TC #68 - Stephen Cone (Beloved)

There are no curtains in the films of Stephen Cone. Well, there are literal curtains, but Cone never attempts to hide the surfaces of his characters, or really paint into anything than what they truly are. The Chicago based filmmaker sits down with Peter on the eve of the local premiere of his award-winning new film, Henry Gamble's Birthday Party. Stephen traces his cinephilia from Kentucky to New York to Chicago, discusses his respects for the craft of criticism, and explains his approach to collaborative sets and trust in making films like The Wise Kids and Black Box. Finally, the two dive into the show's third Jonathan Demme film, his adaptation of Toni Morrison's post-modernist novel Beloved. Declared a vanity project when initially released, the two explore the relationship between Demme and his actors, crafting an unflinching, truly humanist portrait of the American South by embracing subjectivity in the post-slavery era.

0:00-3:13 Opening
4:34-8:23 Establishing Shots - Excerpts from Remembering Chantal Akerman
9:09-56:36 Deep Focus - Stephen Cone
57:02-59:34 Mubi Sponsorship
1:00:50-1:18:45 Double Exposure - Beloved (Jonathan Demme)
1:18:50-1:20:27 Close