AMBER TAMBLYN – actress, writer-director, author and poet, Substacker, and activist – returns to discuss a seminal piece of art from her life: Ridley Scott's fantasy film LEGEND (1985), written by William Hjortsberg and starring Tom Cruise. What does the film's “dance of shadows” as I call it, or the “seduction of darkness” I’ve seen others refer to it, reveal about her?
This bonus episode was released half a year earlier than it became available on Spotify. To get access to all bonus episodes like this one upon initial release, become a paid subscriber to 5AM StoryTalk at Apple or Substack:
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Be sure to listen to the first part of my chat with Amber, too: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/amber-tamblyn-actor-author-joan-of-arcadia/id1807437928?i=1000704542394
Amber and I will cover:
· How the ’80s were heaven for weird kids like us who loved fantasy films like Legend, Labyrinth, and Conan the Barbarian
· The feminist under and overtones of the “dance of shadows” in the context of Legend and Amber’s own childhood, which reveal our complicated relationship with “evil” and our own darker instincts
· The possibility that Cruise’s character, Jack, is as corrosive a force in the Legend as Darkness and, as such, the film was intended to be far more subversive than it was ultimately allowed to be onscreen
· How Scott uses “vibes” – especially in the “dance of shadows” – to convey something dark, sensual, and forbidden far better than the film’s text probably does
· Legend’s many cuts, which resulted in the United States being given a watered-down version with one score and the rest of the world being given versions even more feminist in their execution
Links:
· 5AM StoryTalk newsletter (become a paid subscriber here to gain access to both the 5AM StoryTalk newsletter and podcast: https://colehaddon.substack.com/
· Trailer for Legend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U3I6V0SS_k
· Read about Legend here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_(2015_film)
· Watch the “dance of shadows” US version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxhD70-L24U
· Watch the “dance of shadows” UK version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGJhG1zgeuc
· Amber Tamblyn’s website (includes info on all books and articles discussed): https://www.amtam.com/
· Amber’s Listening in the Dark Substack: https://ambertamblyn.substack.com/
· Trailer for Paint It Black (currently available to stream on Amazon and Apple in the U.S.; consult your platforms outside of the States): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQeIDXxxd-0
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