Jean Rollin (1938-2010)

The reaper comes for all of us eventually. I mean that figuratively, of course; some visualize a reaper and some do not. Jean Rollin, the surrealist gothic auteur who died yesterday, did as good a job of visualizing the reaper as anyone.

Brigitte Lahaie in Fascination isn't a literal embodiment of death, but she'll do for today. She's probably the definitive representation of Rollin's fascination with female beauty and morbid appetites. Maybe he saw her yesterday. I saw her as soon as I saw the news.

Click the Rollin tag below for reviews of his films and reflections on his distinctive sensibility. However you judge him, he was a unique and by definition irreplaceable cinema artist. Now he belongs to the ages -- but then again, he always did.