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
- eskimgi - 6 January 2023
Not feminist
I was confused about what this film wished to achieve. Did it want to depict a rebellious woman? Or a spoiled one? I think the former, going by the reviews, which is worrying...
Through tropes (e.g. The sad face of a woman laying with her undesirable husband, Sisi taking opium) we know she is unhappy. We hear a lot about how terrible her husband is - but see little of it - he lets Sisi do whatever she wants. She reminds me of my psychologically abusive mother: she leaves when people ask her to have a conversation or give her feedback. She sticks her tongue out when people are trying to help her - a sign she has not gained emotional maturity. The film also glorifies the romantic suicide.
Of course, you can feel for a woman who all her life has been valued for her beauty and now finds herself ageing, but I'm not sure this is the take we needed.
Aside from these thoughts, it just wasn't very engaging or insightful. A lot of the dialogue felt stiff or silly, e.g. The reference to air conditioners. There were long takes, typical to these films that try to appeal to Cannes, without reason. Sometimes such takes allow you to digest a scene or feel semantically charged. These didn't. Many scenes existed for no reason at all, or their inclusion felt contrived, for example the footage of the empress with no audio. It's almost like the writer/director saw this footage and thought: 'What did Sisi say? What would Sisi say if we gave her a voice.' The answer, based on this film: not a lot.
