The good news is that nobody got punched! 
LOL Fabulous writeup, as always. It was great seeing you!
Remembering what John Karlen had said about him, we gave the director the evil eye at first.
All that was apparent last night was a mutual respect. Go figure.
But when he spoke, he actually seemed like a very personable guy. He was able to laugh at himself and at the movie. When he was called forward just before the film started in order to say a few words, he mentioned that the movie was rather funny and chuckled to himself about it. In spite of my earlier prejudice, I found myself liking him.
I was very fascinated and could've listened to him talk about directorial technique for hours. Like his movie, he was occasionally amusing and always entertaining.
The moderator of the evening's discussion announced that, unfortunately, the full-length restored print of the film had not arrived from Belgium in time, so we would be watching the edited, American print from the UCLA archives.
The print damage was very apparent.
At least the sound was crisp and clear, including the wonderful musical score, all of which I assume was due to the extendable (!) wall panels running from floor to ceiling. This was my first visit to the Egyptian since it had been remodeled/restored and I immediately missed its former ostentatiousness. Thankfully, the painted ceiling with the huge sunburst over a blue background was still there, as was the large gilded scarab above our heads. I'm hoping (fingers crossed) that the original interior walls are still present behind those acoustic panels.
The seats were just a little more than half full. How disappointing, especially since the rep encouraged everyone to get tickets for the "Ren and Stimpy"
event as soon as possible, even though it was more than a week away, because they were selling fast. <sigh>
Before the screening, they showed the trailer for "Singing in the Rain" (due to an upcoming Debbie Reynolds tribute). I would've much preferred seeing the DOD trailer, but that's me.
He was asked where he had gotten the idea for Daughters of Darkness. Kumel explained that an earlier film of his had done well but that he'd been advised to make something "more commercial." (eg--with more sex, violence, blood and gore.) "By chance, I had picked up a book about Countess Elizabeth Bathory. I was fascinated by the story and wanted to make a film based on it, but there was no money for something so elaborate. Then I suggested, ¢â‚¬ËœWhat if this woman was still alive and out in the world?' Then we could set it in modern times." Hence, the premise for Daughters of Darkness was born. Next, Kumel needed to find a star. "Delphine Seyrig was the most chic actress in France. I showed her the script. She liked it. She wanted to get started right away."
Before the movie started, he asked the audience to not think too much, which I thought was a delightful request. He also promised horror with sex, gore, blood and violence included, to which the horror movie enthusiasts in the audience applauded. (Eat your heart out, Hammer Studios.) Afterwards, however, he called his movie "very absurd," and it was fascinating to hear that he apparently didn't think much of his treatment. When he sent it to have the dialogue written he expected to be despised for it ("the greatest scandal ever seen!") yet the writers were more than willing to do it. As if asking for more trouble, he next requested to have one of the greatest and most intelligent French actresses of all time star in it. [She was in France at the time, having just finished filming a French musical (
Peau d'Ģne) with director Jacques Demy. Kumel said it was "not good, not good, because Deneuve was in it. She's a very annoying actress." Meow!] Anyway, he was sure Seyrig would turn him down, perhaps even throw things. But instead, her reply was (imitating her accent), "Dees is wonderful. I want to play it." Kumel told us, "So I was stuck with the film."
It was filmed in 3 to 4 weeks under what he called catastrophic conditions with "no day for night." He said, "Poor John." Karlen had looked in the mirror, he said, and told him, "Every night I look more like Dracula" to which Kumel replied, "This is not your part in the movie."
The moderator addressed Karlen. "You've had a long career in television, most notably on the vampire soap Dark Shadows--there are a few fans of that in the audience. Were you chosen for this movie because of your work on that show?" John said that the movie casting was not related to his part on DS, and then went on to share some of his memories of making the movie. "I remember getting off the plane and meeting Harry at the airport," Karlen reminisced. "We went out for drinks and then I fell asleep. Harry had to wake me up so that we could go and meet Delphine. We had dinner together. I can still remember her ordering the food: scallops, white wine¢â‚¬¦" he listed various dishes. "The next morning, we had a wonderful breakfast at the hotel. Then, on the way to Paris, we stopped and had a picnic lunch by the side of the road. We finally arrived at Paris and Delphine went to Alexandre's to get her hair done. I jumped out of the car right away and stared at everything. I'd never been to Paris before."
