25 Vampyr

[wowser]

My copy also arrived today and, to echo what others have said, the book is fantastic! The best MoC booklet I've so far seen.

[bear]

Echo: Awesome book. I started reading after rewatching the film last night, and couldn't lay it down until I was through the whole thing. Film - production Carl Dreyer was the highlight for me. I'm starting to think the MoC crew could start publishing film books too, with such great taste and designer skills.

Also, the film itself looked really good. While it indeed shows it age, the dreamy atmosphere is carried well. I was only used to watching the old image disk, so this was a revelation. Thank you, MoC!

[Robin Davies]

Just finished playing the del Toro commentary. It was nice to hear I'm not the only person who thinks "Allan Gray" looks a bit like H. P. Lovecraft.

[Darth Lavender]

Just finished playing the del Toro commentary. It was nice to hear I'm not the only person who thinks "Allan Gray" looks a bit like H. P. Lovecraft.

That was literally my most immediate reaction when I started watching the film, many years ago.
At the time, I assumed it was deliberate and was very impressed by what I thought to be Dreyer referencing Lovecraft long before the fellow was 'cool'

[HerrSchreck]

More than likely a happy accident for those who see a connection. De Gunzberg was a financier who made the film possible, and acted in the film by his own wish, not Dreyer's.

Dreyer is referencing hard pragmatism, not Lovecraft. Anything else is a happy accident, once he determined the dude "worked" onscreen.

[tojoed]

I received mine today, and agree with everyone about the booklet. You may have noticed in the DVD credits "Special Thanks to.." section the name "criterionforum.org", which was a lovely touch.
So you can all give yourselves a pat on the back.

[wowser]

Exactly. Watched it again with the Rayns commentary (he's like a more affable version of Kevin from Eggheads) and I'm glad that he shone light on the parts I found baffling. Very good points he makes about the disorientating effect of the camera positioning and geography of the locations.

[Sloper]

I do like Tony Rayns but I thought he seemed ill-prepared and uninspired on this one - just compare his portion of the commentary on Seven Samurai. Del Toro's commentary, surprisingly, really is the best extra on this set, displaying a genuine and infectious enthusiasm for the film, and putting forward quite a convincing reading of Gray as a kind of Jesus-like saviour figure (I seem to remember Schreck noting the prevalence of this motif in Dreyer's films in another thread?) Next to Gertrud, I find this to be Dreyer's least accessible film, but Del Toro opened it up for me quite a lot, and I can't wait to see it again.

Having only watched the Redemption VHS before now, this edition was a real revelation - especially the shots of the vampire book, which when presented as dull intertitles make the film drag terribly, but with Dreyer's breath flickering the candles over them look gorgeous. I know this was covered earlier in the thread, but it's a completely different film this way.

Just a note on Michael - what Dreyer says about it in the Roos documentary is (as far as I can tell) not a criticism, just a comment on the deliberately 'false' style of the film. The 'cluttered' look of Michael just shows that the spare production design for which Dreyer is better known was not a fetish, since he was happy to do something different when the subject matter demanded it. Just saying, 'cause it's my favourite Dreyer film.

[Tritonemusic]

Hello. This is my first post here.

First, let me mention that I know very little about movies in general. The main reason I signed up here is because of my love for Vampyr (I have the Image Entertainment version).

I have limited income and would like to purchase one of the new versions. However, I don't know which one to get. English subtitles are important to me since, even though I took German class in high school, I don't remember a thing.

Eventually, I'd like to have them all. If you could only get one version, which one would it be? Please keep in mind that I am not a movie/film connoisseur.

I realize that there are pros and cons in all versions. I guess I'm just looking for a general consensus on which version would be the most satisfying for a "rookie."

Thanks a lot for your time.

[mfunk9786]

If handsome packaging, a thick booklet (& a book), and a well done English language version are your bag: Criterion.

If a commentary by Guillermo Del Toro and a more appropriately aged-looking transfer are your bag: Masters of Cinema.

I have the Criterion and would never for a second discourage someone from getting it, it's gorgeous.

[HerrSchreck]

Iputting forward quite a convincing reading of Gray as a kind of Jesus-like saviour figure (I seem to remember Schreck noting the prevalence of this motif in Dreyer's films in another thread?) .

I think it was my first post on the board where I wrote that a motif which appears in nearly all of his films is the death of a (usually innocent) woman. Many are martyrs, but not all. Owing to his known parental traumas (adoptive and blood), and especially the death of his own mother, he seems to be reliving the same profoundly climactic event over & over again that stamped itself ironbound on his fiber early on.

The theme appears in his earliest films, and carrry thru to his late silents, straight thru all his sound films.

[MichaelB]

If handsome packaging, a thick booklet (& a book), and a well done English language version are your bag: Criterion.

