Monthly Archives: June 2024

Reviews

LA RONDE (1950) – a Review

Leave a comment

(Directed by Max Ophuls)

Reviewed by

Coincidentally, our third movie is another gem of cinematography directed by Max Ophuls. The film is based on Arthur Schnitzler’ play Reigen (1897). This time the action takes place in 1900’s Vienna, Austria, where we have a ‘tour guide’ to accompany us through the streets of this fabulous and enchanting city and will introduce us to the most eccentric characters caught up in the most curious of situations!

PLOT:

The story is told by the Master of Ceremonies played by Anton Walbrook, one of my all-time favorite actors. Walbrook serves as a middle man between us (the audience) and the characters by often breaking the fourth wall to explain things or give us useful insights to better understand each and every situation presented to us. He can be seen interacting with the characters as well as with the viewers. As the title (which loosely translates to ‘merry-go-round’) suggests, the story is based on a series of personal encounters and how every action will have a direct reaction. This could have funny repercussions at times but at other times even devastating ones for some parties involved!

SOCIAL ANIMALS:

What makes La Ronde a must-see film is first and foremost the unique plot , exquisite sets, costumes, and superb acting, under the direction of Max Ophuls (see The Earrings of Madame de…review). The movie also takes a close inspection at men and women as social animals, and as such only limited in their debauchery by the social constructs they are tied to. You have the soldier, the prostitute, the maid, the poet, the shopgirl, the count (and his dog!)…all of them part of this societal merry-go-round!

CHARACTERS:

The entire cast is stellar, but two names are worth extra mention: Danielle Darrieux as Emma and of course Anton Walbrook as the Master of Ceremonies. They both bring something special to the screen with their charm, humor, but also a melancholy that only the best of actors could achieve.

CLOSING REMARKS:

If you love humor that is witty yet with a touch of realism that sometimes might tug at our hearts; if you love plot, dialogue, and stellar acting; if you love to be transported in a world that is magic, enchanting, stylish, classy, then hop on the merry-go-round and you too will be thrilled for an unforgettable time!

🦀

Reviews, TRENDS DIE OUT; LEGENDS LIVE ON

Sara was Judith by Julian Hawthorne

Leave a comment

TRENDS DIE OUT/LEGENDS LIVE ON

The Strange Recollections of Martha Klemm: Sara was Judith 

by Julian Hawthorne

~ Reviewed by

Sara was Judith is a novel that many today label as ‘weird pulp’ but I personally don’t like that term because it unfairly limits the range and multifaceted aspects of this novel.

It first appeared in 1920 as part of The Strange Recollections of Martha Klemm written by Julian Hawthorne. Recently, a splendid new edition was released by Cirsova Publishing in collaboration with none other than Wild Stars’ creator Michael Tierney. Shout out to Cirsova and Tierney; we need more of these gems of fiction literature to be brought back to life (pun intended, for those who’ve already read this story!).

THE AUTHOR:

Hawthorne is a very introspective writer and is able to dissect a character’s profile with surgical precision, both from a physical and psychological standpoint. He also applies this overly descriptive style of writing to things, even natural events. The description of an incoming storm in chapter 9 is perhaps one of the highlights of the entire novel. Not only does it represent one of the most crucial moments in the plot but it is also able to transport the reader right into the middle of this incoming thunderstorm in New England with such realistic description of prelude/destruction/aftermath that the memory of it all will certainly linger in the mind long after putting down the book. 

PLOT:

It would be hard to speak of the plot in a way that would aid this review. Not much can be dispelled if you want to experience the full impact of it. Basically this is all narrated from the perspective of Martha Klemm, who tells us about one of her former school friends, Sara, and how strangely fascinating a person she was since childhood. In her adult life she marries and against all odds (read the story for further details) she gives birth to a daughter, Judith. To the big surprise of Martha, the daughter is nothing like her unattractive and ordinary parents. When tragedy strikes and Judith dies in a tragic accident Sara commits suicide by hanging. But then a few hours after being declared officially dead, she wakes up…Only that as time goes on Martha senses that her long-time friend is acting more like her deceased daughter Judith…

 

LOCATIONS:

Events will take the reader from Boston to Long Island, from Paris to London, from Geneva to Dresden. Again, the blend of Hawthorne’s attention to detail combined with his personal experience (he himself had visited those places) really offer a ‘virtual’ roundtrip fair to these captivating locations: visit the most gorgeous XIX century homes and hotels, attend the most prestigious plays in some of the most renowned theaters, and meet some of the most peculiar and fascinating people. THAT alone is worth reading this book!

MYSTERY:

The story slowly raises a series of mysteries before the reader. Who is Sara/Judith really? What’s her real purpose? Why does her persona seem to have such a magnetic effect on men (and women) alike? Is she angel or demon, Martha asks herself?

SUPERNATURAL–THEN AND NOW:

If we read a novel like SWJ and compare it to most current novels that deal somewhat with the ‘supernatural’ we will notice that much has changed. Today it seems as though readers always expect a very direct and graphic approach: demon-possessed characters who speak with guttural voices, climb walls like Spiderman, or can turn their necks a whole 360 degrees! But I ask: does all that create a more suspenseful and compelling story at the end of the day?

