A One Mann’s Movies review of “Corsage” (2022).
The history of central Europe in the 19th century is utterly tortuous and I’ve never got to grips with it. In “Corsage” we get pitched into a fictionalised account of a year in the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, wife of Emporor Franz Josef 1 and ruler of the Austro-Hungarian empire.
The film is primarily in German, with English subtitles.
Bob the Movie Man Rating(s):
Plot Summary:
Empress Elisabeth of Austria is feeling trapped within the constricting environment of the court of Habsburg. Feeling like a spare wheel, without purpose, she is obsessed with her weight, figure and the approach of her 40th birthday, this being the average life expectancy of females for the time. Her behaviour starts to become more and more erratic.
Certification:
UK: 15; US: NR (but will be R). (From the BBFC: “Strong sex, nudity, suicide references”. I suggested that “strong sex” should be included in the BBFC classification for “Empire of Light“… but contrarily, here I didn’t find it as much. There is one scene of full female nudity, some masturbation to orgasm and one sex scene. But it’s all moderately tasteful. Note that there is also drug misuse, not included in the BBFC headline.)
Talent:
Starring: Vicky Krieps, Florian Teichtmeister, Aaron Friesz, Tamás Lengyel, Colin Morgan, Johanna Mahaffy.
Directed by: Marie Kreutzer.
Written by: Marie Kreutzer.
Twitter Handles: #CORSAGE.
“Corsage” Review:
Positives:
- Vicki Krieps (“Phantom Thread“, “Old“) delivers a barnstorming performance in the very demanding role of Empress Elisabeth.
- The title confused me until I realised that “corsage” is the German for “corset”, reflecting not just the excessive cord-yanking shown in the movie but also the constrained lifestyle of the Empress. This is actually quite clever.
- The script takes some sudden swerves that I didn’t see coming. A post fencing ‘exit’ is particularly shocking.
Negatives:
- For me, historical costume dramas like this need to follow one of two paths: they need to either stick firmly to their projected time period (e.g. “Emily“); or they need to ‘go the full Bridgerton’ and rock it up with modern music and attitudes. “Corsage” manages to stick a leg in each camp. It primarily stays ‘period’ but then drops in occasional modern music. The one that most heinously took me out of the period was the playing (twice) of the song “Let Me Make It Through The Night” (Kris Kristofferson, 1970). I also noticed a whole range of out-of-place production design (including modern full length glass doors immediately pre-title; electric tattoo machines (not invented until 1891); a modern exit sign in the end titles).
- The film features some of the characterisations of the Empress, but then is so highly fictionalised as to make you wonder why writer/director Marie Kreutzer didn’t just set it in some fictional kingdom of ‘Moldoravia’. The frustrating thing is that if you look at the real life story of the Empress (the wiki is here) it would all make an epic biopic in its own right! Her son Rudolf (played in the film by Aaron Friesz) died in an apparent murder/suicide with his young lover, and Elisabeth was assasinated (not until 1898!) by anarchist Luigi Lucheni, intent on killing any royal… not specifically her. There’s a great movie to be made about all this! But this isn’t it.
- I felt at times the film was trying to be too clever for its own good. There are some scenes where Elisabeth is standing with her head touching the ceiling. I think this was supposed to indicate how Elisabeth’s world was collapsing in on her, but the effect rather looked like she was just standing on a chair!
Summary Thoughts on “Corsage”
This was an entertaining watch without completely gripping me. The mix of negative vs positive comments above probably doesn’t reflect my overall enjoyment of the film.
Trailer for “Corsage”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7LpMtLRe2E .
That’s a very well-constructed review and argument. I saw “Corsage” yesterday in Sheffield (with 2 others) and did enjoy it (4/5 for me) despite the odd variations from reality which I started to live with (and I had no idea how factual it actually was). Beautifully shot, though like you the scene with the low ceiling just confused me.
Cheers
Thanks Martin. Appreciate the comment… please keep them coming! Glad I wasn’t the only one confused by the ceiling thing!