In total, there are currently more than 200 entries in Eckhart Schmidt’s filmography – and of course they all want to be seen! Especially in recent years, the cult director of ‘The Fan’ makes about three dozen films a year, which are then sold in mini editions of sometimes as few as 30 – but I watch them all! Ultimately, you can’t buy anything from it – but for me it’s currently (and will certainly be for at least another year) an incredibly fascinating viewing experience.
After all, I am of course incredibly susceptible to it, to delve into filmographies – even if they are quite unusual! Take David DeCoteau for example: After listening to friends with “A Talking Cat!?!” After seeing what is considered one of the legendary worst films of all time, but which we found surprisingly sweet and sympathetic, I immediately delved into the Canadian’s filmography – from his B-movie horror roots (“Sorority Babes In The Slimeball Bowl -O-Rama”) to the 25-part thriller series “The Wrong”, which he wrote for the American Housewives broadcaster Lifetime.
I already have 90 movies, 80 are still missing!
A new film every two to three months is the rule rather than the exception at DeCoteau – and I have now seen 90 films (many of which were shot in the same building), so I now know my way around there almost as well as I do in my own apartment). And of course the missing 80 titles from his filmography are also examined. Here a brief insight into the incomparable DeCoteau cosmos – pay special attention to the lips, which were apparently added with Photoshop and the crazy idea of hiring Eric Roberts to voice the adorable little cat:
But in the meantime, my co-conspirator Kamil Moll and I have encountered an even deeper cinematic rabbit hole to climb down: Of course, I had known Eckhart Schmidt for a long time – especially his scandalous film “The Fan” (*), in which the young Désirée Nosbusch eplays a rabid pop fan who first kills and then eats her idol after a disappointed love affair, I consider it one of the most important German horror films ever. You can’t get more cult than that!
However, Schmidt has been working on a Roman cycle for several years, which already has seven Blu-ray boxes with ten to more than thirty titles each. While the first films were all shown at a festival, there have only been a few cinema screenings since then. So you have to stick to the Blu-rays (which the director apparently made himself): While the first box was limited to 100 copies, this later dropped to 30 copies – and the sets aren’t exactly cheap either, what with one small circulation is also understandable. Plus, you can do them alone in the director’s personal online shop where you must first provide your age to gain access. No wonder the majority of films are about naked young women.
I have owned at least some of the boxes for a long time. But My FILMSTARTS co-critic Kamil Moll and I were really looking forward to diving into it at the Hofbauer Congress in Nuremberg this year. The festival was once an insider tip, but has now grown into the event for fans of obscure or neglected popular cinema (from hit films to sex clothing, which is mainly projected on old 35mm or 16mm copies). This year, two of Schmidt’s newer films were also shown there (and the director himself actually wanted to come, but had to cancel at short notice due to illness).
Every Monday as many films as possible in one go
When it comes to something like this, for us it is always: completely or not at all! But that is now more than 100 titles (and of course we also watch all the other Schmidt films). You have to make a strict plan – and that is why we try to get together every Monday evening if possible to watch a number of films in one go, which Schmidt himself filmed with a hand-held camera and often distorted with all kinds of cross-fading techniques. And because so many of them are about young women strolling through Rome, telling stories or reciting poems, we now feel like we know all the streets and squares of the city (even though I’ve never been to Rome myself).
Moreover, some films, which often tell about tragic or obsessive love or which deal with the relationship between artists and their muses, purely in Italian (without subtitles). I don’t understand a word of it, but you just have to get through it – although I initially expected more support from my fellow spectators. But since then he realizes:After the film, he roughly summarizes the plot for me in two or three sentences – although the extras always include a video with Schmidt explaining his inspiration behind each individual film.
…and listening to Eckhart Schmidt talk about his work is a fascination in itself (especially when it comes to my absolute favorite from the Roman cycles, ‘My Most Beautiful Summer’, as in the following YouTube video):
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