Corsage

Corsage

A fictional account of one year in the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. On Christmas Eve 1877, Elisabeth, once idolized for her beauty, turns 40 and is officially deemed an old woman; she starts trying to maintain her public image.

  • Released: 2022-07-07
  • Runtime: 113 minutes
  • Genre: Drama, History
  • Stars: Vicky Krieps, Florian Teichtmeister, Katharina Lorenz, Jeanne Werner, Alma Hasun, Finnegan Oldfield, Manuel Rubey, Aaron Friesz, Tamás Lengyel, Ivana Urban, Alexander Pschill, Raphael Nicholas, Rosa Hajjaj, Lilly Marie Tschörtner, May Garzon, Norman Hacker, Marlene Hauser, Adrien Papritz, Oliver Rosskopf, Peter Faerber
  • Director: Marie Kreutzer
 Comments
  • Horst_In_Translation - 29 January 2024
    Elisabeth the Obscene
    "Corsage" is a film from 2022, so not totally new, but also far from old as we have 2024 now and the writer and director here is Austrian filmmaker Marie Kreutzer and the success of her work here catapulted her into the elite of her country's filmmakers for sure if she wasn't there already before. She was in her mid40s when this got made and according to imdb her first work is from slightly over 20 years earlier, so this was a bit of an anniversary for her too. The film was Austria's official submission to the Oscars, but came short, even if it did reach the shortlist of films from which the eventual five nominees were selected. As a consequence, the biggest success stays maybe the BAFTA nomination, especially as far fore films were eligible there and not just one per country. The film comes relatively close to the two-hour mark, so it is not a short watch by any means and there are four production countries listed and five languages spoken, but the two dominant ones are probably Austria, also due to Kreutzer, and the German language. The cast really includes quite a mix of people if you look at where they are from. I must admit though that with the exception of the lead actress, I was not too familiar with most of the performers here, maybe not familiar with any of them even. Said lead actress is Vicky Krieps from Luxembourg, who turned 40 last year and was still under 40 when this movie got shot. Same age approximately like her character here, but we will get to that a little later. For now, it can be said that Krieps' performance is seen by most people as the highlight of the movie, but I am not too sure about that. Admittedly, this has to do with personal preference and perception, but I just don't see a lot of range in her or a great amount of different facial expressions. Clearly the Cannes Film Festival and European Film Awards thought differently. Still, as of now, Krieps is probably mostly remembered for playing the female co-lead in what was probably the last movie from the legendary Daniel Day-Lewis's career and playing such a big role in a Paul Thomas Anderson film is not too shabby either.

    But today we talk about this one here: The title character is of course Austrian princess Sissi (Elisabeth) who appeared in three really well-known films from the early 1960s I think too and there was played by the really young Rome Schneider. The idea there was pretty much the same, namely that Sissi cannot deal with the duties and conventions that came with her influential position. Or is it really influential or merely representative? In any case, the Sissi we got here in this modern film also cannot deal with those, but she does not even seem to be trying. Everything else is far different. It is much rougher and way obscener wherever you look. We hot Sissi swearing here, providing sexual favors that were considered absolute no-gos in films back then, we have her smoke, we have her take heroin (although the effects were clearly now known back then), we have her cheat (of course), we have her masturbate in the bathtub and so on. There's surely more stuff I forgot about, but you will recognize it when you see it. In general, this film leads us as far away from the idea of an innocent, dreamy Sissi as it gets. There also the inclusion of Krieps as lead actress makes sense. She is not a natural beauty and the only thing she has in common with Schneider's empress are the opulent dresses. Admittedly this film is also from a very different era of Sissi's life. She is around the age of 40 here and very disillusioned by now. Nonetheless, there are moments when her deep affection comes through, even if it concerns animals, horses, or when her ambitions are still highly obvious. She does not want to be a strong puppet either. She does not want people to let her win in whatever they do or compete against. She keeps saying that she still would have won and is better and superior on several occasions.

