“One thing I find appalling is when people who were [Vichy President] Pétain supporters come up to me and tell me what they did for the Resistance. Sometimes it's unreal. “Oh, Mr. Gaspard, if only you knew what we did, what I did for the Resistance.” Go ahead, pal, tell me all about it. I try to stay calm. I'm a salesman, and I want to sell my product. The company doesn't pay me to do politics and pick fights, so sometimes I find myself obliged to listen to a song and dance of some guy who shows me a drawer and gets his wife to confirm that there was indeed a revolver in that drawer during the war, a revolver which he was supposedly ready to use on the Germans. Only he never actually used it. History doesn't lie.” Le chagrin et la pitié [The Sorrow and the Pity] (Marcel Ophüls, 1969)
Jun
5
Sorry I Was on a Boat Day
Two smiling farmers. The interviewer asks “What did you think about?” One of them replies “Surviving. That's it.” Screenshot via. DPs: André Gazut & Jürgen Thieme.
Someone makes an excuse on Sorry I Was on a Boat Day (USA)
– Émile Coulaudon aka Colonel Gaspard, former head of the French Resistance in Auvergne
Marcel Ophüls documents the people of Clermont-Ferrand as the microcosm of Vichy France, part of Europe's only country that happily collaborated with its occupier, Nazi Germany. What were their justifications, their excuses, their motivations? Was it survival, habit, greed? Comfort, conformity, obedience, fear?
And what is yours?
“You're either in or out. OK?”Riot in Cell Block 11 (Don Siegel, 1954)
June
5
1920
Inmate James V. Dunn's (Neville Brand) file. He's born on June 5, 1920 and incarcerated in Willows State Prison on August 4, 1950. Somehow he's 32 year's old. DP: Russell Harlan.
And August 4.
– James V. Dunn
Point de chute [Falling Point] (Robert Hossein, 1970)
Jun
4
Global Running Day
Catherine (Pascale Rivault) running. DP: Daniel Diot.
A character who is running on Global Running Day
A cavallo della tigre [On the Tiger's Back] (Luigi Comencini, 1961)
Jun
4
Mario (Mario Adorf) rinsing his mouth while eyeing two of the wardens. DP: Aldo Scavarda.
or June 5th?
Sombre (Philippe Grandrieux, 1998)
Jun
3
World Bicycle Day
Cycling fans along the route. DPs: Philippe Grandrieux & Sabine Lancelin.
A film scene with a bike for World Bicycle Day
Jean (Marc Barbé) follows the route of the Tour de France. He sees women, picks them up, takes them out. Claire, infatuated with him, is taken in by his darkness. At night, the cyclists continue the course.
Red & Rosy (Frank Grow, 1989)
Jun
3
Big Red (Rico Martinez) in his hotrod. DPs: Frank Grow, Ralph Hawkins & Rico Martinez.
跑道終點 [Pao dao zhong dian / The End of the Track] (Tun-Fei Mou, 1970)
Jun
2
Dennis Haysbert – 1954
Hsiao-Tung and Yung-shen at the track. DP: Chung-Hsin Chen.
A [favourite]* fictional athlete for Dennis Haysbert's birthday (1954).
Close friends Hsiao-Tung and Yung-shen spend their time together, wandering about, eating dumplings, and training for athletics. Until one of them pushes too hard, leaving the other alone in his grief.
* this month's Bales' Challenge is marred with “favourites”, something I don't believe in. Instead, I stick to great cinema and will squeeze in a few LGBT-themed films for Pride Month.
“What year is it now? I forgot.”1999 A.D. (Lee Madden, 1967)
Jun
2
1999
Mother Karen (Marj Dusay) busy with online meal planning, her husband supervising her from the other screen. While she scheduling for Tuesday, June 2, 1999 in reality fell on a Wednesday. DP: Vilmos Zsigmond.
– Jamie
La maudite galette [Dirty Money] (Denys Arcand, 1972)
Jun
1
Oscar the Grouch Day
Rolland (René Caron) and Berthe (Luce Guilbeault). She's had it with these money troubles. DP: Alain Dostie.
A character who's a grouch for Oscar the Grouch Day (USA)
“Patrick, it's Hitler! Yes it is Hitler! Patrick, you must take a picture of me with him!”Zítra vstanu a opařím se čajem [Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea] (Jindřich Polák, 1977)
Jun
1
Time-traveling tourist Shirley White (Marie Rosůlková) dragging a bewildered Hitler (František Vicena) in front of her husband's photo camera. DP: Jan Kališ.
– Shirley White, American time traveler