I am not
at all familiar with the story of “The Fall Of The House Of Usher”, nor have I
seen any of the other cinematic adaptations of the Edgar Allan Poe tale, but
Jean Epstein’s 1928 silent version has quite the reputation, some claiming it
to be arguably the best. For me though,
I found the film to be an utter disappointment.
One day
a man, Allan, receives a letter from his friend Roderick Usher who explains
that something strange is happening at his castle and that he fears for the lives
of both himself, and his wife, Madeleine.
When Allan arrives at the castle to check on his friend, he is greeted
by an almost mad Roderick Usher who explains that like all of his male
ancestors, he has an obsession with painting his wife’s portrait. It is an uncontrollable act, and done almost
in a trance, but the only catch is the more the painting comes to life, the
more it fades from Madeleine.
That
night Allan is witness to the strange atmosphere that permeates the castle, and
while taking a night walk, the obsession once again takes hold of Roderick and
he begins painting feverishly. He madly
continues painting until he suddenly realizes that his masterpiece is
complete. Sadly when he turns around he
notices his wife’s lifeless body lying on the floor. Distraught his beloved has passed and he is
the cause of it, Usher continues into his downward spiral into madness until he
is sure the ghost of his wife is haunting him.
Again,
it is the visuals of this Epstein film that keeps it interesting, but once
again I felt that he drew scenes out far too long which ended up lessening
their impact. The film has a very
strange atmosphere throughout which is achieved by the characters moving at a
slow and unnatural speed. So strange is
the effect that I initially thought that the film may have been played at the
wrong frame rate but instead I worked out that it is no doubt intentional
because when supernatural events are not happening on screen, the characters
move much more naturally. It is very
strange and I could not help thinking of the similar atmosphere in Jean Cocteau’s
superior “La Belle et la Bete” (Beauty And The Beast), in fact it was so
similar, with actual shots looking almost identical, that it would not surprise
me to learn that Cocteau was in fact influenced by Epstein’s earlier film. While I did not think it was as impressively
visual as the previous Epstein films that I had seen, there still were a number
of amazing shots. First was a brilliant
tracking shot, gliding along the castle floor as a representation of the unseen
supernatural force, that was so ahead of its time that even today, some 84
years after the film premiered, it would still feel modern (Sam Raimi would be
very proud of the shot). The other
images that stunned me were the images of Madeleine Usher in her ghostly visage
while wondering through the castle, which were both beautiful and creepy at the
same time (see photo above).
As good
as these moments were it was the uneven pace and the fact that very little
actually happens during the film, that I found it to be so disappointing. Also the music that played with the film was
like nails on a chalk board, it was painful to listen to. Strange is the fact that I found the film a
disappointment and yet the images from the film have a weird hold on me, making
me already want to revisit the film again.
However until that time comes and a re-evaluation can be given, at this
moment I must advise against viewing Epstein’s version of “The Fall Of The
House Of Usher”.
2.5 Stars.
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