settima

Bookadaptation

Der große Verhau [The Big Mess] (Alexander Kluge, 1971)

Feb

19

Copernicus born

Der große Verhau (1971)

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

野獣死すべし (1959)

Kunihiko Date (Tatsuya Nakadai) enjoys an in-flight meal. DP: Fukuzō Koizumi.

Picnic at Hanging Rock (Peter Weir, 1975)

Feb

14

Valentine's Day

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

A delicate, pink frosted Valentine's cake topped with a yellow marzipan rose. The cake, which bears the words St. Valentine in crude writing, has a deep straight cut right through the middle and a scorched dark spot on its side. On the right a rusty knife. DP: Russell Boyd.

“On Saturday 14th February 1900, a party of schoolgirls from Appleyard College picnicked at Hanging Rock near Mt. Macedon in the state of Victoria. During the afternoon, several members of the party disappeared without trace.”

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (John Huston, 1948)

Feb

14

1925

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

The winning lottery numbers of February 14, 1925. DP: Ted D. McCord.

“A thousand men, say, go searchin' for gold. After six months, one of them's lucky: one out of a thousand. His find represents not only his own labor, but that of nine hundred and ninety-nine others to boot. That's six thousand months, five hundred years, scramblin' over a mountain, goin' hungry and thirsty. An ounce of gold, mister, is worth what it is because of the human labor that went into the findin' and the gettin' of it.”

– Howard

Amerikai anzix [American Torso] (Gábor Bódy, 1975)

Feb

12

Lincoln born

Amerikai anzix (1975)

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

Ole dole doff (1968)

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.

Lord of the Flies (Peter Brook, 1963)

Feb

8

Boy Scouts of America

Lord of the Flies (1963)

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.

“His specs — use them as burning glasses!”

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

Тіні забутих предків (1965)

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.

燃えつきた地図 [Moetsukita chizu / The Man Without a Map / The Ruined Map] (Hiroshi Teshigahara, 1968)

Feb

2

えつきた地図 (1968)

Shintarō Katsu and Etsuko Ichihara as the detective and the missing man's wife, their faces and gestures warped by a paned window. DP: Akira Uehara.

Případ pro začínajícího kata [Case for a Rookie Hangman] (Pavel Juráček, 1970)

Jan

30

doors

Případ pro začínajícího kata (1970)

In a completely dark room, a large silhouette of a man can be seen rushing through a brightly lit doorway. Other, impossible doors at odd heights show several people observing the man. Still via DVDBeaver. DP: Jan Kališ.

A gateway or door for Janus, god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and ending

 

A man named Gulliver (Lubomír Kostelka) accidentally runs over a rabbit, who is dressed to the nines and carries a pocket watch. Slowly, the man finds himself in a sort of Wonderland.