“Our past doesn't belong to us.”
La Chambre verte [The Green Room / The Vanishing Fiancée] (François Truffaut, 1978)
Mar
17
-2.webp)
A woman cries. Captions read “on March 17th,”. DP: Néstor Almendros.
Cockfighter (Monte Hellman, 1974)
Mar
15
Frank Mansfield (Warren Oates) holding up a reluctant, wildly flapping white rooster. DP: Néstor Almendros.
“Three days ago, at exactly 0600 – because that is really not the time – on February 5 – because that is really not the date – this freighter, which shall be nameless, sailed from a certain Far Eastern port. Its destination: The Port of Los Angeles, Wilmington, California. This is fact.”
Hell Bound (William J. Hole Jr., 1957)
Mar
12
Sat
A man writes a name in the 9:30 a.m. time slot of the calendar page for Saturday March 21. DP: Carl E. Guthrie.
– narrator
”'I know how you feel,' Reiko says quietly. 'And I will follow you wherever you go.'”
憂國 [Yūkoku / Patriotism or the Rite of Love and Death] (Yukio Mishima, 1966)
Feb
26
1936
Reiko (Yoshiko Tsuruoka) walking through her lover's blood, her kimono drenched. DP: Kimio Watanabe.
Covers February 26–28, 1936.
– intertitles
Il mare [The Sea] (Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, 1962)
Feb
17
1962
The actor (Umberto Orsini) approaches a hotel lobby. A blackboard notes the date: February 17, 1962. DP: Ennio Guarnieri.
“If the halo fits, put it on. And don't pretend you don't love winding people up like little toys.”
The Sleeping Tiger (Joseph Losey, 1954)
Jan
14
spoiler warning: click to toggle image
A cheque dated January 14. DP: Harry Waxman .
– Glenda Esmond
Balada pro banditu [Ballad for a Bandit] (Vladimír Sís, 1979)
Dec
24
Christmas Eve – Nikolas
.webp)
The bandit and his bride. DP: Viktor Růžička.
A Nikolas or Nicholas for Christmas Eve.
The tale of legendary highwayman Nikola Šuhaj from Koločava.
Jean: Are you bored?
Juliette: Oh, no.
Jean: Don't worry. There'll be places to see.
Juliette: Riverbanks.
L'Atalante (Jean Vigo, 1934)
Dec
16
on a river
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Juliette (Dita Parlo) in her bridal dress walks the cover of her husband's river barge L'Atalante. A steam barge putputs by (via). DP: Boris Kaufman.
Set on a river*
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for December has a few dateless themes. This is one of them.
Careful, Soft Shoulders [Lady in a Quandry] (Oliver H.P. Garrett, 1942)
Dec
7
1941
Thomas Aldrich (James Ellison) and Connie Mathers (Virginia Bruce). DP: Charles G. Clarke.
Vulcano [Volcano] (William Dieterle, 1950)
Dec
2
sisters
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Sisters Maria (Geraldine Brooks) and Maddalena (Anna Magnani) Natoli. Lobbycard for the US market. DP: Arturo Gallea.
Sisters, for one of the OPs' sister's birthday.
Expelled prostitute Maddalena returns to her home island Vulcano (Salina in disguise) and moves in with her sister Maria. A handsome fisherman becomes first Maria's, then Maddalena's catch.
A revenge film à la lettre, but not as you may think. Anna Magnani was cast as the lead for her lover Rossellini's Stromboli (Terra di Dio) (1950), and – after him having set eyes on Ingrid Bergman – was ditched in the latter's favour. While Rossellini fawned over the blonde, Magnani shot “her” film on a neighbouring volcanic island, blowing her former beau's efforts out of the water.