Fantômas

Fișier:Fantomas1911.jpg

The cover illustration for the first volume of Fantômas, anonymous artist, 1911. A « classic image of the Parisian oneirology », according to the French poet Robert Desnos.

Fantômas (Pronunție în franceză: /fɑ̃tomas/) is a fictional character created by French writers Marcel Allain (1885–1969) and Pierre Souvestre (1874–1914).

One of the most popular characters in the history of French crime fiction, Fantômas was created in 1911 and appeared in a total of 32 volumes written by the two collaborators, then a subsequent 11 volumes written by Allain alone after Souvestre's death. The character was also the basis of various film, television, and comic book adaptations. In the history of crime fiction, he represents a transition from Gothic novel villains of the 19th century to modern-day serial killers.

The books and movies that came out in quick succession anticipate current production methods of Hollywood, in two respects:^[1] First, the authors distributed the writing among themselves; their "working method was to draw up the general plot between them and then go off and write alternate chapters independently of each other, meeting up to tie the two halves of the story together in the final chapter."^[1] This approach allowed the authors to produce almost one novel per month. Second, the movie rights to the books were immediately snapped up. Such a system ensured that the film studio could produce sequels reliably.

Overview

A poster for the third *Fantômas* serial by Louis Feuillade. Fantômas wears the iconic black hood and black leotard, more sinister features than the traditional gentleman thief's domino mask and tuxedo.

Fantômas was introduced a few years after Arsène Lupin, another well-known thief. But whereas Lupin draws the line at murder, Fantômas has no such qualms and is shown as a sociopath who enjoys killing in a sadistic fashion.

He is totally ruthless, gives no mercy, and is loyal to none, not even his own children. He is a master of disguise, always appearing under an assumed identity, often that of a person whom he has murdered. Fantômas makes use of bizarre and improbable techniques in his crimes, such as plague-infested rats, giant snakes, and rooms that fill with sand.

Fantômas's background remains vague. He might be of British and/or French ancestry. He appears to have been born in 1867.

In the books, it is established that c. 1892, the man who later became Fantômas called himself Archduke Juan North and operated in the German Principality of Hesse-Weimar. There he fathered a child, Vladimir, with an unidentified noblewoman. In circumstances unrevealed, he was arrested and sent to prison.

C. 1895, Fantômas was in India. There, an unidentified European woman gave birth to a baby girl, Hélène, whose father might be Fantômas, or an Indian Prince who was Fantômas' acolyte. The girl was raised in South Africa.

In 1897, Fantômas was in the United States of America and Mexico. There, he ruined his then-business partner, Etienne Rambert.

In 1899, he fought in the Second Boer War in South Africa under the name of Gurn. He fought in the Transvaal as an artillery sergeant under the command of Lord Roberts. He became aide-de-camp to Lord Edward Beltham of Scottwell Hill and fell in love with his younger wife, Lady Maud Beltham.

Upon their return to Europe, soon before the first novel begins (c. 1900), Gurn and Lady Beltham were surprised in their Paris love nest, Rue Levert, by her husband. Lord Beltham was about to shoot Maud when Gurn hit him with a hammer then strangled him.

Fantômas then impersonated Etienne Rambert and framed his son, Charles, for a murder he had committed. As Etienne, he convinced Charles to go into hiding, but the young man was soon found out by French police detective Juve, truly obsessed with the capture of Fantômas. Juve knew that Charles was innocent and gave him a new identity: journalist Jerôme Fandor who is employed at the newspaper La Capitale. Juve later arrested Gurn and, at his trial, brought forward a convincing argument that Gurn and Fantômas were one and the same, though the evidence was too circumstantial to make a real case. On the eve of his execution, Gurn/Fantômas escaped from custody by being replaced by an actor who had modelled the appearance of his latest character after him and was guillotined in his place.

Lady Beltham remained constantly torn between her passion for the villain and her horror at his criminal schemes. She eventually committed suicide in 1910.

Fandor fell in love with Hélène and, despite Fantômas repeated attempts to break them up, married her.

