.JPG)
Here is the link to this rare Finnish Poster of The Nude Vampire.
Showing posts with label The Nude Vampire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Nude Vampire. Show all posts
Monday, August 24, 2009
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
The Cinema of Jean Rollin: La Vampire Nue (1970)
Look up pretty much any review of Jean Rollin’s second feature, 1970’s La Vampire Nue (The Nude Vampire), and the one word that seems to always appear when describing it is ‘bizarre’. Indeed, ‘bizarre’ does seem to be the absolute perfect word for the film, a surreal and extremely odd science fiction vampire picture that sees Rollin reinforcing the confrontational direction his career had taken with Le Viol du Vampire the year before.
Ironically, La Vampire Nue started out as Rollin’s idea of a much more traditional film than Le Viol du Vampire. Rollin would recall to Peter Blumenstock in Video Watchdog 31 (and Virgins and Vampires) that with La Vampire Nue he “wanted to make a well done, traditional mystery film” and that he realizes “Looking back on it now, (that) it’s not a classical film at all.” Following that amusing understatement Rollin would later write in Virgins and Vampires that “La Vampire Nue was conceived as a mystery film” but that the “very strong ideas” were “not very well executed.”
Rollin is perhaps being too hard on himself with that last thought, as La Vampire Nue is actually quite a wonderful production. Admittedly not as powerful or as ultimately memorable as the two features that ended up following it, it’s still a resonate work marked with some of Rollin’s most iconic imagery and an assured style that was not totally there yet in Le Viol du Vampire. As Rollin would say in his Virgins and Vampires introduction to the film, “By the time my second film rolled around I was a little wiser.” And indeed that really shows.
La Vampire Nue, despite being completely off the wall, is actually very much a more traditional work that the two part Le Viol du Vampire. Unlike that freewheeling improvised first film, Rollin’s second outing started out life on paper, with a script the director penned with Serge Moati. While the final product veered fairly far from the original treatment, due to budgetary reasons and Rollin’s jazz like attitudes towards filmmaking, the idea of making a more straightforward narrative production comes through in La Vampire Nue.
Tombs and Cohill would give the plot of La Vampire Nue a go in their wonderful Immoral Tales. Their synopsis seemed an ideal thing to reprint partially here:
“The story of La Vampire Nue involves a bizarre suicide cult, a mysterious man known only as The Master, weird experiments with phials of colored blood, and a dimensional gap into another world.”
Even better was their attempt at identifying the strange brilliance of the film’s final moments, which are among the most memorable in all of Rollin’s filmography:
“It remains remarkably true to its original conception as a film around the idea of mystery…even the ending when an explanation is given for all the mysterious events, is successfully undercut. The film suddenly takes off into Science Fiction territory and, as Rollin said later, leaves the way open for a second part to begin just as the first one ends.”
It is indeed the weird Science Fiction line that runs through La Vampire Nue that separates it from most of his other upcoming Vampire epics. Although it’s not totally separate as its obvious fascination with the blooming hippie communal culture, and its trappings, absolutely do connect it with Rollin’s next film, 1971’ astonishing Les Frissons des Vampires.
The film also continues the trend set with Le Viol du Vampire of Rollin wearing his influences clearly on his sleeve, with Franju’s Judex being the work that is alluded to over and over again. Daniel Bird would write on the similarities between the two auteur's in his Fascination: Jean Rollin Cinematic Bird by noting that “Franju, like Rollin, was deeply influenced by the style of the past, especially the serials of Feuillade which he lovingly parodied in his Judex. Rollin has acknowledged Judex as the source for the animal mask cult in La Vampire Nue.” Rollin himself would speak further on the influence of Franju to Blumenstock when he recalled “Of course Judex inspired me a lot, and also the concept of surrealism in general.”
The main thing that sets La Vampire Nue apart from Le Viol du Vampire is its astonishing color palate. Rollin is one of the supreme masters at the use of color and La Vampire Nue’s place as his first color feature automatically makes it one of his most important. Tohill and Tombs correctly note that the film’s look derives from “pulp comics and old paperback covers” though surprisingly Rollin had this to say about the look of his color features to Blumenstock, “I often hear that my use of color bears a certain signature. I never thought of that while I was making these films.” Regardless, Rollin’s use of color is instantly recognizable and La Vampire Nue’s memorable look would be soon perfected in the films to come.
