Bathory

[davec]

I don't think you can blame Anna for all the bombs she's been in. Like I said before, she always seems to give it her best shot and she normally gets decent or better reviews even in poorly received films and box-office failures. Even if 'Bathory' sinks without trace that won't be entirely Anna's fault.

Yes, she needs just one good role to really break through - who'd heard of Kate Winslett before 'Titanic' BUT:
- she's nearly 31 and it's not looked like happening yet
- when Gracie starts school how much time and energy will Anna still be able to give her career, especially internationally?
- why will Anna land that special role when she never has yet and has been overtaken by the likes of Keira Knightley, Kate Beckinsale, Rachel Weiss and (dare I say it) Michelle Ryan the new Bionic Woman (words fail me )
- as she gets older she'll be expected to show more range and sophistication in her acting when her better performances have been as feisty, but naive young women - in 'Me without You' or 'Land Girls' for instance

Anyway, I hope 'Bathory' succeeds and I welcome Dave's optimism. Whatever happens, I hope any failings with the film are properly examined and attributed and not blamed on Anna just because she was brave enough to take on the part.

[joe17]

I don't blame Anna for most of her film failures, only for appearing in so many of them in the first place. (God knows Ewan McGregor was bad enough in 'Rogue Trader' to have sunk many a career.)
Interesting you mention Rachel Weisz; who would have guessed watching 'The Land Girls', where she was probably the weakest of the three leads, that she would be the one to win an oscar.
Keira Knightley is a particular bugbear of mine. The camera likes her and she sounds posh, ipso facto, in Hollywood's eyes she must have star potential. The fact that she has one facial expression (that sort of petulant smirk/sneer) and all the range of an MFI wardrobe, seems not to matter.
I would wonder whether Anna is being brave in tackling the sort of roles she takes on. Maybe she just takes the stuff that others higher up the pecking order reject out of hand. (Ropey work is better than no work.)
Here's a very ungallant quote from Pawel Pawlikowski, the director of 'The Stringer' : ''The female character was totally underdeveloped, so no English star would want to do it. Apart from Anna Friel, and she was sort of bankable, but she had a very limited range. There was a complete idiocy at the heart of the whole thing. Thank God it wasn't distributed.''
Always interesting to get insights from behind the scenes. Does anyone have any tales of Anna's run ins with directors etc.

The pictures of Anna's Honorary Degree ceremony at Bolton Poly bring a certain frisson. Is that the same Sara Cox pictured with her who once described Anna as a 'slapper' and was one of the principle agents in the spreading of the pretty unpleasant Jamie Theakston rumours.

[Dave]

LOL @keira... I forgot about her.. good description joe..

Amazing that she has become "la coqueluche du moment" and so en vogue with Hollywood, with the facial acting range equalling the hilarity of a Chubby Brown joke... (zilch, nada, zero ). She has the looks but please get the girl some pie n mash....

Vague recollections of the Ms Cox story .... when it comes to Ms Cox - pot, kettle and black springs to mind.... ...

(ouch did i really say that....)

[davec]

Getting back to the original subject of this thread for a mo - there's an official trailer now available on the Bathory website, or you can use this URL to go direct there:

stream3b.visual.cz/ct/ukazky/bathory/bathory_420.wmv

It was premiered at Cannes last week, but I guess didn't make too much of a splash

Anyway, for us fans there are some tantalising shots of Anna in the blood bath (again) and having her back painted by Caravaggio (I assume) - lucky guy

It looks like quite an action role for Anna with her stabbing people and waving a sabre around like she means it - plus a few bed scenes. I'm almost beginning to get excited about the movie now

[davec]

Just found this article from Variety on the two Bathory films being produced. Should be an interesting comparison. Looks like Anna's film is much more fanciful and romantic. At least they're still talking it up - 'destined for worldwide theatrical release' - let's hope so


Bathory inspires two takes on horror tale
Jakubisko, Delpy revist 17th-century countess
By WILL TIZARD
It seems the mad countess has finally won her bid for immortality -- or at least eternal youth.

Hungarian noblewoman Elizabeth Bathory has been a favorite horror tale figure in Eastern European myth since her demise in 1614.

Now she's back, slated to cast her spell in dueling versions, one by Slovak auteur Juraj Jakubisko (featuring Anna Friel) and one by French thesp, helmer and scribe Julie Delpy, each following different instincts in getting down to who and what the powerful countess really was.

Delpy has been mum on details while prepping her E5 million ($6.6 million) shoot of "The Countess" in authentic locations near where Bathory reigned -- and supposedly bathed in the blood of virgins to prolong her girlish looks -- in what is now Hungary and Slovakia.

