Isabelle Huppert Goes Full Camp as Vampire Countess

French cinema legend Isabelle Huppert stars as the notorious vampire Elizabeth Báthory in Ulrike Ottinger's "The Blood Countess." This avant-garde film sees Huppert embrace a full camp performance as the 17th-century aristocrat known for her supposed appetite for virgin blood. The feature is characterized as a celebration of "anti-arthouse trash cinema."

Huppert's arrival in the film, floating on a barge in a scene set below Vienna, is likened to an '80s rock video. Her performance is gleefully excessive, with Huppert herself noting the rarity of such an unusual role, calling it a "nice little parenthesis" in her extensive career.

The film's premiere at the Berlin Film Festival marks another chapter in Huppert's long relationship with the event. Her debut feature, "The Bar at the Crossing," screened there in 1971. Across her career, Huppert has had a dozen films, including "The Blood Countess," screen in Berlin.

Her past Berlin selections like "8 Women" showcased her comedic talent, while "Things to Come" presented a more understated, yet radical, performance. "The Nun" offered another comic turn, highlighting Huppert's versatility. These roles demonstrate her ability to oscillate between severity and excess.

"The Blood Countess" shares a co-writer, Elfriede Jelinek, with Michael Haneke's "The Piano Teacher." This connection, along with Huppert's extensive work in German theater, informs the film's stylized cruelty and heightened artificiality. The film also reunites Huppert with actor Lars Eidinger, with whom she has crossed paths in various European theater and film circles.

Huppert received a Golden Bear for lifetime achievement at the Berlinale in 2022. The festival has consistently recognized her unique ability to convey a wide range of emotions with subtle stillness, a quality mirrored in the city's own blend of cultural influences and artistic risk-taking.