settima

crime

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?

野獣死すべし [Yajū shisubeshi / The Beast Shall Die] (Eizō Sugawa, 1959)

Feb

17

airline food

野獣死すべし (1959)

Kunihiko Date (Tatsuya Nakadai) enjoys an in-flight meal. DP: Fukuzō Koizumi.

Assalto ao Trem Pagador [Assault on the Pay Train] (Roberto Farias, 1962)

Feb

17

WH helicopter incident – 1974

O Assalto ao Trem Pagador (1962)

The favelados-turned-train-robbers. DP: Amleto Daissé.

A heist on the date of the 1974 White House helicopter incident.

 

The List of Adrian Messenger (John Huston, 1963)

Feb

16

The List of Adrian Messenger (1963)

Lady Jocelyn Bruttenholm (Dana Wynter), Anthony Gethryn (George C. Scott), and Raoul Le Borg (Jacques Roux). DP: Joseph MacDonald.

“There's nary a conspiracy. And if I'm right about this, it's a far older sin than politics.”

– Adrian Messenger

Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959)

Feb

14

St. Valentine's Day

Some Like It Hot (1959)

Sugar, Josephine, Daphne, and Sweet Sue and Her Society Syncopators rehearse Runnin’ Wild on the sleeper train to sunny Florida. DP: Charles Lang.

A movie about romance, of the Mafia, for St. Valentine's Day.

 

Musicians Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) witness a killing by the Mob at the St. Valentine's Dance where they were hired to perform. In an attempt to escape the Chicagoan gangsters, they go overcover as Josephine and Daphne (“Well, I never did like the name Geraldine.”) in an all-gall jazz band, and fall head over heels for ukelele player Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe).

“Real diamonds! They must be worth their weight in gold!”

– Sugar Kane Kowalczyk

The opening shootout was directly inspired by the February 14 1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre (graphic), and shares an actor from one of its most famous adaptations, Scarface (1932); George Raft as the wonderfully named Spats Colombo.

暗黒街の美女 [Ankokugai no bijo / Underworld Beauty] (Seijun Suzuki, 1958)

Feb

8

暗黒街の美女 (1958)

A man, all in #bandages besides one half of his face, is interviewed by a policeman. Captions read: February 8th. DP: Wataro Nakao.

Policeman: What's today's date?

Injured man: February 8th.

暗黒街の美女 [Ankokugai no bijo / Underworld Beauty] (Seijun Suzuki, 1958)

Feb

3

oden

暗黒街の美女 (1958)

At a yatai specialised in oden, someone chops an ingredient (daikon?) in two with what looks like a nakiri. DP: Wataro Nakao.

Shaft (Gordon Parks, 1971)

Jan

27

Shaft (1971)

John Shaft (Richard Roundtree). Can you dig it, baby? DP: Urs Furrer.

“Play straight, baby.”

– John Shaft

Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986)

Jan

19

lights

Blue Velvet (1986)

Ben (Dean Stockwell) miming Roy Orbison's In Dreams with a work light for a microphone. DP: Frederick Elmes.

Lights on the date in 1883 that #ThomasEdison first switched on overhead electric lighting.

“A candy-colored clown they call the sandman Tiptoes to my room every night Just to sprinkle stardust and to whisper 'Go to sleep, everything is alright'”

– Roy Orbison, In Dreams (1963)

David Lynch at his finest Anger, and Stockwell at his peak. The work light was improvised when Lynch noticed Stockwell handling it between shoots.

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

Jan

19

Nema-ye Nazdik (1990)

Hossain Sabzian on the back of a motorcycle on a busy tree-lined, four lane street. He's holding a large potted rose-red dahlia. DP: Ali Reza Zarrindast.

– Is there anything I can do for you?

– You could make a film about my suffering.