“Time will pass. Towns and villages will be rebuilt. Our wounds will heal. But our fierce hatred of war will never diminish.” Летят журавли [Letyat zhuravli / The Cranes Are Flying] (Mikhail Kalatozov, 1957)
May
8
VE Day
A young woman standing in what was a room in a building, looks out over the ruins of a city. A broken lampshade and a grandfather's clock whisper of other times. DP: Sergey Urusevskiy.
A non-battlefield war movie on VE Day. It had to be a Soviet film, on this date. Thank you, Russia.
– Stepan
When the cranes fly over Moscow, a young couple learns about the war. Now separated, one day, when it is over, if, they'll reunite
The hand-held cinematography, groundbreaking at the time, came from former war cameraman Sergey Urusevskiy.
“What mystery, what beauty.”Stromboli (Terra di Dio) [Stromboli] (Roberto Rossellini, 1950)
May
8
birthdays
Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman on set on Sardinia. In the background the house Bergman's character moves into with her husband. DP: Otello Martelli.
May 8 is both director Rossellini and Bergman's character Karen's #birthday.
– Karen
Зеркало для героя [Zerkalo dlya geroya / Mirror for a Hero] (Vladimir Khotinenko, 1987)
May
8
1949
Sergey Pshenichnyy (Sergey Koltakov) speaking to one of the 1940s farmers. DP: Evgeniy Grebnev.
En kärlekshistoria [A Swedish Love Story] (Roy Andersson, 1970)
May
7
National Hug Holiday Week
Pär (Rolf Sohlman) and Annika (Ann-Sofie Kylin) hug on a deserted barren soccer pitch. DP: Jörgen Persson.
A hug, romantic or platonic, on the first day of National Hug Holiday Week (USA)
Two teenagers in love become increasingly oblivious of the grey world around them.
“It's a weird, crazy idea, but that's the reason it intrigues me.”Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (Fritz Lang, 1956)
May
7
Susan Spencer (Joan Fontaine) lighting Tom Garrett's (Dana Andrews) cigarette. DP: William E. Snyder.
– Tom Garrett
“Spotkał katar Katarzynę –
A – psik!
Katarzyna pod pierzynę –
A – psik!”Katar [Cold] (Hieronim Neumann, 1984)
May
6
Childhood Depression Awareness Day
One little girl sneeze even bursts the camera! A – psik (achoo)! DP: Zbigniew Kotecki.
A child with health struggles for Childhood Depression Awareness Day (USA)
– Jan Brzechwa, Katar (via)
A little girl has the sniffles, sees the doctor, and so happily spreads the bug all over town. A quirky animated short based on a poem by Jan Brzechwa.
“It's spooky! It sounds… unholy!”The Unholy Three (Tod Browning, 1925)
May
6
Tweedledee (Harry Earles), Hercules (Victor McLaglen), and Echo – The Ventriloquist (Lon Chaney). DP: David Kesson.
– Echo
“Producers are something I can easily do without”Le mépris [Contempt] (Jean-Luc Godard, 1963)
May
5
Europe Day
Michel Piccoli, director Fritz Lang, Jack Palance, and director Jean-Luc Godard behind the scenes. The clapperboard held by Godard is for the movie that Lang's working on in Le Mépris, an adaption of Homer's Odyssey. DP: Raoul Coutard.
A director from the EU for Europe Day
– Fritz Lang
A film in a film, the former directed by Fritz Lang, directed by Godard.
Maratón [The Marathon] (Ivo Novák, 1968)
May
5
1945
Karla (Jana Brejchová) and Ruda (Jaromír Hanzlík). DP: Václav Hanuš.
– You haven't forgotten us again, have you, Marion? – You know perfectly well I'm Julia Ross!My Name Is Julia Ross (Joseph H. Lewis, 1945)
May
5
Nina Foch as Julia Ross… or is she… Julia's lying on a made bed, looking over her shoulder at two middle-aged men and an elderly woman standing in the doorway to her room. DP: Burnett Guffey.