“Early one morning, just as the sun was rising,
I heard a maid sing in the valley below;
‘O don’t deceive me, O never leave me!
How could you use a poor maiden so?” Requiem for a Village (David Gladwell, 1975)
Nov
14
The wedding party revellers sing. DP: Bruce Parsons.
A movie about community*
– Early one morning, via
A sort of Wicker Man visits Mon oncle, this painting of an old England is. Painter filmmaker David Gladwell's impressionist work takes us to a small Suffolk community that, like all other communities, is both frozen in time and unable to escape its progression. The churchyard's caretaker, amongst the living and the dead, watches, works, and knows.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for November is, again, not date-based, but follows a sloppy schmaltzy all-American Thanksgiving-y narrative. Trying to make it work my way.
E tanta paura [Plot of Fear] (Paolo Cavara, 1976)
Nov
14
1975
spoiler warning: click to toggle image
Two newspaper clippings in a scrapbook, one of them with the date November 14. DP: Franco Di Giacomo.
“Look at us. We're almost totally dependent on our maid. She cooks and washes for us, and is the first person to greet me when I come home from work. She is entirely at our service.” 하녀 [Hanyeo / The Housemaid] (Kim Ki-young, 1960)
Nov
13
Adding one more ingredient. DP: Deok-jin Kim.
A memorable kitchen or cooking scene*
– Dong-sik Kim
A housemaid works her way into a middle-class household and takes over the wife's tasks – cleaning, cooking, child rearing.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for November is, again, not date-based, but follows a sloppy schmaltzy all-American Thanksgiving-y narrative. Trying to make it work my way.
Roma dodici novembre 1994 [Rome, November 12, 1994] (Alfredo Angeli et al., 1995)
Nov
12
1994
– Why do they call you The Gorilla?
– Because I'm big and strong… and everyone has to have a name.Götter der Pest [Gods of the Plague] (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1970)
Nov
12
1943
Pornography peddler Carla Aulaulu's (Carla Egerer) criminal record. She's born on November 12, 1943 in Kronstadt. DP: Dietrich Lohmann.
During one scene a perpetual calendar is visible. It's a 26th.
Bröllopsbesvär [Wedding: Swedish Style] (Åke Falck, 1964)
Nov
11
Bride and groom, and resentfulness at front. DP: Rune Ericson.
A dysfunctional family*
On a wedding day, and night, a family's dirty secrets are laid bare.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for November is, again, not date-based, but follows a sloppy schmaltzy all-American Thanksgiving-y narrative. Trying to make it work my way.
“No, I never left the wheel; not for a moment.”The Mystery of the Mary Celeste [Phantom Ship] (Denison Clift, 1935)
Nov
11
Anton Lorenzen (Bela Lugosi). DPs: Eric Cross & Geoffrey Faithfull.
– Anton Lorenzen
“Purr Francine! Purr, purr Francine!”Polyester (John Waters, 1981)
Nov
10
Todd Tomorrow (Tab Hunter) and Francine Fishpaw (Divine) in wild ecstasy. The scene appears to evoke a moment of passion between Chris Flanders (Richard Burton) and Flora Goforth (Elizabeth Taylor) in Boom! (Joseph Losey, 1968). DP: Dave Insley.
– Cuddles Kovinsky
we are not what we seemThe White Rose [The White Rose: Jay DeFeo’s Painting Removed by Angelic Hosts] (Bruce Conner, 1967)
Nov
9
1965
Workmen during the dismantling of The Rose in Jay DeFeo's studio on Fillmore Street, San Francisco on November 9, 1965. Screenshot taken from a clip made available by the Paula Cooper Gallery on Vimeo. DP: Bruce Conner..
– words inscribed in the bottom of DeFeo's painter's stool
“Oh keiner macht's wie du,
Wie du so traut sich's keiner,
So wie du”Das Gold der Liebe [The Gold of Love] (Eckhart Schmidt, 1983)
Nov
9
DAF-fan Patricia (Alexandra Curtis). DP: Bernd Heinl.
– DAF – El Que (Gold und Liebe (1981)