Great Film overall

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The acting is so awful, watching and especially hearing (accents and voice acting reminds me of dubbing in cheap B movies) Julie Delpy is so cringeworthy. Even William Hurt looks lost. The story unfolds in a monotonous boring way, terrible script. Delpy should take lessons from successful actors turned directors like Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson,... to see how it is done.

The legend of Hungarian countess Elisabeth Bathory isn't as well known as rumored distant relative Vlad the Impaler (aka Count Dracula), but her story has created much curiosity because of her vicious deeds. Raised by an equally cold mother to be regal, brilliant, brave and unfeeling, she accidentally discovering the curing power of blood in the de-aging process. Looking much older than her 39 years when she begins this reign of terror, she goes between youth and looking aged, always cool in the way she gets the blood from these young virgins, even ordering one to run or be killed in a sudden burst of conscience. Julie Delpy keeps her cool even in the most tense moments, adding a sort of divine right to do what she's doing.The historical aspect of this is fascinating, but I found myself turning my head during some very tense torture moments. There's also her dark, rather evil lover who enjoys being the recipient of sadomasochist tortures. This tries to give the impression that as a woman suppressed in a man's era, she was somehow the victim of a conspiracy and committed these sins because of a lost love. This sends mixed messages to the viewer, especially since they also have her documenting everything she did. The case of Elisabeth Bathory was simple. She was a blood thirty vain power obsessed psychopath whose legend should be a warning about the evils of excessive vanity.

Wonderful costumes and great sceneries. The plot - acceptable. The acting - poor and dull. All actors have the same tone in all situations, the same mimic, no gestures. They're like robots. No body language, no voice inflections at all. Like a drawled song. In the second half I managed to get used to those dialogues, but at the beginning they sound quite ridiculous. And fake. Not one natural reaction or conversation in the entire movie. Maybe this is because of the way people were back then - very calculated and calm. But there are several ways of being calculated and I think the characters chose the wrong one.

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