settima

LGBT

Vergogna, schifosi!… [Dirty Angels] (Mauro Severino, 1969)

Aug

4

Vergogna, schifosi!… (1969)

While the month is never explicitly stated, there's mention of August traffic jams.

“Matto, caldo, soldi, morto… girotondo…”

黒蜥蜴 [Kurotokage / Kuro tokage / Black Lizard] (Kinji Fukasaku, 1968)

Aug

4

黒蜥蜴 (1968)

The Black Lizard (Akihiro Miwa) in embrace with Detective Akechi (Isao Kimura). DP: Hiroshi Dōwaki.

She-Man: A Story of Fixation (Bob Clark, 1967)

Aug

4

She-Man: A Story of Fixation (1967)

Lt. Albert Rose, now Rose Albert (Leslie Marlowe), strikes a pose. DP: Gerhard Maser.

The Tempest (Derek Jarman, 1979)

Jul

28

The Tempest (1979)

Sailors dancing in a room wildly decorated with guirlandes and flowers (via). DP: Peter Middleton.

Local nightlife: people dancing or at a show*

“Don't know why There's no sun up in the sky Stormy weather Since my man and I ain't together Keeps raining all of the time

Oh, yeah Life is bad Gloom and misery everywhere Stormy weather, stormy weather And I just can get my poor self together Oh, I'm weary all of the time The time, so weary all of the time

When he went away The blues walked in and met me Oh, yeah if he stays away Old rocking chair's gonna get me All I do is pray The Lord will let me Walk in the sun once more

Oh, I can't go on, can't go on, can't go on Everything I have is gone Stormy weather, stormy weather Since my man and I, me and my daddy ain't together Keeps raining all of the time Oh, oh, keeps raining all of the time Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah raining all of the time Stormy stormy Stormy weather Yeah”

– Elisabeth Welch, Stormy Weather (Harold Arlen & Ted Koehler, 1933)

A radiant Goddess (Elisabeth Welch) performs the torch song Stormy Weather. Enchanted sailors dance.

 

Il mare [The Sea] (Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, 1962)

Jul

1

Il mare (1962)

The actor (Umberto Orsini) looking out over the island. The claustrophobic framing of the hotel windows contrasts sharply with the openness of the sea. DP: Ennio Guarnieri.

My ideal vacation spot, country, city, town, or resort*

 

An island, in this case Capri (granted I've never been there), off-season, in a space and time lost in the mists. It'll occasionally rain and it's cold enough to dress up.

 

Morte a Venezia [Death in Venice] (Luchino Visconti, 1971)

Jun

11

Say HI Day

Morte a Venezia (1971)

Von Aschenbach (Dirk Bogarde) and Tadzio (Björn Andrésen). DP: Pasqualino De Santis.

Characters say or wave hello on Say HI Day

 

A sickly composer meets and becomes infatuated with a boy during his stay in Venice.

O Menino e o Vento [The Boy and the Wind] (Carlos Hugo Christensen, 1967)

Jun

8

National Best Friends Day

O Menino e o Vento (1967)

The two friends in intimate embrace. DP: Antônio Gonçalves.

[Favourite] best friends in film for National Best Friends Day (USA)

“I'm going with this one”

– Zeca de Curva, running into the storm

The close friendship between two young men raises suspicion when the younger of them disappears..

跑道終點 [Pao dao zhong dian / The End of the Track] (Tun-Fei Mou, 1970)

Jun

2

Dennis Haysbert – 1954

跑道終點 (1970)

Hsiao-Tung and Yung-shen at the track. DP: Chung-Hsin Chen.

A [favourite]* fictional athlete for Dennis Haysbert's birthday (1954).

 

Close friends Hsiao-Tung and Yung-shen spend their time together, wandering about, eating dumplings, and training for athletics. Until one of them pushes too hard, leaving the other alone in his grief.

 

* this month's Bales' Challenge is marred with “favourites”, something I don't believe in. Instead, I stick to great cinema and will squeeze in a few LGBT-themed films for Pride Month.

Ich bin meine eigene Frau [I Am My Own Woman] (Rosa von Praunheim, 1992)

May

16

Honor Our LGBT Elders Day

Ich bin meine eigene Frau (1992)

Ichgola Androgyn, Jens Taschner, and Charlotte von Mahlsdorf as Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. DP: Lorenz Haarmann.

An LGBTQ actor, director, or character over 55 for Honor Our LGBT Elders Day (USA)

“Ich bin meine eigene Frau” (“I am my own woman/wife”)

– Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, in response to her mother's request to settle and get married

The extraordinary life of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, Berliner, gender bender, Nazi killer (her own father, with a wooden rolling pin, mind you), prisoner, custodian, museum founder, barmaid, Stasi informer (arguably), den mother to the GDR's LGBT+ youngsters, but most of all, her own woman.

Compulsion (Richard Fleischer, 1959)

May

16

Compulsion (1959)

Straus (Bradford Dillman) with Steiner (Dean Stockwell) behind the wheel. They're beaming. DP: William C. Mellor.

“Murder's nothing. It's just a simple experience. Murder and rape? Do you know what beauty there is in evil?”