Review of The Countess (2009) by Matthew F. J — 01 May 2010

Very ambitious.... Totally missed. Totally missed on so many levels it is actually quite a performance. The many messages the film is trying to carry through (women are worth as much as men, powers corrupts, love is immortal, don't forget to buy some bread) are uninteresting and anyway totally blurred. Even though the actors are really good and the production design excellent, the film is not beautiful, special effects are way too "in your face" and the camera work is non-existent. Actually one would be hard-pressed to understand why any one would ever want to produce this vehicle for Julie Deply.

The worst part is certainly the fact that the story is inexistent. There is no consistent point of view, no surprise, the potential for epics and mystery is totally wasted. It often seems like the film has been partially butchered by the editors. The secondary characters totally lack any form of interest and the countess alone has been granted a layered personality with shades and contradiction, the rest is depthless. Finally the film takes itself way too seriously and is devoid of fun and humor. Sad.