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I'm Stephen Metcalf, and this is the Slate Culture Gab Fest Love and Death in a Fabulous Apartment Edition.

It's Tuesday, January 16, 2013. On today's show, Amor, the new film by Michael Hanake, a foreign import with more than

its expected share of Oscar nominations. And then we talk about self-help. Where do you find

the self in self-help? And finally, the comedian Maria Bamford performs stand-up in her home

for an audience comprised entirely of her own parents, and it's available on pay-per-view. Joining me today is Slate's deputy editor, Julia Turner. She joins us remotely. I should say hello, Julia. Hi, Steve. And of course, our film critic, Dana Stevens. Hey, Dana. Hey, Steve. First of all, a friend of mine really wanted me to say, my name is Jaffair. He demanded that I start the show by doing that. Just by way of an icebreaker? Yeah. I mean, anyway. What does he have on you, Steve? What horrible deed have you committed that you acquiesce to that request? You're making it sound like that was embarrassing or somehow shameful what I just did. No, it was bad. I'm going to call you Javert for the whole rest of the episode. I made someone's year and all Julia Turner does is run me down. All right, well, the filmmaker

Michael Hanuket is Austrian, though he makes movies in France and in the French language with French

actors most commonly. His new film is Amour. It stars Jean-Louis Trintignon and Emmanuel Rivet and also has a lot of appearances by

Isabelle Uper.

Riva, who's known for Hiroshima Mon Amour, among other movies.

I mean, these are movies from 50 years ago.

In her mid-80s, is now nominated for a Best Actress Oscar.

The film is not only nominated for Best Foreign Film. It's nominated for

Best Picture, which I think is notable. And it won the Pomdora at Khan. It's a, I think, a truly

remarkable film. We'll talk about it in one second. But to frame the discussion a little bit,

is how would you pronounce his name, by the way, Hanukkah? I believe it's Hanukkah,

like the Jewish holiday. He makes films that are deeply disturbing, self-consciously disturbing films, among them the piano teacher, also with Isabelle Uper, a deeply unsettling film.

...