After a dreadful incident coupled with an ungovernable paroxysm of violence, a butcher will fall into a downward spiral that will burn to the ground whatever dignity still remained in him.
A high-speed drive through the streets of Paris.
A man is being haunted by a masked stranger. The only language used in the movie comes from three (inter) title cards and a few sentences of sermon-like talk in Danish. Some of the talk is modified citations from the bible and similar sources.
Although Gainsbourg and Birkin had appeared in a string of films since their magnetic collision in Pierre Grimblat’s Slogan, Melody was a bit of diversion from their collaborations since it’s a series of interwoven videos inspired by the Gainsbourgalbum. For '71 it’s a novel concept to bring visual life to an LP, but even more surprising are the short film’s amazing visuals that director Averty crafted using a wealth of video filters, overlays, camera movements and chroma key effects. Averty applies these in tandem with the increasing tone of Gainsbourg’s songs, which more or less chronicle an older man's affair with a young girl. Each song is comprised of steady, sometimes brooding poetic delivery, with refrains timed to the phrase repeats of each song, while Alan Parker’s buzzing guitar accompanies and wiggles around Gainsbourg’s resonant voice. The bass is fat and groovy, the drums easy but steady, and the periodic use of strings or rich vibrato makes this short a sultry little gem.
Tom Thumb
In the aftermath of a deadly haunting in a small suburban home, a sinister omnipresent entity proceeds to cause havoc in the private lives of a young boy, an unsuspecting teen, and an absent-minded inspector.
Lucy, a young Victorian woman in the Old West, is being tormented by nightly visits from an incubus. Her friend Madeleine tries to console her, but is unable to help. A fallen woman, Lucy gets a job singing at the local saloon. However, the Incubus has followed her there; and things take an unexpected turn as Lucy and the Incubus, amidst the rowdy cowboys and saucy can-can girls, have their final showdown.
The boys sneak out for a night on the town, unaware that Stan's wife has switched her grocery coupons for Stan's secret stash of mad money. The boys run up a huge tab treating a couple of girls to dinner at a snazzy nightclub and much trouble ensues.
The King is Born is a video classic about the birth of Jesus based on the Bible. Beginning with Gabriel announcing God's blessed plan for Mary, this video brings all the elements of this timeless store to life. Journey with Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem and witness the humble birth of our Savior together with the shepherds.
The surrealist film shows repetitive imagery involving a string fashioned in a bizarre, almost spiderweb-like pattern over the hands of several individuals, most notably an unnamed young woman and an elderly gentleman. The film also shows a shadowy darkness and people filmed at odd angles, an exposed human heart, and other occult symbols and ritualistic imagery which evokes an unsettling and dream-like aura. Considered an unfinished film.
A quotation from Aristophanes, "The desire and pursuit of the whole is called love," precedes views of a man and a woman's bodies, often in extreme close up. Off-screen, a voice recites fragments of oracular literature and purple prose. We see an eye, an ear, a mouth, a tongue, bits of hair, a hand, the tips of fingers, toes. Occasionally, the frame includes a larger scape of a body: a chest, a back, a breast. Usually the camera is stationery; sometimes, it moves across a body, remaining in close up. They hold hands for one moment. The bodies are without clothes; no genitalia are visible.
Customers and clerks frolic in a general store. Roscoe walks out of the freezer wearing a fur coat, then does some clever cleaver tossing. In Buster's film debut he buys a pail of molasses.
Roscoe is a doctor who falls in love with a pretty woman whose boyfriend, in turn, falls in love with Roscoe's wife's jewelry.
A feud between the Owens and the Gillettes ends when the last remaining Gillette is killed, but new trouble erupts for the mountain folk with the arrival of a U.S. revenue agent and his assistant.
Roscoe and Buster operate a combination garage and fire station. In the first half they destroy a car left for them to clean. In the second half they go off on a false alarm and return to find their own building on fire.
Buster agrees to pose as a murderer to throw off the police while his room mate, a reporter, searches for the real killer.
A red ball bounces past a cafe and a couple folks’ houses and then goes to the beach.
The story involves Arbuckle coming to the western town of Mad Dog Gulch after being thrown off a train and chased by Indians. He teams up with gambler/saloon owner Bill Bullhum, in trying to keep the evil Wild Bill Hickup away from Salvation Army girl, Salvation Sue. Fatty and Buster have a series of adventures trying to beat St. John, until they discover his one weakness: his ticklishness.
Buster manages the store while Roscoe delivers the mail, taking time out for hide-and-seek with Molly. The constable, also interested in Molly, steals $300 while being observed by Buster.
The Romeo and Juliet story played out in a tenement neighborhood with Buster and Virginia's families hating each other over the fence separating their buildings.