2022 ( Austria | Luxembourg | Germany | France ) ( Biography, Drama, History )
(German, French, English, Hungarian, Italian with English Subtitles)
Starring: Vicky Krieps, Colin Morgan, Finnegan Oldfield
Director: Marie Kreutzer
Empress Elizabeth of Austria is idolized for her beauty and renowned for inspiring fashion trends. The story is set in 1877, when Elisabeth is turning 40, no longer the popular beauty she once was. Her palaces, stables and grounds have become a prison. Marie Kreutzer’s film presents its heroine as an independent-minded woman in an era that is not yet on the cusp of modernity, signalling that paradox with a soundtrack of pop songs. Such bold moves give Corsage a bracing energy as it captures the inner struggles of a woman trying to escape the confines of social expectations and of time itself. The story departs from the facts most radically in creating a new final act for Elisabeth, one that is not necessarily happier but is true to her wilful nature and to this audacious film’s savvy sense of invention.
Corsage‘s remarkably down-to-earth approach to such a larger-than-life figure gives the film feel incredibly modern feel, despite taking place nearly 150 years ago. Kreutzer’s script is as remarkably funny as it is poignant, and in conjunction with Vicky Kriep’s spirited performance, the two craft a witty, ruminative, melancholy portrait of an extraordinary ruler.
(1hr 54min)