in a red

535
00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:05,240
Speaker 1: suit almost always I think wearing a red suit. Is

536
00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:09,800
Speaker 1: described as a loner at this health resort slash paradise again,

537
00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:13,360
Speaker 1: possibly a murderer, and almost certainly the devil. Like there's

538
00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:15,640
Speaker 1: no denying it. This guy is supposed to be our

539
00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:20,000
Speaker 1: devil figure. He is a weird nerd, the most adorably

540
00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:24,280
Speaker 1: awkward Satan. Yeah, he's not your suath Satan. He's not

541
00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:28,680
Speaker 1: your mustache curling Satan exactly. Though there are there are

542
00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:32,360
Speaker 1: scenes where he is a little more villainous overso, but

543
00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:34,680
Speaker 1: other times, yeah, he's just kind of awkward. He's just

544
00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:37,600
Speaker 1: a fish out of water here. They are often describing

545
00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:39,239
Speaker 1: him as like, oh, he's he's the only one here

546
00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:42,920
Speaker 1: who's alone. Everyone else heres couples, and so in that

547
00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:46,680
Speaker 1: there's this sense of pity, but also this sense of

548
00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:51,400
Speaker 1: potential danger. You know that he's potentially potentially lectus, which

549
00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:53,640
Speaker 1: is an interesting in a way. It's it's like a

550
00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:55,960
Speaker 1: balanced way of looking at a Satan character. Is is

551
00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:57,600
Speaker 1: he to be pitied or is he to be blamed?

552
00:31:57,680 --> 00:32:00,640
Speaker 1: Or is it both? Well, and also that that thing

553
00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:03,320
Speaker 1: I mentioned earlier about is he the corrupter or is

554
00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:06,800
Speaker 1: he the person who actually brings true knowledge that pulls

555
00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:10,360
Speaker 1: the wool away from your eyes? Yeah, which the Satan

556
00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:13,280
Speaker 1: Prometheus dichotomy. So he did bring a gun into a

557
00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:15,200
Speaker 1: health spot, which I feel like that's a red flag

558
00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:18,920
Speaker 1: bad bad call Satan. Now. One of the thing I

559
00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:20,920
Speaker 1: have got to say about this movie, though, is I

560
00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:24,840
Speaker 1: loved the music, especially at certain parts like there's a

561
00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:29,040
Speaker 1: whole scene, uh that where where Ava just goes up

562
00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:32,200
Speaker 1: into the attic and starts playing drums and it turns

563
00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:37,320
Speaker 1: into this weird drum solo that uh later involves trying

564
00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:39,720
Speaker 1: to push a statue out of a window to land

565
00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:42,840
Speaker 1: on her and kill her. Um. But but the music

566
00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:46,160
Speaker 1: throughout the movie is just great. I think, actually probably

567
00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:48,840
Speaker 1: my favorite part of music and the whole thing is

568
00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:52,440
Speaker 1: the beginning sequence with the psychedelic nude Adam and Eve

569
00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:57,120
Speaker 1: with the with the like choirs singing the lines from

570
00:32:57,200 --> 00:33:01,960
Speaker 1: the biblical story. Yeah, that was wonderful, uh and yeah

571
00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:03,560
Speaker 1: there and then the music. There are times where the

572
00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:06,320
Speaker 1: music is more whimsical, because again there are a lot

573
00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:09,080
Speaker 1: of whimsical scenes, But then there is just a lot

574
00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:13,720
Speaker 1: of of electronic and kind of coral, kind of eerie

575
00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:17,680
Speaker 1: ethereal uh sound pieces that are in play here, and

576
00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:20,840
Speaker 1: I love those. So I think the music for for

577
00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:23,440
Speaker 1: Me is one of the strongest elements of the film.

578
00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:27,200
Speaker 1: And the music here is from Zdenek Liska, who lived

579
00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:30,760
Speaker 1: nineteen twenty two through nineteen eighty three. Check composer who

580
00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:33,240
Speaker 1: worked on film scores from the nineteen fifties through the

581
00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:37,000
Speaker 1: early nineteen eighties. He's noted for his use of electronic sounds,

582
00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:40,280
Speaker 1: and is known for his work on the early short

583
00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:44,880
Speaker 1: films of stop motion surrealist Young spunk Meyer Uh. In

584
00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:47,320
Speaker 1: addition to Fruit of Paradise, he also worked on such

585
00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:50,680
Speaker 1: notable check films as The Valley of the Bees, The Creamator,

586
00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:56,280
Speaker 1: and uh kory x B one. This was a nineteen

587
00:33:56,320 --> 00:33:59,880
Speaker 1: sixty three science fiction film based loosely on Stanis law

588
00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:04,480
Speaker 1: Him's The Magellanic Cloud, which also I've read may have

589
00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:08,080
Speaker 1: been partial inspiration for Stanley Kubrick's two thousand and one.

590
00:34:08,360 --> 00:34:11,840
Speaker 1: Oh interesting. You attached a couple of screenshots. This looks

591
00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:13,719
Speaker 1: like a movie I would like to see. I think,

592
00:34:13,760 --> 00:34:16,319
Speaker 1: you know, my affinity as has come through a little

593
00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:19,200
Speaker 1: bit on the show so far, for like for like

594
00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:23,200
Speaker 1: Eastern block science fiction films. They're not always amazing, but

595
00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:26,600
Speaker 1: there's something about them that's that's kind of fun. Yeah.

596
00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:28,640
Speaker 1: I was pulling up some stills from this one. Yeah

597
00:34:28,719 --> 00:34:32,319
Speaker 1: and uh, and some of them look exactly like some

598
00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:36,960
Speaker 1: sort of an early sixties sci fi world. You know,

599
00:34:37,040 --> 00:34:39,840
Speaker 1: you have the Robbie the Robot esque robot. There, you

600
00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:42,960
Speaker 1: have old dudes and weird space costumes. But also some

601
00:34:43,080 --> 00:34:46,160
Speaker 1: very stylistic looking interiors. I'm not saying it's anything on

602
00:34:46,200 --> 00:34:49,160
Speaker 1: the level of Planet of Vampires, but still it looks

603
00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:51,399
Speaker 1: it looks pretty solid. Oh yeah, I see what you're saying.

604
00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:53,560
Speaker 1: Though it's not on the Planet of the Vampire's level,

605
00:34:53,640 --> 00:34:56,560
Speaker 1: but the sets and the costumes have that quality like

606
00:34:56,719 --> 00:34:58,960
Speaker 1: you would like to touch and feel them, you know,

607
00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:02,359
Speaker 1: I want to touch that headrest. So anyway, strong music

608
00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:05,200
Speaker 1: in this film, and yeah, I guess getting right into

609
00:35:05,239 --> 00:35:08,400
Speaker 1: the well the plot a bit, if you will. The

610
00:35:08,719 --> 00:35:12,160
Speaker 1: that opening sequence is pretty tremendous, you know, this this

611
00:35:12,320 --> 00:35:15,360
Speaker 1: paradise sequence of the what we're to think of is

612
00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:19,920
Speaker 1: not the modern paradise that we are examining in this film,

613
00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:23,240
Speaker 1: but the primordial paradise. This is where we have two

614
00:35:23,719 --> 00:35:28,120
Speaker 1: fully nude individuals that are walking through this psychedelic landscape