If a commentary by Guillermo Del Toro and a more appropriately aged-looking transfer are your bag: Masters of Cinema.

Er... the MoC has a pretty damn impressive book too!

[Sloper]

I'm guessing Criterion don't offer the 'unrestored' soundtrack? I have no real ear for these things and can't tell much difference, but I think Vampyr should be as scratchy and crackly as possible. Maybe getting into geek territory there, though, and it certainly isn't all that important.

Schreck - I forgot you were talking specifically about women in your post. I guess Leone is the equivalent in Vampyr. It must be said that Allan Gray is a distinctly feminine hero, and given the blood-letting, and especially the dream-burial from which Gray awakes in order to do the business with the hammer, I still think Del Toro's point is an interesting one. The idea that one needs to die in order to live (sounds like a line from a trailer, I know), or in order to give life to others, is certainly one recurring Dreyer motif into which Gray fits.

Interesting that the only other male example I can think of is Claude Zoret, a gay man. There too the point is that love, or salvation, or whatever, can only be attained in death. Oh, and then there is also Jesus himself, of course, in Leaves from Satan's Book.

On reflection, I think this motif isn't so much to do with gender as with attitude: there's always a patient, passive character who rises above everyone else, even if they do so through self-sacrifice, and they leave all the frustrated, impatient sinners behind, dumbfounded and hopefully changed by the experience. So the prince in Der Var Engang is another example: he sacrifices his wealth and comfort in order to teach his wife a lesson, and (if I remember rightly) does so more through patience and fortitude than by countering irascibility with worse irascibility, as Petruchio does in Shakespeare.

Similarly, everyone around Allan Gray is scared or bad-tempered or agitated, while he seems to remain calm and blank throughout, returning to his studies in the midst of a terrible tragedy, and ultimately winning the day by doing almost nothing.

[Tritonemusic]

I'm guessing Criterion don't offer the 'unrestored' soundtrack? I have no real ear for these things and can't tell much difference, but I think Vampyr should be as scratchy and crackly as possible. Maybe getting into geek territory there, though, and it certainly isn't all that important.

Actually, it is kind of important to me. I'm primarily a professional musician/composer but, I've done audio engineering off and on for about 25-30 years. If the Criterion version was treated with noise-reduction, I may not be as interested in it. I love clean sound but, for something like this, I'd prefer to hear it as Dreyer heard it.

Hmmm... the more I think about it, the more I realize that I will have to own both versions.

Thanks for your help, folks. I really appreciate it.

[Adam]

Well, then you have the question of whether Dreyer heard a nice pristine sound that has become crackly with time. There's really no way to know how Dreyer heard it.

[Tritonemusic]

Well, then you have the question of whether Dreyer heard a nice pristine sound that has become crackly with time. There's really no way to know how Dreyer heard it.

Well, yeah...he heard the first generation of whatever media format he was using back then. Still, even in a "relatively pristine" state, the original probably had quite a bit of hiss to begin with. Chances are, it had a lot more hiss than a digitally "restored" version would.

[Tommaso]

Del Toro's commentary, surprisingly, really is the best extra on this set, displaying a genuine and infectious enthusiasm for the film, and putting forward quite a convincing reading of Gray as a kind of Jesus-like saviour figure (I seem to remember Schreck noting the prevalence of this motif in Dreyer's films in another thread?)

I totally agree. The Jesus analogy is to the point, though certainly not the only way to interpret this pretty uninterpretable film. But what really amazed me about the Del Toro commentary is the idea to see the whole film as a 'memento mori' in the sense the term has in art history, and with Del Toro's explanations about the specific imagery connected with it in mind, it's indeed hard to ignore the validity of this idea, given all the skulls, clocks, dancing etc. in the film. Loosely connected to this, it was very nice to become aware of the references to existing paintings in Dreyer's film, as far as they are pointed out in the Tybjerg piece (also great!). But the Del Toro commentary might indeed be the best extra, especially if you know the film quite well and don't necessarily need Rayns' more scene-specific explanations. For me at least, Del Toro's excursions into art history, philosophy and religious beliefs proved to be more inspiring. One of the best commentaries I heard for quite a while.

[Tootletron]

... it was very nice to become aware of the references to existing paintings in Dreyer's film, as far as they are pointed out in the Tybjerg piece (also great!).

This is something I was hoping for on the Criterion dvd. I would've loved more background information on the paintings in Vampyr, who painted them, when and why they were chosen, assuming Dreyer picked them out. Did the MoC version go into that kind of detail?

[Sloper]

I'm not sure Del Toro identified the particular artworks that appear in the film, but I seem to remember him referring to a few specific artists he thought might have had an impact - his accent makes some of the names a bit indecipherable, but perhaps someone more knowledgeable than I am about art would recognise them. I wonder if anyone's done a study of Dreyer's use of paintings hanging on walls? It's a PhD thesis waiting to happen.

