Title：Morgianaaka：摩格亞納
Director：Juraj Herz
Release Date：1972
Genre：Drama
Country：Czechoslovakia
Language：Czech
IMDb
簡介。。。。。
A memorable exercise in gothic excess from the noted Czech filmmaker Juraj Herz. Fabulously baroque visuals and a deliriously melodramatic storyline make for an interesting and enjoyable film that unfortunately falls apart in the end.
The Package
Although its director Juraj Herz never aligned himself with his country’s cinematic “New Wave”, MORGIANA (1971), with its unprecedented, near experimental visuals, is often cited as the “last” film of the Czech New Wave (a movement that included films like DAISIES, THE FIREMEN’S BALL and THE JOKE). Herz is best known for his expressionistic black comedy THE CREMATOR (SPALOVAC MRTVOL; 1968), which contained quite a few horrific touches. Both it and MORGIANA are visual marvels that were quite controversial in their native land, so much so that Herz claims he was forbidden to make features for two years following the completion of the latter film.
MORGIANA, based on a short story by Alexandr Grin, the “Russian Edgar Allen Poe,” was apparently conceived quite differently than it turned out. Herz’s conceit of having one actress, Iva Janzurova, play two roles was apparently due to the fact that her characters were originally intended as different facets of a single person. This would have altered the intent of the film quite radically, but government-appointed regulators took issue with that interpretation and forced Herz to make a film he admits he “didn’t like.” Unwanted outside interference is a problem that has dogged Herz throughout his career, but he’s managed to turn out some interesting films all the same, even if he himself disagrees.
The Story
In an unidentified 19th Century setting of decadent opulence two sisters, the vivacious blonde Klara and the pouty brunette Viktoria, find themselves graced with abundant wealth inherited from their recently deceased father. Viktoria, the bad sister, grows increasingly jealous of the good Klara’s inheritance of their family house and the fact that she’s far more popular with the local men. Viktoria decides to poison her sister, an act far more complicated than she originally anticipated: the poison turns out to be a slow acting one which somehow manages to spread to much of the surrounding population, including Morgiana, Viktoria’s cat. Worse, the spiteful woman who sold Viktoria the poison decides to blackmail her...and won’t be silenced, even after Viktoria pushes her off a cliff!
Klara, meanwhile, finds herself drifting into an increasingly hallucinatory reality. She thinks her sister might be responsible, but can’t tell if her suspicions are real of just more hallucinations. Eventually she expires...or seems to, at any rate. Viktoria decides to stage her own suicide by hanging, planning it so she’ll be saved at the last minute by her maid; her none-too-loyal cat Morgiana thwarts her plan, however. This leads to a lame happy ending, which posits the poison that set things in motion wasn’t really a poison—right!!
The Direction
It’s the delirious visuals conjured by Juraj Herz and cinematographer Jaroslav Kucera (DAISIES) that give this film its kick. The color scheme is a gaudy one and the ever-fluid camerawork is extremely expansive and even show-offy, particularly the cat POV shots in which the camera darts and jumps. The outrageousness of the enterprise is completed by Herz’s preference for extreme wide-angle lenses.
Also striking are the psychedelic POV shots representing the poisoned Klara’s druggy universe, where shades of red clash with black and white. Credit must be given Iva Janzurova’s duel performances that often have her interacting with herself. Outfitted entirely in black and sporting Cruella De Ville-like eye make-up and incredibly long lashes, she’s quite a sight as Viktoria the evil sister, and even loses her brunette wig toward the end to reveal a mop of patchy, balding hair. Lubos Fiser’s noisy, insistent music score also aids immeasurably in creating an atmosphere of melodramatic delirium. Again, however, the ending could really use some work.
