The Blood Countess review – Isabelle Huppert reigns supreme in a surreal vampire fantasia

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Vienna turns into a playground of camp, cruelty and aristocratic disdain in a blackly comic take on the Báthory legend – with Huppert gloriously suited to the title role From the dark heart of central Europe comes a midnight-movie romp through the moonlit urban glades of Euro-goth and camp from German director Ulrike Ottinger. As for the star … well, it’s the part she was born to play. Isabelle Huppert is Countess Elizabeth Báthory, 16th-century Hungarian noblewoman and serial killer, legendary for having the blood of hundreds of young girls on her hands and indeed her body, in an attempt to attain eternal youth. The “blood countess” has been variously played in the past by Ingrid Pitt, Delphine Seyrig, Paloma Picasso, Julie Delpy and many more, but surely none were as qualified as Huppert who importantly does not modify her habitual hauteur one iota for the role. Her natural aristocratic mien and cool hint of elegant contempt were never so well matched with a part. She gives us the ...
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On the Edge review – gripping study of France’s overstretched mental health system

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A documentary following the only staff psychiatrist in a Paris hospital reveals both the indifference of society and a doctor’s devoted care

Within the corridors of a psychiatric ward in Beaujon hospital in Clichy, Paris, tensions run high. Every day, a steady stream of patients pours in, while resources are stretched pitifully thin. Through jagged handheld cinematography, Nicolas Peduzzi’s gripping and passionate documentary reflects the facility’s breakneck pace. Amid a flurry of frantic calls and rolling stretchers, a calm presence emerges: here comes Dr Jamal Abdel-Kader, the only staff psychiatrist in the building.

The camera trails after Abdel-Kader’s hurried steps as he splits his day between various departments, from the emergency rooms to the intensive care units. Despite his colossal workload – a result of crumbling infrastructure and lack of government budget – he devotes his full attention to each individual patient. Some are only in their late teens when they attempt self-harm and even suicide. Others have already spent a lifetime trapped in a cycle of addiction and depression.

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