Bathory

Plot synopsis:
The film is based on the story of Erzsébet Bathory, a Hungarian countess in the 16th and 17th centuries. Her story takes place in a part of the Kingdom of Hungary that is now Slovakia. In this retelling, the Countess is a healer who conducts medical experiments and rudimentary autopsies in a "hospital" beneath her castle. She forms a relationship with a reputed witch, Darvulia, who saves her from poisoning. The witch promises Erzsebet a son and eternal beauty. In return, Erzsebet must sacrifice both love and her reputation. Darvulia becomes Erzsebet's companion. Meanwhile, maidens in the area have been dying of seemingly unrelated causes, and Erzsebet is seen bathing in a large tub of red liquid as the girls' now-mutilated corpses are buried nearby. Two monks later conclude that the water is not blood but is simply colored red by herbs.
After her husband Ferenc Nádasdy's death, Erzsébet quarrels with her scheming friend György Thurzó, who tries to proposition her at her husband's funeral. Thurzo's lover, who is gifted with herbs, offers to help him get revenge for the rejection. Soon afterward, Erzsebet begins to have surreal visions and episodes. In one of these, she stabs a woman to death with scissors. Afterwards, she confesses to Darvulia that she can no longer tell dreams from reality. Darvulia discovers that someone has been placing hallucinogenic mushrooms in Erzsébet's drinks; Erzsébet cannot remember clearly and believes Darvulia responsible. She has the woman thrown out. Thurzó and his wife then capture Darvulia and torture her, cutting out her tongue. Before she dies, she writes Thurzó's name in blood on her cell wall. Erzsébet swears vengeance on him.
Thurzó enlists Erzsébet's sons-in-law and other allies to prosecute her for witchcraft. When their plans repeatedly fail, they nonetheless capture the Countess and torture members of her household to try to obtain incriminating information. The servants are then executed for their alleged crimes, and Erzsébet is imprisoned. Despairing over her separation from her son, she lies on her bed and begins to sing a hymn; the flames from her candles rise and engulf her in flames. Upon hearing of her death, Thurzo concedes that she has once again made the move he least expected, as when they once played chess together, and admits that he has always loved her.

Tags: boring, murder, violence, horror, magical realism, psychedelic, romantic, historical

Review:
And a false myth is born.Although there is a complex epic plot, the film feels more like a series of still pictures.
Apart from the story, the Bathory also takes some time to explain how myths are created and abused to serve one’s needs.
The acting is outstanding but does not stand out as much as the Hungarian costumes that make the film look fresh.Unfortunately the movie is significantly flawed by repetitive comic relief in which two monks use various inventions to spy on the countess.
Redbox got rights to this 2008 reject from Czech TV, and melted it down into a 3 hour movie that they tried to pass off with a horror sub-title, "Countess of Blood".Instead, what you get is a Hungarian History lesson that is about as clear as Goolash.
They take the notorious Blood Countess of Hungary, Erzabet Bathory, who was one of the influences for Dracula, and actually try to spin her in a positive light (Namely, that if she was brutal at all, she was brutal for the time she lived in.) A tighter, shorter movie would have worked better, without the unneeded characters like the two monks who come up with wacky steam-punk inventions.I think the movie looks great and puts you in that time period pretty well...
"Bathory" is a long film divided in three Parts (Ferenc, Darvulia and Thurzo) based on the story and legend of an Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory that lived in the Upper Hungary Sixteenth Century in the period of the Turkish invasion and got the fame of bathing in blood of virgin maids to keep her beauty.
Unfortunately after 141 minutes running time I am not sure whether she was an innocent victim of a conspiracy, bathing on herbs to remain beautiful; or whether she was a criminal logged in the Guinness Book as the remark in the very end since the messy and never clear screenplay shows her as an ambiguous character.
The subplots with the Italian painter and the two spy-monks are quite unnecessary and ridiculous.In the end, director Juraj Jakubisko wastes a great budget and a story with a good potential with a confused tale of greed and treason.
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.
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.
