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Poslední trik pana Schwarcewalldea a pana Edgara [The Last Trick of Mr. Schwarcewallde and Mr. Edgar] (Jan Švankmajer, 1964)
Jun
26
National Handshake Day
Mr Schwarcewallde and Mr Edgar on stage. Both are puppeteers in Edwardian costumes and oversized papier-mâché heads. DP: Svatopluk Malý.
Two illusionists compete with increasingly incredible tricks, sealed with a hefty handshake.
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Ikarie XB 1 [Icarus XB 1] (Jindřich Polák, 1963)
Jun
26
An astronaut passing a perfectly symmetrical walkway, similar to the ones seen in Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). DP: Jan Kališ.
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Sodrásban [Current] (István Gaál, 1964)
Jun
24
Swim a Lap Day
Friends swimming in a summer haze. DP: Sándor Sára.
A group of friends go swimming to celebrate the start of summer vacation, and relish those final moments before adult responsibly begins. It is only much later when they realise that one of them is missing.
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L'immortelle (Alain Robbe-Grillet, 1963)
Jun
23
Sat
A man's hand holds a crumbled up diary page for Saturday June 23. There are no calendar entries. DP: Maurice Barry.
“You're a foreigner and you're lost.”
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Il vangelo secondo Matteo [The Gospel According to Matthew] (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1964)
Jun
22
National Kissing Day
Judas (Otello Sestili) kisses Jesus (Enrique Irazoqui) in intimate closeup. DP: Tonino Delli Colli.
A [favourite] movie kiss for National Kissing Day (USA*), not to be confused with International Kissing Day aka World Kiss Day which falls on July 6.
“I don’t have the inhibitions that a practicing Catholic would in that I’m not paralysed by the sacredness of the text, nor do I have the inhibitions of a lapsed Catholic who would view approaching the story of Jesus as compromising his Marxist beliefs, of sinking back into conformity.”
An neorealist, straightforward adaptation of the Gospel of Matthew, populated by non-actors (“Jesus” is a 19-year Catalan trade unionist picked for his resemblance to El Greco's Christ), intellectuals, and anachronistic characters based on biblical art through the ages.
According to said Gospel, apostle Judas kissed prophet Jesus to signal to the police who of the 13 men present was the one to arrest.
Interestingly, the word Matthew chose to describe the kiss is καταφιλέω, the same word used by philosopher Plutarch to describe the kiss between Alexander the Great and his eunuch Bagoas
* no one wants to kiss you anymore, America
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藪の中の黒猫 [Yabu no naka no kuroneko / A Black Cat in a Bamboo Grove] (Kaneto Shindō, 1968)
Jun
19
Garfield the Cat Day
A young woman in white, strangely resembling a cat, seemingly lapping a drink from a bowl. DP: Kiyomi Kuroda.
A mother and daughter who are raped and murdered by a rogue samurai, return as cat-shaped onryō, vengeful spirits.
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6-18-67 (George Lucas, 1967)
Jun
18
1967
The opening credits with the date 6-18-67 superimposed over it. DPs: Charles Braverman, George Lucas, David MacDougall & David Wyler.
“We had never been around such opulence, zillions of dollars being spent every five minutes on this huge, unwieldy thing. It was mind-boggling to us because we had been making films for three hundred dollars, and seeing this incredible waste – that was the worst of Hollywood.”
– pre-blockbuster George Lucas
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Skammen [Shame] (Ingmar Bergman, 1968)
Jun
12
Loving Day
Eva (Liv Ullmann) and Jan Rosenberg (Max von Sydow) (via). DP: Sven Nykvist.
“Sometimes everything seems just like a dream. It's not my dream, it's somebody else's. But I have to participate in it. How do you think someone who dreams about us would feel when he wakes up. Feeling ashamed?”
– Eva
After Vargtimmen (1968), the second of Bergman's Ullmann/Von Sydow cycle. It was followed by En passion (1969).
Against the backdrop of war, a violinist couple tends a garden – and marriage – on the island of Fårö.
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Wholly Communion (Peter Whitehead, 1966)
Jun
11
1965
Allen Ginsberg reciting in front of an enraptured audience at the Royal Albert Hall. DP: Peter Whitehead.
“Love! Love!”
– anonymous poet interrupting Harry Fainlight
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Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (Robert Drew, 1963)
Jun
10
1963
An energetic Bobby arrives at the White House in his limousine. DP: Gregory Shuker.
“This nation, for all its hopes and all its boasts, will not be fully free until all its citizens are free.”
– JFK