This is what in German is called "Schnulze": a tear jerker that is simply too sugar sweet to be swallowed. Though it is made well enough, the cinematography of Günther Anders is fine, and it is well cast (it is at least noteworthy for Lil Dagover), the film may be hazardous for your brain and at least for your knowledge of history.
3 Reviews
Morbid and mysterious...
zimmer-96 June 2005
This is one of the more interesting and underestimated Austrian films of the fifties, especially if you compare it to the typical "imperial" melodramas a la "Sissi" with Romy Schneider. The story of the unhappy and depressive crown prince Rudolf has been filmed several times, but never in such a fascinating and deeply morbid way. Rudolf Prack's performance is probably the best of his whole career, Christiane Hörbiger's debut is moving but not too sweet (in fact she is playing much harsher and more realistic a part that would have been tailor-made for young Romy Schneider). Lil Dagover, the "Grand Dame" of German cinema delivers a convincing portrait of the "old" empress Elisabeth (Sissi), trying to get away from her husband as often as possible and leaving her son to desperation and loneliness. The way Jugert uses color is remarkable and completely different from other German or Austrian films of that period. Everything is dark and gloomy and the coloured walls, curtains and tapestries seem to be as overripe and decaying as the whole house of Habsburg. Don't miss the gloomy beginning with the burials of Rudolph and his young mistress which sets the atmosphere for the rest of the film.
Romantic drama about the Mayerling affair
myriamlenys19 February 2024
Warning: Spoilers
Having recently written about a movie in which a tangential "Maria Vetsera" motif surfaced, I thought it would be a nice idea to pay some attention to this movie here. It is certainly a movie that deserves more critical attention than it's currently getting. "Kronprinz Rudolfs letzte Liebe" tells the tale of the star-crossed love between Crown Prince Rudolf, heir to the Austrian-Hungarian double monarchy, and Baroness Maria Vetsera. (The lady's first name is written in a variety of fashions ; I'm sticking with "Maria".)
This is not to movie to go to if one wants to watch an in-depth analysis of the downfall of the Austrian-Hungarian empire. By the same token, this is not the movie to go to for an in-depth analysis of the conflict between tradition and modernity circa 1890. What the movie does, and does quite well, is to commemorate a forbidden love affair ending in tragedy.
In "Letzte Liebe", a depressive and conflicted Crown Prince Rudolf has to contend both with a strict father and with an estranged spouse. Then he meets with a sweet-natured teenage girl - also an aristocrat - who has been admiring him from afar. After an initial misunderstanding, the two embark on a meltingly tender love affair full of stealthy meetings. When their attempts to officialize their union fail, they see no way out.
"Letzte Liebe" is quite watchable. The undisputed star is a wondrously beautiful Christiane Hörbiger, who imbues her Maria Vetsera with both girlish innocence and tender-hearted fragility. Hörbiger also looks angelic in historical dress, which is of course a considerable advantage. A large part of the tale is set, cunningly, amidst sets and props of great splendor : vast tapestries, imposing statues, precious chandeliers and the like. Many an operetta has been filmed in surroundings such as these, but here the effect is different : one gets a sense of tiny humans overwhelmed by centuries of pomp and circumstance. One also gets a sense of individuals living in a giant fish bowl, where they are constantly being denied intimacy and privacy. It is easy to understand how a man born and bred in such an environment might develop a desperate hankering for the simple things in life, like a cosy evening at home with a pleasing wife.
As a Belgian I'd like to draw your attention to the character of Rudolf's neglected spouse. Rudolf was married to a Belgian princess called Stéphanie, who was one of the daughters of Leopold II. (Sweet Lord Jesus, imagine having Leopold II for a father !) Here, the Stéphanie character feels cold and imperious, but it is more probable that the real-life woman was unhappy rather than unkind. Stéphanie went on to survive her husband by many years, although Fate, again, was to gift her a great deal of misery.
This is not to movie to go to if one wants to watch an in-depth analysis of the downfall of the Austrian-Hungarian empire. By the same token, this is not the movie to go to for an in-depth analysis of the conflict between tradition and modernity circa 1890. What the movie does, and does quite well, is to commemorate a forbidden love affair ending in tragedy.
In "Letzte Liebe", a depressive and conflicted Crown Prince Rudolf has to contend both with a strict father and with an estranged spouse. Then he meets with a sweet-natured teenage girl - also an aristocrat - who has been admiring him from afar. After an initial misunderstanding, the two embark on a meltingly tender love affair full of stealthy meetings. When their attempts to officialize their union fail, they see no way out.
"Letzte Liebe" is quite watchable. The undisputed star is a wondrously beautiful Christiane Hörbiger, who imbues her Maria Vetsera with both girlish innocence and tender-hearted fragility. Hörbiger also looks angelic in historical dress, which is of course a considerable advantage. A large part of the tale is set, cunningly, amidst sets and props of great splendor : vast tapestries, imposing statues, precious chandeliers and the like. Many an operetta has been filmed in surroundings such as these, but here the effect is different : one gets a sense of tiny humans overwhelmed by centuries of pomp and circumstance. One also gets a sense of individuals living in a giant fish bowl, where they are constantly being denied intimacy and privacy. It is easy to understand how a man born and bred in such an environment might develop a desperate hankering for the simple things in life, like a cosy evening at home with a pleasing wife.
As a Belgian I'd like to draw your attention to the character of Rudolf's neglected spouse. Rudolf was married to a Belgian princess called Stéphanie, who was one of the daughters of Leopold II. (Sweet Lord Jesus, imagine having Leopold II for a father !) Here, the Stéphanie character feels cold and imperious, but it is more probable that the real-life woman was unhappy rather than unkind. Stéphanie went on to survive her husband by many years, although Fate, again, was to gift her a great deal of misery.
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