But, I find it interesting and even amusing that the conflicts still continue within these reviews about whose version of history is right (or best) -- the Hungarian Catholics, the Lutherans, the Slovaks, the Romanians in Transylvania, etc.
This story follows the rise and fall of one of history's most prolific serial killers, Countess Báthory who supposedly bathed in virgins blood to stay youthful.
Historical inaccuracies aside and the unnecessary humour injected usually by the monk, this incarnation of the legend is very interesting and adds food for thought to the tale of Báthory.
In addition, it gives an interesting portrayal of politics, religion and royalty of the time.Anna Friel is fantastic as the miss-judged Erzsébet Báthory and gives a wonderful performance, full of range and emotional depth.
This coupled with some fine locations, costumes and performances makes Bathory worth your time..
Lavish, romanticized account of the life and times of 16th century Hungarian countess Erzsébet Bathory, history's most prolific serial killer...BATHORY, a would-be epic with nice period detail, aspires to myth-buster status by painting the "Bloody Countess of Čachtice" as a victim of political chicanery in a male-dominated society but all it accomplishes is a "legend" of its own by white-washing history, facts be damned.
Here, as a wealthy woman who's vast holdings could turn the tide in a power struggle between Catholics and Protestants as they fight off a Muslim invasion, Countess Bathory is more sinned against than sinning and framed for crimes she never committed.
Her many castles were equipped with chambers where she would hideously torture and mutilate her victims, becoming a murder factory where hundreds of girls were killed and processed for the ultimate youth-giving ritual: the bath of blood..."In Juraj Jakubisko's film, Erzsébet Bathory is depicted as an intelligent woman ahead of her time and a Protestant preyed upon by the Catholic Church as well as her late husband's covetous best friend although she still finds time for a passionate affair with the Italian painter Caravaggio (!) as her subjects try inventing spring-powered roller skates, phonographs, still photography, and primitive airplanes a la Leonardo Da Vinci.
I WANTED it to be good, to be a notable reply in the stories, true or untrue, surrounding the countess Bathory, but no matter how hard I try I cannot in good faith recommend anyone to spend two hours on this movie.
If you want to know more about Erzsebet Bathory, this is not the movie for you..
A long, rambling, shambling, doddering, staggering chaos of a film, blighted by (amongst other things): (1) impenetrable Middle European accents, most of them genuine but three put on ~ by Miss Friel, her husband, and her lover; (2) a narrative style that was very much like listening to a boring drunk recounting a shaggy dog story; (3) a schizoid attitude toward the countess herself ~ ambiguity is all very well, but to switch sides several times in the course of one story just makes the storyteller appear 'flakey'; (4) a sub-plot about two spying monks which ...
It was made out to be more of of a history film, but I didn't feel like I was even learning anything.
I went in with high expectations of more blood and gore but instead got this long, drawn out movie that I found myself rolling my eyes at more often than not.
I feel like if I filmed myself using the snapped DVD to cut my wrists and drain out all my blood, it will make a better movie then this..
I won't give away the plot, so I won't comment on the actual content of the movie except to say that it was a completely false portrayal of this terrible woman.The truth is that Elizabeth Bathory was a sadistic, psychopathic murderer who tortured and killed hundreds of young girls, so many in fact that the surrounding towns literally ran out of young women.
Life is too short.This is a fifth rate TV mini-series, with admittedly high production values, hacked together into a really dull, over long (2hour 21 min) feature presentation.Even though Anna Friel is in it, and for some people (me) it's always going to be a draw; but, rose colored memories of leather jackets, patricide, and touching moments of sexual discovery aside, it's still a turd.
Thus, Elisabeth Bathory was turned into a supernatural fiend whose story mainly served to warn women of the evils of "female vanity."Apparently, we have not come very far from the mentality of the nineteenth century, for we still live in a culture that cannot or will not view women as anything other than wholesome pillars of moral rectitude.
Thus, Elisabeth Bathory was turned into a supernatural fiend whose story mainly served to warn women of the evils of "female vanity."Apparently, we have not come very far from the mentality of the nineteenth century, for we still live in a culture that cannot or will not view women as anything other than wholesome pillars of moral rectitude.
