More Laura

Ready in September?

The editing of EMPUSA has finished and now the post-production is involved in dubbing, a musical score, special effects, etc. The film should be ready in September.

The Laura de Pedro Interview

Deleted.

The Keats Poem

Reader Scott Standridge informed me of this obvious source for the French subtitling of EMPUSA. It's a John Keat's poem:

La Belle Dame Sans Merci

Ballad

I.

O WHAT can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has wither’d from the lake,
And no birds sing.

II.

O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms!
So haggard and so woe-begone?
The squirrel’s granary is full,
And the harvest’s done.

III.

I see a lily on thy brow
With anguish moist and fever dew,
And on thy cheeks a fading rose
Fast withereth too.

IV.

I met a lady in the meads,
Full beautiful—a faery’s child,
Her hair was long, her foot was light,
And her eyes were wild.

V.

I made a garland for her head,
And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;
She look’d at me as she did love,
And made sweet moan.

VI.

I set her on my pacing steed,
And nothing else saw all day long,
For sidelong would she bend, and sing
A faery’s song.

VII.

She found me roots of relish sweet,
And honey wild, and manna dew,
And sure in language strange she said—
“I love thee true.”

VIII.

She took me to her elfin grot,
And there she wept, and sigh’d fill sore,
And there I shut her wild wild eyes
With kisses four.

IX.

And there she lulled me asleep,
And there I dream’d—Ah! woe betide!
The latest dream I ever dream’d
On the cold hill’s side.

X.

I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried—“La Belle Dame sans Merci
Hath thee in thrall!”

XI.

I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
With horrid warning gaped wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
On the cold hill’s side.

XII.

And this is why I sojourn here,
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is wither’d from the lake,
And no birds sing.

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The above painting is by John William Waterhouse, dated 1893.

The Beautiful Lady Without Mercy

That's the English translation of the subtitle, in French, of EMPUSA in the trailer to the film that can been seen in the interview linked in the last post. A very nice subtitle, but why in French? An extra touch of class and mystery? A homage to Jean Rollin?

Trailer for EMPUSA!

This is a Spanish interview show with Naschy talking about vampires. Soon the talk turns briefly to Naschy's newest film, EMPUSA, which is still being edited. At around the 14 minute mark, a working trailer (?) for EMPUSA is seen--I believe the first look at scenes from this film. Looks impressive!

November Update

Nothing much to report on EMPUSA, except that Paul Naschy is working on the 40 or so hours of footage that was shot for the film. Stay tuned!