settima

@settima@zirk.us

みな殺しの霊歌 [Minagoroshi no reika / I, the Executioner] (Tai Katō, 1968)

Oct

26

みな殺しの霊歌 (1968)

A claustrophobically framed black-and-white shot of a man (Makoto Satō) handling chopsticks close to his face. DP: Keiji Maruyama.

X the Unknown (Leslie Norman + Joseph Losey, 1956)

Oct

24

scoff

X the Unknown (1956)

Two soldiers on nightshift ready to eat. One of them hands a mess tin with grub to the other when there's a sound. DP: Gerald Gibbs.

– What's that? – Tea.

Hellzapoppin' (H.C. Potter, 1941)

Oct

24

National Crazy Day

Hellzapoppin' (1941)

Olsen and Johnson break all the walls. DP: Elwood Bredell.

“Any resemblance between HELLZAPOPPIN’ and a motion picture is purely coincidental”

– tagline

Die schwarze Spinne [The Black Spider] (Mark M. Rissi, 1983)

Oct

20

Die schwarze Spinne (1983)

Christine (Beatrice Kessler) and her junkie friends eating the old man's food. DP: Edwin Horak.

“Nur ein leichtfertig Knechtlein, dem es gleichgültig war, regne oder sonnenscheine es in der Ernte, wenn nur das Jahr umging und der Lohn kam und zu jeder Essenszeit das Essen auf den Tisch, griff zum Löffel und berichtete Christine, daß noch keine Buche gepflanzet sei und alles gehe, als ob sie verhext wären.”

– Jeremias Gotthelf, Die schwarze Spinne (1842)

The Leather Boys (Sidney J. Furie, 1964)

Oct

17

National Motorcycle Ride Day

The Leather Boys (1964)

Pete (Dudley Sutton) in his black leather tiger jacket waiting for Reggie (Colin Campbell). He leans against a window pane while Reggie drives up. It's raining and Reg is merely a blur. DP: Gerald Gibbs.

Maciste all'inferno [Maciste in Hell] (Guido Brignone, 1925)

Oct

17

sinners

Maciste all'inferno (1925)

A demon eating a poor sinner. Numerous scenes are directly taken from Gustave Doré's illustrations of Dante's Divina Commedia, chapter Inferno. DPs: Ubaldo Arata, Massimo Terzano & Segundo de Chomón.

Moi, un noir [I, a Negro] (Jean Rouch, 1958)

Oct

16

National Eddie Day

Moi, un noir (1958)

A young woman looks over her shoulder, smiling. DP: Jean Rouch.

Some of the leads play out their hopes and dreams and are named after famous actors from Western films. Petit Touré is #EddieConstantine.

I pugni in tasca [Fists in the Pocket] (Marco Bellocchio, 1965)

Oct

15

soup

I pugni in tasca (1965)

A smirking Alessandro (Lou Castel) pours soup with a ladle with his tired-looking mother (Liliana Gerace) observing. DP: Alberto Marrama.

“I'm a volcano of ideas.”

– Alessandro

心中天網島 [Shinjū: Ten no Amijima / Double Suicide] (Masahiro Shinoda, 1969)

Oct

10

International Stage Management Day

心中天網島 (1969)

Jihei (Kichiemon Nakamura ) and his children with a stagehand visible between them. DP: Tōichirō Narushima.

心中天網島 is based on a 1721 文楽 [#bunraku] puppet theatre play]. As traditional in this style of theatre, the puppeteers are in full view of the audience wearing all-black cloaks. 心中天網島 does the same, but substitutes the puppets with flesh and blood actors.

 

The puppeteers are 黒衣 [kuroko, litt. “black clad”, though there are colour variations depending on the scene's requirements], guiding the performers towards their destiny.

Yawar Mallku [Blood of the Condor] (Jorge Sanjinés, 1969)

Oct

9

Indigenous Peoples Day

Yawar Mallku (1969)

Three Quechua men in ponchos and chullas seen from the back look out over the Anti (Andes). One of them stands on top of a large boulder. DP: Antonio Eguino.