Her Head in Films

In this episode, I talk about Victor Erice's 1983 film, "El Sur." Set in northern Spain during the 1940s and 1950s, the film follows Estrella, a woman looking back on two distinct periods of her life: her childhood and adolescence. At the center of her memories is her enigmatic father, Agustín, a man she deeply loved but can never fully understand. As Estrella gradually uncovers fragments of his past and becomes fascinated by the distant South he left behind, she begins to realize that the father she knew as a child carried a hidden history and a private sorrow that will forever remain beyond her reach.

I talk about the shadow my father’s death has cast over my life, how our parents can continue to haunt us long after they're gone, and how certain films can become an encounter with our own lives. I also discuss the novella the film is based on. There are spoilers in this episode.

This episode is dedicated to my parents.

If you’d like to support my work and get access to bonus episodes and exclusive posts, you can join me on Patreon: patreon.com/herheadinfilmspodcast.

You can follow me on Letterboxd. My email is herheadinfilms@gmail.com.

My Sources:

Adelaida Garcia Morales's The South and Bene at OpenLibrary

"El Sur: An Incomplete Complete Film"  by Elvira Lindo for Criterion Collection

"My Father the Hero: Victor Erice's El Sur" by Mar Diestro-Dopido for BFI

Senses of Cinema profile about Victor Erice

Senses of Cinema review of El Sur

Little White Lies interview with Victor Erice

In this episode, I talk about William Wyler’s 1949 film, "The Heiress." Olivia de Havilland plays Catherine Sloper, a shy and sheltered woman living with her cold father in Washington Square, New York in the mid-1800s. When she meets an attractive and alluring man played by Montgomery Clift, she falls passionately in love for the first time, but their relationship will force her to confront painful truths about love and desire.

I talk about how the film explores heartbreak and transformation, and how it charts a woman’s devastating but powerful journey from innocence to experience, from illusion to reality, and toward a deeper understanding of herself. 

If you’d like to support my work and get access to bonus episodes and exclusive posts, you can join me on Patreon: patreon.com/herheadinfilmspodcast.

You can follow me on Letterboxd. My email is herheadinfilms@gmail.com.

My Sources:

Article about the film, written by Frank Miller for Turner Classic Movies

"The Heiress:" A Cruel Inheritance by Pamela Hutchinson for Criterion Collection

Toni Morrison quote is from a 2015 documentary, "The Life of Toni Morrison"

In this episode, I talk about Gabriel Axel's 1987 film, "Babette's Feast." The film follows Martine and Filippa—two sisters devoted to a small religious community in Denmark—and Babette, a French refugee and former chef who comes to live with them. When Babette prepares a feast to honor the centenary of their father’s birth, the meal becomes an act of artistic and emotional offering.

I talk about what it means to offer something from the heart, how the film portrays art as a form of generosity, and how the experience of the meal brings the community back to life and to each other.

If you’d like to support my work and get access to bonus episodes and exclusive posts, you can join me on Patreon: patreon.com/herheadinfilmspodcast.

You can follow me on Letterboxd. My email is herheadinfilms@gmail.com.

My Sources:

Babette's Feast: "Mercy and Truth Have Met Together" by Mark Le Fanu

Babette's Feast: A Fable for Culinary France by Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson

In this episode, I talk about Douglas Sirk’s 1955 film, "All That Heaven Allows," starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson. The film follows Cary Scott, a widow in a conservative suburban community who falls in love with a younger, working-class man, and must decide whether she will conform to social expectations or defend a love that transforms her life.

"All That Heaven Allows" is a luminous and deeply emotional film about fear, conformity, and the courage it takes to live in a way that is true to yourself. It asks what a woman is allowed to want, what she is allowed to desire, and whether love is worth fighting for in a world that would rather see her diminish herself. In this episode, I reflect on love as an act of bravery and what it means to watch this film as a woman near Cary’s age. I also consider how Sirk’s melodrama speaks to the female spectator by taking female desire seriously.

If you’d like to support my work and get access to bonus episodes and exclusive posts, you can join me on Patreon: patreon.com/herheadinfilmspodcast.

You can follow me on Letterboxd. My email is herheadinfilms@gmail.com.

My Sources:

AFI entry about All That Heaven Allows

All That Heaven Allows: An Articulate Screen

Jane Wyman and All That Heaven Allows

Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed

Behind the Mirror: A Profile of Douglas Sirk

Encyclopedia Britannica article about Douglas Sirk

In this episode, I talk about Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1948 film, "The Red Shoes." It centers on Vicky Page, a young ballet dancer whose extraordinary talent brings her into a world where art demands total devotion and where love and ambition collide.
I discuss "The Red Shoes" as a meditation on artistic calling, female ambition, and the desire for greatness. I’m interested in how the film portrays a woman who refuses to live a small life, and what happens when her boundless creative drive cannot be contained by the world around her.
If you’d like to support my work and get access to bonus episodes and exclusive posts, you can join me on Patreon: patreon.com/herheadinfilmspodcast.
You can follow me on Letterboxd. My email is herheadinfilms@gmail.com.
My Sources:
The Red Shoes (BFI Classics) by Pamela Hutchinson
Original fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson
Ian Christie on The Red Shoes
The Red Shoes: Dancing for Your Life by David Ehrenstein
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke