The Mystery of Oberwald

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The Mystery of Oberwald

Released Sep 3, 1981

2h 9m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

50%

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10 Reviews

41%

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250+ Ratings

A killer (Franco Branciaroli) confronts a secluded Ruritanian queen (Monica Vitti) whose husband was assassinated on their wedding day.

Gilbert Adair

Sight & Sound

Mine is a minority opinion, but I am convinced that his experiments with video and colour will make Il Mistero di Oberwald the Becky Sharp of cinema's long-promised and long-deferred electronic era.

Aug 1, 2015

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

The choice of the Cocteau play seems more arbitrary than inevitable, which raises the form-versus-content issue even more than in most Antonioni features.

Jul 31, 2007

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Noel Murray

AV Club

The visual play is interesting, but it doesn't make the director's case that video is as viable as film for artful storytelling.

Jun 4, 2001

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Diego Galán

El Pais (Spain)

The end result is cold. The melodrama's emotion and the technical magic are absent. [Full Review in Spanish]

Aug 23, 2019

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Too stage-bound and the dialogue is too tacky.

Rated: C+

Apr 2, 2015

Full Review

TV Guide

This opulent made-for-Italian-TV production is a must-see for both for fans of Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni and of legendary surrealist Jean Cocteau.

Rated: 3.5/4

Aug 29, 2006

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Audience Member

antonioni decouvre les joies de la video et donne une lecon de cinema a cocteau. d'accord, 40 ans se sont ecoules.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A decade passed between the first and second time I saw this film. It's so bizarre. I continue to try to find a place for it in my brain. I don't in all ways love it, but it's interesting and odd.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

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Audience Member

Michelangelo's most dreadful mistake. A horrible experiment with video. Poor Monica Vitti.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

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Audience Member

A strange little chamber drama that may have opened the door for others to condescend to experimenting with video.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

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Michelangelo Antonioni

Director

Monica Vitti

The Queen

Franco Branciaroli

Sebastian

Paolo Bonacelli

Count of Foehn

Elisabetta Pozzi

Edith de Berg

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Synopsis

A killer (Franco Branciaroli) confronts a secluded Ruritanian queen (Monica Vitti) whose husband was assassinated on their wedding day.

Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Producer: Sergio Benvenuti, Giancarlo Bernardoni, Alessandro von Norman
Screenwriter: Michelangelo Antonioni, Jean Cocteau, Tonino Guerra
Distributor: Facets
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Italian
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 3, 1981, Original
Runtime: 2h 9m