我的碎碎唸。。。。。。推薦指數：7.8/10The Package
Although its director Juraj Herz never aligned himself with his country’s cinematic “New Wave”, MORGIANA (1971), with its unprecedented, near experimental visuals, is often cited as the “last” film of the Czech New Wave (a movement that included films like DAISIES, THE FIREMEN’S BALL and THE JOKE). Herz is best known for his expressionistic black comedy THE CREMATOR (SPALOVAC MRTVOL; 1968), which contained quite a few horrific touches. Both it and MORGIANA are visual marvels that were quite controversial in their native land, so much so that Herz claims he was forbidden to make features for two years following the completion of the latter film.
MORGIANA, based on a short story by Alexandr Grin, the “Russian Edgar Allen Poe,” was apparently conceived quite differently than it turned out. Herz’s conceit of having one actress, Iva Janzurova, play two roles was apparently due to the fact that her characters were originally intended as different facets of a single person. This would have altered the intent of the film quite radically, but government-appointed regulators took issue with that interpretation and forced Herz to make a film he admits he “didn’t like.” Unwanted outside interference is a problem that has dogged Herz throughout his career, but he’s managed to turn out some interesting films all the same, even if he himself disagrees.
The Story
In an unidentified 19th Century setting of decadent opulence two sisters, the vivacious blonde Klara and the pouty brunette Viktoria, find themselves graced with abundant wealth inherited from their recently deceased father. Viktoria, the bad sister, grows increasingly jealous of the good Klara’s inheritance of their family house and the fact that she’s far more popular with the local men. Viktoria decides to poison her sister, an act far more complicated than she originally anticipated: the poison turns out to be a slow acting one which somehow manages to spread to much of the surrounding population, including Morgiana, Viktoria’s cat. Worse, the spiteful woman who sold Viktoria the poison decides to blackmail her...and won’t be silenced, even after Viktoria pushes her off a cliff!
Klara, meanwhile, finds herself drifting into an increasingly hallucinatory reality. She thinks her sister might be responsible, but can’t tell if her suspicions are real of just more hallucinations. Eventually she expires...or seems to, at any rate. Viktoria decides to stage her own suicide by hanging, planning it so she’ll be saved at the last minute by her maid; her none-too-loyal cat Morgiana thwarts her plan, however. This leads to a lame happy ending, which posits the poison that set things in motion wasn’t really a poison—right!!
The Direction
It’s the delirious visuals conjured by Juraj Herz and cinematographer Jaroslav Kucera (DAISIES) that give this film its kick. The color scheme is a gaudy one and the ever-fluid camerawork is extremely expansive and even show-offy, particularly the cat POV shots in which the camera darts and jumps. The outrageousness of the enterprise is completed by Herz’s preference for extreme wide-angle lenses.
Also striking are the psychedelic POV shots representing the poisoned Klara’s druggy universe, where shades of red clash with black and white. Credit must be given Iva Janzurova’s duel performances that often have her interacting with herself. Outfitted entirely in black and sporting Cruella De Ville-like eye make-up and incredibly long lashes, she’s quite a sight as Viktoria the evil sister, and even loses her brunette wig toward the end to reveal a mop of patchy, balding hair. Lubos Fiser’s noisy, insistent music score also aids immeasurably in creating an atmosphere of melodramatic delirium. Again, however, the ending could really use some work.