615
00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:33,359
Speaker 1: with kind of kaleidoscopic colors and botanical motifs swirling around them,

616
00:35:33,520 --> 00:35:37,439
Speaker 1: all while this this wonderful soundscape plays. Yeah, you see

617
00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:39,960
Speaker 1: them moving through the garden and there is this quality

618
00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:43,840
Speaker 1: of it's like stained glass, but with the texture of

619
00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:47,920
Speaker 1: autumn leaves coming down over everything, and the colors are

620
00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:52,120
Speaker 1: cascading and this amazing music is playing. Uh that that

621
00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:55,200
Speaker 1: whole sequence at the beginning is just fantastic. I think

622
00:35:55,480 --> 00:35:57,360
Speaker 1: this is also as newd as the film is going

623
00:35:57,400 --> 00:36:00,160
Speaker 1: to get. So if you're you're hoping that this bull

624
00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:02,839
Speaker 1: of nudity will be maintained throughout the film, you will

625
00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:06,240
Speaker 1: be disappointed, though there will be at least a splash

626
00:36:06,239 --> 00:36:09,120
Speaker 1: of nudity later on. Yeah, from here, I don't really

627
00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:12,759
Speaker 1: know what's the best way to to approach, Like the

628
00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:15,120
Speaker 1: part where we we would normally break down the plot

629
00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:18,759
Speaker 1: because like you know, there's nothing, there's no story in

630
00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:21,799
Speaker 1: particular to follow, but maybe I don't know, we could

631
00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:24,640
Speaker 1: talk about some moments that stood out to us. Um

632
00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:29,880
Speaker 1: So the movie starts with kind of Eva wandering around

633
00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:33,400
Speaker 1: in this overgrown garden area, and there's part where she

634
00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:35,880
Speaker 1: she climbs over a wall that seems to be a

635
00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:39,279
Speaker 1: crossing of a threshold of sorts, and she's like harvesting

636
00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:44,520
Speaker 1: herbs and vegetables I guess for for food, but literally

637
00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:47,200
Speaker 1: we alluded to this earlier. There's a part where she's

638
00:36:47,239 --> 00:36:50,080
Speaker 1: crawling around clipping herbs from the ground and suddenly she

639
00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:52,520
Speaker 1: nearly gets paid on by the devil, and the devil

640
00:36:52,640 --> 00:36:57,000
Speaker 1: is like standing atop the wall, uh peeing and as

641
00:36:57,040 --> 00:37:00,239
Speaker 1: if I recall, she seems a sort of interest did

642
00:37:00,239 --> 00:37:04,680
Speaker 1: and amused by this turn of events. Yeah, it's an

643
00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:07,120
Speaker 1: odd sequence. And in the Devil, I don't think any

644
00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:09,160
Speaker 1: knows as she's down there. He's just paying because he

645
00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:12,160
Speaker 1: has to relieve himself. Yeah, and there are scenes of

646
00:37:12,200 --> 00:37:15,120
Speaker 1: her around this section where she's like running around with

647
00:37:15,160 --> 00:37:17,600
Speaker 1: the knife. I was like, that's not safe, but for

648
00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:20,440
Speaker 1: some reason it works. It's very funny. Yeah, it's this

649
00:37:20,600 --> 00:37:23,840
Speaker 1: huge Michael Myer's signature edition kitchen knife that she's running

650
00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:28,040
Speaker 1: around with and thankfully nobody gets hurt. Now the we

651
00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:32,120
Speaker 1: alluded to the earlier to the filming locations. The filming

652
00:37:32,120 --> 00:37:35,200
Speaker 1: locations are really interesting in this film. There's there's there

653
00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:38,280
Speaker 1: are scenes where we have this kind of beachy desert quality,

654
00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:43,200
Speaker 1: strange rock formations, and indeed there's a sequence later on

655
00:37:43,480 --> 00:37:47,240
Speaker 1: and I'm I'm a little uh foggy on exactly what

656
00:37:47,280 --> 00:37:50,359
Speaker 1: was happening in this sequence, But there's a woman, there's

657
00:37:50,360 --> 00:37:52,560
Speaker 1: a nude woman reading a book down in this kind

658
00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:56,919
Speaker 1: of rock cleft, and then our characters encounter her and

659
00:37:57,160 --> 00:38:00,000
Speaker 1: there's it's there's the camera goes down into the cleft

660
00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:03,399
Speaker 1: as well. It's it's a very beautiful sequence. Yeah, it

661
00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:07,480
Speaker 1: involves this like very narrow slot canyon um. And then

662
00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:09,480
Speaker 1: there are other parts where you see somebody i think

663
00:38:09,520 --> 00:38:12,920
Speaker 1: maybe one of the top ledges above that canyon, pushing

664
00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:15,239
Speaker 1: a boulder toward the edge, like they're going to push

665
00:38:15,239 --> 00:38:17,240
Speaker 1: it off to land on somebody, which is a recurring

666
00:38:17,280 --> 00:38:20,360
Speaker 1: theme in the movie. Actually there's a scene so where

667
00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:23,160
Speaker 1: where the Devil and Adam are both there like having

668
00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:26,040
Speaker 1: a conversation in the attic of a house and they're like, Hey,

669
00:38:26,080 --> 00:38:29,000
Speaker 1: look at this beautiful marble statue, and they get the idea,

670
00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:30,719
Speaker 1: what if we push this out the window so it

671
00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:33,279
Speaker 1: lands on Eve. Well, maybe we should try it. And

672
00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:35,800
Speaker 1: so there's that, there's the pushing the statue out the window,

673
00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:38,040
Speaker 1: there's the pushing the rock off the ledge to land

674
00:38:38,080 --> 00:38:41,359
Speaker 1: on somebody. I don't know exactly what to say this

675
00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:43,799
Speaker 1: theme means, and in fact, I think I've made my

676
00:38:43,800 --> 00:38:46,399
Speaker 1: feelings about this clear on the show before. I'm less

677
00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:50,160
Speaker 1: a fan of like really direct allegory where it's like, oh, well,

678
00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:53,560
Speaker 1: this image means exactly this, and this character corresponds to

679
00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:55,799
Speaker 1: exactly this person. You know, I like a more kind

680
00:38:55,800 --> 00:39:00,400
Speaker 1: of ambiguous symbolism that that has numerous associations but doesn't

681
00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:02,600
Speaker 1: clearly respond to just like, oh, well, it means this

682
00:39:02,680 --> 00:39:06,000
Speaker 1: one thing. But clearly this seemed to be something that

683
00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:09,360
Speaker 1: was on Chittelova's mind, like the pushing of heavy objects

684
00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:13,400
Speaker 1: off of ledges, uh, therefore threatening somebody who lies is

685
00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:15,960
Speaker 1: down below. But I don't know. Did did you think

686
00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:19,319
Speaker 1: about that? I? I did now thinking back on it.

687
00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:22,200
Speaker 1: Did they ever actually have anything land on anybody? To

688
00:39:22,280 --> 00:39:25,040
Speaker 1: the devil actually squash anybody? Well? No, In the end,

689
00:39:25,080 --> 00:39:29,040
Speaker 1: the devil ends up pushing the rock down a down

690
00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:32,360
Speaker 1: a hill and it goes it rolls into the bog, remember,

691
00:39:32,480 --> 00:39:35,200
Speaker 1: and then he's trying and then characters are standing on

692
00:39:35,239 --> 00:39:37,400
Speaker 1: the rock so as not to sink into the bog.

