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All My Life (Bruce Baillie, 1966)
Jan
18
roses
Roses for the end of the Wars of the Roses (note: January 18 is when Henry VII married Elizabeth of York in 1486; the wars would continue until June 16 the following year).
“All my life, hold me close to your heart
But all else above
Hold my love, darling, just hold my love”
– Ella Fitzgerald, All My Life (Sidney D. Mitchell & Sammy Stept), 1936
In one continuous shot, the camera tracks a fence and rose bushes while Ella Fitzgerald's 1936 debut song All My Life is playing.
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Space Is the Place (John Coney, 1974)
Jan
5
Space Shuttle
Ra's arrival. DP: Seth Hill.
“I came from a dream that the black man dreamed long ago. I’m actually a presence sent to you by your ancestors.”
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Nowhere to Go (Seth Holt + Basil Dearden, 1958)
Dec
22
Tue
A man checks into a hotel. A wall calendar reads December 22, a Tuesday. DP: Paul Beeson .
“Sloane! Be lucky!”
– Paul Gregory
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荒野のダッチワイフ [Kōya no dacchi waifu / Dutch Wife of the Wasteland] (Atsushi Yamatoya, 1967)
Dec
13
ice cream
A young woman in profile, almost a silhouette, eats ice cream. DP: Hajime Kai.
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Mélodie en sous-sol [Any Number Can Win] (Henri Verneuil, 1963)
Nov
22
banquet
Backstage at the Cannes casino, stars and stagehands enjoy their well-deserved end-of-season banquet. Just walking in front of the showgirls is piano player Sam (Jimmy Davis). DP: Louis Page.
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Mingus: Charlie Mingus 1968 [Mingus / Mingus In Greenwich Village] (Thomas Reichman, 1968)
Nov
22
1968
Charles Mingus and Carolyn sharing an intimate father/daughter moment in their studio. DPs: Lee Osborne & Michael Wadleigh.
“I pledge allegiance to the flag–the white flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of America. When they say “black” or “negro,” it means you’re not an American. I pledge allegiance to your flag. Not that I have to, but just for the hell of it I pledge allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. The white flag, with no stripes, no stars. It is a prestige badge worn by a profitable minority.”
– Charles Mingus
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Sweet Smell of Success (Alexander Mackendrick, 1957)
April 20
20
oysters
J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) pulling Sidney Falco's (Tony Curtis) tie over cocktails and oysters. DP: James Wong Howe.
“I'd hate to take a bite outta you. You're a cookie full of arsenic.”
– J.J. Hunsecker
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Ascenseur pour l'échafaud [Elevator to the Gallows] (Louis Malle, 1958)
Dec
13
croissants
Mr Tavernier (Maurice Ronet) taking a bite out of a croissant while dialling a number in a lively French café. A blonde behind him shows an interest. DP: Henri Decaë.
“Have you seen Mr Tavernier tonight?”
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The Big Shave [The Big Shave… or, Viet '67] (Martin Scorsese, 1967)
Dec
2
Safety Razor Day
A young man (Peter Bernuth) shaving in front of a mirror. The bathroom is clean, white, with chrome fixtures. DP: Ares Demertzis.
Accompanied by the sweet tunes of Bunny Berigan and Ira Gershwin's I Can't Get Started, a young man shaves his face. The Big Shave is a short commissioned film which contains many of the hallmarks of Martin Scorsese's later, more accessible work.
“I've been consulted by Franklin D.,
Gretta Garbo has had me to tea,
Still I'm broken hearted,
Cause I can't get it started,
With you”
–Ira Gershwin, I Can't Get Started (1936)
There's also the obvious influence of #KennethAnger to be found, in nostalgic show tunes, the fetishisation of chrome and clean lines, followed by lustful, by ways erotic, violence. #Scorsese theme here is not homoeroticism, not on the surface at least, but the carnage laid upon so many young men sent off to the smouldering battlefields of #Vietnam. There'd be another six years of that. And meanwhile, some young men came back. And some picked up a job, driving a cab.
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Festival panafricain d'Alger [The Panafrican Festival in Algiers] (William Klein, 1969)
Jul
26
One Voice Day
Black hands holding each other. In translation the caption reads “Down with colonialism! Down with imperialism!”. DP: William Klein et al.
In typical Western fashion the credits for William Klein's Festival panafricain d'Alger focusses on the French and American participants. After Algeria regained its independence in 1962, it became Africa's – and the #AfricanDiaspora's – centre for postcolonial and liberation moments.
“À bas le colonialisme ! À bas l'imperialisme !”
The 12-day Festival panafricain attracted 5000 people from all over the African continent, as well as liberation fighters from the United States.