Fantômas' evil son, Vladimir, reappeared in 1911. Vladimir's girlfriend was murdered by Fantômas and Vladimir himself was eventually shot by Juve.

Cărți

de Allain și Souvestre

1. Fantômas (1911)
2. Juve contre Fantômas (1911)
3. Le Mort qui Tue (1911)
4. L'Agent Secret (1911)
5. Un Roi Prisonnier de Fantômas (1911)
6. Le Policier Apache (1911)
7. Le Pendu de Londres (1911)
8. La Fille de Fantômas (1911) (ISBN 1932983562)
9. Le Fiacre de Nuit (1911)
10. La Main Coupée (1911)
11. L'Arrestation de Fantômas (1912)
12. Le Magistrat Cambrioleur (1912)
13. La Livrée du Crime (1912)
14. La Mort de Juve (1912)
15. L'Evadée de Saint-Lazare (1912)
16. La Disparition de Fandor (1912)
17. Le Mariage de Fantômas (1912)
18. L'Assassin de Lady Beltham (1912)
19. La Guêpe Rouge (1912)
20. Les Souliers du Mort (1912)
21. Le Train Perdu (1912)
22. Les Amours d'un Prince (1912)
23. Le Bouquet Tragique (1912)
24. Le Jockey Masqué (1913)
25. Le Cercueil Vide (1913)
26. Le Faiseur de Reines (1913)
27. Le Cadavre Géant (1913)
28. Le Voleur d'Or (1913)
29. La Série Rouge (1913)
30. L'Hôtel du Crime (1913)
31. La Cravate de Chanvre (1913)
32. La Fin de Fantômas (1913)

de Allain

33. Fantômas est-il ressuscité? (1925)
34. Fantômas, Roi des Recéleurs (1926)
35. Fantômas en Danger (1926)
36. Fantômas prend sa Revanche (1926)
37. Fantômas Attaque Fandor (1926)
38. Si c'était Fantômas? (1933)
39. Oui, c'est Fantômas! (1934)
40. Fantômas Joue et Gagne (1935)
41. Fantômas Rencontre l'Amour (1946)
42. Fantômas Vole des Blondes (1948)
43. Fantômas Mène le Bal (1963)

Note

Coperțile originale ale lui Gino Starace sunt considerate adesea opere ale strălucitului său geniu și pot fi văzute pe situl "Fantômas Lives".^[2] Coperta primei cărți din seria Fantômas, arătând un om contemplativ mascat îmbrăcat în haine de seară și ținând un pumnal, călcând îndrăzneț deasupra Parisului, este atât de cunoscută încât a devenit un clișeu vizual.
Romanul The Yellow Document, or Fantômas of Berlin de Marcel Allain (1919), în ciuda titlului său, nu este un roman cu Fantômas.
Ultimul roman scris de Allain a fost publicat în foileton într-un ziar, dar niciodată nu a apărut în formă de carte.
În anii 1980, primele două romane ale seriei au fost publicate în traduceri revizuite în limba engleză: Fantômas a apărut în 1986, cu o introducere făcută de poetul american John Ashbery; și Juve contre Fantômas a apărut în 1987, sub titlul The Silent Executioner, cu o introducere făcută de artistul american Edward Gorey.

Filme

Silent serials

1. Fantômas (1913)
2. Juve Contre Fantômas (1913)
3. Le Mort Qui Tue (1913)
4. Fantômas contre Fantômas (1914)
5. Le Faux Magistrat (1914)

The silent film pioneer Louis Feuillade directed five Fantômas serials starring René Navarre as Fantômas, Bréon as Juve, Georges Melchior as Fandor, and Renée Carl as Lady Beltham. They are regarded as masterpieces of silent film. His later serial Les Vampires, which concerns the eponymous crime syndicate (and not actual vampires) is also reminiscent of the Fantômas series.

There was a 1920 20-episode American Fantômas serial directed by Edward Sedgwick starring Edward Roseman as Fantômas, which bore little resemblance to the French series. In it, Fantômas' nemesis is detective Fred Dixon, played by John Willard. It was partially released in France (12 episodes only) under the title Les Exploits de Diabolos (The Exploits of Diabolos). A novelization of this serial was written by David White for Black Coat Press under the title Fantômas in America in 2007.^[3]

Alte filme

Jean Marais în rolul *Fantômas* în filmul din 1964. In addition to the characteristic face mask, the black gloves of *Fantômas* are visible.