Pic is backed by Social Capital and Bloodworks, a shingle traditionally known for horror and slasher films but now expanding out of that mold with this more nuanced film, which Delpy penned and will star in. Her Bathory script examines the mindset of a mysterious, wealthy and cruel figure who is said to have killed some 400 girls.

In online interviews, Delpy, like Jakubisko, has said it's not exactly clear whether the countess was really behind all the bloodshed. After all, her vast land holdings and castles were worth a fortune, her husband was away at war with the Turks and some stood to gain substantially from any witch-hunt directed at Bathory.

Jakubisko co-producer Mike Downey of the U.K.'s Film and Music Entertainment says the rival film conception of the bloody countess is presented in a more epic setting. Jakubisko portrays Bathory from age 10 until her death 35 years later, puts his distinctive stamp on the battle sequences and constantly moves the action from manor houses to more than 20 different castles and chateaus, with 120 speaking characters and thousands of extras.

The project has completed editing and weighs in as the most expensive production in Slovakia and the Czech Republic since 1989 with a budget of $14.5 million and a run time of 2 hours, 22 minutes. It's also the helmer's first English-language movie.

"In today's digital age, fewer European feature film projects embrace major international stories on such a grand scale," says Downey. "Juraj Jakubisko is a master of cinematic style, and we invested in his vision because it is a film of ambition, scope and scale destined for worldwide theatrical release."

A contributor to the Czech New Wave of the '60s, Jakubisko brings his sense of magical realism to the project, adds co-producer Deana Jakubiskova. "There are some dreams," Jakubiskova says, "when she is under hypnosis, she sees many things."

Bathory, in this version, also took the plunge into the decadent art world, becoming entangled with bad-boy painter Caravaggio, a colorful and probably fanciful idea that struck Jakubisko when research showed three years unaccounted for in the Italian's life.

Bathory has clear modern-day parallels, says Jakubiskova. "Her problem was she was too rich and too powerful -- but not as powerful as men when they wanted her property."

[joe17]

Was quite enjoying the piece you found davec, until I got to the dread words 'magical realism'. It takes a fine talent to handle magischer realismus without it becoming a load of indulgent old pony. (Hope Jakubisko is more Gunter Grass than Salman Rushdie.)
The budget of $14.5M is really chicken feed by Hollywood standards; I've probably been a little too down on this film in the past and am intrigued now to see how it turns out. (Would a running time of 2 hours 25 mins make this the longest film Anna has ever been in?)

The Delpy film would seem to be a sort of 21st Century Hammer Horror affair, although sans Ingrid Pitt. I bet its a stinker!

[Dave]

Nice find davec...

I'll have to double-check but 2h25 seems like it will be A's longest film to date (discounting OMF as being a TV mini-series)...

yeah $14.5 million is low-budget for Hollywood - but as the filming was carried out locally I cant see them having to pay 2nd Unit costs etc... I suppose in terms of local regional costs they could get the "thousands of extras" at reasonable prices and wages....

Yup the Delpy project sounds dreadful - possibly worse than Hammer (who produced some absolute classics...). Bloodworks are pretty dire...check their 3 IMDb reviews, all have 1 star !!

[davec]

I too get a bit worried when one individual, in this case Juraj Jakubisko, decides to manipulate history to make a film about their own personal fantasy. And I think it's doubly risky when that same individual's making the film in a foreign language. How does he really get across to an English-speaking leading lady all the nuances and subtle detail of the performance he is seeking from her for his fantasy figure? It's all very well having an English-speaking 'dialogue writer', but there's a lot more to good acting than just saying the words, no matter what accent the actress uses (Rochdale/Slovak/US/Hungarian hybrid I guess )

I think Anna's been thrust very firmly in the spotlight with 'Bathory'. The whole film will be judged on how well her performance is received. The catty comments in the IMDb message boards, mostly from disgruntled Famke Janssen fans, do not bode well, though how they can seriously seek to judge her on a two minute trailer beats me!

The timing here is interesting. If 'Pushing Daisies' is the success that ABC hopes and they are promoting Anna as the new hot, sexy, young star of their Autumn schedules, will 'Bathory' suddenly find an American distributer seeking to cash in on its star's new-found popularity? But if the film gets poor reviews in Czech and Slovak Republics in the Autumn, will ABC try and ensure 'Bathory' gets conveniently forgotten in the USA so that their new star's stateside reputation is not sullied? There's a lot more riding on 'Pushing Daisies' than on 'Bathory' for the men with the money and the power, but which is more important for Anna - does she aspire to the gravitas of a film role like Bathory, or the public adoration and wealth of a successful US TV career in lightweight whimsies like 'Pushing Daisies'? I've asked a similar question before and I still think she'll succeed in the latter rather than the former.

