#304: White Lies, Pt. 1 — Imitation of Life

The Next Picture Show

Telegraph Road Productions

Tv & Film, Film Reviews, Film History

4.6 • 819 Ratings

🗓️ 23 November 2021

⏱️ 68 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Rebecca Hall’s new film PASSING centers on a complicated female friendship defined in part by semi-porous racial boundaries, a thematic throughline that pointed us directly to Douglas Sirk’s IMITATION OF LIFE — with an assist from RogerEbert.com critic Odie Henderson, who in his recent review of Hall’s film invoked Sirk’s 1959 melodrama, citing it as his #3 film of all time. We’re joined this week by Henderson to discuss how IMITATION OF LIFE's wrenching storyline about a Black woman’s ongoing rejection by her white-passing daughter operates within the whole of a film that has several other plot concerns, primarily those of a white woman played by the film’s lone movie star, and how the film’s performances and overall heightened style mesh with its messaging about race and class. Plus, we respond to some feedback regarding one of our major problems with LAST NIGHT IN SOHO, and how it plays across the pond. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about IMITATION OF LIFE, PASSING, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to [email protected], or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Outro music: “Trouble of the World” by Mahalia Jackson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:33.4	It's very difficult to keep the line between the past and the present.
0:35.8	You believe that someone out of the past can enter and take possession of a living being?
0:40.2	We may be through with the past, but the past is not through with us.
0:47.5	Welcome to the Next Picture Show, a movie of the week podcast devoted to a classic film
0:51.3	and how it shaped our thoughts on a recent release.
0:53.3	I'm Keith Phipps here with Genevieve Kosky and Tasha shaped our thoughts on a recent release. I'm Keith Pips here with
0:54.6	Genevieve Kasky and Tasha Robinson. Scott Tobias is not with us this week. He was last seen
1:00.1	aimlessly wandering the beach at Coney Island. Joining us this week instead is Odie Henderson, a long-time film critic whose work appears regularly at roger ebert.com. Odie, thanks for joining us.
1:10.5	Thank you for having me.
1:11.5	This is a part of show where we usually have a brief, lighthearted bit before getting into
1:15.2	the movies.
1:15.6	We've read your tweets.
1:16.5	We know it's the most popular part of the show and no one ever skips past it.
1:20.0	So I created an elaborate skit for this one involving deeply emotional dialogue and swelling
	...

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