As a pseudo-fictive author of many anti-academic treatises, I was lucky enough to come into possession of Volumes 1-13 of The Oneiriad, a pan-universal exploration of selfhood which elaborates on some theories of multiversal travel I had considered in my youth, before forming Die Spezielle Bruderschaft der Ontologischen Zerstörung; it seems apt to write some evidence of its contents now for the SBOZ before its untimely demise at the hands of never having existed in the first place.
Raoul Géroux is such an enigmatic figure as to require a multi-volume biopic in his honour. He will forever be an inspiration to the movement of the SBOZ, especially in times when anti-fascist rebelliousness is required more than anything else. We see, time and time again, a world falling into violencia inconsciente; Géroux targeted that sensation with his filmography1 with aplomb. Herr Quincy, my longstanding companion, and nemesis, held many soirées cinéma projecting the psychedelic, para-therapeutic works of Géroux on the stucco. Such wonderful pieces of art.
The discerning reader however will determine I am focussing my inattentions on a specific film of his ouvre, abril es cruel (2016), when Géroux went into hiding for his longest period. Films continued to be produced in his name, and distributed under the secretive eyes of Oneiroi Publishing House, found in dereliction in Lindum Colonia—but whether these pieces were indeed Géroux, or the finest knock-offs of cinematic history, even I cannot tell. I have a keen eye for a directors cinematography, and those pieces after 2016 look as readily a Géroux work as any other. abril es cruel however marked a departure from his previous works.
The film is a series of vignettes filmed on a Panasonic HDC-SD200 Camcorder (I believe silver in colouration, as we can see it in some mirrors when the director enters frame) exploring the arrival of douze célébrités into The City, an amorphous ecumenopolis representing all urban environs, from the humblest edgeland to the most built-up Wall Street cacophony. The celebrities seem to represent a zodiacal pantheon of inspirations for The Author, an unnamed figure who collapses into a singularity in his back garden, a bean shaped black hole of the Anish Kapoor mode2. The celebrities show insight into the authors declining mental health, abusive relationships, and cataclysmic demeanour. The vignettes, which comprise a film lasting over 6 hours, are in a nouvelle vague modality, where pedestrians are as much a part of the film as the actors themselves, actors being a loose term, for many of those working on the production were friends of The Author himself.
And this is where the Gehirntrübung begins. Is Raoul Géroux playing The Author, or is The Author played by a different actor/figure? Are they one and the same? Or is Géroux playing tricks with the light, indicating the figure who left reality at the start of the movie is a completely different figure all together? Are the friends, family members, and warped celebrity visages aspects of Géroux’s inspirations, his journey from troubles artist to free spirit, or someone else? And if it is someone else, whom?
It must be noted here that Raoul Géroux is famous not for abril es cruel - nor any of his other pieces, from the hilarious romps of KILLER FROGS! to the nightmarish abstraction that is In The Shadow of the Afternoon - but for the original The Kissing Rains, that most impeccable silver-screen delight which began the entire Oneiriad in the first instance. Created initially in 1967 to 1968, The Kissing Rains was subsequently destroyed by arson, with only a few video copies remaining, all of which were coincidentally/synchronically erased through magnetism. The second instance in the 1980s found its way into the hands of Aloysius Deville, who destroyed the only copy in a fit of madness. It is only due to the hard labour of Oscar Allard (filmologist of no repute) and Gregory Hysp (a pseudo-famous cinematographer) that a version of The Kissing Rains exists at all, noting of course this must be the version Jasper Maurus witnessed all those iterations ago. And yet, and yet, y todavía, et encore, heoi ano, it could not possibly be the work of Oscar Allard to have opened such portals of narratological fractal insanity, but only the original. But the original was lost. The original was never made.
Raoul Géroux will forever hold a special place in my heart for the tireless work he performed in creating anti-fascist movies with no hint of irony, or only dollops of the stuff. His experiments in pure mimeographed abstraction, in choreographed qlippothean nonsense, is comparable to naught. His jaunts into B-Movie horror flicks where little frogs eat scantily clad biker chicks are delightful. Géroux is as missing as his filmography in the tapestry of cinematic gorgeousness, whose spiritualism is as powerful as his mise en scene; watching his movies is to unlock a kaotic paraphenalia, which infuses itself into the river-running dialectic of The Oneiriad like a koala eating the last leaf of eucalyptus. Like the last mammoth on the Serengeti.
If one finds a VHS of Géroux’s work, do not watch it. They are dangerous machines unsuitable for the modern eye or ear. But keep them archived, for one day, they will immanentize the eschaton.
This essay was kindly donated by the SBOZ, and was written by Ricard St. Jassœmein in a state of situationist prank, hallucination, and sigilisation. If one would like to join the SBOZ, please email the last surviving member at severe.sboz@gmail.com. Please remember, the SBOZ does not exist, and neither does its members.
To access The Oneiriad and to support this author/evocator, you can buy any of the volumes from gumroad for £0+. Any donations appreciated for further manifestation.
Raoul Géroux’s filmography is extensive, but a select few pieces have been presented in this essay. Many can be found in the archives of the SBOZ.
Un momento de verdadero silencio (1957) Directed by Raoul Géroux. [Video, 00001] Argentina, SBOZ Archives
¡Ranas asesinas! (1965) Directed by Raoul Géroux. [Video 00002] Argentina, SBOZ Archives
Las lluvias besándose (1967/8) Directed by Raoul Géroux. [Video 0000X] Argentina, SBOZ Archives [corrupted]
A la sombra de la tarde (1970) Directed by Raoul Géroux & Aloysius Deville [Video 12451] Argentina, SBOZ Archives
¡Ranas asesinas 2! ¡El regreso de las ranas asesinas! (1973) Directed by Raoul Géroux [Video 55912] Argentina, SBOZ Archives
Las lluvias que besan (1980) Directed by Raoul Géroux. [Video 0000X] Argentina, SBOZ Archives [corrupted]
Cueva (1989) Directed by Raoul Géroux [Video 34512] Argentina, SBOZ Archives
Un enjambre de avispas negras (2003) Directed by Raoul Géroux [Video 39991] Argentina, SBOZ Archives
Bosque Rojo (2012-2014) [TV] Episodes 1-9 directed by Raoul Géroux [Video 51234-5143] Argentina, SBOZ Archives
Tormenta de mierda aka Shitstorm by Article 50 (2013) [Music Video] Directed by Raoul Géroux [Video 67154] Argentina, SBOZ Archives
Joris Bonson es un coño by Article 50 (2013) [Music Video/Docudrama] Directed by Raoul Géroux [Video 67155] Argentina, SBOZ Archives
abril es cruel (2016) Directed by Raoul Géroux, based on the works of T S Eliot [video 69991] Argentina, SBOZ Archives
¡Ranas asesinas 3! ¡Mi esposa es una rana asesina! (2017) Directed by Raoul Géroux [video 71121] Argentina, SBOZ Archives
Albión (2019) Directed by Raoul Géroux [video 80000] Argentina, SBOZ Archives
La Pluie Embrasser (2022) Directed by Jasper Maurus (as Raoul Géroux)/Transliterated by Gregory Hysp & Oscar Allard [Video 89244] Argentina, SBOZ Archives
Discerning cinephiles will note Anish Kapoor was credited as a production assistant on the film, but the artist denies having ever worked with Raoul Géroux.