Film: Spirits Of The Dead
Release date: 15th November 2010
Certificate: 18
Running time: 121 mins
Director: Federico Fellini, Louis Malle, Roger Vadim
Starring: Brigitte Bardot, Alain Delon, Jane Fonda, Terence Stamp, James Robertson Justice
Genre: Horror/Mystery
Studio: Arrow
Format: Blu-ray
Country: France/Italy
Inspired by three short stories by Edgar Allan Poe, Roger Vadim (Barbarella), Louis Malle (Murmur of the Heart) and Federico Fellini (La Dolce Vita) each contribute to this horror omnibus which is available for the first time on Blu-ray.
Roger Vadim follows Barbarella with the first segment in this anthology, with his adaptation of the first of Poe’s published works, Metzengerstein: A Tale In Imitation Of The German. Starring both Jane (then married to Vadim) and Peter Fonda as the evil countess Frederique de Metzengerstein and her rival Baron Wilhelm Berlifitzing respectively. In an act of rage after being spurned by the young Baron, spoiled Frederique burns down his stables, killing him and all but one of his horses. She forms a strange bond with the black stallion after witnessing the same figure being burned out of the large tapestry in her castle, indicating that there is more to the horse than she anticipated.
Louis Malle continues with William Wilson, adapted from the short story of the same name. An Austrian soldier desperately runs through the claustrophobic streets of a 19th century Italian town before seeking refuge in a church. He frantically demands to be seen for confession, and continues to recount all the evils in his life to the bewildered priest. It becomes clear that the soldier, William Wilson (Alain Delon), has been doggedly pursued throughout his life by his doppelganger (Delon again), who is determined to make him see the errors of his ways.
Fellini concludes the trio of stories with Toby Dammit, (very) loosely based on the short story Never Bet The Devil Your Head. Terence Stamp is Toby Dammit, a failing Shakespearean actor, driven to near-madness by alcohol and paranoia who travels to Rome to take part in a film where he will be paid with a new Ferrari. Drunk and delirious, Dammit stumbles around an awards ceremony where he is the guest of honour, before speeding off in his new car. Plagued by visions of a young girl playing with a ball, Dammit approaches a fallen bridge, determined to make the jump across…
The most striking element of this collection is the differing quality of the three films. Metzengerstein is by far the weakest of the three, despite the calibre of the cast. The production values are poor, with many of the costumes being recycled from Barbarella, resulting in medieval sets and a medieval-looking supporting cast working around a scantily clad 21st century astronaut riding around the countryside on her horse. Its Robin Hood meets Flash Gordon, but with an even more nonsensical plot than that allegory suggests. Jane Fonda snarls and pouts impressively enough as the spoiled and selfish countess, but Peter Fonda is criminally underused, with only a few fleeting minutes of screen time.
The rivalry between the two families is barely touched upon, with the baron’s rejection of the sexual advances of the countess providing the basis for her act of revenge (in the original story, both characters are male, and there is a long line of disputes and competition between the warring families which sets up the burning of the stables). This interpretation of the source material brings a strange, obsessive quality to the character of Metzengerstein, which is at odds with her actions. Initially she is headstrong and assertive, but soon becomes completely fixated by the horse who she believes to be the embodiment of the baron - despite their interaction being limited to her flirting with him, and his rejection of her.
Louis Malle fairs slightly better with William Wilson. With a much more interesting plot and a truly unnerving premise, this story is a welcome change of pace after the drawn out trudge through Metzengerstein. Alain Delon is superb as the titular soldier, confessing his sins after being relentlessly pursued by his doppelganger. The game of cat and mouse between the two starts in their school days, with the evil Wilson’s bullying and torture of his classmates attracting the attention of his double, and continues through his time in medical school when he intends to perform a living autopsy on a tied and naked girl before being foiled again.
Poe’s notion of the doppelganger is based on the feeling of unease when one encounters someone with the same name, taking away an element of one’s identity as we lose part of our uniqueness. This sense of the uncanny permeates the film, as the macabre and evil acts of Wilson are infiltrated by his reflection. Whether or not the other William Wilson is merely a projection of his subconscious is open to speculation, as he shows little remorse for his actions.
This segment does suffer from some laughable production errors (breathing corpses and mannequin’s in lieu of stunt doubles being of particular note) which only seem to add to the sense of strangeness and disjointedness that is channelled through Delon’s tormented performance.
Finally, Federico Fellini’s Toby Dammit concludes the anthology. This unique and bizarre short is undoubtedly the highlight of Spirits Of The Dead, and is so superior to the other offerings that it is lauded as Fellini’s hidden masterpiece. Terence Stamp is Dammit, turning in a mesmerizing performance that perfectly mirrors the melancholic, surrealist backdrop of the augmented Rome of the piece. Looking every inch the washed up rock star, Dammit stumbles and staggers his way through the various production meetings and interviews that he is forced to endure, always keeping his eye on the prize of the brand new Ferrari he was promised. He is plagued by visions of a young girl (in the original story, the devil was an old man) who seems to be tempting him towards his downfall. He has literally sold his soul for the fame and fortune that is slowly killing him.
Awash in a sea of flashing paparazzi bulbs and masked, nightmarish passers-by, Toby’s arrival in Rome is particularly unsettling. It is an overwhelming sensory overload which acts as the perfect allegory for the broken, burnt out alcoholic he has become, and the price that he must pay for the notoriety he desired. The breakneck race around the empty city in his newly acquired Ferrari is also a highlight, as his madness and desperation is played out through a first person perspective.
Unfortunately, the weakness of the first entry of this omnibus leaves a sour taste that William Wilson works hard to placate. It is worth staying, however, for the phenomenal Toby Dammit, which is the least faithful to the source material of the three, but somehow remains the most truthful, playing with the themes of the original text while updating them to a more contemporary setting. RB
No comments:
Post a Comment