The Countess

Hungarian Countess Elzabet Bathory is reputed to have killed scores of young women in her county and bathed in their blood in an attempt to remain forever young, earning herself the sobriquet of the female Dracula. While she is noromally and understandably depicted as a villain, Julie Delpy, directing and acting, gives her story an unflinching feminist twist. It begins with the Count eating on the battlefield beside a huge pile of severed Turkish heads, for which sort of feat he is honored by the Emperor. The Countess, frustrated in her affair with a much younger noble, starts her unconventional beauty regime because she mistakenly thinks he dumped her because she looked too old. When, eventually, it catches up with her (mainly because the Emperor wants her army and lands), before she is walled up in her room alone for the rest of her life, she says coldly and dignity that she wished she had been a man, so they would have have praised her for slaughter. The film is gorgeous, each frame carefully composed like a great Master painting, in lots of browns and green. Watch it.

I just watched the movie The Countess. The movie is about Erzsébet Bàthory (Elizabeth Bàthory). The Countess that killed many girls and noble alike for their blood to keep young. This movie isn't about vampires, it's a historical movie about her life and times.A lot of people have a misunderstanding of the medieval times. The movie did a great job representing the time. You can see that in her time women had rights and spoke their minds, the people in her time, didn't act that much different from us. You also got to see that the royals had less freedoms than the peasants. You could relate to any of the people in the movie. You get to see that Erzsébet was human as anyone else. She had many affairs with women and men. To the people that think homosexuality is newly invited thing. Think again! It's been around since forever.The acting was superb. I do not know how historical accurate this movie about her life is, because there are some that don't think she did those crimes, and it all was made up to ruin her. I never found her that interesting, to kill with unjust reasoning as she did, just turns me off. But this movie makes you be the judge of her.The movie portrays a great ruler, a very powerful woman that spiewhirls down to a very weak woman, who's obsess in staying young. The movie shows her lunatic quite well, to how she sees what she thinks the blood is doing to her, to what everyone sees. In the end her obessiness vanity is her downfall. I think her punishment was quite fitting for her, which I will not tell. Does this make me want to read about her? Yes. All in all a very good movie.

I waited years to see this movie and it was worth the wait. A beautiful and respected woman of honor who believes she was scorned by her lover turns to greed and murder to keep her beauty alive. For people who want a fast paced thriller this is not for you, but for the ones who want a good story with great acting, intrigue and drama here you go.Such a good movie about how power and obsession can turn even the kindest of souls into murderers.

Well done and entertaining to watch.

I do like speculative fiction and I am certainly capable of suspending disbelief, but all the pretty wardrobe in the world is not going to convince me that Elizabeth Bathory, one of the most prolific serial killers in the history of murder, was a misunderstood romantic...nor can I believe that she would be as stiff as Julie Delpy, who seems to be so focused on her impeccable English that she forgets to act. I understand that showing the humanity of a monster makes them even more terrifying, but ruthless, perverse, psycho-sexual sadists don't suddenly go wholesale chop-happy on entire villages of peasant girls because a man hurt their feelings. I mean, at least give her some gallows humor, a la Lecter. This is more like "'Elizabeth: the Bathory No One Knew', brought to you by Hallmark--*because we can be edgy too*. Stay tuned for an episode of Jeffrey Dahmer: the Musical".

What was great about this movie is that it arose my curiosity in a strange way. I don't watch scary movies. However, this one fascinated me by presenting a really complex and interesting woman. Until the end, I was never sure if I should feel sorry for her or find her repulsive. In the end, I felt more sorry for her.Julie Delpy was outstanding as a director and actress. I have never heard of her before this movie, a fact which I deplored greatly. The film described the countess' dreadful action but managed to slip in the alternative explanation for the myth of the blood countess which was that the story was fabricated by a count, jealous of her power and wealth. It was about power, greed and the desire to dominate a strong and beautiful woman by using deception and her weakness for young handsome man.This is a strong and meaningful movie.

This is a very good account of the history of Elizabeth Bathory in one of the different versions history tells it. It shows more of a love story and her being framed because of her being a powerful woman in that time and other powerful men wanted what she had. Greed was their motive and was the way this version of her story played out. You never really know the truth but it could go either way. The movie is done very well and I have many books and a few other older movies on Elizabeth Bathory and I really enjoyed this one.

