The Seafarers
The Seafarers. Stanley Kubrick, 1953.
😸
Edition screened: Included on Eureka! Masters of Cinema Blu-ray #51 Fear and Desire, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 29 minutes.
Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.
Flying Padre
Flying Padre. Stanley Kubrick, 1951.
😸
Edition screened: Included on Eureka! Masters of Cinema Blu-ray #51 Fear and Desire, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 9 minutes.
Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.
@ BL
Day of the Fight
Day of the Fight. Stanley Kubrick, 1951.😸
Edition screened: Included on Eureka! Masters of Cinema Blu-ray #51 Fear and Desire, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 16 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
Fear and Desire
Fear and Desire. Stanley Kubrick, 1953.
😸
Edition screened: Eureka! Masters of Cinema Blu-ray #51, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 62 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
The Masters of Cinema Blu-ray also includes these short films by Kubrick:
Day of the Fight (1951)
Flying Padre (1951)
The Seafarers (1953)
George Washington
George Washington. David Gordon Green, 2000.😿😿
Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #152, released 2014. English language. Runtime approximately 90 minutes.
Summary: General cruelty toward animals
Details:
1) A show-off recounts the cruel killing of a cat, 15:35-16:00.
2) Image of a dying snake, mangled by construction equipment, 40:40-40:43.
3) Discussion of murdering dogs, 1:10:00-1:12:24, with the boy wearing a hat made from the skin of his poor dog, 1:13:25 through the end of the film.
Great. Another manipulative empathy film ’bout poor folks just tryin’ to get by, with the clear message that pointless cruelty to animals is an important part of living in poverty. Our hero (literally, a self-anointed ‘hero’ as you will see after watching the film) starts out behaving neutrally enough toward animals, but learns from his worthless uncle that there are a million reasons to be a worser man. Pick one, damn it, and put on that dog-skin cap!
George Washington is a dumbed-down version of Ratcatcher in many ways.
Guilty of Romance
Guilty of Romance (Koi no tsumi). Sion Sono, 2011.
😸
Edition screened: Eureka! Blu-ray, released 2011. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 113 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
This Eureka! release is the “International Cut,” edited down from the 144 minute Japanese Cut.
Goodbye, See You Tomorrow
Goodbye, See You Tomorrow (Do widzenia, do jutra). Janusz Morgenstern, 1960.
😸
Edition screened: Second Run DVD #67, released 2012. Polish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 82 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
A Girl in Black
A Girl in Black (To koritsi me ta mavra). Michael Cacoyannis (Mihalis Kakogiannis), 1956.
😸
Edition screened: Fox Lorber ‘World Class Cinema’ DVD, released 2000. Greek language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 100 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
A Girl in Black is a superb and unique viewing experience.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Richard Lester, 1966.
😸
Edition screened: MGM DVD, released 2000. English language. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
The funny thing is, the incident referenced in the title does not appear in the film.
Frivolous Lola
Frivolous Loloa (Monella). Tinto Brass, 1998.
😿
Edition screened: Cult Epics DVD, released 2004. Italian language with English dub or subtitles. Runtime approximately 101 minutes.
Summary: Culinary porn. 2/5❤
Details: Disconcerting focus on the rectum of a quail during a kitchen-prep sequence, 39:20-39:31.
Flying Down to Rio
Flying Down to Rio. Thornton Freeland, 1933.
😸
Edition screened: Warner DVD, released 2006. English languages. Runtime approximately 89 minutes.
Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.
The film contains one fabulous production number “The Carioca”, another outrageous one on the wings of biplanes, and is generally pleasant in a predictable way despite an excruciatingly boring 10 minutes of love interest on a tropical island.
The Warner DVD also includes a good early Warner Brothers cartoon and other shorts including Jack Cummings’ early Three Stooges film Beer and Pretzels (1933, 20 minutes, no animal violence).
A Farewell to Arms
A Farewell to Arms. Charles Vidor, 1957.
😸
Edition screened: 20th Century Fox DVD, released 2005. English language. Runtime approximately 152 minutes.
Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.
