Won Box Office Award; Won Czech Lion (Best Art Direction) - 1 Nomination

Bathory

2008, regia di Juraj Jakubisko

Scheda: Nazione: Slovacchia-Ungheria-Repubblica Ceca-Francia-GB - Produzione: Jakubisko Film Slovakia, Eurofilm Stúdió, Jakubisko Film, Lunar Films, Concorde Film Trust (con il contributo di: Fonds Eurimages du Conseil de l'Europe, Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic, Státní Fond CR pro Podporu a Rozvoj Ceské Kinematografie) - Distribuzione: Paramount Home Entertainment, Screen Media Films, Bontonfilm, Sola Media, Tatrafilm, Central Partnership, Budapest Film, Condor Entertainment - Soggetto: Juraj Jakubisko - Sceneggiatura: Juraj Jakubisko, John Paul Chapple, Ľubomír Feldek - Fotografia: F.A. Brabec, Ján Duris - Montaggio: Christopher Blunden - Art Director: Karel Vacek - Scenografia: Juraj Jakubisko - Set Decoration: Jan Kodera - Costumi: Julia Patkos, Jaroslava Pecharova - Musiche: Jan Jirásek, Simon Boswell, Petr Hapka, Andrej Turok, Martin Maok Tesák - Effetti speciali: ACE post - Formato: Color - Durata: 141'.

Cast: Anna Friel, Karel Roden, Vincent Regan, Hans Matheson, Deana Horváthová, Franco Nero, Antony Byrne, Bolek Polívka, Jirí Mádl, Monika Hilmerová, Lucie Vondrácková, Jaromír Nosek, Marek Majeský, Marek Vasut, Jana Olhová, Michaela Drotárová, Sandra Pogodová, Beata Greneche, Eva Elsnerová, Hana Vagnerová, Andrej Hryc, Karel Dobrý, René Stúr, Vincenzo Nicoli, Karel Belohradský, Pavel Kocí, Pavel Skrípal.

Trama e commenti: primissima.it - filmscoop.it - the-borgias.forumfree.it - cultmovie.altervista.org - cinephobic.forumfree.it: «Costumi sontuosi, scenografie spettacolari ed epiche scene di battaglia: Bathory, il film di Juraj Jakubisko ispirato alla vita della sanguinaria contessa, è il film più costoso mai prodotto in Slovacchia. "Bathory, il film dedicato alla contessa Elizabeth Bathory, accusata di aver ucciso 650 persone e per questo motivo entrata nel Guinness dei primati per essere la più grande assassina di massa della storia dell’umanità"».

Plot Summary, Synopsis, Review: IMDb - allmovie.com - taliesinttlg.blogspot.czscoopy.com - en.wikipedia.org - bathory.org - fame.uk.com - variety.com - rantchick.com - filmstarts.de - visionfilms.net - krelllabs.blogspot.it: «The Erzsébet Báthory legend is one of the most persistent stories in the horror myth pool, partially because it's so utterly ghastly and partially because it's a so-called "true story". I mean, I certainly remember being riveted by it when I first discovered it as a teen horror geek, particularly as a queer teen horror geek. It goes something like this: In 1610, Hungarian noblewoman Erzsébet Báthory (1560-1616) was tried and convicted of murdering peasant women with the aid of her servants. For this crime, she was walled up in her castle for the last five years of her life. The tally of her victims ranges anywhere from 36 to 650, though no one knows for sure. There is some evidence that the whole thing was a frame-up either by the Catholic Church and the Hapsburgs, who wanted to turn the Holy Roman Empire Catholic and turn back the reformation, or by King Mattias of Hungary, who owed the Bathorys a huge amount of money after they financed his war against the Ottoman Turks. Is the Bathory story propaganda? Maybe, but even so, Elizabeth Bathory is still listed in the record books as a the most voracious female serial killer in history. As if her story weren't ghastly enough, somewhere along the line, someone appended the notion that Bathory was a lesbian who bathed in the blood of virgins to maintain her youth. This is unsupported by the historical record, but the myth pool doesn't care about history, it cares about stories. So like Lizzie Borden and the forty whacks, Erzsébet Báthory has been convicted of crimes of dubious or even fictional veracity in the popular imagination. She is forever "The Blood Countess," and the font from which the lesbian vampire archetype flows. ...

Bathory (2008, directed by Juraj Jakubisko) attempts to rehabilitate Erzsébet with indifferent results. It restores to the myth the notion that Erzsébet was the victim of the machinations of her enemies, but it falls under the sway of the myth even as it does this. It can't help itself. It presents the image of Bathory bathing in blood (later revealed to be water colored red with herbs--yeah, whatever) and it presents Bathory as a murderess, who kills while under the influence of hallucinogens and in fits of pique. Basically, Bathory wants to have it both ways and makes a muddle of the whole thing. Bathory postulates a "truer" history of its title character and plunges the viewer headlong into the long and bloody conflict between the Christian nations of Eastern Europe (including Hungary, The Holy Roman Empire, Transylvania, etc.) and the Ottoman Turks. The wars keep Erzsébet's husband, Ferenc away for years at a time. Even when he's at home, Ferenc is no prince charming. He rapes Erzsébet while she's pregnant, causing her to miscarry with their son. He's subsequently captured by the Turks, though with the aid of his friend, Thurzo, he escapes. In Ferenc's absence Erzsébet amuses herself with an affair with a visiting artist. When Ferenc returns, he's suspicious of the artist and contrives to poison him, but Erzsébet drinks the poison by mistake. The artist escapes and Erzsébet survives, barely. She's tended for the poison by the healer, Darvulia, who many in the kingdom regard as a witch. Under Darvulia's care, Erzsébet's behavior becomes erratic, sometimes violently so. The servants in her castle begin to die in mysterious ways. After Ferenc's death, Erzsébet's enemies circle. She drives Darvulia away because she believes she has betrayed her. Two Catholic monks arrive to investigate the rumors being spread about her by the local Lutheran pastor. And her life unravels.For a movie that wants to overturn the popular image of Erzsébet Bathory, this film does a piss poor job of it. ...».

Approfondimenti: Movie Review

Conosciuto anche con i titoli: Bathory: Countess of Blood; Condessa de Sangue; Báthory - Die Blutgräfin; Chroniques d'Erzebeth: Le Royaume Assailli.

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