#Daniel Emilfork

[classichorrorblog]

The Devil's Nightmare (1971)

[weirdlookindog]

La plus longue nuit du diable (1971) - Italian Poster

AKA The Devil's Nightmare, The Devil Walks at Midnight, The Devil's Longest Night, Nightmare of Terror, Castle of Death, Succubus, Vampire Playgirls

[film-o-teka]

La plus longue nuit du diable, 1971

[ozu-teapot]

Trans-Europ-Express | Alain Robbe-Grillet | 1966

Henri Lambert, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Daniel Emilfork

[howardhawkshollywoodannex]

Mirielle Mosse, Dominique Pinon, and Daniel Emilfork in The City of Lost Children (1995). Mirielle is 3'11" and has nine acting credits from a 1988 French tv episode to Swimming Pool (2003).

[blackramhall]

Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? Ted Kotcheff (1978)

Manor Murder Mystery

[adamwatchesmovies]

The City of Lost Children (1995)

The City of Lost Children is a film with a distinct style of storytelling and equally unique visuals. It stands out among the rest. Although not every idea is fully developed, it's unforgettable.

Long ago, a scientist created Krank (Daniel Emilfork), an intelligent but evil man who cannot dream. Living on an abandoned oil rig with the long-gone scientist’s other creations, a dwarf named Martha (Mireille Mossé), six childish clones (Dominique Pinon) and a brain in a vat named Irvin (voiced by Jean-Louis Trintignant), Krank has strongarmed them into stealing children for him. From the children, he hopes to find a way to dream. After Krank’s minions kidnap Denree (Joseph Lucien), his older brother One (Ron Pearlman) teams up with a street urchin named Miette (Judith Vittet) to find the lost children.

The plot sounds awfully random but there's a logic woven through. It's just difficult to put into words. Part fairytale, part futuristic nightmare, The City of Lost Children is filled with characters so unique they pop off the screen. Miette is part of a gang of orphans working for the Octopus, a pair of conjoined twins (played by Geneviève Brunet and Odile Mallet) who share more than just a body. Their movements mimic, or complement each others’ in a way that suggests they share a mind too. The ones responsible for the kidnapping are members of the Cyclops Cult, whose followers ritually blind themselves and use cybernetic eyes to see. On their own, they’d stand out but in a tale where we frequently get to walk through children’s dreams and every character feels like it’s from a cross between Oliver Twist and Snow White with a side trip through Alice in Wonderland, you only question them once the end credits have finished and you’ve returned to the real world.

It’s hard to pick just one aspect of this surreal tale as “the best" but I’ve decided to settle upon the dreams we see Krank wander through. Through relatively simple special effects, The City of Lost Children gets the feel of them perfectly. The bizarre in-the-moment logic, the fleeting imagery, the simple but chilling turns that make you wake up unsettled from a nightmare are all there. So often, I see films try to show dreams and drop the ball. This French production (yes, you’ll need to turn on the subtitles) gets it right.

A few aspects of this picture by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet don’t quite work. The Cyclopses, for example, fit in this world but aren’t necessary and dropping them might’ve given us time to examine the key characters further. It’s also worth noting that a few special effects are dated (mostly close-up shots of CG insects). Aside from those criticisms, this is a bit of a demented masterpiece. I love how it interprets the theme of childhood innocence. The adults have either retained it, or seek it, while the kids have given up on it long ago. Some images shown are so vivid they cannot be forgotten once seen. This overshadows the difficulty you might have wrapping your mind around all the ideas the film presents.

After finishing The City of Lost Children, I immediately wanted to watch it again. It’s not that the story is life-altering, that the performances are that good, or that it all necessarily means something big. It’s that this work is so distinct one taste makes you crave more. The picture’s a tad overindulgent in the weirdness, but somehow, that also works in its favour. (Original French version on DVD, May 11, 2018)

[ulrichgebert]

Der bucklige und entstellte, aber irgendwie niedliche Glöckner der bekannten Kathedrale Notre Dame de Paris versucht erfolglos, die schöne Esmeralda vor den Nachstellungen des zweifelhaften Erzdiakon Frollo zu retten, in dieser verglichen mit William Dieterles sonst von mir bevorzugten 1939er-Version (die wir auch zuletzt anschauten, weil die Darstellerin der Esmeralde gerade verstorben war, vergl. hier. Wir streben vergleichende Studien an) seltsamerweise einerseits werkgetreueren, andererseits aber duch eine gewisse Anfälligkeit für Spektakel um des Spektakels willens unsolideren Verfilmung des zweitberühmtesten Romans von Victor Hugo. Immerhin sprechen sie diesmal französisch, Boris Vian spielt den Kardinal, Daniel Emilfork taucht überraschend kurz auf und es ist alles viel vergnüglicher, als ich es in Erinnerung hatte, und in Farbe und Cinemascope.

[bookblast]

De plomb et d’or (Of Lead and Gold) François Jonquet 4Translation

Over the past twenty years, I have kept a keen eye on the work of François Jonquet and his novelistic biographies of Jenny Bel’Air, a legendary figure of Parisian nightlife; Daniel Emilfork, the distinctive iconic actor; Valérie Lang, the actress daughter of Jack Lang, Minister of Culture under François Mitterrand; and Gilbert & George, the contemporary British artist-duo. He writes about his…

[yourdailyqueer]

Daniel Emilfork (deceased)

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Gay

DOB: 7 April 1924  

DOD: 17 October 2006

Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish

Nationality: Chilean/French

Occupation: Actor

[erstwhile-punk-guerito]

[mariocki]

La plus longue nuit du diable (The Devil's Nightmare, 1971)

"Personally, I do not believe these things."

"Me neither."

"Do you deny the existence of the Devil?"

"I don't believe in vampires or succubus; I am athiest. Thank God for that."

[weirdlookindog]

La plus longue nuit du diable (1971)

AKA The Devil's Nightmare, Vampire Playgirls, The Devil's Longest Night, The Devil Walks at Midnight, Succubus, Nightmare of Terror, Castle of Death

[howardhawkshollywoodannex]

Daniel Emilfork as Krank and Mireille Mosse as Mademoiselle Mosse in The City of Lost Children (1995). Dan was born in Santiago, Chile, and had 100 acting credits from a 1955 French tv movie to 2007.

His other notable credits include The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1956 with Anthony Quinn), Whats New Pussycat, The Liquidator, Travels with my Aunt, Fellini's Casanova, Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?, and The Thief of Bagdad (1978 UK tv movie, as the genie).

[kino51]

L'inconnu de Shandigor   1967

[grigori77]

It is officially TWENTY-FIVE YEARS since one of my favourite ever French films was released, in my opinion the definitive creation of genius directing partners Marc Caro and Jean Pierre Jeunet (Delicatessen).  It’s a magnificently odd piece of dark, twisted and fantastical science fiction cinema, as well as THE BEST example of steampunk yet captured on film, and one of the most undeniably BEAUTIFUL films ever made, not just aesthetically but, more importantly, EMOTIONALLY.  Here’s to a quarter century of The City of Lost Children ...

WARNING!  Potential spoilers ahead for those who haven’t seen it ...