1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,279 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,440 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:17,520 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry, I'm Tracy Fie Wilson. We recently talked 4 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:20,000 Speaker 1: about the real life Syran No Diversier rec on the show, 5 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:23,319 Speaker 1: and in that episode we mentioned the Edmond Rostand play 6 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 1: from and how that piece of writing has defined the 7 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:29,640 Speaker 1: image that most of us have of Syran No Diversiera 8 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:33,080 Speaker 1: rec And that play is an interesting piece of history 9 00:00:33,159 --> 00:00:37,559 Speaker 1: in its own right because it's been staged theatrically innumerable times, 10 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:42,000 Speaker 1: made into movies, even adapted as a ballet. And there 11 00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:44,879 Speaker 1: is a new film adaptation of the play which is 12 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 1: out as a February And I recently had the opportunity 13 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:50,440 Speaker 1: to talk to some of the people who made the 14 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:53,960 Speaker 1: film and asked them their thoughts on why syran No 15 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: story endures. And this doesn't quite fit our normal format 16 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:00,320 Speaker 1: for a show, but I thought it was really interest thinks. 17 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: So this week you are getting this as a bonus episode. 18 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:07,399 Speaker 1: And Holly did all of these interviews. I am as 19 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:11,959 Speaker 1: eager to hear them as I'm sure listeners are. So 20 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:14,720 Speaker 1: the first thing Holly asked each of them was whether 21 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: they would consider themselves history buffs, And here were their answers. No, no, 22 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:26,360 Speaker 1: not at all, history of film, maybe history in general. 23 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:32,600 Speaker 1: No no, no, no, no, not at all. I love history, 24 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 1: but I'm not a scholar. Yes, okay. Those voices you 25 00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:41,440 Speaker 1: just heard were Hayley Bennett, who plays Roxane in the film, 26 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:46,680 Speaker 1: Joe Wright, who directed it, cinematographer Shamus McGarvey, and Erica Schmidt, 27 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:51,080 Speaker 1: who wrote this adaptation from Reston's play. But there was 28 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:53,800 Speaker 1: one person that I interviewed that I did not ask 29 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:56,280 Speaker 1: that question of because to me, the answer was going 30 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:59,920 Speaker 1: to be pretty obvious, and that was choreographer Cede Larbi's 31 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 1: or can we. I knew that his ballet and dance 32 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:06,040 Speaker 1: background meant that he would have studied history in his time, 33 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:10,239 Speaker 1: and he has also choreographed pieces that have historical inspiration. 34 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 1: So I asked him instead how history had shaped his career, 35 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:17,320 Speaker 1: and here's what he had to say. Well, I mean 36 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:20,800 Speaker 1: I grew up in Belgium, uh so, and my education 37 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 1: was always kind of linked to Greek tragedy and the 38 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:29,160 Speaker 1: Romans and everything that was connected to the way Europe 39 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:32,760 Speaker 1: kind of developed. So so for sure, I think I 40 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:37,359 Speaker 1: grew up with a deep sense of understanding that the 41 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: here and now isn't the only thing that defines the 42 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:42,280 Speaker 1: here and now, that the here and now is defined 43 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:46,680 Speaker 1: by everything that came before. So next to that, I 44 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:49,640 Speaker 1: think I was living in Antwerp, we're kind of surrounded 45 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:54,359 Speaker 1: with paintings and elements that remind us of a specific past, 46 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 1: like let's say, the sixteenth century or things like this, 47 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:01,680 Speaker 1: and and so I definitely have always been kind of 48 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:05,480 Speaker 1: attracted also as a human being and as an artist, 49 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:09,840 Speaker 1: to the past. Everyone that Holly talked to, though, talked 50 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:13,360 Speaker 1: really passionately about history when they chatted, and one of 51 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:16,799 Speaker 1: the really interesting takes on engaging with history came from 52 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:19,760 Speaker 1: director Joe Wright, who said he didn't think of himself 53 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:22,679 Speaker 1: as a history buff at all. That doesn't really hold 54 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:24,400 Speaker 1: up when you look at his work. In case you 55 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:28,360 Speaker 1: haven't connected the dots on his career, he's actually directed 56 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:30,600 Speaker 1: a lot of films with historical settings, so there's The 57 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 1: two thousand five, Pride and Prejudice, Atonement, Anna Karenina, and 58 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 1: Darkest Hour. So Holly asked him about what draws him 59 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:42,760 Speaker 1: to historical stories, and his answer was about his father. 