“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.
Poland
– Men are extinct. – They were not mammoths!Seksmisja [Sexmission] (Juliusz Machulski, 1984)
Aug
9
Two poor captured extinct men enjoying breakfast and cigarettes. DP: Jerzy Łukaszewicz.
– Why do you always wear those dark glasses? – A souvenir of unrequited love for my homeland.Popiół i diament [Ashes and Diamonds] (Andrzej Wajda, 1958)
Jun
27
National Sunglasses Day
Maciek Chelmicki (Zbigniew Cybulski) wearing his sunglasses in a dark, almost German Expressionist space, embellished with meandros. DP: Jerzy Wójcik.
[The best] sunglasses in film for National Sunglasses Day (USA)
According to IMDb, the sale of sunglasses in Poland went through the roof after this film was released and Cybulski became his country's very own James Dean.
Wyszedł w jasny, pogodny dzień [He Left on a Bright, Sunny Day] (Krzysztof Wojciechowski, 1972)
Jun
13
Old people exchanging food and memories outdoors. DPs: Witold Stok & Ryszard Wróblewski.
“Spotkał katar Katarzynę –
A – psik!
Katarzyna pod pierzynę –
A – psik!”Katar [Cold] (Hieronim Neumann, 1984)
May
6
Childhood Depression Awareness Day
One little girl sneeze even bursts the camera! A – psik (achoo)! DP: Zbigniew Kotecki.
A child with health struggles for Childhood Depression Awareness Day (USA)
– Jan Brzechwa, Katar (via)
A little girl has the sniffles, sees the doctor, and so happily spreads the bug all over town. A quirky animated short based on a poem by Jan Brzechwa.
“He began thinking about the innocence of machines, about how man had endowed them with intelligence and, in doing so, had made them an accomplice of his mad adventures. About how the myth of the golem — the machine that rebelled against its creator — was a lie, a fiction invented by the guilty for the sake of self-exoneration.”Test pilota Pirxa [Pilot Pirx's Inquest] (Marek Piestrak, 1979)
Apr
12
International Day of Human Space Flight
Men and nonlinears to board the ship set for Saturn's Cassini Division. DP: Janusz Pawłowski.
A manned spaceship for the International Day of Human Space Flight
– Stanisław Lem, Opowieści o pilocie Pirxie (1968)
Commander Pirx is sent out on a secret mission to evaluate “nonlinears” – androids – to determine if they can be used for future space flights. In a blind test, androids and humans form a crew for Pirx to investigate and identify.
Klincz [Clinch] (Piotr Andrejew, 1979)
Apr
5
Chicago
One of the boxers goes down (via). DPs: Jacek Mierosławski & Zbigniew Wichłacz.
Set in Chicago (or pizza) for National Deep Dish Pizza Day, USA.
A Polish factory worker hopes to find a better life when he picks up boxing. Initially unsuccessful. he finds himself in Chicago, facing an amateur boxer below his ranking.
Sprawa Gorgonowej [The Gorgon Case] (Janusz Majewski, 1977)
Dec
30
1931
Ewa Dałkowska as governess Rita Gorgonowa. DP: Zygmunt Samosiuk.
Wojna Światów – Następne Stulecie [The War of the Worlds: Next Century] (Piotr Szulkin, 1981)
Dec
18
1999
Reporter Iron Idem (Roman Wilhelmi) bringing the news. DP: Zygmunt Samosiuk.
Na wylot [Through and Through] (Grzegorz Królikiewicz, 1972)
Nov
4
1933
Maria (Anna Nieborowska) and Jan (Franciszek Trzeciak) in court. The film is based on the 1933 Jan and Maria Malisz’s Case. DP: Bogdan Dziworski.