21 Grams. Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2003.
😸
Edition screened: Universal DVD, released 2004. English language. Runtime approximately 125 minutes.
Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.
Blancanieves
Blancanieves. Pablo Berger, 2011.
😿
Edition screened: Cohen Blu-ray, released 2011. English intertitles with sound effects and music track, no dialogue track. Runtime approximately 105 minutes.
Summary: Butchering; killing of a pet rooster.
Details:
1) A chicken carcass is beheaded in a kitchen 31:59-32:13.
2) A cruel presentation at dinner shows a little girl that her gentle pet rooster has been killed and cooked, 47:05-47:25
Le Cercle rouge
Le Cercle rouge. Jean-Pierre Melville, 1970.😸
Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #218, released 2011. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 140 minutes.
Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.
Deadly Blessing
Deadly Blessing. Wes Craven, 1981.
😿😿
Summary: Dog and snake victims of human attacks.
Details:
1) A woman carries two dead chickens by their feet as background agrarian scene-setting, 32:05-32:08. Completely unnecessary, see also Bandolero!
2) A German Shepherd is sprayed with mace after it lunges at a woman, 37:52-37:56. The dog runs off into the woods.
3) A bloody section of a poisonous snake is shown sinking into a bathtub after it has been bludgeoned to death off screen, 57:21-57:30.
Deadly Blessing is a key title in the 1980s bubble of Amishploitation films.
Fishing with John
Fishing with John. John Lurie, 1992.
😿😿
Edition screened: Criterion DVD #42, released 1999. English language. Runtime approximately 147 minutes.
Summary: Thematic fishing violence.
Each of the six episodes involves host John Lurie goofing off with a celebrity under the pretenses of a fishing trip. There is not much productive fishing, but there is a lot of gore involving baiting hooks with other live fish, showing those fish after they have been partially eaten by prey, beheading, and similar.
The point of the show is hip comedic banter with men like Tom Waits and Willem Dafoe. The actual fishing is positioned awkwardly, as there is too much blood and callous brutality for viewers who are not interested in fishing, but not enough for viewers who might be.
The Hourglass Sanatorium
The Hourglass Sanatorium (Sanatorium pod klepsydra). Wojciech Jerzy Has, 1973.
😸
Edition screened: Zebra/DMMS Blu-ray, released 2014. Polish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 125 minutes.
Summary: Brief artistic images of “dead birds” moving slightly, most certainly automatons or some similar effect and not intended to be particularly realistic or legible.
The Hourglass Sanatorium is a tremendous viewing experience with beautiful, elaborately decorated sets and a refined sense of the absurd. Another masterful film from director Jerzy Has to watch along with The Saragossa Manuscript.
Karayuki-San, The Making of a Prostitute
Karayuki-San, The Making of a Prostitute. Shôhei Imamura, 1975.
😸
Edition screened: Included in the Icarus 4-DVD set A Man Vanishes, released 2012. Japanese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 75 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
The Hunt for Red October
The Hunt for Red October. John McTiernan, 1990.
Edition screened: Paramount ‘Special Collector’s Edition’ DVD, released 1990. English language. Runtime approximately 135 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
Hotel (Figgis)
Hotel. Mike Figgis, 2001.
😸
Edition screened: MGM/UA DVD, released 2005. English language. Runtime approximately 111 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
The Four Feathers (Korda)
The Four Feathers. Zoltán Korda, 1939.
😸
Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #583, released 2011. English language. Runtime approximately 115 minutes.
Summary: Light equestrian stunts during battle scenes, but no depictions of animals being hurt or killed.
The Criterion Blu-ray also contains an 11-minute studio promotion film A Day at Denham (1939), providing a tour of back lots and studio facilities. No animal violence.
Force Majeure
Force Majeure (Turist). Ruben Östlund, 2014.
😸
Edition screened: Magnolia Blu-ray, released 2015. Swedish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 120 minutes.
Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.
Finis terrae
Finis terrae (End of the Earth). Jean Epstein, 1928.
😸
Edition screened: Included in Potemkine DVD set Jean Epstein, released 2014. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 80 minutes.
Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.
A Field in England
A Field in England. Ben Wheatley, 2013.
😸
Edition screened: Drafthouse Blu-ray, released 2014. Also included in the Severin Blu-ray box set All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror, released 2021. English language. Runtime approximately 90 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
Smart filmmaking rooted in the culture of a complex past. Bravo.
