The countess
The Countess is a historical film by the French actress and director Julie Delpy , in which the life story of the "Blood Countess" Elisabeth Báthory is told.
action
Elisabeth Báthory was born in Nyírbátor in 1560 as the daughter of the Hungarian general Georg Báthory von Ecsed . Her mother Anna Báthory brought her up to be tough and cruel at an early age. For example, she has to watch the torture and execution of her boyfriend, from whom she is expecting a child, which her mother will take away from her immediately after the birth.
When she was a teenager she was married to the Hungarian baron Franz Nádasdy von Fogarasföld . The couple has three children. After her husband returns from a campaign against the Ottomans, he becomes seriously ill and ultimately dies of the consequences of the disease. Elisabeth is now the sole heiress of the property and is seeking recognition from the Hungarian Habsburg King Matthias II, who only reluctantly agrees because he has amassed considerable debts with the Countess due to the Turkish wars .
At a ball she meets the son of Count György Thurzó István Thurzó and falls in love with him. After spending the night together, he is forced by his father to end the relationship and marry the daughter of a wealthy businessman in Denmark. Erzsébet now believes through an intrigue set up by György Thurzó that the age difference is to blame for the failure of the relationship. She then falls into the delusion that the blood of virgin girls should help her to achieve eternal beauty and youth. For this purpose, her servants have to fetch girls from everywhere, who she cruelly kills with an apparatus to get their blood. It was only when she began to kidnap noble girls that the crown became aware of the countess's activities and commissioned Count György Thurzó to investigate the incidents. Count Thurzó then sends his son István to Erzsébet.
István initially does not believe in the allegations and succumbs to the countess again. Only when one of his companions shows him various "evidence" does he have the countess arrested. In the subsequent trial, she was found guilty of murder and, because of her aristocratic origin, was walled up in a room in her Čachtice castle . Their servants are also found guilty and executed. With the exception of Čachtice, which was awarded to their children, their property falls to Count Thurzó.
Driven by desperation, Elisabeth Báthory finally kills herself in her dungeon and is then buried in a poor grave without a coffin or funeral service .
criticism
“A tragedy based on true events in the 16th century, which immerses the horror inherent in the story in archaic images. Convincing in the main role, the remarkable film suffers from the supporting actors who are not very credible. "
Web links
- The Countess in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Countess at filmportal.de (with trailer and photo gallery)
- Official German-language film homepage
- The Countess in the online film database
Individual evidence
- ^ Certificate of release for The Countess . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , March 2009 (PDF; test number: 117 469 K).
- ↑ The Countess. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed October 28, 2017 .