捷克電影中陰暗、怪異的又一奇葩。導演Juraj Herz一向以怪異離奇的想象，電影中陰暗詭異的氛圍名聞遐邇，最著名的作品就要數《焚尸人》了，他是我非常欣賞的一位導演。雖然他從未把自己和捷克新浪潮聯係到一起，但是Morgiana以它的實驗意識，被人們認爲是捷克新浪潮最後的一部影片。
影片的場景設定在19世紀的某個有錢人的家裏，人物的服裝設計、場景的佈置全部是華麗的巴洛克式，氛圍又充滿了哥特式的陰暗與詭異，構成了捷克都有的波希米亞式華麗。攝影Jaroslav Kucera是Vera Chytilova的老公，和妻子一起拍攝的《雛菊》，在視覺上成就了Chytilova電影的先鋒形式，堪稱新浪潮中最具個性的電影。所以單在影片視覺上的華美方面本片就值得一看。影片是一個狠毒姐姐與善良妹妹之間的童話般的故事，摩格亞納是姐姐的貓。Herz高度讚賞的女演員Iva Janzurová一人分飾兩個完全不同角色——這對姐妹，如此大的反差卻被Iva演繹的淋漓盡致，是影片中另外一大看點。
故事講述富有的父親去世留下了很多的財產，大部分給了善良的妹妹Klara，狠毒的姐姐Viktoria非常生氣。但是更讓她無法忍受的是，活潑可愛又善良美麗的Klara人見人愛，是當地紳士們爭相追求的對象，可是沒有一個人喜歡Viktoria。這所有的一切都讓這位陰冷的Viktoria妒火中燒，於是她買來一瓶毒藥，下在她的早餐中想要毒死她。可是卻沒想到她她已經陷入圈套，賣給她毒藥的女人想要敲詐她的財產。被逼急了的Viktoria把這個女人騙到山上，將她從懸崖上推入海里。中了毒的Klara開始覺得難受，口渴難耐，不斷地喝水，並開始時不時地產生幻覺。卻在自己身體不舒服的時候，遇上了意中人——朋友的堂兄。被推下山崖的女人沒有死，將Klara中毒的事情告訴她。Viktoria的罪行逐漸敗露，最後無路可走的計劃著假裝上吊自殺，能被門外的女僕救下。但是不幸的是她的心肝寶貝打擾了她的計劃斷送了她的性命。令人欣喜的結局是實際上這個毒藥並不致命，只會令人產生幻覺。Klara終于可以和自己心愛的人走到一起了。
去豆瓣上看看。。。。。。影片的場景設定在19世紀的某個有錢人的家裏，人物的服裝設計、場景的佈置全部是華麗的巴洛克式，氛圍又充滿了哥特式的陰暗與詭異，構成了捷克都有的波希米亞式華麗。攝影Jaroslav Kucera是Vera Chytilova的老公，和妻子一起拍攝的《雛菊》，在視覺上成就了Chytilova電影的先鋒形式，堪稱新浪潮中最具個性的電影。所以單在影片視覺上的華美方面本片就值得一看。影片是一個狠毒姐姐與善良妹妹之間的童話般的故事，摩格亞納是姐姐的貓。Herz高度讚賞的女演員Iva Janzurová一人分飾兩個完全不同角色——這對姐妹，如此大的反差卻被Iva演繹的淋漓盡致，是影片中另外一大看點。
故事講述富有的父親去世留下了很多的財產，大部分給了善良的妹妹Klara，狠毒的姐姐Viktoria非常生氣。但是更讓她無法忍受的是，活潑可愛又善良美麗的Klara人見人愛，是當地紳士們爭相追求的對象，可是沒有一個人喜歡Viktoria。這所有的一切都讓這位陰冷的Viktoria妒火中燒，於是她買來一瓶毒藥，下在她的早餐中想要毒死她。可是卻沒想到她她已經陷入圈套，賣給她毒藥的女人想要敲詐她的財產。被逼急了的Viktoria把這個女人騙到山上，將她從懸崖上推入海里。中了毒的Klara開始覺得難受，口渴難耐，不斷地喝水，並開始時不時地產生幻覺。卻在自己身體不舒服的時候，遇上了意中人——朋友的堂兄。被推下山崖的女人沒有死，將Klara中毒的事情告訴她。Viktoria的罪行逐漸敗露，最後無路可走的計劃著假裝上吊自殺，能被門外的女僕救下。但是不幸的是她的心肝寶貝打擾了她的計劃斷送了她的性命。令人欣喜的結局是實際上這個毒藥並不致命，只會令人產生幻覺。Klara終于可以和自己心愛的人走到一起了。
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