settima

crime

Rat Fink [My Soul Runs Naked / Wild and Willing] (James Landis, 1965)

May

11

World Ego Awareness Day

Rat Fink (1965)

Real-world teen pop idol Schuyler Hayden as Lonnie. He's very pretty, and pensive, sitting in front of a potted palm and balloons, this thumb up to his chin. His face and eyes are lit in such a way that he looks strangely sinister. DP: Vilmos Zsigmond.

Pretty boy Lonnie gets what he wants. And he wants to be out of where he came from, and he wants to be wanted and rich. And he's got the looks and the voice and the ego. So he gets it, the getting out and the love and the money. And then some. And then some. And then.

“It's not my fault that opportunity came my way.”

– Lonnie

Rat Fink is not your pop-idol-turned-movie-star vehicle. Something's off, no good vibrations here. It's dark – not in the least thanks to cinematographer Vilmos “The Deer Hunter” Zsigmond's doings – and gritty – real-world pop singer Schuyler Hayden doesn't hold back in his portrayal of egomaniacal pretty boy Lonnie.

 

If it hadn't been lost for half a century you may be fooled to believe that it spawned a certain, fictional 80s investment banker.

點指兵兵 [Dian zhi bing bing / Cops and Robbers] (Kwok-Ming Cheung, 1979)

May

6

點指兵兵 (1979)

A table set with one small plate of meat, one small plate of vegetables, three empty bowls, and one pair of chopsticks.

Ghosts… of the Civil Dead (John Hillcoat, 1988)

Apr

26

Hug An Australian Day

Ghosts… of the Civil Dead (1988)

One of the inmates near a small window. The light's cold. DPs: Paul Goldman & Graeme Wood.

John Hillcoat's deeply unpleasant debut is based on In the Belly of the Beast (1981), a collection of excerpts of letters between prisoner Jack Henry Abbott and author Norman Mailer. True to the book's format, Ghosts consists of disjointed vignettes of monologues, #CCTV footage, title cards, and prisoners' phone calls.

 

For the last 37 months, these filters inform the observer, the hypermodern #supermax Central Industrial Prison has been in permanent lockdown. The cast, a mix of professional actors and ex-cons, and the location, a clean factory-style hangar in the middle of the Australian desert, underscore the underlying raw brutality of the unfolding events.

 

“Officer, come here. I wanna spit in your fucking eye!”

– Maynard

The #industrial soundtrack is by Bad Seed Nick Cave (co-writer and starring as Maynard), Mick Harvey, and Blixa Bargeld from when they were still closer to being birthday boys than morose crooners.

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.”

羅生門 [Rashōmon] (Akira Kurosawa, 1950)

Apr

22

April Showers Day

羅生門 (1950)

Two men sheltering from torrential rain in the gate of a wooden temple. DP: Kazuo Miyagawa.

“It sounded interesting, at least while I kept out of the rain. But if it's a sermon, I'd sooner listen to the rain.”

– commoner

Supermarkt [Die Stadt, Jane Love / Supermarket] (Roland Klick, 1974)

Apr

16

National Cash Day

Supermarkt (1974)

A dirty, cut hand attempts to steal a few coins from a dish at a public toilet. DP: Jost Vacano.

Good-for-nothing Willi (Charly Wierzejewski) is in trouble. After yet another run-in with the law, and yet again meeting the wrong people at the wrong time, he falls in love with a destitute street worker (Eva Mattes). Now he really needs #money so he can support himself, her, and her kid. He tries his hand at renting himself out to a rich homosexual (homosexuality was illegal in 1970s W Germany), then moves forward to robbing the money transporter of a local supermarket with his pimp buddy. But as usual, Willi is in trouble.

 

Shot on location in #Hamburg's red-light district St. Pauli, Supermarkt is gritty, unpleasant and has an authenticity rarely seen in other films of this genre.

The Kirlian Witness (Jonathan Sarno, 1978)

Apr

13

International Plant Appreciation Day

The Kirlian Witness (1978)

Rilla (Nancy Snyder) in a neglected room, the floor's littered with empty food packaging. On a small table in front of her, a ficus hooked up to a polygraph. DP: João Fernandes.

Kirlian photography claims that plants can communicate telepathically. Rilla (Nancy Snyder) delves deep into the science so to interrogate the only witness to her plant-loving sister Laurie's murder, a ficus.

 

Not to be confused with the inferior alternative cut The Plants are Watching.

Mickey One (Arthur Penn, 1965)

Apr

8

Step Into The Spotlight Day

Mickey One (1965)

Mickey (Warren Beatty) bent over, holding a microphone with a bright spotlight aimed at him. DP: Ghislain Cloquet.

Warren Beatty plays Mickey, a #StandUpComedian who has it all, then gambles it all away. Well, that's the first 5 minutes of Arthur Penn's Mickey One. Beatty is out of his element, and the movie's still too indebted to the cheery 60s to carry that New American Cinema grit.

“I'm the king of the silent pictures. I'm hiding out till talkies blow over.”

– Mickey One

Having said that, there are several great small surreal moments that are carried by uncredited character actors alone. And then there's a sole spotlight, stealing it all away.

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (F.W. Murnau, 1927)

Mar

12

Academy Award For Best Picture

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)

The Man and Wife kiss in the countryside. Suddenly, the backdrop changes to the hustle and bustle of the big city. Carts, both horse and engine driven, come to a halt for the lovers. DPs: Charles Rosher & Karl Struss.

Sunrise was bestowed the award for “Best Unique and Artistic Picture” on that first Oscar night. The first and last time that ever happened; in 1930, the price was scrapped and replaced by “Outstanding Picture” aka “Best Picture”. And that one went to the much more American-patriotic Wings (1927).

 

Also rightfully awarded in '29 were Janet Gaynor (Best Actress in a Leading Role), Charles Rosher and Karl Struss (Best #Cinematography), while Rochus Gliese was nominated for Best #ArtDirection.

“This song of the Man and his Wife is of no place and every place; you might hear it anywhere, at any time.”

– opening title card

Sunrise is a fantastic tour de force, and it winning that award should make you feel hopeful for the future of cinema. Instead, the current list of nominees and winners is, at least to me, a checklist of what to avoid for ever.

Desperate Living (1977)

Desperate Living (1977)

March 1: someone pays a compliment on #WorldComplimentDay

Desperate Living (John Waters, 1977)

Peggy Gravel: Peggy is about to die from being shot up the ass by Mole. You're so low you make white trash look positively top drawer! Mole McHenry: Oh, blow it out your ass!

#Bales2023FilmChallenge #JohnWaters #LizRenay #MinkStole #SusanLowe #EdithMassey #crime #comedy #USA #1970s ★★★½

#todo