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The Age of Commercialism

Memorable, crazy movie

Disappointment for a huge fan!

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Many of the reviewers were on the same page. I have to fall in line, I'm afraid. The first of the trio, "Mazzengerstein", was just plain dull. You have the beautiful young Jane Fonda becoming an heiress from hell. She runs the show at all times because of her financial power. Don't cross her. However, could they have chosen someone else but brother Peter as the ultimate love interest? Fortunately, I didn't notice him in the credits. Beyond that, the story was slow moving and downright dull. "William Wilson" is a great example for English teachers of the "Doppelganger" story. In this one the young Wilson does terrible things, primarily to women. He is a psychotic. Getting quite Freudian, we see where his corporeal superego moves in to stop him. Unfortunately, in at least one case, the damage has been done. The story works better than the first, but it is hackneyed. In the third, Terrence Stamp, "Far from the Madding Crowd," is an alcoholic actor who comes to Italy to make a weird western. He is accosted by the paparazzi and driven to distraction. Of course, he is drunk the whole time. But in typical Fellini fashion, he is met by a herd of surrealist images. He has been promised a Ferrari and when he gets his hands on it, he goes crazy. We can see this coming, but no one can create a nightmare world like the wonderful Fellini. All in all, I had never heard of this film and hung in there until the highly superior last offering.

The quote in my summary line was spoken by the 'good' Wilson to the 'bad' Wilson (Alain Delon portrayed both) in the second chapter of this Poe based trilogy, so if you saw it you know what it means. It was the single sentiment that had application to each of the stories presented here because death was involved in each one. Reading a handful of other reviews for the picture here, it appears that many of them simply dismiss the first two segments and favor the 'Toby Dammit' piece directed by Federico Fellini. For myself, I found all three chapters to be about equally worthy.With the piece on 'Metzengerstein' however, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have had those flagrant, colorful costumes in whatever era the story represented. They're primarily used to augment Jane Fonda's physical assets, who a couple of times provides her own interpretation of riding bareback. No surprise there, as this was directed by Fonda's husband at the time, Roger Vadim, who utilized a similar soft porn technique in the same year's "Barbarella", also starring Fonda. If I had been in charge of the story, my twist ending would have had Peter Fonda's character emerge once again after the Countess (Jane) perishes. I'm sure they could have worked that out.The piece on William Wilson (Delon) and his doppelganger who kept showing up during stages of his life was an interesting concept. I don't know about Brigitte Bardot as a dark haired beauty though, that was a distraction. Keep an eye on that final card game when Giuseppina (Bardot) loses it all, Wilson deals himself two cards in a row during the final hand. Why wouldn't she call him on it? The 'Toby Dammit' chapter was based on Poe's novel 'Don't Wager Your Head to the Devil" which makes every bit of sense at the final scene. What I was more concerned about was they never got around to filming that Catholic Western Toby (Terrence Stamp) traveled to Rome for. I thought there was some potential there. Toby himself is an arrogant, spiteful, condescending and neurotic actor who hates his audience, making me wonder why he was treated like such a super star. Served him right at the end of the story when he crashed his Ferrari off the bridge at the behest of his friendly and joyful devil. It wouldn't be the first time a guy lost his head over a pretty young thing.

Three directors each adapt a Poe short story to the screen: "Toby Dammit" features a disheveled drugged and drunk English movie star who nods acceptance in the Italian press and his producers fawn over him. "Metzengerstein" features a Medieval countess who has a love-hate relationship with a black stallion - who, it turns out is really her dead lover. "William Wilson" tells the story of a sadistic Austrian student with an exact double whom he later kills.Samuel Z. Arkoff offered the producers $200,000 for American International Pictures to have the US and Canadian rights, but was knocked back as Arkoff wanted to cut a scene from the Fellini sequence. A year later the producers had not been able to find another buyer so when Arkoff made the same offer they took it. (I am not sure what he wanted cut.) What is interesting to me is the different audiences this film might have depending on your source. Certainly fans of European cinema would eat this up, and it is no wonder it is now distributed by Janus Films. But when AIP had it and put the Vincent Price narration in, it was probably directed more towards the fans of their "Poe cycle", despite this film being quite different in tone. Although I love AIP, I have never seen their version... and oddly was not really aware of this film's existence. It is not as championed as the (real) Price films...Vincent Canby wrote that "Toby Dammit, the first new Fellini to be seen here since Juliet of the Spirits in 1965, is marvelous: a short movie but a major one. The Vadim is as overdecorated and shrill as a drag ball, but still quite fun, and the Malle, based on one of Poe's best stories, is simply tedious." Now, I would disagree with that. Although I enjoyed all three segments, I would have to say the "Toby Dammit" segment was the most tedious. Clever ,well-acted, but in some ways overly long...

The style of "Spirits of the Dead" was not very unusual for the 1960s in Europe. Several other films consisted of top directors doing short films as part of an anthology movie, such as "Boccaccio 70". In the case of "Spirits of the Dead", the films are all adaptations of Edgar Allen Poe stories--and in some cases they stray quite a bit from the original source material."Metzengerstein" is directed by Roger Vadim and is a film about a sadistic sybaritic noblewoman (Jane Fonda--Vadim's wife at the time). She regularly indulges in all sorts of sexual excesses with her friends, torments her vassals for kicks and is a thoroughly despicable wretch. One day, she sees a distant cousin whose family and hers are rivals. She becomes obsessed by the man (which is interesting, as it's played by Jane's real life brother, Peter) and eventually she does something very evil and spiteful because he will not come to her twisted parties. What's next? See for yourself.I must warn you that this first film is very dull, slow-paced and is pretty silly and forgettable. The worst part about it for me was seeing Jane's silly costumes. While the film appears set in about the year 1500, her costumes appear to be straight from the Vadim space epic, "Barbarella" and this is utterly ridiculous. And, I noticed that most reviewers disliked this short. As for me, I didn't see a whole lot to like about it other than a rare chance to see the two Fondas working together."William Wilson" is directed by Louis Malle, stars Alain Delon. The film begins with Wilson running into a confessional and loudly demanding that the priest listen to him--even though he acknowledges he is not a Catholic. He admits to a murder and then begins a long story of why he did this dastardly act. During this story, Wilson admits to being a complete sadist and is a man who has no remorse or feeling about others. He is a predatory creature--and why he goes to confess is just something you'll need to see for yourself. What's next? See for yourself.In addition to Delon, this film stars Brigitte Bardot sporting a black wig. She is, as usual, gorgeous. However, you should be forewarned about this film. It is pretty sadistic and nasty in places--and is definitely for adults only. The story is mildly interesting (like a "Twilight Zone" episode) and worth seeing...just don't watch it with your mom or Pastor Jenkins."Toby Dammit" is by Federico Fellini. This segment is a treat for die-hard Fellini fans, as it has so much that they will probably love. Much of the film seems like it was inspired by "8 1/2" as well as "La Dulce Vita" as it consists of a very much adored celebrity having sycophants falling at his feet as well as a long procession of weird looking extras. It is 100% style...and not a lot of substance. Terrance Stamp plays this celebrity and he plays it as if he's a boorish jerk strung out on heroin--which you assume the character is. I have noticed that critically speaking, it's the most loved of the three films, though I thought the plot itself was very, very weak. It's more like watching a freak show (again, not unusual for many Fellini films) but without a lot of payoff in the end.My overall verdict is that despite the ultra-famous directors, the film lacks substance and, believe it or not, the very cheap Poe films directed by Roger Corman are significantly better. The bottom line is that Malle and Fellini have done so much better work than this and it's a film only for completists who want to see everything they've made. A big disappointment for me.