Silver Nitrate(30)
“I don’t think I ever thought that exactly, but he made a vivid impression on everyone who met him, although in the beginning I admit I assumed he was a garden-variety gigolo.”
“How come?”
“Ewers changed his biography and age depending on the listener, but the birth year that seemed to stick was 1923. Alma was born in 1906. With such an age gap, I assumed Alma was simply infatuated with Ewers and wanted to please him by shooting that silly film of his.”
Montserrat held the album closer to her face. Ewers wore a double-breasted trench coat of a light, sandy color. Around his neck hung a large circular silver pendant carved with spidery lines.
“What’s that pendant he’s wearing?” she asked.
“A vegvísir. That Which Shows the Way. It’s supposed to be an ancient Norse talisman to help travelers return home safely.”
“Let me see,” Tristán muttered, taking the album and frowning. “You can probably buy that at El Chopo for a peso from one of the darketos.”
“I doubt it. The runes carved on it were designed by Ewers. But I thought exactly the same thing you are thinking now: that Ewers was a phony.”
“Why did you change your mind?” Montserrat asked.
Urueta retrieved his glass and took a sip. He was smiling as he looked down at the floor. “The script Ewers had worked on was not terribly special. A young woman reveals the secrets of a magical cabal and is punished by the members of that secret society. Her boyfriend saved her six minutes before the movie ended and killed the bad guy. An ordinary movie.
“I had heard Alma was dating an eccentric German guy. He talked about runes and said he could predict the future by gazing into a bowl of water. But then, so what? I’d met plenty of astrology consultants for the rich and famous. Sydney Omarr studied in Mexico City before making his way to Hollywood. Psychics like Jeane Dixon appeared in Parade. I had lunch with Alma and Ewers and he was polite, charming. He didn’t seem odd. We didn’t even talk magic that first time. Then, I attended one of Ewers’s séances.”
There was a pause as Urueta contemplated his glass and downed its contents swiftly. “There was food, drink, music. It was like any regular party except he said we would summon a spirit. Around one a.m., Ewers had us recite several phrases. He had us chanting, in fact. In one hand he had a little bell, which he rang at certain intervals.
“I was drunk, and I was not very interested in all of this, but as the chanting kept getting louder and the bell rang, Ewers began to make motions with one hand, as if asking someone to come closer. He kept doing this with one hand and ringing the bell, and at one point I felt there was someone standing directly behind me and then that someone brushed past me and stepped forward. It felt like a breeze, almost, but the windows were closed and there wasn’t anyone behind me, we were all in a circle with Ewers at the center of it. It was the first time I believed Ewers was in fact a sorcerer as he claimed.”
Tristán was about to say something, but Urueta held up his open palm and shook his head.
“No, you don’t have to tell me about the power of suggestion. He had a gift. When he wanted to, he’d flip a switch and shine, and you’d fly to him, a moth attracted by the light. He made magical charms for me and for my girlfriend, invited us to other séances. We began talking about magic.
“Ewers believed in willpower. It was the engine of magic. This was not particularly novel. He got many of his ideas from Golden Dawn, and I’m sure others said the same thing. But willpower alone is not enough for magic; you also need rituals. Ewers was fascinated with movies. He thought the merging of sound and visuals could produce powerful magic. It was the perfect ritual.”
“And post-synchronization was the way to cast spells? But how exactly?” Montserrat asked, remembering their previous conversation.
“We would shoot a regular horror film. But we would also have three short scenes with a small amount of dialogue throughout the movie. Those were the key magical components. The dialogue was the spell, and the three people on screen were the magicians. There were runes, which he designed, and those would be projected during the credits, before and after the movie. The act of post-synchronization was what brought all these components together.”
“If he only needed three scenes, why shoot a regular movie at all? Why not borrow a camera and record all three on a weekend?” she asked.
“Weaving the three into the film was what helped give the spell its shape. It granted it a certain cohesion. Otherwise, it would be too…hmm, I think he said it would be too crude,” Abel said, frowning. “I can’t remember what word exactly he used.”
“Maybe it was like tape splicing,” Montserrat said. “If you cut and join tape at a ninety-degree angle, it gets the job done, but you end up with a ‘click.’ It’s better to slice at an angle. More elegant, I suppose.”
Abel snapped his fingers and nodded excitedly. “Yes! That was the word! It was more elegant. Besides, Ewers thought magic built up, a bit like a pressure cooker. Day one of shooting the magic was weak, but by four weeks it was getting much warmer in the pot.”
“I guess a Polaroid needs to be exposed to the light for a while for the film to develop,” Montserrat mused. “Do you know what spell Ewers was trying to cast?”
“A good luck spell. Alma had been out of work for a long time. She dreamed of making a comeback. The spell would rejuvenate her, return some of her old beauty and therefore ensure she would get new parts.”