I agree that there are problems with this adaptation, most having to do with Jennifer Jones’s mouth. But I am slightly surprised by the pervasively poor critical reviews, considering the good performances by Vittorio De Sica and Rock Hudson and some truly compelling scenes such as the deathly evacuation march. The film also shows an interesting compatibility between Hemingway and 1950s American culture with a remarkable amount of inappropriate drinking by surgeons, patients, pregnants, and clergy. There was no farewell to cognac.
Escape from Tomorrow
Escape from Tomorrow. Randy Moore, 2013.
😸
Edition screened: Mankurt Media DVD, released 2014. English language. Runtime approximately 90 minutes.
Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.
Le Divorce
Le Divorce. James Ivory, 2003.
😸
Edition screened: 20th Century Fox DVD, released 2004. English language. Runtime approximately 117 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
Diary of a Chambermaid (Renoir)
Diary of a Chambermaid. Jean Renoir, 1946.
😿😿
Edition screened: Olive Blu-ray, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 87 minutes.
Summary: Killing of a pet squirrel and of domestic geese.
Details:
1) We watch Paulette Goddard squeal “Stop it! You’re crushing him!” as shell-shocked old Burgess Meredith does just that (off camera) to his pet squirrel in a fit of excitement, 26:09. We see him mourning over his dead friend immediately afterwards, 26:15-26:35.
2) Discussion of a cruel method of killing geese, 28:29-28:38.
3) A goose is grabbed at 40:30, and we hear it scream as it is killed off camera (barely off camera), through 40:52.
Night Watch
Night Watch (Nochnoy dozor). Timur Bekmambetov, 2004.
😸
Edition screened: 20th Century Fox Blu-ray, released 2008. Russian and English languages with English TrueHD DUB. Runtime approximately 114 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.
Stargate
Stargate. Roland Emmerich, 1994.
😿
Edition screened: Studio Canal/Lions Gate ‘15th Anniversary Edition’ Blu-ray, released 2009. English language. Runtime of extended version approximately 130 minutes.
Summary: Dialogue takes place around an exotic reptile served at a banquet, not particularly graphic, 56:00-57:08.
Independence Day
Independence Day. Roland Emmerich, 1996.
😸
Edition screened: 20th Century Fox DVD, released 2002. English language. Runtime of extended Special Edition approximately 153 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
The Day After Tomorrow
The Day After Tomorrow. Roland Emmerich, 2004.
😿
Edition screened: 20th Century Fox DVD, released 2004. English language. Runtime approximately 118 minutes.
Summary: A man defends himself by clubbing a wolf with a flashlight, 1:35:54-1:35:58. The wolf does not appear to be particularly hurt.
Daguerréotypes
Daguerréotypes. Agnès Varda, 1976.
😸
Edition screened: Included in Criterion Blu-ray box set The Complete Films of Agnès Varda (disc 4) released 2020. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 79 minutes.
Summary: We meet a mild-mannered butcher and watch him cut steaks to order, but there is nothing gratuitous in the scenes.
Varda introduces us politely to the shopkeepers of rue Daguerre, the quaint Parisian street where she lives. Related material on disc 4 includes:
Bread, Painting & Accordion: More time spent in a bakery and a famous Parisian accordion shop (1976, 8 minutes).
Rue Daguerre in 2005: Agnès revisits the storefronts and some of the people from thirty years earlier (2005, 21 minutes).
Fete de la musique: An excerpt from an outdoor music festival held on rue Daguerre (2005, 3 minutes).
A beautiful and refreshing view of working class Paris in the 1970s, free of animal violence, cell phones, and Starbucks.
A 1951 Williams Hayburners is visible through the front window of the corner café at 31:10, and viewed from a different angle at 31:36.
The Pool Sharks
The Pool Sharks. Edwin Middleton, 1915.
😿
Edition screened: Included on Criterion DVD #79 W.C. Fields: 6 Short Films, released 2000. No dialogue track. Runtime approximately 11 minutes.
Summary: Smashing of a fish bowl.
Details: A suspended fish bowl is smashed by a flying billiard ball at 8:00, with the stranded fish flapping through 8:18.
@ BL
@ BL
The Pharmacist
The Pharmacist. Arthur Ripley, 1933.
😸
Edition screened: Included on Criterion DVD #79 W.C. Fields: 6 Short Films, released 2000. English language. Runtime approximately 20 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
The Golf Specialist
The Golf Specialist. Monte Brice, 1930.
