Die Csikosbaroneß: Grainy horses and weirdly huge hats

Is it worth the watch?

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from a movie with a title I can barely pronounce. But Die Csikosbaroneß is actually pretty fun if you are in the right mood.

If you like those dusty 1930s European movies where everyone is either a count or a peasant, you will dig it. If you hate slow, scratchy black and white films, you should probably just skip this one.

The movie starts out in the Hungarian plains. You get these wide shots of horses running around that look better than some modern CGI. It has that grainy, flickery look that makes you feel like you are looking through a real time machine.

Maria Mindzenty plays the lead. She spends half the movie looking like she is about to sneeze. Her eyes are just huge and she stares at everything like it is the first time she has seen it.

There is this one part where she is talking to Paul Vincenti. The lighting is just... weirdly bright on his forehead. It is very distracting.

If you have seen Michael, you know how these old European dramas can get. This one is not as heavy, though. It is much lighter. Like a pastry that is mostly air.

I noticed the the extras in the background of the tavern scene are barely moving. One guy is just holding a mug to his face for like thirty seconds without actually drinking. Maybe the beer was fake or he just forgot his lines?

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Die Csikosbaroneß (1930) through its definitive frames.

The plot is a bit of a mess. People keep showing up and then leaving for no real reason. It reminds me a bit of the frantic energy in Die blaue Maus.

Wait, I have to talk about the hats. The hats in this movie are incredible. They are gigantic and probably very heavy for the poor actresses.

I don't know how they kept their necks straight while walking. It looks like a workout.

There is a scene where a guy falls off a horse and you can tell it actually hurt. It was not a smooth stuntman move. He just... tumbled. It felt very real in a movie that usually feels very stagey.

The ending comes out of nowhere. It just sort of stops. Like they ran out of film or the director had a bus to catch.

Random stuff I noticed:

• The mustaches look like they might fall off if someone sneezes.
• The horsemen are actually really good riders.
• One reaction shot of Julius Falkenstein lasts way too long.
• The sound quality is a bit like listening to a ghost in a tin can.

It is a weird little relic. It is not perfect, but it has a certain charm that you don't see anymore.

If you have nothing to do on a rainy Tuesday, give it a go. Just don't expect it to make total sense.