Ecstasy (1933)

Eva has just gotten married to an older gentleman, but discovers that he is obsessed with order in his life and doesn't have much room for passion. She becomes despondent and leaves him, ... See full summary »

Director:

Gustav Machatý

Writers:

Robert Horky (book), Frantisek Horký (screenplay)

Stars:

Hedy Lamarr, Aribert Mog, Zvonimir Rogoz

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Hedy Lamarr	...	Eva Hermann (as Hedy Kiesler)
Aribert Mog	...	Adam
Zvonimir Rogoz	...	Emile
Leopold Kramer	...	Eva's Father
Emil Jerman	...	Eva's husband (voice)
Jirina Steimarová	...	Typist
Bedrich Vrbský	...	Eva's father (voice)
Jirina Stepnicková	...	Eva (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Antonín Kubový	...	Ein Landstreicher
Karel Macha-Kuca	...	Der Rechtsanwalt
Pierre Nay	...	Le jeune homme
André Nox	...	Le père
Eduard Slégl	...	Ein Landstreicher
Jan Sviták	...	Der Tänzer auf der Barandov-Terrasse

Storyline

Eva has just gotten married to an older gentleman, but discovers that he is obsessed with order in his life and doesn't have much room for passion. She becomes despondent and leaves him, returning to her father's house. One day while bathing in the lake she meets a young man and they fall in love. The husband has become grief stricken at the loss of his young bride, and fate brings him together with the young lover that has taken Eva from him.

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Plot Keywords:

nudity | female nudity | female frontal nudity | controversy | bare breasts | 

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Taglines:

Daring! Revealing! Shocking!

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Country:

Czechoslovakia Austria

Language:

German

Release Date:

April 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ecstasy

Filming Locations:

Atelier Schönbrunn, Vienna, Austria

Company Credits

Production Co:

Elektafilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min 87 min (1986 alternate)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The erotic close-ups of Hedy Lamarr's face in the throes of passion were aided, she says, by the director unexpectedly jabbing her in the derriere with a pin in order to get the desired expressions on her face.

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Connections

Featured in The Casting Couch (1995)

User Reviews

One of the best ever made

Famous for introducing the world to Hedy Lamarr and full frontal nudity, but it's oh so much more. In fact, this is one of the pinnacles of cinematic poetry, up there with some of the seminal works of 1930s art cinema, in the same prestigious group as Under the Roofs of Paris, Tabu, Olympia, and even L'Atalante. It's nearly a silent, relying mostly on its miraculous images, and also its fantastic, symphonic score by Giuseppe Becce. It's a masterpiece of cinematography and music, yes, and also of editing, direction, writing, and acting. A good 90% of the film moves along perfectly. Machatý seems an expert at using motifs. Perhaps not as subtle as it could be, and perhaps a bit overused, but the appearances of objects like insects, lights, and horses carry the story forward beautifully. The small snatches of dialogue are, thankfully, unintrusive. They don't jar as much as one would imagine. The final bit is odd, to say the least. Reminiscent of Russian silents, we have a montage of workers. This barely makes sense in the course of the narrative, but it's so gorgeously done that I refuse to harp too much on that flaw. Ecstasy is a film that is desperately in need of rediscovery. It belongs amongst the best films ever made.