settima

SciFi

Le 15 mai (Claire Denis, 1971)

May

15

Thu

Le 15 mai (1971)

Claudia Morin in her silver dress showing up in Philippe Rouleau's office. The perpetual calendar behind her – Enzo Mari's Formosa from 1963 – tells us it is May 15. DP: Dominique Le Rigoleur.

“Of course, it's the 15th of May.”

Зеркало для героя [Zerkalo dlya geroya / Mirror for a Hero] (Vladimir Khotinenko, 1987)

May

8

1949

Зеркало для героя (1987)

Sergey Pshenichnyy (Sergey Koltakov) speaking to one of the 1940s farmers. DP: Evgeniy Grebnev.

Thirteen to Centaurus (Peter Potter, 1965)

May

4

Star Wars Day

Thirteen to Centaurus (1965)

Dr Francis (Donald Houston) and Abel (James Hunter). DP: tbd.

Intergalactic travel on Star Wars Day

“Our grandfathers always lived on Earth, and we are the first people ever to undertake such a journey. You can be proud that you’re here. Your grandfather, who volunteered to come, was a great man, and we’ve got to do everything to make sure that the Station keeps running.”

– Dr Francis (from Thirteen to Centaurus, J.G. Ballard, 1962)

A ship travels the universe, on its way to Centaurus. On board is a group of people, fourteen in total, one of them a teenager named Abel. His recurring nightmare about a glowing disc prompts to sessions with the on-board psychologist, and the only one with knowledge of Earth, Dr Francis.

Krakatit (Otakar Vávra, 1948)

Apr

26

International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day

Krakatit (1948)

A man on a darkened, concrete runway, running towards a man-made structure, a mirage. DP: Václav Hanuš.

Something nuclear on International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day

 

In a state of delirium, engineer Prokop chases his stolen chemical formula, worried it may be used for mass destruction

 

With the experience of yet another world war, and two devastating applications of science biggest terror, Karel Čapek's 1922 novel Krakatit [“Krakatoa”] anticipated and moulded the decades to come.

 

And R.U.R. is now, just around the corner.

Memoirs of a Survivor (David Gladwell, 1981)

Apr

20

Easter Sunday

Memoirs of a Survivor (1981)

A Victorian family, all dressed in white, marvel at an enormous egg in an ornate room. DP: Walter Lassally.

Eggs for Easter Sunday.

“The walls of the room seemed to hold stories untold, whispering in the quiet.”

– Doris Lessing, The Memoirs of a Survivor (1974)

In a dystopian Britain, D (Julie Christie) survives taking care of a sullen teenage girl, and visiting a mirage behind the walls.

Test pilota Pirxa [Pilot Pirx's Inquest] (Marek Piestrak, 1979)

Apr

12

International Day of Human Space Flight

Test pilota Pirxa (1979)

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

“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.”

– 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.

The Bed Sitting Room (Richard Lester, 1969)

Mar

22

National Goof-off Day

The Bed Sitting Room (1969)

The BBC (Frank Thornton) bringing you the news (via). DP: David Watkin.

A truly silly film for National Goof-off Day (USA)

“I am the BBC as you can see, and here was the last news.”

– The BBC

Baron Prášil [The Fabulous Baron Munchausen] (Karel Zeman, 1962)

Mar

14

Under the Skin – 2013

Baron Prášil (1962)

A weird of quirky sci-fi film on the date Under the Skin (2013) was released in the UK.

“I cast my hat out into the universe, let it greet those who are on their way from Earth. From this day forward, the Moon is no longer a dream.”

– Cyrano de Bergerac

Invasión [Invasion] (Hugo Santiago, 1969)

Mar

9

Bobby Fischer – 1943

Invasión (1969)

Don Porfirio (Juan Carlos Paz) in front of a map of Aquileia. DP: Ricardo Aronovich.

Strategy for Bobby Fischer's birthday (1943).

 

People meticulously plan, move, and countermove in response to an invasion.

The Falls (Peter Greenaway, 1980)

Mar

1

US Constitution – 1781

The Falls (1980)

A blonde wearing a floppy hat with peach-coloured ribbons and bird feathers attached to it, sits in front of three small whiteboards with study material such as pictures of waterfalls and pilots. Next to her a little fuse box, and on it a small, white fake bird and an orange-yellow egg. DPs: Mike Coles & John Rosenberg.

An important list in remembrance of the ratification of the Constitution of the United States on March 1, 1781.

“I have often thought it was very arrogant to suppose you could make a film for anybody but yourself… I like to think of The Falls as my own personal encyclopaedia Greenaway-ensis.”

– Peter Greenaway, via

Ninety-two people, all with a surname starting with f-a-l-l, survive unexpected catastrophes known as VUEs (Violent Unknown Events). These individuals experienced curious ailments, such as mutations of evolving into a bird-like form, speaking new languages, and becoming immortal.

 

This film, a list, describes them all.