FANTÔMAS (Louis Feuillade, 1913-14)
(Directed by Louis Feuillade from a script by Feuillade, Marcel Allain, and Pierre Souvestre; starring René Navarre, Edmond Bréon, George Melechior, and Renée Carl. Released 09 May 1913 -> 1914; watched 2023w36 ->2023w39 via Kino Blu-Ray)
As is the case with all of Feuillade's (600+!) pictures, there's a buoyancy to every shot in this five-film cycle, even though – as per the inchoate cinematic language of the time – the films (FANTÔMAS, JUVE VS. FANTÔMAS, THE MURDEROUS CORPSE, FANTÔMAS VS. FANTÔMAS, THE FALSE MAGISTRATE) are told in long static wides (a notable exception being a fantastic and effective horizontal to vertical shift near the end) and an over-reliance on narrative intertitles: they just MOVE, a breathless propulsion from one unlikely and deliciously pulpy scenario – silent executioner! spiked pajamas! bell-ringing blood! skin gloves! wine bottle snorkels! murder! faked death! fake identities! narrow escapes! explosions! blackmail! (implied) sex! Tom Bob! bodies in steamer trunks! – to the next, rolling, tumbling, until the requisite cliffhanger ending (even in the final film) in which Fantômas – René Navarre's mold-building portrayal being evident in everything from Lang's DR MABUSE, THE GAMBLER (down to the opening transformation from disguise to disguise) to the masked Republic serial villains to the Universal Monsters (though Fantômas is an utter shit, lacking in even a scintilla of the UMs' sympathy-inspiring humanity) through Christopher Lee's Dracula and into Hannibal Lecter (both Hopkins and Mikkelsen) and Ledger's Joker – escapes Juve's clutches, leaving us with the promise that their cat and mouse will be as immortal not only as the pursuers and the pursued, but as the generations of dyads they've so clearly inspired.
These foundational treasures are a reminder of the joy of simply letting loose and having a good time, thrillrides as exciting and watchable now as they were 110 years ago. French Blu of JUDEX, Feuillade's "heroic" 1916 serial (and inspiration for The Shadow) is on its way and I've got a rewatch (first in +/-25 years) of LES VAMPIRES in the offing too, FeuilladeFest in tandem with FritzFest, it would seem...
Tom Bob forever.