    Nonetheless the film went over the top here and there that I was wondering if it maybe would have been a better idea if the movie had just been about a fictional princess and not an actual character, even if with somebody who lived so many centuries ago, there is already by definition a great deal of fictionalization. The ending makes it most obvious. We have Sissi on a big ship and she jumps into the water in a way where we can say that it was suicide as she is so far down there compared to the ceiling that it might have been impossible for anybody to get her back up on the ship. This is also a key difference to the actual Sissi because she lived for another 20 years and died from the effects of what you can probably call an assassination attempt from which she suffered a deep cut. I did not know that either after reading back yesterday. If we go back to the film, it also seems obvious that it was her plan to die there with how she makes sure some things are dealt with like how she found a new girl for her man already, which makes me think that she was absolutely not jealous and maybe did not love Franz Ferdinand, even if she clearly liked him. Just not as a lover perhaps. Oh yeah, I can add her pacifist tendencies that play a big role in the old films were also included here once or twice. But if we go back to the suicide tendency, the depiction of water plays a vital role there too. Just take the scene in which she tries to hold her breath underwater for as long as she can very early on. Maybe risks her health there too. So H2O was definitely a recurring inclusion here.

    Another one was the concept of her lying next to people and in a way blessing them even by showing she is on their level, maybe listening to the or just having a connection for a short moment by simply being there. Of course, this is something that is maybe also certain people are not too happy about. But it fits nicely with Krieps' character visiting these women who are in cages because they lost their minds and in a way she feels connected with them, maybe because of the cage, maybe even because her mind is also not where it should be. This is open for discussion. Same applies to Krieps' performance. I just did not see the greatness as I stated earlier, but it was probably the full-nude scene that helped her there too with the awards recognition. I would not say it should have an impact and same is true about her reaction in the scene when Franz Ferdinand maybe comes too quickly or is just not the right person to satisfy her, but let's keep it children-friendly again, so same also applies to the chocolate scene. So I would say that the best thing about the film are maybe the costumes and sets that looked very competent. The money was there to make an impact. Or maybe the best thing is also the music. The applies to the instrumental inclusions, but also the two songs that you hear during the movie. The tune from the trailer is included on several occasions and I liked it, but the song that comes during or closely before the closing credits with this spectacular moment when Sissi jumps into the water was even better from my perspective. Definitely had to check for the name of the song and performer(s) there right away. This is pretty much it. I guess you can say that it is a competent film overall and there are not many flaws to it. The supporting actors all do a fine job with what they were given. Mostly it is not too much material to make an impact. I am curious anyway what kind of career Rosa Hajjaj will be having. She played Sissi's young daughter Valerie here, who was also ailing already, not getting enough fresh air and clearly Sissi does not want her to become the way she herself turned out. Or had to turn out.

    As a whole, I also struggled with the film because it did not have any great moments (just like it had no terrible moments) and I was not really emotionally involved either. I am definitely curious what it would have looked like with a different actress in the lead. We'll never know. I am generally not a big fan of such comments that one film is rather for males than females or the other way around, but perhaps it is true with this one and an easier watch for women. I do think, however, that at least ten minutes could have been cut easily and it does drag a little bit. As a consequence, it is a very close call for me if I should give the outcome here a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, but let's be generous now and say it is a positive recommendation. Seeing the movie once is surely enough though and I personally hope that the existence of the film does not mean that it will take another ten years or even longer until another high-profile Sissi film gets made. The title is alright, but not great either, so in a way this film in a nutshell, and is of course another reference towards Elisabeth not really having any space and chance to breath because of her obligations. This is also really emphasized in the trailer of the movie already. Watching this is maybe a better idea for fans of Krieps than it is for fans of period pieces dealing with royalty because, with the exception of the looks, the film offers very little in that department. The moment Sissi calls her crown some kind of metal was very telling. As we are getting close to the end, let me say that I give the outcome overall here then a very cautious positive recommendation and I need to mention Florian Teichtmeister good performance and also his great mustache. Need to check out more films from the man and let me say that censorship is no justified reaction to wrong decisions in real life. Now that is really it.
  • grinningelvis - 9 March 2023
    Lots borrowed, none of it good
    It's difficult to recommend a film that leans so heavily on the language of better films and flat-out steals oddities that were questionable in the films they were lifted from. "Corsage" leans heavily on the unaffected performance by Vicky Krieps and seems to be content with the actress putting the whole mess on her shoulders. It's not so much that the historical inaccuracies are annoying or distracting, just that they feel awkward and quaint, and the trick doesn't work more than once. What you're left with is a guessing game as to why the director made the choices she did rather than focusing on the humanity of the rapidly disintegrating Elisabeth. Our "everywoman" just happens to be interesting only in her limitations, making her essentially one-dimensional and bland. That's a problem that "Corsage" can't overcome. There are very few secondary characters of note and none of substance. Instead, we get a mishmash of period-piece touchstones and an episodic checklist to document the standard plot movement. What is memorable is the film's insistence on flaunting it's disinterest in historical accuracy, or even a vague respect for the real people portrayed here. It's not spoiling too much to say that Kris Kristopherson songs don't typically land in 1870's Austria any better than New Order said "let them eat cake." "Corsage" is often funny and Krieps is just fine, but in the end, you won't remember anything but the film's eccentricities and the bizarre notion that women need to be abused to be understood.
  • boblipton - 15 January 2023
    Annoying Movie
    Empress Elizabeth of Austria-Hungary (Vicky Krieps) blows out all the candles on her 40th birthday cake in 1878, and everyone tells her how young she looks. She doesn't feel young. At a time when half her female subjects wouldn't make it to her age, when she eats so little a wren would starve, and the maids are too weak to cinch her corset tight enough, she's grown bored with the court, bored with the pretty clothes. She takes frequent trips out of the country, like her journey to Britain, where she founders her favorite horse and Louis LePrince (Finnegan Oldfield) makes motion pictures using his new technology of a roll of film. She's had enough. So she takes the cross-Channel ferry back home...

