settima

1970s

Il caso Mattei [The Mattei Affair] (Francesco Rosi, 1972)

Oct

27

1962

Il caso Mattei (1972)

A group of well-dressed men, somewhere in a field, with Enrico Mattei (Gian Maria Volontè) in the centre. DP: Pasqualino De Santis.

“IF they want to kill me, let them do it.”

– Enrico Mattei

The Friends of Eddie Coyle (Peter Yates, 1973)

Oct

26

1972

The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)

Eddie Coyle (Robert Mitchum) and Dillon (Peter Boyle) at the Boston Bruins game. DP: Victor J. Kemper.

A key scene takes place at an NHL game between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins at the Boston Garden. Bobby Orr and Eddie Johnston are seen playing for the Bruins, and Keith Magnuson, Tony Esposito, Bill White, Pat Stapleton, and Cliff Koroll are seen playing for the Blackhawks. The real game took place on October 26, 1972, and Chicago won 6-3 (via).

 

Emperor of the North Pole (Robert Aldrich, 1973)

Oct

25

Emperor of the North Pole (1973)

Lobbycard. The blurb reads: “The battle for the title of “Emperor of the North Pole” begins between Shack (ERNEST BORGNINE) and A-No. 1 (LEE MARVIN)“. DP: Joseph F. Biroc.

“Stay off the tracks. Forget it. Its a bum's world for a bum.”

– Shack

Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht [Nosferatu the Vampyre] (Werner Herzog, 1979)

Oct

22

eternal returns

Nosferatu (1979)

Adjani, Kinski, and Herzog on set. DP: Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein.

[A favourite] horror remake*

“I never thought I could be friends with a German again. But here I am… Werner is somehow like Murnau brought back to life.”

Lotte Eisner visiting the set of Herzog's Nosferatu (via)

Coming back to Murnau's expressionist masterpiece was Herzog's bridge between the films made by the grandfathers of German cinema and his era. Herzog, born in 1942 Munich, noted this void created by that philistine regime and felt that, by picking up the thread cut a quarter of a century earlier, German culture could see a restoration to its (non-nationalistic) greatness. Thus a menagerie of rats and actors was released in a reluctant, bourgeois Dutch town.

 

But that's a story for another generation to draw upon.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for October is horror-themed as opposed to date-based, and is all about favourites. Expect non-horror and films I believe to be relevant instead.

仁義なき戦い [Jingi naki tatakai / Battles Without Honor and Humanity] (Kinji Fukasaku, 1973)

Oct

16

仁義なき戦い (1973)

Tetsuya Sakai (Hiroki Matsukata, L) and several of the other yakuza. DP: Sadaji Yoshida.

0課の女 赤い手錠 [Zeroka no onna: Akai wappa / Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs] (Yukio Noda, 1974)

Oct

15

1937

課0課の女 赤い手錠 (1974)

Rei (Miki Sugimoto) wielding the long red chain of her handcuffs. DP: Yoshio Nakajima.

Le passager de la pluie [Rider on the Rain] (René Clément, 1970)

Oct

10

Le passager de la pluie (1970)

Mélancolie 'Mellie' Mau (Marlène Jobert) and Col. Harry Dobbs (Charles Bronson), dancing. DP: Andréas Winding.

– You expect me to eat that?

– Americans live on ketchup and milk. I'm a whiz at geography.

Happy Birthday to John [Happy Birthday John Lennon] (Jonas Mekas, 1995)

Oct

9

1972

Happy Birthday to John (1995)

A rectangular birthday cake with a chocolate acoustic guitar spells out Happy Birthday John From Yoko And The Whole World. Presumed DP: Jonas Mekas.

On October 9th, 1972 an exhibition of John and Yoko's art – designed by the Master of the Fluxus movement, George Maciunas and curated by David Ross – opened at the Syracuse Museum of Art in New York. On the same day, an unusual group of John and Yoko's friends, including Ringo Starr, Allen Ginsberg, and Paul Krasner, gathered to celebrate John's birthday.

 

Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick, 1978)

Oct

7

1916

Days of Heaven (1978)

The Amarillo Dispatch reports on President Wilson's October 7 visit to the town of Panhandle. DP: Néstor Almendros.

– Here he is!

– There he goes!

– That's the president of the whole country.

– Ohh!

Grey Gardens (Albert + David Maysles, Ellen Hovde + Muffie Meyer, 1975)

Oct

5

1973

Grey Gardens (1975)

Washed out felt-tip penned well-wishes read: OCTOBER 5th – 1973 “GREY GARDENS” AT 78 IT IS TRUE – YOU CAN LIVE TO BE 80 TOO. DPs: Albert & David Maysles.

“Thank you for your card and your ice-cream, I love you very much!”

– Edith 'Big Edie' Bouvier Beale, saying goodbye to her birthday party guests