Hawthorne adopts a completely different approach; he is subtle and challenges the reader to try and find out who exactly Sara/Judith is. There’s no need to change her voice, or give her red eyes, or fangs. In fact, her sweet charming voice and irresistible beauty are the most frightening of elements in the story: “Kiss me! I bring you all the kingdoms of the earth! Nothing can stand against legion! Tonight was the beginning of our festival. Together, we’ll depopulate the world! Come—” This is mental and spiritual warfare at its highest level! 

CONCLUSION:

Sara Was Judith is a masterpiece in my opinion. I can’t even classify it into a specific genre because there’s too much it unpacks. I’m not sure if Hawthorne was a Christian believer but there are a lot of Biblical references all throughout the story that are accurate and heighten the intrinsic value of this novel. We also have many references to Greek and Roman mythology, all adding layers upon layers to a story that up to this day, still leaves me in awe and wonder!

Legends live on!

🦀

 

Stay tuned for the next review in our Trends Die Out/Legends Live On series:

SHE by H. R. Haggard 

 

Non-Fiction/Documentary, Sci-Fi

Detour into Graphic Novels Part 3

Leave a comment

If you haven’t been following my sad saga about trying to make graphic novels, you can catch up by reading about how the old comic book bug was first rekindled, then my frustrating experience with one artist.

Not being a masochist, I cut my losses, paid the latter for wasting my time, and regrouped.

Back to the drawing board. Pun intended.

I found another artist with a page rate I could swing; and he seemed to understand English pretty well. He was a Manga artist, but said he could draw American-style comics. Since I wanted a more classic, simplistic style anyway (remember: I thought it would be cool if it was a similar style to Milton Caniff or Alex Raymond), I thought it could work out.

I decided to have him try Page 1, and do it in black & white to see if the style was a good fit before thinking about color.

The same kind of issues haunted me as with the previous artist. I literally had to give him the same directions 5 times before he would follow them. Going through that for every panel on a 90-page graphic novel is something I just don’t have the patience for.

After 14 days. he had this, which is much closer to what I wanted:

The artist’s Manga background helped him come closer to the simple, elegant style I thought would fit the sci-fi adventure.

Some stuff I just had to let go. Two of the characters are supposed to be older; but after telling him this over and over and over and him ignoring it, I figure he’s probably never gonna do it for whatever reason.

I wasn’t going to give up; but I was done with Fiverr and maybe even trying to hire artists.

One reason I had been ready to sink thousand$$ into this project was because time is such a precious commodity and drawing is extremely time consuming. Learning how to draw, then drawing, takes even more time. But that appeared to be the only way this was gonna happen, now.

“I have to draw it myself,” sez I.

Read the whole thing  on Substack.

Interview

We Have a Winner!! (Infamous Contest)

5 Comments

INFAMOUS🦀 REVIEWER Short Story Contest Winner:

MOTHER

by Sarah Kirk Pierzchala

 

Q1: Sarah, first of all let me tell you that choosing a winner was no easy task for us, but in the end I was very happy it was your story for a few reasons. Can you tell us more about the origins of Mother?

 

Sarah: First, let me thank you for offering this opportunity for us writers to participate in such a fun contest! I’ve never had much success writing stories to prompts, but as soon as I read the parameters for this competition, the setting swiftly formed in my mind’s eye and the different elements fell into place pretty soon after that.

 

Q2: The 1st act, as Henry also pointed out, very much reminds me of that 20-ish minute intro in the original Planet of The Apes (1968). We were both taken by how you handled that part of the story: the lone adventurer exploring a new world. What or who inspired you to go that route?

 

Sarah: This story is more ‘pulpy’ than I normally write, so I definitely wanted to capture that sense of mystery, adventure and survival. There was certainly some influence from ‘60’s films like Jules Verne’s “Mysterious Island”, but I also just imagined what I might feel as that character in that situation. Also, since I’ve written an entire novel that mostly takes place on a small island with limited characters, I knew how important it is to make the story location itself almost as developed as its own character.

 

Q3: The main character is a woman who apparently was not at the top of her class in the academy. What then drove her to keep going and stay alive in such dire circumstances?

 

Sarah: Obviously, anyone who made it through an exobiologist program would meet some minimum psychological requirements to survive in a situation like that. Think how rigorously NASA selects and trains their astronauts! Also, her natural curiosity about the location helped her to not panic and give up.

Q4: For me the deciding factor to award your story 1st place was how you combined the ‘crab’ element with the ‘island’ element in such a creative way I personally didn’t see it coming until the very end. Where did that specific idea come from or was that something you had already brewing in the back of your mind?

 

Sarah: For me, seeing those words in proximity just handed the premise to me without requiring much effort on my part. The main challenge was to develop the drama and sense of wonder within the space constraints.

Q5: The big question now is, can we hope to see more of this universe come to life? I feel like between the MC, the island, the crabs, and the entire element of mystery there could be a lot more to explore here.

 

Sarah: I hadn’t really thought about that, but I’m delighted it made such an impression on you! I really enjoyed crafting the protagonist and creating the relationship between her and her environment, so who knows—there could be more to come some day!

Note from Henry: Gio is right–it was very difficult to pick a winner. All the submissions were solid and fun. We have showcased the work of these talented authors (and many others) on Virtual Pulp, and from our interactions with them came this contest. The quality of these entries reflects on how good Gio is at sniffing out the literary treasures in the colossal slush pile that is the e-book market of today.