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Directed by Juraj Herz
Czechoslovakia 1972

 

The Blu-ray of Morgiana is reviewed HERE

 

Often described as the 'last' film of the Czech New Wave, Juraj Herz's delirious tale of terror is a fantastical and surreal phantasmagoria of dark desires and splintered minds.

Morgiana, based on a short story by Aleksandr Grin, (the 'Russian Poe'), is the story of two sisters, Klára and Viktoria who live a life of decadent excess stranded somewhere between the mid-19th and early 20th century. Klára is blonde and beautiful, whilst Viktoria is ugly, sadistic, bursting with hate and jealousy - and hatches a terrible revenge by slowly poisoning her more popular sister. As the poison takes hold, Klára begins to lose grip on her sanity...

Part fairy-tale, part Gothic horror, Morgiana is a full-blown hallucinatory experience from the director of The Cremator.

***

Delirious gothic fairytale with Janzurova playing both the roles of 'good' and 'bad' sister in this adaptation of Alexandr Grin's Edwardian-set novel. Tom Hutchinson has called it 'living Aubrey Bearsdley', which captures perfectly the ornate costume and set design, but not the hallucinatory Hammer-like atmospherics and the drenched colour. Often shot from the point of view of the cat (Morgiana), the film is an elegant, beautifully executed, post-'60s essay on sex and repression.

Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

 

Posters etc.


Theatrical Release: June 7th, 1973

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DVD Review: Second Run - Region 0 - PAL

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Distribution Second Run DVD - Region 0 - PAL
Runtime 1:37:12 (4% PAL Speedup)
Video 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 7.99 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate:

Audio Czech (Dolby Digital 2.0) 
Subtitles English, None
Features

Release Information:
Studio: Second Run DVD

Aspect Ratio:
Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1

Edition Details:
• Interview with director Juraj Herz (15:27)

• 12-page booklet featuring a new essay by Daniel Bird

DVD Release Date: October 11th, 2010

Transparent Keep Case
Chapters: 12

 

Comments:

The Blu-ray of Morgiana is reviewed HERE

Second Run just keep rolling along with another great film - exposing it to an English-locked audience previously unaware of its value. It's a wonderful vision for lovers of world cinema and, Morgiana remains a super choice to add to their impressive collection. I hope this journey continues... for a very long time.

Morgiana has been released previously on DVD (Czech and Japanese releases) but as far as I am aware this may be the only 'English-friendly' edition. This dual-layered, progressive transfer from Second Run looks quite competent.  There are speckles - quite a few, but the visuals look about as good as the SD-DVD medium can relate (high bitrate) without excessive restoration. It can be quite dark at times. The source appears to be uncompromised. This is region free, in the original 1.33:1 aspect ratio and rendered in the PAL standard.

The flat 2.0 channel audio is fairly consistent and has a few instances where it can impact the presentation. Dialogue is clear. There are, well rendered, optional English subtitles. Supplements include a, reasonably revealing 15-minute interview with director Herz in Czech that has optional English subtitles. There is also a 12-page booklet featuring a new essay by author Daniel Bird who is very well-versed in Juraj Herz's Czech films.

For those familiar with the, oft-chilling, The Cremator, by the same director - I'd say this is equally as good a film... and a unique, psychological, horror.  There is the basic theme reminiscent of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? with sibling jealousies justifying excessive behaviors. I enjoyed my viewing very much.

Gary W. Tooze

 


 

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DVD Box Cover

   

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Distribution Second Run DVD - Region 0 - PAL




 

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