I am so glad you brought up “The River” because I forgot to mention it! It’s one of the few (only?) moments where there’s a female presence in a very male-driven rock soundtrack, and it’s articulating a moment felt from a female character. Thanks!

For me, part of the allure of the film is its simplicity — it, like so much of Crowe, reminds me of taking pleasure in pure storytelling, before I became a Ph.D. student. Is that wrong? I have nostalgia for a time when I thought far less about gender politics?

I’m also tremendously affected by a few scenes in the film — perhaps as much, if not more so, than any other moments in recent cinema. The first, which I believe I’ve mentioned to you, is when Penny and Russell are ‘reintroduced’ — and Joni Mitchell’s “The River” is playing in the background. I’m unsure whether it’s the sentiment — seeing someone you’ve been thinking hard on for a long time — or the combination of image and music, or even Hudson’s performance (which I still love…will that Hudson ever return?) But there are all sorts of f-ed up dynamics, even in that scene — but it does something to me. It’s not ‘pure cinema,’ but it’s pure affect, and that, for whatever its worth, is something worth thinking through….as you do so well here.