Smart filmmaking rooted in the culture of a complex past. Bravo.
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Fantastic Mr. Fox. Wes Anderson, 2009.
😿😿
Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #700, released 2014. English language. Runtime approximately 87 minutes.
Summary: Animated “comedic” killing of animals by other animals; never graphic or bloody.
Details:
1) Mr. & Mrs. Fox hold dead squabs by the throat, 3:51-4:07.
2) Chicken killing by Fox and Opossum, 19:08-19:18;
3) Fox’s tail is shot off and displayed, plus images of the wounded and tail-less Fox, 31:13-32:20.
4) A thug Rat dies with a slashed throat, 57:12-58:30.
Supplements in the Criterion package include John Bridcut’s Fantastic Mr. Dahl (2005), an hour-long documentary on author Roald Dahl, no animal violence.
Chanson d'armor
Chanson d'armor. Jean Epstein, 1935.
😸
Edition screened: Included in Potemkine DVD set Jean Epstein, released 2014. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 43 minutes.
Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.
Carrots & Peas
Carrots & Peas. Hollis Frampton, 1969.
😸
Edition screened: Included on Criterion Blu-ray #607 A Hollis Frampton Odyssey, released 2012. English language. Runtime approximately 5 minutes.
Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.
Les Berceaux
Les Berceaux (The Cradles). Jean Epstein, 1931.
😸
Edition screened: Included in Potemkine DVD set Jean Epstein, released 2014. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 6 minutes.
Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.
Jean Epstein
Jean Epstein. Jean Epstein, 1924-1948.
😸
Edition screened: Potemkine 8-DVD set, released 2014. French language with English subtitles. Cumulative runtime approximately 1125 minutes.
This invaluable compilation of beautiful film includes:
Le Lion des mogols (The Lion of the Moguls) 1924
Le Double Amour (Double the Love or The Double Love) 1925
Les Aventures de Robert Macaire (The Adventures of Robert Macaire) 1925
Mauprat 1926
La Chute de la maison Usher (The Fall of the House of Usher) 1928
La Glace à trois faces (The Three-Sided Mirror) 1927
Six et demi, onze (Six and a Half, Eleven) 1927
Chanson d'armor 1935
L'Or des mers (The Golden Seas) 1932
Mor vran (Sea Ravens) 1930
Le tempestaire (The Stormcaller) 1947
Les Feux de la mer (The Lights of the Sea) 1948
Jean Epstein, Young Oceans of Cinema (a 2011 documentary biography by Jean Schneider)
A Hollis Frampton Odyssey
A Hollis Frampton Odyssey. Hollis Frampton, 1966-1979.
😿😿😿
Edition screened: Criterion Blu-ray #607, released 2012. Some English language, some with no dialogue track. Compiled runtime approximately 266 minutes.
Some of these films are among the most intellectually complicated and rewarding compositions ever created. Many also are very entertaining.
The selected “Pans” from the Straits of Magellan are nine 1-minute films. Two of these nine, Pan 697 and Pan 699, show the butchering of a cow, and a child torturing a bullfrog on a fishing line, respectively. These two short films come near the end of the series and easily can be skipped without damaging the artistic impact of Frampton’s earlier works.
The Criterion release includes:
• Manual of Arms (1966)
• Process Red (1966)
• Maxwell’s Demon (1968)
• Surface Tension (1968)
• Carrots & Peas (1969)
• Lemon (1969)
• Zorns Lemma (1970)
Films from Hapax Legomena
• (nostalgia) (1971)
• Poetic Justice (1972)
• Critical Mass (1971)
Films from Magellan
• Process Red (1966)
• Maxwell’s Demon (1968)
• Surface Tension (1968)
• Carrots & Peas (1969)
• Lemon (1969)
• Zorns Lemma (1970)
Films from Hapax Legomena
• (nostalgia) (1971)
• Poetic Justice (1972)
• Critical Mass (1971)
Films from Magellan
• The Birth of Magellan: Cadenza I (1977–1980)
• Straits of Magellan: Pan 0 and Pan 1 (1969-1974)
• INGENIVM NOBIS IPSA PVELLA FECIT, Part I (1975)
• Magellan: At the Gates of Death, Part I: The Red Gate 1, 0 (1976)
• Straits of Magellan: Pan 0 and Pan 1 (1969-1974)
• INGENIVM NOBIS IPSA PVELLA FECIT, Part I (1975)
• Magellan: At the Gates of Death, Part I: The Red Gate 1, 0 (1976)
• Straits of Magellan: Pan 2 (1969-1974)
• Straits of Magellan: Pan 3 and Pan 4 (1969-1974)
• Straits of Magellan: Pan 697 and Pan 698 (1969-1974)
• Winter Solstice (1974)
• Straits of Magellan: Pan 699 and Pan 700 (1969-1974)
• Winter Solstice (1974)
• Straits of Magellan: Pan 699 and Pan 700 (1969-1974)
• The Death of Magellan: Gloria! (1979)
Encounters at the End of the World
Encounters at the End of the World. Werner Herzog, 2007.