693
00:39:38,320 --> 00:39:41,040
Speaker 1: But I think there are multiple I can't remember if

694
00:39:41,040 --> 00:39:43,520
Speaker 1: it actually lands on Eva and kills her in the

695
00:39:43,520 --> 00:39:46,040
Speaker 1: scene where they're pushing the statue out the window. I

696
00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:48,239
Speaker 1: think it's implied that it does, but then she's alive

697
00:39:48,280 --> 00:39:50,239
Speaker 1: again in the next scene. So yeah, I don't know

698
00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:52,000
Speaker 1: quite what to make of it, but I like you,

699
00:39:52,120 --> 00:39:54,680
Speaker 1: I like the ambiguity of it. It also ties into

700
00:39:54,680 --> 00:39:56,920
Speaker 1: again the whimsical nature. Why is the devil pushing these

701
00:39:57,000 --> 00:39:59,200
Speaker 1: rocks around? What's this about? I mean, I think to

702
00:39:59,200 --> 00:40:01,000
Speaker 1: take it on. The more you re aside, you could

703
00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:04,040
Speaker 1: say that that kind of imagery could have something to

704
00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:06,360
Speaker 1: do with like the hammer falling of course with the

705
00:40:06,800 --> 00:40:11,160
Speaker 1: the invasion of Czechoslovakia. But um, but it's hard to

706
00:40:11,160 --> 00:40:14,080
Speaker 1: get too specific about it. Yeah, or the devil's playing

707
00:40:14,120 --> 00:40:16,239
Speaker 1: kind of a long game where yeah, it's it's about

708
00:40:16,239 --> 00:40:28,439
Speaker 1: fun now, but ultimately it's about a rock falling on you. Now.

709
00:40:28,520 --> 00:40:31,319
Speaker 1: One of my favorite sequences in the film was the

710
00:40:31,360 --> 00:40:34,840
Speaker 1: sequence in which are Gal Eva here, who again is

711
00:40:35,719 --> 00:40:39,600
Speaker 1: is both interested in the devil but also and Robert

712
00:40:39,640 --> 00:40:41,680
Speaker 1: the Devil but also is you know, a little fraid

713
00:40:41,719 --> 00:40:44,200
Speaker 1: of him at times. And there's this wonderful scene where

714
00:40:44,200 --> 00:40:47,319
Speaker 1: where everybody's out fro loocking on the beach or in

715
00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:52,279
Speaker 1: the sand. Robert the Devil drops the key key from

716
00:40:52,280 --> 00:40:55,840
Speaker 1: his pocket and Eva steals it and then takes the

717
00:40:55,920 --> 00:41:00,400
Speaker 1: key back and breaks into the devil's room at the

718
00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:04,360
Speaker 1: main building of the health spa and basically just snoops

719
00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:07,440
Speaker 1: through all the devil's stuff. She finds a six stamp

720
00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:12,399
Speaker 1: and gives herself a stamp on the upper thigh. Uh so, yeah.

721
00:41:12,440 --> 00:41:15,880
Speaker 1: Probably probably my favorite sequence in the film is esscitainly

722
00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:19,720
Speaker 1: my favorite day Eva sequence because she's just frolicking around.

723
00:41:19,719 --> 00:41:22,319
Speaker 1: It's wonderful. Yeah, yeah, I love that part. In fact,

724
00:41:22,360 --> 00:41:24,920
Speaker 1: So she stamps herself on the thigh with the number six,

725
00:41:25,239 --> 00:41:27,520
Speaker 1: and then she finds the stamp won't come off, and

726
00:41:27,560 --> 00:41:30,160
Speaker 1: then she realizes I think that the other women who

727
00:41:30,160 --> 00:41:33,120
Speaker 1: have turned up murdered were also stamped with numbers, and

728
00:41:33,200 --> 00:41:37,840
Speaker 1: she's like, whoops. But when she's going through the Devil's stuff,

729
00:41:38,400 --> 00:41:40,719
Speaker 1: is this the scene where she was opening drawers in

730
00:41:40,760 --> 00:41:43,319
Speaker 1: the desk and they like, one day drawer is full

731
00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:46,920
Speaker 1: of cherries and another drawers I get where the drawers

732
00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:51,000
Speaker 1: are all full of like implausible things. Well, he likes

733
00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:53,960
Speaker 1: the color red, so he likes cherries. I guess. No,

734
00:41:54,120 --> 00:41:57,200
Speaker 1: I didn't think about that. Yes, that's rather obvious in retrospect,

735
00:41:57,200 --> 00:41:59,680
Speaker 1: but I don't know. There's also fruit. It's more fruit,

736
00:42:00,239 --> 00:42:03,160
Speaker 1: that's right now. As you pointed out, there is a

737
00:42:03,160 --> 00:42:05,680
Speaker 1: lot of chasing in this movie, and it's not a

738
00:42:05,920 --> 00:42:09,400
Speaker 1: in a consistent direction either. Characters sort of take turns

739
00:42:09,520 --> 00:42:15,120
Speaker 1: chasing each other in different situations. Yeah, Eva chases Robert

740
00:42:15,280 --> 00:42:19,920
Speaker 1: Proper chases Eva. More shots of these surreal locations is

741
00:42:19,960 --> 00:42:22,279
Speaker 1: there you go about these chases, and so this is

742
00:42:22,280 --> 00:42:25,200
Speaker 1: definitely a sequence where, um, you know, my brain was

743
00:42:25,239 --> 00:42:30,760
Speaker 1: probably wanting to find more narrative than was present, but

744
00:42:31,080 --> 00:42:33,080
Speaker 1: you know, you still you still go with it. One

745
00:42:33,160 --> 00:42:35,560
Speaker 1: character is chasing the other. That's really all you need

746
00:42:35,600 --> 00:42:39,480
Speaker 1: to know. This continues for some time, but eventually you're

747
00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:42,600
Speaker 1: gonna get to that big showdown, right, um, which I

748
00:42:42,600 --> 00:42:44,640
Speaker 1: mean I say that like it's a matter of fact.

749
00:42:44,680 --> 00:42:47,280
Speaker 1: There's no showdown between even the Devil in the Bible,

750
00:42:47,400 --> 00:42:50,920
Speaker 1: so you might well not expected here, but I don't know,

751
00:42:50,960 --> 00:42:53,520
Speaker 1: it felt it felt logical here because it's also this

752
00:42:53,560 --> 00:42:56,160
Speaker 1: idea that the devil is killing people, so he's like

753
00:42:56,160 --> 00:42:59,080
Speaker 1: a murder suspect. Any kind of film, if you present

754
00:42:59,120 --> 00:43:01,560
Speaker 1: a murder suspect, there has to be a confrontation, right

755
00:43:01,880 --> 00:43:05,480
Speaker 1: like that that goes beyond like narrative structure, and like

756
00:43:05,560 --> 00:43:08,200
Speaker 1: that seems to be some sort of a divine imprint

757
00:43:08,239 --> 00:43:10,920
Speaker 1: on reality. I thought it was interesting that this showdown

758
00:43:11,200 --> 00:43:13,640
Speaker 1: takes place at a setting that would be a perfectly

