Audience Member
my review: http://wp.me/p1eXom-23Z
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/16/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Heh, so listen:
<i>Morgiana</i> has all the characteristics of a soap opera, from head to toes. It has typical suspenseful music, acting clichés, a typical murder-with-poison plot, and the most predictable of all endings. It is a Czechoslovak thriller released in 1972, and it has 364 votes in IMDB, and 80 votes in Letterboxd.
It doesn't sound appealing at all, right? Well, allow me to convince you otherwise.
<i>Morgiana</i> is one of the few films that was escaping from the clutches of the Czech New Wave, irremediably featuring a good number of its technical remnants: a marvelous cinematography, oblique angles, a wide lens camera moving through spaces, and impactful imagery. Now, horror was suffering a very important transition exactly at this time: the formulas for thrillers and slashers were being perfected in Europe and standardized in America. This was notorious in Poland and Spain, beyond the popular Italy. From this perspective, therefore, the film shows two transitions at once, resulting in a very rare, but equally engaging breed:
<b>It is like the European cult cinema of the 70s with the Czech New Wave audiovisual trademarks, with a spice of Gothic horror, and without the exploitative content</b>. It is all about style driving the plot, no matter how overtly dramatic or predictable it may seem.
For some bizarre reason that I cannot fully put into words, this simply worked for me. The film has technical vision and a big heart put right in the middle of it all. Besides, the fact that Iva Janzurová, the actress of the film, portrays BOTH roles of Klára and Viktorie convincingly is a gorgeous trademark, and it is not only about the make-up. Ohh nooo; it is about her facial expressions and intensity in both roles that make the whole show to be extremely <b>entertaining</b>.
Damn, was I <b>entertained</b>...
Maybe all of this happened by accident... a VERY fortunate accident. I am not doubting the ability of Herz behind the camera, as <i>The Cremator</i> (1969) was enough evidence to suggest how big his cinematic scope was; however, this is a unique film maybe done at the only time that was right for its creation, and preceding important U.S. and Europe thrillers, including De Palma. This should be a most for both fans of the Czech movement and hardcore horror fans.
80/100
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/22/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Bit jste se neprisel ale pres hubu dostat muzete!
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
01/13/23
Full Review
Audience Member
A gloomy and visually pleasing fairytale
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/18/23
Full Review
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