settima

crime

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?

Mlad i zdrav kao ruža [Young and Healthy As a Rose] (Jovan Jovanović, 1971)

May

21

Employee Health and Fitness Day

Mlad i zdrav kao ruža (1971)

Stiv (Dragoslav 'Dragan' Nikolić) working out. DPs: Petar Lalović & Petar Dositej Aranđelović.

A character who works out on Employee Health and Fitness Day (USA)

“Ja sam vaša budućnost”

– Stiv

Anayurt Oteli [Motherland Hotel] (Ömer Kavur, 1987)

May

14

Receptionist Day

Anayurt Oteli (1987)

Receptionist Zebercet. DP: Orhan Oğuz.

A receptionist or secretary for Receptionist Day

 

The proprietor and receptionist of a small hotel welcomes a new guest. The woman, her name she doesn't tell, stays for only one night with the promise to return the following week. The receptionist waits.

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.

Todo modo [One Way or Another] (Elio Petri, 1976)

May

1

National Day of Prayer

Todo modo (1976)

M. (Gian Maria Volontè) speaks to the gathered elite while a gypsum Christ multiplies bread and fishes. DP: Luigi Kuveiller.

A spiritual theme for the National Day of Prayer (USA)

“Have you ever tried to dress as a priest? Try it, at least once. It's a bit like being a woman. In summer the breeze enters under the genitals. You can go without briefs. Priests are half men and half women.”

– Don Gaetano

Inspired by the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, Italy's political leaders, industrialists, bankers, and business leaders gather for a retreat as an atonement for their past crimes of corruption and unethical practices, and to reinforce their power.

重慶森林 [Chung Hing sam lam / Chungking Express] (Wong Kar-Wai, 1994)

Apr

28

freebie: April

重慶森林 (1994)

Eating pineapple, expiration date May 1. DPs: Christopher Doyle & Wai Keung Lau.

A film set in April.

“We split up on April Fool's Day. So I decided to let the joke run for a month. Every day I buy a can of pineapple with a sell-by date of May 1. May loves pineapple, and May 1 is my birthday. If May hasn't changed her mind by the time I've bought thirty cans, then our love will also expire.”

– He Zhiwu, Cop 223

Daïnah la métisse [Dainah the Mixed] (Jean Grémillon, 1932)

Apr

15

Titanic

Daïnah la métisse (1932)

Mechanic Michaux (Charles Vanel) and Daïnah (Laurence Clavius) on the Art Deco liner. DPs: Louis Page & Georges Périnal.

A cruise ship in remembrance of the sinking of the Titanic on April 14–15, 1912.

 

Mestiza Daïnah, who accompanies her illusionist husband on the luxury cruise ship he works on, loves to flirt and tease the other sex, including the ship's engineer Michaux. Then, she disappears.

Laukaus tehtaalla [A Shot in the Factory] (Erkko Kivikoski, 1973)

Feb

21

Nixon goes to China

Laukaus tehtaalla (1973)

Workers and bosses negotiate the situation. DP: Esko Nevalainen.

Diplomacy on Nixon's visit to China (February 21 — 28, 1972)

 

The killing of the factory's boss by one of the workers leads to endless negotiations between the two parties.

 

Shot in cinéma vérité style, with a mostly amateur cast, Laukaus tehtaalla mirrors the working classes' insecurity caused by the 1973 energy crisis in more ways than one.

Les abysses [The Depths] (Nikos Papatakis, 1963)

Feb

18

pancakes

Les abysses (1963)

Michèle and Marie-Louise (real-life sisters Francine and Colette Bergé) as the real-life Papin sisters prepare crêpes for Monsieur. DP: Jean-Michel Boussaguet.

– Why are we making pancakes?

– Monsieur likes them. Besides, what else is there?