Opium - Diary of a Madwoman
(Ópium - Egy elmebeteg nő naplója)
feature, 35mm, 108 minutes, 1:1.85
co-produced with:
Germany
PREMIER (HUNGARY): 2007.
Hungary 1913. The story of Josef Brenner, a writer and doctor, is a Faust story of our times. Brenner works as a doctor in a mental clinic in the early 20th century. He has been suffering from writer's block for months, unable to put down even a single line on paper and becoming a morphine addict in the process. One day he gets a new patient, the 28-year-old Gizella. The insane woman, by contrast, keeps writing all the time; she is addicted to her own diary and is unable to put her pen down. The young woman gets increasingly overwhelmed by the obsession that a cruel alien power has possessed her. Brenner becomes jealous of the woman, who creates fanatically and brilliantly. The initial doctor-patient relationship gradually transforms: doctor and patient fall in love with each other, and sexual frenzy gets the upper hand in their relation. To make everything come true he has been incapable of so far, Brenner wants to enter into a pact with Evil through the woman�s body. Evil, however, wants Brenner for himself body and soul. The doctor has to pay a big price for this alliance. In return, Gizella asks him to cut out her brain, deliver her from Evil, and
bring oblivion for her. Brenner has no choice. He must destroy Gizella: the one and only person he really loved.
Creators
János Szász | Director |
János Szász, András Szekér | Screenplay |
Tibor Máthé | Director of photography |
Anna Kornis | Editor |
István Sipos, Manuel Laval, Matthias Schwab | Sound |
Tibor Lázár | Visual design |
János Breckl | Costumes |
Pál Sándor, András Hámori | Producer |
Hunnia Film Studio | Production company |
EuroArts Filmed Entertainment / DE | Co-producer |
Ulrich Thomsen, Kirsti Stubo, Zsolt László, Enikő Börcsök, Gyöngyvér Bognár, Roland Rába, László Kassai, Zoltán Szőllősi, Géza Szöllősi, Ákos Horváth | Cast |
Awards
Moscow International Film Festival - 2007 | Kirsti Stubo - Best Actress |
Budapest Hungarian Film Week - 2007 | János Szász - Best Director |
Porto FANTASPORTO - 2008 | Best Feature Film's Manoel de Oliveira Award |
Budapest Hungarian Film Week - 2007 | Tibor Máthé - Best Cinematography |
Budapest Hungarian Film Week - 2007 | István Sipos - Best Sound |
Budapest Hungarian Film Week - 2007 | Gene Moskowitz Prize |
Porto FANTASPORTO - 2008 | Kirsti Stubo - Best Actress |
Festivals
Wroclaw New Horizons IFF - 2011 | |
Palic International Film Festival - 2007 | (in competition) |
Seattle International Film Festival - 2008 | |
Chicago International Film Festival - 2007 | (in competition) |
Montreal The World Film Festival - 2007 | |
Seville Film Festival - 2007 | (in competition) |
Madrid International Film Festival - 2008 | |
Ourense International Independent Film Festival - 2008 | (in competition) |
Bratislava International Film Festival - 2007 | |
Calcutta International Film Festival - 2007 | |
Copenhagen CPH:PIX - 2007 | |
London Film Festival - 2007 | |
Wroclaw New Horizons IFF - 2008 | |
Bydgoszcz Camerimage - 2007 | |
Sofia International Film Festival - 2008 | |
Vukovar Film Festival - 2008 | (in competition) |
Vlissingen Film by the Sea - 2007 | (in competition) |
Munich Film Festival - 2007 | |
Cluj-Napoca Transilvania - 2008 | |
Segovia MUCES - 2007 | |
Haifa International Film Festival - 2007 | |
Targu-Mures AlterNative - 2007 | |
Cottbus FilmFestival - 2007 | (in competition) |
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