The Luxembourg-born actor Vicky Krieps has one of those faces that seems to be made of air, her expressions ever-sculpting. Like a young Meryl Streep, she has a soft, quizzical stillness and an unhurried quality, as if she’s ever-so-slightly amused by those swirling around her. In 2018’s “Phantom Thread,” playing a fashion designer’s muse, that softness made for a marvelous contrast to the needle-sharp other two points in the movie’s triangle. As the Empress Elisabeth of Austria in Marie Kreutzer’s period film “Corsage,” set in a creatively realized version of the 1870s, she’s likewise the film’s quiet center, gazing out from beneath her coronet of heavy braids, drawing us to her.
Those seeking a straightforward biopic about Empress Elisabeth (known as “Sisi”) may be dismayed by Kreutzer’s film, which freely blends fact with fiction in a story told with intentional anachronisms. (The period costumes are elaborate, but those 19th-century castles have curiously modern light fixtures, and the songs sung by the characters are rearranged classic rock tunes — for the purpose, presumably, of keeping us a bit off-kilter, pulling us in and out of history.) But as a mood piece, it’s striking.
Taking place around Sisi’s 40th birthday, it shows the empress frustrated by her ceremonial role, by middle age, by a changing body that she tries desperately to keep reed-slender (via rigid corsets, obsessive waist-measuring and punishingly tiny meals). Over the film’s leisurely two hours, she leaves Vienna to visit old friends and old lovers in England and Bavaria, and returns home to make some changes in her life. The scenery is stunning; some of the film’s frames resemble works of art.
“Corsage” is the sort of film that seems to float in front of you, rather than actually going somewhere, but Kreutzer finds some exquisite moments — Sisi riding her horse while a gentlewoman plays a piano located in the middle of the riding hall; a late-night swimming scene in which two people seem to be performing elaborate choreography in the dark water; the eeriness of a noble house that seems to be waiting for pageantry that isn’t coming (golden chairs are stacked, unceremoniously, in the hallways); Krieps’ face, perpetually a bit flushed, like the movie is reflecting on her skin. And it plays with the idea of film itself, as a character captures Sisi in black-and-white footage. Toward the end, we see her walking away from the friend’s camera, kicking up her heels like a vaudeville comedian, nothing but lightness. It’s a sly little film, playing with our expectations, keeping us guessing — and wondering if Krieps’ name might be as familiar as Streep’s, one day.
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'CORSAGE'
3 stars (out of 4)
(In German, French, Hungarian and English, with English subtitles)
Not rated (for mature audiences)
Running time: 1:53
How to watch: In theaters Friday
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