In Italy Fatherโs Day is recognized on St.Josephโs saint day, which is today. And I have to say given Josephโs role in Jesusโs birth, thereโs a strange subtext to the day here Anyway, I spend much of both the Italian and American Fatherโs Day quoting from the first episode of the horror omnibus Creepshow (1982), which is appropriately called โFatherโs Day.โ Itโs a story of a wealthy, homicidal patriarch that is murdered by his daughter after having her lover killed in his ongoing campaign to control her love life. Itโs an awesome episode, and everything is narrated by the bored, dissolute heirs of this fortune while theyโre waiting for their great aunt Bediliah to arrive to celebrate Fatherโs Day, which happens to be 7 years after she murdered the pater familia.
The line repeated throughout the episode is by the tyrannical patriarch, who belligerently cries, โI want my cake!โ while banging the table with his cane. And thatโs what I find myself saying again and again on this hallowed day. I often preface this demand with some context, โItโs Fatherโs Day, and I want my cake!โ And once I get it I say, โItโs Fatherโs day, and I got my cake,โ the latter being a reference to the end of that episode, but no spoilers here. Anyway, Iโm not sure why Creepshow continues to be a huge touchstone for me on a regular basis 40+ years later, but it is. The other thing I find myself exclaiming histrionically when the occasion calls for it is โI can hold my breath for a long time!โ which is a quote from the third episode of Creepshow called โSomething to Tide You Over.โ You just have to see that one, which is my all-time favorite.
Also, while weโre on the subject of Creepshow, itโs worth noting the โFatherโs Dayโ episode also features a young Ed Harris doing an impressive series of disco dance moves:
I love Creepshow, and all these GIFs were actually taken from the bava archive during the heady days of the Summer of Oblivion. I went on a little Creepshow tear in June 2011, and the tale of the blog confirms that. Speaking of GIFs, Iโve been watching a bunch of Yasujiro Ozuโs films recently, and I got an idea for an interesting GIF project for my house. I ordered the Blu-ray and will be trying to make really high quality GIFs from Ozuโs An Autumn Afternoon (1962) because I think that film is one of the most beautiful Iโve ever seen, and like the first episode of Creepshow, it is all about fatherhood Iโll try and write about my Ozu GIF project once a figure a few things out, but until then 2011 is a little something to tide you over