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Fantômas: The Complete Saga
Box Set
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Product Description
Based on the phenomenally popular French pulp novellas, Louis Feuillades outrageous, ambitious FANTOMAS series became the gold standard of espionage serials in pre-WWI Europe, and laid the foundation for such immortal works as Feuillades own Les Vampires and Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse films.
Product details
- MPAA rating : NR (Not Rated)
- Product Dimensions : 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 8.8 ounces
- Director : Louis Feuillade
- Media Format : Box set, Multiple Formats, NTSC, Silent, Black & White
- Run time : 5 hours and 11 minutes
- Release date : September 21, 2010
- Actors : Rene Navarre, Edmund Breon, Renee Carl, Georges Melchior, Jane Faber
- Studio : Kino Lorber films
- ASIN : B003MT2EK0
- Country of Origin : USA
- Number of discs : 5
- Best Sellers Rank: #109,448 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #1,377 in Foreign Films (Movies & TV)
- Customer Reviews:
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Part One, "In the Shadow of the Guillotine," introduces the basic dynamic between arch-fiend Fantômas and the duo obsessively devoted to bringing him to justice, Juve of the Sûreté and his loyal sidekick, the reporter Fandor. Fantômas quickly demonstrates his defining characteristics, an uncanny ability to assume new identities and an utter ruthlessness. His exploitation of the character of Lady Beltham borders on the vampiric. The second film, "Juve vs. Fantômas" is a fever dream of pulpish delights including a train wreck, a gun battle culminating in an inferno, and a killer boa constrictor. It concludes with Fantômas blowing up the house with the two protagonists still inside and their fates unknown. Much of Part Three, "The Murderous Corpse," plays like a fin-de-siècle police procedural as the authorities step up their investigative efforts, and the subsequent film, "Fantômas vs. Fantômas," ratchets up the surrealism with a bleeding wall and a costumed ball attended by three guests dressed as Fantômas. The final film, "The False Magistrate," offers the viewer the best opportunity to observe the villain's methods as he assumes the identity of a judicial official and abuses the position for his own nefarious gains.
Modern viewers may find devoting five-and-a-half hours to watch a silent French serial to be unreasonable: the camera remains largely motionless and scenes play themselves out with only a modicum of edits. Those approaching Fantômas with patience and an open mind will be amply rewarded. Images become like a tableau and linger in the mind. Like Feuillade's other thrillers, "Les Vampires" and "Judex," "Fantômas" takes on the texture of a filmed dream, almost like an "Inception" made a century earlier. Identities are exchanged and abandoned with ease while motives and intentions remain unclear.
The films generally look exceptionally good for their age although portions of "The False Magistrate" are lost and replaced with descriptions and a still photograph. While visually pleasing, the musical score, drawn from a French music library, presents some minor issues. Many of the cues selected compliment the action on screen, but in other instances the music overplays the menace or the comedy. Also certain vocal pieces and occasional sound effects (gunshots, applause, etc.) are distracting and reminiscent of budget-priced DVD releases. The exemplary work done by composer Robert Israel on "Les Vampires" and "Judex" is greatly missed here. This is a minor quibble given the overall excellence of the restoration and the supplementary features included by Kino. In addition to a still gallery is an audio commentary by film scholar David Kalat on the first two films. Kalat provided one of the most informative and entertaining commentaries I've ever listened to for Image's release of "Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler" and he brings the same insight and enthusiasm to this project. Fuelliade's directorial versatility is demonstrated by a ten-minute film on his career and a pair of short films, "The Nativity" (1910) and "The Dwarf" (1912).
Overall it's a fantastic set that belongs in the collection of anyone with an interest in early cinema, pulp thrillers, or great storytelling.
All shot in 1913 and 1914, these episodes are dramatic, exciting and filled with an incredible sense of suspense. One so powerful that each time you wonder if Commissioner Juve and his friend Jerome Fandor will ever capture that fiend. Speaking of Fandor, those that may have read the original novels in French like I did might notice how Jerome's origins are more simple. Not only that, the first episode's ending is less grim and shocking than what the first novel offered. As the latter is easily explainable as being too violent for a wide public release, the absence of Jerome'S origins presents the protagonists as archetypes of good and evil rather than people with different layers as in the novel. Nevertheless, the episodes are very pleasant to watch and Feuillade really knows how to focus your attention on the action and the plot; making you impatient to watch the next episodes. A forewarner of the television serials that would appear decades later.
