“Un gâteau.”La boulangère de Monceau [The Bakery Girl of Monceau] (Éric Rohmer, 1963)
Jul
28
un gâteau
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A young woman in an apron grabs a French cookie. DPs: Bruno Barbey & Jean-Michel Meurice.
– young man
“Un gâteau.”La boulangère de Monceau [The Bakery Girl of Monceau] (Éric Rohmer, 1963)
Jul
28
un gâteau
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A young woman in an apron grabs a French cookie. DPs: Bruno Barbey & Jean-Michel Meurice.
– young man
La vérité [The Truth] (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1960)
Jul
25
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Bardot and two men in a café. She has her head on Sami Frey's shoulder while the other man kisses her arm. The table in front of them holds a full ashtray and small coffee cups. DP: Armand Thirard.
“The most revolting film I have ever seen” La grande bouffe (Marco Ferreri, 1973)
Jul
21

Andréa Ferréol in a promotional photo. Food styling by actor/food writer Giuseppe Maffioli, DP: Mario Vulpiani.
A character pigging out*
– Mary Whitehouse, via
Four hedonistic gourmands throw a party of the flesh, of meat, of lust, and death.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for July is, for unknown reasons, mostly not date-related and follows some sort of vacation narrative.
“Have you seen Mr Tavernier tonight?”Ascenseur pour l'échafaud [Elevator to the Gallows] (Louis Malle, 1958)
Jun
18
International Panic Day

M Tavernier (Maurice Ronet) seated in an elevator, calmly smoking. Around him several items speak of less calm moments. DP: Henri Decaë.
A character in panic mode on International Panic Day
Julien Tavernier has a plan about how to run off with his boss' wife. There's just this one snag. No time to panic, c'est cool c'est cool.
– I saw you the other morning, eating frites. – I like frites.Bob le flambeur [Bob the Gambler] (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1956)
Jun
13
frites

Anne (Isabelle Corey), a cute blonde with a beret, eats a fry (French, obviously) while giving us a side glance. It's all very proto-Vague. DP: Henri Decaë.
“I'd even lose at hopscotch these days.”Bob le flambeur [Bob the Gambler] (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1956)
Jun
13
Friday

Bob (Roger Duchesne) at the tables, gambling. DP: Henri Decaë.
An unlucky character on Friday the 13th
– Bob Montagné
Bob gambles, and always wins. But then he starts losing. And not just games.
“Soyez réalistes, demandez l'impossible”Grands soirs & petits matins [May Days] (William Klein, 1978)
May
24
1968

Sorbonne students discussing the political situation with an elderly Parisian man. DPs: William Klein & Bernard Lutic.
– May 68 slogan
“Hélène Picard, born in Lyon, May 20, 1943. A child in care, she is reported as a runaway, a thief and unstable.”La Femme Bourreau [A Woman Kills] (Jean-Denis Bonan, 1968)
May
20
1943

A dark-haired woman lounging on a bed. DP: Gérard de Battista.
“One must confront vague ideas with clear images” La Chinoise, ou plutôt à la Chinoise: un film en train de se faire [La chinoise] (Jean-Luc Godard, 1967)
Mar
19
Howard University Protest

Yvonne (Juliet Berto) holed up behind piles of Mao's Little Red Book, wielding a machine gun. DP: Raoul Coutard.
Student activism to commemorate the March 19 1968 Howard University Protest
– slogan on a wall
Five Maoist students theorise, then practice a radical overthrow via terrorism.
Loosely based on Dostoyevsky's Бѣсы [The Possessed] (1871–72).
“Whoever dies for the country hasn't lived in vain. I, on the contrary, will live for the country because I'm not that stupid.”Touche pas à la femme blanche [Don't Touch the White Woman!] (Marco Ferreri, 1974)
Nov
23
potato chips

Two white Frenchmen – in a University of Columbia and a CIA sweatshirt respectively – comment on the “period piece” they're in. CIA man (Paolo Villaggio) stuffs his face with potato chips. DP: Étienne Becker.
– George A. Custer