😸
Edition screened: Image 2-DVD set, released 2008. English language. Runtime approximately 99 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence to animals.
This enjoyable and intelligent visit to an Antarctic outpost focuses on the eclectic scientists drawn to work in such an environment, and reconsiders aspects of Shackleton’s expedition.
The Image DVD set also includes:
Under the Ice (Henry Kaiser, 2007, 36 minutes)
Over the Ice (Werner Herzog and Peter Zeitlinger, 2007, 10 minutes)
Slide Guitar and Exorcism @ the South Pole (Henry Kaiser, 2001, 12 minutes)
Jonathan Demme Interviews Werner Herzog at the Museum of the Moving Image (2008, 67 minutes)
Cousin cousine
Cousin cousine. Jean-Charles Tacchella, 1975.
😿
Edition screened: Arrow DVD, released 2011. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 95 minutes.
Summary: Mild fishing scene.
Details: Upon exiting the wedding reception we spend about 30 seconds at a small pond with mild scenes of caught fish, 0:46:10.
Cold Creek Manor
Cold Creek Manor. Mike Figgis, 2003.
😿😿😿
Edition screened: Buena Vista DVD, released 2004. English language. Runtime approximately 119 minutes.
Summary: Intentional killing of animals.
Details:
1) A poisonous snake is decapitated, 53:11-53:14.
2) It appears as though a deer is hit by a car, but then we see the animal run off, 1:08:33-1:08-35.
3) A dead pony is found floating in a swimming pool, 1:09:25-1:09:40.
The snake killing and floating horse both are pretty gruesome.
Bally Paragon in the bar.
Chains (Matarazzo)
Chains (Catene). Raffaello Matarazzo, 1949.
😸
Edition screened: Included in Criterion Eclipse Series 27: Raffaello Matarazzo’s Runaway Melodramas 4-DVD set, released 2011. Italian language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 94 minutes.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari). Robert Wiene, 1920.
😸
Edition screened: Eureka! Masters of Cinema Blu-ray #92, released 2014. German intertitles with English subtitles, no dialogue track. Runtime approximately 77 minutes.
Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.
The Masters of Cinema disc also includes two excellent supplemental works. Rüdiger Suchsland’s Caligari: The Birth of Horror in the First World War is an examination of the Expressionistic style in art and the social context in which it evolved (2014, approximately 53 minutes), and David Cairns’ hilariously written and narrated You Must Be Caligari illuminates aspects of the original film’s development, plot, and style (2014, approximately 16 minutes). Both are extremely enjoyable, informative, and highly recommended.
The Bling Ring
The Bling Ring. Sofia Coppola, 2013.
😸
Edition screened: Lions Gate Blu-ray, released 2013. English language. Runtime approximately 90 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
Big Bad Mama II
Big Bad Mama II. Jim Wynorski, 1987.
😸
Edition screened: Included on ‘Roger Corman’s Cult Classic Double Feature: Big Bad Mama / Big Bad Mama II, released 2010. English language. Runtime approximately 84 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
God Respects Us When We Work, But Loves Us When We Dance
God Respects Us When We Work, But Loves Us When We Dance. Les Blank and Skip Gerson, 1968.
😸
Edition screened: Included in Criterion Blu-ray set #737 Les Blank: Always for Pleasure, released 2014. No dialogue track. Runtime approximately 20 minutes.
Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.
