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Beyond the Spine

Beyond the Spine

Written by: Quentin B.
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Do you believe cinema can change everything? You should.

Beyond the Spine explores the films that redefined cinema—and the stories behind them you've never heard. A journey through the Criterion Collection, where each episode unpacks one essential work: what the director was battling, what the world looked like, why certain images refuse to fade.

Samurai defending a village for nothing but rice. A winter light that exposes faith collapsing. A steamship dragged over a mountain because the director refused to fake it. These aren't just great films—they're films that had to be made. By people who couldn't walk away.

Hosted by Quentin, who builds each episode around a single film and a companion playlist—songs that capture what lingers after the credits. Music that echoes the mood, the questions, the feeling you can't shake. Not the soundtrack. The emotional conversation.

The community shapes the journey. Polls decide which films get explored. Conversations continue beyond the episodes. This is cinema as discovery, not lecture.

New episodes weekly. Playlists on Spotify and Apple Music. Join at beyondthespine.co and @beyondthespinepodcast.

2025 Quentin B. Art
Episodes
  • Episode 00 - Prologue

    Episode 00 - Prologue
    Nov 10 2025

    Late 1920s Tokyo. A man performs in a darkened theater, his voice transforming silent images into art. He's a star. Then talking pictures arrive. The profession dies. He dies with it.

    Three years later, his younger brother walks into the film industry. Working in the very technology that killed what he loved. His name: Akira Kurosawa.

    Great cinema costs everything. This is where Beyond the Spine begins.

    A journey through the Criterion Collection. One film per episode. The images, the context, the obsessions that drove them. Why they still cut.

    Episode One: Seven Samurai.
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    13 mins
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