– Burn witch, burn witch, burn! – Dig that crazy beat, man.
The City of the Dead (John Llewellyn Moxey, 1960)
Mar
3
Nan Barlow (Venetia Stevenson), exploring. DP: Desmond Dickinson.
”'I know how you feel,' Reiko says quietly. 'And I will follow you wherever you go.'”
憂國 [Yūkoku / Patriotism or the Rite of Love and Death] (Yukio Mishima, 1966)
Feb
26
1936
Reiko (Yoshiko Tsuruoka) walking through her lover's blood, her kimono drenched. DP: Kimio Watanabe.
Covers February 26–28, 1936.
– intertitles
“For me, Afrikareise is, in its own genre, the most intense sound film that exists. Sound and images are in synch like in nature (even if it isn’t about the natural sound of something). The sound becomes the acoustic portrait of the visual action.”
Unsere Afrikareise [Our Trip to Africa] (Peter Kubelka, 1966)
Feb
22
National Wildlife Day
A frame (source) shows a freshly killed zebra on its side. The film stock's perforations and sound track are visible. DP: Peter Kubelka.
Wild animals for this year's first National Wildlife Day (USA). A second one is on September 4.
– Peter Kubelka, via
Commissioned to film a rich Austrian couple's hunting trip, Kubelka sat on the material for several years before editing it in something more than the sum of its parts.
– Why are we making pancakes? – Monsieur likes them. Besides, what else is there?
Les abysses [The Depths] (Nikos Papatakis, 1963)
Feb
18
pancakes
Michèle and Marie-Louise (real-life sisters Francine and Colette Bergé) as the real-life Papin sisters prepare crêpes for Monsieur. DP: Jean-Michel Boussaguet.
Assalto ao Trem Pagador [Assault on the Pay Train] (Roberto Farias, 1962)
Feb
17
WH helicopter incident – 1974
The favelados-turned-train-robbers. DP: Amleto Daissé.
A heist on the date of the 1974 White House helicopter incident.
Il mare [The Sea] (Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, 1962)
Feb
17
1962
The actor (Umberto Orsini) approaches a hotel lobby. A blackboard notes the date: February 17, 1962. DP: Ennio Guarnieri.
“There's nary a conspiracy. And if I'm right about this, it's a far older sin than politics.”
The List of Adrian Messenger (John Huston, 1963)
Feb
16
Lady Jocelyn Bruttenholm (Dana Wynter), Anthony Gethryn (George C. Scott), and Raoul Le Borg (Jacques Roux). DP: Joseph MacDonald.
– Adrian Messenger
– Let's keep this party going till Sunday.
– Why Sunday?
– The Hindus say the world comes to an end on Sunday.
– But, how will we know when it happens?
– Graves will gape and the shrouded dead will run gibbering and shrieking in the streets.
– Sounds like any other Sunday.
The Party's Over (Guy Hamilton, 1965)
Feb
13
party
The party crowd staggers its way home at dawn across Albert Bridge. DP: Mike Pratt.
Partying on Fat Tuesday*.
*which isn't until March 4 this year.
Adieu Philippine [Farewell, Philippine] (Jacques Rozier, 1962)
Feb
11
friendship
Juliette and Liliane (Stefania Sabatini and Yveline Céry) walk along a promenade in a beautiful, vérité tracking shot. DP: René Mathelin.
A film about friendship for Jennifer Anniston's birthday (1969).
1960. Michel is due to leave for Algeria to serve in the Algerian War. Juliette and Liliane are best friends as inseparable as “Filipino almonds”(?). When they meet, the girls decide to join Michel on his final vacation, on Corsica.
Ole dole doff [Eeny Meeny Miny Moe / Who Saw Him Die?] (Jan Troell, 1968)
Feb
10
Scholastica
A reaction shot shows the pupils' faces. While the girls show some sort of remorse, the boys are deadpan. DP: Jan Troell .
A film about teaching on the day of Saint Scholastica, patron saint of Benedictine nuns, education, and convulsive children.
Companion piece to Vilgot Sjöman's 491 (1964). An anti-authoritarian teacher who is plagued by nightmares, slowly unravels.