L'udienza [The Audience] (Marco Ferreri, 1972)
Feb
2
Aiche (Claudia Cardinale) washing Principe Donati's (Vittorio Gassman) feet. DP: Mario Vulpiani.
“The most revolting film I have ever seen”
La grande bouffe (Marco Ferreri, 1973)
Jul
21
Andréa Ferréol in a promotional photo. Food styling by actor/food writer Giuseppe Maffioli, DP: Mario Vulpiani.
A character pigging out*
– Mary Whitehouse, via
Four hedonistic gourmands throw a party of the flesh, of meat, of lust, and death.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for July is, for unknown reasons, mostly not date-related and follows some sort of vacation narrative.
“She's always happy. She desires nothing, envies no one, is curious about nothing. You can't surprise her. She doesn't notice the humiliations, though they happen to her every day. It all rolls off her back like some waterproof material. Zero ambition. No moral code. Not even a whore's love of money.”
Io la conoscevo bene [I Knew Her Well] (Antonio Pietrangeli, 1965)
Mar
5
Crispus Attucks – 1770
Adriana (Stefania Sandrelli) seen through her apartment window. Rome is reflected in her face. DP: Armando Nannuzzi.
A wasteful act: Crispus Attucks, (arguably) the first American victim in the American Revolution, dies on March 5th, 1770.
– The Writer
An ambitious but aimless girl – she wants to be loved, and to be a model, a proto-Edie – mills about her day.
Sublimely shot, we see Adriana through glass panes, in reflections, in an off-focal plane, in other people's words.
“Whoever dies for the country hasn't lived in vain. I, on the contrary, will live for the country because I'm not that stupid.”
Touche pas à la femme blanche [Don't Touch the White Woman!] (Marco Ferreri, 1974)
Nov
23
potato chips
Two white Frenchmen – in a University of Columbia and a CIA sweatshirt respectively – comment on the “period piece” they're in. CIA man (Paolo Villaggio) stuffs his face with potato chips. DP: Étienne Becker.
– George A. Custer
L'udienza [The Audience] (Marco Ferreri, 1972)
Nov
14
Amedeo (Enzo Jannacci), a young man with heavy rimmed glasses wrapped in heavy, flowery drapes as if it's a toga, eating late at night. There's an opened can on one of his plates. A sad looking stuffed toy dog hangs out. DP: Mario Vulpiani.