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Le démon dans l'île [Demon Is on the Island / Demon of the Island] (Francis Leroi, 1983)
Jun
28
1947
Dr. Gabrielle Martin (Anny Duperey) reads her digital patient file. It mentions her day of birth, June 28, 1947. DP: Jacques Assuérus.
“Don't think too much, it could affect your health, Gabrielle.”
– Dr. Marshall
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Popiół i diament [Ashes and Diamonds] (Andrzej Wajda, 1958)
Jun
27
National Sunglasses Day
Maciek Chelmicki (Zbigniew Cybulski) wearing his sunglasses in a dark, almost German Expressionist space, embellished with meandros. DP: Jerzy Wójcik.
– Why do you always wear those dark glasses?
– A souvenir of unrequited love for my homeland.
According to IMDb, the sale of sunglasses in Poland went through the roof after this film was released and Cybulski became his country's very own James Dean.
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The Lottery (Larry Yust, 1969)
Jun
27
Drawing lots from a box. DP: Isidore Mankofsky.
This, or any other adaptation of Shirley Jackson's story.
“Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones.”
– Shirley Jackson, The Lottery (1948)
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Poslední trik pana Schwarcewalldea a pana Edgara [The Last Trick of Mr. Schwarcewallde and Mr. Edgar] (Jan Švankmajer, 1964)
Jun
26
National Handshake Day
Mr Schwarcewallde and Mr Edgar on stage. Both are puppeteers in Edwardian costumes and oversized papier-mâché heads. DP: Svatopluk Malý.
Two illusionists compete with increasingly incredible tricks, sealed with a hefty handshake.
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Ikarie XB 1 [Icarus XB 1] (Jindřich Polák, 1963)
Jun
26
An astronaut passing a perfectly symmetrical walkway, similar to the ones seen in Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). DP: Jan Kališ.
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Die glücklichen Minuten des Georg Hauser [The Happy Minutes of Georg Hauser] (Mansur Madavi, 1974)
Jun
25
National Day of Joy
In a moment of total bliss, Georg Hauser (Walter Bannert) wrecks a car (via). DP: Mansur Madavi.
“Grünes Licht für ehrgeizige, strebsame und arbeitswillige junge Menschen.”
Georg Hauser's life is a drag. He gets up to drive his car to the same office to do the same thing surrounded by the same people everyday, just to make money to do the same thing all over again. Then, his glasses break and the new pair makes him see things a bit differently.
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Sodrásban [Current] (István Gaál, 1964)
Jun
24
Swim a Lap Day
Friends swimming in a summer haze. DP: Sándor Sára.
A group of friends go swimming to celebrate the start of summer vacation, and relish those final moments before adult responsibly begins. It is only much later when they realise that one of them is missing.
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Touki bouki [Journey of the Hyena] (Djibril Diop Mambéty, 1973)
Jun
23
National Pink Day
Mory (Magaye Niang) and Anta (Myriam Niang) in romanticised European outfits. DP: Georges Bracher.
“Paris, Paris, Paris
C'est sur la Terre un coin de paradis
Paris, Paris, Paris,
De mes amours c′est lui le favori
Mais oui, mais oui, pardi
Ce que j'en dis on vous l′a déjà dit
Et c'est Paris, qui fait la parisienne
Qu′importe, qu'elle vienne du nord ou bien du midi
Et c'est aussi le charme et l′élégance
Et l′âme de la France
Tout cela, mais c'est Paris”
Cowherd Mory and student Anta journey from Dakar to their new destination, the city of Paris.
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L'immortelle (Alain Robbe-Grillet, 1963)
Jun
23
Sat
A man's hand holds a crumbled up diary page for Saturday June 23. There are no calendar entries. DP: Maurice Barry.
“You're a foreigner and you're lost.”
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Il vangelo secondo Matteo [The Gospel According to Matthew] (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1964)
Jun
22
National Kissing Day
Judas (Otello Sestili) kisses Jesus (Enrique Irazoqui) in intimate closeup. DP: Tonino Delli Colli.
A [favourite] movie kiss for National Kissing Day (USA*), not to be confused with International Kissing Day aka World Kiss Day which falls on July 6.
“I don’t have the inhibitions that a practicing Catholic would in that I’m not paralysed by the sacredness of the text, nor do I have the inhibitions of a lapsed Catholic who would view approaching the story of Jesus as compromising his Marxist beliefs, of sinking back into conformity.”
An neorealist, straightforward adaptation of the Gospel of Matthew, populated by non-actors (“Jesus” is a 19-year Catalan trade unionist picked for his resemblance to El Greco's Christ), intellectuals, and anachronistic characters based on biblical art through the ages.
According to the Gospel of Matthew, apostle Judas kissed prophet Jesus to signal to the police who of the 13 men present was the one to arrest.
Interestingly, the word Matthew chose to describe the kiss is καταφιλέω, the same word used by philosopher Plutarch to describe the kiss between Alexander the Great and his eunuch Bagoas
* no one wants to kiss you anymore, America