settima

Bookadaptation

Popiół i diament [Ashes and Diamonds] (Andrzej Wajda, 1958)

Jun

27

National Sunglasses Day

Popiół i diament (1958)

Maciek Chelmicki (Zbigniew Cybulski) wearing his sunglasses in a dark, almost German Expressionist space, embellished with meandros. DP: Jerzy Wójcik.

[The best] sunglasses in film for National Sunglasses Day (USA)

– Why do you always wear those dark glasses?

– A souvenir of unrequited love for my homeland.

According to IMDb, the sale of sunglasses in Poland went through the roof after this film was released and Cybulski became his country's very own James Dean.

Il vangelo secondo Matteo [The Gospel According to Matthew] (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1964)

Jun

22

National Kissing Day

Il vangelo secondo Matteo (1964)

Judas (Otello Sestili) kisses Jesus (Enrique Irazoqui) in intimate closeup. DP: Tonino Delli Colli.

A [favourite] movie kiss for National Kissing Day (USA*), not to be confused with International Kissing Day aka World Kiss Day which falls on July 6.

“I don’t have the inhibitions that a practicing Catholic would in that I’m not paralysed by the sacredness of the text, nor do I have the inhibitions of a lapsed Catholic who would view approaching the story of Jesus as compromising his Marxist beliefs, of sinking back into conformity.”

– PPP, via

An neorealist, straightforward adaptation of the Gospel of Matthew, populated by non-actors (“Jesus” is a 19-year Catalan trade unionist picked for his resemblance to El Greco's Christ), intellectuals, and anachronistic characters based on biblical art through the ages.

 

According to said Gospel, apostle Judas kissed prophet Jesus to signal to the police who of the 13 men present was the one to arrest.

 

Interestingly, the word Matthew chose to describe the kiss is καταφιλέω, the same word used by philosopher Plutarch to describe the kiss between Alexander the Great and his eunuch Bagoas

 

* no one wants to kiss you anymore, America

Ascenseur pour l'échafaud [Elevator to the Gallows] (Louis Malle, 1958)

Jun

18

International Panic Day

Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (1958)

M Tavernier (Maurice Ronet) seated in an elevator, calmly smoking. Around him several items speak of less calm moments. DP: Henri Decaë.

A character in panic mode on International Panic Day

“Have you seen Mr Tavernier tonight?”

Julien Tavernier has a plan about how to run off with his boss' wife. There's just this one snag. No time to panic, c'est cool c'est cool.

Morte a Venezia [Death in Venice] (Luchino Visconti, 1971)

Jun

11

Say HI Day

Morte a Venezia (1971)

Von Aschenbach (Dirk Bogarde) and Tadzio (Björn Andrésen). DP: Pasqualino De Santis.

Characters say or wave hello on Say HI Day

 

A sickly composer meets and becomes infatuated with a boy during his stay in Venice.

O Menino e o Vento [The Boy and the Wind] (Carlos Hugo Christensen, 1967)

Jun

8

National Best Friends Day

O Menino e o Vento (1967)

The two friends in intimate embrace. DP: Antônio Gonçalves.

[Favourite] best friends in film for National Best Friends Day (USA)

“I'm going with this one.”

– Zeca de Curva, running into the storm

The close friendship between two young men raises suspicion when the younger of them disappears..

Лісова пісня. Мавка [Lisova pisnya. Mavka / A Story of the Forest: Mavka] (Yuri Ilyenko, 1981)

Jun

7

National Trails Day

Лісова пісня. Мавка (1981)

Mavka (Lyudmila Efimenko) and the Spirit of the Forest (Boris Khmelnitskiy). DP: Yuri Ilyenko.

A movie that takes place in nature for National Trails Day (USA)

 

Mavka, a forest nymph, falls in love with mortal Lukash, who in his turn is punished by the Spirit of the Forest for marrying another mortal instead. Curse upon curse, Lukash is turned into a wolf, and Mavka into a weeping willow.

 

The colours, mood and impact of the four seasons on mortal and sprite alike is there, not only made visible by Ilyenko's ethereal, spiralling camera, but somewhere blooming deep inside us, observing.

ビリィ★ザ★キッドの新しい夜明け [Birī za kiddo no atarashii yoake / The New Morning of Billy the Kid] (Naoto Yamakawa, 1986)

May

31

National Utah Day

Birī za kiddo no atarashii yoake (1986)

Director Naoto Yamakawa directing Billy the Kid (Hiroshi Mikami) on site in Utah (via) DP: Kenji Takama.

An actor, director or character from Utah – National Utah Day (USA)

 

Billy the Kid steps out of a huge poster of Monument Valley right into a Tokyo bar and becomes its bar keeper. Together with a samurai, a WW2 G.I, Marx-Engels (not a typo), the Japanese weather service number 177 and others, he keeps the tavern safe from various thugs roaming the streets.

吾輩は猫である [Wagahai wa neko de aru / I Am a Cat] (Kon Ichikawa, 1975)

May

30

Hug Your Cat Day

吾輩は猫である (1975)

The cat and his master, teacher Sneaze. DP: Kōzō Okazaki.

A pet for National Hug Your Cat Day (USA) *

“Had I the time to keep a diary, I’d use that time to better effect; sleeping on the veranda”

– The cat

A school teacher's house cat observes and comments his household's going-ons as a microcosm of Japan's paradoxical Meiji period. The second adaptation of Sōseki Natsume's 1900s satirical novel.

 

* The event falls on June 4

Jonathan (Hans W. Geissendörfer, 1970)

May

26

World Dracula Day

Jonathan (1970)

Siring the mortals. DP: Robby Müller.

A vampire for World Dracula Day

 

This deeply political, unpleasant interpretation of Stoker's Dracula can not not be seen against the backdrop of political movements like the #RAF and West-Germany's youth revolting against the failed #Denazification that the country underwent under supervision of the Allied occupying forces.

 

Note the usage of colour and grouping of people; Klaus Mann's Mephisto (1981) borrowed quite a few visuals from Jonathan.

Anayurt Oteli [Motherland Hotel] (Ömer Kavur, 1987)

May

14

Receptionist Day

Anayurt Oteli (1987)

Receptionist Zebercet. DP: Orhan Oğuz.

A receptionist or secretary for Receptionist Day

 

The proprietor and receptionist of a small hotel welcomes a new guest. The woman, her name she doesn't tell, stays for only one night with the promise to return the following week. The receptionist waits.