settima

crime

0課の女 赤い手錠 [Zeroka no onna: Akai wappa / Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs] (Yukio Noda, 1974)

Sep

12

National Police Woman Day

0課の女 赤い手錠 (1974)

Rei (Miki Sugimoto) wielding the red chain of her handcuffs. DP: Yoshio Nakajima.

Rei (Miki Sugimoto) is a member of Division Zero, a top secret division of #Tokyo's police department. Hired to investigate a high-profile #kidnapping, she infiltrates the gang and kills them off with her signature blood-red handcuffs.

 

Ostia [A Violent Life] (Sergio Citti, 1970)

Sep

11

supper

Ostia (1970)

A group of vulgar looking people eating outdoors at a very long table in front of an old crumbing wall at a very long table. The scene is a re-enactment of Da Vinci's Il Cenacolo / Last Supper. DP: Mario Mancini.

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?

Ostia [A Violent Life] (Sergio Citti, 1970)

Sep

10

National Pet Memorial Day

Ostia (1970)

Bandiera and Rabbino and their beloved Rosina, thoughtfully covered with a woollen blanket. DP: Mario Mancini.

Bandiera and Rabbino, two young bumpkins, find that Rosina, their beloved ewe, has been butchered by their father. Years later, the two share their lives with a beautiful blonde who they found believing to be dead.

کلوزآپ ، نمای نزدیک [Klūzāp, nemā-ye nazdīk / Close-Up] (Abbas Kiarostami, 1990)

Sep

8

Pardon Day

Klūzāp, nemā-ye nazdīk (1990)

Hossain Sabzian riding passenger on a motorcycle holding a large potted rose-red dahlia. DP: Ali Reza Zarrindast.

کلوزآپ ، نمای نزدیک is visual narrative illustrating a crime. A cinephile, Hossain Sabzian, pretends to be filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf and slowly extorts a family into believing to star in the director's next film.

“Prison is good for the good and bad for the wicked. It teaches the good a lesson but only makes the wicked worse.”

– Hossain Sabzian

An article about the case intrigued director #Kiarostami so much that he decided to film the court case against Sabzian, and ask the accused, Makhmalbaf, and the Ahankhah family to reenact some of the events.

To Catch a Thief (Alfred Hitchcock, 1955)

Sep

8

leg or breast

To Catch a Thief (1955)

Francie (Grace Kelly) and John Robie (Cary Grant) taking a (lunch) break on the Grand Corniche coast road. DP: Robert Burks.

– You want a leg or a breast?

– You make the choice.

M​ [M – Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder] (Fritz Lang, 1931)

Sep

5

Jury Rights Day

M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder (1931)

Schränker (Gustaf Gründgens) and his kangaroo court. Under his clenched fist a photograph of one of the murdered girls. DP: Fritz Arno Wagner.

“Just you wait, it won't be long, The man in black will soon be here, With his cleaver's blade so true, He'll make mincemeat out of you!”

– children singing

Homicidal (William Castle, 1961)

Sep

2

Ice cream (melting)

Homicidal (1961)

Emily (Joan Marshall), a stately blonde, looking down on a sulky little kid holding his slowly melting ice cream. DP: Burnett Guffey.

The Hypnotic Eye (George Blair, 1960)

Aug

29

National Lemon Juice Day

The Hypnotic Eye (1960)

Suave hypnotist Desmond (Jacques Bergerac) and his lovely assistant Justine (Allison Hayes) using the magic of vitamin C to demonstrate to you, the viewer, how hypnotism works. DP: Archie R. Dalzell.

The Hypnotic Eye utilises what's called the movie gimmick. This one doesn't deploy anything hugely spectacular, no Percepto! seat vibrators (The Tingler (1959)) or Witchcraft (1964) witch deflectors or even a trained nurse on standby. There's a balloon. No spoilers here

“And now I am going to demonstrate to you the power of your own mind.”

– Desmond

There are also multiple moments where hypnotist Desmond (handsome future-Revlon-exec Jacques Bergerac) directly addresses you, the (wo)man in the audience. Because you too may laugh at that folly, that gimmick, that parlour trick. But who says it isn't real? Who says you really never went to see a hypnotism show…?

Dial 1119 [The Violent Hour] (Gerald Mayer, 1950)

Aug

28

Sherry Flips

Dial 1119 (1950)

Dr. John Faron (Sam Levene) and barfly Freddy (Virginia Field) drinking at the counter. Freddy is enjoying her sherry flip with what appear to be olives instead of cherries. Two more glasses are waiting for her. DP: Paul Vogel.

“And now for the benefit of the folks who tuned in late, I should like to say that this is the most traumatic spectacle I have ever had the GOOD fortune to witness.”

– TV announcer