Awesome Movie

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

I must admit that I had expected a bit more from this movie, especially given the story that it was portraying and telling. I just had expected something grander than what director Julie Delphy dished out here.Everyone should be fairly familiar with the bloody story of Countess Bathory, well at least if you have just an ounce of interesting in World history. So I am not going to delve into details about the storyline.What worked for this movie was the acting. Julie Delphy, who both directed and starred in the movie, did a great job in her portrayal of the Countess Erzebet Bathory. There was something very raw and emotional about her acting in "The Countess" and she really carried the movie all by herself.Julie Delphy seems rather talented, doing acting, directing, producing and even writing the music for this 2009 movie.But the movie was just too slow paced for my liking, but it was an interesting portrayal of the infamous Countess Erzebet Bathory.

The Countess is a partly truthful historical drama that tells the story of the infamous Countess Bathory, who reportedly bathed in blood and served as inspiration for Bram Stoker's Count Dracula. There's also a metal band named after her.The film is strong on visuals, having beautiful woods, castles and costumes. The story is told painfully slowly, and sometimes the atmosphere isn't really enough to make up for it.Julie Delpy is cold and distancing, which makes the character intriguing but feels a bit jarring at the end where we are supposed to sympathize with her.

One admires Delpy for writing and directing and, given the fascinating historical material, it'd appear hard not to come out with something good. Alas, THE COUNTESS misses badly on every and all levels. Its a poor love story, historical account, morality tale, feminist doctrine, suspense work or anything else it might be. There are cringe-worthy embarrassing moments; e.g., when the Countess gets her first "taste" of blood, when her staff simply roll their eyes and abet the murder of young women, when the Countess' young love succumbs to bedding his monstrous arrest-warrant subject and -truly hard to sit through- when our heroine "redeems" herself of sadistic murders via a soul-searching and indicting soliloquy. I get the idea that the favorable COMMENTS here in IMDb are mostly females too attached to their gender identity to see the forest for the trees. It's no accident that this film found no concern willing to release it. PS: Hurt is a redeeming virtue and Delpy still manages to show she's a top rate actress. Bruhl was awful casting and both looks and acts like a "gee whiz" high school kid better seen on TV.

Beautfull images. Lovely story. Impresive ambitions.A page of Hungarian history. A legendary character and a director who desire to create all in same measure, in same time.Elisabeth Bathory is an enigma. So, only can be authentic slices of her life. Speculations are strange if the clothes are inappropriate. In this case, Julie Delpy lumps details,emotions, assumptions. But remains unfinished mosaic. The desire to create a great movie , build gaps and chaotic spaces. Result - stiffness. The dialogs are artificial. The story is unclear. The myths are ink traces. And the consolation is presence of Anamaria Marinca. The recipes of ambiguous reality is wrong applicate. But the details , the presume atmosphere, the real good intentions are not denied. A film. About shadows of an existence.