60 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 1: I guess one of the reasons why I've always been 61 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 1: interested in history is because my dad was sixty five 62 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 1: when I was born, um, and so he had lived 63 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 1: a lot of life before I knew him, you know, 64 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: and so I was I was intrigued by what the 65 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 1: world had been like when he was a boy or 66 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 1: a young man, you know. I think that's why I've 67 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 1: made a couple of movies set during the Second World War. 68 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: You know, he was around, and so to try and 69 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:13,680 Speaker 1: understand the world in which he lived. And then I've 70 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:15,760 Speaker 1: just kind of kept on going back and back and back. 71 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:20,440 Speaker 1: This film project, though, all actually started with an adaptation 72 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:24,080 Speaker 1: for the stage that Erika Schmidt wrote. She also happens 73 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 1: to be married to the star of the Syrano divergerec film, 74 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:29,680 Speaker 1: Peter Dinklage, And I asked her what made her want 75 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 1: to take this hundred and twenty year old play and 76 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:36,240 Speaker 1: try to make it new. I love the play very much, 77 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:40,839 Speaker 1: and I wanted to kind of ask it some questions, 78 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:44,640 Speaker 1: to kind of engage with it in a dialogue, because 79 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 1: the restand is a play is about love, but the 80 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:52,400 Speaker 1: way that he speaks about love and then everyone says, 81 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:55,000 Speaker 1: oh gosh, it's so beautiful, the way you're talking about 82 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 1: love within the play. I found kind of frustrating. Was 83 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 1: I wanted it to be less I guess. I wanted 84 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:07,800 Speaker 1: it to be as elegant as a poem and less verbose, 85 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:11,839 Speaker 1: I guess. And then I was curious, It's almost the 86 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:14,800 Speaker 1: same thing, but it's just a different part of the play, 87 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:18,719 Speaker 1: this idea that he wears this large fake nose, wears 88 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:21,159 Speaker 1: a large fake nose, and then then he spends so 89 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:24,040 Speaker 1: much time talking about how hideous his noses, and then 90 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:27,160 Speaker 1: we sort of agree, we laugh because we know it's fake, 91 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 1: and that to me felt kind of like a lie 92 00:05:30,040 --> 00:05:32,039 Speaker 1: um And so I thought, what would it be if 93 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 1: he didn't wear the nose, or ever to say what 94 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 1: it is that he finds physically unattractive about himself. So 95 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:42,720 Speaker 1: when Holly and I were first talking about the possibility 96 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:45,359 Speaker 1: of interviewing these folks and having a bonus episode of 97 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:47,760 Speaker 1: the show, one of the things that kept coming up 98 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 1: was the filming location, which is a Unesco World Heritage site, 99 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 1: and every single person from the cast and the crew 100 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:59,160 Speaker 1: that Holly spoke to had just incredible passion about this location. 101 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:03,760 Speaker 1: It was in Noto Sicily, again, a Unesco World heritage 102 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:06,520 Speaker 1: site in an area that was destroyed by an earthquake 103 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:09,839 Speaker 1: in the early sixteen nineties and then was rebuilt in 104 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 1: the Baroque style starting in the remaining years of the 105 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:17,120 Speaker 1: seventeenth century. They all had an appreciation for the history 106 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:20,840 Speaker 1: of this location. Shamus McGarvey talked a lot about how 107 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 1: being in that specific space felt almost like this incredibly perfect, 108 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 1: massive back lot. Well, I mean not all