settima

1970s

3 Women (Robert Altman, 1977)

Feb

7

1970

3 Women (1977)

Millie Lammoreaux's Social Security card, issued on February 7, 1970. DP: Charles Rosher Jr.

“Got a lot to write about today. You.”

– Millie Lammoreaux

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

Feb

2

L'udienza (1972)

Aiche (Claudia Cardinale) washing Principe Donati's (Vittorio Gassman) feet. DP: Mario Vulpiani.

Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs (Stuart Cooper, 1974)

Scrawdyke

2

Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs (1974)

Malcolm Scrawdyke (John Hurt), disgruntled art student. DP: John Alcott.

“So, this month becomes the month of Scrawdyke.”

– Malcolm Scrawdyke

Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant [The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant] (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1972)

Jan

31

freebie: high fashion

Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant (1972)

Fashion designer Petra von Kant (Margit Carstensen) – pouting in her emerald-green dress – is kneeled on a large, sheepskin carpet in front of a huge Baroque painting (Nicolas Poussin's Midas und Bacchus, ca. 1624). In front of her a small bottle of gin and a phone. DP: Michael Ballhaus.

A freebie for someone's birthday, with bonus points for high fashion. Petra von Kant is a fashion designer who, during a particularly icy birthday party, tells the world that her new lover is a woman. Then, one day, said lover returns home to her husband.

– You have a good figure. You could use it to your advantage. Get in touch with me some time. – I'd love to.

With its exuberant costumes and set design, a Greek chorus of mannequins, and Sirk-ish larger- than-life melodrama, Fassbinder's Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant delves deep into the absurdities of love and fancy.

Beaubourg, centre d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou [Beaubourg] (Roberto Rossellini, 1977)

Jan

31

1977

Beaubourg, centre d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou (1977)

Rossellini on site. DPs: Néstor Almendros, Jean Chiabaut & Emmanuel Machuel.

Případ pro začínajícího kata [Case for a Rookie Hangman] (Pavel Juráček, 1970)

Jan

30

doors

Případ pro začínajícího kata (1970)

In a completely dark room, a large silhouette of a man can be seen rushing through a brightly lit doorway. Other, impossible doors at odd heights show several people observing the man. Still via DVDBeaver. DP: Jan Kališ.

A gateway or door for Janus, god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and ending.

 

A man named Gulliver (Lubomír Kostelka) accidentally runs over a rabbit, who is dressed to the nines and carries a pocket watch. Slowly, the man finds himself in a sort of Wonderland.

Shaft (Gordon Parks, 1971)

Jan

27

Shaft (1971)

John Shaft (Richard Roundtree). Can you dig it, baby? DP: Urs Furrer.

“Play straight, baby.”

– John Shaft

Die große Ekstase des Bildschnitzers Steiner [The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner] (Werner Herzog, 1974)

Jan

25

Chamonix 1924 Winter Olympics

Die große Ekstase des Bildschnitzers Steiner (1974)

Live footage of Steiner preparing for his flight. DP: Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein.

Winter sports in celebration of the Chamonix 1924 Winter Olympics.

“Ich sollte eigentlich ganz allein auf der Welt sein, ich, Steiner, und sonst kein anderes lebendes Wesen. Keine Sonne, keine Kultur, ich nackt auf einem hohen Fels, kein Sturm, kein Schnee, keine Straßen, keine Banken, kein Geld, keine Zeit und kein Atem. Ich würde dann jedenfalls keine Angst mehr haben.”

– Walter Steiner

In a film that is as much about Herzog as it is about Steiner, we follow the soft-spoken woodcarver in preparation of his definitive ski flight in Planica, Yugoslavia.

دایره مینا [Dayereh mina / The Cycle] (Dariush Mehrjui, 1977)

Jan

23

National Blood Donor Month

Dayereh mina (1977)

Poor looking men seen squatting on the floor, one arm attached to a blood bottle. In the middle of the floor a man in a lab coat with numerous empty bottles on a pristine white table. DP: Houshang Baharlou.

Someone gives blood for National Blood Donor Month (USA). A young man who accompanies his sick father to a hospital decides to donate blood for much needed money.

El año de la peste [The Year of the Plague] (Felipe Cazals, 1979)

Jan

12

El año de la peste (1979)

Armed police wearing gas masks in front of the Palacio Nacional, Mexico City. DP: Xavier Cruz.

“It has been a good day for everyone, even for God. No sign of rain. No evidence of disease or blood.”