settima

comedy

Привързаният балон [Privarzaniyat balon / The Tied-Up Balloon] (Binka Zhelyazkova, 1967)

Oct

1

Balloons Around The World Day

Привързаният балон (1967)

The balloon sails along as a young woman in white (Janet Miteva) walks with it. DP: Emil Vagenshtain.

One day, a large blimp shows up over a small Bulgarian village. The townspeople, seeing the prosperity in all that beautiful silk and then some, go after it.

“It was fear that created the first gods.”

– Stratius

Céline et Julie vont en bateau: Phantom Ladies Over Paris [Celine and Julie Go Boating] (Jacques Rivette, 1974)

Sep

17

National Women's Friendship Day

Céline et Julie vont en bateau: Phantom Ladies Over Paris (1974)

Celine (Juliet Berto) leans into Julie (Dominique Labourier) in the back of a car. DP: Jacques Renard.

“It doesn't hurt to fall off the moon.”

– Julie

Warum läuft Herr R. Amok [Why Does Herr R. Run Amok] (Michael Fengler, 1970)

Sep

11

National Boss Employee Exchange Day

Warum läuft Herr R. Amok (1970)

Der Chef (Franz Maron) berates Herr R. (Kurt Raab). DP: Dietrich Lohmann.

Mr R. (Kurt Raab), his full name is irrelevant, is a hardworking, almost invisible man. He laughs along when his coworkers make stale jokes to shorten the long days. He neatly completes his draftman's assignments and politely nods when the boss berates him. He smokes too much, 80 a day, and at the yearly checkup is told to cut the habit down. His son fails at school and Mrs R. wishes for nicer furniture and a skiing holiday, when Mr R. is promoted.

“No, no, geh' nicht vorbei, als wär' nichts gescheh'n, Es ist zu spät, um zu lügen, Komm und verzeih, ich werd' mit dir geh'n, Wohin dein Weg auch führt, Und die Welt, sie wird schön.”

– Christian Anders, Geh nicht vorbei (1969)

So why does Herr R run amok?

Stroszek (Werner Herzog, 1977)

Sep

9

German Language Day

Stroszek (1977)

A warm Railroad Flats, Wis. “Willcomen” [sic] for (LtR) Scheitz, Eva, and Bruno, with Mr Scheitz's nephew (Clayton Szalpinski) squeezed between his “Onkellein” and Eva. DP: Thomas Mauch.

Bruno Stroszek (Bruno S.), his friends Eva (Eva Mattes) and Scheitz (Clemens Scheitz, responsible for the fairy-tale music you hear in this film) decide to leave dreary #Berlin behind and move to #Wisconsin where the latter's nephew lives. A new life, with dreams of music and animal magnetism, awaits them there.

“Was ist loos? Der Hund is loose.”

– Clayton

As so oft with #Herzog, the story behind Stroszek is as engrossing as the resulting film. Documentary maker Errol Morris and Herzog were fascinated by Wisconsin's own Ed Gein and wondered if Gein had dug up his own mother, as was rumoured at the time. As they would, they decided to open the poor woman's grave. Morris never showed up, and neither did Herzog but only because his car broke down en route to Plainfield, Wisconsin. Trying to get the vehicle fixed, Herzog entered the workshop of a Clayton Szalpinski.

 

A character in his own right, and a non-actor to boot, Clayton ended up in Stroszek as Scheitz's nephew; a MacGuffin odder than a dancing chicken.

Stroszek (Werner Herzog, 1977)

Sep

9

turkey

Stroszek (1977)

Bruno (Bruno S.) shopping in a small American convenience store. He's holding a wad of dollar bills and a huge bird that he just took out of a very opulently stocked cooler. DP: Thomas Mauch.

“We're in America now.”

– Bruno S.

ねこぢる草 [Nekojiru-sō / Cat Soup] (Tatsuo Satō, 2001)

Aug

30

National Grief Awareness Day

ねこぢる草 (2001)

Nyāko taken away by Jizō with little brother Nyatta telling Nyāko to come back home. DP: Masaru Takase.

Nyatta is not ready to have Jizō take away his big sister Nyāko to Ne-no-kuni, the land of the dead. The kitten grabs his sister's paw, resulting in her soul being ripped in two and leaving Nyāko in a state of limbo. The cats' mother then sends the two off on a mission to buy fried #tofu. Maybe now Nyatta can find a way to put Nyāko's divided soul back together. But first, there's a circus to visit!

 

ねこぢる草 is based on works by mangaka Nekojiru / ねこぢる (1967—1998) whose trademark crudely drawn #cats caused a ripple in Japan's underground #manga circuit. Nyatta and Nyāko continued their surreal adventures by way of widower Yamano Hajime after Nekojiru's tragic suicide in 1998.

Vražda ing. Čerta [The Murder of Mr. Devil / Killing the Devil] (Ester Krumbachová, 1970)

Aug

18

Serendipity Day

Vražda ing. Čerta (1970)

Ona (Jiřina Bohdalová) is her wonderful kitchen, smoking two well-deserved cigars. DP: Jiří Macák.

Ester Krumbachová's feminist farce is a delight of many flavours. Ona (Jiřina Bohdalová) is already 40 and in need of a man. She remembers one from her youth, the handsome, slim, and very cultured Eng. Bohouš Čerta (litt. “God the Devil, Engineer”, played by the always great Vladimír Menšík), and knows that the one way to a man's heart is through the stomach.

 

Her cooking is immaculate. So are her looks and her apartment (all created by one-time director Krumbachová who worked as a costume designer and screenwriter). Unfortunately, her beau has turned boorish and stuffs his face with all but her and the furniture (is that true?). But cooking she can, and wanting she does. So she cooks and cooks and cooks up some more.

Sedmi kontinent [Sedmý kontinent / The Seventh Continent] (Dušan Vukotić, 1966)

Aug

12

teevee dinner

Sedmi kontinent (1966)

A little blond boy on a red tricycle driving past his TV-ish dinner in an empty house. DP: Karol Krška.

His Wife's Mistakes (Roscoe Arbuckle, 1916)

Aug

4

National Water Balloon Day

His Wife's Mistakes (1916)

Janitor Roscoe uses the comedy staple seltzer bottle to fill a balloon with some spritz!

The great Roscoe Arbuckle just can't help himself while at the wonderfully hedonistic Oriental Café in this delightful short slapstick.

La ragazza con la pistola [The Girl with a Pistol] (Mario Monicelli, 1968)

Jul

28

La ragazza con la pistola (1968)

Assunta Patanè (Monica Vitti) seated between two dinner tables on a long, padded bench. She's clutching her purse and appears to be waiting for something. On the table to her right a sugar bowl and a branded ashtray. DP: Carlo Di Palma.

“Ah, well, if you love somebody, shoot!”

– Dr. Tom Osborne