Beaubourg, centre d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou [Beaubourg] (Roberto Rossellini, 1977)
Jan
31
1977
Rossellini on site. DPs: Néstor Almendros, Jean Chiabaut & Emmanuel Machuel.
“Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.”
Soleil Ô [Oh, Sun] (Med Hondo, 1970)
Dec
10
Human Rights Day
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An optimistic Robert Liensol in the city of lights (via). DPs: François Catonné & Jean-Claude Rahaga.
Celebrating human rights on Human Rights Day: the right to work
– 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.
– The Paris Court of Appeals, meeting on October 15, 1959, pursuant to the charges against Dominique Marceau. – With a girl like that, truth may be the best defense for once.
La vérité [The Truth] (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1960)
Oct
15
1959
Gilbert (Sami Frey) and Dominique (Brigitte Bardot). DP: Armand Thirard.
The day of the court case. Numerous other dates are mentioned, all in flashbacks.
Mélodie en sous-sol [Any Number Can Win] (Henri Verneuil, 1963)
Sep
6
Tue
Mario (Henri Virlojeux), bathhouse proprietor. A nearby wall calendar reads mardi, septembre 6. DP: Louis Page.
“The pickings were poor and not worth the risk.”
Pickpocket (Robert Bresson, 1959)
Sep
6
Sun
The newspaper of Sunday, September 6, announcing a derby. DP: Léonce-Henri Burel.
– Michel
Petit à petit [Little by Little] (Jean Rouch, 1970)
Sep
3
Skyscraper Day
Damouré (Damouré Zika) measures a Parisian with craniology callipers. No skyscraper in this still, but there's scaffolding. DP: Jean Rouch.
A skyscraper for Skyscraper Day (USA)
In the sequel to Rouch's Jaguar (1967), Damouré wants a high rise for his Niger business with “as many floors as he has wives”. He decides to travel to Paris to learn about the construction of such building, and what made Paris to the Paris of today. While there, he gets distracted by the peculiarities of the French natives. Worried about Damouré's increasingly puzzling postcards, his company sends out Lam (Lam Ibrahim Dia) to bring him home.
“It is vital to be photogenic from head to foot. After that you are allowed to display some measure of talent.”
Les Vampires [The Vampires or, The Arch Criminals of Paris] (Louis Feuillade, 1915/1916)
Aug
24
black
A signed promotional photograph of Irma Vep (Musidora) in her iconic black catsuit. DPs: Georges Guérin & Manichoux.
Black, in food or fashion*
– Musidora
Possibly the first, and definitely the most, iconic catsuit in cinema is worn by Musidora as Irma Vep in Les Vampires. Skintight and scandalous, Musidora's screen presence in the serial further cemented the popularity of the vamp and set the scene for many man-eaters to come.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for August is not date-related but lists, for the most part, the colours of the rainbow.
“I'm just fine. I have everything here. I have the TV. You can see the whole world”
Trois couleurs: Bleu [Three Colors: Blue] (Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1993)
Aug
15
cerulean
Julie (Juliette Binoche) in a blue wallpapered room, observes blue beads suspended in front of a window with a cerulean sky and ocean behind it. Throughout the story, her clothing changes from white, to black, to the darkest charcoal blue, to Prussian blue. DP: Slawomir Idziak.
Cerulean, or blue: in food or fashion*
– the mother
How could I not pick at least one instalment of Kieślowski's Trois couleurs trilogy. Here's blue, the liberté of the tricolor. Blue occurs as the sky to fall through, the room without life, and the cloth that binds.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for August is not date-related but lists, for the most part, the colours of the rainbow.
“I know. I know you. I know you very well.”
La carrière de Suzanne [Suzanne's Career] (Éric Rohmer, 1963)
Aug
13
thé
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A woman reaches for a silver teapot. We only see her hand. DP: Daniel Lacambre.
– Suzanne
E-clip-se (Chris Marker, 1999)
Aug
11
1999
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A young woman or child at the Jardin des plantes de Paris wears protective glasses while looking up in amazement during the August 11, 1999 solar eclipse, her baguette a vague memory. DP: Chris Marker.