settima

1960s

Il sorpasso [The Easy Life] (Dino Risi, 1962)

Jul

26

a boys' night out

Il sorpasso (1962)

Bruno (Gassman) and Roberto (Trintignant) driving along Italy in their sports car (via). DP: Alfio Contini.

A boys' night out: men having fun on their own*

“Bruno, I've spent the best two days of my life with you… I mean it!”

– Roberto Mariani

Serious law student Roberto (Jean-Louis Trintignant) goes on an accidental road trip with bon vivant Bruno (Vittorio Gassman).

 

Sedmikrásky [Daisies] (Věra Chytilová, 1966)

Jul

25

a girls' night out

Sedmikrásky (1966)

Marie I and Marie II (Jitka Cerhová and Ivana Karbanová respectively) having a heck of a time. DP: Jaroslav Kučera.

A girls' night out: women having fun on their own[???]*

Marie II: “But I'm happy.” Marie I: “I'm so happy, too.”

Two young women called Marie pull destructive, anarchist pranks.

 

Dillinger è morto [Dillinger Is Dead] (Marco Ferreri, 1969)

Jul

25

1934

Dillinger è morto (1969)

Glauco (Michel Piccoli) reading the July 25, 1934 Chicago Daily Tribune that he found in the pantry. The headline states CLEAR UP DILLINGER MYSTERY. DP: Mario Vulpiani.

Vysoká zeď [The High Wall] (Karel Kachyňa, 1964)

Jul

23

Vysoká zeď (1964)

The young man (Vít Olmer) rests in the sun with Jitka (Radka Dulíková) observing him. DP: Josef Vaniš.

Someone is in an ambulance or hospital*

“We still remember our high wall. Even the day we first climbed it, filled with curiosity. The sadness of the discoveries of those years seemed devastating to us. Then we wondered how we could have forgotten it so suddenly.”

– prologue

It's summer in Prague. Jitka, a girl on the cusp of womanhood, follows a stray cat and finds a tall hospital wall. Behind it, a young man in a wheelchair rests. The girl and the man connect.

 

La piscine [The Swimming Pool] (Jacques Deray, 1969)

Jul

20

La piscine (1969)

Marianne (Romy Schneider) and Harry (Maurice Ronet) shopping. Note the plethora of atypical-for-France ingredients, and how the packaging hasn't changed up to today. DP: Jean-Jacques Tarbès.

Shopping for food*

“I thought you'd be hungry, maybe.”

Schneider and Ronet's characters go get their groceries in a tiny, surprisingly well-stocked-with-Asian-food-items French corner shop, ánd manage to find all the ingredients needed. One rookie mistake: Uncle Ben's. Of all the rice in the world…

 

La collectionneuse [The Collector] (Éric Rohmer, 1967)

Jul

18

La collectionneuse (1967)

Daniel (Daniel Pommereulle), wrapped in bedsheets, and Adrien (Patrick Bauchau) rest in the grass. The colour of summer is courtesy of the master, DP Néstor Almendros (via).

Someone's all bundled up*. No list of summer films is complete without Éric Rohmer.

“I even tried not to think. I was face-to-face alone with the sea, far from cruises and beaches, fulfilling a childhood dream put off year after year. I lost myself completely in the play of shadow and light, sinking into a lethargy heightened by the water. That state of passivity, of complete availability, promised to last much longer than the euphoria of one’s first summer dip into the ocean. I could easily see myself spending a whole month this summer this way.”

– Adrien

An art dealer and his writer friend plan to spend the summer together in a villa on the Côte d'Azur. A young woman, a collector of sorts, disrupts their retreat.

 

血は渇いてる [Chi wa kawaiteru / Blood Is Dry] (Yoshishige Yoshida, 1960)

Jul

17

beer

Chi wa kawaiteru (1960)

A man and woman share a meal in a top-floor restaurant. The view is numerous identical modern buildings. She's smoking and they both clutch large beer mugs. Two dishes hold small bits of food with toothpicks stuck into them. DP: Tōichirō Narushima.

 

妻は告白する [Tsuma wa kokuhaku suru / A Wife Confesses] (Yasuzō Masumura, 1961)

Jul

15

1961

妻は告白する (1961)

An expert called into the court case studies an enlarged photograph of the supposed crime scene. DP: Setsuo Kobayashi.

David Holzman's Diary (Jim McBride, 1967)

Jul

14

David Holzman's Diary (1967)

L.M. Kit Carson as David Holzman. DP: Michael Wadleigh.

“Truffaut said that in 'Singing in the Rain', Debbie Reynolds jumps over a couch and holds in her skirt as she does it, and this movement gives her away. Now the movement that Sandra just made and I just caught, she gives herself away. Now in each movement, she gives herself a little more away, to me.”

– David Holzman

Horoskop [Horoscope] (Boro Drašković, 1969)

Jul

11

Horoskop (1969)

The impromptu café awaiting tourists, for now occupied by lounging men. DP: Ognjen Miličević.

Someone at a coffee shop or café*

 

There's not much next to the railroad tracks. A group of young men spend their summer days there, waiting for the train bringing tourists to the Adriatic coast. Suddenly, the place comes to life with waiters frantically unfolding parasols. And there's a pretty blonde, she stays, and brings her newspaper stand along. The men place a bet…