We're back after some setbacks, with an episode about our earliest movie yet, 1936's Mister Thank You, written and directed by Hiroshi Shimizu, a popular silent film director who was an inspiration to such masters as Ozu and Mizoguchi but never got much recognition in the West. This might be his first talkie and it came out during a turbulent time in Japanese history, so it is as interesting as a historical artifact as it is as a work of art in itself. Like Tape, this is a very minimalist project in scope, taking place almost entirely within one bus trip (we don't bring Stagecoach up in the discussion but I now realize they are conceptually related in this way), so if you've been keeping up, your enjoyment of Tape will likely indicate whether you will dig this or not. It's on Criterion Channel and also its currently free to stream on Plex at the moment I upload the episode.

I should give you a heads up that we had some issues with Joe's audio on this recording and it may be difficult to make out what he is saying sometimes.

Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/mr-thank-you/

IMDB: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0027307/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Next one will be on Mister Klein, so it's a Mister Mister double feature. Directed by Joseph Losey during his time working in France. The film is in French and set there during the Nazi occupation. Right now, as far as I know, the only place you can stream it legally is the Criterion Channel. Hopefully the next one doesn't take as long to edit as this one did.

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