is, as 109 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: you say, the most beautiful place. The place actually and 110 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:38,440 Speaker 1: it's it's gorgeous Baroque architecture sort of inspired the way 111 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:42,159 Speaker 1: approach to photography. That's the strange thing. When I first visited, 112 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:45,160 Speaker 1: I'd never been to Scilly, even though I live in Tuscany, 113 00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:49,240 Speaker 1: and when we went there, it was immediately clear how 114 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:52,279 Speaker 1: we should move the camera. The quality of the light, 115 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:58,040 Speaker 1: all those things. Everywhere you look is just so worn 116 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:02,520 Speaker 1: and rich and and sort of ancients were not quite incient, 117 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:06,359 Speaker 1: but I think sixteen ninety two is when the buildings 118 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:09,479 Speaker 1: of Otto were built after a terrible earthquake in the world. 119 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:13,400 Speaker 1: Built in a city plan, so it actually feels it 120 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 1: has the coherence and the cohesion of a back lot 121 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:19,000 Speaker 1: stage because it feels like it's been done by the 122 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 1: same designer Production designer sixteen ninety two, and that lends 123 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:30,800 Speaker 1: it a sort of continuity visually. Choreographer Serko, we talked 124 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:33,640 Speaker 1: about how the spaces they worked and felt like they 125 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:37,160 Speaker 1: were just inviting the team to create art. We were 126 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:40,680 Speaker 1: developing things sometimes in Antwerp, certain things I was sending 127 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:43,960 Speaker 1: towards London to for Joe to to to look at. 128 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:47,360 Speaker 1: So I was I was developing things. Uh. And then 129 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:51,000 Speaker 1: when I came and arrived in Italy, in and in 130 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:55,200 Speaker 1: not to specifically, I visited all the all the spaces, 131 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:57,400 Speaker 1: and I realized, oh, I have to change a lot 132 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:00,240 Speaker 1: of things and and kind of adapt to the to 133 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:03,559 Speaker 1: the surrounding to make sure that whatever we were doing 134 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:07,080 Speaker 1: was adapted to distable of was adapted to that space 135 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:10,559 Speaker 1: in which they were all going to be fencing. So 136 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:13,960 Speaker 1: there was a lot of adjusting, but it was it 137 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:16,520 Speaker 1: was lovely because it was as if the spaces were 138 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:20,760 Speaker 1: really welcoming us, as if they had been craving humans 139 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 1: to be in there, being active and creating arts. So 140 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:29,440 Speaker 1: it's really I think those those spaces, they are beautiful 141 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:32,520 Speaker 1: and sometimes they are too abandoned. They are actually too 142 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:35,079 Speaker 1: you know, they are and you can feel this. I 143 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:37,280 Speaker 1: feel like when you go there as a you know, 144 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:39,560 Speaker 1: if you're a little bit spiritual in this, you kind 145 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:43,200 Speaker 1: of feel like it's asking us to to be creating 146 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:46,200 Speaker 1: rituals within it. So it was a real pleasure to 147 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:49,640 Speaker 1: see it having all this furniture coming in and suddenly 148 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 1: the space became alive again and started to have a 149 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:56,720 Speaker 1: purpose and felt like a home in which all these 150 00:08:56,760 --> 00:09:00,680 Speaker 1: things could indeed happen. And here is are Ka Schmidt 151 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:04,880 Speaker 1: talking about the location and having her writing being performed there. 152 00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 1: Because it was my first frien play, I just didn't 153 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:11,120 Speaker 1: I didn't get the scale of it in the way 154 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:13,800 Speaker 1: that I did when I stood on Mount Etna and 155 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:17,559 Speaker 1: watched all the soldiers seeing wherever I fall. Although this 156 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:29,800 Speaker 1: is kind of amazing, you know. Probably asked Shamus mcgarby 157 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:33,439 Speaker 1: what the biggest challenge was working on a historical location 158 00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:36,280 Speaker 1: when every space that's the theater and the houses in 159 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:38,960 Speaker 1: the battlefield, all of that, they each need to have 160 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:42,360 Speaker 1: a very different look, as well as what his