Cockfighter (Monte Hellman, 1974)
Mar
15
Frank Mansfield (Warren Oates) holding up a reluctant, wildly flapping white rooster. DP: Néstor Almendros.
“I cast my hat out into the universe, let it greet those who are on their way from Earth. From this day forward, the Moon is no longer a dream.”
Baron Prášil [The Fabulous Baron Munchausen] (Karel Zeman, 1962)
Mar
14
Under the Skin – 2013
The Baron (Miloš Kopecký) on the Moon clinks glasses with Cyrano de Bergerac (Karel Höger) and several characters from Jules Verne's De la terre à la lune (1865). A baffled 20th century astronaut looks on. DP: Jiří Tarantík.
A weird of quirky sci-fi film on the date Under the Skin (2013) was released in the UK.
– Cyrano de Bergerac
Nattlek [Night Games] (Mai Zetterling, 1966)
Mar
8
International Women's Day
Jan (Jörgen Lindström) and his mother (Ingrid Thulin) share a bed while she reads him a bedtime story. DP: Rune Ericson.
A mother for International Women's Day
When returning home to the castle he grew up in, Jan attempts to free himself from the suffocating clutches of his neurotic mother.
This film was the final straw for Shirley Temple; she resigned from the board of the San Francisco Film Festival calling Zetterling's film “pornography for profit”.
“I'm sharing my husband with a cat. This is humiliating!”
猫と庄造と二人のをんな [Neko to Shōzō to futari no onna / A Cat, Shozo, and Two Women] (Shirō Toyoda, 1956)
Feb
20
Love Your Pet Day
Shōzō (Hisaya Morishige) on the beach with his beloved cat Lily. DP: Mitsuo Miura.
Someone owns a pet on Love Your Pet Day (UK)
– Nakajima
Shōzō is torn between his ex-wife and his current spouse, but really just wants to spend time with Lily, his cat.
Der große Verhau [The Big Mess] (Alexander Kluge, 1971)
Feb
19
Copernicus born
Space ships made out of all sorts of junk pass a moon. DPs: Thomas Mauch & Alfred Tichawsky.
A film about outer space for Nicolaus Copernicus' birthday (1473).
In a galaxy far far away, the opening scroll informs us, a civil war rages between governments, greedy conglomerates, and rebels. Only a few scrap-dealing space pirates can save the day!
野獣死すべし [Yajū shisubeshi / The Beast Shall Die] (Eizō Sugawa, 1959)
Feb
17
airline food
Kunihiko Date (Tatsuya Nakadai) enjoys an in-flight meal. DP: Fukuzō Koizumi.
Amerikai anzix [American Torso] (Gábor Bódy, 1975)
Feb
12
Lincoln born
A soldier on a swing set, high up a tree. Other soldiers and civilians look on. Screenshot (and more information) via. DP: István Lugossy.
Yet another [American] Civil War, for Abraham Lincoln's birthday (1809).
Shot as fainted fragments* based on an Ambrose Bierce story, and outtakes from Karl Marx's diary, Amerikai anzix (litt. American Postcards) follows Hungarian-American cartographer Fiala, one of many of his countrymen fighting in the American Civil War.
*Using a technique described by Bódy as “light editing”, the footage looks worn and grimy.
Ole dole doff [Eeny Meeny Miny Moe / Who Saw Him Die?] (Jan Troell, 1968)
Feb
10
Scholastica
A reaction shot shows the pupils' faces. While the girls show some sort of remorse, the boys are deadpan. DP: Jan Troell .
A film about teaching on the day of Saint Scholastica, patron saint of Benedictine nuns, education, and convulsive children.
Companion piece to Vilgot Sjöman's 491 (1964). An anti-authoritarian teacher who is plagued by nightmares, slowly unravels.
“His specs — use them as burning glasses!”
Lord of the Flies (Peter Brook, 1963)
Feb
8
Boy Scouts of America
Using Piggy's glasses, the boys light their first signal fire. DP: Tom Hollyman.
Someone prepares something for the founding of the Boy Scouts of America on February 8, 1910.
William Golding, Lord of the Flies (1954)
The boys collectively gather firewood to light a beacon, then come up with the idea to light the fire with the help of one of the kid's glasses.
Тіні забутих предків [Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors] (Sergei Parajanov, 1965)
Feb
6
St. Dorothea of Caesarea
The childhood lovers to be newlyweds. During the wedding ceremony, the bride suddenly breaks out in smile. DPs: Yuri Ilyenko & Viktor Bestayev.
A wedding on the day of Dorothea of Caesarea, patron saint of horticulture, brewers, brides, florists, gardeners, midwives, newlyweds, and love.