"Corsage" -- Movie Review

 

This week at Lincoln Center, I attended an advance screening of the new Austrian historical drama “Corsage”.

Synopsis

When Empress Elizabeth of Austria turns 40, can she find a way to maintain her youthful public image?

Story

In the Austria of 1877, Empress Elizabeth (Vicky Krieps) turns 40 on Christmas Eve of that year.  This is a traumatic event for her because in that day and age, she is wrongly perceived as old; given the fact that she has been considered a beauty and a trendsetter (particularly in terms of fashion), it comes as quite a blow that society suddenly no longer sees her as youthful.  As a result, she resorts to some rather drastic measures to maintain a youthful reputation and appearance.  For one thing, she’s just barely getting by on a starvation diet in order to keep her weight down.  Additionally, she has her attendants fasten her corset in such a way that it is unreasonably tight so as to appear thin. 

To make matters even worse, her husband the Emperor is paying her less and less attention.  Part of the reason for this because his attention has been focused on an ongoing military conflict with Bosnia.  Another reason is that he sees his wife’s public behavior as being somewhat erratic; with the viability of the empire foremost in his mind, he has been increasingly distancing himself from her over time.  The Empress is painfully aware of this and winds up seeking male companionship outside her marriage – even traveling abroad to do so.  Rumors about her infidelity circulate quickly, causing both the Emperor and their daughter great embarrassment. 

Eventually, things become too unbearable for the Empress; she begins to self-medicate and stops making public appearances.  She becomes increasingly secluded, only interacting with her servants and most trusted aids.  Ultimately, when her attempts at affairs don’t work out the way she had planned, she sees her life as empty and without value or pleasure.  The activities she used to enjoy become meaningless to her now.  With her reputation as a world traveler still intact, she decides to go on a cruise with her aids in the hope that time away from her quotidian life will somehow reinvigorate her.  But will she find the peace of mind she so desperately seeks? 

Review

Overall, “Corsage” is a rather underwhelming experience, despite its daring attempts to flip the genre of the historical biopic on its ear.  This is more of a fictional take on the Empress rather than an historically accurate one; this is too bad because the woman’s actual story is considerably more interesting than this occasionally dull and slowly paced motion picture (and her actual demise more fascinating than the melodramatic version in this interpretation).  Reviews tend to highlight the performance by Vicky Krieps as the Empress; just as the film is unconventional, so is her portrayal of the Empress. 

Unless you are intimately familiar with the history of 19th-century Austria in general, or Empress Elizabeth in particular, it will be difficult to discern fact from fiction – and make no mistake about it, this is a highly fictionalized version of the life of the Empress.  For example, in “Corsage”, she is prescribed heroin by her physician and we see her self-injecting.  There are also many anachronistic occurrences here, not the least of which being source music written by such famous 20^th century artists like Kris Kristofferson and The Rolling Stones being played by musicians on-screen. 

An interview with “Corsage” director Marie Kreutzer and star Vicky Krieps took place after the screening.  Krieps said that as a 14-year-old, she read a book about the Empress (nicknamed “Sisi”) and was fascinated by her because she felt that much of her behavior was imposed upon her by society.  Kreutzer also read a book about her as well, but it wasn’t very detailed and just contained the bare facts.  The director also added that despite Sisi being a complex character, she wasn’t terribly concerned about whether or not the audience would like her.  Instead, she wanted to tell a story about someone who projects many different faces, as we all do. 

"Close" -- Movie Review

 

This week at Lincoln Center, I attended a special screening of the new Belgian drama “Close”, written and directed by Lukas Dhont. 

Synopsis

When a friendship between two boys abruptly ends, can one of them come to terms with the cause?

Story

In the Flemish region of Belgium, Leo and Remi are a pair of “tween” boys living their best life.  They always ride their bike together to and from school, sit next to each other in their classes, sleep over at each other’s house – you get the idea.  But the two boys are quite different from each other; Leo is a bit more outgoing while Remi is a bit of an introvert – in addition, Leo is more of an athlete while Remi is a bit of an intellect.  Remi studies music and plays the oboe for his school’s music group.  Because the two spend so much time together – largely to the exclusion of others – a number of their classmates grow suspicious. 

One day, Leo decides to join the school’s hockey team – while he’s not exactly the best skater, he’s enthusiastic and enjoys both the competition and camaraderie with his teammates.  Due to the fact that he’s now spending a considerable amount of time at hockey practice and as a result developing a new set of friends, he finds himself spending less and less time with Remi.  While Leo doesn’t recognize a change in their friendship, Remi, who is something of a loner when not with Leo, certainly does notice the difference.  He is feeling ignored and believes himself to be unwelcome in Leo’s new life. 

After a class field trip for which Remi is noticeably absent, Leo and his fellow students are shocked by some tragic news upon their return to the school:  Remi has died from an apparent suicide.  Leo is understandably stunned at the loss of someone he perceived as his best friend.  In retrospect, Leo tries to retrace their friendship; towards the end, he does remember Remi seeming more distant and less inclined to be part of Leo’s new circle.  Leo desperately tries to get on with his life but the distractions disappear when he’s alone and turns introspective.  Sophie, Remi’s mother, discovered her son in his room.  When Leo confronts Sophie, can the two get closure with the loss of Remi?

Review

It might be thought that “Close” is a story about suicide or coming of age or homosexual discovery in youth.  However, there may be another angle:  toxic masculinity, which can begin early in life.  In this movie, the boys are taunted for their tight-knit friendship – the taunts mostly come from other boys, but interestingly, sometimes from girls, too (although occasionally in a much more nuanced fashion).  Regardless, it is certainly difficult to watch.  Some critics have observed that one strike against the film is the fact that it has a somewhat manipulative ending which detracts from the rest of the story; this is correct and it is unfortunate. 

Despite that, the performances are quite good, especially, by Eden Dambrine, who plays Leo.  This young man is not a professional actor, which makes the portrayal all the more remarkable.  The story behind how he got cast in “Close” is rather interesting; the director found him during a train ride when the boy was talking to his friends.  By both his look and his behavior he thought that he would be perfect for the role, so he introduced himself and gave him his business card; his parents then brought him in for an audition and it became apparent that casting him was a no-brainer.  It turned out to be an excellent choice.    

There was an interview with director/writer Lukas Dhont following the screening.  Dhont said that he got the original idea for the screenplay after reading a book called “Deep Secrets”, in which the author interviewed about 150 boys in their early teen years, then followed-up with them five years later.  In the original interviews, the author asked the boys about their friendships with other boys; the way in which they described them was almost like love stories.  During the later follow-up when the same boys were age 17 or 18, they were asked the same question; it was discovered that at this later point in their life, the boys didn’t allow themselves that same type of emotional connection.