6. Fantômas (1932), regizat de Paul Féjos cu Jean Galland în rolul lui Fantômas.
7. Monsieur Fantômas (1937), regizat de Ernst Moerman.
8. Fantômas (1946), regizat de Jean Sacha cu Marcel Herrand în rolul lui Fantomas.
9. Fantômas contre Fantômas (1948), regizat de Robert Vernay cu Maurice Teynac în rolul lui Fantomas.
10. Fantômas (1964), primul din cele trei filme regizate de André Hunebelle; cu Jean Marais în rolul lui Fantômas și în cel al lui Fandor, Louis de Funès în rolul comisarului Juve și Mylène Demongeot ca logodnica lui Fandor, fotografa Hélène. Their tone was generally much more light-hearted than the novels' and the characters were updated in a James Bond-like style including Bond-type gadgets like the flying Citroën DS of Fantômas with retractable wings that converts to an airplane.^[4]
11. Fantômas se déchaîne (1965)^[5]
12. Fantômas contre Scotland Yard (1966)^[6]
13. Fantômas (2011), regizat de Christophe Gans.^[7]

Televiziune

Serialul de televiziune Fantômas format din patru episoade de câte series 90 de minute a fost produs în 1980, cu Helmut Berger în rolul lui Fantômas, Jacques Dufilho în rolul lui Juve și Gayle Hunnicutt în rolul lui Lady Beltham. Episoadele 1 și 4 au fost regizate de Claude Chabrol, iar episoadele 2 și 3 de Juan Luis Buñuel, fiul lui Luis Buñuel.

Comic books

French

"Fantômas contre les Nains". A weekly color page written by Marcel Allain and drawn by Santini was published in Gavroche #24-30 (1941). This series was interrupted because of censorship; a sequel, Fantômas et l'Enfer Sous-Marin was written but not published.
A daily "Fantômas" strip drawn by Pierre Tabary was syndicated by Opera Mundi from November 1957 to March 1958 (192 strips in total), adapting the first two novels.
Seventeen Fantômas fumetti magazines adapting books 1, 2, 3, and 5 were published by Del Duca in 1962 and 1963.
A new weekly "Fantômas" color page, written by Agnès Guilloteau and drawn by Jacques Taillefer, was again syndicated by Opera Mundi in 1969 and published in Jours de France.
Finally, a series of Fantômas graphic novels written by L. Dellisse and drawn by Claude Laverdure were published by Belgian publisher Claude Lefrancq: L'Affaire Beltham (1990), Juve contre Fantômas (1991), and Le Mort qui Tue (1995).

Mexican

During the 1960s the Mexican comics publisher Editorial Novaro produced a Fantomas La Amenaza Elegante (Fantomas, the Elegant Threat) comic book series that was popular throughout Latin America. This was apparently meant to be the same character, although rewritten as a heroic character, and with no acknowledgement to the original books or films. It is not known if this was done with or without legal permission.

This Fantomas was a thief who committed spectacular robberies just for the thrill of it, and wore a white, skintight mask all the time or a variety of disguises so his true face was never shown. The character was also pursued by the authorities, in his case mainly by a French police inspector named Gerard. His mask in this version — which was clearly inspired by the black mask worn by the Italian comic book criminal Diabolik — and his use of it, seems to have been influenced by the popular images generated by Mexican wrestling. Apparently the series was also influenced by the James Bond movies, as Fantomas, equipped with advanced technology created by a scientist called Professor Semo, had all kind of adventures around the world, and even fought other, more cruel criminals.

He also was a millionaire, owning several corporations under assumed identities, had secret headquarters outside Paris, and was assisted by several agents, including the 12 "Zodiac Girls", beautiful women who assisted him personally, known only by their codenames — the signs of the zodiac. Although cancelled years ago (Novaro folded in 1985, and a character revival by rival Grupo Editorial Vid in Mexico in the 1990s did not last long), it is from this comic that the character is best known in both Central America and South America. For more information on this version of the character check the link to the Fantomas Lives website below.

