He was also a playwright.
That movie I mentioned is highly rated - and is based on a Jules Verne novel.
So why is this on-topic?
It seems Jules Verne didn't just write sci-fi.
Reviews of the novel:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1540877.The_Castle_of_the_Carpathians
Here's one:
Jul 11, 2011 C.C. Thomas rated it it was amazing
Jules Verne was such a visionary. At times, it's a little creepy. While most certainly known as the Father of Science Fiction, so much of what he wrote about would later become just another fact of our crazy world--submarines, travel by balloon, travel
to the moon, etc. And here is just one more example: Verne started the vampire craze?!?
Before there was even a Dracula on the market (published in 1897), Verne had published The Castle of the Carpathians in 1893 (Carpathians don't sound nearly
so scary as Transylvanians, hence, perhaps the re-release). While this book was
most certainly
republished to captitlize on the current paranormal fad, I'm glad. Otherwise, I
might never have stumbled on this gem. Plus, if it gets people reading Jules Verne, who am I to judge?
The story ironically begins with this quote: "We are living in a time when anything can happen--one can almost say, when everything has happened. If our tale is not very likely today, it can be so tomorrow, thanks to the scientific resource that are the
lot of the future...." That is still a quote any sci-fi reader or writer could take to heart, over 100 years later.
And the story itself is Victorian to the very end.
The castle in the Carpathia countryside has been vacant for years so when strange smoke and sounds are observed in a nearby village, there is panic. Enter a young count upon the scene. His is a strange connection to the castle and to the village. He is
wandering the countryside, trying to get over the loss of his fiancee's sudden and tragic death. In the prime of her life and fame, the fiancee was the victim
of a stalker and, quite literally, scared to death by him. This stalker was none other than the
Baron who owns the castle.
When the count investigates the castle, he is startled to see his beloved, or her ghost, and is a man determined to reclaim her. Thus begins his improisonment and attempt to escape which leads to a supernaturl encounter with
the Baron and the beloved
singer they are both obsessed with.
I loved this story, an old-fashioned ghost and science fiction classic. I loved
that the book uses such words like 'phantasmagoria'. We just don't use words like that anymore. Our language today is slowly becoming narrowed to words like
'yo'. Sigh.
And, we just don't get to read stories like this where the true horror comes the madness of a deranged lover. The supernatural and special effects of phonorgrams and optical illusions is just enough for any sci-fi junkie of the 1800's and I bet a lot of
haunted houses could learn a thing or two from Verne.
If you've never read Jules Verne before, start with this one. And, if you're a true vamp tramp, then start with the one that started the legend.
(end)
And here's the movie:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y6FF9lOXlsY
You can get subtitles.
And here's one review of the movie, from the IMDb:
rooprect2 June 2009
9/10
Congratulate yourself. You've heard of this movie.
Nobody but nobody has heard of this movie. I just can't understand it because it's such a great little flick; if nothing else it deserves its own underground
cult following. I've been trying to start one for ages, but it seems in order to drum up a cult
you need people. Drat.
Anyway, this film is like a yummy stew of Terry Gilliam (Monty Python), Mel Brooks (Young Frankenstein), Rob Reiner (The Princess Bride), Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Delicatessen, City of Lost Children) and who knows, maybe some Fellini thrown in for taste. It's
surreal, bizarre, funny artistic, classy and has a great underlying story by Jules Verne to feed your brain.
It's one of those films with lots of antique sets and cool retro-scifi gadgets which put you into a timeless state of mind--not exactly the past nor the future, but definitely not the present. Think of the movies Brazil or HG Wells'
The Time Machine,
then throw in some absolutely crazy characters: a villain who is obsessed with beards, a hero whose super power is his bellowing opera voice (if not his hyper-inflated ego), a mad scientist who sends rockets to the moon in his spare
time, and a gorgeous
damsel in distress who has a rather curious affliction (I won't ruin it)...
If you're into bizarre Czechoslovakian nightmares* then this is the film for you. Some of the gags are corny, but they're so corny they're classic. If nothing else, it'll be a memorable experience for you, and you can boast about being the only person in
your town (in your hemisphere?) who's seen this flick.
*speaking of bizarre Czechs, you might also want to look for the films of Jan Svankmajer (Alice, Faust, Little Otik), definitely worth czeching out. Har.
(end)
I found a few short translated death notices here:
https://www.mbs.news/?s=SkopeÄek
Plus:
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0804653/
(SkopeÄek's very long filmography)
Lenona.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: www.darkrealms.ca (1:229/2)