The First Brick of a Complex Wall
I saw VAMPYROS LESBOS with new, clean eyes. Some years ago, I had tracked an old VHS of the movie, a worn out copy with washed out colors and a full screen frame. That was my first introduction. Shaking hands with the devil.
About a year later, the movie aired on Showcase, and not too long after that Synapse put out their DVD, and of course I bought it. I realised that the print was the same, with a german sound track, and a french title sequence... I don't think I watched it, but it went around, and whenever someone curious about Franco would start asking suspicious questions, I'd hand him the DVD, urging him to watch it. I could have given out any DVD, but I was sure that this one in particular wouldn't leave anybody indifferent.
It was time, then, I guess, at the beginning of 2006, to see the movie again. We do know for a fact that the "Franco rediscovery fever" spread like an epidemy after Crippled Dick Hot Wax released the soundtrack for VAMPYROS LESBOS, around 1995.
The phenomenon has since then always been constant, and a Franco title - whatever it is - is almost a sure shot for any DVD company. Many proofs can be found floating around - why are some important titles neglected and some rather weak entries already available ? It is probably a question of prints - what's resurfacing, which ones are easy to find, who's willing to sell... - and rights. We do know that some Robert de Nesle productions might never be released, and that's a shame.
[We also suspect Eurociné of pulling a fast one on Shriek Show. A couple of years ago, Shriek Show announced on their website that, coming back from the Cannes films market, they had a shitload of new titles under their belt, among which LES CAUCHEMARS NAISSENT LA NUIT and SEX CHARADE, two Franco titles that we previously thought were lost forever. LES CAUCHEMARS... had a brief run in North America when it was launched in 1970, and even screened in Montreal. But SEX CHARADE was only briefly distributed in Europe, as far as I know. Shriek Show released LES CAUCHEMARS... on DVD but we kept waiting for SEX CHARADE to pop up. And when Daniel Lesoeur phoned me, desperately looking for a SEX CHARADE print, I understood that he probably had sold the rights and the movie without actually possessing the reel. Those of you who are familiar with the Lesoeur's "ways" will no doubt smile, as they haven't changed a bit over the years.]
So it was this title, VAMPYROS LESBOS, that "started it all".
Franco's take on the Dracula myth - not his first, nor his last - with a lesbian twist is somewhat of a landmark in his enormous filmography. Shot alongside SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY and THE DEVIL CAME FROM AKASAWA, who share the same cast & soundtrack, for German producer Artur Brauner, in 1971, the movie takes huge liberties with Bram Stoker's creation but keeps the essential. The form is twisted, but not so much as we don't recognise some elements. Some kind of familiarity is then present, but through Franco's lens we slowly start losing ground, and falling...
The fall is neither brutal or sudden. It is slow and steady, smooth & seductive, as if slowed down by clouds. Images are guiding us through a land where we can only trust our instinct, and not our eyes. The camera is always watching from the most unlikely spot, creating a narrative language that is certainly not taught in the books. We all know the effect an unusual camera angle or viewpoint can have, but have you ever stomached a whole movie or this divine weirdness ? You finally can.
Opening with a cabaret number - what else ? - that we'll get to fully understand later in the film, things are looking banal, yet they are everything but. The number's not "arousing" or entertaining, and yet, it captivates. This hypnotizing number excites Ewa Stromberg very much, and when the night comes, nightmares come as well; she has a highly colored dream, where some elements of her subsequent hell will be revealed. Still, the attraction is stronger than the numerous visual & vocal warnings; when she is sent by her firm to Countess Carody's island, she eagerly throws herself in the dark seductress' arms.
And what a seductress she is ! Soledad Miranda, immortal vampire, immortal movie star. Soledad, the master piece of this trilogy, who would shortly afterwards meet her end in a tragic car accident.
Franco himself appears as twisted ladykiller Hemmet - a ladykiller he is, but only in the most cruel sense there is. He likes his victims to scream for mercy as he slashes them, a position some may link to his film making career, suggesting that his movies are so bad we can't help but to keep watching. But this is not a position I support.
So Vampyros Lesbos is a refreshing and ecstatic experience, a much talked about affair, but I can assure you that this is not the last word you'll read about it.
