settima

1970s

Soleil Ô [Oh, Sun] (Med Hondo, 1970)

Dec

10

Human Rights Day

Soleil Ô (1970)

An optimistic Robert Liensol in the city of lights (via). DPs: François Catonné & Jean-Claude Rahaga.

Celebrating human rights on Human Rights Day: the right to work

“Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.”

– Universal Declaration of Human Rights, United Nations General Assembly

A Mauritanian immigrant (Robert Liensol) too starts anew in Paris. But first, he'll need a job.

L'ange et la femme [The Angel and the Woman] (Gilles Carle, 1977)

Dec

3

L'ange et la femme (1977)

Gabriel (Lewis Furey) and the woman he named Fabienne (Carole Laure). DP: François Protat.

A caregiver*

 

A woman is brutally murdered and taken home by a young man. This man – this angel – takes away her wounds, returns her to life, and nurses her. They fall in love.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for December has a few dateless themes. This is one of them.

Surma hinda küsi surnutelt [Ask the Dead About the Price of Death] (Kaljo Kiisk, 1977)

Dec

1

1924

Surma hinda küsi surnutelt (1977)

A woman wearing a crochet skull cap and an ominous look on her face. DP: Jüri Sillart.

 

Belle (André Delvaux, 1973)

Nov

28

Belle (1973)

Belle (Adriana Bogdan) in front of her cabin on the moors. DPs: Ghislain Cloquet & Charles Van Damme.

Un comisar acuză [A Police Inspector Calls] (Sergiu Nicolaescu, 1974)

Nov

26

1940

Un comisar acuză (1974)

DP: Alexandru David.

Takes place on the night of November 26-27, 1940.

“Mister Moldovan, this is not for the first time that a criminal case is entrusted to you. It is precisely your political objectivity that made us choose you.”

– Alexandru Dincă

La polizia ringrazia [Execution Squad / The Law Enforcers] (Steno, 1972)

Nov

23

La polizia ringrazia (1972)

Sandra (Mariangela Melato) and Francesco Bettarini (Franco Fabrizi). DP: Riccardo Pallottini.

Ciao Manhattan (John Palmer + David Weisman, 1972)

Nov

21

1971

spoiler warning: click to toggle image Ciao Manhattan (1972)
spoiler warning: click to read

A newspaper, partially obscured blares “[…], Andy's Star of '65, Is Dead at 28”. The article mentions she (Edie/Susan) died “a week ago today”, making the newspaper's date November 21. DPs: John Palmer & Kjell Rostad.

“It's sort of like a mockery, in a way, of reality, because they think everything is smiles and sweetness and flowers, when there is something bitter to taste. And to pretend there isn't is foolish.”

– Susan

Shoot (Barbara Burden, 1971)

Nov

19

1971

Shoot (1971)

Dunlap aiming at Burden at F Space, Santa Ana, California (via). DP: Barbara Burden.

“At 7:45 p.m. I was shot in the left arm by a friend.”

– Chris Burden

Wir Bergler in den Bergen sind eigentlich nicht schuld, daß wir da sind [We Who Dwell in the Mountains Cannot Be Blamed for Being There] (Fredi M. Murer, 1974)

Nov

17

Wir Bergler in den Bergen sind eigentlich nicht schuld, daß wir da sind (1974)

A mountain man smokes his pipe, accompanied by a sow and a toddler in a wooden playpen. The Alps are all around them (via). DP: Iwan P. Schumacher.

A movie set in the woods or mountains*

“Anderntags hat man sofort getauft, weil jede Mutter lieber ein «Gotteskindli» auf die Arme nahm.”

– Gisler-Arnold Babette, midwife (via)

Murer describes the people from Switzerland's gorges in three movements, along the lines of a symphony

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for November is, again, not date-based, but follows a sloppy schmaltzy all-American Thanksgiving-y narrative. Trying to make it work my way.

Requiem for a Village (David Gladwell, 1975)

Nov

14

Requiem for a Village (1975)

The wedding's party revellers sing. DP: Bruce Parsons.

A movie about community*

“Early one morning, just as the sun was rising, I heard a maid sing in the valley below; ‘O don’t deceive me, O never leave me! How could you use a poor maiden so?”

Early one morning, via

A sort of Wicker Man visits Mon oncle, this painting of an old England is. Painter filmmaker David Gladwell's impressionist work takes us to a small Suffolk community that, like all other communities, is both frozen in time and unable to escape its progression. The churchyard's caretaker, amongst the living and the dead, watches, works, and knows.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for November is, again, not date-based, but follows a sloppy schmaltzy all-American Thanksgiving-y narrative. Trying to make it work my way.