“It was the morning of December 31, 1999 when I returned, at last, to judge the living and the dead. Though still, and perhaps always, I had my doubts.”

Something short for winter solstice.

“He's growing! Look! See how he's growing! I have seen the Lord! The Lord! The Lord!”

– Schugger-Leo

On the eve of World War 2, little Oskar – just three years old – decides he doesn't want to grow anymore.

The Moon (any moon) to commemorate the end of the final man-manned moon landing.

“Laugh, my friends. Laugh with me, laugh for me, because I dream for you.”

– Georges Méliès, 1937

In true Méliès style, a wild menagerie of showgirls and scientists meet on the Moon in this groundbreaking sci-fi spectacle.

“Écoute les orgues Elles jouent pour toi Il est terrible, cet air-là J'espère que tu aimes C'est assez beau, non ? C'est le requiem pour un con”

– Serge Gainsbourg, Requiem pour un con (1968)

Set on a river*

Jean: Are you bored? Juliette: Oh, no. Jean: Don't worry. There'll be places to see. Juliette: Riverbanks.

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for December has a few dateless themes. This is one of them.

Candles for Diwali*. Today's and tomorrow's theme are virtually interchangeable.

 

When an old crone gives birth to a beautiful baby, a young virgin claims the child as hers. With the Immaculately Conceived wonder put on display – to the child's contemporaries, the court of Cosimo de' Medici attending a reenactment of the events, and us film viewers – He protects the false Virgin from losing her chastity and blurs the walls between staging and gospel.

 

* “Diwali, one of the major religious festivals in Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism, lasting for five days from the 13th day of the dark half of the lunar month Ashvina to the second day of the light half of the lunar month Karttika. The corresponding dates in the Gregorian calendar usually fall in late October and November.” (source).

Celebrating human rights on Human Rights Day: the right to work

“Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.”

– Universal Declaration of Human Rights, United Nations General Assembly

A Mauritanian immigrant (Robert Liensol) too starts anew in Paris. But first, he'll need a job.

World AIDS Day: conquering fear.

“J’ai mal, mais la douleur me rassure. Son souvenir me donne du plaisir.”

An uptight, white accountant in odds with himself, sees a Black masseur at a Turkish bathhouse. Antoine experiences a relieve – an atonement – through the pain, and forms a bond with the man. After an injury, Antoine must learn to come to terms with his fears. Based on Tennessee Williams' Desire and the Black Masseur (One Arm and Other Stories, 1948).

A heartfelt reunion scene*

“Oh, it's you.”

– Margaret Wheeler, welcoming the viewers to this curious retelling of her life's events

Through an unexplained muddle, the Wheeler and the Rylatt girls were mixed up at the maternity ward. One of the mothers, Mrs Wheeler, had a hunch something was off. Her girl was suspiciously long and skinny, unlike the one that was entrusted to her. Over the years and to Mrs Rylatt's increasing chagrin, Mrs Wheeler kept in touch with that woman from the maternity ward. And was proven to be correct. This film is one breezy yet tense reunion scene. Heartwarming, awkward, and – like all that's nostalgia – slightly surreal.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for November is, again, not date-based, but follows a sloppy schmaltzy all-American Thanksgiving-y narrative. Trying to make it work my way.

“The day they put jerks into orbit, you won't stop rotating soon!”

– Comissaire Joss, le Pacha