Tommaso - yes the memento mori stuff was also fascinating, and discreetly showed Del Toro's familiarity with Dreyer's other films. Right from the second (or third?) shot of The President (an hourglass running out), this is a really central theme in Dreyer's work, and a great way of beginning to make sense of the (I agree, uninterpretable) Vampyr.

Tybjerg slipped my mind when I posted before, but he's wonderful as always. I could listen to that calmly authoritative voice all day. You can pretty much guarantee that any contribution he makes to a dvd package will be the best thing on it.

Er, except for the film, of course. Mustn't forget that...

[Tommaso]

Tootletron: no, I was referring to the Tybjerg documentary when talking about the artworks, and that is also on the CC disc. Nothing more to be found on the MoC. Del Toro, as Sloper says, is talking about the influence of art more on a general thematic level without precise references mostly.
Btw: does anyone know what that painting is that is shown at one point behind Allan Gray, depicting it seems a young man in a sort of 'artistic', writing(?) pose. It's shown only very briefly, but a friend of mine whom I watched the film with thought it reminded him of Lord Byron or Shelley. Neither del Toro nor Rayns make a specific reference to it at that point of the film.

[What A Disgrace]

My disc finally arrived today; I promptly devoured the film and the Rayns commentary.

There isn't much I can say that hasn't been said before; and I'm not very good at communicating feelings and observations anyway. With the exception of Michael (which is no minor film), every film of Dreyer's that I've seen has helped to shape my personal view of cinema, and I can only imagine that I'm going to go to bed tonight with this film in the back of my eyes, as with The Passion of Joan of Arc, Day of Wrath, Ordet and Gertrud; each time I see them.

I think only Melies has come anywhere close to evoking that kind of enthusiasm for cinema in me.

[T99]

This DVD package is simply amazing. The only thing lacking are (the film historically very important) nude pictures of Rena Mandel (Gisele). Where can I get these?

[ltfontaine]

Vampyr is inexhaustible, elusive and so intractably strange, it’s exhilarating to finally have unlimited access to it in a form that invites repeated viewings. It still makes my head hurt, but moreso now in a good way.

Dreyer is my favorite filmmaker, and Vampyr such a perfect aberration, so rich and wild that it expands the overall depth and dimension of the artist’s work, sharpens an edge that it wouldn’t have otherwise. After the tribulations attending Joan, Vampyr is ripe with the unfettered adventure and anticipated promise of Film Production-Carl Dreyer; it is, as Rossellini famously said of A King in New York, “the film of a free man”—even if the man was only briefly free. Dreyer’s achievement without Vampyr would be no less formidable, but the full range of this artist’s vision would be much less in evidence without it.

Watching repeatedly answers no questions, only raises more of them. A few random thoughts—

Is the camera, as Rayns suggests in his commentary, reflective of Allan Gray’s consciousness, or is it consistently autonomous, a furtive, mischievous, disembodied subject that answers only to the formal objectives of the film? (Have the Quays ever cited Vampyr as an influence on their work, which often shares this disturbing, antic POV, suggestive of what Burroughs called “insect intelligence.”)

To the extent that Vampyr does actually draw on Le Fanu’s Carmilla, this passage describing the withdrawal of an apparition evokes what Dreyer may have taken away from In a Glass Darkly (apart from the title of that collection and some specific details of live burial from The Room in the Dragon Volant).

“A block of stone could not have been more still. There was not the slightest stir of respiration. As I stared at it, the figure appeared to have changed its place, and was now nearer the door; then, close to it, the door opened, and it passed out.”

Like so much of Vampyr, this sequence of images defies waking experience, conveys the abrupt disjunctions of a nightmare. Dreyer’s and Mate’s camera is alive, but it’s neither human nor corporeal. Same goes for the sound, which we can be grateful is not “restored” beyond its current standard.

What to make of Marguerite Chopin, the vampyr herself, a far cry from the captivating Carmilla? Rayns comments on Marguerite’s blindness, but what of her severe androgyny? Even if Dreyer has apparently taken very little from Le Fanu, he had, one assumes, read enough of Carmilla to register its eroticism, and subsequently made a creative choice to desexualize his own vampire tale. Is this choice reflective of Dreyer’s apparent intention to render an experience devoid of, even inconsistent with, human warmth? Vampyr is about as cold as a film can get.

