The Immigrant Multiverse
Michelle Yeoh going into paranoid multiple personality immigrant mode.
On this episode of The Russians, Evgenia and I talk about Everything Everywhere All at Once — an impressive new film that just came out by “the Daniels.” It’s been a big indie hit. And yet most reviewers have missed the central thing about it: at its core it is a film about being an immigrant in America — and about being unhappy with the choice you made. That’s why the film’s schizoid “multiverse” premise works so well here. It’s all about other possible worlds and “what if’s.”
Our only problem with Everything Everywhere is that it’s too happy and sappy for our tastes. It resolves too sweetly with a nice happy ending. But then there aren’t many films that are dark and genuinely skeptical about the American immigrant experience.
We didn’t mention it on the pod but writing this ep description reminded me of what I think is the best (and mostly unkown) novel about the Soviet immigrant experience here in America: Hotel California by Natalya Medvedeva, a singer and a model who was married for a long time to Eduard Limonov. During the Covid lockdown, Evgenia wrote a great script adapting the novel, which is set in Los Angeles, and tried to get a movie project off the ground when we were still back in LA. No luck yet. But I do hope she makes the film one day. It’s a great story and Natalya is a very impressive person.
We discussed Natalya Medvedeva and her novel in a couple of previous episodes: All the Sad Soviet Immigrant Lit and Eduard Limonov and Natalia Medvedeva w/Thierry Marignac. Check them out.
—Yasha Levine
Want to know more? Listen to previous episodes of The Russians.
The Immigrant Multiverse
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch is the first PKD book I read. Really kind of separate from when I consumed the rest of them. I love how you guys talk about his stuff all the time. Such a weird confluence of interests.
Yasha and Evgenia I really value your analysis of Russia and Russian emigres. I joined your podcast, after the start of Putin's stupid Invasion of Ukraine, to get a different perspective on Russia from either the pro-war (escalation) Western press, Russia state and liberal Russian mouthpieces like "Moscow Times". I read "Moscow Times" for anti-war stories, but find the depiction of Russia written for Western liberals to justify their smug racist depiction of Russia. Neither of these sources leave me feeling I was getting a deeper understanding of Russia or it emigres.Your podcasts seem different for me, coming from the Third World, and fed up of suggestion that corruption and state violence are things "Others" are susceptible too, unlike the superior West. I find Western liberals like missionaries of the past sent to the Majority World - the same puritanical self-righteousness. Keep up the good work. I love the fun you have as you engage with each other and your guests. BTW I heard about you on Abby Martin's "Empire Files" and Katie Halper's show.