Vicky Krieps gives a superb performance as Empress Elisabeth of Austria in Marie Kreutzer’s splendid biopic. Blending historical fact and whimsical creative license, Kreutzer takes us back to the late 19th century: the Empress, pushing 40, is a most discontented woman. Obsessed with her appearance, Elisabeth takes her corset as a measurement of beauty, and is determined that it must be laced tighter and tighter. She’s been politically sidelined against her will, and is growing restless and rebellious.
With sly inventiveness, wry humour, and a strong feel for visual splendour, Kreutzer guides us through Elisabeth’s world. It’s one of great opulence, but also stifling confinement; the writer-director portrays the luxury and the oppression as two sides of the same coin. As the Empress moves to protect her legacy and recapture the passion of her youth, the film deepens in power. The final act is a bold departure from the historical record, with Kreutzer asserting her feminist prerogative and giving her film a subversive conclusion.
Best Performance Prize (Vicky Krieps), Cannes 2022 (Un Certain Regard)
Vicky Krieps, Florian Teichtmeister, Katharina Lorenz, Jeanne Werner, Alma Hasun, Manuel Rubey, Finnegan Oldfield, Aaron Friesz, Rosa Hajjaj
Austria/France/Germany
2022
In English, French, German, and Hungarian with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Franz
Veteran Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland takes the bull by the horns to craft a Kafka biopic that's Kafkaesque and then some, artfully layering scenes from Kafka's life and works along with ironic present-day footage for a truly surreal counterpoint.
American Doctor
One of the most powerful documentaries of the year, this puts us smack in the open wound that is Gaza, filtered through the eyes of three American surgeons (of Palestinian, Jewish and Zoroastrian backgrounds) compelled to do their utmost to alleviate harm.
Election
Tracy Flick (Reece Witherspoon) is running for Student President, but Mr. McAllister (Matthew Broderick) has other ideas... This remarkably sour millennial comedy from Alexander Payne (The Holdovers; Sideways; The Descendents) hits twice as hard today.
90s Surprise Film
The 90s movie we have all been missing... Join us for a celebratory wake for this year's 90s, Baby series! What you will be seeing is top secret (no, not Top Secret!, that was 1984) but it will be at least 26 years old and it will be new to this series.
The Wind Will Carry Us
Kiarostami's dry comic masterpiece follows a Tehrani film team's thwarted attempts to document a traditional Kurdish funeral... Trouble being, there's no one to bury, and, worse, virtually no cell service...
Late Fame
Based on a novella by Arthur Schnitzler (Eyes Wide Shut) this is a sly, poignant comedy about vanity and art from director Kent Jones, starring Willem Dafoe as a mailman belatedly acclaimed for a book of poetry he wrote in his youth.
Credits
Executive Producer
Vicky Krieps
Producer
Alexander Glehr, Johanna Scherz
Screenwriter
Marie Kreutzer
Cinematography
Judith Kaufmann
Editor
Ulrike Kofler
Production Design
Martin Reiter
Original Music
Camille
Director
Photo by Pamela Rußmann
Marie Kreutzer
After graduating with distinction from the Vienna Film Academy, Marie Kreutzer worked as a script supervisor and in continuity in cinema and TV productions and made a variety of award-winning short films.
Her first feature film, The Fatherless (2011), has been shown and awarded at numerous festivals, including the Berlinale’s Panorama Special and was nominated for the Thomas Pluch Screenplay Award and the Austrian Film Award. Kreutzer is a board member of the Drehbuchverband und Drehbuchforum Austria since 2007 and a member of the Austrian Film Institute’s supervisory board since 2017.
Filmography: The Fatherless (2011); Gruber is leaving (2015); We Used to be Cool (2016); The Ground Beneath My Feet (2019)