Carl Dreyer's LA PASSION de JEANNE D'ARC

 

  

     I have never seen a film more beautiful, haunting, and moving than La Passion de Jeanne D'Arc (1928), directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer.  The fact that this film has survived is truly a miracle; an original, uncensored cut was found in a Norwegian hospital for the mentally ill in 1981 and fully restored for the Criterion Collection.  Dreyer was given a fairly large budget for the times, and a script about the life of Joan of Arc.  However, he wasn't pleased with the script and instead turned to the pages of Joan's trial.  Stylistically, Dreyer demonstrates his talent and ability to tell a story despite the use of establishing shots and widespread action.  The story is told simply through intertitles and the expressions on the faces of the actors, most of which are shot in close-up and/or medium shots.

In his incredible analysis of the film, my favorite film historian, David Bordwell writes that, "Of the film's over 1,500 cuts, fewer than 30 carry a figure or object over from one shot to another, and fewer than 15 constitute genuine matches on action".  

This is quite something, because as spectators we expect certain visual cues from films whether we are conscious of them or not.  For example, when we see a close-up (shot #1) of a face and an actor speaking, we assume that the shot that following it (shot #2) is of the person who the actor from shot #1 is speaking to.  However, almost all visual cues are missing from La Passion de Jeanne D'Arc.

In my opinion, the most striking aspect about this film is the lead actress, Maria Falconetti (born Renee Maria Falconetti, July 24th 1892).  Some film historians have stated that her performance in this film is the greatest performance known to cinema, even in modern times. Born in France, Maria made a name for herself on the theatrical stage starring in comedies, and her first film role was in Maurice de Feraudy's Le Clown.  Dreyer saw her perform in Paris and cast her in La Passion de Jeanne D'Arc in 1927.  There are rumors that Dreyer was rather hard on Maria during filming, forcing her into method-acting practices like forcing her to kneel painfully on stone and then wipe all expression from her face, so that the audience could feel her inner pain.

During World War II, she flew from France to Switzerland, and then continued on to Argentina where she lived until her death in December of 1946.

This film is deeply intimate and important, and if you haven't seen it, you need to do so as soon as possible.

xox
Lianne Spiderbaby

Appearance / Lecture Series: Female Empowerment in Genre Cinema, 1940's - 2000's

   On SATURDAY OCTOBER 1st from 7pm-9pm, I will be speaking/lecturing and showing clips at Ed Video in Guelph, Ontario on the subject of Female Empowerment in Genre Cinema, 1940's - 2000's. Want to hear me talk for TWO HOURS about "Female Empowerment in Genre Cinema" ?! Of course you do! 

Details:

The idea of female empowerment in film evokes different images, actresses, and filmmakers.  Since the beginning of cinema, women have been represented in many different ways; from the vamps of the early 1920s to the evil manipulators in film noir of the 1940s, the sweet and loving blonde bombshells of the 1960s to the workforce feminists in the 1970s.  Today, female empowerment in the cinema seems to be at an all time high with films such as KILL BILL and SUCKERPUNCH, but how did we get here and where do we go from here?

Through leading example, writer and journalist Lianne Spiderbaby will guide the audience on a trip through the history of cinema focusing on a roster of powerful female actresses such as Marlene Dietrich, Rita Hayworth, Pam Grier, Uma Thurman and others.  The lecture will more specifically focus on women’s role in exploitation and grindhouse cinema; these films were one of the most powerful instruments in outlining, exploring and giving women an outlet to confront serious subject matters like women in prison, and pushed the envelope of social discussion.  They were defined as fringe productions, made at the lowest depths or entirely outside of the Hollywood system, but the female influence in these films have ultimately shaped Hollywood and a majority of the movies you see in theatres today.

With exclusive video content and these women’s stories passed to Lianne Spiderbaby personally, this lecture will certainly leave attendees with a different way of looking at the cinema, the female embodiment of power and how these films changed the silver screen forever.

Details on how to sign up for my workshop:


Visit:
http://www.edvideo.org/events/workshops/female-empowerment-in-the-cinema


AND email or phone: (519) 836-9811 / philip@edvideo.org  to reserve and save your spot.  Pay at the door or by credit card on phone.

