“She'd discovered a small beach far from town, with crystal-clear water and pink sand. She loved that spot. The colors of nature were so beautiful, and there was no noise. She'd leave only when the sun did too.” Il deserto rosso [Red Desert] (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1964)
Aug
12
green
Valerio (Valerio Bartoleschi) and his mother Giuliana (Monica Vitti) in an arid industrial landscape. Giuliana wears a brilliant green coat, its shade between pea and moss, depending on the drabness of her surroundings. DP: Carlo Di Palma.
Green, in food or fashion*
– Giuliana
Antonioni's first film in colour beautifully utilises Vitti's brilliance – of her auburn hair, her porcelain teint, her vivid costumes (by Paola Carloni) – against the drab landscape.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for August is not date-related but lists, for the most part, the colours of the rainbow.
1960s
“Life has its tricks. Its oddities.”La baie des anges [Bay of Angels] (Jacques Demy, 1963)
Aug
6
mercredi
The bank where Jean Fournier (Claude Mann) works. A wall calendar, slightly tilted, reads Août 6 Mercredi. DP: Jean Rabier.
– Jackie Demaistre
“Matto, caldo, soldi, morto… girotondo…”Vergogna, schifosi!… [Dirty Angels] (Mauro Severino, 1969)
Aug
4
A typed note reads VERGOGNA, SCHIFOSI !! LA NOTTE DEL 4 C.M. PORTARE 8 MILLIONI 9° Km. RACCORDO MILANO–LODI CASA ABBANDONATA CAMPO ARNIE – GRAZIE. UN RICATTATOREI !. DP: Angelo Lotti.
While the month is never explicitly stated, there's mention of August traffic jams.
黒蜥蜴 [Kurotokage / Kuro tokage / Black Lizard] (Kinji Fukasaku, 1968)
Aug
4
The Black Lizard (Akihiro Miwa) in embrace with Detective Akechi (Isao Kimura). DP: Hiroshi Dōwaki.
She-Man: A Story of Fixation (Bob Clark, 1967)
Aug
4
Lt. Albert Rose, now Rose Albert (Leslie Marlowe), strikes a pose. DP: Gerhard Maser.
Mitt hem är Copacabana [My Home Is Copacabana] (Arne Sucksdorff, 1965)
Aug
2
The favela children on the beach, playing with kites and mingling with the rich kids. DP: Arne Sucksdorff.
A kite in celebration of 浜松まつり, the Hamamatsu Kite Festival, which takes place on May 3–5*
Favela kids steal kites and sell them on in this Copacabana-set Nordic drama.
Toninho Carlos de Lima, Rico in the movie, was not a homeless kid from the favelas but lived in a house with his family when he was send to Sweden to promote Mitt hem är Copacabana. A wealthy Swedish couple offered to adopt him, and his natural mother reluctantly gave in hoping to prevent a life of crime for her son (source). That too, dear reader, is colonialism.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for August is not date-related but lists, for the most part, the colours of the rainbow.
“It's a lot of work, ya know, just staying alive.”Gli intoccabili [Machine Gun McCain] (Giuliano Montaldo, 1969)
Jul
30
1968
Man's hands hold up the July 30, 1968 San Francisco Chronicle. The headline reads GANGLAND FEUD EXPLODES: TWO CUT DOWN BY MACHINE GUN. It's a Tuesday. DP: Erico Menczer.
– Rosemary Scott
Paparazzi (Jacques Rozier, 1963/1964)
Jul
29
Brigitte Bardot and her co-star Michel Piccoli making a show of ascending the stairs of Casa Malaparte as seen through a paparazzo's lens. DP: Maurice Perrimond.
A character has a camera or takes photos*
It buzzes on the set of Le mépris. These mosquitos, the Italians say paparazzi, swarm La Bardot and making it merely impossible for anyone – themselves included – to do their job. But Bardot knows them, too well, and gives them what they want, when she wants it.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for July is, for unknown reasons, mostly not date-related and follows some sort of vacation narrative.
“Un gâteau.”La boulangère de Monceau [The Bakery Girl of Monceau] (Éric Rohmer, 1963)
Jul
28
un gâteau
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A young woman in an apron grabs a French cookie. DPs: Bruno Barbey & Jean-Michel Meurice.
– young man
“Bruno, I've spent the best two days of my life with you… I mean it!” Il sorpasso [The Easy Life] (Dino Risi, 1962)
Jul
26
a boys' night out
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*
– Roberto Mariani
Serious law student Roberto (Jean-Louis Trintignant) goes on an accidental road trip with bon vivant Bruno (Vittorio Gassman).
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for July is, for unknown reasons, mostly not date-related and follows some sort of vacation narrative.