Ekstase (1933)

Director:

Gustav Machatý

Writers:

Robert Horky (book)
Frantisek Horký (screenplay)

Release Date:

24 December 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

The Most Whispered About Picture In The World

Plot:

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...

Plot Keywords:

Nipples | Divorce | Father Daughter Relationship | Telegraph | Hotel

Awards:

1 nomination

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

Also Known As:

Ecstasy (USA)
Ekstase (Austria)
Extase (Czechoslovakia: Czech title)
My Ecstasy (USA) (reissue title)
Rhapsody of Love (USA) (reissue title)
Symphonie der Liebe (Austria)
Symphony of Love

Runtime:

82 min | France:95 min | USA:87 min (1986 alternate version)

Country:

Czechoslovakia | Austria

Language:

French | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:TV-MA (TV rating) | Australia:PG | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Atelier Schönbrunn, Vienna, Austria

Company:

Elektafilm

Trivia:

First non-pornographic movie with a (faked) sex-scene.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Indie Sex: Censored (2007) (TV)

A Star is born

This was a very daring film for it's day. It could even be described as soft-core porn for the silent era. It was a talkie, but dialog was extremely limited, and in German. One did not need it anyway.

The young (19) Hedy Lamarr gets trapped in a loveless marriage to an obsessive (stereotype?) German and after a short time in a marriage that was apparently never consummated, returns home to her father.

In a famous and funny scene, she decides to go skinny dipping one morning when her horse is distracted by another. She is then forced to run across a field chasing after it, as she left her clothing on the horse. An engineer retrieves her horse and returns her clothing - after getting an eyeful.

They sit for a while and, in a zen moment, he presents her with a flower with a bee sitting on top. This is where she thinks back to her honeymoon and the actions of her husband and an insect. She knows this man is different.

She returns home and eventually seeks out our young fellow, and finds the ecstasy she was denied. You can use your imagine here, but his head disappears from view and we see her writhing with pleasure. Since he never got undressed, you can imagine... Certainly, an homage to women by the director Gustav Machatý, and a shock to 1933 audiences.

The only thing that mars this beautifully filmed movie is the excessive guilt, and a strange ending.