Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Vicky Krieps) is getting dressed. As a result of she is a Nineteenth-century empress, meaning being dressed by attendants, however the one she needs is just not there. With their hair in tight buns and white aprons tied with huge bows, the maids pull Elisabeth’s corset strings as tightly as they’ll, writing down the day’s waist measurement. However Elisabeth tells them to name for Lotti, the one maid who can pull these strings a bit of bit tighter. The title of the movie is “Corsage,” not as within the flowers pinned to the bodices of promenade attendees and moms of brides however as within the German phrase for a corset, the stiff Nineteenth-century undergarment, usually fortified with bones, laced to constrict a girl’s physique in order that it could conform to an idealized hourglass form with a tiny waist. The sumptuous settings, elegiac tone, and Krieps’ layered efficiency convey us into the world of this lady caught between the expectations of her tradition and her personal needs.
The actual-life Elisabeth married Emperor Franz Joseph I in 1854, when she was 16, making her Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary. She has been portrayed in opera, ballet, a Nineteen Fifties Austrian movie trilogy, and a Netflix sequence referred to as “The Empress.” The tragic murder-suicide of her son, the inheritor to the throne, and the lady he liked however was not allowed to marry was the topic of the 1968 film “Mayerling.” A famous magnificence, her look was her major concern. At this time she is perhaps recognized as anorexic or bulimic. She weighed herself as usually as 3 times a day and severely restricted what she ate, usually fasting for days.
On this unabashedly fictionalized model, the corsage/corset serves as a metaphor symbolizing the constrictions of a lifetime of privilege however no energy. Inside her small sphere, she will be able to make calls for of her ladies-in-waiting. However outdoors of her rooms, she is constantly being advised what to do by her husband and her son. Time and again, we see her testing restrictions throughout the limits of her state of affairs. She is advised she should make an look at a proper occasion, the emperor pointedly noting that she has been criticized for not spending sufficient time in Hungary. She arrives, however then she faints. Whereas anybody whose corset is laced so tightly it’s troublesome to breathe may faint from lack of oxygen, she is aware of how one can pretend a swoon.
Elisabeth has solely restricted management over her actions and relationships. However she is most involved in regards to the helplessness all of us face: time and getting old. “At 40, an individual begins to disperse and fade” if all that means comes from how she is perceived. Politics and threats on all sides certain the ability of an empress. However the energy of magnificence is much less delicate and fewer complicated for the transient time it’s there. That’s one thing any actress understands, which can be why Krieps is just not solely the star however the producer of this movie.
Like Sofia Coppola’s “Marie Antoinette,” this movie incorporates modern songs and fantasy trend to supply context for a reimagining of the lifetime of a historic determine who will be seen as an exemplar of what at present we would name a wrestle towards the patriarchy. The refrain of one of many songs may very well be what’s thrumming in her thoughts: “Go, go, go, go.” It’s not solely the corset that makes it troublesome for Elisabeth to breathe, and even her sense that point has eroded her most important energy supply. When magnificence is gone, a girl can lose greater than energy; she will be able to all however disappear. Elisabeth flirts with males who could also be drawn to her or could also be drawn to her rank. However she is just not interested by an affair; she solely needs to show that she will be able to nonetheless be seen as fascinating. She visits psychological sufferers, bringing ineffective candied violets.
At one level on this movie, Elisabeth poses for a portrait, bringing collectively all of her conflicts about eager to be seen however being seen as she was, not as she is. No, extra like eager to be as she was. We see a glimpse of the long run when she talks in regards to the distinction between work and pictures, although she says that pictures aren’t as goal as they’re imagined to be.
After all, that’s true of flicks as nicely. Author/director Marie Kreutzer makes no pretense of objectivity or constancy to historical past. Quite the opposite, she makes use of this movie to offer Elisabeth extra company than she had in life, even a dream of escape. We want it for her as a lot as she needs it for herself.