The Countess (film)

The Countess

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Julie Delpy
Produced by Andro Steinborn
Christopher Tuffin
Julie Delpy
Matthew E. Chausse
Written by Julie Delpy
Starring Julie Delpy
Daniel Brühl
William Hurt
Anamaria Marinca
Music by Julie Delpy
Cinematography Martin Ruhe
Edited by Andrew Bird
Production
company
X Filme International
Social Capital Films
EMC Filmproduktion
Fanes Film
The Steel Company
Tempête Sous un Crâne
X-Filme Creative Pool
Distributed by X-Verleih
Bac Films
Release date
  • February 9, 2009 (2009-02-09) (Berlinale)
Running time
 98 min.
Country France
Germany
Language English

The Countess is a 2009 French-German drama historical film written and directed by Julie Delpy. It stars Delpy, Daniel Brühl and William Hurt. It is based on the life of Elizabeth Báthory.

The film is the third directorial effort by Delpy, who has said of the project that "it sounds like a gothic [story] but it's more a drama. It's more focusing on the psychology of human beings when they're given power."[1]

Plot

In 1560, Erzsébet Báthory is born to Hungarian general George Báthory of Ecsed. From an early age, Erzsébet's parents raise her to accept hardness and cruelty. As a teenager, Erzsébet is impregnated by a young peasant lover and is forced to watch as he is brutally tortured and executed before her eyes; Erzsébet's mother takes the child away from her directly after its birth, ensuring that she never sees it again. Erzsébet is later married to the Hungarian baron Franz Nádasdy, with whom she has three children. After Nádasdy's return from the Ottoman-Hungarian Wars, he succumbs to a disease he contracted abroad and dies.

Erzsébet, now the sole heir of her husband's estate, seeks recognition from the Hungarian Habsburg, King Matthias II. Matthias consents reluctantly due to his considerable debt to the Countess. At a ball, she meets Count György Thurzó's son, István, and falls in love with him. After a night together, István is forced by his father to end the relationship and marry the daughter of a wealthy merchant in Denmark. Erzsébet believes that age difference is to blame for the failure of the relationship. After an incident in which she is splashed with blood after striking a female servant, Erzsébet starts to believe that bathing in the blood of virgin girls can help her to reach eternal youth and beauty. To this end, her staff capture and brutally kill peasant girls to obtain their blood.

It is only when Erzsébet starts to kidnap aristocratic girls that the authorities begin an investigation. Count Thurzó is asked to investigate the incidents and he thus sends István, now a count himself, to visit Erzsébet. István is reluctant to believe the allegations and is seduced once more by the countess. Only when he and one of his companions discover evidence of her crime do they arrest her. During the trial, Erzsébet is found guilty and, due to her noble origin, she is sentenced to spend the rest of her life walled into her room in Čachtice Castle in total isolation. Erzsébet's staff is also found guilty, but unlike her they are put to death. All of her estate is awarded to the Count Thurzó with the exception of Čachtice, which is given to her children.

Driven by desperation after being walled in, Erzsébet Báthory commits suicide. She is then buried without a coffin in a humble grave, with no funeral ceremony. The film casts doubt on the sentence, suggesting that much of the happenings have been manipulated by Count Thurzó.

Cast

Release

The film premiered on February 9, 2009 at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival and was shown at the Cannes Film Festival 2010.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Murray, Rebecca (June 28, 2004). "Interview with Julie Delpy". About.com. Archived from the original on November 30, 2009. Retrieved November 30, 2009.
  2. ↑ First Stills and Sales Art - The Countess
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