Rayns contends that the film’s fractured syntax rights itself during the live burial scenes, assuming, ironically, a more conventional mise-en-scene. And he’s right, up to a point, as part of what loads the sequence so full of dread is its inexorable forward motion as Gray looks on (or out), paralyzed. But as the coffin passes out of the building and under the trees, the shadows of leaves move on the lid in a manner that is manifestly simulated, as though branches are merely being waved about from above by unseen hands. It is a singularly odd moment in Dreyer’s work, calling the medium’s artifice to attention in a way that I do not recall anywhere else. (And does Gray’s stiff, slumped figure on the bench, as his coffin passes by, recall the final shot of Un chien andalou?)

The narrator’s waking coma in The Room in the Dragon Volant is expressly attributed to a narcotic, but Dreyer, characteristically, suggests the possibility that Gray is drugged without ever visibly confirming it. Always the master of ambiguity, Dreyer leaves this detail open and unresolved, just as he declines to define, or even narrow down, the world of possible meanings that thrive in his films.

All attempts to justify the performance by Nicolas de Gunzburg as “suitably blank” are for naught. As much as I love Vampyr, de Gunzburg is an irreconcilable drag on the proceedings, an actively distracting presence. In the Drums’ book on Dreyer, My Only Great Passion, they contend that Dreyer was not phased by the prospect of featuring the Baron in such a central role, as he had successfully directed non-actors in the past. (It is unclear whether the director had specifically expressed this view in his exchanges with the Drums.) But Dreyer was, from the beginning of his career, insistent that the faces of his actors embody the qualities of their characters, and that they function as formal elements of supreme importance. One can imagine many faces that would have served Dreyer well in the role of Allan Gray, but unfortunately, de Gunzburg’s slack mug is not among them.

Are any of the buildings in which the film was shot still standing? What is that area like today?

Guillermo del Toro's commentary is brilliant, makes me wish I liked his films more than I do.

Nick, thanks for all of the devotion and hard work that has gone into this excellent release.

[Tommaso]

What to make of Marguerite Chopin, the vampyr herself, a far cry from the captivating Carmilla? Rayns comments on Marguerite’s blindness, but what of her severe androgyny? Even if Dreyer has apparently taken very little from Le Fanu, he had, one assumes, read enough of Carmilla to register its eroticism, and subsequently made a creative choice to desexualize his own vampire tale.

Interesting question, I often wondered about that myself. I have no real explanation for this nor anything else in the film, but would somewhat tentatively argue that Dreyer, while being aware of the erotic charge normally associated with the vampire tale, played it down in order to bring forward the quality of the INEXPLICABLE, not (psycho-)analyzable quality of the unknown force threatening Allan Gray. But still it's a force which manifests itself in the everyday and distorts it. Apart from the much-discussed disorientation in the narrative and the camerawork, another indication may be that the vampire's assistant, the village doctor, at least for me has always been much more creepy and threatening than Chopin.

The androgynous quality, I would argue, is also shared by and is much more pronounced in Léone (I'd second the whimsical request above for nude stills of Rena Mandel, for instance, but not necessarily for some of Sybille Schmitz as shown in "Vampyr", even though Schmitz could be sexy as hell in other films). I have wondered whether Schmitz' androgyny in this film might be a reflection of a threat posed by homosexuality, especially given that Gray is played by Ginzburg. But I discarded this idea, simply because Gray's relationship with Gisele is not threatened by Leone, but by the doctor in the first place. And the doctor's abduction of Gisele and subsequent events do have a certain erotic charge, with Mandel bound and struggling for escape as if this was some sort of early bondage shot...

So, I don't know whether one can really speak of a de-sexualized film, but in any case Dreyer's tactics prevent the film from becoming 'readable' in an all too easy manner like most other vampire films, even those early ones. For me, this doesn't necessarily mean a lack of human warmth (think of the very end of the film with Allan and Gisele), but Dreyer transcends the human into the spiritual/metaphysical, as I think he does in all of his late(r) films. That again may of course be read as an opposition against the erotic.

[ltfontaine]

Good point, Tommaso, about the androgyny that marks virtually all of the characters in Vampyr, with the possible exception of Gisele, although even she is pretty well buttoned up, with her boyish profile and hair pulled back. (It appears, however, that Dreyer did permit Mandel to break the director’s taboo against the use of makeup.) Vampyr is drained of the strong, subtle undercurrent of eroticism that runs through so many of Dreyer’s other films, I think for the reason you suggest—that it denatures the proceedings, makes them less recognizably human, less permeable to analysis. Dreyer effectively neutralizes the potential for romantic chemistry between Allan and Gisele to the extent that the denouement in the forest feels oddly perfunctory, even ironic—although it’s hard to say whether another actor in the lead role might have altered this.

I think Dreyer’s later films, especially, are remarkable for evoking a range of human experience in which the physical dimension, even the carnal, is in harmony with the spiritual. If he had been permitted to film Jesus, we might have seen the ultimate expression of this element in his work.