Food. And the locations. It was no wonder that John wasn't speaking nearly as often as Kumel--he seemed to only remember the food and the beautiful sights. And despite the conditions under which the movie was made, Karlen said the experience was very enjoyable. He also mentioned that his wife was present during filming.
Kumel had only good things to say about his DOD cast. About Seyrig, he said she had an extraordinary apartment and was a very generous woman and great actress. However, I don't recall hearing any praise for Ouimet. Did I miss it?
"Delphine had red hair, but I had envisioned Countess Bathory as a blonde. I wanted a 1930's style for her, to give her a modern but timeless look. So we took her to Alexandre, who was the Michelangelo of hair styling. He had to agree to see you, and he agreed to work on Delphine. I told him I wanted her blonde, platinum blonde, and he set to work dying her hair. She started out as a redhead so to go to platinum blonde, she had to pass through green¢â‚¬¦Alexandre told me, ¢â‚¬ËœGo to the Tuileries and look at the paintings until I'm done.' When I came back, Delphine was a blonde and he had styled her hair, but it wasn't exactly what I had in mind. Something must have shown on my face because Alexandre looked at me and said, ¢â‚¬ËœNo good, eh? Let me try again.' So he put Delphine under the sink again to fix her hair. And this wasn't just mise en place, he had to use the hot iron. The things these actors have to endure for their art! It took about three tries, but finally her hair was perfect. I saw a lot of Monets that day."
Kumel said she wanted to do that. I can't help but wonder why her hair didn't fall out. I guess the guy really was the Michelangelo of hairdressers.
Next Kumel talked about the locations. "We actually used two locations for this. The exteriors were a hotel in Brussels and the interior was a hotel in Osten (the actual setting of the movie)." They actually had gone to film during the hotel's off-season, so the deserted look to the hotel and streets was accurate. "There were just a few people on the streets when we filmed outside the hotel. But it worked. The audience doesn't care about what goes on the background; they focus on the main actors.
The exterior of the hotel was a composite. He said he wanted it to look like a beautiful painting, and what we see is actually a background. I believe he said the location that provided the lavish interiors, and in which the cast slept, was the Hotel Astoria in Brussels. "It was deserted on purpose," he explained, "because I had no money. I was very young," he added apologetically. "I thought I could do anything. I was arrogant." Actually, I thought he did extremely well despite the limitations of the solitary location and the minimal cast.
Some directors try to make their films seem realistic. They try to get every detail down perfectly, but that doesn't really work. The famous director David Lee said that ¢â‚¬ËœFilm is like a fairy tale. Anyone who tries to incorporate too much reality sooner or later falls flat on his face.' So I tried to make a film that was like a fantasy."
The few references he made to paintings struck me because his work does seem like a painting sprung to life--okay, a disturbing painting, but a painting nonetheless. One of these references was that he wanted the movie to resemble a series of paintings, and later, he explained that a painting is a useless thing. "But it is not as serious as I'm telling you," he added. He said he actually liked hearing the audience laugh, that he doesn't like to be serious. He also said it's important to not make too much of the sexuality in the film.
The moderator turned to John Karlen and asked him about a particular scene in the movie in which his character is almost buried alive, but Karlen remained fixated on food. "All I can remember are the ham sandwiches and all the delicious breads and rolls we got to eat," he claimed.
He should hook up with Diana "I'd Rather Eat Than Act" Millay.
The scene where the medics are carrying a corpse out of the hotel was also longer and more violent. "Stefan sees the corpse and goes berserk. His wife tries to restrain him, but he hits her and throws her back against the side of the building.
He seemed to feel that scene was too important to be cut, calling it the beginning of the end for Stefan. Another scene cut out completely has the Countess saying to the girl, "Oh certainly you're afraid, my little edelweiss." He felt that was cut because it was seen as unimportant, but he said, "It's these very useless moments that are interesting." He also mentioned that the orgasm druing the train ride, too, was cut for American audiences.
But in America, the rules are so strict. You can't even have a man wearing Speedos in a movie. They all have to wear those awful trunks."
LOL. He asked, "Then why are they allowed in the Olympics?"
Karlen went on to say a few words about Kumel. "Harry was a great director. He always told us exactly what to do, where to go, and let us know what he expected from us. He was always on top of things."
Also, Karlen: "It wasn't so much that he told you what to do. The sense of what things you needed to do was there."
Kumel had also said that the version we had seen, because of the cuts, was "not very good."
What followed was a screening of Kumel's "Malpertuis," which he also was going to introduce. I would've loved to have seen it, but perhaps it will be shown at a future film festival.
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