At the closing of the film, the band Spontaneous Combustion is thanked for providing the music soundtrack. According to clear and authoritative comments made by Les Blank during a 2011 interview at MOMA in coordination with the exhibit Les Blank: Ultimate Insider, the band we see performing at the event is neither Spontaneous Combustion nor the Steve Miller Band, as sometimes proposed. The musicians seen performing are a mix of local talent, possibly including Ray Manzarek. Blank did not record an audio track while filming the video portion. Spontaneous Combustion created the soundtrack specifically for the film soon thereafter.
Indexed after God Respects Us in the Criterion set is the recent making-of documentary Flower Power.
Indexed after God Respects Us in the Criterion set is the recent making-of documentary Flower Power.
The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins
The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins. Les Blank and Skip Gerson, 1968.
😿
Edition screened: Included in Criterion Blu-ray set #737 Les Blank: Always for Pleasure, released 2014. English language. Original music by Lightnin’ Hopkins and others. Runtime approximately 31 minutes.
Summary: Killing of a snake; fishing violence.
Details:
1) At 11:30 we encounter Lightnin’ and a companion in the evening after having just killed a snake. They throw a few more rocks at the snake before it is picked up and flung. No clear images of the snake, dead or alive. Over at 12:22.
2) Mild fishing violence such as unhooking small fish and baiting hooks with shrimp, 13:28-14:48.
3) Mild rodeo action of calf roping and wrangling, 14:45-16:25.
Organized with The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins in this massive package are two related 2014 Criterion-produced “making of” documentaries, two out-take performances by Lightnin’ of Mr. Charlie Your Rollin’ Mill Is Burnin’ Down (7 minutes) and Lightnin’ Les (4 minutes), and Blank’s excellent follow-up short film The Sun’s Gonna Shine, all free of animal violence.
1) At 11:30 we encounter Lightnin’ and a companion in the evening after having just killed a snake. They throw a few more rocks at the snake before it is picked up and flung. No clear images of the snake, dead or alive. Over at 12:22.
2) Mild fishing violence such as unhooking small fish and baiting hooks with shrimp, 13:28-14:48.
3) Mild rodeo action of calf roping and wrangling, 14:45-16:25.
@ BL
Trans-Europ-Express
Trans-Europ-Express. Alain Robb-Grillet, 1967.
😸
Edition screened: Included in Criterion BFI 3-Blu-ray set Alain Robbe-Grillet: Six Films 1963-1974, released 2014. French language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 105 minutes.
Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.
The Last Bolshevik
The Last Bolshevik (Le Tombeau d'Alexandre). Chris Marker, 1993.
😸
Edition screened: Icarus 2-DVD set, released 2008. English, French, and Russian languages with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 120 minutes.
Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.
Details: If you’re not paying attention, final scenes in The Last Bolshevik appear to show a dog being gassed and other systematic forms of animal torture. In fact, these are excerpts from a late Medvedkin film about ecology, and the images show animals being cleaned and detoxified after environmental mishaps.
Marker shows his genius in helping us understand an artist, a political era, and the historical recoloring of both. This exposé on the great Russian filmmaker Alexander Medvedkin is enjoyable and essential edification.
The Icarus DVD set also includes Medvedkin’s full-length feature Happiness, as well as several short films.
Happiness (Medvedkin)
Happiness (Schastye). Alexander Medvedkin, 1934.
😸
Edition screened: Included with Icarus DVD The Last Bolshevik, released 2008. Restored French intertitles with English subtitles. Music and sound effects track, no dialogue track. Runtime approximately 64 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals in this somewhat shocking Russian comedy about the failure of Collectivism.
Also included are four short films from Medvedkin’s “Film Train” project, as explained in Chris Marker’s The Last Bolshevik:
Watch Your Health (1929, 9 minutes)
Film Journal No. 4 (1932, 11 minutes)
How Are You, Comrade Miner? (Nikolai Karmanzinski, 1932, 10 minutes)
The Conveyor Belt (Boris Kim, 1932 11 minutes)
… and reconstructions of two lost films by Medvedkin:
Stop, Thief! (1930, 6 minutes)
The Story of Titus, or Tale of a Big Spoon (1932 animated storyboard, 16 minutes)
All six supplemental films are silent with Russian intertitles and English subtitles, and are free of animal violence.
@ BL
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