6 Comments

This sounds great, & not only because you mention the great Murder by Death. I must look it up.

Expand full comment

It doesn't reach the heights of MbD, but I think it's definitely playing in the same league!

Expand full comment

I loved this piece, and think this was really insightful,

"I’m fascinated by good analysis of magic, because magic tricks are often hyperbolized and literalized manifestations of sociocultural fantasies and desires."

One of us has a few friends that are magicians/mentalists and this echoes our conversation with them.

Expand full comment

Thanks for reading! And yes! The more I read about magic, the more convinced I am that illusions are texts that can and should be read and analyzed as seriously as we do novels, films, etc.

Expand full comment

This was a fun piece; I loved it! What a fascinating dive into the retelling of stories.

Story lineages have fascinated me since learning (clicks away to verify on Wikipedia...) that A Fistful of Dollars (directed by Sergio Leone, 1964) was an unofficial remake of Yojimbo (directed by Akira Kurosawa, 1961), itself apparently* inspired by the movie The Glass Key (directed by Stuart Heisler, 1942) that is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett (1931).

* Before going to Wikipedia, I had thought Yojimbo was inspired by another Hammett book called Red Harvest (1929). (I went through a Hammett phase.) Apparently it wasn't, but maybe Hammett was working through similar themes, story structures, or something in The Glass Key, which I read but can't remember. (Back to Wikipedia.) Oh no. Apparently, in addition to the Yojimbo-Dollars lineage, The Glass Key was made into TWO movies, an Orson Welles radio play, and influenced the Coen brothers' Miller's Crossing (1990). There might be more, but I need to get out of this rabbit hole before I lose the day.

All of that to say, great, fascinating post!

Expand full comment

Thanks for reading, and for sharing this deep dive of your own! I had no idea Kurosawa was adapting a Hammett story! I also went through a Hammett phase, and should really check out Yojimbo, and rewatch Miller's Crossing, which I haven't seen probably since it came out but remember loving.

Expand full comment