view
মহানগর [Mahanagar / The Big City] (Satyajit Ray, 1963)
Sep
6
freebie: National Lipstick Day
Edith (Vicky Redwood) applying colour to Arati's (Madhavi Mukherjee) lips. DP: Subrata Mitra.
Set in 1950s Calcutta, মহানগর is a story of emancipation in a changing society. Arati (Madhavi Mukherjee) is a housewife from a traditionalist family, who – in order to support her relatives' lavish demands – goes out to work as a door-to-door saleswoman. Slowly, she discovers her independence.
“I've got it. Film star! You'd be perfect. Dark glasses, lots of red lipstick, and 100,000 rupees per picture. And if it's a Hindi film, we'll all fly to Bombay.”
– Bani
view
Black Narcissus (Michael Powell + Emeric Pressburger, 1947)
Jul
29
National Lipstick Day
spoiler warning: click to toggle image

spoiler warning: click to toggle caption
“Do you think it's a good thing to let her feel important?”
– Sister Clodagh
With Jack Cardiff's sweeping cinematography and #Technicolor splendour, Black Narcissus establishes a stark contrast between the Sisters dour piety, the luminance of the Himalayan landscape, and the spellbinding pull of worldly desire. The bewitching #lipstick scene, set in a dimly lit space, works as well as it does precisely because of the scene's photography. That red smear, like blood pulsating from a fresh wound, becomes a deeply unsettling, vulgar gesture.