Ecstasy (1933)

Eva has just gotten married to an older gentleman. She leaves him and one day, she meets a young man and they fall in love. Fate brings the husband together with the young lover that has taken Eva from him.

Director:

Gustav Machatý

Writers:

Robert Horky (book), Frantisek Horký (screenplay)

Stars:

Hedy Lamarr, Aribert Mog, Zvonimir Rogoz

2 wins & 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:

The Most Whispered About Film

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

TV-MA

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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Alternate Versions

When Samuel Cummins tried to import the film into the US in 1935, it was seized by US Customs officials. Before Cummins could file an appeal, a federal marshal had burned the film. Thus, Cummins then brought in a heavily edited version of the movie. Among the changes: the German version of the bathing scene was used; shots of horses engaging in sexual acts were removed; and the film was re-edited to give the impression that Lamarr's character had been granted a divorce, thus making the adulterous relationship legitimate. In addition, Cummins added a shot at the end showing Lamarr with a baby, suggesting that she and the engineer had happily married and started a family together. This version was passed by Customs in 1936 and exhibited quite successfully, although the Production Code Office refused to grant it a Seal of Approval.

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Connections

Featured in History of the Erotic Cinema (1982)

User Reviews

Superb poetry

Dripping with symbolism and filled with marvelous cinematography, Extase is so much more than the erotic drama we've all come to expect. This is almost a silent film, with what dialogue there is in German, and highly simplified German at that. Perhaps the filmmakers intended the film to reach the widest possible European audience, as anyone with even a little high school level Deutsch can easily dispense with the subtitles. The story is of little importance anyway, with the film succeeding on a cinematic level, not a narrative one. Symbols of fecundity and the power of nature overwhelm the human characters--there are even scenes where flowers obscure the face of supposed star Hedy Lamarr--and there are moments here that will remind viewers of the works of Dreyer, Vertov, and Riefenstahl. If the film has any message to convey, I think it's a political one: bourgeois man is timid and impotent; working class man is a happy, productive creature; and woman is the creator, destined to be unfulfilled until she has borne a child. This blend of Soviet socialist realism and National Socialist dogma doesn't overwhelm the film by any means--it's a beauty to watch from beginning to end--but it does place it in a very distinct artistic era. And, oh yeah, Hedy does get her kit off.

Details

Country:

Czechoslovakia Austria

Language:

German

Release Date:

April 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

My 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:

1.19 : 1