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Mahler (Ken Russell, 1974)
Nov
12
World Pneumonia Day
Gustav (Robert Powell) and Alma (Georgina Hale), both in a three piece suit with top hats. She's in a shadows, wearing a tight, black veil that completely conceals her features. DP: Dick Bush.
A sickly #GustavMahler (Robert Powell) and his wife Alma (Georgina Hale) dwell on their shared lives while travelling to Vienna by train. Storylines – circular like a journey, rondo like #Mahler's compositions – drift from the ordinary to the grotesque.
“I don't want to imitate nature. I want to capture its very essence. As if all the birds and the beasts die tomorrow and the world became a desert, when people heard my music – they would still know, feel, what nature was.”
– Gustav Mahler
This would be the composer's final tour. A train took him to a Vienna sanatorium where not much later he'd succumb to #pneumonia.
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儀式 [Gishiki / The Ceremony] (Nagisa Ōshima, 1971)
Nov
11
World Origami Day
A man kneeled in front of a Shintō altar. Ceremonial origami, known as origata or girei origami can be seen hanging from the altar. This is 幣帛 [heihaku], an offering made of cloth or paper. DP: Tōichirō Narushima.
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Jaanipäev [St. John's Day] (Andres Sööt, 1978)
Nov
5
Bonfire Night
The neatly stacked pyre on jaanipäev with Tallinn's dreary socialist Plattenbau on the horizon. DP: Andres Sööt.
As long as they can remember, jaaniõhtu is when Estonians gather to celebrate midsummer. It started, they'll tell you, 4000 years ago when Kaali appeared. Ever since, come rain or shine, come socialism or capitalism, the people gather and light bonfires in its remembrance. Some sing the songs of the elders, memory willing. Others see this as their moment to shine. As a great musician perhaps. A faithful worker. Or a lover, for jaanipäev; #midsummer night.
“Come, this party is for hard-working people!”
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Matinée (Jaime Humberto Hermosillo, 1977)
Nov
4
National Easy Bake Oven Day
Friends Aarón (Rodolfo Chávez Martínez) and Jorge (Armando Martín) having a grownup discussion about the situation. DP: Jorge Stahl Jr..
Two boys skip class to catch a movie – Alexander Mackendrick's thematically similar A High Wind in Jamaica (1965) – and end up as members of a violent gang instead. While Matinée has elements of a typical 70s #ComingOfAge movie, the more fascinating element is the role reversal of the two children and the robbers. As the kids are forced to grow up, fast, the criminals live out their childhood fantasy of never having to listen to anyone ever again. And bicker over comics.
Robert Rodriguez stated that the fearsome criminals in his El Mariachi (1992) never outgrew their childhood nicknames. I start to suspect that once upon a time, a little boy named Robertiño skipped class and went to the matinee.
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Fall 2 (Bas Jan Ader, 1970)
Nov
2
Look for Circles Day
“All is falling”
– Bas Jan Ader
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Beatriz (Gonzalo Suárez, 1976)
Oct
5
soup
Basilisa (Nadiuska) holds up a terrine for Juan (Óscar Martín), who scoops the soup into his bowl. The bowl is the top of three the small boy has towering in front of him. DP: Carlos Suárez.
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The Animal (Walter Ungerer, 1976)
Sep
30
National Ghost Hunting Day
Jo (Jo Moore) in the couple's cabin. She's seen reflected in a mirror, together with what appears to be an older woman in an old photograph. DP: Walter Ungerer.
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鉄輪 [Kanawa / The Iron Crown] (Kaneto Shindō, 1972)
Sep
20
fried eggs
Meg Flower as the young woman eats a fried egg straight from a spatula. She's naked. DP: Kiyomi Kuroda.
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Céline et Julie vont en bateau: Phantom Ladies Over Paris [Celine and Julie Go Boating] (Jacques Rivette, 1974)
Sep
17
National Women's Friendship Day
Celine (Juliet Berto) leans into Julie (Dominique Labourier) in the back of a car. DP: Jacques Renard.
“It doesn't hurt to fall off the moon.”
– Julie
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Gimme Shelter (Albert + David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin, 1970)
Sep
13
Uncle Sam Day
Mick Jagger seen from the back wearing an Uncle Sam top hat, in front of an unseen crowd. DPs: Albert Maysles, David Maysles & Gary Weis.
It's December 6, 1969 and just like that, the 60s were over. It started out great, the West Coast edition of Woodstock. Santana, Jefferson Airplane, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, a 300.000 strong crowd and, of course, The Rolling Stones on the final leg of their US tour. And, of course too, Hells Angels armed with motorcycle chains, sawed-off pool cues and $500 worth of beer, hired to stop fans from climbing the stage. And not in the least due to its proximity to Frisco, lots of bad drugs mixing with that crowd.
“Well, The Rolling Stones tour of the United States is over. It wounded up with a free concert at the Altamont Speedway for more than 300,000 people. There were four births, four deaths and an awful lot of scuffles reported.”
– Stefan Ponek, KSN Radio