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LE VIOL DU VAMPIRE

For the first time and his own way Jean Rollin in 1968 Jean Rollin, bites with his vampire's fangs the world of cinema.

He tries follow the cinematography of Bergam and the way of direction of "Nouvelle Vague". Or rather he tried. We estimate Rollin, but we must admit that he isn't neither Bergman or Truffaut. It must be said, however, that he probably pointed to other and we can guess what his interests are: vampires, poetry and eroticism.

Tits and poetry in short, not to mention a vague sense of allegorical critique of society. The first are women who end up with tits out of their own volition or for clothes that look very fragile. The second, poetry,is impressed on film with beautiful images, parallels and some bizarre statement.


Experimental 68's, caught in the middle of riots of Paris in 1968, this film could be just a nice chapter if the director had not exaggerated intellectuality which ends up bringing the viewer to have dizziness, boredom, and one question "why?".


Totally black and white "The Viol Du Vampire" is composed of two segments, relatives in the theme but different in history. A choice that certainly does not facilitate the vision, considering the different language used.

The first part, "Le Viol Du Vampire", is the shortest, but also the most technically impressive as well as more attractive.
Strong of great cinematography tells the story of three persons, sociologists and psychologists, who venture into the lives of four girls who live in a strange house convinced to be vampires. They follow the dictates of a mysterious old man and worship a scarecrow. The clash between belief and science is the core of the story, with obvious reversals of the parts.

This thirty minutes are accompanied by a request  "vampires exist?". Yes!. They are also organized as understood by looking at the second part of the film, "Les Femmes Vampires", in which there is even a sect of vampires led by a queen caste that comes from the sea. She drives a flock of the faithful and is in close contact with a clinic in which seems to have found the cure for vampirism.


Everything becomes more complex, intertwined, figuratively, with a gap of corpses, dead bodies and even a rebellion. Too messy plot that brings this Rollin's film not easily digestible.
And it's a pity, because the director shows great skill and sometimes a few more than a good idea, thwarted only by history, by a series of situations that have made working with the director really craft makeshift solutions.
The realization of this work, as history tells us, was as difficult as it's the vision of the film.

In 1967, an owner of several theaters in Paris asked to Rollin make a medium length film about vampires to use as Overture for an American horror film of the forties that he had bought for his theaters.

Rollin that had already shot several short movies takes this opportunity to get noticed by the world of cinema and thanks to a producer is able to create a film lasting thirty minutes. Shot in the suburbs of Paris and in a beach of Normandy, a place that we find in his other films, the work result too much long.
The producer, however, insists and engages Rollin for a new work. More budget, more complex idea, but still an amateur troupe: this is "Les Femmes Vampires".
This second work is longer than the previous segment. Rollin then, to make things even more difficult, also loses the script, leaving several scenes . He recover if we want with the movie's poster designed by artist and cartoonist Philippe Druillet an important french artist.

The two segments are combined and the movie comes out right during the riots in Paris in 1968. It has great success at the box office, because it is one of the few films in circulation in those days and passes for the first French movie about vampires (which is not true).
The audience, however, does not respond well as the journalist. Rollin is shocked and he thought about leaving the world of cinema, then he changed his idea, only for the love of the art, but he st
Meanwhile, the film is re-evaluating, arouses curiosity and a producer asks to the director to shoot another film. "Le Viol du Vampire" disappears from the circulation for several years and Rollin's career continues with "The Vampire Nue".




Technical

Original title: Le Viol Du Vampire

Year: 1968

Director: Jean Rollin

Country: France

Alternate Titles: Die des Vergewaltigung Vampirs (Germany), La reine des Vampires (undefined) Queen of the Vampires, The Rape of the Vampire, Vampire Women (USA)

Duration: 100 '