The Games of Countess Dolingen

The Games of Countess Dolingen

106 mins | Drama | Sept. 1, 1981

In this eerie, atmospheric tale, a young woman is on a train when she sees some people she thinks she knows from her childhood. On arriving home, her husband tells her that a certain countess has died. At that point, the film cuts to a scene of the countess singing in a mausoleum while the visual image of the graveyard's many tombstones passes before one's eyes. Back home, the husband -- also a "father-figure" -- is looking over his collection of wooden angels. Some time elapses, and he surreptitiously sees a thief come down through the chimney, steal some things, and then leave. To combat any recurrence, he builds an iron, escape-proof cage around the fireplace, and then goes away on a trip. When he comes back, he finds the thief dead in the cage. Thus far, the camera has only shown the husband in profile or from the back. Then there is another story about a young girl, with a spiteful, nasty mother, who is trying to cope with her own attraction to a man.

The Games of Countess Dolingen

106 mins | Drama | Sept. 1, 1981

The Games of Countess Dolingen
In this eerie, atmospheric tale, a young woman is on a train when she sees some people she thinks she knows from her childhood. On arriving home, her husband tells her that a certain countess has died. At that point, the film cuts to a scene of the countess singing in a mausoleum while the visual image of the graveyard's many tombstones passes before one's eyes. Back home, the husband -- also a "father-figure" -- is looking over his collection of wooden angels. Some time elapses, and he surreptitiously sees a thief come down through the chimney, steal some things, and then leave. To combat any recurrence, he builds an iron, escape-proof cage around the fireplace, and then goes away on a trip. When he comes back, he finds the thief dead in the cage. Thus far, the camera has only shown the husband in profile or from the back. Then there is another story about a young girl, with a spiteful, nasty mother, who is trying to cope with her own attraction to a man.
IMDb rating 6.2
Producers Prospectacle, Les Films du Nautile
Original title Les Jeux de la Comtesse Dolingen de Gratz
Directors Catherine Binet
Writers Unica Zürn, Catherine Binet, Bram Stoker

Cast

Michael Lonsdale

as Bertrand Haines-Pearson

Carol Kane

as Louise Haines-Pearson

Katia Wastchenko

as La petite fille

Marina Vlady

as La mère de la petite fille

Emmanuelle Riva

as Une invitée

Roberto Plate

as Le voyageur / Le voleur / L'étranger

Marilú Marini

as La comtesse Dolingen de Gratz / La bonne

Robert Stephens

as Le professeur

Marucha Bo

as Nena

Antoine Binet

as Le frère

Raoul Escari

as Argentin 1

Tobie Schumer

as Argentin 2

Carine Toly

as La belle dame

Nathalie Goldnadel

as La fille pubère

François Mouren-Provensal

as L'homme sur la plage