Someone's all bundled up*. No list of summer films is complete without Éric Rohmer.

“I even tried not to think. I was face-to-face alone with the sea, far from cruises and beaches, fulfilling a childhood dream put off year after year. I lost myself completely in the play of shadow and light, sinking into a lethargy heightened by the water. That state of passivity, of complete availability, promised to last much longer than the euphoria of one’s first summer dip into the ocean. I could easily see myself spending a whole month this summer this way.”

– Adrien

An art dealer and his writer friend plan to spend the summer together in a villa on the Côte d'Azur. A young woman, a collector of sorts, disrupts their retreat.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for July is, for unknown reasons, mostly not date-related and follows some sort of vacation narrative.

 

Someone with sunburn, or a skin condition*

“I treasure some kinds of old Thai disaster movies. Many of such tell a forbidden love story between a man and a woman that the mother earth destroyed them. Similarly, Blissfully Yours contains innocent narrative and simple characters. The settings are open landscapes and the disaster plot is there, except that it is transformed into another kind of disaster.”

– A.W., via

Min and Roong cherish their love among the uncertainty of his residence status. A old woman guards them, and soothes Min's blistered skin.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for July is, for unknown reasons, mostly not date-related and follows some sort of vacation narrative.

Someone complains about costs or prices*

– We'll go to an island and live from fishing and hunting. And the sun will shine and it will never rain. And we'll eat lobster and drink wine. – … – Why not? – Because it's too expensive. – Why too expensive? – It's just too expensive.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for July is, for unknown reasons, mostly not date-related and follows some sort of vacation narrative.

Someone is hungover*

“Ein Psychogramm zweier ungewöhnlicher, aber auch extrem unterschiedlicher Frauen. Die eine, reich, exzentrisch, ihre Gefühle maskenhaft verbergend, trinkt sich bewusst zu Tode. Sie ist der Fall, der in der Statistik nicht erscheint, weil entweder zu Hause unter Valium gehalten oder unter Verschluss in einer Privatklinik. Die andere ist arm und trinkt sich unbewusst zu Tode. Sie erscheint in der normalen Statistik als Typ der haltlosen Trinkerin”

– U.O., via

An eccentric woman simply named Sie (Tabea Blumenschein), takes a one-way trip to West Berlin. Accompanied by her alter ego, a homeless alcoholic, and commented on by a Greek choir consisting of Soziale Frage (Social Question), Exakte Statistik (Exact Statistics), and Gesunder Menschenverstand (Common Sense), she drinks herself to death.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for July is, for unknown reasons, mostly not date-related and follows some sort of vacation narrative.

Someone enjoys a drink or beverage*

“On the bus, the air was so thick, he felt woozy. A wailing infant shook with tears and the woman beside him reeked with the stink of cheap perfume.”

– narrator

On a sweltering summer day, Detective's Murakami's Colt gets stolen on a crowded bus. He must delve deep into the sticky sweaty seedy underbelly of Tokyo to retrieve it.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for July is, for unknown reasons, mostly not date-related and follows some sort of vacation narrative.

 

Someone at a coffee shop or café*

 

There's not much next to the railroad tracks. A group of young men spend their summer days there, waiting for the train bringing tourists to the Adriatic coast. Suddenly, the place comes to life with waiters frantically unfolding parasols. And there's a pretty blonde, she stays, and brings her newspaper stand along. The men place a bet…

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for July is, for unknown reasons, mostly not date-related and follows some sort of vacation narrative.

Someone in poolside vacation clothing*

“I am Cuba. Why are you running away? You came here to have fun? Go ahead, have fun! Is this a happy picture? Don't avert your eyes. Look! I am Cuba. For you, I am the casino, the bar, the hotels. But the hands of these children and old people, are also me.”

– the voice of Cuba

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for July is, for unknown reasons, mostly not date-related and follows some sort of vacation narrative.

A passport or ID*

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for July is, for unknown reasons, mostly not date-related and follows some sort of vacation narrative.