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Bloody Lady Krvavá pani / color / 74 min. Directed by: Viktor Kubal • Story: Viktor Kubal • Screenplay: Viktor Kubal design and animation: Viktor Kubal • Director of photography: Otto Geyer Juraj Lexmann • Editor: Marta Solárová
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Films
Viktor Kubal’s second animation feature recreates the story of the Lady of Čachtice, otherwise known as Erzsébet Báthory, the “Bloody Countess”. Here the story of the woman who bathed in the blood of virgins becomes folk legend. She is initially an innocent and loving young woman but, after becoming drenched in a thunderstorm, she contracts a fever, and is nursed back to health by a woodsman in his cottage. She falls in love and literally leaves him her heart. Her character changes instantly, she treats her favourite animals with cruelty, and she is soon whitening her skin with
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the blood of her victims. The legend takes its course, and she spurns the return of her heart, although it is finally restored. The simple, flowing lines of Kubal’s composition give the complexities of his story a particular force, as the film embraces moods that range from lyricism to expressionism, with small gestures and movements that are both humorous and critical. Filmed without dialogue or commentary, its inventive and pure use of color is complemented by Juraj Lexmann’s atmospheric score.