Unreal Reality: The Cinema of Harry Kümel
Soren, David. Lucas Brothers Publishers, 1979. Softbound. Kümel's work is known for its aesthetic merging of Old Hollywood (the leads in his cult hit Daughters of Darkness [Les rouge aux lèvres] are styled after Marlene Dietrich and Louise Brooks) and 19th-century artistic movements, as evidenced by this monograph's 1847 cover painting by Antoine Wiertz. 'This evocative study of the passing from the fullness of life to the horror of death,' writes Soren of the painting, 'recalls the Symbolists' and their influence on a director concerned with dandyism, occultism, and excess.
Tight, square, uncreased spine. Clean, unmarked interior. Some bumped corners, small areas of soiling to the covers, and a .5- x .5-inch area of loss to the back cover at the fore-edge head. 96 pp. Cinema.