settima

France

Grands soirs & petits matins [May Days] (William Klein, 1978)

May

24

1968

Grands soirs & petits matins (1978)

Sorbonne students discussing the political situation with an elderly Parisian man. DPs: William Klein & Bernard Lutic.

“Soyez réalistes, demandez l'impossible”

– May 68 slogan

La Femme Bourreau [A Woman Kills] (Jean-Denis Bonan, 1968)

May

20

1943

La Femme Bourreau (1968)

A dark-haired woman lounging on a bed. DP: Gérard de Battista.

“Hélène Picard, born in Lyon, May 20, 1943. A child in care, she is reported as a runaway, a thief and unstable.”

Le 15 mai (Claire Denis, 1971)

May

15

Thu

Le 15 mai (1971)

Claudia Morin in her silver dress showing up in Philippe Rouleau's office. The perpetual calendar behind her – Enzo Mari's Formosa from 1963 – tells us it is May 15. DP: Dominique Le Rigoleur.

“Of course, it's the 15th of May.”

Les félins [Joy House / The Love Cage] (René Clément, 1964)

May

14

Les félins (1964)

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.

Week-end (Jean-Luc Godard, 1967)

May

9

UN Global Road Safety Week

Week-end (1967)

A terrible, bloody, car crash. There's cars on fire and several injured sprawled around. A lucky survivor exclaims MY HERMÈS HANDBAG! DP: Raoul Coutard.

A traffic accident: UN Global Road Safety Week *

“My Hermès handbag!”

– Corinne

The bourgeois make their way to the countryside, and find themselves in a cacophony of car crashes, primitive urges, and political uprisings.

 

* This actually takes places from May 12 to May 18, 2025.

Le mépris [Contempt] (Jean-Luc Godard, 1963)

May

5

Europe Day

Le mépris (1963)

Michel Piccoli, director Fritz Lang, Jack Palance, and director Jean-Luc Godard behind the scenes. The clapperboard held by Godard is for the movie that Lang's working on in Le Mépris, an adaption of Homer's Odyssey. DP: Raoul Coutard.

A director from the EU for Europe Day

“Producers are something I can easily do without”

– Fritz Lang

A film in a film, the former directed by Fritz Lang, directed by Godard.

Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut [A Man Escaped] (Robert Bresson, 1956)

May

2

Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut (1956)

A hand with dirty nails writing on a scrap of paper with a pencil stump. It starts “Mai 2 Ma chère maman, Je suis à la pris[…]“. DP: Léonce-Henri Burel.

“With nothing to do, no news and in terrible solitude, we were 100 unfortunates awaiting our fate. I had no illusions about my own. If I could only escape, run away…”

– Fontaine

Vagabunden Karawane [Vagabond’s Band] (Werner Penzel, 1980)

Apr

16

હડતાળ

Vagabunden Karawane (1980)

A member of Embryo plays a harmonium with a bemused साधु [sadhu] sitting behind him (still via). DPs: Pitt Koch & Helge Weindler.

A film set in India in remembrance of Gandhi's હડતાળ [hartal], a peaceful protest against the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, in the form of a nationwide fast and prayer on April 16, 1919.

“I had appealed to the people to fast on April 6, and the whole nation followed my call. Who was I? But it was the voice of God… India was awakened that day.”

– Mahatma Gandhi, via

In 1979, krautrock group Embryo toured Iran, Afghanistan and India by bus, while performing with local musicians and documenting their trip.

Daïnah la métisse [Dainah the Mixed] (Jean Grémillon, 1932)

Apr

15

Titanic

Daïnah la métisse (1932)

Mechanic Michaux (Charles Vanel) and Daïnah (Laurence Clavius) on the Art Deco liner. DPs: Louis Page & Georges Périnal.

A cruise ship in remembrance of the sinking of the Titanic on April 14–15, 1912.

 

Mestiza Daïnah, who accompanies her illusionist husband on the luxury cruise ship he works on, loves to flirt and tease the other sex, including the ship's engineer Michaux. When she disappears, suspicion falls not only on Michaux, but also on her Black husband.