Bathory: Countess of Blood (2008)

Bathory is based on the legends surrounding the life and deeds of Countess Elizabeth Bathory known as the greatest murderess in the history of mankind. Contrary to popular belief, Elizabeth... See full summary »

Director:

Juraj Jakubisko

Writers:

Juraj Jakubisko, John Paul Chapple (additional script material written by)

Stars:

Anna Friel, Karel Roden, Vincent Regan

5 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anna Friel	...	Erzsébet Báthory
Karel Roden	...	Thurzo
Vincent Regan	...	Ferenc Nadasdy
Hans Matheson	...	Merisi Caravaggio
Deana Horváthová	...	Darvulia (as Deana Jakubisková-Horváthová)
Franco Nero	...	King Mathias II
Antony Byrne	...	Pastor Ponicky
Bolek Polívka	...	Peter
Jirí Mádl	...	Cyril
Monika Hilmerová	...	Countess Czobor
Lucie Vondrácková	...	Lucia
Jaromír Nosek	...	Miklós Zrínyi (as Míra Nosek)
Marek Majeský	...	Gábor Báthory
Marek Vasut	...	Bethlen
Jana Olhová	...	Dora

Storyline

Bathory is based on the legends surrounding the life and deeds of Countess Elizabeth Bathory known as the greatest murderess in the history of mankind. Contrary to popular belief, Elizabeth Bathory was a modern Renaissance woman who ultimately fell victim to men's aspirations for power and wealth.

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Plot Keywords:

virgin blood | aging | violence | torture | character name as title | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Fantasy | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and torture, sexuality and some graphic nudity

Details

Country:

Slovakia Hungary Czech Republic UK France

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 July 2008 (Slovakia)

Also Known As:

Bathory: Countess of Blood

Filming Locations:

Austria

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$7,005,528

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jakubisko Film Slovakia, Eurofilm Stúdió, J&J Jakubisko Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

141 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Singer Katka Knechtová wrote the title song with lyrics in Old Slavic (Old Church Slavonic language). It is an authentic psalm with only minor modifications.

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Connections

Referenced in Vsechnopárty: Episode dated 24 June 2008 (2008)

User Reviews

Highly enjoyable and Mesmerising

The great thing about this film is it's unique style, which has great flair, very like the best of Ken Russell. It doesn't try to be blandly mainstream, the director is too talented for that, he has too much vision to fit in with the prosaic , boring and anodyne rot usually filling our screens. This film entertains with gusto, flair, beauty and horror. One may quibble with any film and look for faults, but this film is fascinating and compelling, suitable for anyone interested in the drama of the life of Erzsebet Bathory. One soon comes to see through the eyes of the lead characters, their brutal and beautiful world lives and breathes again, shockingly, before our eyes.

Erzsabet's story is told in a such a colourful, dynamic and thoroughly gripping way, that certainly had me looking forward to seeing more, like asking for a second helping of a surprisingly delicious pudding, I relished what I found to be so enjoyable after having heard such bad reviews. Erzsabet's life and times were brutal and this is shown graphically but not too eye wateringly. The performances are highly entertaining and extremely powerful especially the characters of Erzsabet, Caravaggio and Thurzo. Some have quibbled about the English accents of the actors but actually I thought Ezsabet's Hungarian accent rather convincing, the chill of steel to the edge of her voice. It is a very accessible story, so who would be so daft as to require the actors to speak Hungarian and so lose half the audience, who are either too dense or lazy to read subtitles. Frankly a ridiculous quibble, one does not notice anything but how fine the performances truly are.

Visually stunning and beautiful, the script gives us a thumpingly good story and altogether it is a mesmerising piece of cinema. It is so powerful that twenty four hours after watching, it still haunts me and I look forward to seeing more from this director and creative team. I feel I've discovered, at last, a piece of English language cinema that isn't formulaic, that isn't dull and predictable, that isn't the same old same old, that isn't like every other pleasant enough but unimaginative 'product,' here is something unique and artistically brave and exciting.

Altogether I think one would have to be in a very sour and unforgiving mood to find fault. If you want to be entertained and why else watch, everyone should enjoy this unfairly maligned but unusually fascinating film.