Bathory (film)
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- Bathory (movie title) may refer to one of the three different movie projects introduced to the public in 2005, which are often interchanged or intermixed by misleading information on internet (including wrong data on IMDb until 18 March 2006), being a source of speculations and confusion. This article tries to bring the light to the issue, as well as to keep track of the progress.
Note: There exists also a B-movie titled Bathory, directed by Brian Topping in 2000.
The three concurrent projects:
- 1. Bathory or Love Story Bathory, a movie being currently filmed by Slovak film director Juraj Jakubisko (imdb)
- 2. Bathory, a movie project of the French actress and director Julie Delpy (imdb)
- 3. Bathory or Čachtická pani, a movie project of the Czech film director Zdeněk Troška
- Note: While Jakubisko's movie is the only one actually being in production (as of March 2006), some sources report Julie Delpy to be his co-director, which is false.
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[edit] Common
All three movies plot is based on the story of Elizabeth Bathory, a Slovak 16th/17th century countess, (in)famous for killing many young girls and using their blood to preserve her beauty. Bathory was a real person, however doubts have been articulated by some contemporary historians regarding the crimes attributed to the countess. They suggest less sensational way to see of the whole story. Bathory was one of the richest families in Central Europe, what is considered a potential reason for intrigues and conspiracy against her. All three projects seem to opt for this, more pragmatic version of the facts.
[edit] Bathory (of Juraj Jakubisko)
| Báthory | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Juraj Jakubisko |
| Produced by | Mike Downey Deana Horváthová Thom Mount Zorana Piggott Kevan Van Thompson |
| Written by | John Paul Chapple (dialogue) Juraj Jakubisko (script by) |
| Starring | Anna Friel Karel Roden Hans Matheson Vincent Regan Franco Nero Deana Horváthová |
| Cinematography | Ján Duris |
| Distributed by | Sola Media |
| Country | Slovakia / Czech Republic / UK / Hungary |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Bathory is a working title of a Slovak co-production movie written and directed by the Slovak filmmaker Juraj Jakubisko. Recently also the new working title Love Story Bathory appears in some sources. The film is currently being filmed (since December 2005) and is planned to be released in April/March 2007.
[edit] Financing and production companies
- The budget of 10 million EUR (around 12 million USD) makes it the most expensive Czech and Slovak movie ever.
Note: This would be a medium-low budget for Hollywood productions, but it is a big budget for the European standards and it is a huge one in terms of Central Europe. - The film is a joint effort of Slovak, Czech, Hungarian and UK production companies:
Eurofilm Studio KFT (HU), Jakubisko Film, Slovakia sro (SK), Jakubisko Film, sro (CZ), Lunar Films Ltd (UK) and Concorde Film Trust (HU). Note: This list may be the subject to changes. Previously also Mythberg Films (HU) and Film and Music Entertainment Ltd (UK) were reported as a partners. - Government funding: Eurimages (EU)[1], the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic (SR), Státní fond ČR pro podporu a rozvoj české kinematografie (CZ)
- Participation as of December 2005: 34% SK, 33% CZ, 21% UK, 13% HU
- Language of the film will be English, while it will be presented as a Slovak movie, although more countries participate.
[edit] Cast and crew
- Directed by: Juraj Jakubisko
- Writing credits: (dialogue) John Paul Chapple, (script) Juraj Jakubisko
- Cast: Anna Friel, Karel Roden, Hans Matheson, Franco Nero, Bolek Polivka, Lucie Vondrackova, Andrej Hryc
- cast should count around 100 talking and over 1000 dressed characters
- Cinematography: Ján Ďuriš (SK), František A. Brabec (CZ), János Kende (HU)
- Editing: Joe Walker
- Costume Design: Julia Patkos
- Music: Jan Jirásek (CZ)
- for full cast please refer to imdb
[edit] Leading role
Obviously the choice of the actress for the leading role of Elizabeth was a big issue and source of curiosity since the beginning. In December 2005 it was still unknown. There were rumors involving big names as candidates, including Meryl Streep and Salma Hayek (unofficial). In late January 2006, finally Famke Janssen was announced to play Bathory and her photos with Jakubisko showed up in the media. Her first appearance was planed for 6 March 2006. Meanwhile other sequences (those not involving her) were being shot. Around 8 March 2006 surprising news reported, that Janssen had been replaced by the English actress Anna Friel. Reasons, beside speculations, are unknown, since the production company refused to comment. Rumors say it was not the problem of money, nor the difficulty to satisfy actresses high non economical demands as someone suggests. It may have been how much Jakubisko was impressed by Friel when the two met. However these are just suppositions.
[edit] Trivia
- Jakubisko spent several months traveling with his crew to find proper locations.
[edit] Sources
[edit] External links
- Bathory (film) at the Internet Movie Database
- Jakubisko productions official site
- few photos [2] [3] [4]
- backstage movies and interviews [5] (70% in English)
[edit] Bathory (of Julie Delpy)
In the March 2005 interview Julie Delpy expressed her intent to film the movie based on Bathory story, mentioning Chris Hanley as a potential producer. Two months later (May 2005) a report was published stating Delpy was in final talks to star in Bathory together with Ethan Hawke. It was supposed to be her directing debut, working from her own script. Bauer Martinez was supposed to finance, produce and distribute the movie. No more relevant news regarding the project appeared after May 2005.
[edit] External links
- Bathory (film) at the Internet Movie Database
- Interview with Delpy published 5 April 2005.
[edit] Bathory (of Zdeněk Troška)
Czech film director Zdeněk Troška apparently worked on the idea of the Bathory movie since 1990s. He wrote a screenplay based on a novel by Jožo Nižňánsky. In summer 2005 after Jakubisko's movie was announced, Troška complained, accusing Jakubisko of copying (stealing) his idea. Jakubisko's company refused accusations, claiming that their screen play is genuinely original and it has nothing to do with the novel. Troška stated also that he had no intention to start a lawsuit. His project was suffering from the lack of finances and its current status is unclear.
