Cinema: M. Hulot's Holiday (1953)

Feeling cranky from the summer heat? Then check out the wonderful 1953 film M. Hulot's Holiday — I guarantee you'll be cheerful in no time. From Criterion: "Pipe-smoking Monsieur Hulot, Jacques Tati’s endearing clown, takes a holiday at a seaside resort where his presence provokes one catastrophe after another. Tati’s wildly funny satire of vacationers determined to enjoy themselves includes a series of precisely choreographed sight gags involving dogs, boats, and firecrackers." One of my absolute faves — the tennis scene in particular is hilarious.

Cinema/Inspiration|Blow Up

One of the most elegant, fascinating, sensual movies of all the times.
Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow Up is the perfect portrait of the 60's Swinging London.
Shifty, incomprehensible, icy, provocatively, silent, upset, capricious, the woman portraied by Michelangelo Antonioni in that movie is a concentrated of a femininity wich is both evil and ethereal.
60's rebel elegance is at the top of my inspirations since always, but now, more than ever.
I've always been fascinated by those restless and fickle years, and above all by that amazing movie and I wanted to share my all time inspiration with you, hope you appreciate this.
Have a nice weekend, I hope it's as intense and productive as mine is. 


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Uno dei più eleganti, affascinanti, sensuali film di tutti i tempi-
Blow Up di Michelangelo Antonioni è il ritratto perfetto della Swinging London anni '60.
Sfuggente, incomprensibile, algida, provocatoria, silenziosa, turbata, capricciosa, la donna ritratta anche solo di passaggio da Antonioni in Blow Up è un concentrato di una femminilità in parte malefica, in parte eterea.
L'eleganza ribelle degli anni '60 è al top delle mie ispirazioni del momento, sono sempre stata profondamente affascinata da quegli anni così inquieti e incostanti ed ora lo sono ancora di più.
Questo splendido film in particolare è sempre stato una delle mie principali fonti di ispirazione che oggi ho voluto condividere con voi, spero apprezzerete.
Buon fine settimana d'estate, che sia per voi intenso e produttivo come il mio.


Title_Blow Up
Year_1966
Director_Michelangelo Antonioni
With_David Hemmings; Vanessa Redgrave; Sarah Miles; Jane Birkin; Verushka
Photography_Carlo Di Palma
Script_Michelangelo Antonioni, Tonino Guerra, Edward Bond
Set Design_Assheton Gordon
Costume Design_Jocelyn Rickards

Cinema: Wings of Desire

This 1987 film by German director Wim Wenders is easily one of the most beautiful films I've ever seen. Seeing it when it was first released in theatres was one of the most extraordinary experiences I've had — at the end of the film, there was dead silence and no movement in the audience — no one wanted to break the mood of spiritual wonder it invoked. A must see (and one of my absolute fave films, too). More here on Criterion.

Cinema: La Belle et la Bête

Forget Disney. This stunning 1946 adaptation by Jean Cocteau of the classic fairy tale is truly one of the most beautiful and romantic films I've ever seen — with delicate performances by Jean Marais and Josette Day. A meditation on enchantment, desire, and death, Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête) is definitely a must see. Incidentally, Philip Glass wrote a soundtrack to accompany this film several years ago — well worth seeking out as it's also wonderful. More about the film here on Criterion.

Cinema: The Night of the Hunter

Often described as a gothic fairy tale, The Night of the Hunter is as eerie and scary now as it was when first released in 1955. The only film ever directed by Charles Laughton, it features extraordinary performances by a (frankly terrifying) Robert Mitchum and a radiantly strong and compassionate Lillian Gish. Beautiful to look at, with scenes that at times recall early German Expressionist silent film, it's a haunting classic about the age old battle between good and evil. More here.

Cinema: 8 1/2

Federico Fellini's brilliant and magical 1963 film stars Marcello Mastroianni as Guido Anselmi, a director whose new project (and life) is collapsing around him. Considered one of the greatest films about film ever made, 8½ "...turns one man’s artistic crisis into a grand epic of the cinema," as the Criterion Collection notes. Hallucinatory and hilarious by turns, it's a must see. More here.

Cinema: Zazie dans le métro

Based on the popular novel by Raymond Queneau, Zazie dans le métro is a wonderful 1960 French film by director Louis Malle that's an anarchic mix of comedy, slapstick — and a bit of French New Wave too. It follows the adventures of the mischievous ten-year-old Zazie, who turns Paris upside down during a weekend visit there with her aunt and uncle. See it for the scenes of Paris in the early '60s, for the wonderful colours and costumes — but mostly for the sheer fun of it. You can see how it inspired the film Amélie, too — they even have the same hair and little cardies! More here from the Criterion Collection.


This is the first in a regular series on automatism in which I share films that I love — I hope you enjoy it!