settima

mystery

The City of the Dead (John Llewellyn Moxey, 1960)

Mar

3

The City of the Dead (1960)

Nan Barlow (Venetia Stevenson), exploring. DP: Desmond Dickinson.

– Burn witch, burn witch, burn!

– Dig that crazy beat, man.

The List of Adrian Messenger (John Huston, 1963)

Feb

16

The List of Adrian Messenger (1963)

Lady Jocelyn Bruttenholm (Dana Wynter), Anthony Gethryn (George C. Scott), and Raoul Le Borg (Jacques Roux). DP: Joseph MacDonald.

“There's nary a conspiracy. And if I'm right about this, it's a far older sin than politics.”

– Adrian Messenger

3 Women (Robert Altman, 1977)

Feb

7

1970

3 Women (1977)

Millie Lammoreaux's Social Security card, issued on February 7, 1970. DP: Charles Rosher Jr.

“Got a lot to write about today. You.”

– Millie Lammoreaux

L'udienza [The Audience] (Marco Ferreri, 1972)

Feb

2

L'udienza (1972)

Aiche (Claudia Cardinale) washing Principe Donati's (Vittorio Gassman) feet. DP: Mario Vulpiani.

燃えつきた地図 [Moetsukita chizu / The Man Without a Map / The Ruined Map] (Hiroshi Teshigahara, 1968)

Feb

2

えつきた地図 (1968)

Shintarō Katsu and Etsuko Ichihara as the detective and the missing man's wife, their faces and gestures warped by a paned window. DP: Akira Uehara.

Tarry-Dan Tarry-Dan Scarey Old Spooky Man (John Reardon, 1978)

Jan

10

Tarry-Dan Tarry-Dan Scarey Old Spooky Man (1978)

Tarry-Dan (Paul Curran) observing kids at the school's gate. DP: Peter Bartlett.

The Last Broadcast (Stefan Avalos + Lance Weiler, 1998)

Dec

15

1995

The Last Broadcast (1998)

An anxious looking camera man in the woods on grainy VHS stock. DP: Lance Weiler.

“At 10 PM, in what will be the last broadcast, Fact or Fiction goes live.”

– David Leigh, the filmmaker

The Lickerish Quartet (Radley Metzger, 1970)

Dec

5

The Lickerish Quartet (1970)

A 70s couple in a grainy black-and-white still. The frame looks damaged, suggesting a stag reel. The seemingly nude blonde pours a drink for her dark-haired man. She holds the cork between her teeth, seducingly. DP: Hans Jura.

– I've never seen a film like this before.

– Oh, it's different, alright.

L'ange et la femme [The Angel and the Woman] (Gilles Carle, 1977)

Dec

3

L'ange et la femme (1977)

Gabriel (Lewis Furey) and the woman he named Fabienne (Carole Laure). DP: François Protat.

A caregiver*

 

A woman is brutally murdered and taken home by a young man. This man – this angel – takes away her wounds, returns her to life, and nurses her. They fall in love.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for December has a few dateless themes. This is one of them.

Belle (André Delvaux, 1973)

Nov

28

Belle (1973)

Belle (Adriana Bogdan) in front of her cabin on the moors. DPs: Ghislain Cloquet & Charles Van Damme.