settima

bookadaptation

Bröllopsbesvär [Wedding: Swedish Style] (Åke Falck, 1964)

Nov

11

Bröllopsbesvär (1964)

Bride and groom, and resentfulness at front. DP: Rune Ericson.

A dysfunctional family*

 

On a wedding day, and night, a family's dirty secrets are laid bare.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for November is, again, not date-based, but follows a sloppy schmaltzy all-American Thanksgiving-y narrative. Trying to make it work my way.

Panique [Panic] (Julien Duvivier, 1946)

Nov

7

Panique (1946)

A child probes her dinner with a fork larger than her head while another one is all neat and proper. In the midst of them, as serious table settings require, a large man. His napkin tucked in at the neck, he leans over the first child with something to say. DP: Nicolas Hayer.

“Dead meat always attracts flies.”

– Monsieur Hire

有りがたうさん [Arigatō-san / Mr. Thank You] (Hiroshi Shimizu, 1936)

Nov

6

Arigatō-san (1936)

Arigatō-san (Ken Uehara) courteously thanks someone who shares the road for giving way. DP: Isamu Aoki.

A movie that makes you want to travel*

“Arigatō! [Thank you!]”

– Mr Thank You to everyone – poultry included – he passes on his bus

Friendly and helpful, Arigatō-san (Ken Uehara) is there for his passengers and non-bus travellers alike. A sweet roadmovie from a Japan now lost to time.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for November is, again, not date-based, but follows a sloppy schmaltzy all-American Thanksgiving-y narrative. Trying to make it work my way.

Jules et Jim (François Truffaut, 1962)

Nov

4

sweaters

Jules et Jim (1962)

A movie with gorgeous sweater fashion*

“She's a strange breed.”

– Jim

Throwing in a little Movember for good measure.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for November is, again, not date-based, but follows a sloppy schmaltzy all-American Thanksgiving-y narrative. Trying to make it work my way.

拳銃は俺のパスポート [Koruto wa ore no pasupōto / A Colt Is My Passport] (Takashi Nomura, 1967)

Nov

3

拳銃は俺のパスポート (1967)

A blurry shot of a man with a moustache in a space with chairs and a round table. DP: Shigeyoshi Mine.

 

المخدوعون [Al-makhdu'un / The Dupes] (Tawfiq Saleh, 1972)

Nov

2

النَّكْبَة

Al-makhdu'un (1972)

The three men on top of the water truck (via). DP: Bahgat Heidar.

Starting over*

“A man with no country, will have no grave in the Earth, I forbid you to leave.”

– opening quote (via)

A few years after the start of the Nakba, three generations hope to make a new life for themselves. In the steel belly of a water truck, the men travel Palestine into Iraq, then crossing the desert towards the promised land, Kuwait.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for November is, again, not date-based, but follows a sloppy schmaltzy all-American Thanksgiving-y narrative. Trying to make it work my way.

The Thing from Another World (Christian Nyby + Howard Hawks, 1951)

Nov

1

The Thing from Another World (1951)

Scientists and crew armed to the teeth. DP: Russell Harlan.

Until November 3.

“No pleasure, no pain… no emotion, no heart. Our superior in every way.”

– Dr. Arthur Carrington

Night of the Demon (Jacques Tourneur, 1957)

Oct

28

Night of the Demon (1957)

John Holden (Dana Andrews) standing in Stonehenge's inner circle. He's holding a strip of paper with something written on it. DP: Edward Scaife.

“It's in the trees! It's coming!”

Śledztwo [The Investigation] (Marek Piestrak, 1974)

Oct

28

Śledztwo (1974)

A person offscreen shoots a handgun. DP: Edward Kłosiński.

Tajemství hradu v Karpatech [The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians] (Oldřich Lipský, 1981)

Oct

27

1897

Tajemství hradu v Karpatech (1981)

A calendar – undeniably designed by the great Jan Švankmajer – with the date October 27, 1897, set on the day of – or referencing a saint – Sabina. Screenshot via DVDBeaver. DP: Viktor Růžička.

– You surely know that my financial support is unlimited.

– Yes. Long live your false cheque factories!