Ecstasy

Gustav Machatý, 1932

Film at Filmový přehled

Summary

Gustav Machatý is rightly viewed as one of the great figures of Czechoslovak cinema. Extase (Ecstasy, 1932) was the most successful Czechoslovak film of the pre-war era with international audiences. But it also represents a reaction to cold box office returns – for Machatý was unhappy with his previous two talkies, and so for this effort he reduced dialogue in favour of music. The 31 year-old director thus hoped that this drama, relaying the story of a love triangle, would be understandable to audiences across the globe. However, Machatý ultimately had to produce not just a Czech and German version of the film, but also a French-language one – each with slightly different elements. Artistically, this complex film can be said to be in the spirit of the German concept of “Gesamtkunstwerk” – meaning “total artwork”. Furthermore, Extase gained a scandalous reputation for its provocative and explicit eroticism (19 year-old Hedy Kiesler [later known as Hedy Lamarr] appears naked on screen). But such controversies failed to take away from the fact that this story of a young woman, who is escaping from an unhappy marriage into the arms of an attractive engineer, is ultimately a tale filled with conventional morality.
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Film data

About a film

Production year 1932
Countries Czechoslovakia
Categories film
Genres drama
Form feature
Duration 90 min
Director Gustav Machatý
Cast Hedy Kiesler, Aribert Mog, Zvonimir Rogoz, Leopold Kramer, Karel Mácha-Kuča
Director of photography Jan Stallich
Screenplay Gustav Machatý, František Horký
Editor Antonín Zelenka
Production designer Bohumil Heš, Josef Gabriel
Music Giuseppe Becce
Sound designer Josef Zora