May 29: Passport to Pimlico (1949) dir. Henry Cornelius
Another movie which has a very geographical theme at its heart is the Ealing comedy: Passport to Pimlico.
At the heart of the film is the discovery of some old documents when the area is bombed during the Second World War. They show that the area of Pimlico actually belongs to the House of Burgundy, and is therefore independent of the rest of England. The residents see this as a way to escape the rationing and other rules they are forced to obey, but this backfires and they soon find themselves behind a barbed wire fence with a customs post to control their access or egress from their newly independent territory.
"We always were English and we always will be English, and it's just because we are English that we're sticking up for our right to be Burgundian!"The residents retaliate against what they see as heavy-handed bureaucratic action; they stop a London Underground train as it passes through Burgundy, and ask to see passports of all passengers: those without documents are prevented from proceeding.
The British government retaliates by breaking off negotiations and isolating Burgundy. The residents are invited to "emigrate" to England, but few leave. Power, water and deliveries of food are all cut off at the border by the British. Late one night, the Burgundians covertly connect a hose to a nearby British water main and fill a bomb crater, solving the water problem, but this floods the food store. Unable to overcome this new problem, the Burgundians prepare to give up. Sympathetic Londoners begin to throw food parcels across the barrier, and soon others join in; the Burgundians have an ample supply, and decide to stay. A helicopter pumps milk through a hose and pigs are parachuted into the area.
The British government retaliates by breaking off negotiations and isolating Burgundy. The residents are invited to "emigrate" to England, but few leave. Power, water and deliveries of food are all cut off at the border by the British. Late one night, the Burgundians covertly connect a hose to a nearby British water main and fill a bomb crater, solving the water problem, but this floods the food store. Unable to overcome this new problem, the Burgundians prepare to give up. Sympathetic Londoners begin to throw food parcels across the barrier, and soon others join in; the Burgundians have an ample supply, and decide to stay. A helicopter pumps milk through a hose and pigs are parachuted into the area.
Source: Wikipedia
A similar claim for independence was made by the residents of Frestonia.
Films I watched today:
Buffalo Bill and the Indians (1976) dir. Robert Altman
A curious revisionist Western with a star-studded cast, which is all a bit chaotic and shot with dark colour washes and quite annoying operatic musical interludes.
Hillary on Everest (2003) dir. Tom Scott
An excellent documentary on the life of Sir Edmund Hillary and his life both before and after his conquest of Everest along with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay.
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