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野良犬 [Nora inu / Stray Dog] (Akira Kurosawa, 1949)
Jul
14
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.
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The Naked Kiss (Samuel Fuller, 1964)
Jul
4
1961
A desk calendar reading July 4, 1961, with dirty, crumpled dollar bills thrown on top of it. DP: Stanley Cortez.
“Nobody shoves dirty money in my mouth.”
– Candy
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Ascenseur pour l'échafaud [Elevator to the Gallows] (Louis Malle, 1958)
Jun
18
International Panic Day
M Tavernier (Maurice Ronet) seated in an elevator, calmly smoking. Around him several items speak of less calm moments. DP: Henri Decaë.
“Have you seen Mr Tavernier tonight?”
Julien Tavernier has a plan about how to run off with his boss' wife. There's just this one snag. No time to panic, c'est cool c'est cool.
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Bob le flambeur [Bob the Gambler] (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1956)
Jun
13
frites
Anne (Isabelle Corey), a cute blonde with a beret, eats a fry (French, obviously) while giving us a side glance. It's all very proto-Vague. DP: Henri Decaë.
– I saw you the other morning, eating frites.
– I like frites.
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Bob le flambeur [Bob the Gambler] (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1956)
Jun
13
Friday
Bob (Roger Duchesne) at the tables, gambling. DP: Henri Decaë.
“I'd even lose at hopscotch these days.”
– Bob Montagné
Bob gambles, and always wins. But then he starts losing. And not just games.
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Black Friday (Arthur Lubin, 1940)
Jun
13
DP: Elwood Bredell.
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Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (Fritz Lang, 1956)
May
7
Susan Spencer (Joan Fontaine) lighting Tom Garrett's (Dana Andrews) cigarette. DP: William E. Snyder.
“It's a weird, crazy idea, but that's the reason it intrigues me.”
– Tom Garrett
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Krakatit (Otakar Vávra, 1948)
Apr
26
International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day
A man on a darkened, concrete runway, running towards a man-made structure, a mirage. DP: Václav Hanuš.
With the experience of yet another world war, and two devastating applications of science biggest terror, Karel Čapek's 1922 novel Krakatit [“Krakatoa”] anticipated and moulded the decades to come.
And R.U.R. is now, just around the corner.
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Les yeux cernés [Marked Eyes] (Robert Hossein, 1964)
Apr
2
1964
A typed request on official stationary dated April 2, requesting to show up at the police precinct on April 4, 1964. DP: Jean Boffety.
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野獣死すべし [Yajū shisubeshi / The Beast Shall Die] (Eizō Sugawa, 1959)
Mar
30
7 p.m.
Kunihiko Date (Tatsuya Nakadai) driving along at night. DP: Fukuzō Koizumi.
“He’s not a beast. No, he’s a robot. A machine created by a modern, twisted society.”