Whatever we may think, the next six-nine months are probably the most crucial period in Anna's career since the day she persuaded Phil Redmond she should play Beth.

[joe17]

Don't think it is quite true to say this is the most crucial period in Anna's career since she took the role of Beth. It has been a pretty long haul now and there have been plenty of twists and turns so far. Remember 1999 and her spell in 'Closer' on Broadway; that was to have been a big launching pad, until the 'Boys and Girls' affair and 'Sunset Strip' put paid to that. You could find many such crux points.
Is anyone really worried what a handful of Famke Janssen fans think of 'Bathory and Anna? Jimmy Hill!! Imagine being a Famke Janssen fan!!
(With critics in general I tend to be ultra-cynical. There isn't one out there who doesn't have an agenda. Most of the major newspaper critics in this country are totally unreliable. And don't get me started on characters like Mark ''The Exorcist' is one of the best films ever made' Kermode. Yeah right, mate.)
Wouldn't be so quick to dismiss 'P.D.' as 'lightweight whimsy'. Here's betting that it has a way sharper script than 'Bathory' (or most of the things Anna's been in for that matter). I certainly agree that Anna's future does not lie in the heavyweight. When she tries to act serious, unintentional comedy often follows (ie 'Fields of Gold' , 'The Tribe').
If we're betting on whether 'Pushing Daisies' or 'Bathory' opens the doors for Anna, put me down for a wager on 'P.D.' anytime. On reflection it strikes me as exactly the sort of work she should be doing. Depends what you want for/from her doesn't it.
Which cinema production/distribution company is ABC linked to? Would they really have the power to ensure that 'Bathory' didn't get seen in the U.S. if it proved a stinker? If you want to be Machiavellian, what's to stop a rival entertainment conglomerate picking it up as a spoiler. Anna has never been protected from her rotten movies in the past, she simply isn't important enough.
God knows, I've worried about such matters over the years. Best to take a couple of steps back, accept that Anna is never going to make the A-list and go with the flow.

[davec]

Joe

I think you're right in that there have been many crux points in Anna's career over the years. The trouble is that she's never managed to navigate herself down the road to super-stardom.

This is her latest chance, and thus the most important now as it may be her last?

[joe17]

davec

Now in many respects I'm as down on Anna as the next person, but don't think I could bring myself to describe this as her last chance. She could, and maybe should, have been out for the count many times before now.
As I said in my previous post it depends what you want for/from her. Do you want her to be a 'filmstar'? Do you crave a return of the days when she was constantly in the papers?
I think you can forget 'super-stardom', it is not going to happen; she isn't talented enough or beautiful enough.
Credibility is the thing. She had it once and needs to get it back.

[joe17]

A few bits and bobs on this film have begun to appear in the UK media. Is the World Premiere in Slovakia (?) confirmed yet?

[helia]

According to Imdb the slovakian premiere should be on the 27th September, the czech on the 25th October, and the hungaian on the 29th November.
But I've just found this article:

Premiere of big-budget Bathory film postponed

05 September 2007 By Irena Zemanova

The planned October release of Slovak director Juraj Jakubisko‘s big-budget film Bathory, the most expensive film yet originating in Central and Eastern Europe, has been delayed due to post-production problems The premiere of the film, based on the life of a 16th-Century Hungarian countess reputed to be the greatest murderess in history, will be held instead in January 2008, according to Deanna Jakubisková, wife of the director and executive producer of the historical film.

"The delay was caused by problems during sound editing and sound postproduction of the movie, which was done in a London studio," said Jakubisková, as quoted by the Czech news agency ÈTK on Sept. 3.

With an international cast and a budget of about 300 million crowns (€10.8 million), Bathory is the region's most expensive production yet. The film, about Countess Erzsébet (Elizabeth) Bathory, is co-produced by the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Great Britain. The title role is played by British actress Anna Friel.

Sound editing and sound postproduction is especially critical for this film. The international cast includes about 120 characters with speaking parts and about 2,000 extras. The soundtrack is in English but the film will also be released in Czech, Slovak and Hungarian.

"We ordered the sound from a foreign provider in London, but we weren't satisfied with the final version of the sound editing," said Jakubisková.

She said various sound segments as well as sound continuity need to be reworked, a process which will last through October.

According to the Czech Association of Film Distributors (Unie filmových distributorù) www.ufd.cz, the official release for Bathory is now Jan. 17, 2008.

(filmneweurope.com)

[joe17]

Thanks for this, helia. All sounds a little ominous! (But hey, what else can you expect of an Anna film.)

[Dave]

joe17 said:

Thanks for this, helia. All sounds a little ominous! (But hey, what else can you expect of an Anna film.)

oh ye of little faith lol