settima

italy

Una farfalla con le ali insanguinate [The Bloodstained Butterfly] (Duccio Tessari, 1971)

Apr

26

Fri

Una farfalla con le ali insanguinate (1971)

Sarah Marchi (Wendy D'Olive) with Giorgio (Helmut Berger) in the background, just out of focus behind her. DP: Carlo Carlini.

“Because, in the way I see it, the killer could only be one of two types. Either a person who was seized by a sudden impulse and in all probability has no police record, or else, a sex maniac.”

Prigionieri della guerra [Prisoners of War] (Yervant Gianikian + Angela Ricci Lucchi, 1995)

Apr

24

Armenian genocide

Prigionieri della guerra (1995)

Horse-pulled carts arrive at a cross (via). DPs: Yervant Gianikian & Angela Ricci Lucchi.

A World War I film: a day in recognition of the forced deportations and genocide in Armenia, 1915 — 1923.

“Parfois ils disent que nos images sont esthétiques, mais nous disons que les images esthétiques sont des images hautement étiques. Pour nous éthique et esthétique marchent ensemble. Re-filmer signifie re-signifier.”

– Yervant Gianikian and Angela Ricci Lucchi in conversation with Daniele Dottorini, 2007 (via)

Re-purposed propaganda reels show citizens – displaced, dehumanised – turned into prisoners of war, and finally into corpses.

Una giornata particolare [A Special Day] (Ettore Scola, 1977)

Apr

19

National Hanging Out Day

Una giornata particolare (1977)

Antonietta (Sophia Loren) and Gabriele (Marcelo Mastroianni) on the roof of their building, clean sheets like a fort around them. DP: Pasqualino De Santis.

A clothesline in support of Project Laundry List's National Hanging Out Day (USA)

– As they say, 'Tidiness is the virtue of a mediocre mind.'

– Then I'm a genius.

L'eclisse del 17 aprile [An Eclipse of the Sun] (1912)

Apr

17

1912

L'eclisse del 17 aprile (1912)

Scientists in impeccable suits observing the 1912 solar eclipse. The colour used for tinting this scene, a turquoise, indicates moonlight/dusk. Image source: Cineteca di Bologna (via).

Ladri di biciclette [The Bicycle Thieves] (Vittorio De Sica, 1948)

Apr

11

National Cheese Fondue Day

Ladri di biciclette (1948)

Bruno (Enzo Staiola) eating mozzarella. DP: Carlo Montuori.

Cheese or fondue for National Cheese Fondue Day (USA)

“Do you fancy a pizza? Come on, then! Come on, let's go! What the hell. We might as well go out in style. What's the point in worrying about it all?”

– Antonio Ricci

Les yeux cernés [Marked Eyes] (Robert Hossein, 1964)

Apr

2

1964

Les yeux cernés (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.

Ludwig (Luchino Visconti, 1973)

Mar

25

Elton John – 1947

Ludwig (1973)

Elisabeth “Sissi” of Austria (Romy Schneider) and King Ludwig II of Bavaria (Helmut Berger) in his beloved Venus Grotto below Schloss Linderhoff. Ludwig wanted blue light in reference to the Grotta Azzurra in #Capri, and had electricity installed in the grotto, which was the first usage of electricity in Austria. DP: Armando Nannuzzi.

A flamboyant character for Elton John’s birthday (1947).

“I want to remain an enigma forever. To others, and also to myself.”

– Ludwig II

L'eclisse [The Eclipse] (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1962)

Mar

20

natural phenomena

L'eclisse (1962)

Vitti's blond hair shifts in front of Delon's dark coupe, quietly mimicking the eclipse. DP: Gianni Di Venanzo.

A natural phenomenon for this year's March equinox, three supermoons, and the March 25 solar eclipse.

“There was a silence different from all other silences, an ashen light, and then darkness – total stillness. I thought that during an eclipse even our feelings stop. Out of this came part of the idea for L'eclisse.”

During several moments in the film, the main characters' mannerisms foreshadow the looming solar eclipse.

L'immortelle (Alain Robbe-Grillet, 1963)

Mar

12

National Hitchcock Day

L'immortelle (1963)

A woman in silhouette (Françoise Brion) enters a building. The setup is perfectly symmetrical except a beam of light passing through the opened doors that highlight's the woman's presence, adding a sense of wrong to the scene. DP: Maurice Barry.

A favourite non-Hitchcock mystery for National Hitchcock Day (USA).

“You're a foreigner and you're lost.”

Io la conoscevo bene [I Knew Her Well] (Antonio Pietrangeli, 1965)

Mar

5

Crispus Attucks – 1770

Io la conoscevo bene (1965)

Adriana (Stefania Sandrelli) seen through her apartment window. Rome is reflected in her face. DP: Armando Nannuzzi.

A wasteful act: Crispus Attucks, (arguably) the first American victim in the American Revolution, dies on March 5th, 1770.

“She's always happy. She desires nothing, envies no one, is curious about nothing. You can't surprise her. She doesn't notice the humiliations, though they happen to her every day. It all rolls off her back like some waterproof material. Zero ambition. No moral code. Not even a whore's love of money.”

– The Writer

An ambitious but aimless girl – she wants to be loved, and to be a model, a proto-Edie – mills about her day.

 

Sublimely shot, we see Adriana through glass panes, in reflections, in an off-focal plane, in other people's words.