DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS
Can I get a shout out for Kumel’s brilliant DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS? Much discussed on these boards already, I’m sure, but I just sat down to watch it again (inspired by a rereading of LeFanu’s “Carmilla”) and I’m struck by just how good it is. Having seen Kumel last summer (at the Egyptian’s showing of MALPERTUIS, which he assured us was due on DVD soon and thank goodness for that!), I’m struck by just how great a director he is. Gent is filmed so beautifully here and those wonderful repeated, overlapping cuts of the car approaching the hotel give this strange “deja-vu” feel to the happenings. The score is wonderfully repetitive as well, it lodges in your memory and seems to slowly surge out of the screen like some churning emotion of dark eroticism, glittering with those cymbalon trills (is it available on disc by any chance?)
Danielle Ouimet’s scene in the car, near the end, as she and Seyrig race the rising sun and she pleads “Your hand! Your hand!” has to be one of the most singular, honestly erotic outbursts I’ve ever seen on film. I’m also impressed by the psychological complexity and depth of the characters; you’re never actually sure whose side you’re on at any moment, which helps with the overall impact of the proceedings. It’s quite a daring film, willing to honestly explore adult sexuality and dangerous fetishes unblinkingly and never cheapening them with genre laziness (although, I must admit, that “glass bowl” death scene is bizarre). I absolutely love the last, long shot and, oh, those “fade to reds”! Blue Underground really did a great job on this disc!
I dread someone will crassly remake it soon, upping the obligatory lesbian stuff and missing the point entirely. Kumel, speaking at the Egyptian, charmingly rubbished the Nouvelle Vague movement, testified that John Ford was the greatest director who ever lived (“although POWER & THE GLORY is detestable”) with Kurosawa a close second and got a large laugh at one moment. “How did you get Orson Welles (for MALPERTUIS)?” someone asked. “Because actors work for money” he answered succinctly.
So can I get an “Amen” for Kumel and the brilliant DOD? Too bad I couldn’t afford to see the rest of the shows, which featured his rare erotic work…
Great film, and superb presentation courtesy of BU.
Nice to hear that MALPERTUIS is forthcoming, as I've never had the opportunity to see that one.
I remember seeing Kuemel's entries into the SERIE ROSE and SECRETS OF LOVE TV programs many years ago when they aired on Cinemax. Although I didn't know who Kuemel was at the time, it definitely left an impression on me that made a lot of sense after I was finally exposed to DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS and learned what else Kuemel had done!
MALPERTUIS is listed as a future release from the Belgian film archive Koninklijk Belgisch Filmarchief (7/15/2005 tentative) as part of their
Flemish film classics series:
http://www.cinematheque.be/fr/dvd/malpertuis.htmNo info of which version this is going to be or any subtitle options. I've seen this listed as part of an Orson Welles box set that French DVD sites alapage and fnac that contains a +/- 75 min. cut.
For those interested, Barrel Entertainment will be releasing Malpertuis stateside. More information will be available shortly.
John Szpunar
Barrel Entertainment
www.barrel-entertainment.com