Imagine you’re in film school, playing with a bunch of different cameras and perhaps touching actual film for the first time. Sadly, your grandfather passes away. When you are cleaning out his mysterious attic, you come across a vintage Bolex 16mm camera. But it’s not just any Bolex. It’s a prototype. It turns out that the iconic camera was designed by your own great-grandfather who had passed away 20 years earlier. This unlikely scenario is exactly what happened to Alyssa Bolsey.
So naturally, she had to make a movie about it. She spent the next decade-plus researching her enigmatic great-grandpa and interviewing several influential filmmakers who used his cameras, like Barbara Hammer, Wim Wenders, and Jonas Mekas. The film she made from her discoveries is called Beyond the Bolex and it’s a very personal look at the man behind the camera and just how visionary he was.
Alyssa Bolsey and the film’s Producer and Cinematographer Camilo Lara Jr. join this episode after the film’s premiere at DOC NYC to talk about what they learned about filmmaking along the way and why the Bolex is such an enduring and beloved camera that is still used today.
Listen to the episode by streaming or downloading from the embedded player above, or find it on iTunes here.
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Featured image of Jacques Bolsey from 'Beyond the Bolex'. This episode was edited by Jon Fusco.
The first time I saw Wicked was in Boston with my roommate after her boyfriend dumped her, and I got to take his ticket. So, I will forever be grateful to that dummy because I had an amazing time.
The Wicked movie seems like it has been delayed forever, but when John Chu stepped in to direct, dates were set, the cast was announced, and we had full steam ahead.
Now, the movie is here, and I was so excited to be in a packed theater watching.
The movie is split into two parts, with the second coming out next year.
So today, I want to go over the ending for part one and explain it to you.
Sound good? Let's defy gravity together.
'Wicked' Movie Synopsis
The movie begins in the wonderful land of Oz, right after Dorothy has kileld the Wicked Witch of the West. All of Oz celebrates her defeat.
But then, Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, begins to tell us a much different story, the story of Elphaba Thropp, known to us as the Wicked Witch.
Elphaba was born with emerald-green skin, faces prejudice and misunderstanding due to her pigmentation. As she grows up, she has no friends and is cat out, but her father loves her and supports her. Eventually, Elphaba goes to Shiz University to study sorcery.
Shiz is run by run by Madame Morrible, who is a bit of a mystery to us.
At Shiz, Elphaba forms an unlikely friendship with the popular and bubbly Glinda, who is her roommate (and out narrator at the top).
Despite their differences, they navigate the challenges of school, social pressures, and even find themselves drawn to the same charming man, Fiyero. He's handsome and seems perfect.
Morrible sees a lot of potential in Elphaba, and begins to tutor her in order to help her release her magical powers.
But as Elphaba and Glinda get deeper into school, they discover all is not well in Oz. Elphaba learns the the Wonderful Wizard of Oz is not the kind leader he appears to be.
Elphaba learns from Dr. Dillamond, a talking Goat professor, that Animals across Oz are being stripped of their rights and voices.
Hoping her idol, the Wizard, will intervene, Elphaba attends a lively night at the Ozdust Ballroom with Glinda and Fiyero, where their friendship deepens and so does their trust in one another.
However, the next day brings grim news as Dr. Dillamond is forced to retire, replaced by a professor who cruelly experiments on animals.
Elphaba and Fiyero, disgusted, free a lion cub from the professor's clutches. Summoned to the Emerald City by the Wizard, Elphaba is tricked into casting a spell that gives the Wizard's monkey guards wings, revealing his true tyrannical nature.
Horrified, Elphaba flees, branded a Wicked Witch by the manipulative Madame Morrible, who was tricking her the whole time.
Glinda tries to convince Elphaba to surrender, but Elphaba chooses to fight for the oppressed. Bidding a tearful farewell to her friend, Elphaba uses her magic to escape the city, soaring into the unknown on a broomstick.
As Elphaba embraces her newfound identity and her extraordinary powers, she sets in motion a chain of events that will forever change the fate of Oz.
'Wicked' Ending Explained
That was a pretty crazy turn for part one of the story, but it was also such an emotional and entertaining journey.
At the end of Wicked Part One, Elphaba is tricked into casting a spell that gives the Wizard's monkey guards wings. This proves ot her that the people in power are wrong and trying to use her.
It sets the story up for Part II, as Elphaba rejects the Wizard's offer and vow to fight against him, solidifying her position as an enemy of the state and showing the audience why she was called the "Wicked Witch."
Elphaba has to embrace her new identity and become a symbol of the resistance against the Wizard.
In choosing to do what's right, Elphaba has also created a rift between herself and her best friend Glinda. In a tearful goodbye, they acknowledge their diverging paths.
There is no certain future of friendship, as it appears they're going into battle.
This was a crazy ending that set us up for so much to come in the next part.