How can a movie about Elizabeth Bathory, the worlds most prolific serial killers be boring? The acting and direction is fine but I just feel like someone was missing from the film but I just couldn’t figure out what. The movie has a tendency to drag and get boring. If you have an interest in Elizabeth Bathory then give it a look.

Plot and Background:This is the story of the medieval Hungarian Countess, Erzsebet Bathory (Julie Delpy), who still holds the Guinness World Record for being history’s most prolific serial killer. She and four of her servants were tried and found guilty of torturing and murdering hundreds of young girls. Despite the overwhelming evidence that would imply that Erzsebet Bathory was more than likely guilty of having an extraordinary number of people killed, even given her time and aristocratic position, she was born into a time of male-dominated political manipulation. The film explores the corruption of power both within the countess and those would seek to gain from her demise.Review:“The Countess” has been cited as Julie Delpy’s third outing as director, but many don’t count her work on short films. The actress, writer, producer and sometimes singer-songwriter has amassed considerable experience. She must be one of our most under-rated auteurs and “The Countess” bears all her signature hallmarks. In contrast to Juraj Jakubisko’s somewhat lavish-looking “Bathory” the previous year, this is a more understated drama. Delpy, who also plays the film’s lead, wrote the screenplay and produced the film’s music, said she wanted to explore the psychology of the character more than present a Gothic tale.The injustice many noble landowning widows faced during the medieval era is clearly a welcome target for Delpy’s unashamed feminist agenda. It is the perfect device to show oppressive patriarchy in full swing and she handles it very well. As the historian Tony Thorne pointed out in his “Countess Dracula”, Erzsebet Bathory was not the first or last noble widow to lose her land to her prosecutor.This isn’t to say that Delpy seeks to present Erzsebet Bathory as some hapless victim throughout the movie. She might be at the mercy of men, but she is far from weak. Whereas “Bathory” gave us a woman lost in her own world where she naively ended up being conspired against, “The Countess” turns the lead character into something of a feminist symbol. It is her defiance of the masculine order of things, clearly stated at one of her dinners where she shows no fear in confronting the church on such matters, which leads to her downfall in an unfair world. Delpy walks a precarious line here, as she chooses not to exonerate Erzsebet from blame. Instead her complex character’s battle against male oppression is contrasted with the countess’s own corruption by power.Both movies felt compelled to represent the bathing in blood myth I guess to satisfy the myth that has become synonymous with the countess despite it being highly unlikely to have any basis in reality. “Bathory” opted for a convoluted explanation for the bloody bathing whereas “The Countess” just went with it, repeating the tale about Erzsebet Bathory striking a servant, drawing blood and believing the blood that splashed on her skin restored her youth. Delpy uses the plot device of Erzsebet’s lost young love as inspiration for the sadistic madness that will follow.“The Countess” succeeds as a drama over being a spectacle. However, Delpy does not resist many of the trappings everyone has come to expect of the “Blood Countess” iconography.This includes the need to sexualize Erzsebet. Whether or not she was a woman of passion is a matter of debate. Notes from her trial, which she never attended, seem to indicate that she was a sadistic murderer who derived sensual pleasure from the tortures she inflicted. However, some have argued that the truth of the matter is that she was just another brutal aristocrat, acting as other noble people did in her time and much of the descriptions were purposely exaggerated by unreliable or tortured witnesses. Her letters and other contemporary material on Bathory prior to her child reveal an unpassionate woman. She might have been very beautiful, but she seems cold in her nature rather than the nymphomaniac sensualist that the influential surrealist Valentine Penrose presented in her historical book, “The Bloody Countess”.Delpy retains this passion – sex being a regular tool in a lot her work - and portrays Erzsebet as a loving woman who is corrupted by her own demons of loss. The sex-scenes are relatively tame, hence the 15 certificate in the UK, and somewhat reserved when compared to Delpy’s other works. Given the adult source material, Delpy had little obvious reason to pull back from visual representations of the accused acts of gross sadism and nymphomania that is attributed to Erzsebet. However, this might be due to the director resisting such sensationalist