759
00:43:13,680 --> 00:43:16,279
Speaker 1: suitable location for an ending sword fight if you're gonna

760
00:43:16,320 --> 00:43:18,960
Speaker 1: have he man battle the enemy, uh you know, and

761
00:43:18,960 --> 00:43:21,960
Speaker 1: they're crossing sabers. It's out on this like rock by

762
00:43:22,000 --> 00:43:25,600
Speaker 1: the water's edge that looks very dramatic, but instead what

763
00:43:25,719 --> 00:43:29,800
Speaker 1: even the and Robert end up doing there is having

764
00:43:29,840 --> 00:43:34,160
Speaker 1: these sort of almost waiting for Godot like uh you know,

765
00:43:34,280 --> 00:43:37,200
Speaker 1: like the conversations that seem to end up in a

766
00:43:37,239 --> 00:43:39,919
Speaker 1: certain place, but then that's immediately undercut, like they're talking

767
00:43:39,920 --> 00:43:42,479
Speaker 1: about whether he's going to murder her with this gun

768
00:43:42,600 --> 00:43:45,880
Speaker 1: or not. And then I think at one point he's like, Okay,

769
00:43:45,880 --> 00:43:47,840
Speaker 1: I'm going to murder you now, and then he doesn't,

770
00:43:47,880 --> 00:43:51,760
Speaker 1: and then she gets the gun. And then clearly something

771
00:43:51,800 --> 00:43:54,759
Speaker 1: comes through from this about you know, a situation of

772
00:43:55,120 --> 00:43:59,279
Speaker 1: dangerous ambiguity where like you, you feel the stakes are high,

773
00:43:59,320 --> 00:44:01,360
Speaker 1: but you don't know if someone is your friend or

774
00:44:01,360 --> 00:44:03,160
Speaker 1: your enemy. You don't know if they love you or

775
00:44:03,200 --> 00:44:05,799
Speaker 1: if they're going to kill you. Also say that that

776
00:44:06,160 --> 00:44:08,640
Speaker 1: Robert the devil here doesn't get He doesn't have like

777
00:44:08,680 --> 00:44:12,320
Speaker 1: a villainous monologue or anything, so there's there's no moment

778
00:44:12,320 --> 00:44:16,239
Speaker 1: where he's like, off, this was my design. I've you know,

779
00:44:16,280 --> 00:44:19,000
Speaker 1: I've I've I've brought down God's creation or anything to

780
00:44:19,040 --> 00:44:22,759
Speaker 1: that effect. Like he it's played pretty uh ambiguous with

781
00:44:22,840 --> 00:44:25,759
Speaker 1: him as well, which I think ultimately works quite well

782
00:44:25,760 --> 00:44:29,520
Speaker 1: in this film. Now, as we said, even though this

783
00:44:29,560 --> 00:44:33,279
Speaker 1: movie is not like super heavy handed and serious, it

784
00:44:33,400 --> 00:44:36,080
Speaker 1: does clearly have a theme of something about the loss

785
00:44:36,080 --> 00:44:39,399
Speaker 1: of innocence. I would say this is characterized by like

786
00:44:39,480 --> 00:44:44,719
Speaker 1: the changing color of Eva's clothing, like changing from from

787
00:44:44,760 --> 00:44:48,560
Speaker 1: like white to red and uh, and then also the

788
00:44:48,600 --> 00:44:51,279
Speaker 1: parts where she's like trying to climb back over the

789
00:44:51,320 --> 00:44:53,960
Speaker 1: wall into the garden but she can't get over it,

790
00:44:55,000 --> 00:44:57,160
Speaker 1: you know, like the state of innocence cannot be regained.

791
00:44:57,160 --> 00:45:00,239
Speaker 1: And I guess this ties more into the ends of

792
00:45:00,280 --> 00:45:03,280
Speaker 1: themes that you would normally see in these other uh

793
00:45:03,680 --> 00:45:08,480
Speaker 1: maybe uh more constrained Adam and Eve type films. In fact, Rob,

794
00:45:08,560 --> 00:45:10,319
Speaker 1: I know you you sort of did a deep dive

795
00:45:10,400 --> 00:45:12,520
Speaker 1: on Adam and Eve movies that did you want to

796
00:45:12,520 --> 00:45:15,520
Speaker 1: get into that here? Sure? But but first I will

797
00:45:15,560 --> 00:45:17,719
Speaker 1: say that another thing about the ending to this is

798
00:45:17,760 --> 00:45:19,880
Speaker 1: that it does end and kind of on a somber

799
00:45:19,920 --> 00:45:23,400
Speaker 1: note when she she finally makes her way back to

800
00:45:23,640 --> 00:45:26,759
Speaker 1: the atom figure to Joseph and yeah, they have this

801
00:45:26,880 --> 00:45:29,400
Speaker 1: this kind of like somber interaction. Uh, you know, as

802
00:45:29,440 --> 00:45:32,560
Speaker 1: if to drive home it's maybe not it's it's not

803
00:45:32,640 --> 00:45:35,760
Speaker 1: as as mythic and overbearing, as like as an angel

804
00:45:35,760 --> 00:45:37,880
Speaker 1: with a flaming sword saying, all right, I gotta get

805
00:45:37,880 --> 00:45:40,960
Speaker 1: out of the paradise. Now go up and have painful childbirth.

806
00:45:41,360 --> 00:45:44,320
Speaker 1: But but there is this this somber sense of things

807
00:45:44,320 --> 00:45:46,960
Speaker 1: are not going to be the same again, that that

808
00:45:47,040 --> 00:45:49,720
Speaker 1: the innocence has been lost, but not in such an

809
00:45:49,760 --> 00:45:53,279
Speaker 1: overtly dramatic way, but more in a subtle way, like

810
00:45:53,320 --> 00:45:55,839
Speaker 1: one day when you realize that you were you're you're

811
00:45:55,880 --> 00:45:58,200
Speaker 1: not a child anymore, when you realize that you are

812
00:45:58,239 --> 00:46:00,920
Speaker 1: a grown up or that or that you were under

813
00:46:01,080 --> 00:46:04,800
Speaker 1: at least by some definitions, an old person. Now that

814
00:46:04,960 --> 00:46:06,839
Speaker 1: sort of thing like that seems to be the kind

815
00:46:06,880 --> 00:46:09,279
Speaker 1: of vibe that they have. Or that some change has

816
00:46:09,320 --> 00:46:13,000
Speaker 1: happened in the world. Uh that maybe you weren't even

817
00:46:13,000 --> 00:46:14,600
Speaker 1: aware of it at the time, but now that that

818
00:46:14,680 --> 00:46:18,120
Speaker 1: change has definitely occurred and there's no going back. Yeah,

819
00:46:18,160 --> 00:46:20,120
Speaker 1: I think that's profound. In fact, I was going to

820
00:46:20,200 --> 00:46:23,000
Speaker 1: say that the last feeling I had with the movie

821
00:46:23,080 --> 00:46:26,839
Speaker 1: is you can't go back. Yeah, alright, Well, getting into

822
00:46:26,840 --> 00:46:28,919
Speaker 1: other Adam and Eve movies just briefly. I'm not gonna

823
00:46:28,920 --> 00:46:31,080
Speaker 1: spend a lot of time on these because some of

824
00:46:31,080 --> 00:46:34,000
Speaker 1: them we might even come back to. I don't know. UM,

825
00:46:34,040 --> 00:46:36,480
Speaker 1: I would say the Adam and Eve film that stands

826
00:46:36,520 --> 00:46:39,760
Speaker 1: out to me the most is nineteen eighties The Apple.

