Ecstasy (Extase)

Introduction by Daniel Wiegand, 15'

Eva is a woman from a good family who – after feeling somewhat dissatisfied on her wedding night – prefers to become involved with the young engineer Adam rather than continue to put up with her wooden husband Emil. This decision has consequences … Machatý’s emancipatory drama is regarded as a milestone in Czech film history. As a partial-sound film – a typical product of the transition from silent to sound film – it features dialogue and sound effects in only a few scenes; for the most part, it still relies entirely on the visual expressiveness of silent film, culminating in a ‘socialist apotheosis’ at the very end that is reminiscent of Eisenstein’s films. Ekstase also strikes a modern note, particularly in its portrayal of a sexually frustrated female character striving for autonomy. It was probably this aspect in particular that led to numerous instances of censorship well into the 1950s, even more so than the unusually revealing nude scenes featuring the future Hollywood star Hedy Lamarr (then still known as Hedwig Kiesler). The Prague-based production company Elektafilm shot the film simultaneously in three languages in Vienna (Czech, German, French). We are showing a new reconstruction of the German-language version from the Filmarchiv Austria, which comes closest to the film’s original intention. (dw)