And gender feminists refer to the likes of Homolka and others as "classic examples of female victims of male sadism."Now we have this pack of lies, in which Bathory is victimized by power hungry men while she valiantly strives to protect her children.
And gender feminists refer to the likes of Homolka and others as "classic examples of female victims of male sadism."Now we have this pack of lies, in which Bathory is victimized by power hungry men while she valiantly strives to protect her children.
the net result is a blood soaked mess.overall i cannot recommend this amateurish offering from a director who should know better.dont waste your time watching this.clean the fridge instead..
While I am familiar with the myth or legend of Countess Bathory, then I sat down to watch this 2008 movie for entertainment only, not really putting anything more into it.
So whether how much or not this movie was true to the actual Countess and the events that took place in her life, I do not know, nor do I really care; a movie is a media for entertainment.The story in "Bathory" is centered around Erzsébet Báthory, notorious Countess, in the mid-1500's Hungary.
But rumor and dark stories circulate about her bathing in the blood of virgins, having consorted with the devil and having a witch as her right-hand maiden.Right, well, entertainment-wise then "Bathory" was adequate, albeit nothing extraordinary.
I was adequately entertained, although at times I found the movie to just be too slow-paced and too long.The acting in the movie was quite good, as they had some nicely talented actors and actresses on the cast list.
Anna Friel (playing Erzsébet Báthory) and Karel Roden (playing Thurzo) carried the movie quite nicely.One thing that didn't really sit well with me, was the two Catholic monks, or spies as they actually were.
And their array of out of place gadgets were just too much.There are better movies that deal with the Erzsébet Báthory character and story.
it clearly says this is the story of opposing the thought of her being an actual serial killer a.k.a Historical Fiction film.Anyways....The flashbacks or dreams or whatever...
this movie was NOT a waste of time and I'd watch it over and over again.So I rate this 9/10.
unless your one of those people who always fell asleep during history class and do not know the true story of Elizabeth Bathory.
If you are a fan of the Bathory legend, Gothic period films or Anna Friel, this is worth a watch, mostly for Anna Friel's performance and the high quality technical aspects of the film (the cinematography, set design and costume design are fantastic and help the film come off as quite epic at times).
I also really liked the twist on the Bathory tale, which I wont describe here to avoid spoilers but I will say it may be the best thing to come from the film.
There were times I truly enjoyed watching Bathory and was enthralled by the story.But having said all these nice things and recommending a watch for certain people, I cannot emphasize enough how dreadful this film was.
The dialog was horrible, many of the actors in important roles come off as amateur at best, and the worst crime here is the addition of the monks as poorly conceived vehicles for exposition and totally unnecessary comic relief.
It truly helped ruin what could have been a fantastic movie.That is the most obvious example of what makes Bathory so disappointing - seeing the potential of what could have been great constantly squandered by bad film making.
They made a world class epic film with excellent technical work, a great re-imagining of the Bathory legend and a good performance by Ms. Friel, but regularly sabotaged it.
The entire time I watched it the thought running through my mind was "It could have been so good!", so it was quite a frustrating experience.I gave Bathory a 4 which I think is fair.
I went higher because I felt a score that low wouldn't give enough credit to the people who did a very good job in an otherwise bad film but anything over a 4 would be rewarding the incompetence as well.What a missed opportunity..
Elizabeth Bathory is portrayed as a victim to frantic witch huntings of those times and a evil doings of palatin Thurzo.
Bathory is a very boring and dull movie.
Ridiculous.The monks in the movie invent some kind of photo-taking camera, a parachute, a stethoscope-like monitoring bug and roller skating with hairspring shoes that automatically climb mountains.The makers of the movie suggest that the first Hungarian library was founded in the early 17.
People watching the movie are not told either that Hungary was torn to three pieces at that time and that a considerable population of Hungarians died in the 150 years of fighting against Turkish invaders.The main language spoken in the film was English/Slovakian with a few sentences in Hungarian, German and Italian.