827
00:46:41,040 --> 00:46:43,200
Speaker 1: I think we've talked about The Apple before, Joe just

828
00:46:43,400 --> 00:46:46,719
Speaker 1: I mean off off the podcast. Have you seen The Apple? No?

829
00:46:46,880 --> 00:46:49,800
Speaker 1: I haven't, I've heard of it. It is a science

830
00:46:49,840 --> 00:46:53,879
Speaker 1: fiction musical comedy film starring Katherine Mary Stewart as Eve,

831
00:46:54,640 --> 00:46:59,560
Speaker 1: Polish actor of Vladdock, Sheball as the Devil, and josh

832
00:46:59,600 --> 00:47:02,880
Speaker 1: Ak and the great British actor as God in a

833
00:47:02,920 --> 00:47:05,959
Speaker 1: small role. And it is um it is a lot.

834
00:47:06,320 --> 00:47:08,640
Speaker 1: This is a film that a lot of people consider

835
00:47:08,640 --> 00:47:12,560
Speaker 1: it to be a very bad film, but it's beyond

836
00:47:12,640 --> 00:47:15,320
Speaker 1: good and bad, like it's it's beyond good and evil.

837
00:47:15,480 --> 00:47:20,000
Speaker 1: It is just a very strange film that is extremely

838
00:47:20,040 --> 00:47:23,440
Speaker 1: over the top. Was this a Cannon Films venture? Why

839
00:47:23,480 --> 00:47:26,320
Speaker 1: do I want to say that? Um? I don't recall

840
00:47:26,360 --> 00:47:28,719
Speaker 1: off hand if if Cannon did not have a have

841
00:47:28,760 --> 00:47:31,480
Speaker 1: a role in it. It has that kind of Cannon energy,

842
00:47:32,040 --> 00:47:38,759
Speaker 1: like like what what chemical? Um concoction helped create this

843
00:47:39,000 --> 00:47:43,319
Speaker 1: vision for cinema and then saw it realized yep, I

844
00:47:43,400 --> 00:47:45,520
Speaker 1: just looked it up. It was indeed the Cannon group,

845
00:47:45,640 --> 00:47:50,480
Speaker 1: it's a director, it's this is a Gold Globus film.

846
00:47:50,600 --> 00:47:54,000
Speaker 1: Well it is. Uh, it is also an acquired taste,

847
00:47:54,400 --> 00:47:57,200
Speaker 1: but but the one that's a lot of fun. So

848
00:47:57,320 --> 00:48:00,000
Speaker 1: I think the riff track guys did this year's Bad

849
00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:02,440
Speaker 1: Act and it was a pretty fun riff at the time. Well,

850
00:48:02,480 --> 00:48:04,480
Speaker 1: and even if it's known for being very bad, uh,

851
00:48:04,760 --> 00:48:06,480
Speaker 1: I would like to check it out because this seems

852
00:48:06,480 --> 00:48:09,000
Speaker 1: to defy the conventions. So if you ask me, I

853
00:48:09,000 --> 00:48:11,319
Speaker 1: don't know a lot about Adam and Eve movies, but

854
00:48:11,440 --> 00:48:14,440
Speaker 1: my guests would be they fall essentially into two categories.

855
00:48:14,520 --> 00:48:18,200
Speaker 1: One is, you know, your ten Commandment style sort of

856
00:48:18,239 --> 00:48:22,040
Speaker 1: like literal, heavy handed religious film, and then the other

857
00:48:22,120 --> 00:48:25,719
Speaker 1: style would be exploitation movie that's just an excuse to

858
00:48:25,880 --> 00:48:29,439
Speaker 1: show two naked people. Yeah, and and here's the thing though,

859
00:48:29,440 --> 00:48:31,920
Speaker 1: I think a lot of times there's a considerable overlap

860
00:48:32,000 --> 00:48:34,719
Speaker 1: between those two because certainly, yeah, you do have this

861
00:48:34,719 --> 00:48:38,080
Speaker 1: this very this old old Testament account of Adam and

862
00:48:38,120 --> 00:48:41,640
Speaker 1: Eve at the heart here, but it inherently involves uh,

863
00:48:41,760 --> 00:48:45,840
Speaker 1: naked people walking around in paradise wearing little or no clothing.

864
00:48:45,920 --> 00:48:47,640
Speaker 1: You know, maybe they have some leaves on, that sort

865
00:48:47,640 --> 00:48:52,080
Speaker 1: of thing. So there is some inherent titillation that's that's unavoidable,

866
00:48:52,120 --> 00:48:53,840
Speaker 1: like how or if you're gonna if you're gonna commit

867
00:48:53,840 --> 00:48:56,960
Speaker 1: this to to film, then you're gonna have to make

868
00:48:57,000 --> 00:49:00,480
Speaker 1: some choices about how how naked it is going to be,

869
00:49:01,280 --> 00:49:04,239
Speaker 1: so you see this. This is strongly present in many

870
00:49:04,280 --> 00:49:06,400
Speaker 1: of the more famous Adam and E films over the years.

871
00:49:06,800 --> 00:49:09,040
Speaker 1: One that I'm particularly interested in that I didn't know

872
00:49:09,080 --> 00:49:14,200
Speaker 1: about until just yesterday is Adam and Eve from three,

873
00:49:14,360 --> 00:49:18,279
Speaker 1: an Italian production starring Mark Gregory. Mark Gregory was the

874
00:49:18,320 --> 00:49:21,759
Speaker 1: hero in The Bronx Warriors and the film Escape from

875
00:49:21,800 --> 00:49:24,839
Speaker 1: the Bronx. These were kind of escape from New York

876
00:49:25,160 --> 00:49:29,920
Speaker 1: esque post apocalyptic films. Wait was he and was he

877
00:49:30,000 --> 00:49:33,319
Speaker 1: in Hands of Steel? The Italian Terminator rip off? We did?

878
00:49:33,719 --> 00:49:35,800
Speaker 1: I don't think he was. No, this is a different dude.

