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.
“Patrick, it's Hitler! Yes it is Hitler! Patrick, you must take a picture of me with him!”
Zítra vstanu a opařím se čajem [Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea] (Jindřich Polák, 1977)
Jun
1
Time-traveling tourist Shirley White (Marie Rosůlková) dragging a bewildered Hitler (František Vicena) in front of her husband's photo camera. DP: Jan Kališ.
– Shirley White, American time traveler
“With nothing to do, no news and in terrible solitude, we were 100 unfortunates awaiting our fate. I had no illusions about my own. If I could only escape, run away…”
Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut [A Man Escaped] (Robert Bresson, 1956)
May
2
A hand with dirty nails writing on a scrap of paper with a pencil stump. It starts “Mai 2 Ma chère maman, Je suis à la pris[…]“. DP: Léonce-Henri Burel.
– Fontaine
Két félidő a pokolban [Two Half-Times in Hell] (Zoltán Fábri, 1961)
Apr
20
A sour looking player with a flood of Nazis coming towards him. DP: Ferenc Szécsényi.
Ко то тамо пева? [Ko to tamo peva / Who's Singin' Over There?] (Slobodan Šijan, 1980)
Apr
5
1941
A singing man plays the accordion, accompanied by a child smoking a cigarette. DP: Božidar 'Bota' Nikolić.
“He's growing! Look! See how he's growing! I have seen the Lord! The Lord! The Lord!”
Die Blechtrommel [The Tin Drum] (Volker Schlöndorff, 1979)
Dec
21
winter solstice
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Little Oskar with his tin drum. DP: Igor Luther.
Something short for winter solstice.
– Schugger-Leo
On the eve of World War 2, little Oskar – just three years old – decides he doesn't want to grow anymore.
Balada o trobenti in oblaku [Ballad About a Trumpet and a Cloud] (France Štiglic, 1961)
Dec
11
International Mountain Day
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A young couple dances among the mountains (via). DP: Rudi Vaupotič.
Set in the mountains for International Mountain Day
1943. With the family preparing for Christmas, old man Temnikar hears the sound of a trumpet. The patriarch sees it as his calling to follow – and kill – the White Guardists who visited his mountain farm looking for wounded Partisans.
Pasażerka [Passenger] (Andrzej Munk, Witold Lesiewicz + Andrzej Brzozowski, 1963)
Dec
9
cruise
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Marta and Liza on the cruise ship (via). DP: Krzysztof Winiewicz.
On a cruise, from [OP] Cinn’s bucket list. Well, not in the context of today's film pick*
1960. On a luxury line, former prisoner Marta and her warden Liza meet again. Things had happened years before, in Auschwitz. This new confrontation reverses their roles.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for December has a few dateless themes. This is one of them.
“They sent me out by plane to a boarding school. But I ran away. There's a war on. I can't cram some stupid stuff when it's a war.”
Иваново детство [Ivanovo detstvo / Ivan's Childhood] (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1962)
Dec
7
National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
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Ivan (Nikolay Burlyaev) scouting (via). DP: Vadim Yusov.
A special soldier for National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (USA)
– Ivan
A twelve-year old boy works as a scout for the Soviet army. His age and size make him an inoffensive figure in the war-scarred landscape. But inside, he's brooding for revenge.
“If that's Americanism, it's very hyphenated.”
December 7th (John Ford + Gregg Toland, 1943)
Dec
7
1941
A Japanese person paints over the Japanese characters on their store's sign. AZUMA PHONE and SUS[HI obscured] can stay. DP: Gregg Toland.
– narrator