“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.”A Canterbury Tale (Michael Powell + Emeric Pressburger, 1944)
Aug
27
Alison (Sheila Sim) looking out over the rolling hills of Kent with the Canterbury Cathedral somewhere out there. DP: Erwin Hillier.
– Thomas Colpeper, JP
war
“We know what year it is, don't we?”Shanghai Express (Josef von Sternberg, 1932)
Aug
15
1927
.png)
An elderly lady complains from her train compartment to a newspaper salesman on the platform: “This magazine you sold me says August 15, 1927”. DPs: Lee Garmes & James Wong Howe.
Takes place between August 15 and August 19, 1927
– Mrs. Haggerty speaking to her dog
Estate violenta [Violent Summer] (Valerio Zurlini, 1959)
Jul
25
1943
A large radio on a small pedestal. A perpetual wall calendar next to it reads DOMENICA 25 LUGLIO. DP: Tino Santoni.
Maratón [The Marathon] (Ivo Novák, 1968)
May
5
1945
Karla (Jana Brejchová) and Ruda (Jaromír Hanzlík). DP: Václav Hanuš.
Goya 3 de mayo [Goya, May 3rd] (Carlos Saura, 2021)
May
3
1808
Saura's reconstruction of Goya's anti-war painting El tres de mayo de 1808 en Madrid (1814). DP: Sergio De Uña.
Willi Tobler und der Untergang der 6. Flotte [Willi Tobler and the Decline of the 6th Fleet] (Alexander Kluge, 1969)
Apr
27
One of many many handmade, overly complicated title cards. The date is May/June 42. DPs: Dietrich Lohmann, Thomas Mauch & Alfred Tichawsky.
And November 9, January 14, and January 21.
“Sir Thomas Sheridan, Jacobite military secretary. Suffering advanced debility and loss of memory. Former military engagement, 56 years ago. Sir John MacDonald, Jacobite captain of cavalry. Aged, frequently intoxicated, described as 'a man of the most limited capacities.' John William O'Sullivan, Jacobite quartermaster general. Described as 'an Irishman whose vanity is superseded only by his lack of wisdom.' Prince Charles Edward Stuart, Jacobite commander in chief. Former military experience: 10 days at a siege at the age of 13.”Culloden (Peter Watkins, 1964)
Apr
16
1746
One of the clansman. The look in his eyes foreshadows the Vietnam War this films comments on. DP: Dick Bush.
– narrator
Ко то тамо пева? [Ko to tamo peva / Who's Singin' Over There?] (Slobodan Šijan, 1980)
Apr
5
1941
A singing man plays the accordion, accompanied by a child smoking a cigarette. DP: Božidar 'Bota' Nikolić.
“In an urban society, everything connects. Each person's needs are fed by the skills of many others. Our lives are woven together in a fabric. But the connections that make society strong also make it vulnerable.”Threads (Mick Jackson, 1984)
Mar
5
Sat
.jpg)
A caption superimosed over the city of Sheffield: SHEFFIELD SATURDAY MARCH 5TH. DPs: Andrew Dunn & Paul Morris.
– Narrator
“He's growing! Look! See how he's growing! I have seen the Lord! The Lord! The Lord!”Die Blechtrommel [The Tin Drum] (Volker Schlöndorff, 1979)
Dec
21
winter solstice
.jpg)
Little Oskar with his tin drum. DP: Igor Luther.
Something short for winter solstice.
– Schugger-Leo
On the eve of World War 2, little Oskar – just three years old – decides he doesn't want to grow anymore.