This episode is a sort of bait and switch, starting off with James Dean and the theme of sex before quickly -- very quickly -- switching to African and Asian cinema.
We learn of "Cairo Station", the first great African and/or Arab film (which I had never heard of). We see the rise of Indian film and Bollywood, the transformation of the Chinese film under Mao, and the renewed importance of Japanese film. We are especially focused on Kurosawa (a "one man film school" who influenced Westerns and even "The Godfather").
Getting back to sex, we briefly cover Kenneth Anger and fetishism, someone who far too few people know about. His work is disturbing, but ground-breaking in many ways. Few pushed the boundaries harder.
Cousins finds sexuality where there may or may not be (such as "Lawrence of Arabia"), but hey, he is a film critic.
We learn of "Cairo Station", the first great African and/or Arab film (which I had never heard of). We see the rise of Indian film and Bollywood, the transformation of the Chinese film under Mao, and the renewed importance of Japanese film. We are especially focused on Kurosawa (a "one man film school" who influenced Westerns and even "The Godfather").
Getting back to sex, we briefly cover Kenneth Anger and fetishism, someone who far too few people know about. His work is disturbing, but ground-breaking in many ways. Few pushed the boundaries harder.
Cousins finds sexuality where there may or may not be (such as "Lawrence of Arabia"), but hey, he is a film critic.