😿
Edition screened: Included on Criterion DVD #79 W.C. Fields: 6 Short Films, released 2000. English language. Runtime approximately 21 minutes.
Summary: Staged comedic goose shooting.
Details: At 30:28 a stray rifle shot hits a flock of geese flying overhead, causing a ridiculous stuffed goose to fall onto the golf course through 30:35. (This is the second of six films that run consecutively, hence the high clocks for a 21 minute film).
@ BL
@ BL
The Fatal Glass of Beer
The Fatal Glass of Beer. Clyde Bruckman, 1933.
😸
Edition screened: Included on Criterion DVD #79 W.C. Fields: 6 Short Films, released 2000. English language. Runtime approximately 19 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
The Dentist
The Dentist. Leslie Pearce, 1932.😸
Edition screened: Included on Criterion DVD #79 W.C. Fields: 6 Short Films, released 2000. English language. Runtime approximately 22 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
The Barber Shop
😸
Edition screened: Included on Criterion DVD #79 W.C. Fields: 6 Short Films, released 2000. English language. Runtime approximately 22 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
W.C. Fields: 6 Short Films
W.C. Fields: 6 Short Films. Middleton, Brice, Pearce, Bruckman, and Ripley, 1915-1933.
😿
Edition screened: Criterion DVD #79, released 2000. English language. Runtime approximately 115 minutes.
Summary: “Pool Sharks” and “The Golf Specialist” contain brief depictions of violence toward animals.
This Criterion release contains:
The Pool Sharks (1915, Edwin Middleton)
The Golf Specialist (1930, Monte Brice)
The Dentist (1932, Leslie Pearce)
The Fatal Glass of Beer (1933, Clyde Bruckman)
The Pharmacist (1933, Arthur Ripley)
The Barber Shop (1933, Arthur Ripley)
Pearls of the Deep
Pearls of the Deep (Perlicky na dne). Jiřà Menzel, Jan Němec, Evald Schorm, Věra Chytilová, Jaromil Jireš, 1966.
😿
Edition screened: Included in Criterion Eclipse Series 32: Pearls of the Czech New Wave 4-DVD set, released 2012. Czech language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 107 minutes.
Summary: One of the five segments shows various stages of hide tanning.
Details:
The House of Joy is set in the home of a tanner, with numerous images of goat and rabbit skins in various stages of skinning and curing 40:12-43:20, and again 57:19-58:37. This last sequence ends with the tanner transporting a large dead dog on his bicycle, with a leashed small dog ominously coming along as well. (The individual films run as one continuous presentation, with the 23-minute The House of Joy running 36:50-59:29.)
This omnibus presentation includes a 2-minute introduction and five short films based on stories by Czech author Bohumil Hrabal:
Mr. Baltazar’s Death (24 minutes, Jiřà Menzel)
The Imposters (11 minutes, Jan Němec)
The House of Joy (23 minutes, Evald Schorm)
The Restaurant the World (24 minutes, Věra Chytilová)
Romance (24 minutes, Jaromil Jireš)
Daisies
Daisies (Sedmikrásky). Věra Chytilová, 1966.
😸
Edition screened: Included in Criterion Eclipse Series 32: Pearls of the Czech New Wave 4-DVD set, released 2012. Czech language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 76 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
Pearls of the Czech New Wave
Pearls of the Czech New Wave. Jiřà Menzel, Jan Němec, Evald Schorm, Věra Chytilová, Jaromil Jireš, 1966-1969.
😿
Edition screened: Criterion Eclipse Series #32, 4-DVD set, released 2012. Czech language with English subtitles. Collective runtime approximately 513 minutes.
Summary: Some titles contain depictions of violence toward animals.
This 32nd volume in Criterion’s Eclipse Series includes
Pearls of the Deep (Menzel, Němec, Schorm, Chytilová, and Jireš, 1966)
Daisies (Chytilová, 1966)
A Report on the Party and Guests (Němec, 1966)
Return of the Prodigal Son (Schorm, 1967)
Capricious Summer (Menzel, 1968)
The Joke (Jireš, 1969)
Carousella
Carousella. John Irvin, 1965.
