Narziss und Psyche (1980)

Narziss und Psyche: Directed by Gábor Bódy. With Patricia Adriani, Udo Kier, György Cserhalmi, Agnes Horvath. Narcisus and Psyche is based on a novel by Sandor Weores which was adapted by Vilmos Csaplar and director Gabor Body for a feature-length, 140-minute film. Borrowing the character of Psyche from mythology and placing her in Europe in the 19th century, the authors give her a “modern” life. She is an attractive young woman – and remains so throughout the film, in spite of one hardship after another. Psyche is libidinous, and her prurient interests shock her staid contemporaries. For reasons that the viewer is left to ponder, her life is almost a living punishment for her sexual laxity. Her child is taken away and killed, and although she is in love with her tutor, who has syphilis, she marries another man. She is suffering herself from some affliction, which leads to hospital scenes that are acerbic commentaries on 19th c. Western medicine. Psyche is about to leave for America with her husband, when the story takes another abrupt turn.

“Itu0026#39;s a bit hard to watch alongside the whole 261 minutes at the same time. I watched it in two steps and i think it was the most complex movie i have ever seen. First of all the story is unique (owing to Weöres Sándor), the characters are perfectly matches with the actresses and all of these has an experimental, artfully visual world. In this movie there are actors who are one of the most magnificent artists of the age, just like Erdély Miklós or Hajas Tibor. I think Bódy Gábor is not only a good director, but a real artist, too.”