It’s February, and with a new month comes a new lineup at ARROW. The February 2023 lineup leads with the exclusive ARROW release of Dima Ballin & Kat Ellinger’s acclaimed documentary “Orchestrator of Storms: The Fantastique World Of Jean Rollin.”
“Orchestrator of Storms: The Fantastique World of Jean Rollin” tells the story of one of Eurocult cinema’s most singular voices. Deeply misunderstood and widely misrepresented during his decades-long career as a film director, Rollin’s work received no recognition in his native country of France and was utterly unknown anywhere else. In the nineties, thanks to home video, Rollin attained a marginal cult status in niche English-speaking genre circles. Otherwise, he has remained completely obscure.
Rollin was raised within the bosom of some of France’s most influential and intellectual elites, thanks to his mother Denise’s friendship with figures such as Maurice Blanchot, George Bataille, Jean Cocteau, as well as Jacques and Pierre Prévert. Similarly, his father was a director in avant-garde theatre, exposing Jean to some of France’s most interesting aspects of culture. It is perhaps not surprising that when it came to making his films, Jean Rollin’s were unlike anything else on the scene.
He remains one of genre cinema’s most singular poets, a theatrical fantasist, interpreter of dreams, and orchestrator of storms. His recurring use of twin or paired protagonists and surrealistic interpretations of vampirism, with tones that were often in the midnight space between gothic literature and fairy tale, his sense of humor and intellectual musings, his sumptuous visual ideas, coming together to make inspired works of genre art that ran against nearly all traditions of the times they were made in.
Once you dig into the director’s life and passions, what emerges is a strong connection to the French surrealists, to symbolist art, to the poetry of Tristan Corbière, to the French anarchist scene in the sixties, and counterculture. “Orchestrator of Storms: The Fantastique World of Jean Rollin” sets out to tell this story in an attempt to elevate the director’s work by exploring it in depth alongside these major influences and other key themes, such as the tradition of the French Fantastique. The film also looks at his frustrations and how he had to constantly grapple and scramble for funding as one of the only filmmakers predominantly working within the horror genre through the sixties and seventies. Most importantly, it examines his singular vision, which ran completely counter to other western traditions in genre film.
Joining the documentary on ARROW are several of Rollin’s films. “Two Orphan Vampires,” “Zombie Lake,” “The Living Dead Girl,” “Lost in New York,” and “Dracula’s Fiancee” will all accompany the documentary when it arrives on February 14.
ARROW will also spotlight another French director in February with “The French Hitchcock: Claude Chabrol.”
For five decades, Claude Chabrol navigated the unpredictable waters of cinema, leaving in his wake more than fifty feature films that remain among the most quietly devastating genre movies ever made. Sardonic, provocative, and unsettling, Chabrol’s films cut to the quick with a clarity and honesty honed to razor sharpness.
Though influenced by Fritz Lang, Alfred Hitchcock, and Jean Renoir, Chabrol’s voice was entirely and assuredly his own, influencing, in turn, filmmakers like Bong Joon-ho, James Gray, and Dominik Moll. His amused, unblinkered view of life and refusal to judge his characters makes his films timelessly relevant and accessible to all.
His films “Cop au vin,” “Madame Bovary” (1991), and “The Swindle” will all be available starting February 17.
February’s Seasons kick off on February 3 with the spotlight on writer, producer, and director Charles Band, with “Charles Band: The Puppetmaster.” This celebration of the filmmaker’s voice brings together many of his wildest and most fun works, including “Puppet Master,” “Doctor Mordrid,” and “Trancers.”
On February 6, ARROW introduces “Killer Tech” to the service. From cursed videotapes and phone calls to the dangers of the dark web and vicious virtual reality, ARROW’s second season of the month features the films “.com for Murder,” “Laguna Ave.,” and “Edge of the Axe.”
On February 10, ARROW hands the keys to the kingdom to Cinematic Void, a Los Angeles-based cult film screening series. Focusing on all oddball gems of all genres, the Void unleashes an onslaught of horror, Eurotrash, exploitation, and gonzo action on the silver screen at the American Cinematheque. Cinematic Void film programmer Jim Branscome has selected a few of his favorite genre films for your viewing pleasure in Cinematic Void Selects, which includes “Deadly Games” and “Deep Red.”
Other highlights in February outside of the genre include a pair of Paul Joyce documentaries about the American indie film scene: “Robert Altman: Giggle and Give In” and “Made in the USA,” “King of Karate: The Sonny Chiba Collection,” and “Millionaires’ Express.”
Check out a teaser of all of this month’s highlights below:
ARROW is available in the US, Canada, the U.K., and Ireland on Roku, Apple T.V. & iOS devices, Android T.V. and mobile devices, Amazon Fire devices, and on all web browsers at https://www.arrow-player.com. Subscriptions are available for $6.99 monthly or $49.99 yearly. Title availability can vary by region.