Registering for a workshop at Ed Video is easy. We accept informal registration by phone, email or in-person.  Formal registration is completed when payment for the workshop is received. Please note that there is a limit to the number of participants for each workshop, and registration is on a first-come, first-serve basis with preference given to those who have completed formal registration.
Payment can be made in-person at Ed Video (40 Baker street in Guelph) Monday to Friday between 10am and 5pm. We accept cash, debit, cheque, Mastercard, and Visa.
You can also arrange to pay by phone with a Visa. This option is available during office hours at (519) 836-9811.  To register for workshops please call or email philip@edvideo.org

xox
Lianne Spiderbaby

“CHILLERAMA” (Film Review)

There is nothing this Fango scribe enjoys more than a theater full of horror and exploitation fans, and a screening of a new flick full of blood, gore, sex and vulgar humor. Packed with nostalgic references to older exploitation films, CHILLERAMA (which had its Comic Con premiere this weekend), the new anthology omnibus directed by Adam Green, Adam Rifkin, Tim Sullivan and Joe Lynch, is an all-in-one hilarious, disgusting, self-aware film that never takes itself too seriously. It's the perfect Friday date night flick.
The four directors got together two years ago to come up with a project they could work both separately and together on, and create a film that’s both an homage to the movies they loved and watched at drive-in theaters and hard tops as kids...as well as something that the Hollywood machine would never let them get away with.

CHILLERAMA takes place at the Kaufman Drive-In (Har Har), which is going out of business after one last evening of cinematic mayhem. Several teenaged stereotypes pull up in their Chevy's to join in the fun... and that's when the real festivities begin. The first film that the teens (and in turn, us viewers) watch is  WADZILLA, a tender tale about a poor man with some sperm count issues who against his better judgment, takes untested medication prescribed by his sleazy doctor. The medication causes his sperm to grow and grow and take over this city, like a viral gooey Godzilla. This film-within-a-film will remind you of classic 50's monster-on-the-loose epics like ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN, and the acting, music and cinematography are drenched with homage to genre flicks from the past.

The next short, shocker directed by Tim Sullivan, is I WAS A TEENAGED WEREBEAR, detailing the plight of a Frankie Avalon-ish character who is exploring his homosexual desires with the dangerous bad boy from school, a hardbody who also happens to be a dreaded "werebear". A musical take on the old teen beach party comedies of the early ‘60s, Sullivan's riff offers a fresh and often hilarious perspective on the werewolf genre. However, out of all of the segments in CHILLERAMA, I WAS A TEENAGED WEREBEAR takes itself a bit too seriously at times, and ends up being the least enjoyable of the collection.

The audience favorite was Adam (HATCHET) Green’s DIARY OF ANNE FRANKENSTEIN. Green admitted to the crowd that he was given the title for the short first, and then had to develop the story around the moniker (in true Roger Corman / AIP style), despite the fact that he was slightly uncomfortable with it. Green is Jewish and was careful about how he broke the , um, irreverent title to his mother. No worries, though—Green’s DIARY OF ANNE FRANKENSTEIN is charming and the ultimate crowd-pleaser. The central lead, HATCHET’s Joel David Moore, is absolutely hilarious as Hitler, speaking his own version of gibberish-German (“Osh Kosh Bygosh-instein”) while creating his own version of Frankenstein's Monster, who ends up unleashing mayhem and turning his back on his creator.

Without a doubt, CHILLERAMA positively gross. There are plenty of dick and poop jokes (and matching visuals) not to mention a demented blue-colored blood zombie sex orgy set to Fats Domino's song “My Blue Heaven.” Where elese are you going to see THAT? Fans of the transgressive tint of early John Waters pictures should be drooling though the entire film as, like PINK FLAMINGOS et al, it echoes the brash go-for-broke feeling of those innocent B gems of the past (with tons of sex and violence), which is a nice change from the relentless, shaky sprocket Grindhouse ’70s vibe that has become so popular. And make no mistake CHILLERAMA is an audience experience picture, meant to be absorbed by a large crowd of appreciative fans. For this critic, seeing the premiere at Comic-Con, the crowd enthusiasm was goosed by an appearance at the very end from all four directors walking out of the famous and dear-to-our-hearts New Beverly Cinema in LA for a QandA. Priceless.

