*sings* You were a vampire / Now, baby, I'm the walking dead
Already flipped for Die Blutgräfin (The Blood Countess), though the film remains in pre-production. Meaning, at this point, that it's little more than just a stunning idea trying to be lifted off of the ground.
Let's take the infamous tale of Erzsébet Báthory, widely considered to be the most prolific female serial killer in history. Now let's tell the twisted tale through the majestic eye of arthouse cinema. Under the direction of a female (German director Ulrike Ottinger). Let's place Tilda Swinton and Isabelle Huppert in the starring roles (the countess & devoted maid, respectively). Oh, and we'll do this all against the glorious backdrop of Vienna. As another blogger put it, "these two could probably play chess, and we'd kill to see it". More info behind the cut.
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Synopsis (via executive producer's website):
"Impatiently awaiting the arrival of her devoted maid Hermine, the countess Erzsébeth Báthory, also known as La Comtesse Sanglante, a tigress in human disguise, ascends into the open daylight.
At breathtaking speed, the two women race through a Vienna of ghoulish beauty. Their entourage: Báthorys nephew Bubi, a vegetarian vampire who refuses to follow family traditions, his therapist, two wacky vampirologists, some members of the duelling fraternity "Vampiria", an all-female music ensemble, and many more.
"Wiener Blut", Viennese blood is shed by the buckets while the hearts of the present Habsburgians and Viennese beat high. This is a cracked journey to the roots of a myth that has lost nothing of its appeal: to the Vampire Empire!
Naturally, the showdown takes place at Vienna´s "Prater" - during a midnight supper on that fair´s famous Ferris wheel."
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Director's Statement (via director's website):
"For a long time now, the waiting maid Hermine has been staying at the hotel Königin von Ungarn. Because of the slow, dreamlike movements with which she, accompanied by her Vampyr vacuum cleaner, passes through the seemingly endless corridors, people also call her the 'sleeping beauty'. She seems to be, well, waiting for something. Only the old night porter knows her secret.
Some decades ago her mistress had suddenly vanished from the face of the earth, in the wake of a series of horrifying incidents that had all of Vienna trembling with fear. When she re-emerges from the underworld, the beautiful sleepwalker is suddenly invigorated. Together with her well-adored Blood Countess La Comtesse Sanglante, the World Champion Lady Vampire of all Times, the Tigress in Human Shape, the Hyena of Csejte, she reminisces past adventures, and again the twosome goes for late night strolls through a ghastly beautiful Vienna, past its catacombs, fools towers, coffee houses and its tombs containing the hearts, eyes, and entrails of the emperors and heroes of old.
Vienna, both old and new and madly rich in formidable sights and curiosities, becomes the staging ground for their hunts and chases, which soon carry them across the city's border and into Bohemia and Hungary. Wherever the red carriage-and-six passes through the snowy landscape, the travellers are greeted by horrified faces, and the farmers cross themselves standing in their fields. The twosome is grudgingly accompanied by a degenerate vegetarian vampire, closely monitored by his therapist. Not only are they followed by two enthusiastic vampirologists, but they also meet the hedonistic members of the duelling fraternity „Vampyria“, a beautiful librarian, an even more beautiful nun, a nervous privy councillor, field marshals, more councillors, and the little countess below the glass cover. During all this they learn baffling facts about their ancestors.
Inspired by her love mania, the sleeping beauty ties the shy vegetarian to her by biting off his therapist. The vampire ball with its strange rituals, accompanied by an all-female orchestra, is one of the musical and visual climaxes of the movie. Following a dramatic showdown during a midnight supper on a Ferris wheel high above Vienna, what must happen happens: The Blood Countess, now even more ravishing and rejuvenated, bites one last time, and a blood red comet rips across the night sky.
Red is the dominant color used for all materials and such. There's reflecting pearls, brocade, dull felt, tulle, silk, velvet, moiré, brightly illuminated ossuaries, firestorms, murano chandeliers, red-marbled corkscrew stairs, wax hearts, red heather, garnet necklaces, steak tartare and blood sausages and that very peculiar juice, drunk from ruby-red goblets. Even the bats' eyes are red.
What makes this vampire movie special is the circle dance of its protagonists, who, just as in a paper chase, are lured from one place to another. The often bizarre, real histories of these locations form a part of the narrative of the movie. Thus, a mini-drama shaped as a comic book story emerges.
How far can the horrors of the night reach into our day? Or do we, perhaps, simply happen upon our daydreams?"
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Ulrike Ottinger, Tilda Swinton and Kurt Mayer production meeting, Vienna 2009.
Isabelle Huppert and Tilda Swinton meeting the producers Heino Deckert and Kurt Mayer, Cannes 2009.