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ビリィ★ザ★キッドの新しい夜明け [Birī za kiddo no atarashii yoake / The New Morning of Billy the Kid] (Naoto Yamakawa, 1986)
May
31
National Utah Day
Billy the Kid steps out of a huge poster of Monument Valley right into a Tokyo bar and becomes its bar keeper. Together with a samurai, a WW2 G.I, Marx-Engels (not a typo), the Japanese weather service number 177 and others, he keeps the tavern safe from various thugs roaming the streets.
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Mlad i zdrav kao ruža [Young and Healthy As a Rose] (Jovan Jovanović, 1971)
May
21
Employee Health and Fitness Day
Stiv (Dragoslav 'Dragan' Nikolić) working out. DPs: Petar Lalović & Petar Dositej Aranđelović.
“Ja sam vaša budućnost”
– Stiv
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The Professionals (Richard Brooks, 1966)
Jan
12
1812
The sheriff jolts something down next to a wall calendar that reads January 12, 1812. Just visible through a window, Jake (Woody Strode) approaches. DP: Conrad L. Hall.
“Right now, I don't know if it's me or the dynamite that doin' all that sweatin'.”
– Jake Sharp
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Banditi a Milano [The Violent Four] (Carlo Lizzani, 1968)
Oct
22
Two of the four bandits, Pietro 'Piero' Cavallero (Gian Maria Volontè) and Sante Notarnicola (Don Backy), surrounded by press and Carabinieri. DPs: Giuseppe Ruzzolini & Otello Spila.
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0課の女 赤い手錠 [Zeroka no onna: Akai wappa / Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs] (Yukio Noda, 1974)
Oct
15
Rei (Miki Sugimoto) wielding the long red chain of her handcuffs. DP: Yoshio Nakajima.
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黒蜥蜴 [Kurotokage / Kuro tokage / Black Lizard] (Kinji Fukasaku, 1968)
Aug
4
The Black Lizard (Akihiro Miwa) in embrace with Detective Akechi (Isao Kimura). DP: Hiroshi Dōwaki.
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玉羅剎 [Yu luo cha / The Jade Raksha] (Meng-Hua Ho, 1968)
Jul
20
peanuts
Leng Chiu-han's hand (Pei-Pei Cheng) holds up a roasted peanut in the shell. On the table several more peanuts, empty shells, wine cups, and chopsticks. DP: Kuo-Hsiang Lin.
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Jul
13
lollipops
One of the gang members, immaculately dressed in all-black and small like a child, walks along a seedy street holding an oversized rainbow lollipop. DP: Yoshio Nakajima.
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破戒 [Po jie / Broken Oath] (Chang-hwa Jeong, 1977)
Feb
24
noodles
A large man at an eatery gulps down bowl after bowl of delicious noodles. He's at number seven with bowl eight ready to go. DPs: Tieh Wang & Yung-Lung Wang.
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3615 code Père Noël [Deadly Games / Dial Code Santa Claus] (René Manzor, 1989)
Dec
4
Santa's List Day
A man in a grey overcoat and yellow scarf at a public Minitel terminal. On the display the code 3615 and an 8-bit illustration of Santa Claus carrying his bag with presents. The sack holds a smaller Minitel device with the text PERE NOEL. DP: Michel Gaffier.
Aah France… Land of old wine, old cheese, old art, and Internet access in the early 80s. Prestige project of Président Giscard, France was determined to take a technological leap. Any French man, woman and child could borrow a Minitel – a PC-like videotex device – from the national telecommunications services. For those without landline there were numerous public terminals throughout the land. The machine gave the people access to a phonebook (convenient!), the news (smart!), same-day delivery shopping(!) and sexting (ooh la la!). All these services were accessible via a code starting with 3615 followed by a string of letters. Dial 3615 ULLA to text with a sexy lady – some telecom employee pretending to be one – and 3615 PERE NOEL for Santa Claus. The real one, of course.
9 year old whizkid Thomas (Alain Lalanne aka Alain Musy) is dead set on proving that Santa is real and not some weirdo looking for a gullible kid to play with. A trap is set, and the boy waits.
“You know Mum, I don't have to write to Santa anymore. There's an easier way, through Minitel.”
– Thomas
3615 code Père Noël is definitely not your cutesy little Christmas romp. The violence is not cartoonish, the bandit is more Manson than moist. The boy's disillusionment in the adults around him is a perfect mirror of “Santa's” lonely attempts to communicate and be accepted. However, Thomas' mom didn't lie about one thing; that seeing Santa on Christmas Eve turns you into an ogre. Or an adult, as the grownups call it.
