Bathory

Well, it turned out better than Janosik: A True Story, thank goodness for that. But not by much. Unlike the aforementioned bandit, I didn't have as much of a problem following Bathory to the end, because most of the time there was at least something and someone to watch. Primarily Anna Friel and Karel Roden. Thanks to Brabec's cinematography, quite a few scenes looked as if the director had borrowed them from Wild Flowers or, even worse, from Máj, but at least I got the impression that most of them belonged in the film and that they were not just the director's "Oh, look at the beautiful pictures" whim. The biggest minuses are definitely the "funny" characters of the monks, the annoying dreams and hallucinations... And Franco Nero. His fans will forgive him, but he didn't need to be here at all and everything would have been fine. But apparently it was necessary to attract "star" names. Well, whatever. In the end, I come out with three slightly, slightly above average stars. (11/15/2011)

Bathory is impressive in its intimate moments and very well played by the lead actors. In its would-be spectacular scenes, however, it is ridiculous and the nice outdoor camerawork barely manages to compensate for the cheap interiors. Also notice the facial expressions of some of the extras... ahem. And when I don’t know how to go on because my story doesn’t have a proper dramatic framework, I’ll divide it into three phases, which is supposed to give it some meaning... ahem. This TV-like Czech-Slovak “blockbuster” looks exactly like I was afraid it would, even though Juraj Jakubisko is an inspiring and likable man and artist... Bathory is subject matter for Cronenberg and not for a poetic Slovak storyteller. (07/09/2008)

I am more (or less) at a bit of a loss with Bathory. On the one hand there is finally a bit of a revival of Czech cinema with at least a slightly better and more monumental movie, however, there are also a bunch of stupid mistakes in Bathory that should never have been there in the first place. This makes Bathory just an average movie. The biggest stumbling block is undoubtedly the screenplay, which at a certain point, jumps and changes its tune from one moment to the next, and the rest of the plot whizzes past you like a high-speed Bullet train. The tension in me rose only momentarily, when Erzsebet stabbed the maid Sara with a pair of scissors just as the courtier were passing by the hall. This was really the only scene that affected me. The actors do make the movie seem less messy (especially Anna Friel, who is really the highlight of the movie), but unfortunately, it is not worth awarding the movie more than three stars. I am awarding it a clean 50%. (08/23/2008)

I feel that the script was written by Pat and Mat, or at least they edited it, because such a choppy, confused narrative is something you don’t see every day. The first half was still narratively decent, but it got worse and worse as it went on. The story failed to draw me in, I didn't live with the main character, I was indifferent to her fate, and by the end I was so numb that even if the inventive Polívka and Mádl had constructed a plasma TV, I wouldn't have been snapped out of my lethargy. What I was most worried about – the production design and the cinematography – were quite acceptable by Central European standards, although it is true that the completely polished and ironed costumes of the villagers and Turks looked more like an advertisement for laundry detergent, and fell more into the realm of Troska's fairy tales. 3* for the visuals, the courage to embark on such a monstrous project and the effort to embrace the legend of Countess Bathory in an original way. (07/28/2008)

Where’s the splatter movie about a woman who bathed in blood? Herbs, after all... how lame. Boring, no atmosphere, nothing worth remembering. The story doesn’t hold together and of the actors, only Roden sticks out, the others don’t deliver anything special, but on the other hand it’s not embarrassing (even Upír Krejčí was ok in his mini-role :-). But mainly I had the feeling that this movie lasted about three and a half hours. Never again. (12/13/2009)