Written and Directed by Marie Kreutzer
Starring Vicky Krieps, Florian Teichtmeister, Colin Morgan, Finnegan Oldfield, and Aaron Friesz

The 19th century real-life figure Empress Elisabeth of Austria lived an eventful and ultimately tragic life. Elisabeth, or Sisi as she was nicknamed, entered into marriage with Emperor Franz Joseph 1 of Austria at the age of 16. Tragedy struck early with the death of her daughter who died at infancy when Sisi was just 19 years old. Fast-tracking now to the period of time in her life Corsage is more interested in – 1877 and just days out from the Empress’ 40th birthday. The film uses this milestone to loosely derive from the real-life emphasis Elisabeth placed on maintaining her extremely small waistline and physical appearance, which in reality started at a much younger age. 

With an over-abundance of various retellings of the Empress available (this is one of five Austrian-German productions to be released 2021-2022 alone!), it may come as a refreshing welcome to have a fictional account with very little historical accuracy of a one-year period in the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. 

There had to be an endless variety of ideas and trajectories for writer and director Marie Kreutzer to explore. Many opportunities to identify and draw thematic parallels from the life her protagonist led in the 1800s to something contemporary during her inventions. Not to mention toying around and even experimenting with the period drama genre at her disposal.

Corsage ignores all of that and instead takes Empress Elisabeth from one dull and meaningless scene to the next without ever constructing a well-imagined or tangible story and is rarely able to generate any momentum or interest. 

A rare glimpse of the sort of stuff I’m talking about and would have loved to see more of is when Elisabeth meets and is photographed by another real-life person, Louis Le Prince, a young man who has developed the ability to film moving images. These snippets in the film showcase striking black and white imagery and awakes viewers from the dull coma Corsage places upon them.

So, while I can commend the film for adopting an unconventional approach and being original, I certainly cannot say that it is in any way remotely interesting, involving or exciting. I feel like Corsage could’ve become something akin to this year’s Lady Macbeth and it definitely had the talent at the helm in Vicky Krieps (Oscar-winning ® film Phantom Thread) to aid that to fruition. 

To that end, I can’t help but admit there is a disconcerting irony that actor Florian Teichtmeister is portraying a character who in real-life married a 16-year-old. That is some very unfortunate casting right there.

Corsage is showing in selected cinemas across Australia from February 9th.

Moviedoc thanks Vendetta Films and TM Publicity for providing a screener link to watch and review this film.

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc

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