879
00:49:36,120 --> 00:49:39,600
Speaker 1: But this guy had more of a muscular but leaner

880
00:49:39,640 --> 00:49:43,520
Speaker 1: with really shaggy dark hair. You'd recognize him if you

881
00:49:43,520 --> 00:49:46,720
Speaker 1: saw him. Okay, I have read I believe that George

882
00:49:46,760 --> 00:49:49,960
Speaker 1: Miller of Mad Max Fame did some of the secondary

883
00:49:50,040 --> 00:49:54,120
Speaker 1: landscape shots in this uncredited, but it looks it looks

884
00:49:54,160 --> 00:49:57,160
Speaker 1: so interesting. It has pterodactyls and cannibal cavemen in it,

885
00:49:57,239 --> 00:49:59,799
Speaker 1: so they seemed to do it. Perhaps set out to

886
00:49:59,840 --> 00:50:02,879
Speaker 1: make Adam and Eve and then realize, well, we should

887
00:50:02,880 --> 00:50:04,839
Speaker 1: go we should make this even more fantastic. Why are

888
00:50:04,840 --> 00:50:07,399
Speaker 1: there no caveman? Why is there no cannibalism? Can we

889
00:50:07,480 --> 00:50:10,319
Speaker 1: throw some prehistoric reptiles in here and have Adam kill

890
00:50:10,400 --> 00:50:15,120
Speaker 1: one of them? Um, it sounds amazing. I haven't watched

891
00:50:15,160 --> 00:50:18,279
Speaker 1: it yet, but I asked the folks that video Drome

892
00:50:18,320 --> 00:50:19,759
Speaker 1: if they had it, and they're like, we will have

893
00:50:19,840 --> 00:50:22,000
Speaker 1: it for you by the end of the week. So um,

894
00:50:22,760 --> 00:50:25,040
Speaker 1: I'm at least gonna watch it on my own time. Wait,

895
00:50:25,120 --> 00:50:29,600
Speaker 1: it has cannibal caveman, pterodactyls, shirtless muscle dude. And this

896
00:50:29,680 --> 00:50:33,640
Speaker 1: just sounds like a Bible themed version of your Hunter

897
00:50:33,760 --> 00:50:37,320
Speaker 1: from the Future. Is this just smashing together two genres,

898
00:50:37,360 --> 00:50:40,319
Speaker 1: which one is Bible movie and the other is Italian

899
00:50:40,600 --> 00:50:43,799
Speaker 1: leather diaper barbarian movie. I think you nailed it, Yes.

900
00:50:45,200 --> 00:50:49,319
Speaker 1: And now another adaptation that's worth the noting is the

901
00:50:49,440 --> 00:50:53,359
Speaker 1: nineteen sixty nine Mexican adaptation The Sin of Adam and Eve,

902
00:50:53,640 --> 00:50:57,440
Speaker 1: which has Jorge Rivero in it, who is in Lucci

903
00:50:57,560 --> 00:51:01,600
Speaker 1: Luccio Fulci's Conquest, and also the film Werewolf. He plays

904
00:51:01,760 --> 00:51:06,319
Speaker 1: Yuri and werewolf, the extremely muscley. He's supposed to be

905
00:51:06,360 --> 00:51:10,359
Speaker 1: a paleontologist or archaeologist and I don't know, but he's

906
00:51:10,360 --> 00:51:12,759
Speaker 1: the one who wants to make a living werewolf and

907
00:51:12,800 --> 00:51:16,240
Speaker 1: he does it by hitting a guy with a werewolf skull. Yeah. Yeah,

908
00:51:16,440 --> 00:51:21,040
Speaker 1: as though, big handsome muscle guy playing plan Adam in

909
00:51:21,120 --> 00:51:24,120
Speaker 1: this film. I was looking around. There's some other's one.

910
00:51:24,200 --> 00:51:28,120
Speaker 1: There's a nineteen seventy Iranian Adam and E film that's

911
00:51:28,360 --> 00:51:30,680
Speaker 1: listed on an IMDb, but I haven't found much else

912
00:51:30,719 --> 00:51:33,760
Speaker 1: about it. Oh, and then there's a nineteen fifty six

913
00:51:33,920 --> 00:51:38,480
Speaker 1: Mexican Adam and Eve film by director Alberto Gout And Oh.

914
00:51:38,520 --> 00:51:41,840
Speaker 1: I was reading about this one in Michael Weldon's Psychotronic books.

915
00:51:42,280 --> 00:51:44,560
Speaker 1: He says that this movie was given an A three

916
00:51:44,719 --> 00:51:47,719
Speaker 1: rating in nineteen fifty six, which I'm to understand. It

917
00:51:47,800 --> 00:51:49,360
Speaker 1: was like, I don't know if that's the equivalent of

918
00:51:49,360 --> 00:51:51,880
Speaker 1: a G, but it was like a very family friendly

919
00:51:52,000 --> 00:51:56,440
Speaker 1: rating because it was quote based on the Bible. Um, meanwhile,

920
00:51:56,480 --> 00:51:58,760
Speaker 1: there are other films with nudity that we're being banned

921
00:51:58,760 --> 00:52:02,319
Speaker 1: in Mexico at the time. Um. Weldon also writes that

922
00:52:02,440 --> 00:52:05,400
Speaker 1: quote an all naked premiere was held at a nudest

923
00:52:05,440 --> 00:52:09,840
Speaker 1: colony and miniature Bibles were sold at some showings, which, okay,

924
00:52:10,520 --> 00:52:13,120
Speaker 1: I think that really drives home the idea of Adam

925
00:52:13,160 --> 00:52:15,520
Speaker 1: and Eve films as Christian Eurotica right there. Like that,

926
00:52:15,600 --> 00:52:17,680
Speaker 1: it's able to sort of double dip, where on one

927
00:52:17,719 --> 00:52:21,080
Speaker 1: hand it's being you know, it's they're having a screening

928
00:52:21,080 --> 00:52:24,200
Speaker 1: at a nudest colony, clearly trying to maybe cultivate that

929
00:52:24,239 --> 00:52:27,400
Speaker 1: euromarket for the film, but also, uh, it is for

930
00:52:27,440 --> 00:52:30,520
Speaker 1: the children, it is for the churchgoers, and therefore it

931
00:52:30,680 --> 00:52:33,800
Speaker 1: is safe and wholesome for the domestic market. That's weird.

932
00:52:35,239 --> 00:52:37,920
Speaker 1: Adam and Eve movies are weird, There's no denying it.

933
00:52:38,280 --> 00:52:41,239
Speaker 1: There's also only so much story there, like it makes

934
00:52:41,280 --> 00:52:44,839
Speaker 1: so you might add some dinosaurs and some cavemen in there. Right,

935
00:52:45,320 --> 00:52:48,120
Speaker 1: It's very lean narrative. I mean, essentially it's the length

936
00:52:48,160 --> 00:52:51,239
Speaker 1: of a parable. You know, you can't You're either going

937
00:52:51,280 --> 00:52:53,839
Speaker 1: to have to go deeper into the story beyond, like

938
00:52:53,880 --> 00:52:55,840
Speaker 1: they leave the garden and then you do Cane enable

939
00:52:55,920 --> 00:52:58,000
Speaker 1: and all that stuff. So you could do that to

940
00:52:58,040 --> 00:53:01,240
Speaker 1: stretch it out, or you're gonna have to embellish a lot,

941
00:53:01,480 --> 00:53:03,160
Speaker 1: or you're gonna have to have a lot of non

942
00:53:03,239 --> 00:53:05,279
Speaker 1: narrative content in the film, I don't know, just lots

943
00:53:05,280 --> 00:53:08,319
Speaker 1: of shots of the garden or something. Yeah, Or it's

944
00:53:08,360 --> 00:53:11,359
Speaker 1: just part of a longer narrative, such as the six

945
00:53:11,440 --> 00:53:14,520
Speaker 1: film The Bible Colon in the beginning and in that

946
00:53:14,640 --> 00:53:18,279
Speaker 1: when you had Michael Parks uh playing Adam in an

947
00:53:18,280 --> 00:53:22,120
Speaker 1: all star cast. Whoa, I think Georgy Scotts in that one.