    Marie Kreutzer's film is an absolute mess of contradictions, full of deliberate anachronisms in technology and music, and ultimately offering a wide-ranging and contradictory series of conclusions. No, this is not the Empress Elizabeth portrayed by Romy Scheider in the Sissi trilogy. Yet once you've gotten past that point, what has this movie got to say, and whom is it saying it to? It's awful being a 40-year-old woman in 19th century Austria, even if you are the Empress? Ok. Is she mad, and can't get proper mental help? Ok. Is she deserving of our sympathy? A definite no to that, since she verbally abuses the servants, and as to what she does to Jeanne Werner....

    So what is the point of a movie like this, other than to shoot in some beautiful settings, and get good performances out of fine actors? Is it to serve as a corrective to Ernst Marischka's spun-sugar take on the Empress? That came out seventy years ago. If the purpose is to tell a more truthful story, then why the insistence of untruthful details, like a harpist playing "Help Me Make It Through The Night"? Surely anyone interested enough in the life of a woman who was assassinated in 1898 would be as put off by the deliberately wrong details as I am.

    I suppose the answer is that this movie was not made for me. It's true enough, but film is not an artistic medium in which the creators seek out a patron who will pay for everything. A film needs a mass audience, and that audience has to talk it up. For that last purpose, include me out.
  • vanlorryjf - 30 December 2022
    a dissapointing effort
    I was so looking forward to seeing this take on Sissi.

    Not something that I would watch again, a one trick pony.

    Vicky Krieps is a wonderful actor, her previous work attests to this and she works with the material well, passionate and believable. The rest of the cast are just great and hats off to them for being the bright points in this story.

    The sets were good and the dressing was really cool it was well done cinematography with some pretty scenes, grim scenes and a good characterisation of the times.

    I'm sure the Empress had some tough times but this is relentless in misery, it could have been writ by some certain Duchess? Very few light bits to make the screenplay move and the monikers used were wildly predictable. I get the impression that the people behind this pony have little experience of the human condition and are more interested in their own aims than the complexity and contradictions of dealing with adversity.

    It's good that another 4 productions have been made this year, this may come out as number 5 due to its narrow obsessions.
  • wgingery - 20 December 2022
    PREACHY, ANNOYING
    Imagine a period film made by Greta Thunberg. 'It's dreary. Eat your spinach, it's good for you.'

    That's 'Corsage.'