Technically, each episode is color-tinted for the moods and time period of the story, uses music cues from the Catalogue Sonimage, and the actors are excellent; in particular René Navarre, whose piercing look makes him the perfect person for the Fantomas role. By the way, I adored what Feuillade did at the start of each episode as he displays Navarre's various attires he shall use in his episode. It forewarns the public that the story's dramatic and that the character is dangerous.
But as a pre-warning, I have to mention that the last episode "The False Magistrate" is partially complete as several frames of the film are either damaged or lost. Indeed, notes on the screen summarise what happened in those absent sections, including the ending, which sorts of kills the tension of that episode and makes it more difficult to watch. Therefore, that episode's mutilated quality is a clear warning on how we must preserve movies from any deterring conditions whetehr they are human or natural.
Finally, the special features offer very decent bonuses. Two audio commentaries, two other short films Feuillade did, a documentary on the director, and images with posters involving Fantomas, including some with the Jean Marais and Louis de Funes's trilogy.
As a whole, this series is a wonderful treat for those who love suspense and a visual proof of the power Fantomas's character still holds. A character whose novels deserve more translation in English as only the novels offer a complete conclusion to the story. As to who Fantomas really is.
Second aspect is the naivete of the so-called formidable evil of Fantomas; what's the big deal? Anybody looking for evidence of the erosion of our sensibilities, this movie could serve as a landmark.
Top reviews from other countries
Das fünfteilige Serial von Louis Feuillade mit René Navarre in der Titelrolle, die erste Verfilmung der Romane, gehörte zu den größten Filmerfolgen ihrer Zeit (1913 / 1914). Das lag vor allem an den guten Drehbüchern, die sich eng an die damals verfügbaren Originalromane hielten. Zudem war Regisseur Feuillade (1873-1922) einer der profiliertesten Filmemacher seiner Zeit, dessen Filmografie bei seinem Tod 649 Filme umfasste. In Wahrheit waren es letztendlich wohl um die 800 Filme, viele davon allerdings nur wenige Minuten lang. Diese dreiteilige DVD-Box aus dem Jahr 1998 enthält die teilweise viragierten Filme "Fantomas in the Shadow of the Guillotine" (54 Min.), "Juve vs. Fantomas" (62 Min.), "The murderous Corpse" (90 Min.), "Fantomas vs. Fantomas" (60 Min.) und "The false Magistrate" (71 Min.). Die Bildqualität ist, gemessen am Alter, größtenteils ziemlich gut, nur beim letzten Teil muß man größere Abstriche machen. Es ist auch der einzige Film, bei dem etliche Teile verschollen sind, die mit Texttafeln überbrückt werden. Die Zwischentitel sind beim ersten Film in französisch mit englischen Untertiteln, bei den anderen Filmen in englisch. Als Bonus gibt es noch zwei Kurzfilme von Feuillade, und zwar das Frühwerk "The Nativity" (14 Min.) von 1910 (dementsprechend mäßig) und das tragische Drama "The Dwarf" (1912, 17 Min., ziemlich gut), Vor allem gibt es aber noch die sehr interessante Doku "Louis Feuillade: Master of many Forms" (19 Min.) zu sehen. Wenn man bedenkt, das praktisch das gesamte Material über 110 Jahre alt ist, kann man nur staunen.
En cuanto a la edición española se echa de menos algo de restauración y los subtitulos a veces no tienen sentido como si fueran hechos por ordenador o fueran una traducción literal de los intertitulos originales franceses, se hubiera agradecido un poco mas de interés para hacerlos bien, encima que hay momentos que aparecen demasiado rápido y no te da tiempo a leerlos o aparecen medio cortados.
Los dvds no tienen ningún tipo de contenido extra.