Americane

O scurtă poveste cu Fantômas, scrisă de Paul Kupperberg și Roy Mann, a apărut în Captain Action Comics nr. 1, publicată în 2009 de Moonstone Books.

Influență culturală

Romanele și filmele ulterioare cu Fantômas au fost extrem de apreciat de avangarda franceză a timpului, în special de către suprarealiști. Blaise Cendrars a numit seria "Eneida modernă"; Guillaume Apollinaire a spus că "din punct de vedere al imaginației, Fantômas este una dintre cele mai bogate lucrări care există." Pictorul René Magritte și poetul și romancierul suprarealist Robert Desnos au realizat ambii lucrări cu aluzii la Fantômas.

Filmele au fost, de asemenea, foarte populare în Uniunea Sovietică. În 2007, autorul rus Andrei Șari a publicat cartea Sign F: Fantomas in Books and on the Screen, care a analizat special acest fenomen.

Pastiches, homages, and related characters

Fantômas may well have been influenced by its less well remembered predecessor, Zigomar, the creation of Léon Sazie, which first appeared as a serial in Le Matin in 1909, then as a pulp magazine (28 issues) in 1913, and again in Zigomar contre Zigomar for eight more issues in 1924.
In France alone, Fantômas spawned numerous imitators. Among those are Arnould Galopin's Tenebras, Gaston René's Masque Rouge, Arthur Bernède's Belphégor, R. Collard's Demonax and Marcel Allain's own Tigris, Fatala, Miss Teria and Ferocias.^[8]
Fantômas has appeared in an unauthorized fashion in two French stage plays: Nick Carter vs. Fantômas (1910) by Alexandre Bisson and Guillaume Livet (translated, ISBN 978-1934543054) and Sherlock Holmes vs. Fantômas (La Mort d' Herlock Sholmes, ou Bandits en Habits Noirs, 1914) by Pierre de Wattyne and Yorril Walter (translated, ISBN 978-1934543672).
A number of Italian super-villains of the 1960s were clearly influenced by Fantômas. Among the most famous are Diabolik, Kriminal, Killing, and Satanik.
The British film critic and writer Kim Newman has argued that Fantômas inspired the Pink Panther film series starring Peter Sellers.^[1] In the initial 1963 Pink Panther film, Fantômas was transformed into Sir Charles Lytton (the Phantom), and Inspector Juve became Inspector Clouseau.
Fantômas also has many plot points in common with the 1969 Hong Kong movie Temptress of a Thousand Faces.^[9]
Paperinik, a superhero alter-ego of Donald Duck created by Guido Martina and Giovan Battista Carpi in 1969, is partly based on Fantômas. His predecessor, Fantomius, was obviously also named after Fantômas. In France, the character is known as Fantomiald; in Germany, as Phantomias.
Fantômas inspired Julio Cortázar's 1975 novella Fantomas contra los vampiros multinacionales.
Fantomas was the inspiration for the character Mr. Ixnay, who appears in The Chuckling Whatsit, a 1997 graphic novel by writer/artist Richard Sala, creator of Invisible Hands, an animated homage to old-fashioned mystery thrillers which aired on MTV.
In 1999, Mike Patton named his rock group Fantômas after the fictional character.
There is a Marvel Comics character named Fantomex, first appearing in August 2002. He was created by Grant Morrison and Igor Kordey for the title New X-Men.
In one of the back-story sections of the graphic novel The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II, Fantômas is described as being a member of "Les Hommes Mysterieux", the French counterpart of the League, alongside Arsène Lupin, the sky-pirate Robur, and the Nyctalope.^[10] In the follow-up, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier, the League's encounter with Les Hommes is halted once Fantômas detonates a bomb which destroys the Opera Garnier, after saying in unaccented English, "I win".
In the French version of the extended Wold Newton universe, Jean-Marc Lofficier has theorized that Fantômas may be the son of Rocambole and his lover and enemy, Ellen Palmure.^[11]
The character of Spectrobert in Gahan Wilson's book Everybody's Favorite Duck is a direct parody of Fantômas.
Fantômas makes a brief appearance in Kim Newman's novel The Bloody Red Baron.
Fantômas is a partial inspiration for the character of Phantom Limb on the Adult Swim cartoon The Venture Bros. His last name, in fact, is Fantômas. A picture similar in appearance to the masked villain can be seen hanging on the wall of his office at State University in "The Invisible Hand of Fate". It is revealed that Phantom Limb is actually the grandson of the famous criminal. Fantômas himself briefly appears in the series during a flashback in the season 3 episode "ORB" as one of the original members of the Guild of Calamitous Intent.
Fantômas has a German cousin in the person of the (supposedly British) Lord Lister.
At the end of David Eveleigh's All Hallows Eve, there is a teaser image for a forthcoming sequel in which Eve, the book's protagonist, will battle Fantômas. On his DeviantART page, Eveleigh says that it will be available sometime in October 2012.
In the story "Fantômville" by Nick Campbell, in the collection Wildthyme in Purple, Fantomas meets the time traveller Iris Wildthyme.
In "The Artist", Jean Dujardin wears a masque and a costume similar to Juve's.

