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Soleil Ô [Oh, Sun] (Med Hondo, 1970)
Dec
10
Human Rights Day
“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.
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L'ange et la femme [The Angel and the Woman] (Gilles Carle, 1977)
Dec
3
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.
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Surma hinda küsi surnutelt [Ask the Dead About the Price of Death] (Kaljo Kiisk, 1977)
Dec
1
1924
A woman wearing a crochet skull cap and an ominous look on her face. DP: Jüri Sillart.
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Belle (André Delvaux, 1973)
Nov
28
Belle (Adriana Bogdan) in front of her cabin on the moors. DPs: Ghislain Cloquet & Charles Van Damme.
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Un comisar acuză [A Police Inspector Calls] (Sergiu Nicolaescu, 1974)
Nov
26
1940
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
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La polizia ringrazia [Execution Squad / The Law Enforcers] (Steno, 1972)
Nov
23
Sandra (Mariangela Melato) and Francesco Bettarini (Franco Fabrizi). DP: Riccardo Pallottini.
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Ciao Manhattan (John Palmer + David Weisman, 1972)
Nov
21
1971
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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
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Shoot (Barbara Burden, 1971)
Nov
19
1971
“At 7:45 p.m. I was shot in the left arm by a friend.”
– Chris Burden
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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
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)
* 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.
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Requiem for a Village (David Gladwell, 1975)
Nov
14
The wedding's party revellers sing. DP: Bruce Parsons.
“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.