Corsage: Austrian biopic in which Vicky Krieps embodies the 40-year-old Empress Elisabeth
Film plot and background
Austrian biopic in which Vicky Krieps impersonates the 40-year-old Empress Elisabeth
Austria 1877: Empress Elisabeth (Vicky Krieps) celebrates her 40th birthday and is already considered an older woman in a society where life expectancy continues until 40. Everywhere she goes she encounters the face of the beautiful young woman from Bavaria, whose body has become the ideal image of an entire generation.
Nevertheless, she is going through a crisis of meaning, as empress at the side of her husband Emperor Franz Joseph (Florian Teichtmeister) she has only representative duties to perform in public and lives virtually confined to the court. She maintains her wasp waist of just 46 cm thanks to a strict diet and tight corsets – eating disorders have accompanied her since a young age. Even though she spends a large part of her everyday life on body care and her long hair and usually stands for naturalness instead of too much make-up, she now believes that she will soon no longer be able to embody an appealing ideal of beauty. But what does she have left in the world besides her looks? Will she be respected for her character or just her standing?
“Corsage” – background, cast, theatrical release
With “Corsage”, Austrian director and screenwriter Marie Kreutzer (“Was wir wollten”) dedicates herself to the life of probably Austria’s most famous empress: Elisabeth, known as Sisi. Instead of a neat smile on her lips and immaculate clothes on her body, Kreutzer paints an unprecedented picture for the cinema screen that questions the beauty ideals of an ageing woman.
Vicky Krieps (“The Silken Thread”) slips into the leading role as Empress Elisabeth. But the rest of the cast is also top-class with stars like Florian Teichtmeister (“Die Toten von Salzburg”) as Emperor Franz Joseph, Manuel Rubey (“Leberkäsjunkie”) as King Ludwig II, Katharina Lorenz (“Lou Andreas-Salomé”) as Marie Festetics, Aaron Friesz (“Freud”) as Crown Prince Rudolph and Colin Morgan (“Merlin”) as Bay Middleton.
The world premiere of “Corsage” will take place at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section. In this country, the Sisi biopic “Corsage” can be seen in German cinemas from 7 July 2022.
