0課の女 赤い手錠 [Zeroka no onna: Akai wappa / Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs] (Yukio Noda, 1974)
Oct
15
1937
Rei (Miki Sugimoto) wielding the long red chain of her handcuffs. DP: Yoshio Nakajima.
“One can meet only god at such hour.”
駅 [Eki / Station] (Yasuo Furuhata, 1981)
Oct
12
Eiji Mikami (Ken Takakura) and Kiriko (Chieko Baishō) watching TV in her quiet bar. She sings along with her favourite song. DP: Daisaku Kimura.
Set 278 days before the start of the Tokyo Olympics.
– You expect me to eat that? – Americans live on ketchup and milk. I'm a whiz at geography.
Le passager de la pluie [Rider on the Rain] (René Clément, 1970)
Oct
10
Mélancolie 'Mellie' Mau (Marlène Jobert) and Col. Harry Dobbs (Charles Bronson), dancing. DP: Andréas Winding.
– Here he is! – There he goes! – That's the president of the whole country. – Ohh!
Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick, 1978)
Oct
7
1916
The Amarillo Dispatch reports on President Wilson's October 7 visit to the town of Panhandle. DP: Néstor Almendros.
“I'm gonna be happy for a change.”
The Sniper (Edward Dmytryk, 1952)
Oct
4
Man's hands, one bandaged, holding a rifle. DP: Burnett Guffey.
– Edward Miller
Le boucher [The Butcher] (Claude Chabrol, 1970)
Oct
3
Popaul (Jean Yanne) and Hélène (Stéphane Audran) in the former's butcher shop. DP: Jean Rabier.
ტარიელ მკლავაძის მკვლელობის საქმე [Tariel Mklavadzis mkvlelobis saqme / The Hero of Our Time] (Ivane Perestiani, 1925)
Sep
21
wine
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A dark eyed woman lurks from behind a white horse, while holding a glass of wine. DP: Aleksandr Digmelov.
“It is vital to be photogenic from head to foot. After that you are allowed to display some measure of talent.”
Les Vampires [The Vampires or, The Arch Criminals of Paris] (Louis Feuillade, 1915/1916)
Aug
24
black
A signed promotional photograph of Irma Vep (Musidora) in her iconic black catsuit. DPs: Georges Guérin & Manichoux.
Black, in food or fashion*
– Musidora
Possibly the first, and definitely the most, iconic catsuit in cinema is worn by Musidora as Irma Vep in Les Vampires. Skintight and scandalous, Musidora's screen presence in the serial further cemented the popularity of the vamp and set the scene for many man-eaters to come.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for August is not date-related but lists, for the most part, the colours of the rainbow.
Mitt hem är Copacabana [My Home Is Copacabana] (Arne Sucksdorff, 1965)
Aug
2
The favela children on the beach, playing with kites and mingling with the rich kids. DP: Arne Sucksdorff.
A kite in celebration of 浜松まつり, the Hamamatsu Kite Festival, which takes place on May 3–5*
Favela kids steal kites and sell them on in this Copacabana-set Nordic drama.
Toninho Carlos de Lima, Rico in the movie, was not a homeless kid from the favelas but lived in a house with his family when he was send to Sweden to promote Mitt hem är Copacabana. A wealthy Swedish couple offered to adopt him, and his natural mother reluctantly gave in hoping to prevent a life of crime for her son (source). That too, dear reader, is colonialism.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for August is not date-related but lists, for the most part, the colours of the rainbow.
La vérité [The Truth] (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1960)
Jul
25
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Bardot and two men in a café. She has her head on Sami Frey's shoulder while the other man kisses her arm. The table in front of them holds a full ashtray and small coffee cups. DP: Armand Thirard.