Referințe

^ ^a ^b ^c „Getting away with murder, A region 2 partial DVD review of Fantômas by Slarek”. DVD Outsider. 19 martie 2006.
^ „Fantômas Lives”. Accesat în 28 iulie 2010.
^ „Fantômas in America”. BlackCoatPress.com. Accesat în 28 iulie 2010.
^ Fantômas(1964) la Internet Movie Database
^ Fantômas se déchaîne(1965) la Internet Movie Database
^ Fantômas contre Scotland Yard(1967) la Internet Movie Database
^ „Christophe Gans to Direct Fantomas”. Film Junk. 13 mai 2009. Accesat în 28 iulie 2010.
^ „Marcel Allain - Tigris - Fatala - Miss Téria”. CoolFrenchComics.com. Accesat în 28 iulie 2010.
^ „Fantômas Review”. Teleport-City.com. 26 februarie 2008.
^ „Les Hommes Mysterieux 1910s”. Comp.dit.ie. Accesat în 28 iulie 2010.
^ „Genealogical Tree of the French Wold Newton Universe: Rocambole & Fantomas / Belcamp / Kergaz Families”. CoolFrenchComics.com. Accesat în 28 iulie 2010.

Bibliografie

Priestman, Martin (2003). The Cambridge Companion to Crime Fiction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 71–72. ISBN 0-521-00871-9.
Green, Martin (1991). Seven Types of Adventure Tale: An Etiology of a Major Genre. Penn State Press. pp. 197–198. ISBN 0-271-02729-0.

Legături externe

Commons

Wikimedia Commons conține materiale multimedia legate de Fantômas

[Slarek-1] „Getting away with murder, A region 2 partial DVD review of Fantômas by Slarek”. DVD Outsider. 19 martie 2006.

[2] „Fantômas Lives”. Accesat în 28 iulie 2010.

[3] „Fantômas in America”. BlackCoatPress.com. Accesat în 28 iulie 2010.

[4] Fantômas(1964) la Internet Movie Database

[5] Fantômas se déchaîne(1965) la Internet Movie Database

[6] Fantômas contre Scotland Yard(1967) la Internet Movie Database

[7] „Christophe Gans to Direct Fantomas”. Film Junk. 13 mai 2009. Accesat în 28 iulie 2010.

[8] „Marcel Allain - Tigris - Fatala - Miss Téria”. CoolFrenchComics.com. Accesat în 28 iulie 2010.

[9] „Fantômas Review”. Teleport-City.com. 26 februarie 2008.

[10] „Les Hommes Mysterieux 1910s”. Comp.dit.ie. Accesat în 28 iulie 2010.

[11] „Genealogical Tree of the French Wold Newton Universe: Rocambole & Fantomas / Belcamp / Kergaz Families”. CoolFrenchComics.com. Accesat în 28 iulie 2010.

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