Working with Rollin for the first time on La Vampire Nue is talented cinematographer Jean-Jacques Renon and the fruitful collaboration (which I will write more on in the future) was apparently not always a harmonious one. Rollin, recalling the film’s bold look, mentioned to Blumenstock that “I am responsible for the way my films are lighted, but I also had big problems with my director of photography, Jean-Jacques Renon, because he had a vision of his own which he wanted to realize.” Still, problems aside La Vampire Nue is a gorgeous production (unfortunately marred by Redemptions sub-par Region 1 DVD) and Renon’s place behind the camera was a noteworthy one.
In front of the camera are several familiar faces to Jean Rollin lovers including the legendary Castel Twins making their very memorable debut, Olivier Rollin and Ursule Pauly. Most memorable though is lovely Caroline Cartier, who proves to be one of the most striking of the many female heroines Rollin has had over the years.
La Vampire Nue finally feels a little fragmented though and it stands as one of Rollin’s middle tier works. Tim Lucas points out in his Video Watchdog review of the film that while the picture is “a key work in his filmography” and that “The first half works exceedingly well, frequently evoking the sense of exposure and danger felt in dreams…” but “The second half , which is more narrative driven than fluid, is somewhat less successful”. It’s an accurate statement as certainly the film’s haunting early shots of Cartier running from Judex like masked men is certainly more resonate and successful than some of the film’s later moments, such as strange extended sequence between Olivier Rollin and a nude model that feels more like a concession to the film’s producer for more skin rather than a necessary piece of the film’s striking and mostly masterful dreamlike presentation.
The film does finds a perfect balance in its final moments between something completely nonsensical and something downright profound. Lucas notes the influence of the events leading up to the film with this thought provoking reaction, “The greatest oddity of this production is that its most dreamlike passages were written consciously, while its historical parallels-it was filmed in the aftermath of the Paris student riots in 1968, thus explaining the outraged tone of generational conflict-were unintentional, hence subconscious!”
La Vampire Nue, despite some problems, is a striking production and as Tohill and Tombs point out “a great leap forward” for Rollin and his most unique brand of cinema. From the unbelievably cool S&M inspired splendor of Jio Berk’s costume work, to the eye popping color design, to Yvon Geraud’s lovely minimalistic score, La Vampire Nue is the near masterpiece Rollin would deliver just a year later. It is also a film that features a couple of the most mesmerizing (and almost excruciatingly long) single takes Rollin ever mounted, and in these moments La Vampire Nue seems even more confrontational to the ideas of a traditional cinema than Le Viol du Vampire.
The film was greeted in much the same way most of Rollin’s most poetic and haunting works have been. He recalled in Virgins and Vampires that, “The screenings were punctuated by laughter and sarcastic remarks” and that he was particularly hurt by the reception that greeted the ending of the film due to the fact that “This (vampire appearing from box on beech) is one of the most unusual images of my cinema, and despite the whistling and heckling it remains dazzling for me.”
The film’s poor reception must have been particularly hard for Rollin who had risked financial ruin finishing the film and, on top of that, had been involved in a hit and run accident shortly after shooting wrapped. His stories of struggling to edit the film alone while injured in the Virgins and Vampires book are simultaneously funny and poignant, and show just how much he was willing to give for his films.
La Vampire Nue is available in several different home video versions; unfortunately none of them are a full-blown special editions. VSOM put a terribly blurry ‘authorized’ VHS release in the mid nineties that is worth seeking out for collectors due to Rollin’s video introduction (sadly one of the only ones I don’t have in my collection).
The British DVD reportedly has an interview with Rollin, but I have not seen this version so I can’t comment on it. The Region 1 DVD is passable but suffers from a less than stellar visual presentation and even worse only features the English dub of the film. Hopefully someday, if Encore decides to do more Special editions in the future, La Vampire Nue will be given the proper attention it deserves.
