Movie #4

Movie: Les Vampires (Nine movie series/Silent film)

Director: Louis Feuillade

Year: 1915-1916

Found at: http://archive.org/details/lesVampires1915Episode1-theSeveredHead (This is the address to Episode 1 and you will find the rest of the videos here, too.  You can also check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Vampires and look down to the "external links.")

Because it has taken me 9 months (and the entire summer of movie-free nights) to get through Les Vampires I thought I would write about each episode rather than watch all 9 videos before commenting..

The first and most important note for this series would be to not use the word "Vampire" in the current context.  I have the more popular culture idea of what a vampire is (the Twilight series) but this is not the case for a series set in the 1920s. 

Episode 1 "The Severed Head": The story follows journalist Phillipe Guerande who is trying to report the murderous doings of the gang known as The Vampires.  It quickly begins by his secretary stealing key evidence from him.  (This character will reoccur during the entire series, playing both sides and confusing the viewer.)  After it's reported there was a decapitated body found in the river Phillipe goes to the area where the body was found.  He stays in a very strange house that he learns has very strange passageways.  In one of the higher passageways they find the severed head and try to find the vampire/person of interest who runs from the scene but gets away.

Episode 2: "The Ring That Kills": This is a 13-minute episode where you meet the dancer/actress Irma Vemp performing a play.  Then the Phillipe, the hero, follows the vampires to a holding cell.  They trick the vampires into killing one of their own...or so they thought.

Episode 3: "The Red Codebook" This took me a few attempts to make it through since it was a 40-minute episode.  There was the dramatic dance sequence where you see the Vampire dancing in the picture above.  Here you see the Vampires power emerging and see how many people they have affected.  I enjoyed the mother's perils as she's kidnapped by a hidden source.

Episode 4: "The Spectre": A man, the "Spectre", is supposedly transfer a large sum of money so the vampires follow him to a late night picture show, and as he's coming home on the train they kill him and throw him off.  Or so you think... On Monday morning he shows up at the bank to transfer the money with him.  But later in the day his wife shows up at the bank saying that she hasn't seen him for three days, nor has the business where the money should have been transferred too.  So, they call Phillipe Guerande who finds that the secretary at the bank is really Irme Vamp!  Phillipe finds the address to the supposed secretary and goes to investigate.  It ends up being the room adjacent to the room being rented at the beginning of the story that has a safe where the Vampires can break into from the other side of the wall.  Inside the safe they find the dead body of the Spectre.  When Phillipe sees this he tries to apprehend the vampires but they strike him harshly. Then the new tenant comes home and luckily Phillipe gets a hold of his gun before he is attacked.  The new tenant admits to finding the body but not killing the Spectre.  But when the police come and they investigate his room they find the disguise for the Spectre who took the 300,000 francs.

Episode 5: "Dead's Man Escape" Moreno (the thief) kills himself but magically comes back to life in prison.  The Vampires capture Phillipe Geurande and place him in a basket but it slides down steep stairs and passerbys rescue him.  Moreno then caputures Phillipe who gives up the name of the Head Vampire who Phillipe goes to rob.  While Moreno is robbing the Vampires Mazamette saves Phillipe from being held.  I thought this story was easy to follow and a bit less difficult to decipher.  But there wasn't as twisting a plot.

Movie #3

Movie: Birth of a Nation
Director: D.W. Griffith
Year: 1915
Found at: http://www.archive.org/details/dw_griffith_birth_of_a_nation

This film was definitely a challenge. I wanted to wait to see it in one long setting but a 3 hour, black&white, silent film was just not possible for me. I tried to do it half and half but I watched it late at night on my Christmas vacation and I was just too tired to get through the halves so it took me about 5 viewings. Luckily, the website has great strength and will let you pause it.

I have to admit that I did like the film. I love history so the fact that it took place during the Civil War and then through the Reconstruction Era was interesting to watch. The first half follows the Civil War and ends with the death of Abraham Lincoln. Then the second half is following two families in the South trying to rise above the "Negroe takeover" brought on by the carpetbaggers. Many of the African American characters were dressed in black face which added to the controversial ban of this movie in many different places.

I wish I could have been around in the 1900s so that I could have heard the talk behind the film. With the prevalence of the Klu Klux Klan in the film I can see where it did a lot of damage. It did paint the African American men as pretty hostile. But it's based on a book called The Clansmen, which I haven't read, so I don't know much about it.

The film, from a historical point of view, was actually quite well. I was really worried that it wouldn't hold my attention but it definitely did. Although, it was a very sad part of our history to have watched... Hoping the next film will have a bit more positive light to it.

Movie #2

Movie: The Great Train Robbery, 1903
Directed by: Edwin S Porter
Found at: http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/papr:@filreq(@field(NUMBER+@band(edmp+2443s3))+@field(COLLID+edison)) which is the Library of Congress's website as said on the Wikipedia website.

This is arguably the very first Western film. It's about 12 scenes of a train robbery and is a silent film. The book explains how it's very narrative which was new at the time.

The ending has one of the characters firing rounds at the camera. Pretty interesting and I'm sure very captivating for 1903.

*The book notes that one argument against The Great Train Robbery being the first Western film is a film in 1899 called Cripple Creek Bar-Room Scene which you can find at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh7Wkmn7vEk However revolutionary that film may have been I can see the argument that The Great Train Robbery is much more narrative whereas the Cripple Creek Scene is 46 seconds of a drunk man being escorted out of a bar scene. Any thoughts on the argument?

Movie #1

The first movie in the book is: Le Voyage Dans La Lune
Film directed by: Georges Melies, France
I found this movie on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eVtv1YyzOU&feature=related

The Youtube had narration and sound but I muted it as the film was originally a silent film. The book 1001 Movies talks about how this was the first science fiction movie and used a lot of technically advanced concepts with its editing. I thought the rocket hitting the moons face was entertaining.

The movie was also influential in that most movies at the end of the 19th century were only 2 minutes long and this one lasted about 14 minutes on the 14m film reels.

Overall, it was fun. It was short and entertaining. A great start to a very long journey!