A maker of short films from 1906, Feuillade is today remembered for the
set of serial thrillers he directed around the time of World War I.
Fantomas, Les Vampires and Judex - all studies of criminal gangs
plotting sedition and anarchy in France - spread convoluted, chaotic
narratives over their many episodes. Feuillade's technique is in fact
archaic, especially in its editing, but there's some truth to the claim
that if Griffith pioneered the technique of narrative cinema,
Feuillade pioneered its most abiding themes. Lang, Hitchcock and the
whole tradition of the thriller movie are rooted in Feuillade's
unpredictable, sinister world.
