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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
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.
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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
The cat and his master, teacher Sneaze. DP: Kōzō Okazaki.
“Had I the time to keep a diary, I’d use that time to better effect; sleeping on the veranda”
– The cat
* The event falls on June 4
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Jonathan (Hans W. Geissendörfer, 1970)
May
26
World Dracula Day
Siring the mortals. DP: Robby Müller.
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.
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Touha zvaná Anada [Desire Called Anad / Adrift] (Elmar Klos + Ján Kadár, 1968/1971)
May
20
Zuzka (Milena Dravić) holds a mirror to Anada's (Paula Pritchett) face. Zuzka's husband Jánoš (Rade Marković) looks on. DP: Vladimír Novotný.
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Compulsion (Richard Fleischer, 1959)
May
16
Straus (Bradford Dillman) with Steiner (Dean Stockwell) behind the wheel. They're beaming. DP: William C. Mellor.
“Murder's nothing. It's just a simple experience. Murder and rape? Do you know what beauty there is in evil?”
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Le 15 mai (Claire Denis, 1971)
May
15
Thu
“Of course, it's the 15th of May.”
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Anayurt Oteli [Motherland Hotel] (Ömer Kavur, 1987)
May
14
Receptionist Day
Receptionist Zebercet. DP: Orhan Oğuz.
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.
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Les félins [Joy House / The Love Cage] (René Clément, 1964)
May
14
Barbara Hill (Lola Albright) going through Marc Borel's (Alain Delon) passport, which states Marc's date of birth as May 14. On Barbara's desk several curiosities, including a shrunken head in a glass case. DP: Henri Decaë.
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Yngsjömordet [Woman of Darkness] (Arne Mattsson, 1966)
May
11
Mother's Day
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Anna Månsdotter (Gunnel Lindblom). DP: Lasse Björne.
A good or bad mother for Mother's Day
Arranged by his widowed mother, Per Nilsson marries the wealthy judge's daughter Hanna. The wedlock remains unfulfilled as son and mother find satisfaction in each other. Hanna suspects something.
Based on the Yngsjö murder case, which at the time was considered more noteworthy for the mother/son relationship than the resulting tragedy.
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পথের পাঁচালী [Pather Panchali / Apu 1: Song of the Little Road] (Satyajit Ray, 1955)
May
10
Stamp Out Hunger
Hands exchange food through a worn-out window. DP: Subrata Mitra.
“Those who came before have passed on. And I'm left behind. A penniless beggar. Not a cowrie to my name. Look, my purse is empty… Lord, the day is done and evening falls. Ferry me across to the other shore…”
– Indir Thakrun, singing