948
00:53:22,239 --> 00:53:25,640
Speaker 1: It's what Yeah, I'm sure I've seen part of it

949
00:53:25,840 --> 00:53:28,239
Speaker 1: on TV on a Sunday afternoon at some point in

950
00:53:28,239 --> 00:53:30,239
Speaker 1: my life. You know, it's funny. I'm looking for the

951
00:53:30,239 --> 00:53:33,120
Speaker 1: listeners benefit. Rob. You have attached a bunch of screenshots

952
00:53:33,160 --> 00:53:36,200
Speaker 1: from various Adam and Eve movies over the years in

953
00:53:36,239 --> 00:53:39,720
Speaker 1: our outline here. It seems largely that these these characters

954
00:53:39,719 --> 00:53:43,400
Speaker 1: are cast just according to how photogenic they are. But

955
00:53:43,480 --> 00:53:46,480
Speaker 1: like one direction, seems like they often make Adam like

956
00:53:46,520 --> 00:53:49,560
Speaker 1: a like a muscle man, you know, like a Hercules

957
00:53:49,600 --> 00:53:51,680
Speaker 1: type figure. But the other ways, they just make him

958
00:53:51,880 --> 00:53:55,080
Speaker 1: like kind of an elf. Yeah, and Michael Parks definitely

959
00:53:55,160 --> 00:53:58,360
Speaker 1: played a very elfin atom Uh. And you know, I

960
00:53:58,400 --> 00:54:01,080
Speaker 1: don't think I've seen much from his earlier career most

961
00:54:01,080 --> 00:54:03,320
Speaker 1: of the mostly when I think of him as an actor,

962
00:54:03,360 --> 00:54:06,120
Speaker 1: I think of of more grizzled performances that he gave

963
00:54:06,200 --> 00:54:09,800
Speaker 1: later in life. And oh one more. There was also

964
00:54:09,920 --> 00:54:13,680
Speaker 1: a two thousand thirteen miniseries titled The Bible and in

965
00:54:13,719 --> 00:54:16,839
Speaker 1: the United States. It was narrated by Keith David What

966
00:54:17,360 --> 00:54:21,560
Speaker 1: ya um, but I I haven't seen this one, but

967
00:54:21,600 --> 00:54:26,200
Speaker 1: oh I included this very um it's kind of greasy

968
00:54:26,200 --> 00:54:29,120
Speaker 1: and grimy looking still shot from this of Adam and

969
00:54:29,120 --> 00:54:33,200
Speaker 1: Eve with Eve played by Darcy Rose, and they're they're

970
00:54:33,200 --> 00:54:35,840
Speaker 1: out there in the garden. Presumably they have something that

971
00:54:35,880 --> 00:54:37,400
Speaker 1: I'm I guess it's supposed to be the fruit, but

972
00:54:37,440 --> 00:54:40,760
Speaker 1: it looks like some sort of a Crimson egg jewel

973
00:54:40,920 --> 00:54:43,680
Speaker 1: or something. And they look very serious, very but also

974
00:54:43,840 --> 00:54:47,360
Speaker 1: very maxim magazine. Yeah, they're really dirty and the fruit

975
00:54:47,480 --> 00:54:51,200
Speaker 1: looks like a century egg. Yeah. So that's just a

976
00:54:51,239 --> 00:54:53,240
Speaker 1: taste of some of the Adam and Eve movies. But

977
00:54:53,239 --> 00:54:55,880
Speaker 1: but people have been making Adam and Eve movies for

978
00:54:55,880 --> 00:54:59,040
Speaker 1: forever like you. I could also find some examples of

979
00:54:59,080 --> 00:55:01,520
Speaker 1: silent films them as far back as nineteen twelve and

980
00:55:01,600 --> 00:55:04,640
Speaker 1: nineteen fifteen. So you know, obviously it's a famous story.

981
00:55:04,960 --> 00:55:09,160
Speaker 1: It is also visually captivating. Uh and and so it

982
00:55:09,239 --> 00:55:13,680
Speaker 1: makes sense that it would receive early cinematic treatment. Oh yeah, yeah, sure,

983
00:55:13,800 --> 00:55:15,880
Speaker 1: And I will say I have not seen most of

984
00:55:15,920 --> 00:55:17,640
Speaker 1: these movies. I don't know if I've seen any of

985
00:55:17,640 --> 00:55:20,000
Speaker 1: these other Adam and Eve movies, but I've got to imagine,

986
00:55:20,840 --> 00:55:25,000
Speaker 1: uh maybe, along with the Apple, Fruit of Paradise has

987
00:55:25,040 --> 00:55:26,759
Speaker 1: got to be one of the most unique takes on

988
00:55:26,840 --> 00:55:31,200
Speaker 1: the story. Yeah. Oh. There is also a ninete Italian

989
00:55:31,239 --> 00:55:34,239
Speaker 1: comedy titled Adam and Eve that was produced by Dino

990
00:55:34,320 --> 00:55:37,759
Speaker 1: di Laurentis. I included a poster from this. As you

991
00:55:37,800 --> 00:55:41,879
Speaker 1: can tell, we have the clearly beautiful blonde Eve, very

992
00:55:41,920 --> 00:55:46,080
Speaker 1: blond Eve, holding the apple, and also a clear comedic

993
00:55:46,160 --> 00:55:49,960
Speaker 1: player in the role of Adam here. Uh so, uh

994
00:55:50,040 --> 00:55:53,200
Speaker 1: so we've also been we've been having some levels of

995
00:55:53,200 --> 00:55:56,520
Speaker 1: comedic fun here, clearly over the top with this myth

996
00:55:56,560 --> 00:55:58,680
Speaker 1: for quite a while as well. The Adam in this

997
00:55:58,719 --> 00:56:02,160
Speaker 1: poster looks way too a sited. He's like his eyes

998
00:56:02,200 --> 00:56:08,040
Speaker 1: are huge as eyebrowser lifted up. Yeah, you're giving taking

999
00:56:08,239 --> 00:56:11,319
Speaker 1: the source materials seriously at all. Yeah, this looks like

1000
00:56:11,360 --> 00:56:15,319
Speaker 1: an Italian sex comedy. Yeah, I'm almost positive it is. Yeah,

1001
00:56:15,320 --> 00:56:17,919
Speaker 1: they're both not Eve. Look at look at her having

1002
00:56:17,920 --> 00:56:20,239
Speaker 1: way too much fun. Go ahead and leave the garden now.