Ironically, La Vampire Nue started out as Rollin’s idea of a much more traditional film than Le Viol du Vampire. Rollin would recall to Peter Blumenstock in Video Watchdog 31 (and Virgins and Vampires) that with La Vampire Nue he “wanted to make a well done, traditional mystery film” and that he realizes “Looking back on it now, (that) it’s not a classical film at all.” Following that amusing understatement Rollin would later write in Virgins and Vampires that “La Vampire Nue was conceived as a mystery film” but that the “very strong ideas” were “not very well executed.”
Rollin is perhaps being too hard on himself with that last thought, as La Vampire Nue is actually quite a wonderful production. Admittedly not as powerful or as ultimately memorable as the two features that ended up following it, it’s still a resonate work marked with some of Rollin’s most iconic imagery and an assured style that was not totally there yet in Le Viol du Vampire. As Rollin would say in his Virgins and Vampires introduction to the film, “By the time my second film rolled around I was a little wiser.” And indeed that really shows.
La Vampire Nue, despite being completely off the wall, is actually very much a more traditional work that the two part Le Viol du Vampire. Unlike that freewheeling improvised first film, Rollin’s second outing started out life on paper, with a script the director penned with Serge Moati. While the final product veered fairly far from the original treatment, due to budgetary reasons and Rollin’s jazz like attitudes towards filmmaking, the idea of making a more straightforward narrative production comes through in La Vampire Nue.
Tombs and Cohill would give the plot of La Vampire Nue a go in their wonderful Immoral Tales. Their synopsis seemed an ideal thing to reprint partially here:
“The story of La Vampire Nue involves a bizarre suicide cult, a mysterious man known only as The Master, weird experiments with phials of colored blood, and a dimensional gap into another world.”
Even better was their attempt at identifying the strange brilliance of the film’s final moments, which are among the most memorable in all of Rollin’s filmography:
“It remains remarkably true to its original conception as a film around the idea of mystery…even the ending when an explanation is given for all the mysterious events, is successfully undercut. The film suddenly takes off into Science Fiction territory and, as Rollin said later, leaves the way open for a second part to begin just as the first one ends.”
It is indeed the weird Science Fiction line that runs through La Vampire Nue that separates it from most of his other upcoming Vampire epics. Although it’s not totally separate as its obvious fascination with the blooming hippie communal culture, and its trappings, absolutely do connect it with Rollin’s next film, 1971’ astonishing Les Frissons des Vampires.
The film also continues the trend set with Le Viol du Vampire of Rollin wearing his influences clearly on his sleeve, with Franju’s Judex being the work that is alluded to over and over again. Daniel Bird would write on the similarities between the two auteur's in his Fascination: Jean Rollin Cinematic Bird by noting that “Franju, like Rollin, was deeply influenced by the style of the past, especially the serials of Feuillade which he lovingly parodied in his Judex. Rollin has acknowledged Judex as the source for the animal mask cult in La Vampire Nue.” Rollin himself would speak further on the influence of Franju to Blumenstock when he recalled “Of course Judex inspired me a lot, and also the concept of surrealism in general.”
The main thing that sets La Vampire Nue apart from Le Viol du Vampire is its astonishing color palate. Rollin is one of the supreme masters at the use of color and La Vampire Nue’s place as his first color feature automatically makes it one of his most important. Tohill and Tombs correctly note that the film’s look derives from “pulp comics and old paperback covers” though surprisingly Rollin had this to say about the look of his color features to Blumenstock, “I often hear that my use of color bears a certain signature. I never thought of that while I was making these films.” Regardless, Rollin’s use of color is instantly recognizable and La Vampire Nue’s memorable look would be soon perfected in the films to come.
Working with Rollin for the first time on La Vampire Nue is talented cinematographer Jean-Jacques Renon and the fruitful collaboration (which I will write more on in the future) was apparently not always a harmonious one. Rollin, recalling the film’s bold look, mentioned to Blumenstock that “I am responsible for the way my films are lighted, but I also had big problems with my director of photography, Jean-Jacques Renon, because he had a vision of his own which he wanted to realize.” Still, problems aside La Vampire Nue is a gorgeous production (unfortunately marred by Redemptions sub-par Region 1 DVD) and Renon’s place behind the camera was a noteworthy one.