The whole movie should have been filmed in Hungarian or better in Latin, since those were the tongues the noblemen talked in.
century and I feel a bit funny about how Slovaks make a derogatory film about Hungarian history with British actors.
Nothing was ever confirmed...so unless the people who made the movie wanted to give their opinion, which I do not believe they intended to do...they would have to leave it just as confusing and surrounded by myth as the entire story was.
A viewer familiar with the name in the title of the movie will come into the theater expecting to look at -- and be horrified by -- the ugliest female murderer in history.
But then again, why he confuses us for a better part of the movie making us think that the heroine is just as spoiled as the Guinness Book of World Records claims?
I imagine mornings on the set must have begun with the director saying something along the lines of "what shall we do today then?" I've no idea if she was mad, if Caravaggio was gay or not, who her husband was and how he had managed to turn into a character from a Sergio Leone movie in the space of 5 minutes.
Don't waste your time with it, don't be lulled into thinking that with a European director and Anna Friel it couldn't really be that bad...
While the film is Czech and possibly "different" ,whomever had the idea to do this did not belong.What was done nicely was the wrap up at the end of that Elsebeth was likely framed by the Hapsburgs.
It is a very attractive version of the life of countess Elizabeth Bathory, one in which she is not a murderer but a victim of a plot carried out in order to spoil her of her fortune in the medieval Hungary.
She a stunning beauty as the countess Bathory, in front of our eyes seems to be the real countess who somehow managed to come in the present times.
If I would have lived in the 16th century and I would have seen Anna Friel as the countess Bathory I had fallen in love with her for sure.
Although the finest art direction, the film is fake in many ways and the rhythm is unstable.The storyline is confused with too many characters and the director didn't decide what to do with Barthory reputation (at the end are a ridiculous notice about the crimes of the countess)The introducing of the Italian painter, as well as the stupid spies and the English version misrepresent the historical facts.
The story has so so much potential, to make a good film of it, but they really ruined it.What comes in my mind, when I think about the way, they made the film?
Bathory really deserves that.In my mind, the film was a big waste of time..
I'm not going to write a traditional review about Bathory, I'll just name a few pros and contras.Pros: - Erzsébet Báthory isn't shown as a blood bathing demoness, rather as a protestant mistress of high nobility trying to survive in the 16-17th century, in the Kingdom of Hungary and someone who is loved by the peasants throughout her lands.The names are correct and the locations as well, even though they are mentioned by their Slovakian names, and not their original Hungarian names.Clothes, dresses and makeups are fairly authentic contrary to the ones seen in the other movie about Erzsébet Báthory: The Countess.Anna Friel the actress who portrays Erzsébet Báthory is charming and talented, a bit more grace would have helped though.Cons: - The movie did quite a good job portraying locations and names, but tried too much by showing battle scenes (which are quite pathetic) that do not belong to the story.
Sometimes less is more.English language is good, sure the film can get to a larger audience this way but authenticity should have required Hungarian.
Funny thing is, Hungarian language can be heard throughout the movie – usually when cussing or shouting – but it's pretty pointless, just like the use of Slovak.
I am well acquainted with the story of Elizabeth Bathory, having read books and various write ups about her, including the exact testimonies given at the time by her contemporaries, 3 women and 1 man I believe.
I expected a movie worthy of this true life story, and I was most definitely disappointed.
While I started watching with a lot of interest, this movie was more a series of disjointed events than a cohesive story.
After about 30-45 minutes the movie became numbingly dull and I gave up completely on trying to make any sense of the nonsensical dialog and weird happenings.
Things that I liked about the movie:The main actress was really good.
Costumes and photography were very good.What I did not like:The story is completely misrepresented.
It seems like the whole purpose of the film/plot was to exculpate Bathory from all the crimes is said to have committed.
I was looking forward to watching a movie about countess Bathory, and the crimes she committed, not a nonsense beautified version of her personality to the extremes.
I would really want to see a movie about Bathory with a proper and not misleading plot.