settima

1970s

Ludwig (Luchino Visconti, 1973)

Mar

25

Elton John – 1947

Ludwig (1973)

Elisabeth “Sissi” of Austria (Romy Schneider) and King Ludwig II of Bavaria (Helmut Berger) in his beloved Venus Grotto below Schloss Linderhoff. Ludwig wanted blue light in reference to the Grotta Azzurra in #Capri, and had electricity installed in the grotto, which was the first usage of electricity in Austria. DP: Armando Nannuzzi.

A flamboyant character for Elton John’s birthday (1947).

“I want to remain an enigma forever. To others, and also to myself.”

– Ludwig II

200 Motels (Tony Palmer + Frank Zappa, 1971)

Mar

23

200 Motels (1971)

Ringo Starr dressed up like Frank Zappa, with Frank Zappa dressed up like Frank Zappa in the background. Both wear identical blue jeans and turtleneck sweaters and sport the same shoulder-length hairstyle and moustache/goatee combination. DP: Tony Palmer.

I'm sure the people at home would be interested to know why such a large force as you is all dressed up like Frank Zappa. Tell us Larry, whats the deal?

– Rance Muhammitz speaking to Larry The Dwarf

The Moon Over the Alley (Joseph Despins, 1976)

Mar

21

End Racism Day

The Moon Over the Alley (1976)

Ronnie Gusset (Patrick Murray), Sherry (Bill Williams), and Belinda (Sharon Forester) at a kitchen table, chatting and laughing. DP: Peter Hannan.

Diversity for the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

 

Today marks the anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre (1960), when police butchered dozens of people gathered to protest the pass law, one of Apartheid's many cruel segregation measurements.

“In a short while you'll see that the moon won't be so bright as it is. Clouds will cover it… it'll get broken up there. I hope it won't break us.”

– Sybil

The multicultural residents of a Notting Hill boarding house go about their day – listening to the radio, humming, singing – with the local council's imminent demolition of their home looming over them.

 

A kitchen sink drama, yes. But also a catchy musical, written by no other than Galt MacDermot, who brought the world the musical Hair (1967) and the blaxploitation neo-noir Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970).

Grauzone [Zones] (Fredi M. Murer, 1979)

Mar

21

1976

Grauzone (1979)

The anonymous, urgent newspaper announcement referencing the oath of secrecy considering a mysterious epidemic, starting March 21, 1976. It lists all the symptoms. DP: Hans Liechti.

Eine mysteriöse EPIDEMIE ist ausgebrochen.

La Chambre verte [The Green Room / The Vanishing Fiancée] (François Truffaut, 1978)

Mar

17

La Chambre verte (1978)

Julien Davenne (Truffaut). DP: Néstor Almendros.

“Our past doesn't belong to us.”

De nieuwe ijstijd [The New Ice Age] (Johan van der Keuken, 1974)

Mar

16

Reykjavík Food & Fun Festival

De nieuwe ijstijd (1974)

A young female factory worker listlessly fills a long plastic tube with pale ice-cream.. DP: Johan van der Keuken.

Ice or cold food to celebrate the final day of the Reykjavík Food & Fun Festival

“For me it’s important to note that the film’s information is also the only thing you know. That’s the idea of the tip of the iceberg, provided that only the portion above the water exists (in the film), because you know nothing of what’s under water and therefore it’s impossible for you to describe the entire iceberg.   For example, in De nieuwe ijstijd the characters are not described 'in their entirety'. What is shown is only what we’ve encountered when we were filming. It’s always a limited, fragmentary knowledge of everything that exists, and that’s how it’s shown.”

– Johan van der Keuken, via

Part three of Van der Keuken's Noord-Zuid trilogy. Again we are confronted with the contrast between the First and Third world, here represented by a Dutch family of monotonous ice-cream factory hands, and impoverished Peruvian workers establishing self-governance, accompanied by Willem Breuker's punching free jazz cacophony.

Cockfighter (Monte Hellman, 1974)

Mar

15

Cockfighter (1974)

Frank Mansfield (Warren Oates) holding up a reluctant, wildly flapping white rooster. DP: Néstor Almendros.

Waiting for Fidel (Michael Rubbo, 1974)

Mar

8

International Women's Day

Waiting for Fidel (1974)

A group of six girls and two boys sing in celebration of International Women's Day. DP: Douglas Kiefer.

Time flies while waiting for Fidel, and before you know it, it's March 8.

 

 

Film du Jour posts does not list holidays on their respective date, unless a film or scene happens to take place on one.

聖母観音大菩薩 [Seibo Kannon daibosatsu / Eros Eterna] (Kōji Wakamatsu, 1977)

Mar

7

immortality

聖母観音大菩薩 (1977)

The yao bikuni (Eiko Matsuda) rises from the ocean. DP: Hideo Itō.

An immortal character on the date Highlander (1986) was released.

– Dont raise your voice! I'll kill you if you make a sound.

– Would you please?

When a woman eats the flesh of a 人魚 (ningyo, litt. “human fish” but in Western context commenly translated as “mermaid”), she may become a 八百比丘尼 [yao bikuni], an 800 year* old Buddhist nun granted youth and longevity.

 

*The number 8 symbolises growth and prosperity. Larger numbers starting with 8 indicate that the amount is endless, comparable to saying “hundreds/thousands/millions of […]” in English. Therefore, 800 years can be understood as immortal.