Les Vampires (1915)

[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5Fzy8RVYfU]

As per request of Cliff.

Les Vampires is a 1915 10-part silent film serial. It was written and directed by Louis Feuillade and stars Musidora as “Irma Vep” a femme fatale whose name is a suspicious anagram of “vampire.” The serial is set in Paris, France and contrary to the title, the Les Vampires were not actually about vampires, but about a gang of master criminals cum secret society inspired by the exploits of the real-life Bonnot Gang.

There are 10 episodes, averaging around 40 minutes each; it is about 6 and a half hours total.

The story of the 1996 movie Irma Vep features an attempt to remake Les Vampires.

Le Vampire (1945) – Jean Painlevé

[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjNh0uZCCLc]

I’ve mentioned Painlevé (who died 18 years ago today) here. Le Vampire features footage of Murnau’s classic Nosferatu, which eventually leads to discussion about what vampire bats are like, illustrated with a live guinea pig. Unidentified jazz music reminds of the New Orleans voodoo tradition of vampires. A strange mix of fact and fiction.

New Babylon (1929) and the Paris Commune

New Babylon (1929)

Image sourced here

Novyy Vavilon (Eng:New Babylon) (1929), is a film directed Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg. A black and white silent film (120 minutes in its original version and 93 minutes in its 2004 restored version). The propaganda film in the expressionist tradition of the early 20th century deals with the Paris Commune of 1870 and is largely set in a fantastic department store. We follow the encounter and tragic destiny of two lovers separated by the barricades of the Paris Commune. Some interesting IMDb user comments here[2]. Footage from the film was used in Guy Debord‘s The Society of the Spectacle.

New Babylon is also a concept by Dutch philosopher-artist Constant Nieuwenhuys.

Fuses by Carolee Schneemann

[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeeFKXnQST0]

Fuses (1967) by Carolee Schneemann

Carolee Schneemann (b. 1939) is an American performance artist, known for her discourses on the body, sexuality and gender. She received a B.A. from Bard College and an M.F.A. from the University of Illinois. A member of the Fluxus group, her work is primarily characterized by research into visual traditions, taboos, and the body of the individual in relationship to social bodies. Her most famous works include Eye Body: 36 Transformative Actions (1963), Meat Joy (1964), Fuses (1967), and Interior Scroll (1975)

She has published widely, producing works such as Cezanne, She Was a Great Painter (1976) [2] and More than Meat Joy: Performance Works and Selected Writings (1997) [3].

Carolee Schneemann Google gallery

Reminiscing

[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q7amoKYFCc]

It’s been ages since I regularly listened to this Nick Cave classic. Cave’s more interesting songs are the biblical ones. I clearly remember the moment when I first heard about his novel “The Ass Saw the Angel.”

Nick Cave wrote the song The Mercy Seat for his 1988 Tender Prey album; his ‘signature tune’, it has been performed at nearly every concert since 1988. The song tells the story of a condemned man facing death on the electric chair seeking redemption in the afterlife. This song was later covered by Johnny Cash on his album, American III: Solitary Man.