favorite 161 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:46,360 Speaker 1: aspect of working in Noto was, And here's what he said, Well, 162 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:50,199 Speaker 1: definitely the most challenging was Montetna. Filming up there at 163 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:54,959 Speaker 1: sixteen feet or nine feet. Eventually we had to go 164 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:57,680 Speaker 1: down lower at some point because of the snows were 165 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:03,880 Speaker 1: sentenced on their but it was immensely difficult at altitude 166 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:07,360 Speaker 1: for for all of us, for the crew moving sort 167 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:11,800 Speaker 1: of lugging boxes around. You know, the kind of instability 168 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:15,040 Speaker 1: of the land meant we couldn't really track or move 169 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:18,840 Speaker 1: the camera. So we had to adopt more static approach 170 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:22,040 Speaker 1: to that, which sort of suits, and we went for 171 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:24,520 Speaker 1: a very We pulled all the filtration off the camera 172 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:28,840 Speaker 1: that we've been used prior for those more painterly moments 173 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:31,800 Speaker 1: earlier in the film, and we went for something, as 174 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:36,880 Speaker 1: you say, stark and lithographic and really to show the 175 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 1: veracity and the truth of war. Um. So that was 176 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:47,680 Speaker 1: the but my favorite parts. I actually really liked the end, 177 00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:51,680 Speaker 1: which I don't want to put spoilers for your listeners, 178 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:55,160 Speaker 1: but at the end of the movie, it's three years 179 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:58,959 Speaker 1: later and Sarah comes back Roxanne's in the convent. And 180 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:02,240 Speaker 1: when we went there to this location, a church on 181 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:06,240 Speaker 1: the top of the hill, it was extraordinary the way 182 00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:09,480 Speaker 1: the sun was coming through. And I took a photograph 183 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:13,400 Speaker 1: two photographs, and the first one I sort of accidentally 184 00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:17,640 Speaker 1: overexposed it, and Joe and I saw it and said, look, 185 00:11:17,679 --> 00:11:21,280 Speaker 1: this is the way to go on this because it 186 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:25,200 Speaker 1: feels sort of heavenly and it feels divine in some way, 187 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:27,320 Speaker 1: and it feels like you're in a kind of a 188 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:31,920 Speaker 1: dream space between life and death, and and that was 189 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:35,680 Speaker 1: I really enjoyed doing it, and I love when a 190 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:40,640 Speaker 1: mistake leads to a creative decision. One of the other 191 00:11:40,679 --> 00:11:43,920 Speaker 1: things that he mentioned during our talk was how technology 192 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:48,040 Speaker 1: has helped make filming in historical locations easier because led 193 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:50,880 Speaker 1: lights are inherently less dangerous than some of the previous 194 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:54,280 Speaker 1: equipment they've used, which is just a nice, little interesting 195 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:58,079 Speaker 1: bit of trivia. But I also love that Hailey Bennett 196 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:00,400 Speaker 1: told me what she thinks should really be in the 197 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:05,480 Speaker 1: history books about not To It was a dream come true, 198 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:14,320 Speaker 1: having kind of emerged from isolation and entering this, this 199 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:21,400 Speaker 1: incredible Baroque like masterpiece. It was a really liberating experience 200 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:24,880 Speaker 1: in and of itself, given that we had spent so 201 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:27,439 Speaker 1: much time in lockdown. This was during the first lockdown, 202 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:33,200 Speaker 1: and then you know, Noto is this incredible gem baroque 203 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:38,120 Speaker 1: masterpiece of the city. We discovered it because Sarah Greenwood 204 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:40,560 Speaker 1: went a few years ago while she was on a 205 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:44,040 Speaker 1: scout for cannoli. Apparently they have the best cannoli in 206 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:47,960 Speaker 1: the world there as well, which should also be in 207 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:51,880 Speaker 1: the history books. I should think, um food is very important. 208 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:56,760 Speaker 1: She also talked about how unique this set was because 209 00:12:56,800 --> 00:13:00,000 Speaker 1: of the time in current history when it was being filmed, 210 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:06,160 Speaker 1: and essentially we had the great fortune to have no 211 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:10,120 Speaker 1: to as our back lot, which was a very rare time, 212 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:12,640 Speaker 1: you know, it was It was a very I think, 213 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:15,559 Speaker 1: you know, because it was such a rare time in history. 