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Il fiore delle mille e una notte [Arabian Nights] (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1974)
Aug
13
cerulean
Cerulean, or blue: a building or structure*
“Eh, i sogni a volte insegnano male, Dùnya, perché la verità intera non è mai in un solo sogno, la verità intera è in molti sogni.”
One of the many exotic locations is the مسجد شاه, [Masjed-e Shah, or Shah Mosque] in Iran with its otherworldly blue and blue-adjacent tiles.
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Vergogna, schifosi!… [Dirty Angels] (Mauro Severino, 1969)
Aug
4
While the month is never explicitly stated, there's mention of August traffic jams.
“Matto, caldo, soldi, morto… girotondo…”
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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.
“It's a lot of work, ya know, just staying alive.”
– Rosemary Scott
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Todo modo [One Way or Another] (Elio Petri, 1976)
May
1
National Day of Prayer
M. (Gian Maria Volontè) speaks to the gathered elite while a gypsum Christ multiplies bread and fishes. DP: Luigi Kuveiller.
“Have you ever tried to dress as a priest? Try it, at least once. It's a bit like being a woman. In summer the breeze enters under the genitals. You can go without briefs. Priests are half men and half women.”
– Don Gaetano
Inspired by the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, Italy's political leaders, industrialists, bankers, and business leaders gather for a retreat as an atonement for their past crimes of corruption and unethical practices, and to reinforce their power.
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Teorema [Theorem] (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1968)
Dec
29
Independence Day of Mongolia
The visitor (Terence Stamp) in intimate closeup. DP: Giuseppe Ruzzolini.
Someone finds their independence: Independence Day of Mongolia (Үндэсний эрх чөлөө, тусгаар тогтнолоо сэргээсний баярын өдөр).
“I no longer even recognize myself. What made me like the others has been destroyed. I was like everyone else, with many faults, perhaps, mine and those of the world around me. You made me different by taking me out of the natural order of things.”
– Pietro, the son
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I pugni in tasca [Fists in the Pocket] (Marco Bellocchio, 1965)
Nov
3
Alessandro (Lou Castel). DP: Alberto Marrama.
“I'm a volcano of ideas.”
– Alessandro
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Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick, 1978)
Oct
7
1916
The Amarillo Dispatch reports on President Wilson's October 7 visit to the town of Panhandle. DP: Néstor Almendros.
– Here he is!
– There he goes!
– That's the president of the whole country.
– Ohh!
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Vergogna, schifosi!… [Dirty Angels] (Mauro Severino, 1969)
Aug
14
fruit
“Matto, caldo, soldi, morto… girotondo…”
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La battaglia di Algeri [The Battle of Algiers] (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966)
Dec
18
Arabic Language Day
Petit Omar (Mohamed Ben Kassen) reading out a letter to Ali La Pointe (Brahim Hadjadj) in the قصبة, (Cashbah). If it were not for the leads' jeans and sneakers, this scene could be in any century. DP: Marcello Gatti.
“The first section's dead. There's no one left. We lost contact with the second. The third is reorganizing. All that's left is the fourth. It's enough to start over with.”