1003
00:56:20,280 --> 00:56:22,839
Speaker 1: In fact, just go ahead and just out. I can

1004
00:56:22,840 --> 00:56:26,840
Speaker 1: tell Adam here looks like a child who is showing

1005
00:56:26,880 --> 00:56:31,400
Speaker 1: you the like ridiculous looking character he made in uh

1006
00:56:31,680 --> 00:56:38,160
Speaker 1: wwf war Zone for the Nintendo sixty. Yeah. Yeah, anyway,

1007
00:56:38,239 --> 00:56:39,839
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from anyone out there who has

1008
00:56:40,600 --> 00:56:43,200
Speaker 1: as any additional info they want to share about Adam

1009
00:56:43,239 --> 00:56:47,080
Speaker 1: and Eve movies or memories of seeing Adam and Eve

1010
00:56:47,200 --> 00:56:51,960
Speaker 1: movies early on. I'm I'm especially interested in in anybody

1011
00:56:51,960 --> 00:56:54,440
Speaker 1: who attended, to, say, a church viewing of of a

1012
00:56:54,440 --> 00:56:57,080
Speaker 1: film that featured the Adam and Eve story and what

1013
00:56:57,239 --> 00:57:00,200
Speaker 1: that was like, um, Because again you get to the

1014
00:57:00,239 --> 00:57:03,680
Speaker 1: strange area where it is inherently titillating. Um, but it

1015
00:57:03,800 --> 00:57:06,960
Speaker 1: is also you know, sometimes prevented presented in this this

1016
00:57:07,239 --> 00:57:12,799
Speaker 1: entirely sacred and wholesome package. So I wonder how that

1017
00:57:12,840 --> 00:57:15,719
Speaker 1: went down for some people out there. Likewise, we'd love

1018
00:57:15,719 --> 00:57:17,920
Speaker 1: to hear from anyone who has thoughts about our our

1019
00:57:18,000 --> 00:57:21,560
Speaker 1: central discussion piece here, Fruit of Paradise. Uh, you know

1020
00:57:21,600 --> 00:57:24,160
Speaker 1: we are. I speak for myself. I don't know much

1021
00:57:24,160 --> 00:57:26,440
Speaker 1: about check cinema, so I would love to hear from

1022
00:57:26,440 --> 00:57:29,560
Speaker 1: anyone out there who has more expertise in the world

1023
00:57:29,600 --> 00:57:33,080
Speaker 1: of check cinema. Perhaps you have thoughts or additional notes

1024
00:57:33,120 --> 00:57:35,160
Speaker 1: on some of the players that were involved in this

1025
00:57:35,240 --> 00:57:37,320
Speaker 1: film some of the other films they were in, because

1026
00:57:37,320 --> 00:57:40,640
Speaker 1: again I could look up these actors and I could

1027
00:57:41,080 --> 00:57:43,000
Speaker 1: find more details on some of the films, but I

1028
00:57:43,040 --> 00:57:46,560
Speaker 1: just don't know much about this whole cinematic realm so much. Yes,

1029
00:57:46,640 --> 00:57:49,160
Speaker 1: same here, I was looking around. I think I'm I'm

1030
00:57:49,240 --> 00:57:52,840
Speaker 1: woefully uh under exposed to to check cinema. The closest

1031
00:57:52,880 --> 00:57:55,280
Speaker 1: thing I could think is, obviously, I know the UM

1032
00:57:56,120 --> 00:57:59,240
Speaker 1: the American films of Milosh Foreman, who started in in

1033
00:57:59,320 --> 00:58:02,040
Speaker 1: check cinema UM and I think was sort of the

1034
00:58:02,080 --> 00:58:05,480
Speaker 1: same generation as to LoVa, or at least was somewhere

1035
00:58:05,520 --> 00:58:07,600
Speaker 1: around there, but then of course ended up making films

1036
00:58:07,600 --> 00:58:11,680
Speaker 1: like Amadas. Yeah, yeah, so I'm familiar with him. I guess.

1037
00:58:11,680 --> 00:58:14,240
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm more familiar with with the check directors

1038
00:58:14,280 --> 00:58:17,840
Speaker 1: who definitely crossed over into the into like the American

1039
00:58:17,880 --> 00:58:19,680
Speaker 1: market to some extent. And I've seen some of the

1040
00:58:19,720 --> 00:58:22,760
Speaker 1: films of of Jan's Funk Maya, but not all of them.

1041
00:58:22,920 --> 00:58:25,160
Speaker 1: All Right, well, we're gonna go ahead and uh and

1042
00:58:25,200 --> 00:58:27,920
Speaker 1: close the book on this episode of Weird House Cinema.

1043
00:58:28,320 --> 00:58:30,960
Speaker 1: But yeah, right in, we'd love to hear from you. Also,

1044
00:58:31,080 --> 00:58:33,720
Speaker 1: if you want to check out our letterboxed account, that's

1045
00:58:33,760 --> 00:58:36,200
Speaker 1: that uh L E T T E R b o

1046
00:58:36,440 --> 00:58:39,480
Speaker 1: x D dot com. We have a profile there. Our

1047
00:58:39,560 --> 00:58:42,280
Speaker 1: user name is weird House. You can follow us there.

1048
00:58:42,280 --> 00:58:44,680
Speaker 1: You can look at a list and a visual uh

1049
00:58:45,080 --> 00:58:47,360
Speaker 1: compilation of all the films that we've discussed on the show.

1050
00:58:47,680 --> 00:58:50,000
Speaker 1: And also I'll often go ahead and add the next

1051
00:58:50,040 --> 00:58:51,600
Speaker 1: movie on there as well, so you get like a

1052
00:58:51,640 --> 00:58:55,640
Speaker 1: little glimpse ahead at what's coming. Also, I blog about

1053
00:58:55,680 --> 00:58:58,720
Speaker 1: the films that we watch here at smut music dot com.

1054
00:58:58,920 --> 00:59:02,520
Speaker 1: Weird House Cinema is our Friday episode and the Stuff

1055
00:59:02,560 --> 00:59:05,760
Speaker 1: to Blow your Mind podcast feed were primarily a science podcast,

1056
00:59:05,760 --> 00:59:08,160
Speaker 1: but on Friday's we put aside most serious concerns and

1057
00:59:08,200 --> 00:59:11,720
Speaker 1: just talk about a strange film and uh yeah, anything

1058
00:59:11,760 --> 00:59:13,400
Speaker 1: else so we should throw in here, I guess I

1059
00:59:13,400 --> 00:59:16,040
Speaker 1: guess not. We're good to go, right right, Yeah, we

1060
00:59:16,080 --> 00:59:19,040
Speaker 1: are set to depart the garden. That's right out. Just

1061
00:59:19,440 --> 00:59:23,000
Speaker 1: did the animals get to stay unclear? Um? Yeah, I

1062
00:59:23,040 --> 00:59:25,760
Speaker 1: don't know. I guess they didn't eat the fruit. Yeah, true.

1063
00:59:26,120 --> 00:59:28,840
Speaker 1: I guess I should revisit my My Dante because they

1064
00:59:28,840 --> 00:59:30,840
Speaker 1: you do get to visit the earthly paradise at the

1065
00:59:30,840 --> 00:59:34,280
Speaker 1: amount of purgatory. Oh that's at the top of purgatory yet,

1066
00:59:34,600 --> 00:59:37,960
Speaker 1: So okay anyway, huge thanks as always to our excellent

1067
00:59:37,960 --> 00:59:40,880
Speaker 1: audio producers Seth Nicholas Johnson. If you would like to

1068
00:59:40,920 --> 00:59:43,360
Speaker 1: get in touch with us with feedback on this episode

1069
00:59:43,440 --> 00:59:45,880
Speaker 1: or any other, to suggest a topic for the future,

1070
00:59:45,960 --> 00:59:47,960
Speaker 1: or just to say hello, you can email us at

1071
00:59:48,080 --> 00:59:58,120
Speaker 1: contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. Stuff

1072
00:59:58,120 --> 01:00:00,360
Speaker 1: to Blow Your Mind. It's production of I Heart Radio.

1073
01:00:00,680 --> 01:00:02,840
Speaker 1: For more podcasts for My Heart Radio, visit the I

1074
01:00:02,880 --> 01:00:05,680
Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to

1075
01:00:05,720 --> 01:00:08,440
Speaker 1: your favorite shows. H