214 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:19,560 Speaker 1: There was no tourism. You know, people were hidden away 215 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:23,560 Speaker 1: in their homes and the streets were empty, and we 216 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:27,800 Speaker 1: had free reign of noto. We we got the keys 217 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:31,679 Speaker 1: to the city, and so we were able to create 218 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:38,520 Speaker 1: a bubble in this beautiful place and kind of it 219 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:43,800 Speaker 1: creates a world of fantasy that is very transportive. And 220 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:46,880 Speaker 1: speaking of Keys to the City, Joe Wright also told 221 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:50,600 Speaker 1: me this incredibly fun story about one of the locals 222 00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:53,640 Speaker 1: who helped them out while they were on location. I 223 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:56,760 Speaker 1: haven't spoken about him. There's this lovely character called everyone 224 00:13:56,800 --> 00:14:00,720 Speaker 1: called the Professor or the Prefatory, and this old guy 225 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:04,640 Speaker 1: wondered about the city with this enormous bunch of keys, 226 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:08,559 Speaker 1: right and like the biggest bunch of keys you've ever seen, 227 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:12,520 Speaker 1: none of them labeled um. And if ever you said, 228 00:14:12,559 --> 00:14:16,400 Speaker 1: oh sorry, I'd like to I wonder what's in this building. 229 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:18,520 Speaker 1: This could be interesting or maybe there's a view from 230 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:21,240 Speaker 1: the rooftop here, and he was said, Ma mo mentor, 231 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:25,240 Speaker 1: and he'd find a key and then let us in. 232 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:28,400 Speaker 1: And he had literally the keys to the city. We 233 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 1: later found out that he wasn't really like a professor. 234 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:34,960 Speaker 1: He was actually the physical education and structure at the 235 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:38,040 Speaker 1: local high school, but he was the guy who had 236 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:42,000 Speaker 1: been entrusted with the keys to the city. Because this 237 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:45,840 Speaker 1: film was made during the pandemic, the production was incredibly small. 238 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 1: They created a production bubble on location, and as a consequence, 239 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:53,320 Speaker 1: they created a group that was really similar to historical 240 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:57,680 Speaker 1: theater troupe. Here's director Joe right on that. Yeah, we 241 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:01,040 Speaker 1: created this troop of a hundred and twenty I think 242 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:07,120 Speaker 1: local extras who had a wonderful time and they were 243 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:11,400 Speaker 1: part of our bubble, and we used them as aristocrats 244 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:14,400 Speaker 1: in the theater, or bakers in the bakery, or soldiers 245 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:19,800 Speaker 1: up Mount Etna. They were a little you know, traveling troop, 246 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:22,480 Speaker 1: and yeah, it was a kind of it felt like 247 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:24,760 Speaker 1: a theater company. It felt that like that kind of 248 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:30,680 Speaker 1: company atmosphere where we were all defiantly making something of 249 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:45,680 Speaker 1: beauty in a bleak world. Throughout all of these conversations 250 00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:48,120 Speaker 1: that I had, I kept wondering what it is about 251 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:52,200 Speaker 1: Restand's play that brings creators and audiences back to it 252 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:55,200 Speaker 1: over and over and over. So I asked everyone from 253 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:57,600 Speaker 1: the production that I spoke with what they think is 254 00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:00,600 Speaker 1: the reason, and I got a really fun array answers. 255 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:05,440 Speaker 1: The film is about human connection. It's about our inability 256 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:08,960 Speaker 1: to express or accept love. I think that's such a 257 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:15,200 Speaker 1: universal experience, human experience, and it's one of the most 258 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:20,240 Speaker 1: famous love triangles in history. And there's two things I 259 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:24,280 Speaker 1: think the I think the idea of the Nose is 260 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:34,320 Speaker 1: a genius metaphor for all of our experience of feeling 261 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:38,880 Speaker 1: unworthy of love, and so it has a kind of 262 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:44,640 Speaker 1: level of specificity that makes it universal, and so I 263 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:49,840 Speaker 1: think I think that's a genius metaphor. I then also 264 00:16:50,360 --> 00:17:00,200 Speaker 1: think that the play originally is structurally perfect. Uh is 265 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:05,359 Speaker 1: solid as a rock, and so that's something I I 266 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:10,720 Speaker 1: found working on the adaptation is that the place structure 267 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:14,240 Speaker 1: works and it's solid, and therefore it gives you a 268 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:18,440 Speaker 1: foundation from which you can spring and and and imagine 269 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 1: and and go to different places. I think it's linked 270 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:28,080 Speaker 1: to the characters incredible talent on the one side, and 271 00:17:28,119 --> 00:17:32,120 Speaker 1: on the other side, an inability to be completely honest 272 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:35,280 Speaker 1: with what he feels the deepest, you know, like it's 273 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:38,680 Speaker 1: all of us can relate to the idea of hiding 274 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:43,600 Speaker 1: our deepest desire. So what you want the most is 275 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:47,760 Speaker 1: the thing that you dare not say is the thing 276 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:52,320 Speaker 1: you will hide. And as you're hiding it, it might 277 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:56,600 Speaker 1: never come to pass. So it's this very difficult tension 278 00:17:56,680 --> 00:18:00,680 Speaker 1: between daring to speak out your dream or not, which 279 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:03,720 Speaker 1: for him is to love Hoxham and for her to 280 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:09,760 Speaker 1: love him. And I think that that is something very recognizable. 281 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:14,600 Speaker 1: I think it's the lying. Joe Wright had some additional 282 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:17,520 Speaker 1: thoughts about why this story was so important for him 283 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:20,359 Speaker 1: to tell at this moment in our lives, and it 284 00:18:20,359 --> 00:18:23,120 Speaker 1: makes it really clear how turning to history can sometimes 285 00:18:23,119 --> 00:18:25,800 Speaker 1: feel like the best way to express and consider the 286 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:29,439 Speaker 1: things we're dealing with in our own lives. I guess 287 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:36,680 Speaker 1: the story is about human connection our inability to connect, 288 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:41,000 Speaker 1: sometimes a failure to connect, and our need to connect, 289 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:46,160 Speaker 1: our need and fear of intimacy of being seen. And 290 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:50,720 Speaker 1: that felt extremely pertinent, you know, sitting in lockdown in 291 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:54,119 Speaker 1: my house where you know, at the time when when 292 00:18:54,119 --> 00:18:58,119 Speaker 1: when human connection had literally been severed, to make a 293 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:00,639 Speaker 1: film about the wonder of human in action and the 294 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:06,720 Speaker 1: importance of human connection felt really really important. It's also 295 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:11,640 Speaker 1: a story about difference. It's about not seeing beyond our 296 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:20,600 Speaker 1: differences and understanding that intrinsically similarities are greater than our differences. 297 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:25,399 Speaker 1: And that also felt like something that, even with the 298 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:29,040 Speaker 1: pandemic aside, I felt like something that the world has 299 00:19:29,119 --> 00:19:33,919 Speaker 1: been trying to battle recently, because I think so often 300 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:38,080 Speaker 1: these days, but we're being forced to look at each 301 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:42,439 Speaker 1: other's differences rather than our similarities. Many many thanks to 302 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:46,560 Speaker 1: Erica Schmidt, Hayley Bennett, Joe Wright, Shamus McGarvey, and City 303 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:49,520 Speaker 1: Larbi Shakoe for chatting with me for this bonus episode 304 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:53,200 Speaker 1: and just for creating this incredibly lovely film. Our producer, 305 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:55,199 Speaker 1: Casey and I got to see an advanced screening of 306 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:57,679 Speaker 1: Syrano de Bergerec and I can honestly tell you that 307 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:00,600 Speaker 1: I absolutely loved it and I found it ex raordinarily 308 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:03,439 Speaker 1: beautiful and it is out now if you wish to 309 00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:05,520 Speaker 1: see it, and now you will have the behind the 310 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:08,560 Speaker 1: scenes knowledge on how the people behind it thought about 311 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:11,280 Speaker 1: this project and its history. And I hope you've enjoyed 312 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:19,399 Speaker 1: this and that you also enjoy the film. Stuff You 313 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:22,159 Speaker 1: Missed in History Class is a production of I heart Radio. 314 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,040 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i 315 00:20:25,119 --> 00:20:28,320 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 316 00:20:28,359 --> 00:20:29,199 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.