December 23, 2022
FILM: CORSAGE
DIRECTED BY MARIE KREUTZER
STARRING: VICKY KRIEPS, COLIN MORGAN, FINNEGAN OLDFIELD
RATING: 3 STARS (Out of 4)
By Dan Pal
There have been a few films in recent years about women struggling to come into their own in the 18th and 19th Centuries (Ammonite, Portrait of a Lady on Fire.) There is a familiar tone and theme to these films which is typically dark, austere, cold, and unwelcoming to women who view life in ways that are different from the world and time in which they live. We can now add Corsage to that list. Written and directed by Marie Kruetzer, the film is a fictional account of the Empress Elisabeth “Sissi” of Austria and takes place as she turns 40 in 1877.
When we first meet her, the Empress is concerned about her weight and is seemingly at odds with her public persona, going so far as to fake a fainting in public. Similarly, her husband, the Emperor Franz Joseph, wears a fake beard and privately deals with a bit of sexual impotence. Both characters suggest a monarchy that must keep up appearances while beginning to crumble in its significance. Elisabeth is something of a free spirit. She rides horses, learns fencing, smokes, and swims in the nude. She also develops a relationship with her riding instructor which keeps her giggling, vibrant, and sexually active.
The cracks in the foundation of the palace in which she lives symbolize the fracturing nature of this world. Early in the film she visits a psychiatric sanitarium which is filled with women who “need to rest.” Some are even caged in their beds. These patients reflect part of what the Empress is feeling herself: being lost and sewn up in a world that doesn’t encourage her to be who she really is. It’s safe to say that she is depicted as yet another woman born in the wrong century. There are so many ways she could have expressed her true self if she had lived a century later. Interestingly, Kruetzer chooses songs to be sung from the 1960s (Kris Kristofferson’s Help Me Make It Through the Night, and the Rolling Stones’ As Tears Go By) to reflect the sadness and future liberation for women like Elisabeth. I believe they were purposely chosen to also suggest that the struggle women have faced has been universal for centuries and not just limited to “kept” women in a monarchy.
All of this being said, the film itself is a rather slow, plodding experience that isn’t exactly a joyous, comedic, romp, such as was the case with Tony McNamara’s series The Great starring Elle Fanning as a Russian Empress or even Yorgos Lanthimos’ Oscar-winning The Favourite. The film feels just as cold and unpleasant as Elisabeth’s world. Yet there are various moments when we can enjoy a chuckle as she gives the finger to a group of dull dinner guests or when she frolics on camera when introduced to moving pictures in its infant stages.
It is the universal message of the film (think about the recent protests of the treatment of women in Iran) and the performance of Vicky Krieps as Elisabeth that makes this a somewhat recommended film to those who appreciate such portraits and that can handle the film’s pacing. There’s not a wasted scene here. Each one reveals something about the Empress and her slow emergence and decline as a woman trying to find herself in a very tightly controlled world.
Krieps has been noteworthy for her work in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread and 2021’s Bergman Island. What really stands out about her performance here is her very subtle and yet expressive face. Right from the beginning we see the dissatisfaction in Elisabeth as she glares at the people around her. Krieps also makes her come alive when she is in private and at her most fulfilling moments. She’s fascinating to watch.
Overall, Corsage is an interesting take on a major Austrian historical figure that suggests there is a lot more to relate to in women who were once corsaged and decorated than what meets the eye.
Corsage is now playing in limited release, including the Gene Siskel Center in Chicago. It is one of 15 films vying for an Oscar nomination for Best International Feature next month.
FILM: CORSAGE
DIRECTED BY MARIE KREUTZER
STARRING: VICKY KRIEPS, COLIN MORGAN, FINNEGAN OLDFIELD
RATING: 3 STARS (Out of 4)
By Dan Pal
There have been a few films in recent years about women struggling to come into their own in the 18th and 19th Centuries (Ammonite, Portrait of a Lady on Fire.) There is a familiar tone and theme to these films which is typically dark, austere, cold, and unwelcoming to women who view life in ways that are different from the world and time in which they live. We can now add Corsage to that list. Written and directed by Marie Kruetzer, the film is a fictional account of the Empress Elisabeth “Sissi” of Austria and takes place as she turns 40 in 1877.
When we first meet her, the Empress is concerned about her weight and is seemingly at odds with her public persona, going so far as to fake a fainting in public. Similarly, her husband, the Emperor Franz Joseph, wears a fake beard and privately deals with a bit of sexual impotence. Both characters suggest a monarchy that must keep up appearances while beginning to crumble in its significance. Elisabeth is something of a free spirit. She rides horses, learns fencing, smokes, and swims in the nude. She also develops a relationship with her riding instructor which keeps her giggling, vibrant, and sexually active.
The cracks in the foundation of the palace in which she lives symbolize the fracturing nature of this world. Early in the film she visits a psychiatric sanitarium which is filled with women who “need to rest.” Some are even caged in their beds. These patients reflect part of what the Empress is feeling herself: being lost and sewn up in a world that doesn’t encourage her to be who she really is. It’s safe to say that she is depicted as yet another woman born in the wrong century. There are so many ways she could have expressed her true self if she had lived a century later. Interestingly, Kruetzer chooses songs to be sung from the 1960s (Kris Kristofferson’s Help Me Make It Through the Night, and the Rolling Stones’ As Tears Go By) to reflect the sadness and future liberation for women like Elisabeth. I believe they were purposely chosen to also suggest that the struggle women have faced has been universal for centuries and not just limited to “kept” women in a monarchy.
All of this being said, the film itself is a rather slow, plodding experience that isn’t exactly a joyous, comedic, romp, such as was the case with Tony McNamara’s series The Great starring Elle Fanning as a Russian Empress or even Yorgos Lanthimos’ Oscar-winning The Favourite. The film feels just as cold and unpleasant as Elisabeth’s world. Yet there are various moments when we can enjoy a chuckle as she gives the finger to a group of dull dinner guests or when she frolics on camera when introduced to moving pictures in its infant stages.
It is the universal message of the film (think about the recent protests of the treatment of women in Iran) and the performance of Vicky Krieps as Elisabeth that makes this a somewhat recommended film to those who appreciate such portraits and that can handle the film’s pacing. There’s not a wasted scene here. Each one reveals something about the Empress and her slow emergence and decline as a woman trying to find herself in a very tightly controlled world.
Krieps has been noteworthy for her work in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread and 2021’s Bergman Island. What really stands out about her performance here is her very subtle and yet expressive face. Right from the beginning we see the dissatisfaction in Elisabeth as she glares at the people around her. Krieps also makes her come alive when she is in private and at her most fulfilling moments. She’s fascinating to watch.
Overall, Corsage is an interesting take on a major Austrian historical figure that suggests there is a lot more to relate to in women who were once corsaged and decorated than what meets the eye.
Corsage is now playing in limited release, including the Gene Siskel Center in Chicago. It is one of 15 films vying for an Oscar nomination for Best International Feature next month.