“She looked at the red shoes, for she thought there was no harm in looking. She put them on, for she thought there was no harm in that either. But then she went to the ball and began dancing. When she tried to turn to the right, the shoes turned to the left. When she wanted to dance up the ballroom, her shoes danced down. They danced down the stairs, into the street, and out through the gate of the town. Dance she did, and dance she must, straight into the dark woods.” The Red Shoes (Michael Powell + Emeric Pressburger, 1948)
Aug
3
red
A ballerina's lower body in focus. She wears a long tulle off-white dress, slightly sheer, with her white stockings showing through slightly. Part of her right lower arm is visible, the hand clutched, a turquoise bracelet on the wrist. What stands out most are her ruby red ballet shoes that appear to move away from her. The backdrop is a dull, washed out carpet. DP: Jack Cardiff.
Red: best use of red in food or fashion*
– Hans Christian Andersen, De røde Skoe (1845, tranl. Jean Hersholt, 1949), via
Another one of The Archers' #Technicolor extravaganzas. This time, not to wow the worn-down post-war black-and-white audience, but as an an active storytelling instrument.
Built around Hans Christian Andersen's haunting tale De røde Skoe (1845).
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for August is not date-related but lists, for the most part, the colours of the rainbow.
Bookadaptation
“I'd become a sort of a reverse zombie. I was living in a world already dead, and I alone knowing it.”Night Has a Thousand Eyes (John Farrow, 1948)
Aug
3
Mentalist John Triton (Edward G. Robinson, middle) and two of his conspirators. DP: John F. Seitz.
A continuity error later on in the movie makes it August 4.
– John Triton
“It's a lot of work, ya know, just staying alive.”Gli intoccabili [Machine Gun McCain] (Giuliano Montaldo, 1969)
Jul
30
1968
Man's hands hold up the July 30, 1968 San Francisco Chronicle. The headline reads GANGLAND FEUD EXPLODES: TWO CUT DOWN BY MACHINE GUN. It's a Tuesday. DP: Erico Menczer.
– Rosemary Scott
“I guess we like each other a lot, huh?”Sommaren med Monika [Summer with Monika] (Ingmar Bergman, 1953)
Jul
27
Monika (Harriet Andersson) and Harry (Lars Ekborg) rest in each other's arms. DP: Gunnar Fischer, still photography by Louis Huch.
Someone naps or sleeps*
– Monika Eriksson
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for July is, for unknown reasons, mostly not date-related and follows some sort of vacation narrative.
“There’s something almost poetic about finding a hairpin in the bath. It’s like the sole of my foot has been pierced by poetry.” 簪 [Kanzashi / Ornamental Hairpin] (Hiroshi Shimizu, 1941)
Jul
24
relaxation
Men relaxing at a roten-buro, an outdoor onsen. DP: Suketarō Inokai.
Someone goes to a spa, beach, or retreat*
– Nanmura, via
Relaxing at an onsen, a soldier steps on the titular kanzashi. Now injured with too much time on his hands, he and his fellow nosy patrons go out looking for its owner.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for July is, for unknown reasons, mostly not date-related and follows some sort of vacation narrative.
L'argent [Money] (Robert Bresson, 1983)
Jul
22
A man at an ATM holds on to a Visa credit card with tweezers. DPs: Pasqualino De Santis & Emmanuel Machuel.
Everything's expensive: someone is a at bank or ATM*
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for July is, for unknown reasons, mostly not date-related and follows some sort of vacation narrative.
“Don't ask a dying man to lie his soul into Hell.”The Killers (Robert Siodmak, 1946)
Jul
20
1940
spoiler warning: click to toggle image
The July 21 headline. DP: Elwood Bredell.
– Lt. Sam Lubinsky
“I'll tell you what though, Mac. There'll be no more games from now on.”Figures in a Landscape (Joseph Losey, 1970)
Jul
17
MacConnachie (Robert Shaw, standing and peering upwards) and Ansell (Malcolm McDowell, squatting and facing away) in a barren landscape. Both have their hands tied behind their back. DPs: Henri Alekan, Peter Suschitzky & Guy Tabary.
– Ansell
妻は告白する [Tsuma wa kokuhaku suru / A Wife Confesses] (Yasuzō Masumura, 1961)
Jul
15
1961
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An expert called into the court case studies an enlarged photograph of the supposed crime scene. DP: Setsuo Kobayashi.
La dame dans l'auto avec des lunettes et un fusil [The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun] (Anatole Litvak, 1970)
Jul
10
Vendredi
A man with a lot of swagger and rolled up blueprints is about to enter a room with a prominent Coca-Cola machine and a jazzy leather swivel chair on display. An electronic flip clock tells the time and date. It's 17:52. DP: Claude Renoir.