settima

cars

Accidente 703 [Los culpables] (José María Forqué, 1962)

Dec

21

Accidente 703 (1962)

A darkened room. People take care of a man slumped on a coach. A wall calendar tells us it's the 21st. DP: Juan Mariné.

Your Safety First (George Gordon, 1956)

Oct

5

2000

Your Safety First (1956)

The protagonist, voiced by George O'Hanlon, reading an ad for tomorrow's car in the October 5, 2000 newspaper.

Red & Rosy (Frank Grow, 1989)

Jun

3

Red & Rosy (1989)

Big Red (Rico Martinez) in his hotrod. DPs: Frank Grow, Ralph Hawkins & Rico Martinez.

Muloorina (David Cobham, 1964)

Nov

17

Guinness World Records Day

Muloorina (1964)

The Bluebird parked amongst the crew's Jeeps. DPs: John Daniell, Ross King, Frank McKechnie, Ian Millar & Bob Wright.

Short in gorgeous Technicolor, Muloorina tells about a small, arid town in Australia that one day finds itself on the world's stage. Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre, a local salt lake that hasn't seen a drop of rain in nine years, is the perfect spot for a landspeed record attempt by British daredevil Donald Campbell and his Bluebird.

 

A play of contrasts. The supersonic blue machine on the ancient white riverbed and the slowness of the eternal landscape versus something faster than should be possible. And meanwhile, the locals care for their land and animals, and wait for rain.

Peppermint Frappé (Carlos Saura, 1967)

Jun

30

Drive Your Corvette To Work Day

Peppermint Frappé (1967)

Producer Elías Querejeta (far left) and others pushing Geraldine Chaplin character Elena's Chevrolet Corvette C1. Behind the wheel actor José Luis López Vázquez (Julián). DP: Luis Cuadrado.

A chance encounter with a blonde drummer during the Holy Week in the village of Calanda leaves a deep impression on Julián (José Luis López Vázquez). When years later he reunites with his childhood friend Pablo, he finds that Pablo is married to bubbly cosmopolitan Elena (Geraldine Chaplin), the spitting image of the elusive drummer. Infatuated he tries to court her, but Elena sees nothing in the drab radiologist. Julián then turns his attention to his shy assistant Ana (also Chaplin) and grooms her into becoming the two unattainable women.

“Things last as long as they last.”

– Pablo

Saura's Peppermint Frappé takes #Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) – indeed the peppermint green of the drink is an homage – with a twist of #Buñuel and serves it over an anti-#Franco​ist tale of self-doubting machismo obsessing over The Other. Even Elena's car, American instead of a much more obvious European model, dismisses fascist Spain's perceived superiority. Indeed the Generalisimo drove a Cadillac.

Trafic [Traffic] (Jacques Tati, 1971)

May

16

National Barbecue Day

Trafic (1971)

A man prepares a steak on his nifty Renault 4 Altra grill (there's a pun), observed by M. Hulot and a perplexed Dutch customs officer. In the background a sign in Dutch that requests to refrain from smoking. DPs: Eduard van der Enden & Marcel Weiss.

Monsieur #Hulot – who in his final appearance happens to be an automobile designer – travels to a car show in Amsterdam to demonstrate his latest creation, a camper van par excellence. The vehicle of course accommodates the latest gadgets, such as a collapsible grill.

“Where are you going, Mr. Hulot?”

However regarded as a lesser #Tati, Trafic, is another display of lovingly choreographed insanity, notably a #CarCrash that makes me wonder if this was Tati's attempt to transpose Godard's Week-end (1967) into a pleasant, pre-May 68 France.

Le Samouraï [The Samurai] (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1967)

Apr

25

License Plates Day

Le Samouraï (1967)

A pair of hands switching license plates on the front of a Citroën DS. The scene is almost black-and-white. DP: Henri Decaë.

Hitman Jef Costello (Alain Delon) coolly drives a #Citroën DS 21 to his garagiste (André Salgues), who routinely switches the license plates in a beautifully wordless, efficiently lit scene.

“I never lose. Never really.”

Red & Rosy (Frank Grow, 1989)

Apr

1

National Handmade Day

Red & Rosy (1989)

Big Red (Rico Martinez) high on adrenaline. DPs: Frank Grow, Ralph Hawkins & Rico Martinez.

All you need for a movie is a gun and a girl. Or a girl with a glue gun. Or skip the girl, get yourself a piece of cardboard, some foam latex, and a six pack of beer. Frank Grow's Red & Rosy is the embodiment of a special staple of #DIY culture that appears to be long-lost. Really kids, you don't need much of a budget. Or tomorrows latest equipment. The hottest Hollywood hotshot? Forget about it, ask your drunk uncle to yell at the camera for 10 minutes. You want authenticity? Tape some random medical footage straight from your teevee. Need a shot of adrenal juice?

 

Well, just watch this.

Un homme et une femme A Man and a Woman] (Claude Lelouch, 1966)

Mar

18

International Sports Car Racing Day

Un homme et une femme (1966)

Jean-Louis Trintignant driving a Matra single-seater at the Autodrome de Montlhéry [caption taken from a photo from the same session]. Behind him his uncle Maurice in a Maserati Tipo 151/1. DP: Claude Lelouch.

A man and a woman meet and fall in love. The woman – Anouk Aimée – still mourns the loss of her stuntman husband, while the man – Jean-Louis Trintignant – is alone since his partner took her life, incapable of dealing with his near-fatal #crash at #LeMans.

“It's foolish to refuse happiness.”

#Trintignant came from a family obsessed with race car driving and was an avid amateur driver himself. His uncle, the #GrandPrix racer Maurice Trintignant, can be seen driving a #Maserati Tipo 151/1 during the race scene.
A deceptively simple film by Claude Lelouch, with an equally breezy soundtrack by Francis Lai.

Carnival of Souls [Corridors of Evil] (Herk Harvey, 1962)

Mar

13

National Open An Umbrella Indoors Day

Carnival of Souls (1962)

Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) looking around in wonder. DP: Maurice Prather.

A slice of teenage bravura is just enough for a couple of kids to #dare each other to a drag race. Hours after the car of one of them had plunged from a bridge into the murky waters below, Mary Henry resurfaces.

“It's funny… the world is so different in the daylight. In the dark, your fantasies get so out of hand. But in the daylight everything falls back into place again.”

– Mary Henry

Carnival of Souls was Herk Harvey's sole feature length film. He's much better known – albeit mostly uncredited – for his short PSAs including Halloween Safety, ruining your kids' favourite holiday since 1977, and Shake Hands With Danger (1980).

 

You don't have to tell Three Finger Joe about taking no risks.