“I'm just fine. I have everything here. I have the TV. You can see the whole world” Trois couleurs: Bleu [Three Colors: Blue] (Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1993)
Aug
15
cerulean
Julie (Juliette Binoche) in a blue wallpapered room, observes blue beads suspended in front of a window with a cerulean sky and ocean behind it. Throughout the story, her clothing changes from white, to black, to the darkest charcoal blue, to Prussian blue. DP: Slawomir Idziak.
Cerulean, or blue: in food or fashion*
– the mother
How could I not pick at least one instalment of Kieślowski's Trois couleurs trilogy. Here's blue, the liberté of the tricolor. Blue occurs as the sky to fall through, the room without life, and the cloth that binds.
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for August is not date-related but lists, for the most part, the colours of the rainbow.
paris
“I know. I know you. I know you very well.”La carrière de Suzanne [Suzanne's Career] (Éric Rohmer, 1963)
Aug
13
thé
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A woman reaches for a silver teapot. We only see her hand. DP: Daniel Lacambre.
– Suzanne
“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.
“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