The good news is that nobody got punched!
I attended the Daughters of Darkness screening last night with my friend Tina. After buying our tickets and soda, we spotted John Karlen in the lobby, but he was walking out. I lingered for a moment to see if he would return, but then we went to find seats. I was delighted to see Bette and Midnite, and we sat with them.
Tina and I saw Harry Kumel right away, shortly after we sat down. In fact, he sat right in front of Tina in the seat marked ¢â‚¬ËœSimone Simon'. (The chair in front of me was labeled ¢â‚¬ËœMarlene Dietrich'.) Remembering what John Karlen had said about him, we gave the director the evil eye at first. 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. 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. I was disappointed after reading all the hype on the message board, and I know Midnite was also very frustrated.
I had never seen Daughters of Darkness before. I enjoyed it. The print that we watched in the theater was, unfortunately, very scratched and faded.
However, the story itself was interesting. It begins with a honeymooning couple, Stefan (John Karlen) and Valerie, (Daniele Ouimet) traveling by train, ostensibly to meet Stefan's mother. The train breaks down and the couple ends up staying at a deserted Belgian hotel. They plan to stay for just one night, but when the Countess Elizabeth Bathory (Delphine Seyrig) and her companion, Ilona, (Andrea Rau) arrive, plans change. The countess is fascinated by Valerie, much to Ilona's annoyance, and she sets out to get to know the couple better. Meanwhile, a series of murders are occurring in nearby Bruges; young girls are being found with their throats torn open, and not a drop of blood in sight. Gradually, as Stefan's true, beastly nature is revealed, Elizabeth uses the opportunity to begin her seduction of Valerie¢â‚¬¦
Kumel was right; the film is rather humorous. There's a lot of ironic dialogue. Delphine Seyrig is probably the best thing about Daughters of Darkness; she relishes her part completely. I wasn't prepared for John Karlen's character to be such a creep. It was quite a shift to see Willie dealing out the beatings for a change. I felt that the isolation of the hotel added to the suspense and the apprehension about what the vampires would do next. Overall, it was a better movie than I expected.
After the film ended, Harry Kumel and John Karlen took their seats onstage with the moderator. Kumel said a few words about how his movie had been cut to satisfy "puritanical America" and advised us to see the DVD. 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."
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."
The mention of the hairdresser inspired Kumel to tell a story. "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."
As a contrast, Kumel talked about Paul Esser, the actor who played Pierre, the concierge who recognizes Countess Bathory from her stay at the hotel 40 years earlier. "I wanted him to put some gray in his hair to make him look older, but he didn't want to do it. ¢â‚¬ËœNo, no,' he said. ¢â‚¬ËœI'll act gray.' And he did! He did a magnificent job in this film, and he didn't speak a word of English at the time."
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. 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 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.
The moderator turned to the audience for questions, for which there was only time for one. A man in the audience asked Kumel to give us an idea of what the deleted footage showed. "You really should get the DVD to find out," the director encouraged. Some of the more overt lesbian-themed scenes were cut down. "When Ilona tries to leave the Countess and Elizabeth says to her, ¢â‚¬ËœYou would never leave me. Without me, you'd have no life.' Ilona replies, ¢â‚¬ËœYou call this a life?' But that last line was cut in this version. There's still enough left in the movie that you can get an idea of what's going on but it's very subtle¢â‚¬¦Subtle¢â‚¬¦" he laughed. "That's like saying Michael Moore is subtle. No, no, I'm not comparing myself to him." 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. 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."
Kumel also complained that the vivid and contrasting colors in his original print had been washed out in the American version. "Americans like to equalize their colors. You can't see how some colors are more subtle than others. It's a little thing but the little things are important. Look at the famous paintings of the world. What are the subjects? People writing letters. People pouring milk. There's nothing remarkable about that. But it's the little things that are so important! The unimportant things make all the difference. So beware of ¢â‚¬Ëœreally important documentaries' that claim to have a lot to say." (zing!) He chuckled.
Kumel also made a reference to some of the comedy included in the movie. "The scene where the countess is in the car saying, Go faster. Faster!' was almost a joke because the film is paced so slowly. But we didn't want it to go any faster. We had to stretch it out as it was because it was such an awful script." Both he and Karlen snickered about that.
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."
The discussion had lasted longer than it should have, so the moderator rushed to clear the theater. Karlen had posed for just a couple of pictures before leaving. I had hoped to see him in the lobby, but by the time we got there, he had already gone. Leaving the building, I saw a couple of my fellow Shadows in the Sun club members and talked with them for a bit before going next door to the Pig & Whistle. It was a very nice evening, all in all.
ProfStokes
