9 ½ Weeks. Adrian Lyne, 1986.
😿
Edition screened: MGM Blu-ray, released 2012. English language. Runtime approximately 117 minutes.
Summary: The spoils of fishing.
Details:
1) A live fish struggles while handled by a butcher. The scene cuts away before the fish is finished off, 5:08-5:20.
2) Alley cat with a rat in his mouth, 1:10:29.
3) An elderly man sits on a bench gently handling a dead fish he has caught, 1:25:22-1:26:39.
Unidentifiable pinball machine in silhouette, 20:42.
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (Shao Lin san shi liu fang). Liu Chia-Liang, 1978.
😿
Edition screened: Included in the Arrow Blu-ray box set Shawscope: Volume Two, released 2022. Mandarin language. Runtime approximately 116 minutes.
Summary: A particularly odd attempt to thwart warriors on horseback involves rigging modest amounts of rice flour to fall from the city gate as they pass below, 1:50:00. Hmmm. The horses are not injured but are visibly confused and weirded out, understandably.
54. Mark Christopher, 1998.
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Edition screened: Miramax DVD, released 1999. English language. Runtime approximately 93 minutes.
Summary: No animals or references to animals in the film.
Amazon Jail (Curral de Mulheres). Oswaldo de Oliveira, 1985.
😿
Edition screened: Included with Amazon Jail 2 in Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray set #442, released 2023. Portuguese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 99 minutes.
Summary: Campsite cooking.
Details:
1) Campsite with plucked birds hanging from clothes lines during dialogue, 1:00:32 - 1:00:53.
2) Large fish impaled on a spit over a campfire, 1:18:45 - 1:19:23.
3) A piglet carcass is rubbed with blocks of ice or salt in preparation for cooking, 1:25:00 - 1:25:06. This image is not clear.
4) The piglet is impaled on a spit over a fire during the entire dance sequence, 1:27:42 - 1:29:26. There are several gory closeups.
. . . and a note for someone else’s “Violence to Polymers in Film” blog: Amazon Jail also includes a depiction of a man smashing a geometric piece of plastic on his leg while pretending it is an insect.
Amazon Jail 2 (Prisioneiras da Selva Amazônica). Conrado Sanchez, 1987.
😿 😿
Edition screened: Included with Amazon Jail in Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray set #442, released 2023. Portuguese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 70 minutes.
Summary: Terrible handling of a snake.
Details:
1) We see a live pet tarantula on a man’s leg. The man then eats an obviously fake tarantula, 6:35-6:45.
2) A man grabs a very large snake that was minding his own business at 28:07 and handles him roughly, culminating in tying the reptile in a bulky knot at 28:26.
Aside from the mortifying snake abuse, the last half of the film is like a 1980s TV advertisement for a Family Fun Drive-Thru Safari. The four hostage girls handle snakes nicely, cuddle jungle kittens, and share the water with small wild pigs. At no point is a ‘jail’ of any sort seen on screen.
Blonde Ambition. Francis Locke, 2019.
😸
Edition screened: Full Moon DVD, released 2019. English language. Runtime approximately 101 minutes.
Summary: No animals or references to animals in the film. 3.5/5❤
The Boss of It All (Direktøren for det hele). Lars von Trier, 2006.
😸
Edition screened: IFC DVD, released 2007. Danish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 96 minutes.
Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.
Supplemental material on the IFC disc is very good, including a featurette about “Automavision”, the computer-assisted filming technique von Trier created as a new creative obstruction in his process, and a mockumentary about cast members which is much better than expected.
Disciples of the 36th Chamber (Pi li shi jie). Liu Chia-Liang, 1985.
😿
Edition screened: Included in the Arrow Blu-ray box set Shawscope: Volume Two, released 2022. Mandarin language. Runtime approximately 93 minutes.
Summary: A large beautiful fish is thrown about callously, 19:05-19:18.
