Films by Sylvain Malin (Who Likes Jean Rollin)

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Sylvain Malin - Manon Film

If you like Jean Rollin, you will likely also love films of a young French director—Sylvain Malin. From this article, you will understand why.

Since 2007, Sylvain Malin has directed four short films, and he is currently working on his fifth one. Let’s start with an overview of his most “rollinesque” film titled Manon.
 

Manon, 2016

Manon is a short fantasy film that has a haunted, tensed, and mysterious vibe. While it contains references to the films of Rollin, it’s authentic enough to be interesting on its own. For example, contrary to Rollin, whose trademark are hilarious and cute flaws caused by the lack of budget or simple negligence, there isn’t anything like that in Manon. It’s a well-made fantasy film with a vibe of a ghost story.

Manon film by Sylvain Malin Manon film de Sylvain Malin
 
Now, here is what Sylvain is saying about it himself:

Sylvain Malin About The Film

Manon is the third film I directed. Its idea partially came from a surrealistic trip inspired by a nightmare that I used to see on a recurring basis. In my dreams there was a soon-to-be married girl committing all kinds of mischief.

I wrote the first version partially by using automatic writing [psychography] that I shared with the members of my company—Le ciné mayenne club/OANI. They liked it and many of them saw similarities with the universe of Jean Rollin—a director who inspired us a lot at that time. In particular, the character of the Clown who reminded us of the one from The Iron Rose.

Little by little, the story of the bride becomes clearer. Her double personality issue makes her gradually lose the connection with reality. She attacks the symbols of her enslavement: the priest symbolizes the religion, her future husband—the conformism of the bourgeois, and the mother—the grip of the family.

The film had good feedback in the specialized printed media. An article was dedicated to it in the monthly issue of L'écran fantastique, as well as different fanzines dedicated to B-movies such as Medusa and Videotopsie.

Right now I’m looking for distributors of B-movies who would release Manon as a bonus together with some other film.
 
Jean Rollin merchandise
 

Official Trailer


Where to Watch Manon

Manon is available for online streaming on Redemption TV (with English subtitles).

La danse des sauvages (The Dance of the Wild), 2018

Another film that Sylvain shared with me is his next work after Manon—La danse des sauvages. It’s a heartbreaking tragic story that made me think about it for a couple of days after watching.

Sylvain Malin About the Film

Afterwards, I shot another film—La danse des sauvages [The Dance of the Wild]. A medium length film of 40 minutes.

The events in this story are taking place at the end of the 19th century. This story is about the destiny of a young man from an aristocratic family who falls in love with a wild girl. The main character’s family doesn’t appreciate such a relationship and is trying to intervene by all means. This film is less “rollinesque”, but it contains, nevertheless, a reference to The Iron Rose—the lovemaking scene in a crypt.

Official Trailer


Where to Get La danse des sauvages

La danse des sauvages is available:
  • for streaming on Redemption TV (with English subtitles)
  • on DVD (in French only) for €8 (plus shipping fees). It includes bonuses such as “making of” and bloopers.
  • as a digital file (in French only): €5.
  • For the most hardcore and heavy metal fans of Sylvain’s films, there are also posters available for €3.
To order the film (except for streaming it on Redemption TV), contact Sylvain at sylem53 [at] hotmail.com
La danse des sauvages film de Sylvain Malin DVD

I Love You (2013)

I Love You is another short film (8 minutes long). It deserves another section in this article just because it’s about an extraterrestrial who falls in love with his neigbor.

 

For French-speaking readers (and for those who knows how to use automatic transalation), I also suggest this article containing an informative interview with Sylvain Malin composed by Isadora Groove and published in her blog.


Sylvain Malin’s Filmography

  1. Premier sermon [The First Sermon] (2007), watch online on YouTube
  2. I love you (2013)
  3. Manon (2016)
  4. La danse des sauvages [The Dance of the Wild] (2018)
  5. l'île diabolique (2023)
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I love exploitation films, dark music, and little-known facts. I share knowledge about old B-movies (including interviewing actresses and directors) and sometimes about music.

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