Incubus revenas sur DVD

For the perpetually curious: the Esperanto–speaking cult horror film Incubus — yes, the one featuring a young William Shatner — has been republished on DVD.

This time the DVD (Region 1 NTSC) is being handled by Genius Products, which bought the assets of Wellspring Media (formerly Winstar, and before that, Fox–Lorber) in 2005.

I'll have more to say later after screening the disc, but one part of the packaging caught my attention: the final words of the blurb identifying Incubus as "the only film shot entirely in the artificial language of Esperanto."

[Further down on the back of the DVD insert, in the grid used to list the technical details of the video, I saw "Language: Esperanto (Artificial Language)."]

"Artificial"?

Yes, I am aware that the official website for the movie also uses the word, but it still struck me as an odd choice of words.

I'll say more after screening the DVD, but for now I'm still mulling over whether or not to drop Genius a note.

By Philip David Morgan at 2007-10-12 19:39
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la vortoj de Sylvan

la vortoj de Sylvan Zaft:
"Esperanto is an artificial language like a car is an artificial horse."

By filipo at 2007-10-16 13:52
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Still yearning for better

Elkoran dankon for sharing… I finally screened the DVD (a virtual re–reprint of the old Fox–Lorber video in every respect)… not a complete "smeg–up," as the British might say. But not my idea of Esperanto–speaking cinema, either.

The Gerda malaperis! video movie was much better by comparison. (I'll hold off judgment on La Patro until I finally have a copy.)

Of course, all this talk about Esperanto cinema, obscure or otherwise, will probably get me dreaming up ideas for making better movies in la internacia lingvo. Maybe once I can get a regular study routine back in place and make it work…

By Philip David Morgan at 2007-10-13 03:53
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Esperanto Films

There has been at least one other film shot entirely in Esperanto: Angoroj (1964). Unlike Incubus, Angoroj features excellent Esperanto grammar and pronunciation, but like Incubus, it's nearly unwatchable. One does not watch it for plot, style, or revelation, merely to experience the novelty of an Esperanto film and to see a few noted Esperantists who have roles (humorist Raymond Schwartz and others).

IMdB has an entry for Angoroj, but there isn't much there: http://imdb.com/title/tt0229990/

A Japanese Esperanto-group put together an adaptation of Checkov's "En Somera Vilao" in 2000, I believe -- again, it's not a masterpiece of cinema. Esperanto-USA's own "Pasporto al la Tuta Mondo" could almost be considered a film shot entirely in Esperanto -- especially if one removed the teacher and edited together the "story" parts together.

Perhaps as HD-cameras get cheaper, Esperanto films will become more prevalent, or at least their production values will improve. UEA's Belartaj Konkursoj have a category for video / film, but prizes are rarely awarded.

By Tim Westover at 2007-10-12 21:53
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mi do bedaŭras vian spekt-angoron

Sorry, can't agree with this wild diss of "Angoroj". Didn't you and I see this film at the same time and place? (Late in NASK 2002.) And yet it doesn't sound like you and I actually saw the same movie. Do you like hate French film in general, or weird arthouse-y stuff in general? I don't. I watch films less often than average for an American, and I'm not particularly easy to please that way, and yet I could actually watch "Angoroj" even if it were in French, instead -- or "Incubus" if it were in English, or French.