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La piscine [The Swimming Pool] (Jacques Deray, 1969)
Jul
20
“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…
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La collectionneuse [The Collector] (Éric Rohmer, 1967)
Jul
18
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.
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血は渇いてる [Chi wa kawaiteru / Blood Is Dry] (Yoshishige Yoshida, 1960)
Jul
17
beer
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.
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妻は告白する [Tsuma wa kokuhaku suru / A Wife Confesses] (Yasuzō Masumura, 1961)
Jul
15
1961
An expert called into the court case studies an enlarged photograph of the supposed crime scene. DP: Setsuo Kobayashi.
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David Holzman's Diary (Jim McBride, 1967)
Jul
14
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
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Horoskop [Horoscope] (Boro Drašković, 1969)
Jul
11
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…
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Soy Cuba [I Am Cuba] (Mikhail Kalatozov, 1964)
Jul
10
The rich and beautiful spend a lazy day at a grand rooftop pool. DP: Sergey Urusevskiy.
Someone in poolside vacation clothing*
“I am Cuba. Why are you running away? You came here to have fun? Go ahead, have fun! Is this a happy picture? Don't avert your eyes. Look! I am Cuba. For you, I am the casino, the bar, the hotels. But the hands of these children and old people, are also me.”
– the voice of Cuba
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L'eclisse [The Eclipse] (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1962)
Jul
10
Mon
Vittoria (Monica Vitti, bottom left) at the Borsa – the Rome Stock Exchange. A clock top-right indicates it's Monday, July 10, 12:31 pm.. DP: Gianni Di Venanzo.
“Everything's crashing here.”
– Vittoria's mother
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Die endlose Nacht [The Endless Night] (Will Tremper, 1963)
Jul
6
The bold and the beautiful stuck at Tempelhof. And yes, one could smoke there. DP: Hans Jura.
(People at) an airport*
It's foggy at Flughafen Berlin-Tempelhof, the Allies' airbridge to the West, and all the planes into and out of West Berlin are grounded. In any other metropolis this could mean taking a train, enjoy the city's nightlife or maybe just a bed for the night. In post-Wall bureaucracy-happy West Berlin, this means endless waits with strangers. And so, with nowhere to go, a Polish jazz band mingles with British spouses, a lonely South African farmer, a model and her beau.
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Rat Life and Diet in North America (Joyce Wieland, 1968)
Jul
4
Independence Day
Rats – gerbils actually – nibbling on the Stars and Stripes (via). DP: Joyce Wieland.
“This film tells a story of rebels (played by real rats) and cops (played by real cats). After a long domination by cats, the rats escape from prison (this is their rebellion) and find refuge in Canada. There, they feed on organic produce from a garden where the grass hasn’t been sprayed with DDT.”
– Jonas Mekas, via
French-Canadian patriot Joyce Wieland tells a fable of freedom.
Coincidentally, the Canadian city of Trois-Rivières, scene of the final battle of the American Revolutionary War, also celebrates an Independence Day on the fourth of July.