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Il deserto rosso [Red Desert] (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1964)
Aug
12
green
Valerio (Valerio Bartoleschi) and his mother Giuliana (Monica Vitti) in an arid industrial landscape. Giuliana wears a brilliant green coat, its shade between pea green and moss green, depending on the drabness of the surroundings. DP: Carlo Di Palma.
Green: in food or fashion*
“She'd discovered a small beach far from town, with crystal-clear water and pink sand. She loved that spot. The colors of nature were so beautiful, and there was no noise. She'd leave only when the sun did too.”
– Giuliana
Antonioni's first film in colour beautifully utilises Vitti's brilliance – of her auburn hair, her porcelain teint, her vivid costumes (by Paola Carloni) – against the drab landscape.
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E-clip-se (Chris Marker, 1999)
Aug
11
1999
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Du côté de la côte [Along the Coast] (Agnès Varda, 1958)
Aug
9
yellow
Yellow: in food or fashion*
“Tourists prefer the trendy colors, yellow and blue. Pacing fancies, hotels are painted yellow and blue. Blue wins. All women want to be fashionable. All women wear blue, except the English, those learning to swim, and the Germans, who are dedicated to green.”
– narrator
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La baie des anges [Bay of Angels] (Jacques Demy, 1963)
Aug
6
mercredi
The bank where Jean Fournier (Claude Mann) works. A wall calendar, slightly tilted, reads Août 6 Mercredi. DP: Jean Rabier.
“Life has its tricks. Its oddities.”
– Jackie Demaistre
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Paparazzi (Jacques Rozier, 1963/1964)
Jul
29
A character has a camera or takes photos*
It buzzes on the set of Le mépris. These mosquitos, the Italians say paparazzi, swarm La Bardot and making it merely impossible for anyone – themselves included – to do their job. But Bardot knows them, too well, and gives them what they want, when she wants it.
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Les trois couronnes du matelot [Three Crowns of the Sailor] (Raúl Ruiz, 1983)
Jul
25
1958
Prostitute María (Nadège Clair) sitting on her bed. The bed is covered in dolls. DP: Sacha Vierny.
“On the night of July 25, 1958 I killed Ladislaw Zukarevitch, antique dealer, my mentor, my master in the art of polishing diamonds, my tutor at Warsaw Theological School.”
– the student
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Estate violenta [Violent Summer] (Valerio Zurlini, 1959)
Jul
25
1943
A large radio on a small pedestal. A perpetual wall calendar next to it reads DOMENICA 25 LUGLIO. DP: Tino Santoni.
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L'argent [Money] (Robert Bresson, 1983)
Jul
22
A man at an ATM holds on to a Visa credit card with tweezers. DPs: Pasqualino De Santis & Emmanuel Machuel.
Everything's expensive: someone is a at bank or ATM*
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La grande bouffe (Marco Ferreri, 1973)
Jul
21
A character pigging out*
“The most revolting film I have ever seen”
Four hedonistic gourmands throw a party of the flesh, of meat, of lust, and death.
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La piscine [The Swimming Pool] (Jacques Deray, 1969)
Jul
20
“I thought you'd be hungry, maybe.”
Schneider and Ronet's characters go get their groceries in a tiny, surprisingly well-stocked-with-Asian-food-items French corner shop, ánd manage to find all the ingredients needed. One rookie mistake: Uncle Ben's. Of all the rice in the world…