Something buried: discovery of the Terracotta Army on March 29, 1974

 

A German history teacher, unhappy with the standardised history textbooks she has to work with, literally digs up her nation's past and sees how it is reflected in modern society.

A laugh out loud scene for Something on a Stick Day (USA)

 

Bonsoir. Je m'appelle Rosalie!

 

Rosalie (the wonderful Sarah Duhamel) buys herself a phonograph and is delighted by the wonders it brings. Quick, the whole household should know!

 

Not only the obvious moments (no spoilers here), but the small, seemingly improvised bits is what makes Rosalie stand out above American productions of the time – with the exception of Roscoe Arbuckle's; his water bucket pun in His Wife's Mistakes (1916) still has me in stitches.

 

Duhamel makes great use of her physique, and doesn't shy away from looking inelegant, boorish even. Her hips are for pushing things and men out of her way, and her mighty paws easily toss any unwieldy piece of furniture out of the window.

 

Like Rosalie's irresistible gusto and her delightful ditties, the combination of Duhamel's physical comedy and (former #vaudeville-ian) Bosetti's Italian-flavoured slapstick, plus some of the best stop-motion trickery I've ever seen, is simply magical.

A film that I wish would have won the Academy Award for Best Picture in honour of the 94^th Academy Awards (2022).

“The Dust has come to stay. You may stay or pass on through or whatever.”

– gas station sign

Bad drivers: the start of compulsory driving tests in the UK was established on March 26, 1934* with the Road Traffic Act.

“This film portrays the traffic war that goes on every day. — Tokyo, 1964”

– opening title

*I find no solid proof to support this statement

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

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

– Ludwig II

Freebie: “Give me liberty or give me death!” (Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775)

“F-R-double-E-D, D-O-M spells Freedom! We fight for freedom, for one and for all! It's you-and-me-dom, and ten foot tall! Freedom, freedom, and oh-can-you-see-dom, we'll always beat 'em with star-spangled freedom!”

– Mr. Freedom singing his theme song

A truly silly film for National Goof-off Day (USA)

“I am the BBC as you can see, and here was the last news.”

– The BBC

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).

A natural phenomenon for this year's March equinox, three supermoons, and the March 25 solar eclipse.

“There was a silence different from all other silences, an ashen light, and then darkness – total stillness. I thought that during an eclipse even our feelings stop. Out of this came part of the idea for L'eclisse.”

– Michelangelo Antonioni talking about experiencing a solar eclipse, possibly the total eclipse of 1961 which showed up in the film Barabbas (1961).

During several moments in the film, the main characters' mannerisms foreshadow the looming solar eclipse.

Student activism to commemorate the March 19 1968 Howard University Protest

“One must confront vague ideas with clear images”

– slogan on a wall

Five Maoist students theorise, then practice a radical overthrow via terrorism.

 

Loosely based on Dostoyevsky's Бѣсы [The Possessed] (1871–72).