Ecstasy

Young Eva marries Emil, a wealthy old man. When she realizes how cold and distant he is, she leaves him and returns to her father’s farm. One day, after a horse ride and a bath in a nearby lake, she meets Adam, a young civil engineer. His gentile virility attracts Eva and the two become lovers. Now distanced from the scandal of its time, this film can be appreciated for its precise montage and resonant visual metaphors, presenting a narrative about feminine agency and the quest for happiness through its sensual representation of erotic desire and female orgasm.

Duration: 90’
Production year: 1933
Country: CZ
Language: CP, DE Subtitles: EN

Venice Film Festival 1934 – Best Director Award
Venice Film Festival 2019 – Venice Classics Award for Best Restored Film

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Gustav Machatý

Gustav Machatý was born in 1901 in Prague and died in 1963. He began working in cinema during his teenage years and, throughout his career, took on various roles as an actor, screenwriter, director, art director, and composer. His first feature film, Teddy by kouřil, premiered in 1919. In the following years, he wrote and directed Kreutzer Sonata (1927), Erotikon (1929), and From Saturday to Sunday (1931). The success of these three films, particularly the last two, which showcase his preference for erotic themes, allowed him to direct the film for which he is best known—Ecstasy (1933). The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 1934, where Machatý won the Award for Best Director, despite the scandal it caused (it was publicly condemned by Pope Pius XI). The film made both him and the lead actress, Hedy Kiesler (later known as Hedy Lamarr), internationally famous and enabled their move to Hollywood. However, Machatý only managed to secure minor roles as a director of camera test footage and never returned to the success he had achieved in the 1930s.

Original title: Extase

Gustav Machatý

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