settima

1960s

Les scélérats [The Wretches] (Robert Hossein, 1960)

Feb

26

canapés

Les scélérats (1960)

Maid Louise (Perrette Pradier) holding a platter with canapés at a black tie party. Observing her is the master of the house, Jess Rooland (Robert Hossein). DP: Jacques Robin.

Иконостасът [Ikonostasat / The Icon Stand] (Christo Christov + Todor Dinov, 1969)

Feb

5

apples

Иконостасът (1969)

A closeup of woman's hand moving an apple. The black-and-white photography is deliberately out of focus. DP: Atanas Tasev.

El verdugo [The Executioner] (Luis García Berlanga, 1963)

Jan

31

stale bread

El verdugo (1963)

A closeup of man's hands crumbling bread over a small bowl placed next to a newspaper with keys on top of it. The man has a wool blanket over his shoulders. DP: Tonino Delli Colli.

“Father, we just ate!”

The Thomas Crown Affair (Norman Jewison, 1968)

Jan

26

champagne

The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)

A production photo showing Thomas Crown (McQueen) and Vicki Anderson (Dunaway) sharing foods and drinks. Them seem enthralled with each other. DP: Haskell Wexler.

– Do you play? – Try me.

Touha zvaná Anada [Desire Called Anad / Adrift] (Elmar Klos + Ján Kadár, 1968/1971)

Jan

21

salt

Touha zvaná Anada (1968/1971)

Semi-off screen, an older man with a moustache at a dinner table – many plates, glasses, and foods – reaches for a bowl of salt. DP: Vladimír Novotný.

Восточный коридор [Vostochny Koridor / Eastern Corridor] (Valentin Vinogradov, 1967)

Jan

15

Восточный коридор (1967)

People eating, drinking, singing. DP: Yuri Marukhin.

Les yeux cernés [Marked Eyes] (Robert Hossein, 1964)

Jan

11

baguette

Les yeux cernés (1964)

A young woman with big eyes and a dark bob (Marie-France Pisier) picks crumbs out of a fresh baguette. She's somewhere in a dreary small town. The snow's almost gone. DP: Jean Boffety.

A cavallo della tigre [On the Tiger's Back / Jail Break] (Luigi Comencini, 1961)

Jan

6

A cavallo della tigre (1961)

Two men in a doorway with a stunned look on their faces and their mouths stuffed with food. DP: Aldo Scavarda.

剣 ​(小説) [Ken / The Sword] (Kenji Misumi, 1964)

Dec

29

Tick Tock Day

剣 (1964)

One of the kendōka kneeled on the floor in gruelling punishment faces a clock on the wall, while the other students continue their training. DP: Chikashi Makiura.

A clock face for Tick Tock Day, USA.

 

After World War II, the Japanese martial arts of #kendo was banished by the occupying forces in an attempt to “remove and exclude militaristic and ultra-nationalistic persons from life”. With that in mind, it makes complete sense that nationalist author and former kendo practitioner Yukio Mishima wrote a short story – Sword, originally published in literary magazine Shincho in 1963 – about the art.

– So what is your goal in life then?

– Satisfaction of the present. The sword, and nothing else.

Both the story and Kenji Misumi's 1964 film adaptation follow arrogant kendo student Jiro, played by sublime kabuki actor Raizō Ichikawa who also appears in an earlier Mishima adaptation, 炎上 [Enjō / The Temple of the Golden Pavilion / Conflagration] (1958).

Invasión [Invasion] (Hugo Santiago, 1969)

Dec

27

maté

Invasión (1969)

Don Porfirio (Juan Carlos Paz) pours water from a small kettle into a maté. DP: Ricardo Aronovich.