Film Review: Corsage (2022) Dir. Marie Kreutzer
Courtesy of Robert M. Brandstaetter. An IFC Films Release.
Written by Belle McIntyre
Empress Elisabeth of Austria is surely a fascinating and tragic figure of operatic proportions. Very loosely fact-based, this intimate portrait of Elisabeth, as portrayed by the increasingly impressive Vicky Krieps, as a sensitive, educated, intellectually curious and vivacious young bride to the emperor Franz Joseph, an uptight, chilly, humorless and insecure monarch. He is dominated by his mother, who barely disguises her disaffection for Elisabeth and is constantly criticizing her to her son and grandchildren. This is not a happy situation.
Elisabeth is discouraged by the royal family from all of the activities which give her pleasure. When Franz Joseph gives her a beautiful horse which she loves to ride bareback, she is rebuked. Although she is obviously intelligent, well-read and well-informed, she is kept away from all matters of state and told that her only job is to represent the monarchy, by looking and behaving perfectly in public. To that end, she spends her days rigorously exercising, fencing and eating like an anorexic, in order to keep her waist as wasp-like as possible.
Courtesy of Felix Vratny. An IFC Films Release.
Hence the irony in the name of the film becomes clear. It does not have the more contemporary meaning of a small floral bouquet meant to be worn on the bodice. Rather, it is the name of the corset, so popular with stylish women of the mid-19th century, when the trend in miniscule waists often resulted in fainting. Corsets of that period were heavily boned with many tight laces. Here, the metaphor of the corsage is restraint, and it seems to be Elisabeth’s only source of attention from the Austro-Hungarian nobility.
But lest this sound like a typical period costume drama with a doomed heroine, thanks to unexpected directorial insertions of playful contemporary details, music and language, it is more nuanced and slyly humorous. While it does not cover any new territory about patriarchal misogyny, or the trials and tribulations of a privileged public life, the real enjoyment is in watching Krieps as she registers the constant assaults on her independence. Her subtlest of facial movements can speak volumes. Her small gestures of dissent are touching in their pointlessness. She is moving into the Tilda Swinton pantheon of actresses who have nailed the art of playing complex mysterious characters suffering from unidentifiable malaises and following inner voices. Employing a bare minimum of stagecraft they both manage to mold stillness into something solid and powerful.
The production is lavish and beautiful with ravishing cinematography, gorgeous locations, a quirky mix of period costumes and contemporary punk-ish surprises. It is a visual delight. I must add a word of caution: do not expect to impress any European history buffs with your detailed knowledge of Empress Elisabeth’s life. Much creative license has been taken – some minor and some major – like the facts of her death and the extent of her own agency. Bicker not. It is all for the good in this etude to Elisabeth.
Courtesy of Film AG. An IFC Films Release
