“Monday 3 September 1973, Munich – airport; Wednesday 5 September 1973, Barcelona, 12 a.m. – Parque Communal, – Umbraculo; Friday 7 September 1973, pick up Lucy; Monday 10 September 1973, Melina – 3 p.m. Plaza de la Iglesia, S. Ferdinando; Tuesday 11 September 1973, Daisy, 6 p.m. – Osuna, Hotel de la Gloria; Thursday 13 September 1973, 47-22, including SM, $40; Sunday 16 September 1973, care Daisy in Madrid.”Professione: reporter [The Passenger] (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1975)
Sep
10
three o'clock
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The girl (Maria Schneider) reads out Locke's (Jack Nicholson) calendar: “at three o'clock on the ten of September, don't forget”. DP: Luciano Tovoli.
The reporter keeps a detailed calendar with many, many dates to pick from:
MichelangeloAntonioni
“Everything's crashing here.”L'eclisse [The Eclipse] (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1962)
Jul
10
Mon
Vittoria (Monica Vitti, bottom left) at the Borsa – the Rome Stock Exchange. A clock top-right indicates it's Monday, July 10, 12:31 pm.. DP: Gianni Di Venanzo.
– Vittoria's mother
“She'd discovered a small beach far from town, with crystal-clear water and pink sand. She loved that spot. The colors of nature were so beautiful, and there was no noise. She'd leave only when the sun did too.” Il deserto rosso [Red Desert] (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1964)
Aug
12
green
Valerio (Valerio Bartoleschi) and his mother Giuliana (Monica Vitti) in an arid industrial landscape. Giuliana wears a brilliant green coat, its shade between pea and moss, depending on the drabness of her surroundings. DP: Carlo Di Palma.
Green, in food or fashion*
– Giuliana
Antonioni's first film in colour beautifully utilises Vitti's brilliance – of her auburn hair, her porcelain teint, her vivid costumes (by Paola Carloni) – against the drab landscape.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for August is not date-related but lists, for the most part, the colours of the rainbow.
“There was a silence different from all other silences, an ashen light, and then darkness – total stillness. I thought that during an eclipse even our feelings stop. Out of this came part of the idea for L'eclisse.”L'eclisse [The Eclipse] (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1962)
Mar
20
natural phenomena
Vitti's blond hair shifts in front of Delon's dark coupe, quietly mimicking the eclipse. DP: Gianni Di Venanzo.
A natural phenomenon for this year's March equinox, three supermoons, and the March 25 solar eclipse.
– Michelangelo Antonioni talking about experiencing a solar eclipse, possibly the total eclipse of 1961 which showed up in the film Barabbas (1961).
During several moments in the film, the main characters' mannerisms foreshadow the looming solar eclipse.
“I used to spend afternoons reading in bed. Tommaso would call and find me there. He could have kissed me. I wouldn't have resisted, out of boredom. But he was satisfied to watch me as I read. All those purposeless books.”La notte [The Night] (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1961)
Feb
7
Falò delle vanità – 1497
Author Giovanni Pontano (Marcello Mastroianni) pondering next to a full bookcase. DP: Gianni Di Venanzo.
Books, or art, in commemoration of Savonarola's 1497 Florentine falò delle vanità (bonfire of the vanities).
– Lidia
A lavish #CocktailParty in celebration of the launch of a novel is bookended by tragedy, in the loss of a befriended writer and the unraveling of another writer and his wife's marriage.
“I still can't figure out if it's an office, a market place, or a boxing ring. And maybe I don't even need to.”L'eclisse [The Eclipse] (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1962)
Jul
19
fruit
Vitti as Vittoria in front of a fruit stand next to La Borsa, the Rome stock exchange located in the remnants of the Hadrianeum. The fruit in the middle is a Melone Mantovano, a type of cantaloupe. DP: Gianni Di Venanzo.
– Vittoria