Offscreen Notes
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Amos Vogel: April 18, 1921-April 24, 2012
Austrian born film critic, writer, teacher, programmer Amos Vogel passed away in his Greenwich Village apartment in New York City, where he lived since the 1940s, at the age of 91. Vogel’s idiosyncratic book Film as a Subversive Art (with one of the greatest film book coves ever, pictured above) in a way helped shape my own eventual interest in the more bizarre and esoteric aspects of cinema, and the appreciation of a border less notion of cinema where art house, politics, sex, horror and neurosis lived together happily. In a way, Vogel’s understanding of the myriad psycho-sexual, socio-political links between all form of cinema, avant-garde and popular, foreshadowed what is more commonly known now as ‘psychotronic’ cinema or ‘trash cinema’ or ‘paracinema.’ Vogel was instrumental, along with Jonas Mekas and Film Culture, of promoting the avant-garde and experimental cinema as founder and programmer (along with his wife Marcia) of the repertory house Cinema 16 from 1947 to 1963. “After the demise of Cinema 16, Vogel founded the Lincoln Center Film Department and was co-founder of the New York Film Festival, of which he became the first director where he programmed until 1968” ( Paul Cronin, The Sticking Place).
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Marc Gervais: RIP, March 25, 2012
Marc Gervais, who was described in the linked The Gazette obit piece, as a “priest with a passion for film,” died on March 25, 2012, at the age of 82. As noted in The Gazette obit, Gervais became a Jesuit priest in 1963 and an academic in 1967. When one thinks of religion and cinema as professions, perhaps Scorsese comes to mind, as someone who had planned to become a priest but changed to cinema instead. In both professions, passion is a must, and it is something that Marc definitely had. I can attest because I was one of the many who took one of his famed cinema courses at the Loyola Campus, this going back to the early 1980s. I took two courses with him, one on the French New Wave, the other on Hollywood Genres. The double bill screenings were one night, the analysis/lecture the next. What I remember most was during the analysis nights, when he would freeze an image on the (now defunct) Athena Analyzer Projector (a 16mm projector which allowed you to stop, go back/forward one or more frames at a time), say a few words, stop, then gesticulate with his arms while repeating, “TSL, TSL” (short hand for texture, structure, language). At times I yearned for a more direct approach (“ok, TSL, but what does that shot mean!), but now I realize his approach was also to keep cinema, like a religion, somewhat of a mystery. I will remember him fondly (ed. Donato Totaro).
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Tonino Guerra
One of the greatest screenwriters of art cinema, Tonino Guerra, passed away on Wednesday, March 21, 2012, at the age 92. I first became aware of his name after it appeared on the credits of two of my favorite filmmakers, Michelangelo Antonioni (L’avventura, La notte, L’eclisse, Deserto roso, Blow-up, Zabriske Point, Beyond the Clouds) and Andrei Tarkovsky (Nostalgia, Voyage in Time). Once I looked further I realized that this name was associated as an important collaborator with a great number of some of my favorite filmmakers, making him, quite against my will, my “favorite” screenwriter. The list of names he wrote with is impressive indeed: (along with the above) Mario Monicelli, Theo Angelopoulos, Francesco Rosi, Federico Fellini, Vittorio De Sica, Dino Risi, and Paolo Cavara. Perhaps some of the credit behind the mood of stillness and aesthetic “ennui” so much a part of Antonioni, Tarkovsky and Angelopoulos should now be given to this late, great screenwriter.
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Lina Romay: 1954- February 15, 2012
Long-time companion and muse of Spanish director Jess Franco, Lina Romay, has died at the young age of 57. Romay acted primarily in the films of Franco, and although her acting talents weren’t celestial, she had a certain animal magnetism on screen, had no qualms about bearing all, and had a strong cult following among fans of the erotic (or, to borrow a Japanese term that doesn’t quite work for her films, but gets the idea across, ero guro). Sadly, this is the second time director Franco has had to suffer the loss of his partner/collaborator, as his one-time lover and muse Solidad Miranda died at the tender age of 27 in 1970. Romay starred in dozens of porn film, both soft and hard, but will probably be best remembered for her horror and action films (see link for titles).
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Theo Angelopoulos 1935-2012
Shockwaves around the world of cinema, as the great Greek auteur Theo Angelopoulos has died from injuries incurred after being hit by a motorcycle on Tuesday, January 23rd. Apparently he was working on a film and the accident occurred near the film set. Angelopoulos had established himself as one of the most uncompromising filmmakers in contemporary cinema, making works that were heavily steeped in detailed historical discourse and a highly mannered mise en scene and long take, moving camera visual style. Angelopoulos’s greatest works include The Travelling Players (1975), Landscape in the Mist (1988), The Suspended Step of the Stork (1991), Ulysses Gaze (1995) and Eternity and a Day (1998). Offscreen has had an Angelopoulos special issue in the works for a very long time, placed on the back-burner, but this tragic news will hopefully inspire me to complete it sooner rather than later. Stay tuned.
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Donald Sharp: April 19, 1922-Dec. 18, 2011
One of the most prolific of the British Hammer Studios directors, Don Sharp, has passed away at the age of 89. His films for Hammer included the remarkable The Kiss of the Vampire (1962), four interesting Christopher Lee vehicles Rasputin, the Mad Monk (1965) and The Face of Fu Manchu (1965) and its first sequel The Brides of Fu Manchu (1966) and Dark Places (1973). Among his other horror/SF credits are Witchcraft (1964), Curse of the Fly (1965), Rocket to the Moon (1967), and Sharp’s contribution to the 1960s counter-culture/beatnik movement, Psychomania (1971).
