The way in which Elizabeth Bathory is portrayed in Delpy's biographical drama piece is immensely sympathetic in what is shown to be an existence based solely on power, inciting fear, and lavishing in pitiful romantic obsessions. The magnitude in which she wields her power is mercilessly cruel, ultimately leaving her wallowing in loneliness and desperation. Her only solace lies in the preservation of her youthful beauty, best summed up in the line "time has no respect for beauty". As her womanly vanity reaches it's peak and morphs into mental weakness and psychosis, she assumes the only way in which to reverse the aging process and maintain a younger appearance is to wash her skin with the blood of young virgin girls. This vampiric ritual resulted in the deaths of well over 100 young women who were supposedly dumped around Bathory's castle and, naturally, devoured by animals. As the film shows, Bathory had a kind of steel iron maiden type of apparatus constructed as a more convenient method of blood siphoning. A journal containing descriptions of each murder was found and she was eventually imprisoned...
Delpy is phenomenal as Bathory. Her varying states of physical illness as well as mental are depicted skillfully, making her performance the definite high-point of the film. In fact, the events depicted in the film, as well as the overall tone, aren't carried out all that particularly grim or creepy, which is how Delpy's performance comes across as strong as it does. That said, there could've been little more "style" involved in the filming, as some scenes look a bit bland and conventional.
Overall, "The Countess" is a pretty well done take on the Elizabeth Bathory murders and the lead actress should definitely be commended for her role.
No comments:
Post a Comment