settima

Belgium

Black Sabbath – Live in Paris (Jacques Bourton, 1970)

Dec

6

Metal & Beer Fest

Black Sabbath - Live in Paris (1970)

Tony Iommi.

A heavy soundtrack for the Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest: Denver.

“Heavy boots of lead Fills his victims full of dread Running as fast as they can Iron Man lives again”

– Black Sabbath, Iron Man (1970)

Despite its title, Live in Paris was filmed in Théâtre 140 in Brussels by Yorkshire Television and is Sabbath's first recorded live concert.

Belle (André Delvaux, 1973)

Nov

28

Belle (1973)

Belle (Adriana Bogdan) in front of her cabin on the moors. DPs: Ghislain Cloquet & Charles Van Damme.

Calle Santa Fe (Carmen Castillo, 2007)

Oct

5

Calle Santa Fe (2007)

Miguel Enriquez holding Carmen Castillo in a family snapshot. DPs: Ned Burgess, Sebastián Moreno, Raphaël O'Byrne & Arnaldo Rodríguez.

De komst van Joachim Stiller [The Arrival of Joachim Stiller] (Harry Kümel, 1976)

Sep

11

1919

De komst van Joachim Stiller (1976)

The mysterious letter postmarked September 11, 1919 that one day landed on Freek Groenevelt's (Hugo Metsers) doormat. DP: Eduard van der Enden.

“Tot dusver had ik mij steeds vrij tevreden met het leven gevoeld, zonder er wonderen van te verwachten. Die morgen geloofde ik, dat het voor een mens niet onmogelijk is gelukkig te zijn, kortstondig gelukkig misschien, maar gelukkig onmiskenbaar.”

– Hubert Lampo, De komst van Joachim Stiller (1960)

Le 15/8 (Chantal Akerman + Samy Szlingerbaum, 1975)

Aug

15

Le 15/8 (1975)

Chris Myllykoski. DPs: Chantal Akerman & Samy Szlingerbaum.

La perle [The Pearl] (Henri d'Ursel, 1929)

Dec

15

National Wear Your Pearls Day

La perle (1929)

A giddy Kissa Kouprine as the jewellery salesgirl. A pearl necklace jauntily dangles from her suspender. DP: Marc Bujard.

Pearls worn for National Wear Your Pearls Day. No one said those pearls were to be worn in the obvious place.

R​… ne répond plus [R… no longer responds] (Jean-Pierre + Luc Dardenne, 1981)

Aug

28

Radio Commercials Day

R… ne répond plus (1981)

In the nice room for special occasions a small boy is eating next to a large greying woman wearing an apron who in her turn eyes a younger woman who looks exactly like her tuning the radio. It's prominently placed next to an oversized, sensual cornucopian glass bowl, overflowing with oranges. DPs: Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Stéphane Gatti.

R… ne répond plus is Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's exploring the airwaves. Some is clearly political. Radio Schwarzi Chatz (“Radio Black Cat”) and the feminist witches from Wellenhexe (”[radio] wave witch”) have important messages, unheard of in the mainstream media. Others broadcast in languages on the verge of extinction, so may that tongue survive in a world that – already forty years ago – was rapidly homogenising.

“This is called the comeback of reality.”

And then there are those, they're unnamed, who travel the land and across the borders with walkie-talkies – those too are radios, two-way – using their meandering frequencies to hold on to reality. It's all very elusive, but it's there. Maybe #radio is not dead. We just need to learn how to tune into that Enochian frequency again. It's real after all.

Rosetta (Jean-Pierre + Luc Dardenne, 1999)

Aug

24

National Waffle Day

Rosetta (1999)

Émilie Dequenne as the titular Rosetta, eating a Gaufre de Liège (a “Liège waffle” made with brioche-based dough and pearl sugar) as part of daily normalcy. DP: Alain Marcoen.

The city of Liège in Belgium's Walloon region is grey. The air seems forever stained by the heavy mining that for years made its inhabitants rich and sick. Here lives Rosetta (Émilie Dequenne), a young woman trying to keep herself and her alcoholic mother afloat with measly jobs while saving up enough money so she can, finally, leave the trailer park she's forced to call home.

“Your name is Rosetta. My name is Rosetta. You found a job. I found a job. You've got a friend. I've got a friend. You have a normal life. I have a normal life. You won't fall in a rut. I won't fall in a rut. Good night. Good night.”

– Rosetta

Directors Jean-Pierre and Luc #Dardenne once described this film as a war movie. It's pained, like the voices from the trenches that still scar the Belgian landscape. The camera – Alain Marcoen's – close, as if were following the girl through a rifle's scope. And raw, like the open wounds left behind by the mining companies.

Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Chantal Akerman, 1975)

Aug

19

National Potato Day

Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)

Jeanne Dielman (Delphine Seyrig) eternally peeling potatoes for dinner in this gif from Fondation Chantal Akerman. DP: Babette Mangolte.

Jeanne Dielman routinely prepares meals, cleans the house, mothers her teenage son, and entertains men. Then something breaks and her carefully nurtured practices slowly unravel.

“I could have made mashed potatoes, but we're having that tomorrow.”

– Jeanne Dielman

Malpertuis (Harry Kümel, 1971)

May

12

meat

Malpertuis (1971)

Cassavius (Orson Welles), looking monstrous on his sickbed, surrounded by peopel who appear to be in mourning. On his bed's foot-end a large silver platter with cooked meat, and a rat on its hind legs. DP: Gerry Fisher.