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Ken Russell: 1927-2011
The irreverent and iconoclastic British director Ken Russell passed away on November 27, 2011 and the age of 84. Russell was an invited guest of the Fantasia International Film festival in July of 2011 to receive a special lifetime achievement award. I had the good fortune to interview Mr. Russell and his wife Lisi Tribble, with my colleague Peter Rist. Although we could both tell that Russell’s mental state at this time was not at 100% he was very courteous and good-natured, not what we had perhaps expected given his reputation. But at 84 I’m sure the lion that roared within the younger soul had found some peace and tranquility. As his son Alex Verney-Elliott said Monday, “My father died peacefully… He died with a smile on his face.” With his vast range of idiosyncratic films across all genres (documentaries, science-fiction, horror, musicals, biopics, period pieces) there will certainly never be another one like him. RIP Ken.
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Recontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montreal
The RIDM is back from November 9 to 20, 2011
Montreal, August 31, 2011 – The 14th edition of the Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) will be held from November 9 to 20. Screenings of close to a hundred films and many related activities will take place at various Montreal venues, after which the proceedings will move on to Quebec City.
Audiences will be treated to the standouts from this year’s festivals, including Position Among the Stars by Leonard Retel Helmrich, which won the Special Jury Prize for Documentary Film in Sundance and Best Feature Length Documentary at IDFA, and Dragonslayer by Tristan Patterson, Grand Jury Award Winner at South by Southwest and Best International Feature at Hot Docs.
The Canadian selection will include such long-awaited films as United States of Africa by Yanick Létourneau, a portrait of African hip hop artists fighting for social justice, and Inside Lara Roxx by Mia Donovan, a frank depiction of the nightmare experience of a Montreal porn actress who contracted HIV on a film set.
Three major retrospectives will be part of the official selection. First off, the RIDM pays tribute to famous American filmmaker Frederick Wiseman by presenting ten of his most influential films. The works of Jørgen Leth, a leading figure in Danish cinema and co-director with Lars von Trier of The Five Obstructions, will also be featured. Audiences will also get a taste of one of the greatest Czech filmmakers, Helena Třeštíková, winner of two awards for her film Katka during the last edition of the festival.
As the festival wraps up, a number of awards will be handed out to the best films, including a new, highly unusual award, the Female Inmates’ Prize by a jury made up of five female inmates of the Joliette Institution.
The RIDM, the only Quebec festival entirely focused on documentaries, offers audiences the best of non-fiction film by bringing together respected veterans and up-and-coming talents. The full program will be unveiled during the October 26 press conference at the Cinémathèque québécoise.
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Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men: The Fantastic Cinema if Ishiro Honda
“MUSHROOM CLOUDS AND MUSHROOM MEN — THE FANTASTIC CINEMA OF ISHIRO HONDA” by Peter H. Brothers.
For the first time in America, a book has been published on Japan’s foremost director of Fantasy Films: “MUSHROOM CLOUDS AND MUSHROOM MEN – The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda” (AuthorHouse, ISBN: 978-1-4490-2771-1).
Known primarily for directing such classic Japanese monster movies as Rodan, Mothra, Attack of the Mushroom People and the original Godzilla, Ishiro Honda (1911 – 2011) has been an undeservedly overlooked figure in mainstream international cinema.
MUSHROOM CLOUDS AND MUSHROOM MEN is the first book to cover in English print Honda’s life as well comprehensively evaluates all 25 of his fantasy films. It is also gives objective and critical analysis of Honda’s filmmaking methods, themes and relationships with actors and technicians.
Making use of extensive interviews from Honda’s colleagues as well as a wealth of original source material never before gathered into one volume (including previously-unpublished essays) and nominated in 2009 for a “Rondo Award,” MUSHROOM CLOUDS AND MUSHROOM MEN is an affectionate tribute to the most-prolific and influential director in the history of fantasy films.
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David Hess: 1942-2011
Horror, grind-house and exploitation fans were dealt a cruel blow with the news of the passing David Hess, respected for his ability to inject true menace into his depiction of screen meanies. I don’t know of too many people who would argue with the assessment of Hess’ Krug Stilo and Alex of The Last House on the Left and The House on the Edge of the Park as two of the most terrifying screen bad guys/villains. As the leader and surrogate father figure of a gang of sociopaths in Wes Craven’s The Last House on the Left Hess brought a touch of humanity and vulnerability to his role that made his character edge in memory. Hess had a second (first in fact, followed by his acting career) as a songwriter, writing songs for such luminaries as Elvis Presley, Andy Williams and Pat Boone. I had the good fortune to meet him when he was in Montreal at The Fantasia International Film Festival with the film Smash Cut, co-starring Sasha Grey and directed by Lee Demarbre, and he was ever the gentleman, courteous, fun and charming. My memory of him was standing with Buddy Giovinazzo and his German partner outside the theatrre after a screening of Smash Cut and overhearing the three of them speaking fluid German. I knew that Buddy had been living in Germany for many years, and imagined that Hess must have some German origins or himself had lived in Germany. Condolences to his children, family and all his fans.
Hess with Sasha Grey introducing Smash Cut
