“What I sought in 'Pacific' was not the imitation of the sounds of the locomotive, but the translation of a visual impression and a physical enjoyment through a musical construction. It starts from objective contemplation: the quiet breathing of the engine at rest, the effort of starting, then the progressive increase in speed, to arrive at the lyrical state, the pathos of the 300-ton train, launched in the middle of the night at 120 km/h.” Пасифик 231 [Pasifik 231 / Pacific 231] (Mikhail Tsekhanovskiy, 1931)
Jul
2
Musicians superimposed over the locomotive's pistons. DP: Leonid Patlis.
A mode of transportation to get me to my ideal vacation destination*. And yes, I would travel to an island by transcontinental locomotive
– Arthur Honegger, Dissonances. Revue musicale indépendante (1925) (via)
Hinted on in Abel Gance's La Roue (1923), composer Arthur Honegger's Пасифик 231 follows the narrative of a stream train ploughing through the night. The conductor's gestures mirror the fireman's and slowly, the machine comes to live. The music becomes abstract, machine-like, in its rendition of pistons and valves. Using double exposure and Soviet montage theory, music and movement become one. The Futurists, if not opposed to the Soviets that is, would have had a field day with this outing.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for July is, for unknown reasons, mostly not date-related and follows some sort of vacation narrative.
music
“Janitor of lunacy
Paralyze my infancy
Petrify the empty cradle
Bring hope to them and me Janitor of tyranny
Testify my vanity
Mortalize my memory
Deceive the devil's deed”La cicatrice intérieure [The Inner Scar] (Philippe Garrel, 1972)
Jun
15
Ice Cube – 1969
Nico and Ari. DP: Michel Fournier.
A musician in a film role for O'Shea Jackson Sr. aka Ice Cube's birthday (1969).
– Nico, Janitor of Lunacy (Desertshore, 1970)
Accompanied and inspired by Nico's Desertshore, the musician tracks the barren landscapes of Iceland, Egypt's Sinai, and Death Valley with her son Christian (Ari) in tow.
Deň radosti [A Day of Joy] (Dušan Hanák, 1972)
Jun
12
1971
Exuberant revellers. DPs: Martin Gazík, Alojz Hanúsek & Oskár Šághy.
“Spotkał katar Katarzynę –
A – psik!
Katarzyna pod pierzynę –
A – psik!”Katar [Cold] (Hieronim Neumann, 1984)
May
6
Childhood Depression Awareness Day
One little girl sneeze even bursts the camera! A – psik (achoo)! DP: Zbigniew Kotecki.
A child with health struggles for Childhood Depression Awareness Day (USA)
– Jan Brzechwa, Katar (via)
A little girl has the sniffles, sees the doctor, and so happily spreads the bug all over town. A quirky animated short based on a poem by Jan Brzechwa.
“I had appealed to the people to fast on April 6, and the whole nation followed my call. Who was I? But it was the voice of God… India was awakened that day.”Vagabunden Karawane [Vagabond’s Band] (Werner Penzel, 1980)
Apr
16
હડતાળ
A member of Embryo plays a harmonium with a bemused साधु [sadhu] sitting behind him (still via). DPs: Pitt Koch & Helge Weindler.
A film set in India in remembrance of Gandhi's હડતાળ [hartal], a peaceful protest against the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, in the form of a nationwide fast and prayer on April 16, 1919.
– Mahatma Gandhi, via
In 1979, krautrock group Embryo toured Iran, Afghanistan and India by bus, while performing with local musicians and documenting their trip.
“All my life, hold me close to your heart
But all else above
Hold my love, darling, just hold my love”All My Life (Bruce Baillie, 1966)
Jan
18
roses
A still of a red rose bush next to a fence. Image via à pala de walsh. DP: Bruce Baillie.
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).
– 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.
“I hate to see the evening' sun go down
I hate to see the evening' sun go down
It makes me think I'm on my last go 'round Feeling' tomorrow like I feel today
Feeling' tomorrow like I feel today
I'll pack my grip and make my getaway” Saint Louis woman with her diamond rings
Pulls that man around by her apron strings
Wasn't for powder and the store-bought hair
The man I love wouldn't go nowhere, nowhere I got them Saint Louis Blues; just as blue as I can be
He's got a heart like a rock cast in the sea
Or else he wouldn't have gone so far from me”St. Louis Blues (Dudley Murphy, 1929)
Dec
20
Walter “Wolfman” Washington – 1943
Bessie “the Empress of Blues” Smith, singing her blues away. DP: Walter Strenge .
Featuring rhythm and blues, funk or blues, for Walter “Wolfman” Washington's birthday (1943)
– Bessie Smith, St. Louis Blues (W. C. Handy)
Die Sage vom alten Hirten Xeudi und seinem Freund Reiman [The Legend of the Old Shepherd Xeudi and His Friend Reimann] (Hans-Jakob Siber, 1973)
Dec
11
International Mountain Day
The two friends setting off on their track of the Swiss mountains. Their chalet can be seen in the foreground. DP: Hans-Jakob Siber.
Mountain living on International Mountain Day. Available to watch via the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste's media archive.
“Heavy boots of lead
Fills his victims full of dread
Running as fast as they can
Iron Man lives again”Black Sabbath – Live in Paris (Jacques Bourton, 1970)
Dec
6
Metal & Beer Fest
Tony Iommi.
A heavy soundtrack for the Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest: Denver.
– Black Sabbath, Iron Man (1970)
Despite its title, Live in Paris was filmed in Théâtre 140 in Brussels by Yorkshire Television and is Sabbath's first recorded live concert.