settima

religion

A Canterbury Tale (Michael Powell + Emeric Pressburger, 1944)

Aug

27

A Canterbury Tale (1944)

Alison (Sheila Sim) looking out over the rolling hills of Kent with the Canterbury Cathedral somewhere out there. DP: Erwin Hillier.

“Well, there are more ways than one of getting close to your ancestors. Follow the old road, and as you walk, think of them and of the old England. They climbed Chillingbourne Hill, just as you. They sweated and paused for breath just as you did today. And when you see the bluebells in the spring and the wild thyme, and the broom and the heather, you're only seeing what their eyes saw. You ford the same rivers. The same birds are singing. When you lie flat on your back and rest, and watch the clouds sailing, as I often do, you're so close to those other people, that you can hear the thrumming of the hoofs of their horses, and the sound of the wheels on the road, and their laughter and talk, and the music of the instruments they carried. And when I turn the bend in the road, where they too saw the towers of Canterbury, I feel I've only to turn my head, to see them on the road behind me.”

– Thomas Colpeper, JP

Procès de Jeanne d'Arc [The Trial of Joan of Arc] (Robert Bresson, 1962)

Aug

17

forgiveness

Procès de Jeanne d'Arc (1962)

Jeanne (Florence Delay) bound to the stake. DP: Léonce-Henri Burel.

Holi: someone is forgiven (forgiveness being an important aspect of Holi)*

“Pray for me. I forgive the evil done me.”

– Jeanne d'Arc

Jeanne trusts her delusions to forgive the people who brought her to justice.

 

Fuoco! [Fire!] (Gian Vittorio Baldi, 1968)

Aug

15

Ferragosto

Fuoco! (1968)

The statue of the Virgin with a bullet hole right through her eye. DP: Ugo Piccone.

Someone opens fire on August 15, the day of Ferragosto and the Virgin's Assumption

 

Ovoce stromů rajských jíme [We Eat the Fruit of the Trees of Paradise] (Věra Chytilová, 1970)

Aug

6

orange

Ovoce stromů rajských jíme (1970)

Eva (Jitka Novákova) devouring oranges under a black umbrella (via). DP: Jaroslav Kučera.

Orange: food or fashion*

“Tell me the truth!”

– choir

An allegorical, psychedelic retelling of Genesis 3 and the Fall of Man

 

Il vangelo secondo Matteo [The Gospel According to Matthew] (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1964)

Jun

22

National Kissing Day

Il vangelo secondo Matteo (1964)

Judas (Otello Sestili) kisses Jesus (Enrique Irazoqui) in intimate closeup. DP: Tonino Delli Colli.

A [favourite] movie kiss for National Kissing Day (USA*), not to be confused with International Kissing Day aka World Kiss Day which falls on July 6.

“I don’t have the inhibitions that a practicing Catholic would in that I’m not paralysed by the sacredness of the text, nor do I have the inhibitions of a lapsed Catholic who would view approaching the story of Jesus as compromising his Marxist beliefs, of sinking back into conformity.”

– PPP, via

An neorealist, straightforward adaptation of the Gospel of Matthew, populated by non-actors (“Jesus” is a 19-year Catalan trade unionist picked for his resemblance to El Greco's Christ), intellectuals, and anachronistic characters based on biblical art through the ages.

 

According to said Gospel, apostle Judas kissed prophet Jesus to signal to the police who of the 13 men present was the one to arrest.

 

Interestingly, the word Matthew chose to describe the kiss is καταφιλέω, the same word used by philosopher Plutarch to describe the kiss between Alexander the Great and his eunuch Bagoas

 

* no one wants to kiss you anymore, America

Jesus Christus Erlöser [Jesus Christ Saviour] (Peter Geyer, 1971/2008)

May

29

Ascension Day

Jesus Christus Erlöser (1971/2008)

Kinski speaking to (presumably) journalists as part of promoting his Jesus tour (via)

The birth, life, death or teachings of Jesus on Ascension Day

“Ich bin nicht der offizielle Kirchenjesus, ich bin nicht euer Superstar.”

– Klaus Kinski

It is November 20. The Jesus Christus Erlöser tour brings Klaus Kinski to Berlin's Deutschlandhalle. His monologue, spoken from Jesus the revolutionary's perspective, brings out the hecklers. It's 1971, the post-68 generation is not satisfied with words. It wants to debate, dissect, and devour their Saviour.

Stromboli (Terra di Dio) [Stromboli] (Roberto Rossellini, 1950)

May

8

birthdays

Stromboli (Terra di Dio) (1950)

Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman on set on Sardinia. In the background the house Bergman's character moves into with her husband. DP: Otello Martelli.

May 8 is both director Rossellini and Bergman's character Karen's #birthday.

“What mystery, what beauty.”

– Karen

Todo modo [One Way or Another] (Elio Petri, 1976)

May

1

National Day of Prayer

Todo modo (1976)

M. (Gian Maria Volontè) speaks to the gathered elite while a gypsum Christ multiplies bread and fishes. DP: Luigi Kuveiller.

A spiritual theme for the National Day of Prayer (USA)

“Have you ever tried to dress as a priest? Try it, at least once. It's a bit like being a woman. In summer the breeze enters under the genitals. You can go without briefs. Priests are half men and half women.”

– Don Gaetano

Inspired by the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, Italy's political leaders, industrialists, bankers, and business leaders gather for a retreat as an atonement for their past crimes of corruption and unethical practices, and to reinforce their power.

La última cena [The Last Supper] (Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, 1976)

Apr

18

Good Friday

La última cena (1976)

The count, Christ, flanked by two of his slaves, John and Thomas respectively. DP: Mario García Joya.

Good Friday: an occurrence during a Friday or weekend.

 

During Holy Week, a count visits his sugar mill on the day one of his slaves has escaped. Reluctant, overseer Don Manuel picks twelve slaves to join the count at his dinner table for a lecture about the possibility of happiness in slavery, all made up to resemble the Last Supper, with the count as Christ and the slaves as his apostles. Then conversation picks up, and the slaved men request, and are granted, a day off on Good Friday.

ビルマの竪琴 [Biruma no tategoto / The Burmese Harp] (Kon Ichikawa, 1956)

Apr

8

花祭り

ビルマの竪琴 (1956)

Mizushima (Shōji Yasui) holding his harp, looked over by the reclining Buddha. DP: Minoru Yokoyama.

A film about Buddhism, or set in Japan, in honour of the birth of Buddha, celebrated in Japan on April 8 as 花祭り (Hana Matsuri, aka Flower Festival)

“Can't you see that whatever you do is futile? The armies of Britain and Japan can come and fight all they wish. Burma is still Burma. Burma is the Buddha's country.”

– old monk

While stationed in Burma, Mizushima disguises himself as a dhutanga, a wandering Buddhist monk, burying the remains of his fellow Japanese soldiers.