Robert Eggers

“Color of Pomegranates, by Parajanov. Parajanov is a really fascinating filmmaker who is really into recreating folk culture with a lot of detail. And he, you know, does these beautiful tableaus that are interpretations of the art from the world that he’s trying to articulate and bring us into. And it’s really spectacular.”

“Death in Venice, also costume designed by Piero Tosi. I don’t know, maybe my favorite Visconti movie? You know, obviously, like, Visconti and his collaborators’ attention to detail in creating the period world is something that I, shockingly, really love... I love Dirk Bogarde. His Performance is incredible. It was also so brilliant to, you know, to make the lead character a composer instead of a writer. It just makes it much more cinematic.”

“This is An Actor’s Revenge by Ichikawa, which I’ve only seen once. Kazuo Hasegawa was, like, a really illustrious kabuki actor, and he plays male and female roles, is, like, really powerful and really cool. And just the gender dynamics? Fascinating, you know, and... Anyway, I’ve only seen it once. I’m really looking forward to checking this out.”

“Related-ish is Demon Pond, which I actually have never seen, but I have seen clips of this, like, crazy Parade of creatures. I just have to see this movie. I’m, like, desperate to see what’s going on here.”

“The Innocents is by Jack Clayton. This is one of my favorite films. I watch it, like, twice a year, probably. I love Freddie Francis, the cinematographer... His work with Jack Clayton is, I think, his best work. I feel like they really pushed each other to have the most sophisticated and elegant staging... Awesome movie if you haven’t seen it. Your imagination is on fire with the disturbing shit that you don’t see. It’s awesome.”

“This is a heavy Pasolini box set, which is very exciting. I wanted to talk about Medea, but also happy to talk about Oedipus too. The worlds that Pasolini creates with Piero Tosi, the costume designer, and Dante Ferretti, the production designer... It’s amazing to see what Dante Ferretti does when he doesn’t have any money... But one of the things about Medea is the music. Pasolini is taking music from all over the place... It’s really evocative to see what he does with it.”

“So this Tod Browning box set... This is just a recommendation. I own it. It’s awesome. Freaks is obviously, like, a major classic that a lot of people know. But The Mystic and The Unknown are movies that people know a lot less. I actually saw The Unknown, like, on TV when I was a teenager. And it’s this, like, amazing, transformative Performance by Lon Chaney... Definitely, definitely check this out if you’re a Tod Browning fan.”