Films byTexts by 1961
FILM
The Marshes’ Chant
Cecilia Mangini, 1961, 10’

A sensuous and vibrant vision of a group of boys who leave home barefoot and without breakfast to congregate by a marane – a small stream – in the Roman suburbs, forming a microcosmic society in which they scavenge for food, fight, swim and play.

FILM
Woman in the Window
Luciano Emmer, 1961, 92’

Beginning with a visceral look at the harsh working conditions of miners in the Netherlands, La ragazza in vetrina transforms into a risqué love story as two of the miners – Italians Federico (Lino Ventura) and Vincenzo (Bernard Fresson) – head to Amsterdam to hit the town.

FILM
Girls of the Night
Kinuyo Tanaka, 1961, 93’

After the 1956 Prostitution Prevention Law was passed in Japan and hundreds of sex workers were arrested and sent to reformatories, former sex worker Kuniko tries to assimilate into the workforce as the prejudices against her past keep following her.

 

FILM
Kent MacKenzie, 1961, 72’

The story of one wild but typical night in the lives of three young American Indians who have left their reservations to live in downtown Los Angeles

 

FILM
Armand Gatti, 1961, 105’

A French Jew and a German communist political prisoner are locked up together in a barbed wire enclosure. A kapo and an officer promise freedom to the one who kills the other by the end of the night. The two camp commanders call it an experiment and make a bet.

FILM
Luis Buñuel, 1961, 90’

After years in Mexican exile, Buñuel returned to his native Spain to make this dark account of corruption, which was immediately banned. A young nun, full of charity, kindness, and idealistic illusions about humanity, visits her uncle and tries to help some local peasants and beggars.

FILM
William Wyler, 1961, 108’

“Emblematic of Hollywood’s output of films dealing with the nation’s emerging gender problematic was United Artist’s realease of The Children’s Hour as the year came to a close.

FILM
A Soft Note on a Sharp Scale
Ritwik Ghatak, 1961, 134’

“Why should I leave my home? Tell me, why should I forsake my country, my river, Padma?”

Bhrigu on stage with his troupe Niriksha

 

FILM
Jean Rouch, Edgar Morin, 1961, 86’

« Comment vis-tu? Comment est-ce que tu te débrouilles avec la vie? Es-tu heureux? »

« Ce film n’a pas été joué par des acteurs, mais vécu par des hommes et des femmes qui ont donné des moments de leur existence à une expérience nouvelle de cinéma-vérité. »