Le Giornate del Cinema Muto - Pordenone Diary Day 6

 

Day 6 was another short day for me not due to lack of desire but it was entirely due to lack of sleep. I rarely suffer from insomnia but last night I did.  It may well have been caused from adrenaline after taking my dive at the Bar Posta. What I did see you today was totally fantastic.

The Italian Riscoperte/Rediscoveries for the morning program, had I been there I would fought sleep. So, giving in to the insomia, I curled up in bed and catnapped for 2 hours.

The first program was another in the Nasty Women series. First up was Le Menage Dranem (1912) from Pathe which was very misogynistic and also hilarious. The story involved a wife in the reverse dominant role who was berating her husband to do the house work; all the cooking, all the cleaning in the kitchen etc. While she went off to spend Her afternoon having a coffee having a very large beer playing billiards and cards and backgammon with her friends. All in all having a wonderful time. While the husband was at home doing the housework and caring for the newborn baby who not surprisingly happened to have a very smelly diaper much to his chagrin. After her day out when she returned home, the shoe was on the other foot. The husband now frustrated and angry berated her and the roles were reversed again whereupon she was doing the housework once he throwing his manly tantrum. The final shot is of the film is the family leaving the apartment and this seems to be several years later as the family has grown in size 7 children. The master of the house strolls along happily at last.

The next film Phil-For-Short (1919) starring Evelyn Greeley as an independent young lady, fluent in Greek thanks to her famous father who sets her cap for an unmarried Greek Instructor who is an avowed woman hater, having been burned once.  I am cutting out a lot of the plot here, lots of twists and turns. It was really crackerjack! It also featured an almost svelte Edward Arnold in the cast. Accompaniment by John Sweeney who kept up with the action and delighted us all with his virtuosity.

I am I am 0-3 for the Korean films, so they will remain a singular mystery to me.

The evening program was another in the series highlighting Ellen Richter. The first short film was basically a snippet from Die Schonsten Bene von Berlin (1927). The film had a soundtrack, now lost. The 3 minute film was a fantastic montage, it made me long to see the entire film. 

The clothes!

The feature was fantastic fun entitled Moral (1928) and goodness gracious it was fabulous. Ellen Richter featuring a slicked down mannish bob wore some of the most fantastic couture I have seen all week. This film showed off her flair for comedy,nas well as her figure for fashion. She plays an actress on tour who butts heads with the local Moralist Society. The sequence with the moralists allowed the audience to participate with the action on screen. Much booing and foot stamping went on, tres fun. It will not a rocket scientist to guess who outsmarted who. It was the most delightful bon bon and I am still grinning. The clothes, the loungewear! Chef’s Kiss! Donald Sosin and Frank Bockius provided a frothy, percussive and joyous accompaniment. We were even treated to Donald vocalizing during the credits.

Dinner was Tagliatelle with black mushrooms that might have been a form of pioppini. Sadly, while Porcini were on the menu, none available. These were, delicious, absolutely scrummy. Gelato for the day was Noci (Hazelnut) and it was delightful. I tried to go back to the gelateria by the Teatro to have another scoop of zucca, but, they were closed. Sadface, will try again tomorrow. Must up my gelato consumption! I am falling behind.

I can hardly believe we are on the downslope, two more days of the festival remain. I am regrettably missing the morning Ellen Richter film because I need to go get my COVID test so I can return home.

See you tomorrow