In front of the camera are several familiar faces to Jean Rollin lovers including the legendary Castel Twins making their very memorable debut, Olivier Rollin and Ursule Pauly. Most memorable though is lovely Caroline Cartier, who proves to be one of the most striking of the many female heroines Rollin has had over the years.
La Vampire Nue finally feels a little fragmented though and it stands as one of Rollin’s middle tier works. Tim Lucas points out in his Video Watchdog review of the film that while the picture is “a key work in his filmography” and that “The first half works exceedingly well, frequently evoking the sense of exposure and danger felt in dreams…” but “The second half , which is more narrative driven than fluid, is somewhat less successful”. It’s an accurate statement as certainly the film’s haunting early shots of Cartier running from Judex like masked men is certainly more resonate and successful than some of the film’s later moments, such as strange extended sequence between Olivier Rollin and a nude model that feels more like a concession to the film’s producer for more skin rather than a necessary piece of the film’s striking and mostly masterful dreamlike presentation.
The film does finds a perfect balance in its final moments between something completely nonsensical and something downright profound. Lucas notes the influence of the events leading up to the film with this thought provoking reaction, “The greatest oddity of this production is that its most dreamlike passages were written consciously, while its historical parallels-it was filmed in the aftermath of the Paris student riots in 1968, thus explaining the outraged tone of generational conflict-were unintentional, hence subconscious!”
La Vampire Nue, despite some problems, is a striking production and as Tohill and Tombs point out “a great leap forward” for Rollin and his most unique brand of cinema. From the unbelievably cool S&M inspired splendor of Jio Berk’s costume work, to the eye popping color design, to Yvon Geraud’s lovely minimalistic score, La Vampire Nue is the near masterpiece Rollin would deliver just a year later. It is also a film that features a couple of the most mesmerizing (and almost excruciatingly long) single takes Rollin ever mounted, and in these moments La Vampire Nue seems even more confrontational to the ideas of a traditional cinema than Le Viol du Vampire.
The film was greeted in much the same way most of Rollin’s most poetic and haunting works have been. He recalled in Virgins and Vampires that, “The screenings were punctuated by laughter and sarcastic remarks” and that he was particularly hurt by the reception that greeted the ending of the film due to the fact that “This (vampire appearing from box on beech) is one of the most unusual images of my cinema, and despite the whistling and heckling it remains dazzling for me.”
The film’s poor reception must have been particularly hard for Rollin who had risked financial ruin finishing the film and, on top of that, had been involved in a hit and run accident shortly after shooting wrapped. His stories of struggling to edit the film alone while injured in the Virgins and Vampires book are simultaneously funny and poignant, and show just how much he was willing to give for his films.
La Vampire Nue is available in several different home video versions; unfortunately none of them are a full-blown special editions. VSOM put a terribly blurry ‘authorized’ VHS release in the mid nineties that is worth seeking out for collectors due to Rollin’s video introduction (sadly one of the only ones I don’t have in my collection).
The British DVD reportedly has an interview with Rollin, but I have not seen this version so I can’t comment on it. The Region 1 DVD is passable but suffers from a less than stellar visual presentation and even worse only features the English dub of the film. Hopefully someday, if Encore decides to do more Special editions in the future, La Vampire Nue will be given the proper attention it deserves.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Jean Rollin: The Collaborators (Michele Delehaye)
What a truly remarkable career French character actor Michele Delehaye has had. In a career spanning more than forty years with almost a hundred films on his resume (including many with some of France’s greatest directors) the ‘Grandmaster’ in Jean Rollin’s La Vampire Nue has certainly carved out a very special place for himself in modern French cinema.
Born in France in 1929 to a very strict and religious father, the early life of Delehaye was certainly an adventurous one, and it included stints at a Jesuit school, a spot in the military, postal and factory work as well as a minor brush with the law. By the mid-fifties Delehaye got his first major career break when he landed a job as a writer for Detective magazine. Soon after he made the acquaintance of one Eric Rohmer and his life changed forever.
The legendary Rohmer introduced Delehaye to the members of the French New Wave and soon he was working as a critic at the influential Cahiers du Cinema. He would write for the prestigious film journal for more than a decade before losing his position in 1969 due to political issues.