See CHILLERAMA as soon as you can, especially when you’re in the mood for something nostalgic, gently offensive and really, rather special. The film will be on tour, coming to select theatres and drive-ins near you before hitting DVD and On Demand this fall...

xox
Lianne Spiderbaby

SAN DIEGO COMIC CON 2011 - From the Booth of FANGORIA

     Here are a few photographs I took at the San Diego Comic Con 2011 just last week!  The FANGORIA crew had an AMAZING and very successful trip!  I will be covering Comic Con in upcoming episodes of FRIGHT BYTES and be sure to check out www.fangoria.com for the latest Comic Con horror news!

Daniel Bernhardt and Amanda Fuller of CREATURE

Tim Sullivan, Adam Rifkin, Adam Green and Joe Lynch on the Chillerama panel

CREATURE / Jerry, Daniel, Amanda, and director Fred Andrews

Elvira and Lianne Spiderbaby

Michael and Rebekah of FANGORIA

The Fangoria Crew: Justin, Rebekah, Michael, Lianne, Dave

The Fangoria Crew: Justin, Rebekah, Michael, Lianne Spiderbaby, Dave

Directors: Adam Rifkin, Tim Sullivan, Joe Lynch, Adam Green

Hanging at TROMA: Lloyd Kaufman, Lianne Spiderbaby, Justin Beahm

Actor/Writer Matthew Currie Holmes and Lianne Spiderbaby

Rebekah McKendry, Tim Sullivan, Gavin Heffernan, Lianne Spiderbaby, Sean Abbey

ChromeSkill and director Robert Hall

Lianne Spiderbaby

Fango crew with magazine founder Kerry O'Quinn @ Comic-Con '11 (photo courtesy Brandon Hunsinger)

xox
Lianne Spiderbaby

Fright Bytes Ep. 7 -- Vampire Mania

 
In this episode of FRIGHT BYTES, Lianne Spiderbaby and co-host Steve Mac explore the popularity of vampire films from the early 1900s to the present day.

You will learn several things about cinematic vampires in this episode, which plays out a little bit like a time-travel through vampire history.

Also, a discussion of the FRIGHT NIGHT remake, which hits theaters in August!

xox
Lianne Spiderbaby

Dyanne Thorne Q&A with Lianne Spiderbaby (part 3)

Tomb TV Ep. 8 - Tomb Unleashed!

Check out Tomb Dragomir's (of RUE MORGUE fame) show TOMB TV.
I co-hosted this one with him!

http://www.youtube.com/Tombdragomir

Be sure to subscribe and share!

xox
Lianne Spiderbaby

Fright Bytes Ep. 6 -- Fangoria & Rue Morgue Team Up to take on Sid Haig,...

 

In this episode of Fright Bytes, Lianne Spiderbaby teams up with Rue Morgue’s TOMB DRAGOMIR (http://www.youtube.com/Tombdragomir) to check out the Toronto premiere of a new horror film called THE UNLEASHED (directed by Manuel H. Da Silva of Dark House Films, http://www.darkhousefilms.com/).  The dynamic duo interview awesome, up-and-coming actor Colin Paradine (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1797322/).  

Tomb and Lianne also interview the legendary SID HAIG –  which can only mean one thing: a special DIARY OF THE DEUCE on the career of the man himself!

Special Thank Yous to:

Chris Alexander, Steve Mac, Sid Haig, Colin Paradine, Philip Carrer, Manuel H. Da Silva, Haris, Rue Morgue, Tomb Dragomir, and Fright Bytes fans – for all of your support and love!

xox

Lianne Spiderbaby

Dyanne Thorne Q&A with Lianne Spiderbaby SHOCK STOCK 2011 (part 1)

 

Thank you Sylvain Lacroix!

Catch up on older FRIGHT BYTES episodes: Fright Bytes Ep. 4 - GIALLO Films