😸
Edition screened: Included on BFI Flipside Blu-ray #003 Primitive London, released 2009. English language. Runtime approximately 26 minutes.
Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.
Primitive London
Primitive London. Arnold L. Miller, 1965.
😿😿😿
Edition screened: BFI Flipside Blu-ray #003, released 2009. English language. Runtime approximately 87 minutes.
Summary: Real footage from a chicken processing plant.
Details: The entire killing, cleaning, and packaging process is shown 1:07:25-1:11:12.
Immediately before the chicken processing sequence is a scene in a veterinary operating room where a goldfish has a very small section of bacterial growth cut from a fin (1:05:52-1:07:06). The fish is given anesthesia prior to the 1-second procedure, and other steps focused on the fish’s safety and comfort are demonstrated and explained.
This segues to the chicken processing sequence, with workers in the plant neither intentionally cruel nor compassionate as the young chickens are removed from crates, placed on the conveyor chain, killed, plucked, and packaged for retail. The voice-over narration is unemotional but provides factual commentary that would be considered suspiciously compassionate, possibly un-American and terroristic, by today’s standards. The chickens “have never been out of their cramped cages, never felt the earth beneath their feet,” and the housewife seen buying the birds in a market is exposed as a “common predatory animal” rendered ineffectual and reduced to paying others to kill on her behalf.
The chicken processing sequence concludes with the commentary that while other foods have doubled in price, the cost of chicken has been cut in half due to modern methods. The message is unstated but clear: Those with excessive money can buy surgery for a 10-cent pet fish. Those with little money still can afford to eat chicken since the birds themselves compensate for low pricing with their short and terrible lives.
The BFI release of Primitive London also includes John Irvin’s then-controversial Carousella (1965) which dramatizes the lives of three young strippers, and we also get three interviews by Bernard Braden with participants in London’s strip club scene: club owner Al Burnett (1967, 18 minutes), club owner Stuart McCabe (1968, 16 minutes) and performer Shirley (1968, 6 minutes).
Primitive London is Arnold Miller’s follow-up to London in the Raw (1964), and is somewhat “less” in most ways, sometimes to its advantage. Less seedy, less diverse, and less oomph in general, but also less excruciating musical entertainment, and less time loitering pointlessly in restaurants.
About 14:30 into the movie, montage of a gangster-themed and a Native American-themed playfields spliced together as though it were one machine.
Berlin Alexanderplatz
Berlin Alexanderplatz. Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1980.
😿😿😿
Edition screened: Criterion 7-DVD set #411, released 2007. German language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 940 minutes.
Summary: Slaughter of a sheep on Disc II, Part IV: A Handful of People in the Depth of Silence.
Details:
1) Antique images of livestock being slaughtered and butchered (including horses) are presented 26:21-27:20.
2) Beginning at 33:50 and continuing through 34:38 is a very real scene of a man holding a sheep in his lap, slitting its throat, and bleeding it. After the killing he stands and walks toward us while the sheep lies on its side, kicking slightly in death throws.
The sheep murder is a disappointing inclusion in Fassbinder’s masterpiece. It is the only such violence in this 15½ hour drama made by the gifted director for broadcast on German television.
Androcles and the Lion
Androcles and the Lion. Chester Erskine, 1952.
😸
Edition screened: Included in Criterion Eclipse Series 20 George Bernard Shaw on Film 3-DVD set, released 2010. English language. Runtime approximately 99 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
Warrendale
Warrendale. Allan King, 1967.
😸
Edition screened: Included in Criterion Eclipse Series 24: The Actuality Dramas of Allan King 5-DVD set, released 2010. English language. Runtime approximately 101 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
A Married Couple
A Married Couple. Allan King, 1969.
😸
Edition screened: Included in Criterion Eclipse Series 24: The Actuality Dramas of Allan King 5-DVD set, released 2010. English language. Runtime approximately 99 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
The Actuality Dramas of Allan King
The Actuality Dramas of Allan King. Allan King, 1967-2005.
😸
Edition screened: Criterion Eclipse Series #24, 5-DVD set, released 2010. English language. Collective runtime approximately 552 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.
This 24th volume in Criterion's Eclipse Series includes
Warrendale (1967)
A Married Couple (1969)
Come On Children (1972)
Dying at Grace (2003)