settima

biography

Angst [Fear] (Gerald Kargl, 1983)

May

23

National Title Track Day

Angst (1983)
Klaus Schulze (1983)

1: K. Out. Out. DP: Zbigniew Rybczynski.
2: Klaus Schulze at work in 1983 (via)

A killer title track for National Title Track Day (USA)

“The fear in her eyes and the knife in the chest. That's my last memory of my mother. That's why I had to go to prison for four years, even though she survived.”

– opening lines

What stabs you harder in the chest than Klaus Schulze's synth-driven killing spree?

The Trial of the Catonsville Nine (Gordon Davidson, 1972)

May

17

1968

The Trial of the Catonsville Nine (1972)

Director Gordon Davidson and the defense attorney (David Spielberg) on set. DP: Haskell Wexler.

Ich bin meine eigene Frau [I Am My Own Woman] (Rosa von Praunheim, 1992)

May

16

Honor Our LGBT Elders Day

Ich bin meine eigene Frau (1992)

Ichgola Androgyn, Jens Taschner, and Charlotte von Mahlsdorf as Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. DP: Lorenz Haarmann.

An LGBTQ actor, director, or character over 55 for Honor Our LGBT Elders Day (USA)

“Ich bin meine eigene Frau” (“I am my own woman/wife”)

– Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, in response to her mother's request to settle and get married

The extraordinary life of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, Berliner, gender bender, Nazi killer (her own father, with a wooden rolling pin, mind you), prisoner, custodian, museum founder, barmaid, Stasi informer (arguably), den mother to the GDR's LGBT+ youngsters, but most of all, her own woman.

Παραγγελιά! [Parangelia! / Request for a Song] (Pavlos Tasios, 1980)

May

13

Top Gun Day

Παραγγελιά! (1980)

A man dances the Zeibekiko, with another close to him. DPs: Sakis Maniatis & Kostas Papagiannakis.

Testosterone! for Top Gun Day (USA)

 

The Ζεϊμπέκικο (Zeibekiko) is a Greek dance, improvised by one man, alone. It's a dance that shows the performer's manliness, both his pride and his sorrows. Out of respect for the dancer, the others sit down, watch, and relate to him.

 

When the police enters the establishment – and this is 1973, the colonels ruled the naton – and interrupt the dancer, his older brother steps in.

Yngsjömordet [Woman of Darkness] (Arne Mattsson, 1966)

May

11

Mother's Day

spoiler warning: click to toggle image Yngsjömordet (1966)

Anna Månsdotter (Gunnel Lindblom). DP: Lasse Björne.

A good or bad mother for Mother's Day

 

Arranged by his widowed mother, Per Nilsson marries the wealthy judge's daughter Hanna. The wedlock remains unfulfilled as son and mother find satisfaction in each other. Hanna suspects something.  
Based on the Yngsjö murder case, which at the time was considered more noteworthy for the mother/son relationship than the resulting tragedy.

Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut [A Man Escaped] (Robert Bresson, 1956)

May

2

Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut (1956)

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.

“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…”

– Fontaine

حاجی واشنگتن [Hajji Washington / Haji Washington] (Ali Hatami, 1983)

Apr

30

George Washington – 1789

Hajji Washington (1983)

The ambassador and guest in the embassy. The guest, a white cowboy peeling peanuts, leisurely rests on a Persian rug with a hookah by his side. The ambassador recites from a book, with his chaii within reach (via). DP: Mehrdad Fakhimi.

The White House, or set in Washington, DC, in commemoration of the first inauguration of George Washington in 1789.

 

Hajji Hossein-Gholi Noori was Iran's first ambassador to the United States in 1889. Stuck in DC, homesick, and without any US-based Iranians to serve, he slowly unravels

鬼の詩 [Oni no uta / Song of the Devil] (Tetsutaro Murano, 1975)

Apr

29

Jerry Seinfeld – 1954

鬼の詩 (1975)

Keima Kyo entertaining his audience by hanging numerous clay pipes from his face. DP: Yasuhiro Yoshioka.

A comedian, or set in Brooklyn or NYC, for Jerry Seinfeld's birthday (1954).

 

Rakugo (落語, litt. “story with a fall”), is a style of Japanese comedy performed while seated. Armed with a few props, the rakugoka recites a comical monologue using pitch and gestures.

 

A dramatic retelling of the life of rakugoka Katsura Beikyo II. Keima Kyo, a talented rakugoka, is offered apprenticeship from an older successful performer, but refuses. Young and arrogant, he decides to take over the other man's act instead.

Ludwig (Luchino Visconti, 1973)

Mar

25

Elton John – 1947

Ludwig (1973)

Elisabeth “Sissi” of Austria (Romy Schneider) and King Ludwig II of Bavaria (Helmut Berger) in his beloved Venus Grotto below Schloss Linderhoff. Ludwig wanted blue light in reference to the Grotta Azzurra in #Capri, and had electricity installed in the grotto, which was the first usage of electricity in Austria. DP: Armando Nannuzzi.

A flamboyant character for Elton John’s birthday (1947).

“I want to remain an enigma forever. To others, and also to myself.”

– Ludwig II