settima

Carnival

À propos de Nice – point de vue documenté [À propos de Nice] (Boris Kaufman + Jean Vigo, 1930)

Jan

1

New Year's Day

À propos de Nice - point de vue documenté (1930)

Exuberant prostitutes, Jean Vigo (5th from the left), and people who appear to be men in drag, dance on a landing with confetti all around them. In the moving footage they can be seen high-kicking with increased vulgarity, the camera posed below them. DP: Boris Kaufman.

Confetti for New Year's Day.

“In this film, by showing certain basic aspects of a city, a way of life is put on trial… the last gasps of a society so lost in its escapism that it sickens you and makes you sympathetic to a revolutionary solution.”

– Jean Vigo in his manifesto Vers un cinéma social

I fidanzati [The Fiancés] (Ermanno Olmi, 1963)

Feb

29

leftovers

I fidanzati (1963)

Giovanni (Carlo Cabrini) in a restaurant. It's near closing time. Cooks scape the pans. DP: Lamberto Caimi.

“If an old man can't even have a glass of wine, what's left to live for?”

Carnival of Souls [Corridors of Evil] (Herk Harvey, 1962)

Mar

13

National Open An Umbrella Indoors Day

Carnival of Souls (1962)

Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) looking around in wonder. DP: Maurice Prather.

A slice of teenage bravura is just enough for a couple of kids to #dare each other to a drag race. Hours after the car of one of them had plunged from a bridge into the murky waters below, Mary Henry resurfaces.

“It's funny… the world is so different in the daylight. In the dark, your fantasies get so out of hand. But in the daylight everything falls back into place again.”

– Mary Henry

Carnival of Souls was Herk Harvey's sole feature length film. He's much better known – albeit mostly uncredited – for his short PSAs including Halloween Safety, ruining your kids' favourite holiday since 1977, and Shake Hands With Danger (1980).

 

You don't have to tell Three Finger Joe about taking no risks.

I fidanzati [The Fiancés / The Engagement] (Ermanno Olmi, 1963)

Feb

21

Brazilian Carnival

I fidanzati (1963)

Revellers at the Sicilian carnival parade with confetti all around them. Centred Giovanni (Carlo Cabrini), eyes shut. DP: Lamberto Caimi.

A carnival-like parade.

“Do you still go dancing at night? I've stopped going. There are no dance halls here. But that's not the only reason. I was used to dancing with you. I'm not comfortable with other girls.”

– Giovanni in a letter to Liliana