On today’s episode of our podcast, we’re featuring two highly anticipated new releases. First, you’ll hear a discussion about Anomalisa, the new stop-motion film from beloved writer-director Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson. After that, you’ll hear British writer-director Andrew Haigh and actress Charlotte Rampling talk about the acclaimed drama 45 Years. To hear more fascinating conversations like these, subscribe to The Close-Up on iTunes. 

Anomalisa follows a lonely man on a surreal, melancholic business trip away from his family. The film was made entirely with stop-motion puppets, and features the voiceover talents of David Thewlis as the lonely business man, Jennifer Jason Leigh as his love interest, and Tom Noonan as nearly every other character, a choice that’s meant to represent “Fregoli Syndrome,” a rare disorder that makes people think everyone else in the world is one person. After a recent sneak preview of the film, Noonan joined the Film Society’s Alex Hunter to talk about the ambitious project, which has had a long and unusual decade-long journey to screen. Anomalisa opens in select theaters today. 

Andrew Haigh’s 2011 romance, Weekend, made a huge splash on the festival circuit, leading Grantland’s Wesley Morris to call it “one of the truest, most beautiful movies ever made about two strangers.” Haigh’s latest film, 45 Years, stars Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay as Kate and Jeff Mercer, a married couple whose preparations for their 45th wedding anniversary are interrupted by unexpected news about a former lover. 45 Years had its premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival, where both Courtenay and Rampling won Best Actor prizes for their rich and nuanced performances. After a recent screening here at the Film Society, Haigh and Rampling joined the Film Society’s Associate Director of Programming Florence Almozini to discuss the film.

Listen below or click here to subscribe on iTunes.