settima

1960s

Guide [The Guide] (Vijay Anand, 1965)

Aug

20

fasting

Guide (1965)

A scruffy looking Raju (Dev Anand) wearing the orange shawl of a holy man. DP: Fali Mistry.

Ramadan [on the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, not mid-August]: someone atones or fasts*

“These people have faith in me, and I have faith in their faith.”

– Swami Ji

Due to a simple misunderstanding, a farmer mistakes tour guide Raju for a holy man. When drought hits the land, the village fool tells the townspeople that Raju, now known as Swami Ji, will fast for twelve days to bring the rain. During his reluctant fast, Raju undergoes a spiritual transformation.

 

Plein soleil [Purple Noon] (René Clément, 1960)

Aug

20

1959

Plein soleil (1960)

A contract for Marge, a sailboat, dated August 20, 1959. DP: Henri Decaë.

“Marge, my love, my angel.”

The Plague of the Zombies (John Gilling, 1966)

Aug

20

The Plague of the Zombies (1966)

A rather disgusting looking zombie carrying a young brunette in a flower dress. DP: Arthur Grant.

“I, I find all kinds of witchcraft slightly nauseating and this I find absolutely disgusting.”

– Sir James Forbes

Le Horla [The Horla] (Jean-Daniel Pollet, 1966)

Aug

19

violet

Le Horla (1966)

The narrator enters a violet-blue room via a lavender-purple corridor (via). DP: Jean-Jacques Rochut.

Violet: a building or structure *

“Is it the form of the clouds, or the tints of the sky, or the colours of the surrounding objects which are so changeable, which have troubled my thoughts as they passed before my eyes? Who can tell?”

– Guy de Maupassant, Le Horla, 1887 (via)

Objects and rooms have distinct colours ranging from the deepest blues and violets to a pale lavender, a muted silver and shocks of yellow. The usage of colour in Le Horla is striking throughout and reminds me of how Van Gogh's paintings became increasingly colourful as his madness enveloped him.

 

Procès de Jeanne d'Arc [The Trial of Joan of Arc] (Robert Bresson, 1962)

Aug

17

forgiveness

Procès de Jeanne d'Arc (1962)

Jeanne (Florence Delay) bound to the stake. DP: Léonce-Henri Burel.

Holi: someone is forgiven (forgiveness being an important aspect of Holi)*

“Pray for me. I forgive the evil done me.”

– Jeanne d'Arc

Jeanne trusts her delusions to forgive the people who brought her to justice.

 

Fuoco! [Fire!] (Gian Vittorio Baldi, 1968)

Aug

15

Ferragosto

Fuoco! (1968)

The statue of the Virgin with a bullet hole right through her eye. DP: Ugo Piccone.

Someone opens fire on August 15, the day of Ferragosto and the Virgin's Assumption

 

X​ [The Man with the X-Ray Eyes] (Roger Corman, 1963)

Aug

14

X (1963)

Dr. James Xavier (Ray Milland) performing his mind-reading trick. DP: Floyd Crosby.

“The city… as if it were unborn. Rising into the sky with fingers of metal, limbs without flesh, girders without stone. Signs hanging without support. Wires dipping and swaying without poles. A city unborn. Flesh dissolved in an acid of light. A city of the dead.”

– Dr. James Xavier

…und deine Liebe auch [And Your Love Too] (Frank Vogel, 1962)

Aug

13

1961

…und deine Liebe auch (1962)

Eva (Kati Székely). Someone offscreen lits her cigarette. DP: Günter Ost.

Three people must decide what to do on August 13, 1961, the day the Berlin Wall goes up.

 

Il deserto rosso [Red Desert] (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1964)

Aug

12

green

Il deserto rosso (1964)

Valerio (Valerio Bartoleschi) and his mother Giuliana (Monica Vitti) in an arid industrial landscape. Giuliana wears a brilliant green coat, its shade between pea green and moss green, depending on the drabness of the surroundings. DP: Carlo Di Palma.

Green, in food or fashion*

“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.”

– 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.

 

La baie des anges [Bay of Angels] (Jacques Demy, 1963)

Aug

6

mercredi

La baie des anges (1963)

The bank where Jean Fournier (Claude Mann) works. A wall calendar, slightly tilted, reads Août 6 Mercredi. DP: Jean Rabier.

“Life has its tricks. Its oddities.”

– Jackie Demaistre