DVD - Petitions, something, anything?

Four stars for this underrated masterpiece , August 11, 2006
Reviewer: Brian Whistler (Forestville, CA United States) - See all my reviews

The Film

I always thought Steppenwolf to be an unfilmable book. Steeped in Jungian psychology and written in an entirely subjective tone, it is immensely complex and thought provoking and one of Hesse's darker books. Although a generation of flower children identified with it, Hesse claimed that a person had to be approaching 50 to fully understand it, as it really is a novel about midlife crisis. It is about finding salvation in self forgiveness and inner tranquility in a world ever spiraling towards madness. As such, it is as relevant today as its setting in prewar (WWII) Germany. The madmen are still out there, set on destruction, and there are still those brave souls who feel compelled to rage against it.

But this is really a novel about the inner journey, the journey of the soul. It needed a visionary director to bring it to the screen and found one in director Fred Haines, who took up this difficult book and against all odds, delivered a flawed masterpiece-flawed because of the overuse of dated video effects and the preponderance of blaring analog synthesizers during the hallucinatory third act. This has been the most criticized segment of the film and it does present some problems to modern viewers. But as representations of psychedelic trips on the silver screen go, it's at least a cut above some of the other often embarassing attempts of the 70's. Still, it is the weakest part of the film and unfortunately, the climax.

Yet standing back, there are many more things to like than dislike about this unique and ambitious film. Max Von Sydow gives one of the finest performances of his distinguished career as the tortured misanthrope, Harry Haller, who we can't help but admire for his values and dogged ideals, but indeed would've been a difficult man to keep company with. Dominique Sanda is appropriately mysterious and deliciously seductive as the ephemeral Hermine, Harry's 'anima woman', the only problem in her performance being her dense accent, which makes her lines very difficult to parse. The same could be said of Pierre Clementi, whose accent is as thick as goose pate, but otherwise does a fine job as the hedonistic mystic sax player, Pablo.

The dark look of the film and the brooding score (other than the aforementioned synthesizer blips,) by jazz composer George Gruntz are spot on. There is a marvelous sense of place throughout the film. The location settings are very beautiful and perfectly in keeping with the film's solemn atmosphere.

This film ultimately transcends its period and its technical limitations to deliver a timeless message of renewal and hope. Underneath its dark exterior dwells a comedy, the human comedy to be precise. The more times I have viewed this film, the more funny it seems to me. Hesse's Harry is not judged harshly by the gods. Instead, Divine Providence (and his own finer instincts) gently guides his tormented soul back into life and back to his core belief in a benign universe.

Enjoy the Magic Theater. But remember, "For Madmen Only-Not for everybody!"

A word of warning: This DVD is not widescreen (arrgghhh!) Although I haven't viewed the DVD version yet, I looked up reviews of Image Entertainment's DVD release of the only other project Fred Haines seems to have been associated with, the film adaptation of Joyce's Ulysees. (He likes to take on easy literary adaptations!) Reviewers say that it is a terrible transfer from a lousy print with horrible sound. So even though I will probably buy this DVD, I doubt it will reveal much that my VHS tape doesn't contain. Still, hope springs eternal etc. I will post an update upon viewing the DVD.

The DVD -update

OK. It looks better than I thought it would. Actually, pretty clean.There is definitely more detail in this version. There are occasional odd shifting color artifacts lurking in the background, but other than that it is pretty sharp looking, especially when compared to my vhs copy.

It appears to have been transferred from a decent print. There are a few quick blobs that should have been cleaned up, but nothing critical. The sound is decent but nothing to crow about. There is static here and there, probably artifacts from the old analog print. Digital cleanup should have been applied to the audio as well, but as I mentioned, I didn't expect it from these guys.

About the coolest thing about the DVD is the ability to turn on english subtitles. I thought I had deciphered the dialogue over repeated viewings, but I was in for a few interesting surprises. I definitely recommend viewing this film with english subtitles on, at least for the first time. It really helps.

As far as extras go, there is a trailer (with the movie's corniest synth piece on it) and nothing else. Hopefully one day the widescreen, digitally remastered version will be released. Until then I'll just have to be content with this improvement over the VHS tape I have treasured all these years.


NOTE: I believe that Okayuma's "Mystery of Rampo" (1994) was very influenced by the film Steppenwolf. There are just too many parallels in the structures of these two films to be a mere coincidence. Both films are very psychological and deal with the internal world, within which the line between objective and subjective reality is not clearly delineated.

Both films have an animated expository sequence at around 15 minutes into the film. Both films end with a non linear "trip" wherein reality breaks down and the dream takes over. There are specific shots in Rampo that bear an uncanny resemblance to its predecessor:a long closeup pan of old hardcover books in a bookcase transistions to a fountain pen scratching out a line on parchment. A golden music box plays a nostalgic tune...too many things to be merely coincidental. Both are of course, 'anima films'. It makes total sense that Okayuma would reference his own startlingly original film to this minor masterpiece. Together, they would make a great double bill. 'Rampo' is highly recommended to fans of Steppenwolf.