Ecstasy
Short description
Eva, a young woman, marries an older man, Emil, and finds that his devotion to routine leaves little room for passion. Unhappy, she returns to her father's rural home. There, while bathing in a lake, she meets a young man named Adam, and the two fall in love. Emil is devastated by the loss of his wife, and circumstances bring him together with the man who has taken her from him.
Gustav Machatý directed, produced and co-wrote the screenplay with František Horký. It was his second film as director, following The Kreutzer Sonata in 1927. The cast is led by Hedy Lamarr as Eva, with Zvonimir Rogoz as Emil, Aribert Mog as Adam and Leopold Kramer as Eva's father.
Released in 1933, the Czechoslovak production runs 89 minutes and belongs to the drama and romance genres. On IMDb it holds a 6.3 rating from 84 votes, while a critics' score of 5.9 from 13 reviews places professional assessments slightly below the audience average.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film was banned from screening in a number of countries and was only released several years later with censorship cuts. In particular, in Germany, Hitler allowed its release on screens in a shortened, censored version titled "Symphony of Love" only in January 1935. In most versions shown in the USA and Europe, scenes with the nude actress were cut.
- In 1933, Hedy Lamarr, who starred in the film "Ecstasy," married an arms manufacturer, Austrian millionaire Fritz Mandl. Mandl unsuccessfully tried to buy all copies of the film "Ecstasy" from Viennese distribution, but he did not obtain the original film.
- The film was condemned by Pope Pius XII.
- The film features a close-up of actress Hedy Lamarr (1914-2000)'s face during an orgasm. Lamarr later recounted that director Gustav Machatý unexpectedly poked her with a needle in the lower back to achieve the expression he wanted.
- Filming in 'Ecstasy' opened the door for actress Hedy Lamarr to Hollywood.
- The film is among the ten most famous films of Czechoslovakia from the pre-World War II period.
- The film 'Ecstasy' gained worldwide fame as the first feature-length film in the history of cinema to contain an erotic scene with a nude female body.
- The members of the German male vocal group Comedian Harmonists (1928-1935) performed as street musicians near the cafe.
- When she came to the film audition, Hedy Lamarr (born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler) lied about her age. She was only 17 years old.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
