The Checkout Counter #20
June 2024
The Peasants
I Saw the TV Glow
High and Low
Film
- High and Low (天国と地獄), 1963some of the most haunting and beautifully staged shots in all of cinema imo—the black and white feels so lush. a perfectly crafted 3-act story. would pair well with parasite (2019).
Crime, drama, mystery. An executive of a large shoe company becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur's son is kidnapped and held for ransom. - The Peasants (Chłopi), 2023
i was wondering how well the animation technique would tie in thematically with this story, since the directors' previous film, loving vincent, was an obvious homage to van gogh's work. i think it works here—there are references to polish paintings and art movements i'm not familiar with, but the juxtaposition of lovely, pastoral paintings with the horrific reality of misogyny is a clear through line.
the lead is made up in contemporary eyeliner and lipstick to the point of distraction—why the hell did they style this peasant woman from the early 1900s like an instagram model—but, again, it ended up kind of working for me. her modern makeup and beautiful folk clothes bring cottagecore and similar "trad woman" aesthetics to mind, while she faces the unrelenting horrors of being a (seemingly promiscuous) woman in a tiny christian village.
this has one of the most gut-wrenching sequences i've seen on film. a miserable downward spiral viewed through layers of vivid oil.
Animation, drama. Several men vie for the attention of a young woman in a remote Polish village, each frame oil-painted by hand. - I Saw the TV Glow, 2024
the kind of movie i like more the more i sit with it. the one sequence that's the most "traditionally horror" (you know the one) was so viscerally upsetting. we gotta get you out of there!!!
Drama, horror. Two outcast teenagers connect over a late-night TV show called The Pink Opaque.
Music
- The Peasants (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), L.U.C. & Rebel Babel Film Orchestra
Soundtrack. Blends Polish folk music with contemporary sound.
Games
- After the Janazah, cocoon
Narrative. Attend Baba's funeral. - Bind Off, Emma Conner
Bitsy. Traverse a knitting pattern through superstition.
Short fiction
- Termination Stories for the Cyberpunk Dystopia Protagonist, Isabel J. Kim
- Zeta-Epsilon, Isabel J. Kim
Articles & essays
- Berry Thief, My Enemy; Berry Thief, My Friend, Kelsey McKinney
- Why I became a historical novelist, Hilary Mantel [guy who constantly thinks about pentiment voice] getting a lot of pentiment vibes from this…
- To The Manner Born: On ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’, Ave Wiseman
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