"Vampyr"

[ellen_kushner]

This Friday night at 9:30, I'm introducing a film at the Rubin Museum of Art's pretty amazing Cabaret Cinema film series inspired by their current exhibit, Carl Jung's Red BookPerhaps this public forum is not the place to announce that I know absolutely nothing about Dreyer or German Expressionist Cinema - or even much about Carl Jung . . . I can

Comments

[la_marquise_de_]

German Expressionism conjures for me a very stark, sharp exhibition of German Expressionist painting that I saw in London years ago and which has haunted me. Pictures with no space for the subject to hide.

[csecooney]

What little about German Expressionism I know I learned from watching the _Cabinet of Doctor Caligari_ -- and wasn't THAT a trip! Best stage sets I've seen in a FILM!

If you haven't seen _Cabinet_ yet, I'd recommend it, or finding articles about it if Googling "German Expressionism" or "Vampyr" is unhelpful.

Now you've made me want to see _Vampyr_. Dang.

[csecooney]

But!

I just remembered someone VERY CLEVER whom I might ask! I will write if I hear anything!

[anonymous]

Allright, if you want fiction references there's "Flicker" by Theodore Roszak. It's sf, conspiracy theory, alternative history for film buffs, fascinating read. And it's mostly about German Expressionism. And you might mention "Pandora's Box" - the main character Lulu, played by Louise Brooks, has appeared in e.g. comics by Hugo Pratt & Milo Manara and some genre books - "Aristoi" by Walter Jon Williams comes to mind, and she has a cameo in Kim Newman's Anno Dracula.

And Dreyer's Passion de Jeanne d'Arc is one of my favorite films ever. Don't know if it counts as GERMAN, though... The ending of Alien3 resembles greatly the scene of Jeanne/Maria Falconetti in the pyre, holding the cross to her chest - as Ripley/ Sigourney Weaver holds the alien tat has burst through her chest, before they both die. Even their hairdos are same!

Hope this helps a little :-)

Johanna Vainikainen-Uusitalo

[anonymous]

Here's an insightful article on Dreyer - doesn't mention Vampyr but perhaps there's something you can use, like this:

"The fact that Dreyer was an adopted child may have informed his sympathy for the emotional pariah, in his films usually women. His works were prematurely feminist, or more accurately, feminine in their depiction and respectful treatment of female characters. His take on women was never fetishistic - and they figured largely in his work - as he seemed to be more interested in delving into their spirit and intuition than casting a male, eroticised look at them (as in Gertrud)."

http://www.kamera.co.uk/features/carl_dreyer.php

Johanna Vainikainen-Uusitalo

[ellen_denham]

If you have time to get to a library in the meantime, I suggest reading at least the first couple of chapters of Jung's autobiographical book, Memories, Dreams and Reflections.

It's been years since I read it, but I remember it as one of the most interesting autobiographies I've read, because he was so candid about thoughts that we all have but that most people would consider to be odd. This is relevant to the Red Book because, as I understand it, the Red Book is even more personal and autobiographical. My guess would be that to read a bit of "Memories..." is like getting a taste of the Red Book.