settima

1980s

Polyester (John Waters, 1981)

Nov

10

Polyester (1981)

Todd Tomorrow (Tab Hunter) and Francine Fishpaw (Divine) in wild ecstasy. The scene appears to evoke a moment of passion between Chris Flanders (Richard Burton) and Flora Goforth (Elizabeth Taylor) in Boom! (Joseph Losey, 1968). DP: Dave Insley.

“Purr Francine! Purr, purr Francine!”

– Cuddles Kovinsky

Das Gold der Liebe [The Gold of Love] (Eckhart Schmidt, 1983)

Nov

9

Das Gold der Liebe (1983)

DAF-fan Patricia (Alexandra Curtis). DP: Bernd Heinl.

“Oh keiner macht's wie du, Wie du so traut sich's keiner, So wie du”

– DAF – El Que (Gold und Liebe (1981)

Rosso sangue [Absurd / Monster Hunter] (Joe D'Amato, 1981)

Nov

2

spaghetti

Rosso sangue (1981)

Pretending to be set somewhere in the US, people watch an American Football match on TV. Being Italian, their go-to snack is spaghetti. DP: Joe D'Amato.

“So this is the team, ey? A priest, a detective near retirement, and a young moron rookie of a cop… Terrific.”

– Sgt. Ben Engleman

Tajemství hradu v Karpatech [The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians] (Oldřich Lipský, 1981)

Oct

27

1897

Tajemství hradu v Karpatech (1981)

A calendar – undeniably designed by the great Jan Švankmajer – with the date October 27, 1897, set on the day of – or referencing a saint – Sabina. Screenshot via DVDBeaver. DP: Viktor Růžička.

– You surely know that my financial support is unlimited.

– Yes. Long live your false cheque factories!

Psychic Confession (Danny Korem, 1982)

Oct

23

Psychic Confession (1982)

James Hydrick spins a one dollar bill – balanced on top of a pin, locked into an airtight, glass box – with the power of his own mind.

“My whole idea behind this in the first place was to see how dumb America was. How dumb the world is.”

– James Hydrick

Könnyű testi sértés [Tight Quarters] (György Szomjas, 1983)

Oct

16

Könnyű testi sértés (1983)

Csaba (Károly Eperjes) and Miklós (Péter Andorai) in their reluctantly shared apartment. Every frame is claustrophobically filled with people, including the television. DP: Ferenc Grunwalsky.

駅​ [Eki / Station] (Yasuo Furuhata, 1981)

Oct

12

駅 (1981)

Eiji Mikami (Ken Takakura) and Kiriko (Chieko Baishō) watching TV in her quiet bar. She sings along with her favourite song. DP: Daisaku Kimura.

Set 278 days before the start of the Tokyo Olympics.

“One can meet only god at such hour.”

Medium (Jacek Koprowicz, 1985)

Oct

2

Medium (1985)

A man in an impeccable, light-colored suit. His nose is bleeding. DPs: Jerzy Zieliński & Wit Dąbal.

Night of the Comet (Thom Eberhardt, 1984)

Sep

20

cereal

Night of the Comet (1984)

An empty box or Raisin Bran lies tipped-over next to a Toshiba boombox. Just visible but out of focus is Samantha Belmont (Kelli Maroney) in her cheerleader uniform DP: Arthur Albert.

“Hey! If you're going to throw those guns away, can I have one?”

– Sarah

Friendship's Death (Peter Wollen, 1987)

Sep

9

1970

Friendship's Death (1987)

Bill Paterson and Tilda Swinton as Sullivan and Friendship. DP: Witold Stok.

“What will happen when your machines become intelligent? When they become autonomous? When they have private thoughts? You humans look down on your machines because they're man-made. They're a product of your skills and labour. They weren't even domesticated like animals were. You see them simply as extensions of yourself, of your own will. I can't accept that. I can't accept subhuman status simply because I'm a machine based on silicon rather than carbon, electronics rather than biology. If I sound fanatical, it's because I've been trapped in a time warp. In a world where the full potential of machines hasn't been guessed at. A world where I have to wear a human disguise to be accepted? I came here too late. It will all end before the computers that already control the fate of the world have reached the point where they wanted to survive.”

– Friendship