Du Sang, de la volupté et de la Mort

Film as Film: las películas de Gregory J. Markopoulos
1: Du Sang, de la volupté et de la Mort

Gregory J. Markopoulos, Psyche, 1947, 24 min
Gregory J. Markopoulos, Lysis, 1948, 25 min
Gregory J. Markopoulos, Charmides, 1948, 11 min
Introduced by Mark Webber

Made as student at USC in Los Angeles, Markopoulos’ first 16mm film Psyche took as its source the unfinished novella of the same name by Pierre Louÿs. Shown together with Lysis and Charmides (made after returning to his hometown of Toledo, Ohio, and inspired by Platonic dialogues), it forms the trilogy titled Du sang de la volupté et de la mort (1947-48). By boldly addressing lesbian and homosexual themes, the trilogy gained unwelcome notices in Films in Review and Variety where, in the repressive atmosphere of the early 1950s, it was branded “degenerate” following a screening at New York University. Such a response is unimaginable today for lyrical works that express sensuality through the symbolic use of colour and composition. Writing about these early films, Markopoulos stated that “Colour is Eros”, and quoted a statement by philosopher Mircea Eliade that offers a clue to his entire body of work: “The whole man is engaged when he listens to myths and legends; consciously or not, their message is always deciphered and absorbed in the end.”