Bathory

I saw a really remarkable film the other night that was here as part of an EU film festival. Admittedly I went not because I knew anything about the film but because it was from Slovakia and about a castle a stone's throw from Stara Tura where I lived for over two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I wanted to reconnect with some Slovak friends here in the area and reminisce a bit -- my expectations were not high. However, I was surprised with a really remarkable film and a discussion afterward with the director, Juraj Jakubisko, and his wife.

Bathory -- see the homepage for the trailer and more information -- was a fantastic way to spend a couple of hours. Edgy, insightful, provocative. The film managed to call to question this woman's character and the life she might have lived, a very different story than those I heard when I visited Cachtice Hrad back in the day.

To beat it all, I managed to snag a film poster autographed by Jakubisko as I left the cinema. My final recommendation: go see it if you are able (and the language of the film is English, disappointing for me who had hoped to fill my ears with a couple of hours of Slovak, but perhaps an enticement for those skeptical of long foreign films in strange languages).