Les vampires

This 1915 French mystery serial is fascinating. Its device of using gadgets (poison rings, poison fountain pens, cabinets with fake back panels, etc.) predates James Bond's by decades, and makes each new episode something to look forward to. The comely Irma Vep is one of the most mysterious and darkest screen heroines of all times. The filmmaker makes extensive use of real Parisian street locations, which seem always, oddly, to be drained of pedestrian life; watching "Les Vampires" is like getting into a time machine.

View "Les Vampires" first, then see "Irma Vep" (France, 1996) so you have a point of reference.

A ten-part serial that took eight hours to watch with breaks, this thing defies not just summary but reliable recall: describing it is like trying to describe a year in my life. Chaotic, unpredictable, upside down, with endless sneaky tricks that defy our conception of 'movie' magic because they mainly involve Cirque-type human machines doing things that couldn't have been faked so convincingly at this date. I mean, you can see the splice whenever a character turns on the light, so when the bitchy criminal mastermind Irma Vep gets wrapped up in rope, then rolls down the side of a four-story building like a human yo-yo, you know you're watching history in the making. What's more, and redemptively, the stupid detectives are REALLY stupid, including this outrageous Italian stereotype who keeps nyuk-ing straight into the camera. There's a wild chase-fight scene on a moving train, a gas attack on a large high-society do, a kid accidentally shooting his father in the nose, and God knows what else. This dumbfoundingly imaginative, yet consistently goofy and crowd-pleasing movie could only have happened in a medium whose limits had not yet been properly defined - in fact you can see the definition happening on screen. When I grow up I want to be Henri Langlois, founder of the Cinematheque Francais, who rescued the world's only print of this film from the curb on garbage day. Hooray!

I knew next to nothing about this serial before starting on the first installment. I had mild expectations, figuring it would be a struggle to pay attention and not get bored. Boy, was I wrong! It starts of with a fast pace, leading you into a mystery with twists and turns and exciting villains. Following the young reporter, it's almost like an excellent Tintin-adventure. In fact, there are many parallels to Tintin that can be made, including a clumsy friend that happens upon great wealth.

Sadly, it loses a lot of momentum about midway through. As far as I can understand, there was no script (only a general idea), and it kind of shows. I assume the Irma Vep and Mazamette-characters were the most popular, because they become more and more involved in the storyline as it progresses. After a while, Guérande (the hero reporter) is almost completely overshadowed by the "supporting cast". Musidora is fantastic as Irma Vep, and it's hard to complain about there being more of her - but it does lead to a less interesting story. As you eventually follow the villains almost as much as the protagonist, there is no longer any mystery to it. The twists and turns doesn't matter, because they often don't surprise you. When it comes to Marcel Lévesque's performance as Mazamette, it was probably better in its time than it is now. As (almost) the only character, he constantly looks at the camera, acting as if it was a slapstick comedy. The same goes for his son, who appears later.

Don't get me wrong, there are still thrilling scenes, stunts and twists in the latter episodes, but they are few and far apart, and not enough to save the entire series. Maybe it would have been better if I had not "binge-watched" it, but from what I hear, that's how it's usually shown in screenings.

Had the rest of the serial been as good as the first 4-5 installments, this would have been an excellent introduction to silent film.

An intrepid reporter and his loyal friend battle a bizarre secret society of criminals known as The Vampires.

Director Louis Feuillade is something of a legend, having directed an astonishing 630 films in the silent era (and perhaps more). He is best known for "Fantomas", the serial he made prior to "Vampires", and while the former may be marginally superior, they are both exquisite in their own way, and a great example of early thrillers.

Indeed, it is quite impressive that a film is seven hours long and still exists one hundred years later. Given how many silent films have since been lost forever, it is incredible that Feuillade's work seems to be intact and in great shape.

Feuillade has become much more popular abroad than in his native France where his movies are seldom screened on "cultural TV ,the Arte Channel or the "Cinema De Minuit".Some critics call "Les Vampires" brainwashing at a time when France was at war .Some critics praise it to the skies.I'm for the golden middle .Feuillade was certainly important in the shaping of the serial (along "the perils of Pauline" in America)but he was not as great a director as his contemporaries David Wark Griffith and Abel Gance (whose career did not begin with "Napoleon" in 1926).

The screenplay of "Les Vampires" is pretty silly,definitely weaker than that of "Fantomas" and it is sure easy to see why: "Fantomas " was first a set of volumes written by Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain -and Feuillade botched the first chapters which were the best of the saga :see Paul Fejos's "Fantomas" (1932) for that matter.But the rest was quite acceptable,some movies(the third episode :"Le Mort Qui Tue" notably) highly commendable.

"Les Vampires" was a different matter ,because it was an original screenplay and the writer/director had to kill the "Chef Des Vampires" ,not because he thought the audience needed change ,but because it was the war and the actors were mobilized.That's why Feuillade gave up making "lEs Vampires" after 10 episodes and opted for a "good " hero ,Judex ,a conjurer fighting against the villains.The stories are far-fetched to a fault ,pleasant to watch,but not particularly memorable (Maurice Leblanc was writing much more brilliant stories at the time featuring his hero Arsene Lupin who is much more exciting than his bland hero Philippe Guérande and his mate/undertaker.

Much more than the stories,it's the details that are interesting: the maid Mrs Guerande hires is a Girl from Britanny ,and at the time most of the servants came from that region:this was the subject of Becassine ,a comic strip of the era;it's interesting to note that whereas the villains have lovers,the hero,after losing his fiancée in the second chapter-and he doesn't even shed a tear-,remains chaste till the ...ninth episode in which he finds another one.Musidora's famous black tight caused an outcry : the series remained famous for her but she only appears in her outfit in two brief moments: one when she's scrawling on the roofs and the other one in a hotel where she also appears (that crowns it!) dressed as a young man complete with mustache .

Feuillade's most salutary quality was story -telling :even if the plot seems too often too much ,we can't help but admire the way he uses the pictures and thus keeps his lines to the minimum -a thing many of his colleagues could not do-.

Feuillade's influence in France?One sees little of it in the great directors of the Golden Era (Carné,Renoir,Guitry,Duvivier,Et Al). Feuillade's influence shows ,however,in one of Duvivier's silent films " Le Mystere De La Tour Eiffel" or even in Clair's "Le Fantome Du Moulin Rouge" .

Feuillade 's most dedicated follower was Georges Franju who made a remake of "Judex"(1963) and "Les Nuits Rouges"(1973) ,a failed attempt at a seventies "Vampires".Most of this director's works have something of Feuillade : "Les Yeux Sans Visage"(1959) "La Tête Contre Les Murs" (1960)"Pleins Feux Sur L'Assassin".(1961)

In the seventies,Feuillade's touch appeared again in Rivette's stuff ,but it's reserved for intellectuals.What was once the most popular French cinema of an era became one inspiration for the most cerebral (who said boring?) art.