Join VERHIP! een filmpodcast for their first live show in collaboration with Zienema. This time they will be discussing ‘Fever Dreams’ on film, before we sit down and watch Martin Scorsese’s Munchian shriek: After Hours

After Hours follows Paul Hackett, a bored computer word processor, played with a nervous, twitchy energy by Griffin Dunne. After a dull day on the job, he meets an elusive ‘Hitchcockian blonde’ called Marcy, played by Rosanne Arquette. Paul tries to impress Marcy and the two plan to meet up later that night. In the cab ride over, his only money, a single 20-dollar bill, flies out the window. He is now stuck in SoHo. All he wants to do is go on a date. And that is why he must die?

It’s a bizarre premise, one that defies the limits of a screenplay. I discovered this film during one of the covid lockdowns and was struck by how it contradicted my situation. Paul is stuck in the nightlife of a never sleeping city, pulled and pushed back and forth by an enticing woman, chased by angry mobs, fleeing from club to club, hoping that once, just once, he is finally allowed to go home and rest. Meanwhile, I was stuck at home only wishing I could be as overstimulated as him. But I still shared a sense of his frustration, as some of Paul’s escapades ring just a little too true in their frighteningly funny way – especially his will they, won’t they kiss failures when Paul finally manages to be alone with Marcy in her room, seated on her bed – good grief.

The film can feel like a nightmare cycle in the best way, comparable to Lawrence of Arabia as a ‘film without an end’, though considerably shorter. Its bravado and verve are contagious, and its sense of pressing paranoia is all too relatable. It doesn’t lecture nor have a clear point. It’s film-making for film-making’s sake. And it just might be Scorsese’s best film for it.

-Date

In VERHIP! een filmpodcast, Gonnie and Date discuss which movies and series they watched that week and other important issues. With episodes about blockbusters, huge flop movies, genre specials, and possibly most importantly: what the ideal (D/)date movie is. And is it actually possible to break such a thing as a third mirror? This time, live! Before the film starts you can listen and join in the many fascinating and oh so intriguing discussions. You will hear and see it all and more in VERHIP!