temptation in an effort to pursue the drama.The understated style of the film, which takes in castles and battle scenes, resembles a big budget BBC TV drama. This might be due, in part to the focus on drama, and also the dark colour pallet chosen. Production took place in Germany and France, and the landscapes are presented on overcast days. Other scenes generally take place in darkened castle rooms. Such gloominess and tight framing is in obvious contrast to the bright red and vibrant panoramic shots of “Bathory”. This might, in part, be down to cinematographer Martin Ruhe’s involvement. Ruhe is known for pop promos, but his bleak visions are best represented in 2007’s black and white biopic on Ian Curtis, “Control”. A background in pop music promos and a distinctive kitchen sink drama type vision was a near perfect way to provide insight into the very troubled mind of Joy Division’s lead singer. Such bleakness would, again, be used to good effect after “The Countess” in the Michael Caine starring vigilante drama, “Harry Brown”, although this time in colour. In certain scenes this style does work in “The Countess”, particularly some of the interior shots and when we are looking at brief moments of introspection. However, the outside scenes, particularly on battlefields, are less effective.The cast are pretty unremarkable and Delpy commands attention like a latter day Lawrence Olivier or Orson Welles. German actor, Daniel Brühl, who plays István Thurzó, the film’s love interest following the death of Erszebet’s first husband, Franz Nádasdy (Charly Hübner), is little more than a device. He is shown to be an object of the predatory Erzsebet’s infatuation and a pawn to his father, György, and little more. Not having such vivid characters or supporting cast performances can make scenes not including Erzsebet, which concern the political intrigue drag a bit. It should be mentioned that “Bathory” has a distinct advantage over “The Countess”, in this respect, with a more colourful cast of well-acted characters. However, William Hurt does save the day and is an appropriately chosen adversary as Erzsebet’s Machiavellian cousin, György Thurzó. If any writer wants us to feel any sympathy for Erszebet, then we need to see Thurzó as a more sinful character. Once again, Delpy opts for a less overt and far more believable show of his evil than what is shown in “Bathory” by having him as a manipulator of her nature and the advantages his gender provides him during his time.The film is an entertaining melodrama, appearing to show a lot of restraint given its material. Delpy is an extraordinarily talented artist and deserves far more recognition in the film world. There is no denying the fact that Hollywood and just about everywhere in film world is heavily dominated by male directors, and her lack of exposure in the mainstream and art worlds seems to cry out the feminist message she is trying to convey in many of her works. She is a fine artistic auteur, making the same mistakes that other greats have done, but also displaying ability in all areas she controls. However, rather than giving us a powerful and starkly different piece we are led down a familiar path. This is something of disappointment given Delpy’s extraordinary talent and the fascinating material. It almost feels as if there is something of Faustian pact going on with Delpy choosing to use the Bathory mythology as a vehicle to convey her own favourite arguments rather than making a concerted effort to provide a more historically accurate portrayal of Erzsebet and her life.

Two reasons why I loved this DVD, one is that my son Jesse Inman has a small part in the film, the other is that having read some pretty awful reviews prior to watching it, I was happily surprised. I didn`t find the mish mash of accents put me off at all, I thought Julie Delpy`s performance mesmerising. It tells the true story of a sad and lonely woman who decided that she could remain forever young by drinking the blood of young virgins, which is explored in a number of torturous scenes in this film. Considering we know it to be a true tale, the secrecy, corruption and covering up of those who did not want the rest of the world to know what was happening in 17th century Hungary, is no different than all of that not so dissimilar politicking which continues today. I loved it.

Fine film - a subtle retelling of an old story - more realistic than the Hammer Countess Dracula. On this DVD you have to guess the German root menu to find setup options for choice of language but once done most credits, etc. are in English - apparently filmed in several languages because the lip sync is perfect.

A STANDARD FOR ANYONE LIVING IN ASTRO-HUNGARY, JSUT SAD NO LONGER AVAILaBEL IN BR. so I was glad to get anyway; the supplier version was satisfactory....good.would recommend to a friend.

Not much blood, all a bit tedious. Try Hammer Horror, much better value!