    Vienna, 1878. At yet another interminable palace banquet, Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Vicky Krieps) suddenly realizes that, frankly, she no longer gives a damn. Glaring across the table at her husband, Emperor Franz Joseph, who is in close conversation with the Hungarian statesman Gyula Andrássy, Elisabeth sparks up a gold-tipped cigarette and murmurs, "I simply wish that I was allowed to talk as well." Then, in a clear breach of imperial protocol, she abruptly stands and sweeps out of the dining room, flipping the bird at the assembled guests and silencing the tinkling small talk once and for all. It's a revealing moment in the film.

    I'm with you, Empress. You perfectly captured my response to this film.

    'Punky, subversive, the film shows a woman who, despite the power attached to her title, has very little actual control. And it shows the lengths to which Elisabeth must go to exert some agency in a world dominated by powerful men.....( yawn)...

    Just a second! Netflix is showing a series called 'The Empress' which covers exactly the same period and exactly the same people. And the funny thing is, THEY say that, actually, WOMEN made all the important decisions.

    Hmmm...What about Empress Maria-Theresa of Austria and Catherine the Great of Russia? 'Corsage' is saying that they didn't have any agency and were dominated by powerful men?

    OK, who's right? Which film is 'real'? Both? Neither?

    And it's at this point we reengage our sense of disbelief and go outside the film.

    And that's the problem - the radical ideological obsession underpinning the film-making choices - a feminist project reclaiming Elisabeth in an attempt to subvert the patriarchy. It suffocates the film.

    It is simply not entertaining. It's merely annoying. We can note the luxurious sets and costumes, for example, but, like her, not enjoy them, because they are symbols of our - her - 'prison.'

    So we're supposed to feel sorry for her: she's past 40, losing her beauty, no longer valued or important, A victim. Cue the pity party - for her and by extension for all women. Oh, the cruelty of men!

    Don't waste your sympathy. The truth is that Sisi signed up for it, and now, having spent the bennies, doesn't want to accept the consequences. She wants to call off the deal.

    This is how it is with 'Beauty Power." Feminists never talk about it, because it exposes the lie in 'men have all the power.' but women have always understood how to exploit men's fascination with female beauty. (To be fair, men use it, too, but not as extensively.)

    The problem with this form of power, however, is that it is by its nature fleeting - not sustainable, in today's parlance.

    Maybe Greta had some input, after all....
  • Blue-Grotto - 28 October 2022
    Everyone doesn't love us in the way we want to be loved.
    It is birthday number 40 for Empress Elisabeth "Sissi" of the Austro-Hungarian empire and many people are predicting her downfall, including herself. Idolized from the age of 16 when she became Empress, Sissi rebels at the notion of following conventions, meeting expectations, and bowing to the opinion of the masses. "A lion doesn't lose sleep" she says, "over the opinion of sheep." Sissi is mischievous, wily, willful, and passionate. She embraces ephemeral moments that provide pleasure; riding horses at night, friends with benefits, and swimming nude in mountain lakes in the darkness. Her family reluctantly tolerates her, and that makes her uncomfortable and depressed. "If you allow yourself to be swayed by gossip" she tells her son, "you are not worthy to be emperor." She wishes her relatives were as bold as herself and loved her for who she is.

    Once you see Vicky Krieps in person you realize that she is perfect for the role of Sissi. Krieps was present, along with the director, at this North American premiere screening at the Toronto International Film Festival. Sitting a few feet from Krieps I observed the playful look in her eyes, how she sat on the theater railing instead of standing as people normally do, her spritely grin, and the spirited and good-humored way she answered questions. Krieps was open-hearted, lively, talkative, and bold, just like Sissi. Don't take my word for her abilities though, she tied for the "best performance" at the Cannes film festival. Krieps learned Hungarian for the role and swims in the Danube River in winter. She said that for women "there is an obligation and pressure to please even though we are free to do as we please." This pressure hasn't lessoned, she noted, despite the 150 years that passed since Sissi's time.

    Corsage is so captivating because Sissi is a fascinating and real character, Krieps is so good at playing her, and it is an atypical film. Even the ending credits are a delight to watch and are distinctly Sissian and Kriepsian. Director Marie Kreutzer said that Sissi's playfulness and acts of rebellion made her a compelling character. Instead of portraying the entire life story of Sissi, Kreutzer opts to focus on her at 40 years old. It is a delight to see the story of this amazing and beguiling woman revealed on screen.