Le Rêveur Egaré (5 Stars)

This is a documentary about the great French director Jean Rollin that was made in 2011, shortly after his death. It's difficult to translate the title concisely into English. The best translation I can think of is "The dreamer who strayed from the path". The French word "égarer" is typically used when a person is walking through a forest, but instead of following the path he leaves it and walks through the middle of the trees. Most commonly this is accidental, so it could be "The dreamer who lost his way", but it can also be a deliberate choice, like taking an uncharted shortcut.

That aptly sums up Jean Rollin's career. He knew what was expected of him to be a good filmmaker, but he didn't want to conform. He was an anarchist who did things his own way.

I already knew many of the things in the documentary from listening to interviews included as extras on DVD and Blu-ray discs, but there was still enough new information to make the documentary riveting. I was fascinated hearing about how he first became popular. His first film, "The Rape of the Vampire", was released in 1968 at the time of the student riots. Because of the chaos in France the French film industry had ceased to function. Nobody was making films, because it was expected that French society would collapse. Not Jean Rollin. He always worked against the trends. When "The Rape of the Vampire" was released it was the only new film. Those were the days before multiplex cinemas, so it was practically the only film being shown in France. This led to it being a huge success.

But what did the public think? They knew vampire films from the American Universal films and the British Hammer films. Jean Rollin presented a so radically different take on vampire mythology that the public couldn't accept it. In addition, "Rape of the Vampire" was a low budget film with the skimpiest of sets, so the public hated it. Since it was the only film being shown the majority of the audience were people who would never have gone to see a vampire film under normal circumstances. It was the same all over France. People booed. People threw things at the screen. People demanded their money back. In the big cities cinemas were even set on fire as a protest. Jean Rollin was called a fraud, an untalented conman who had deliberately made a bad film to trick people out of their money. For years Rollin's name became synonymous with bad cinema. Whenever someone thought a film was bad he called it a Rollin film.

Jean Rollin didn't let himself be put off. He made another three vampire films in quick succession, none of which were particularly successful. His passion was for making horror films, in particular vampire films, but it didn't pay the bills. That's why he spent 12 years making pornographic films. The film critics interviewed in the documentary call this period a missed opportunity. A man with his talent could have made outstanding pornographic films that would be recognised as lasting works of art, but he wasn't interested. He just churned out bad films that hardly differed from standard pornography. His lack of interest was apparent to all around him. He was the director, but he frequently walked out of the room when sex acts were being performed. He was dreaming about his next vampire film.

Interestingly, Jean Rollin only calls one of his films bad: "Zombie Lake" (1981). It was due to be directed by Jess Franco, but Franco failed to turn up on set, so Rollin was asked to step in at only two days notice. Rollin had no creative control, and he was required to direct the film in the style of Jess Franco, whatever that is.

Something I didn't know is that Jean Rollin was a novelist for the last 15 years of his life. He wrote about 20 books, mostly about vampires. They were moderately successful, but slammed by literary critics who called them "airport books". I've never heard that expression, but I know what's meant. The film critics in the documentary defend the books, but say that they're no longer available. I checked Amazon.FR and found a few of them. The documentary is six years old; maybe new editions have been printed since then. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find any English translations.

If you've never seen any films made by Jean Rollin, this documentary is a good introduction. Then work your way through his vampire films, from "The Rape of the Vampire" (1968) to "Dracula's Fiancée" (2002). If you really enjoy his films, watch his other horror films as well.

Jean Rollin
3 November 1938 – 15 December 2010