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Viskningar och rop [Cries and Whispers] (Ingmar Bergman, 1972)
Aug
1
red
The three sisters in the red room (via). DP: Sven Nykvist.
Red: a building or structure*
“It's just a dream, Agnes.”
– Anna
Red as an expression of inner and outer worlds. Even the scene transitions are red.
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Menschen am Sonntag [People on Sunday, a Film Without Actors] (Robert Siodmak, Edgar G. Ulmer, Rochus Gliese, Curt Siodmak + Fred Zinnemann, 1929)
Jul
31
Someone goes to work*
“Du, Wolf, nächsten Sonntag — ?”
– title card
Berliners rest on Sunday, we still do. People lounge in the many parks, and on the shores of the city's many lakes. And then, it's Monday.
Released in 1929, according to Atlas Film, who restored this important Weimar classic long before Criterion put their grubby hands on it.
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Το κορίτσι με τα μαύρα [To koritsi me ta mavra / A Girl in Black] (Mihalis Kakogiannis, 1956)
Jul
30
Marina (Ellie Lambeti) in the port of Hydra. DP: Walter Lassally.
Someone is sad, or cries*
A wealthy Athenian writer on holiday on Hydra falls for the morose Marina (Ellie Lambeti), one of the daughters of his widowed innkeeper, causing disruption in the close-knit island community.
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Paparazzi (Jacques Rozier, 1963/1964)
Jul
29
A character has a camera or takes photos*
It buzzes on the set of Le mépris. These mosquitos, the Italians say paparazzi, swarm La Bardot and making it merely impossible for anyone – themselves included – to do their job. But Bardot knows them, too well, and gives them what they want, when she wants it.
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The Tempest (Derek Jarman, 1979)
Jul
28
Local nightlife: people dancing or at a show*
“Don't know why
There's no sun up in the sky
Stormy weather
Since my man and I ain't together
Keeps raining all of the time
Oh, yeah
Life is bad
Gloom and misery everywhere
Stormy weather, stormy weather
And I just can get my poor self together
Oh, I'm weary all of the time
The time, so weary all of the time
When he went away
The blues walked in and met me
Oh, yeah if he stays away
Old rocking chair's gonna get me
All I do is pray
The Lord will let me
Walk in the sun once more
Oh, I can't go on, can't go on, can't go on
Everything I have is gone
Stormy weather, stormy weather
Since my man and I, me and my daddy ain't together
Keeps raining all of the time
Oh, oh, keeps raining all of the time
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah raining all of the time
Stormy stormy
Stormy weather
Yeah”
– Elisabeth Welch, Stormy Weather (Harold Arlen & Ted Koehler, 1933)
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Sommaren med Monika [Summer with Monika] (Ingmar Bergman, 1953)
Jul
27
Monika (Harriet Andersson) and Harry (Lars Ekborg) rest in each other's arms. DP: Gunnar Fischer, still photography by Louis Huch.
Someone naps or sleeps*
“I guess we like each other a lot, huh?”
– Monika Eriksson
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Il sorpasso [The Easy Life] (Dino Risi, 1962)
Jul
26
a boys' night out
Bruno (Gassman) and Roberto (Trintignant) driving along Italy in their sports car (via). DP: Alfio Contini.
A boys' night out: men having fun on their own*
“Bruno, I've spent the best two days of my life with you… I mean it!”
– Roberto Mariani
Serious law student Roberto (Jean-Louis Trintignant) goes on an accidental road trip with bon vivant Bruno (Vittorio Gassman).
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Sedmikrásky [Daisies] (Věra Chytilová, 1966)
Jul
25
a girls' night out
Marie I and Marie II (Jitka Cerhová and Ivana Karbanová respectively) having a heck of a time. DP: Jaroslav Kučera.
A girls' night out: women having fun on their own[???]*
Marie II: “But I'm happy.”
Marie I: “I'm so happy, too.”
Two young women called Marie pull destructive, anarchist pranks.
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簪 [Kanzashi / Ornamental Hairpin] (Hiroshi Shimizu, 1941)
Jul
24
relaxation
Men relaxing at a roten-buro, an outdoor onsen. DP: Suketarō Inokai.
Someone goes to a spa, beach, or retreat*
“There’s something almost poetic about finding a hairpin in the bath. It’s like the sole of my foot has been pierced by poetry.”
Relaxing at an onsen, a soldier steps on the titular kanzashi. Now injured with too much time on his hands, he and his fellow nosy patrons go out looking for its owner.
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Vysoká zeď [The High Wall] (Karel Kachyňa, 1964)
Jul
23
The young man (Vít Olmer) rests in the sun with Jitka (Radka Dulíková) observing him. DP: Josef Vaniš.
Someone is in an ambulance or hospital*
“We still remember our high wall. Even the day we first climbed it, filled with curiosity. The sadness of the discoveries of those years seemed devastating to us. Then we wondered how we could have forgotten it so suddenly.”
– prologue
It's summer in Prague. Jitka, a girl on the cusp of womanhood, follows a stray cat and finds a tall hospital wall. Behind it, a young man in a wheelchair rests. The girl and the man connect.