Delehaye’s first film role came in Jean-Luc Godard’s section of the 1964 anthology film Ro.Go.Pa.G and it would set in motion a career that would turn out to be incredibly prolific and noteworthy.
Appearing in front of the camera for nearly every major French New Wave director (including several for Godard and Rivette early on) Delehaye proved himself a capable and memorable actor although typically he would find himself in mostly smaller supporting roles.
The Nude Vampire marked the first time Delehaye worked with Jean Rollin, and it serves as a reminder that Rollin’s early cinema does indeed take place just a handful of years after the most potent explosion of the New Wave, even if stylistically it is deliberately far removed from it. Delehaye’s work for Rollin would prove most resonate and he would be cast in Jean’s next film as well, 1971’s Le Frisson des Vampires…that same year he would appear in both Borowczyk’s Blanche and Rivette’s Out 1 for good measure!
Delehaye, now nearing eighty years old, has never stopped working and, along with being a top-supporting player, he has also worked as a scriptwriter, helped out behind the camera and even received a special thanks from Godard himself in Histoire du Cinema. While not a major player in Jean Rollin’s filmography, a tribute to one of cinema’s great sidemen seemed in order.
Born in France in 1929 to a very strict and religious father, the early life of Delehaye was certainly an adventurous one, and it included stints at a Jesuit school, a spot in the military, postal and factory work as well as a minor brush with the law. By the mid-fifties Delehaye got his first major career break when he landed a job as a writer for Detective magazine. Soon after he made the acquaintance of one Eric Rohmer and his life changed forever.
The legendary Rohmer introduced Delehaye to the members of the French New Wave and soon he was working as a critic at the influential Cahiers du Cinema. He would write for the prestigious film journal for more than a decade before losing his position in 1969 due to political issues.
Delehaye’s first film role came in Jean-Luc Godard’s section of the 1964 anthology film Ro.Go.Pa.G and it would set in motion a career that would turn out to be incredibly prolific and noteworthy.
Appearing in front of the camera for nearly every major French New Wave director (including several for Godard and Rivette early on) Delehaye proved himself a capable and memorable actor although typically he would find himself in mostly smaller supporting roles.
The Nude Vampire marked the first time Delehaye worked with Jean Rollin, and it serves as a reminder that Rollin’s early cinema does indeed take place just a handful of years after the most potent explosion of the New Wave, even if stylistically it is deliberately far removed from it. Delehaye’s work for Rollin would prove most resonate and he would be cast in Jean’s next film as well, 1971’s Le Frisson des Vampires…that same year he would appear in both Borowczyk’s Blanche and Rivette’s Out 1 for good measure!
Delehaye, now nearing eighty years old, has never stopped working and, along with being a top-supporting player, he has also worked as a scriptwriter, helped out behind the camera and even received a special thanks from Godard himself in Histoire du Cinema. While not a major player in Jean Rollin’s filmography, a tribute to one of cinema’s great sidemen seemed in order.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Jean Rollin: The Collaborators (A Slight Introduction to The Castel Twins)
I am going to be writing quite a lot here in the future on the remarkable and unforgettable Castel Twins, surely two of the most resonate forces in all of Jean Rollin's cinema. As a slight introduction, here are a couple of choice quotes by Rollin on the mighty duo and their debut in La Vampire Nue (The Nude Vampire).
“They are the only twins to be found in French cinema…they were originally hairdressers. One of my assistants came to me one day and told me that he’d found a pair of twins who might interest me, so I met with them. They wanted to be actresses, a dream they had for quite some time. They had a certain naïve quality that I felt would be ideal for my type of cinema.”
-Jean Rollin to Peter Blumenstock in Video Watchdog 31 and Virgins and Vampires-
“(Great) above all (were) the two Castel twins, serious as popes, two little hairdresser thrilled to be realizing their Hollywood dream, coming of age just before the shoot.”
“I wanted them (Castel Twins) by my side everyday, until the production director Jean Lavie let me know that I was ‘vampiring’ them, sapping them of their energy and wasting them away.”
“One of the twins knocked herself out while falling down a flight of stairs…she was very proud of it and is still talking about it to this day.”
-Jean Rollin introducing Le Vampire Nue in Virgins and Vampires-
I will be delivering long individual posts on both Catherine and Marie-Pierre here in the near future.
