settima

1970s

شكاوى الفلاح الفصيح [El-Fallâh el-fasîh / The Eloquent Peasant] (Chadi Abdel Salam, 1970)

Dec

23

National Farmers Day – India

El-Fallâh el-fasîh (1970)

The peasant (Ahmed Marei) in a stone temple, flanked by scribes. DP: Mustafa Imam.

Farmers for Kisan Divas [National Farmers Day] (India)

 

4000 years ago, Egypt, Middle Kingdom. A peasant, leading his mules past a stream of water, is tricked. With his animals gone, he pleads to the Pharaoh to restore Maʽat, harmony.

“He's a peasant. Without looking into his situation, words are all he has.”

Chadi Abdel Salam is not only this film's director, but also a trained architect, later set and costume designer. His eye wordlessly speaks the passing of time in the smallest of details. The withering of ferns, desert sand staining linen, the Sun merging with skin. At once, the universal presence of the gods becomes visible.

Punishment Park (Peter Watkins, 1971)

Dec

13

U.S. National Guard Birthday

Punishment Park (1971)

Military men arresting one of the dissidents. A man in black uniform and white helmet interacts directly with the camera c.q. the viewer. DPs: Joan Churchill & Peter Smokler.

The National Guard shows up: U.S. National Guard Birthday, USA.

 

A European camera crew follows a diverse group of American minor dissidents – pacifists, feminists, communists – who are given the choice to spend decades in federal prison, or three days in Bear Mountain Punishment Park, chased by National Guardsmen and law enforcement officers. If they manage to capture the American flag, they're free to go.

“America is as psychotic as it is powerful and violence is the only goddamn thing that will command your attention.”

– Defendant Lee Robert Brown

While the washed-out 16mm footage and references to #Nixon may tell you otherwise, Punishment Park remains a gut-punching portrait of a timeless America.

3 Women (Robert Altman, 1977)

Dec

2

Pillsbury™ Crescent Dogs

3 Women (1977)

Pinky Rose (Sissy Spacek) opens a jar of Sau-Sea shrimp cocktail. Thank you Mother Suspiria and mom for solving this riddle! Ooo, there's Crescent Dogs too! DP: Charles Rosher Jr..

Pinky Rose: Wine! You got wine! Millie: Yeah. PR: Tickled Pink! M: And the other's Lemon Satin. PR: Ooo! Lemon Satin!

Em bé Hà Nội [The Little Girl of Hanoi] (Hải Ninh, 1974)

Nov

30

Day of Remembrance for All Victims of Chemical Warfare

Em bé Hà Nội (1974)

The titular little girl walking past a wall covered in bullet holes. DP: The Dan Tran.

War crimes on the Day of Remembrance for All Victims of Chemical Warfare

 

Operation Linebacker II, sometimes euphemistically referred to as the #Christmas bombings, was the outcome of a 1972 agreement between US war criminal and future Nobel Prize winner Henry #Kissinger and Vietnamese general Lê Đức Thọ. During an 11 day period, a staggering 20000 tons of shells were dropped on the cities of Hà Nội [#Hanoi] and Hải Phòng [#Haiphong], killing at least 1624 civilians.

“Peace is at hand.”

– Kissinger in 1972, commenting on Operation Linebacker II

Film as you may know it approaches the #Vietnam war from one of two perspectives. There is your heroic propaganda, reducing the Vietnamese to cruel vermin to be rooted out by brave Americans. That list is endless and I'm tired. Then on the other hand there's levity, song and dance and a swish of sentiment with Hair and the unforgivable Good Morning, Vietnam; the, see it wasn't too bad we brought “them” rock 'n' roll and bubblegum-approach. And only once upon a time there was The Deer Hunter. However none of these see the Vietnamese, regardless of North or South, as people. A backdrop perhaps, as exotic as foliage.

 

Showing what happened on the ground, other than the faith of Phan Thị Kim Phúc or Nguyễn Văn Lém, something beyond the fetishisation of helpless victimhood, is essential to put a face on things. And a voice in people's mouths.

 

Today, I use my voice to proclaim my wordless joy for the end of an era. And will spare it for the harrowing future to come.

Angst vor der Angst [Fear of Fear] (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1975)

Nov

29

freebie: Housewife Day

Angst vor der Angst (1975)

Margot (Margit Carstensen) seeing herself reflected twice in a triple mirror. We see her from the back, which blocks out the third reflection. DP: Jürgen Jürges.

November 3 redux

“I'm calm. I'm completely calm. You can leave me alone now”

– Margot

Picnic at Hanging Rock (Peter Weir, 1975)

Nov

26

Valentine's cake – alfresco

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

A piece of cake. With teeny tiny ants crawling all over it. Awww! DP: Russell Boyd.

“This we do for pleasure, so that we may shortly be at the mercy of venomous snakes and poisonous ants. How foolish can human creatures be.”

– Miss McCraw

Picnic at Hanging Rock (Peter Weir, 1975)

Nov

26

World Lewis Day

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

A koala high up in a tree, observing one of the rescue operations. DP: Russell Boyd.

A koala for World Lewis Day

 

It's not possible to be in nature, one can only be absorbed by it.

“The vicinity is reknowned for its venomous snakes and poisonous ants of various species. It is, however, a geological marvel.”

– Mrs. Appleyard

Italianamerican (1974)

Cast and crew in the Scorsese family dining room.

Italianamerican (1974)

November 23: family dinner for #Thanksgiving

Italianamerican (Martin Scorsese, 1974)

Take a few spoonfuls of tomato and throw them in there.

While mother Scorsese's famous meatballs in gravy are working their way to mwah! ​chef's kiss​ perfection, son Martin interviews his parents Catherine and Charles. For those unsure what to cook, and for those who don't celebrate Thanksgiving at all, mama's recipe is included in the end credits. And here:

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L'udienza [The Audience] (Marco Ferreri, 1972)

Nov

14

L'udienza (1972)

Amedeo (Enzo Jannacci), a young man with heavy rimmed glasses wrapped in heavy, flowery drapes as if it's a toga, eating late at night. There's an opened can on one of his plates. A sad looking stuffed toy dog hangs out. DP: Mario Vulpiani.

L'enfant sauvage [The Wild Child] (François Truffaut, 1970)

Nov

14

Young Readers Day

L'enfant sauvage (1970)

Victor, the Wild Boy of Aveyron (Jean-Pierre Cargol), reads letters from a board under supervision of Dr. Jean Itard (Truffaut). DP: Néstor Almendros.

One of the most elaborately recorded “feral child” cases is that of the Wild Boy of Aveyron. In the year 1800, after few fruitless attempts to bound him to civilisation, a young boy left the forests of Saint-Sernin-sur-Rance and settled in. The child's primal appearance and lack of speech labeled him an idiot. However, in the era of Enlightenment, the question of nurture versus nature was a pressing one. Studies on Victor began.

“I'm glad that you came home. Do you understand? This is your home. You're no longer a wild boy, even if you're not yet a man.”

– Dr. Itard

Truffaut explores L'enfant sauvage right when the idea of the noble savage seemed to lock on with counterculture. With #Truffaut as Victor's tutor Itard in front of the camera, directly guiding amateur child actor (and “gipsy”) Cargol, the film not only reimagines Victor's fate, but reenacts Western presumed enlightenment over The Other.