Corsage

In the 19th century, the word "corsage" referred to a tight-fitted, structured undergarment that aimed to constrict a woman's body to conform to a fashionable hourglass silhouette. That gives the word different meaning as the title of writer/director Marie Kreutzer's historical drama, in which Vicky Krieps portrays Elisabeth, the 19th century Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary. Early in the movie, the Empress is shown being dressed by attendants who fuss with her hair and pull her corset as tight as they can, not quite getting it tight enough to please Elisabeth, who is obsessed with her looks, frequently measuring her weight and refusing to eat in an effort to maintain her perceived beauty. Everywhere she goes, people feel the need to comment (bluntly and rudely) about her looks, squeezing her even harder to try and meet impossible expectations while simultaneously sinking her further into a deep sadness.

The corsage serves as a metaphor for Elisabeth's life, as we see her go through the motions of her daily routine with ever-constrictive expectations. She is royalty with no power but her physical appearance, constantly being told what to do by her domineering husband Emperor Franz Joseph I (Florian Teichtmeister) and ever-disapproving son Rudolf (Aaron Friesz). At 40 years old, she struggles to hang on to her beauty, which she thinks is the only thing she has that prevents her from fading away completely.

Elisabeth flirts with other men in her sphere of high rank but does it more out of a desire to feel wanted. She is drawn towards the plight of the country's mental patients, maybe seeing something in herself in the way they have been cast out of society and forgotten, but she doesn't have the means to offer them any real help.

It's certainly not the happiest of movies, but Krieps is excellent in portraying Elisabeth's often silent rage. You are rooting for her to find a way out; even the movie's soundtrack is trying to help as the chorus of Camille's "She Was" repeatedly tells her to "go, go, go."

Corsage isn't the first movie to examine these topics; Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette (2006) is an obvious one, along with Jackie (2016) and Spencer (2021). Even the movie's usage of modern needle drops and out-of-time-period fashion was utilized in the titles just named. Despite the lovely costuming and gorgeous shooting locations (including the Hofburg and Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, and Eckartsau Castle in Lower Austria), there is no attempt to maintain perfect historical accuracy. It simply isn't that kind of movie, wisely choosing instead to use any tool available from any time to further highlight Elisabeth and her lack of agency.

As well executed as the production is, there's certainly a lingering sense of been-there done-that that saps the potential for any lingering impact. It's an effective and sympathetic character study that may lack in surprise or innovation, but still produces some powerful moments of empathy.