Waste of time

To me, this movie is perfection.

Expected more

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

As much as I wanted to like this film, I was left feeling unsatisfied after watching it. It felt as if the writers were unsure of what direction they were taking, most of the time. It wasn't a horror, a psychological thriller, or an accurate historical flick... though it did have elements of all the aforementioned. I was also disappointed to find that (since it's such a dark movie) there was virtually no suspense or build-up. I caught myself growing bored at many points throughout the film, which is really surprising given the subject material. It doesn't help that the acting seems forced most of the time (as if the actors are reading their lines off of cue cards), or that Delpy and Bruhl have about 0 chemistry...I did, however, love the costumes and the sets, as well as Anamaria Marinca's unique character. All in all, I was just hoping for a bit more. A bit more horror, a bit more suspense, a bit more passion. This movie left little to no impression on me... and I was sorely disappointed.

I haven't seen the film yet, I was thinking of seeing it this week, but given some of the things I've read in the reviews, I may not bother. The story recounted in the film is NOT a true story at all. Countess Elizabeth Bathory existed and she was indeed charged with a number of supposed murders, but the charges were never properly proved. In fact no evidence was properly presented - her 'trial' was a politically motivated set-up. She was an extremely rich and powerful woman living at a time when in most societies, but especially Eastern European ones, wealthy and powerful women were hugely resented by their male counterparts.Once she was widowed Countess Bathory chose not to remarry as she did not want another man to take control of her lands. She wanted to rule her estates herself - and she was a very capable ruler. Unfortunately powerful men in Hungary (and the Austro-Hungarian Empire) were greedy for her lands. They could not dispossess her legally, so they hatched a plot to have her charged with terrible crimes. Her servants were tortured and forced to accuse her, however, no credible evidence was ever presented. It was enough however, for her lands to be confiscated.As for punishment, she was NOT bricked up in a room and fed through a hole in the wall. That is fantasy. She was confined to a few rooms in one of her castles, a kind of house arrest. Sadly films like this perpetuate the myth and falsehoods about a woman who, although tough and sometimes hard on her servants, was never guilty of the horrendous crimes of which she has been accused. I am so sick and tired of seeing history re-written and fabricated that I probably won't go and see it now - and I would warn anyone who thinks they are going to see something 'historical' that it just isn't.

I hope I don't upset a lot of good folks when I say that American film makers just can't make top quality period drama. Westerns being the obvious exception. The American accent is a relatively recent thing and it simply doesn't work in any kind of believable form when coming from the mouth of a sixteenth century character. It's the accent of cops, hoodlums, coke adverts and hamburgers. That said, there was a great deal effort put into this film to get things looking and feeling right for the period. However, all those efforts don't come anywhere near paying off. The Countess is a slowing moving, uninteresting mishmash of 'serious' actooors plying their trade within a risible script. It tries so hard to be a 'great' work and fails at every turn.Julie Delpy seems unaware of who or what she is. The countess is at times a lesbian lover, matriarch, wife, businesswoman, wreck, girl, woman and everything else you can think of... all in slow motion.William Hurt isn't given a chance with his script. His monstrous character is barely explored and his sidekick, sadomasochistic accomplice is just a daft cliché.Bathory (the other, recent version of this story) was simply terrible. This film is not a lot better in my opinion although it certainly improves a little when the pace picks up towards the end. But despite all of the money chucked at it, I found it barely watchable. A real shame. As for Erzebet Bathory, I think it would take someone of the stature of Roman Polanski to tell her story in a compelling, cinematic way. Keep away from this film. It's a stinker.

from an anglo-centric and a male-centric point of view, this movie sucks, of course...from any other point of view, The Countess is a very well orchestrated piece of story-telling.a dark portrait of a dark age. a tale of love and madness. but did our emotions evolved so much as our techniques?as it starts: "history is the tale told by the victors. who are the victors? barbaric warriors, mad kings and greedy traitors. mainly most of our history is made of fables fabricated by those glorious victors."as till today, history is male's victory... here you got a female's tale... see for yourself. i can only tell: i dove into it