The Countess - 2009

Julie Delpy got more involved than ever in this movie dated of 2009. Indeed, she wrote it, directed it, composed the music, and played the main part of the Hungarian countess Erzsébet Báthory. The latter was born in 1560 and died in 1614. After the death of her husband, the count Ferenc Nadasky, she became very powerful and met a very young man of noble birth at a ball called István Thurzó. As she had fallen passionately in love with him, when she received a (fake) letter signed by the name of the loved one saying that he was getting married with another woman that he loved more than anything, she got deeply depressed.
Since then, she showed signs of probable insanity. She persuaded herself that if István is no longer in love with her, it is because she looks too old for him. Soon, she will start to order the murders of many young virgin girls, convinced that, by putting their blood in contact with her own skin, it would make her to look younger.
At the end of her life and the end of the movie, we can see her being heard for her crimes and finally punished. Her sentence is to be walled into her own room forever, but she will prefer kill herself than living like this for the rest of her life.
This movie was said to be an ode to melancholia and dark romanticism. It is very different from Julie Delpy's previous movies which are colorful comedies, but she explained that she had been fascinated by this passionate woman who has left a lasting impression in the History with her criminal insanity and sadism.
According to me, the link between the main character of The Countess and the main characters of Delpy's other movies is the fact they all are strong and passionate women.