Evil Dead Rise. Lee Cronin, 2023.
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Edition screened: Warner Blu-ray, released 2023. English language. Runtime approximately 96 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals. The only reason we see a fluffy cat prowling around in the ductwork is to give the undead sister the same idea.
Gentlemen Prefer Nature Girls. Doris Wishman, 1963.
😸
Edition screened: Included in AGFA Blu-ray set The Films of Doris Wishman: The Daylight Years. English language. Runtime approximately 71 minutes.
Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.
Hideout in the Sun. Doris Wishman and Larry Wolk, 1960.
😸
Edition screened: Included in AGFA Blu-ray set The Films of Doris Wishman: The Daylight Years. English language. Runtime approximately 70 minutes.
Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals, including our trip to the legendary Miami Serpentarium!
The Mummy. Karl Freund, 1932.
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Edition screened: Included in Universal Classic Monsters Blu-ray set, released 2012. English language. Runtime approximately 73 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence toward animals.
My Sinful Life/Las Vegas Girls. Carlos Tobalina (as Troy Benny), 1983.
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Edition screened: Vinegar Syndrome DVD #085 Peekarama: My Sinful Life/Las Vegas Girls, released 2015. English language. Cumulative runtime approximately 164 minutes.
Summary: No animals in either feature.
• My Sinful Life, 1983, approximately 83 minutes. 3/5❤
• Las Vegas Girls, 1983, approximately 81 minutes. 1.5/5❤
The Rabbit Hunters (A caça ao coelho com pau). Pedro Costa, 2007.
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Edition screened: Included in Criterion DVD box set #508 Letters from Fontainhas: Three Films by Pedro Costa, released 2010. Portuguese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 23 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals. There are two short dialogues about capturing animals. The first is a man simply stating that he had caught a rabbit and a bird that both were near death, and the second is a man describing ways to flush a rabbit from its burrow.
The Rabbit Hunters is Costa’s contribution to the omnibus film Memories (2007).
Return to the 36th Chamber (Shao Lin da peng da shi). Liu Chia-Liang, 1980.
😸
Edition screened: Included in the Arrow Blu-ray box set Shawscope: Volume Two, released 2022. Mandarin language. Runtime approximately 101 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
The disc includes the 15 minute documentary Hero on the Scaffolding, (2003 Celestial Pictures), illuminating a scene in Return to the 36th Chamber in which an elaborate bamboo scaffolding is built as part of kung fu training. The Celestial short address both the martial arts depicted and the continuance of bamboo scaffolding in present-day China.
I enjoyed Hero on the Scaffolding more than the feature film due to the relentless cheap comedy that permeates Return to the 36th Chamber.
The Sacred Spirit (EspÃritu sagrado). Chema GarcÃa Ibarra, 2021.
😸
Edition screened: Arrow Blu-ray, released 2022. Spanish language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 97 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
The Arrow release includes a second Blu-ray with six short films by Ibarra, all free of animal violence. The short films are generally charming and better than The Sacred Spirit in various ways. The themes and characters among all seven films complement each other and expand the scope of the feature title.
The Attack of Robots from Nebula-5 (2008, approximately 6 minutes)
Protoparticles (2013, approximately 7 minutes)
Misterio (2013, approximately 12 minutes)
Uranes (2014, approximately 59 minutes)
The Disco Shines (2016, approximately 12 minutes)
The Golden Legend (2019, approximately 11 minutes)
Studio 54. Matt Tyrnauer, 2018.
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Edition screened: Dogwoof Blu-ray, released 2018. English language. Runtime approximately 99 minutes.
Summary: No depictions of violence or harm to animals.
Tarrafal. Pedro Costa, 2007.
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Edition screened: Included in Criterion DVD box set #508 Letters from Fontainhas: Three Films by Pedro Costa, released 2010. Portuguese language with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 16 minutes.
Summary: No particular depictions of violence or harm to animals.
