Filmmaker Mike Figgis on sadness: why he thrives on it, how grief deepens with age, and what can make sadness beautiful. A candid episode on loss. Figgis Unfiltered S2 E5.
Season 2 of Figgis Unfiltered examines the human emotions, one at a time. In Episode 5, director Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas) turns to sadness, grief and melancholy — the bedrock, he argues, that every moment of joy is measured against. He explores why grief deepens as we age, why we feel it in the heart, and how sad music and tragic drama, from the blues to Greek theatre to Tchaikovsky, work as a kind of catharsis and medicine.
He shares some of his most personal stories: a first heartbreak waiting up until 3am, a bad LSD trip at 18 that cost him a year, and — most movingly — the loss of his sister, and the moment in an airport that first broke his grief open. Then he takes your questions: on where joy has gone in modern film, how he channels sadness into work, and how you make sadness beautiful again after losing someone you love.
⏱️ Chapters
00:00 Sadness, grief & melancholy
00:21 “I thrive on sadness”
01:03 Why Leaving Las Vegas works through sadness
02:22 Measuring sadness — and “the loss of a loved one”
03:33 Why grief deepens as you age
04:45 Why we feel grief in the heart
05:33 The three stages of sadness
06:44 His first heartbreak — waiting until 3am
11:04 Drawn to sadness in books, film and music
12:20 The blues, the minor third & Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique
13:46 “Grief is so beautiful” — sad music as catharsis
15:37 Greek drama and the sharing of grief
16:30 Losing loved ones — and valuing friends more
18:12 A bad trip, a year of fear, and facing it down
21:43 Listener questions — Philip (Oklahoma City): where did joy go?
24:28 Krista (Edmonton): notebooks, routine & sleep
27:00 Lena (Texas): making sadness beautiful after loss
33:34 Paul Mazursky, regeneration & a word on the joy to come
🎬 Mentioned in this episode
Films — Leaving Las Vegas · Licorice Pizza
People — Nicolas Cage · Elisabeth Shue · Jack Nicholson · filmmaker Paul Mazursky
Music & ideas — Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique Symphony · the blues and the minor third · Greek tragedy · “The 36 Dramatic Situations” and its final one, the loss of a loved one · the funeral scene in Huckleberry Finn
🎙️ Got a question for Mike? Send it as a voice note and it could feature in a future episode — DM us on Instagram: @figgisunfiltered
🔔 Subscribe and hit the bell for new Season 2 episodes across all podcast platforms and here on YouTube.
https://youtu.be/t6tem3MA-Ek
Follow: Instagram → https://instagram.com/figgisunfiltered
Note: this episode includes candid discussion of grief, bereavement and drug use.
#MikeFiggis #FiggisUnfiltered #Sadness
","author_name":"Antica Productions"}