settima

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Soleil Ô [Oh, Sun] (Med Hondo, 1970)

Dec

10

Human Rights Day

Soleil Ô (1970)

An optimistic Robert Liensol in the city of lights (via). DPs: François Catonné & Jean-Claude Rahaga.

Celebrating human rights on Human Rights Day: the right to work

“Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.”

– Universal Declaration of Human Rights, United Nations General Assembly

A Mauritanian immigrant (Robert Liensol) too starts anew in Paris. But first, he'll need a job.

Pasażerka [Passenger] (Andrzej Munk, Witold Lesiewicz + Andrzej Brzozowski, 1963)

Dec

9

cruise

Pasażerka (1963)

Marta and Liza on the cruise ship (via). DP: Krzysztof Winiewicz.

On a cruise, from [OP] Cinn’s bucket list. Well, not in the context of today's film pick*

 

1960. On a luxury line, former prisoner Marta and her warden Liza meet again. Things had happened years before, in Auschwitz. This new confrontation reverses their roles.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for December has a few dateless themes. This is one of them.

La Terra Trema [The Earth Will Tremble] (Luchino Visconti, 1948)

Dec

8

Féte des Lumiéres

La Terra Trema (1948)

Night fishing (via). DP: G.R. Aldo.

Lights on water for the final day of Féte des Lumiéres, 2025

“In Sicily, Italian is not the language of the poor.”

– title card

Kisapmata [Sa bawat kisapmata / In the Wink of an Eye] (Mike De Leon, 1981)

Dec

8

Tue

Kisapmata (1981)

Noel (Jay Ilagan) enters Milagros' (Charo Santos-Concio) room. On a sparse green wall a calendar with an image of the Virgin Mary. The 8th, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, is marked red as a holiday. DP: Rody Lacap.

Иваново детство [Ivanovo detstvo / Ivan's Childhood] (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1962)

Dec

7

National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

Ivanovo detstvo (1962)

Ivan (Nikolay Burlyaev) scouting (via). DP: Vadim Yusov.

A special soldier for National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (USA)

“They sent me out by plane to a boarding school. But I ran away. There's a war on. I can't cram some stupid stuff when it's a war.”

– Ivan

A twelve-year old boy works as a scout for the Soviet army. His age and size make him an inoffensive figure in the war-scarred landscape. But inside, he's brooding for revenge.

December 7th (John Ford + Gregg Toland, 1943)

Dec

7

1941

December 7th (1943)

A Japanese person paints over the Japanese characters on their store's sign. AZUMA PHONE and SUS[HI obscured] can stay. DP: Gregg Toland.

“If that's Americanism, it's very hyphenated.”

– narrator

Careful, Soft Shoulders [Lady in a Quandry] (Oliver H.P. Garrett, 1942)

Dec

7

1941

Careful, Soft Shoulders (1942)

Thomas Aldrich (James Ellison) and Connie Mathers (Virginia Bruce). DP: Charles G. Clarke.

Le avventure straordinarissime di Saturnino Farandola [The Extraordinary Adventures of Saturnino Farandola] (Marcel Perez + Luigi Maggi, 1913)

Dec

6

hot air balloons

Le avventure straordinarissime di Saturnino Farandola (1913)

A fantastic hot air balloon fight, with machine gunners perched on top of one of the buoyant giants (via). DP: Ottavio De Matteis.

A hot air balloon*

 

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for December has a few dateless themes. This is one of them.

The Lickerish Quartet (Radley Metzger, 1970)

Dec

5

The Lickerish Quartet (1970)

A 70s couple in a grainy black-and-white still. The frame looks damaged, suggesting a stag reel. The seemingly nude blonde pours a drink for her dark-haired man. She holds the cork between her teeth, seducingly. DP: Hans Jura.

– I've never seen a film like this before.

– Oh, it's different, alright.

Cabiria (Giovanni Pastrone, 1914)

Dec

5

Cabiria (1914)

The gigantic entrance to the Temple of Moloch in Carthage. Like the entrance to Luna Park Sydney, it's appearance is based on a hellmouth. DPs: Augusto Battagliotti, Eugenio Bava, Natale Chiusano, Segundo de Chomón, Carlo Franzeri & Giovanni Tomatis.

A temple*

“Now consummate the sacrifice in your throat of flame, o father and mother, o god and goddess, o father and mother, o father and son, o god and goddess! Voracious creator! Roaring ardent hunger…”

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for December has a few dateless themes. This is one of them.