Christabel (film)
{{Short description|2001 film by James Fotopoulos}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Christabel
| image =
| caption =
| native_name =
| director = James Fotopoulos
| producer = James Fotopoulos
| screenplay = James Fotopoulos
| based_on = {{based on|Christabel (poem)|Samuel Taylor Coleridge}}
| narrator =
| starring = {{ubl|Kiersten DeBrower|Jenna Lecce|Veronica Sheaffer|Cherise Silvestri}}
| music =
| cinematography =
| editing = Timothy Farrell
| studio =
Fantasma Inc.
| distributor = Facets Video (DVD)
| released = {{Film date|2001}}
| runtime = 74 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
Christabel is a 2001 avant-garde experimental film directed by James Fotopoulos and based on the unfinished poem of the same name by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Production
Christabel was Fotopoulos’ first feature length narrative production, consisting of two half-hour segments shot on digital video and two short sequences shot in 16mm film.{{cite news|last=Crawford|first=Travis|title=Interiors: Travis Crawford peers into the dark world of James Fotopoulo|url=http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/spring2001/features/interiors.php|access-date=June 25, 2009|newspaper=Filmmaker Magazine|date=Spring 2001}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WfJSv3fsLqcC&pg=PA148 | title=Exile Cinema |author=Michael Atkinson |publisher=State University of New York Press | page=148 | year=2008 | isbn= 978-0-7914-7377-1}} As an adaptation, it eliminates some of the male characters from the Coleridge text and focuses on the theme of one woman commandeering an evil possession of another.{{cite news | author =Fred Camper | title =Chicago Underground Film Festival | publisher =Chicago Reader | date =August 21, 2002 | url =http://www.chicagoreader.com/movies/sidebars/CUFF2002.html | access-date =2009-06-25 | archive-date =2008-07-25 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20080725034033/http://www.chicagoreader.com/movies/sidebars/CUFF2002.html | url-status =dead }}
Cast
- Kiersten DeBrower as Geraldine
- Jenna Lecce as Sir Leoline
- Veronica Sheaffer as Christabel
- Cherise Silvestri as Bard Bracy
Release
The film played on the festival circuit before receiving a DVD release from Facets Video.
Critical response
Austin Chronicle wrote that Chistabel "poses perceptual and emotional challenges to his viewers", and that within the film "sexual symbolism is dense and not for all tastes."{{cite news|last=Baumgarten|first=Marjorie|title=Double Trouble: James Fotopoulos & Julia Halperin|url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/calendar/film/2002-11-05/141067/|access-date=June 7, 2013|newspaper=Austin Chronicle|date=November 5, 2002}}
Phil Hall of Film Threat panned the film, writing "for those who actively loathe experimental cinema, please avoid James Fotopoulos’ “Christabel” at all costs. And for those who actively love experimental cinema…well, the same advice applies", expanding that as a “loose adaptation of the poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, If this adaptation was any looser, it would fall off the screen." He found the film to be both plotless and pointless, and one that "offers absolutely nothing which could even vaguely or charitably be defined as art, imagination or stimulation."{{cite news|last=Phil Hall|author-link=Phil Hall (US writer)|title=review:Christabel|url=http://www.filmthreat.com/reviews/3031/|access-date=June 6, 2013|newspaper=Film Threat|date=March 22, 2004}}
Conversely, Chicago Reader wrote "Chicagoan James Fotopoulos has garnered critical acclaim", and that of his film Christabel, it was a "creepy, beautiful" feature,{{cite news|last=Camper|first=Fred|title=Christabel|url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/christabel/Film?oid=1053745|access-date=June 7, 2013|newspaper=Chicago Reader|date=April 15, 2002}} and of the film's screening at the 2002 New York Underground Film Festival, The Christian Science Monitor felt that it was a "frontrunner in the festival's avant-garde lineup",{{cite news|last=Sterritt|first=David|title=Underground goes mainstream|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0308/p15s03-almo.html|access-date=June 6, 2013|newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor|date=March 8, 2002}} with Independent Film & Video Monthly writing Cristabel would "set festivals ablaze".{{cite journal|last=staff|title=Festival Circuit|journal=Independent Film & Video Monthly|year=2002|publisher=Foundation for Independent Video and Film|pages=26, 27|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gNpUAAAAMAAJ&q=Christabel,+%22James+Fotopoulos%22|access-date=June 7, 2013}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://jamesfotopoulos.com/christabel/}}
- {{IMDb title|2050474|Christabel}}
Category:American avant-garde and experimental films
Category:Films based on works by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Category:2000s avant-garde and experimental films