Corsage

Christmas 1877: Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Vicky Krieps) celebrates her 40th birthday. But the ageing beauty icon in a courtly corset that cuts off her air doesn't feel like celebrating at all. In her role as representative at the side of her husband, Emperor Franz Joseph (Florian Teichtmeister), “Sisi” is not allowed to express any opinions, but must conform to the image of the beautiful young empress. A rigid plan of starvation, sport, hairdressing and daily waist measurements is intended to keep time at bay. But resistance to the larger-than-life image of herself grows in the clever, life-hungry woman. Elisabeth travels to England to see her former lover, she goes to Bavaria to see her friend King Ludwig, who understands her melancholy. This fuming Sissi, who faints at the drop of a hat, exceeds all expectations placed on her by the times and the court... In a brilliant production, director and screenwriter Marie Kreutzer presents the story of the world-famous Austrian Empress Elisabeth in a modernized, exciting light: far removed from the kitsch myth, she stages the icon as a fearless, clever and at times radical woman. Vicky Krieps received the award for Best Actress at the Cannes ‘Un Certain Regard’ series as well as at the European and Austrian Film Awards for her edgy, self-determined portrayal of this icon, which runs counter to Romy Schneider's embodiment. "Beyond the official historiography, [director Marie Kreutzer] offers a look behind the representative façade and into the soul of the empress from today's feminist perspective. At the same time, the film also functions as a commentary on male-dominated power structures, in which women are still expected to remain eternally young, beautiful and slim. In which they are locked up in mental asylums, in cages and strapped into straitjackets if they are “hysterical” or otherwise don't fit in." (Anke Sterneborg, on: epd-film.de) "What I observed as soon as I wore it [the corset] - and it happened every day - was that after two minutes I became sad. Like a deep sadness. And I found out that your emotional center is where your solar plexus and your diaphragm are, and that's where it pinches the most." (Vicky Krieps, on wwd.com)