Happy birthday to filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos, born on this day April 27, 1935 in Athens, Greece. You can watch the trailer for his Palme d’Or and Prize of the Ecumenical Jury winning film at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, Eternity and a Day, here.
Category: Film
Apr 27
Soviet Film Wednesday: Walking the Streets of Moscow
Walking the Streets of Moscow (Я шагаю по Москве, Ya shagayu po Moskve) is a lighthearted look at everyday city life in Moscow for youth in the ’60s. We see an opening scene in the airport, city sidewalks in the rain, taxi rides through the streets, evening traffic flows, and a concert in Gorky park. …
Apr 24
Selected Classics: Gambit (1966)
Happy birthday to the illustrious Shirley MacLaine, born on this day April 24, 1934 in Richmond, Virginia. In celebration, I’m sharing one of my favorite Shirley MacLaine classics, Gambit, starring the exceptional duo of MacLaine and Michael Caine. Between the superb acting and the wonderful 1960’s design, I can’t help but be drawn to it. And …
Apr 20
Soviet Film Wednesday: Ivan’s Childhood
Ivan’s Childhood (aka My Name is Ivan) was made in 1962, and is widely regarded as one of the most skillfully crafted films of all time. It is directed by Andrei Tarkovsky and stars a young Nikolay Burlyaev. The film delves into the impact of war on young Ivan, a twelve year old orphan who befriends …
Apr 18
Hayley Mills: Angelic Icon of the 60s and Beyond
Actress Hayley Mills was born on this day, April 18, 1946, in London, England. Her child acting career began with her debut performance in the 1959 crime drama Tiger Bay, for which she won the “BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer.” A year later she starred in the Disney classic Pollyanna (1960), and quickly became one of …
Apr 14
On This Day: Julie Christie
Happy birthday to Julie Christie, born on this day April 14, 1940 in Chabua, India 🎈 (Billy Liar (1963). Doctor Zhivago (pictured here, 1965), Fahrenheit 451 (1966), Far from the Madding Crowd (1967), McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), Shampoo (1975))
Apr 13
Soviet Film Wednesday: Hedgehog in the Fog
Today we have another wonderful Yuri Norstein film, Hedgehog in the Fog. Norstein is best known for this animation, as well as his Tale of Tales. Hedgehog in the Fog was directed by Norstein, written by Sergei Kozlov, with music by Mikhail Meyerovich. It was produced by Soyuzmultfilm in 1975. It is the story of a hedgehog and a bear cub who …
Apr 09
On This Day: Jean-Paul Belmondo
Happy birthday Jean-Paul Belmondo, born on this day April 9, 1933 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France 🎈
Apr 06
Soviet Film Wednesday: Stalker
The enigmatic sci-fi film Stalker, released October 20, 1982, is arguably Andrei Tarkovsky’s most haunting piece. It’s a quiet, slow drip of a film that was based on the 1972 short story Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. In an unknown place and time lies a heavily guarded desolate wasteland, shrouded in secrecy, called The …
Apr 04
Through the Looking Glass with Andrei Tarkovsky
Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky was born on April 4, 1932, in Zavrazhye, Soviet Union. His mother, Maria Vishnyakova, attended the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute and worked as a corrector, and his father was the renowned poet Arseny Alexandrovich Tarkovsky. Andrei Tarkovsky is well known for his reflective, natural, and dreamlike themes and sequences, as well …