Movie Mythos - Matrix Magazine #77 (theme: Science and Poetry)

Here is the Movie Mythos column from the upcoming issue of Matrix:

Lately, Joe and I have been watching a lot of old horror classics with Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. These old movies, when they’re bad, they’re really bad, with cheesy acting, unbelievably fake special effects, plodding plots. But when they’re good, they take overblown to a whole new level. The jagged, shadowy sets of German expressionism, mixed in with suspicious scientific experiments, the corrupted powers of the scientist who has gone mad, mad, mad! What poetry it is! In thinking about the theme of this issue of Matrix, what could be better? Sure, science in the movies has a humongous range, from documentaries such as Errol Morris’ A Brief History of Time, based on the book by Stephen Hawking, to the entire genre of science-fiction, from Isaac Asimov adaptations to the truly groundbreaking but ever-geeky Star Trek. But for me, these old mad-scientist movies really capture the fear and the horror of scientific possibility, and the concerns of scientific responsibility:

The Matrix Top Ten Mad Science Movies!

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) – Perhaps the first true horror film ever made, ushering in an era of German Expressionism which, need I say, remains influential to this day!
Metropolis (1927) and The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) – Fritz Lang masterpieces.
Frankenstein – the famous 1931 version that introduced Boris Karloff to the screen and spawned a legion of sequels and imitations, from the campy and comedic (Andy Warhol’s, Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman) to the over-serious (Kenneth Branagh’s melodramatic embarrassment). Though none of these have ever come close to truly adapting the book, Karloff’s is the most iconic.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – 1920 silent version with John Barrymore in the lead role,
1931 by director Rouben Mamoulian, & 1941’s big Hollywood production by Victor Flemming, starring Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, and Lana Turner!
The Body Snatcher (1945) – Based on a story by Robert Louis Stevenson, this film explores the practice of using real cadavers in medical science, and how those cadavers were sometimes procured. Features one of Karloff’s greatest and truly chilling performances as a cabman turned graverobber and murderer.
Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), The Black Cat (1934), The Raven (1935) – This trio of films, “inspired” by Edgar Allen Poe in taking the titles but little else, all star Bela Legosi as, respectively, a mad scientist, a good doctor (battling Karloff as a Satanist), and a mad doctor.
The Fly – The original 1958 version with Vincent Price features the famous ending of a tiny fly/scientist caught in a spider’s web (Help me! Heeeeelllllp me!). And David Cronenberg’s 1986 remake is memorable too, especially for its vivid fly-goop special effects.

And speaking of science… I’m currently writing a story about my father, the scientist-turned-philosopher, and his new book on Chinese and Western cultures (not to be mistaken with country-and-western culture). At the same time, I’m making a short film about my mother. All this to say, well, autobiography figures largely for me. I’m digressing from the theme here in order to introduce another theme, that is, the theme of the next issue, which will be edited by me, called The Narrative “I”: Autobiography in Film and Fiction. Whew!

I’ve been trying to think about how to frame this theme for a while now. How film and fiction intersects my daily life, not just as a filmmaker but as audience, how we watch so many movies, how I think cinematically or try to. How does film and fiction fit into your life? From lurid confessionals, diary entries, screenplays and first-person accounts of historical moments (real and unreal), from the poetic to the absurd, any genre, any medium from page to screen. Besides the usual fiction, poetry, comics, essays, drawings, and other stuff to go on the page, I’ll be looking for short films, videos, and animations (under 10 minutes) or what have you that could go on a DVD, which will be included in the next issue. Send to:

Matrix Magazine
The Narrative “I” Issue
1400 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West, LB 658,
Montreal, QC
H3G 1M8

Deadline for submissions will be August 1st, 2007.
Questions? Contact me for more info!
moviemythos@soyfishmedia.com