Leviathan (1962) - part 1 - Leonard Keigel

"Another movie, another planet" could have sing Peter Perrett of The Only Ones. This time, we'll take a look at the first movie of Leonard Keigel : Leviathan aka Dark Journey inspired by the book of Julien Green. Strangely enough, Leonard Keigel is one of the co-founder of "Les Cahiers Du Cinema" with Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, André Bazin and Lo Duca. I said "strangely enough" because this movie is nothing like a "Nouvelle Vague" movie. That's one of the many paradoxes of this polemical magazine that shouldn't surprise you.



Starring Louis Jourdan, yes the same one from GiGi, Leviathan is a rare french movie about the different aspects of love & its mysteries.
Complex, mysterious, overwhelming, a shelter & a downfall ...

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This is the fascinating Marie Laforet in one of her best part with Plein Soleil aka Purple Noon by Rene Clement.

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Yes, she sings too. she has a few hits in the sixties.
I personally love her cover of The Rolling Stones Paint It Black as Marie Douceur Marie Colere.

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This was the first 12 frames i'll post of this movie.
Next monday you'll see the last 12.
In the meantime, any comments will be appreciated.

Ferryman Maria (1936) - part2 - Frank Wisbar

So this is my last 12 frames taken from Ferryman Maria.
This is Cinema at his Peak.
Enjoy!

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I love the mysterious mood of this journey with Maria & The Man In Black.

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Fassbinder based his movie Veronika Voss on the sad story of Sybille Schmitz. A declining and drug-addict UFA actress.

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The Man In Black is played by Peter Voß or Peter Voss.
He is really breathtaking in this movie, but i couldn't find any reliable information on him except his filmography.

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Time has come to praise the Director of Photography Franz Weihmayr who created an unique atmosphere with darkness and dusk, using Light like they used to do in the great Silent Movies. this art of light is way long forgotten now. But i don't regret it. Don't get me wrong. i like Modern Cinema. But let's face it. Cinema has become something else.
Oh !! i know he's more famous for filming the infamous Triumph Of The Will on the 1934 Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg. Nobody's perfect.
Does it justify to undervalue his work on Ferryman Maria ? No.

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Now i can tell you that Sybille Schmitz is more famous for playing in the fantastic Carl Theodor Dreyer's Vampyr.

bonus -
"Un amour pour lequel on consent à sacrifier sa vie pour sauver l'être aimé triomphe des pires tourments. C'est le thème de cette histoire".

More than ever i have to give you the Plot because as there were so many frames i wanted to show you about this forgotten movie i had to focus on just the story between Death & Maria.
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PLOT
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A strange, abstract story in which Death appears as a man on the ferry, a tall, imposing, ghostly man. Maria is a young woman, a runaway, a stranger in the village, who takes over the job of ferryman at a river crossing after the old ferryman dies. Just as she gets settled into the little cottage that comes with the job, a wounded man appears on the other side of the river. She ferries him across and hides him in the cottage. Death appears again, this time in pursuit of the man. She leads Death though a swamp, praying that she may be taken instead of him. Death sinks into the swamp, the man gets well, and the two of them leave the village and go across the river to his home.

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NOTES
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These frames are taken from a rare broadcast on french tv Arte 10 years ago.
To my knowledge, this movie hasn't been released yet on VHS nor DVD of course.