“They are the only twins to be found in French cinema…they were originally hairdressers. One of my assistants came to me one day and told me that he’d found a pair of twins who might interest me, so I met with them. They wanted to be actresses, a dream they had for quite some time. They had a certain naïve quality that I felt would be ideal for my type of cinema.”
-Jean Rollin to Peter Blumenstock in Video Watchdog 31 and Virgins and Vampires-
“(Great) above all (were) the two Castel twins, serious as popes, two little hairdresser thrilled to be realizing their Hollywood dream, coming of age just before the shoot.”
“I wanted them (Castel Twins) by my side everyday, until the production director Jean Lavie let me know that I was ‘vampiring’ them, sapping them of their energy and wasting them away.”
“One of the twins knocked herself out while falling down a flight of stairs…she was very proud of it and is still talking about it to this day.”
-Jean Rollin introducing Le Vampire Nue in Virgins and Vampires-
I will be delivering long individual posts on both Catherine and Marie-Pierre here in the near future.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Jean Rollin Lobby Cards: La Vampire Nue (The Nude Vampire)
Here is a poor quality scan of a rare card I found on eBay awhile back for The Nude Vampire.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Jean Rollin Wallpapers: La Vampire Nue (Set Two)
My apologies that these wallpapers for La Vampire Nue aren't coming out as good as the Le Viol du Vampire ones did. Redemption's Region 1 disc of The Nude Vampire is really lacking visually, and the less than great print quality is showing up on these. Still, I think they are more than worth doing, so I hope they prove at least mildly enjoyable.
Thankfully our next couple of upcoming films are available in those sparkling Encore Editions, so those wallpapers promise to be much more visually enticing.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Jean Rollin: The Collaborators (Caroline Cartier)
Coming near the beginning of a long line of actresses playing some of the most beautiful and erotic vampires in screen history, French born Caroline Cartier makes quite a big impression as the title character in Jean Rollin’s first color feature, 1970’s La Vampire Nue (The Nude Vampire).
Unfortunately, unlike many of Rollin's other major productions, La Vampire Nue has still yet to be granted a major special Edition DVD release (although the British release which I have yet to see is said to contain an interview with Rollin). This, and the fact that I can’t find much of Rollin speaking directly on her, makes Cartier’s sole appearance in a Rollin feature a bit hard to write on in regards to it.
Born just after World War Two in Avignon, the lovely Cartier did some modeling in the sixties before making her big screen debut in La Vampire Nue. Very striking looking, with a real modern feel about her, Cartier is fairly unforgettable in Rollin’s film, even though it isn’t exactly a role that calls for her to stretch much as an actress. She is mostly called on to look simultaneously ravishing and mysterious, and she handles both duties quite well. Rollin would later recall in Virgins and Vampires that she was "extraordinarily charming" and that comes through as well in the film.
Rollin’s film would lead Cartier to quite a nice career in the seventies, including work in a number of major French films and television productions. She is probably best known for her work in Guy Gilles 1974 feature Le Jardin qui Bascule (The Garden that Tilts) opposite Delphine Seyrig, but it would be a meeting with actress Jeanne Moreau while shooting Andre Techine’s Souvenirs d’en France (French Provincial) in 1975 that would lead to her greatest role (outside of Rollin’s work) in Moreau’s own Lumiere in 1976.
The Cesar nominated Lumiere marks Moreau’s writing and directorial debut and it is telling that she gave one of the film’s largest roles to Cartier. The film, which continues to split the critical establishment, shows Cartier to be a far more gifted performer than perhaps previously imagined and it’s a shame it didn’t lead to more work for the young actress.
Caroline Cartier would continue making films and television productions for the next ten years, but she never equaled her work in Lumiere. Her final film came in 1987 with Alain Tanner’s La Vallee Fantome, in which she got to work opposite legendary Jean-Louis Trintignant. Cartier would tragically pass away far too young in August of 1991, leaving behind a number of films that marked her as a talented and versatile actress.
Hopefully La Vampire Nue will eventually get the Encore Special Edition it deserves with a Rollin commentary where he can go into detail on his memories of this beguiling young actress...until then she remains as mysterious as the iconic character she plays.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)