About a year later, the movie aired on Showcase, and not too long after that Synapse put out their DVD, and of course I bought it. I realised that the print was the same, with a german sound track, and a french title sequence... I don't think I watched it, but it went around, and whenever someone curious about Franco would start asking suspicious questions, I'd hand him the DVD, urging him to watch it. I could have given out any DVD, but I was sure that this one in particular wouldn't leave anybody indifferent.
It was time, then, I guess, at the beginning of 2006, to see the movie again. We do know for a fact that the "Franco rediscovery fever" spread like an epidemy after Crippled Dick Hot Wax released the soundtrack for VAMPYROS LESBOS, around 1995.
The phenomenon has since then always been constant, and a Franco title - whatever it is - is almost a sure shot for any DVD company. Many proofs can be found floating around - why are some important titles neglected and some rather weak entries already available ? It is probably a question of prints - what's resurfacing, which ones are easy to find, who's willing to sell... - and rights. We do know that some Robert de Nesle productions might never be released, and that's a shame.
[We also suspect Eurociné of pulling a fast one on Shriek Show. A couple of years ago, Shriek Show announced on their website that, coming back from the Cannes films market, they had a shitload of new titles under their belt, among which LES CAUCHEMARS NAISSENT LA NUIT and SEX CHARADE, two Franco titles that we previously thought were lost forever. LES CAUCHEMARS... had a brief run in North America when it was launched in 1970, and even screened in Montreal. But SEX CHARADE was only briefly distributed in Europe, as far as I know. Shriek Show released LES CAUCHEMARS... on DVD but we kept waiting for SEX CHARADE to pop up. And when Daniel Lesoeur phoned me, desperately looking for a SEX CHARADE print, I understood that he probably had sold the rights and the movie without actually possessing the reel. Those of you who are familiar with the Lesoeur's "ways" will no doubt smile, as they haven't changed a bit over the years.]
So it was this title, VAMPYROS LESBOS, that "started it all".
Franco's take on the Dracula myth - not his first, nor his last - with a lesbian twist is somewhat of a landmark in his enormous filmography. Shot alongside SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY and THE DEVIL CAME FROM AKASAWA, who share the same cast & soundtrack, for German producer Artur Brauner, in 1971, the movie takes huge liberties with Bram Stoker's creation but keeps the essential. The form is twisted, but not so much as we don't recognise some elements. Some kind of familiarity is then present, but through Franco's lens we slowly start losing ground, and falling...
The fall is neither brutal or sudden. It is slow and steady, smooth & seductive, as if slowed down by clouds. Images are guiding us through a land where we can only trust our instinct, and not our eyes. The camera is always watching from the most unlikely spot, creating a narrative language that is certainly not taught in the books. We all know the effect an unusual camera angle or viewpoint can have, but have you ever stomached a whole movie or this divine weirdness ? You finally can.
Opening with a cabaret number - what else ? - that we'll get to fully understand later in the film, things are looking banal, yet they are everything but. The number's not "arousing" or entertaining, and yet, it captivates. This hypnotizing number excites Ewa Stromberg very much, and when the night comes, nightmares come as well; she has a highly colored dream, where some elements of her subsequent hell will be revealed. Still, the attraction is stronger than the numerous visual & vocal warnings; when she is sent by her firm to Countess Carody's island, she eagerly throws herself in the dark seductress' arms.
And what a seductress she is ! Soledad Miranda, immortal vampire, immortal movie star. Soledad, the master piece of this trilogy, who would shortly afterwards meet her end in a tragic car accident.
Franco himself appears as twisted ladykiller Hemmet - a ladykiller he is, but only in the most cruel sense there is. He likes his victims to scream for mercy as he slashes them, a position some may link to his film making career, suggesting that his movies are so bad we can't help but to keep watching. But this is not a position I support.
So Vampyros Lesbos is a refreshing and ecstatic experience, a much talked about affair, but I can assure you that this is not the last word you'll read about it.
posted by Clifford Brown at 3:44 PM
2 Comments:
Je ne sais pas quelle source tu as visionnée pour ta critique.
Il y a deux DVD (la première édition et....... euuuuhhh... la deuxième).
La deuxième édition - IMAGE - est une révélation. Les couleurs sont vives et éclatantes, c'est vraiment une grosse différence par rapport au premier DVD, un peu monochrome.
Le premier, bien entendu. Tu connais mon impatience légendaire. Dès qu'il est sorti, content de me débarasser de ma VHS captée à Showcase, j'en ai fait l'achat.
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