“Corsage” (2022) is a historical fiction biopic about Austrian Empress and Hungarian Queen Elisabeth (Vicky Krieps, who also was executive producer) from December 1877 through October 1878 during her 40th year. Desirous of freedom but conscious of her image, she struggles to enjoy life and fulfill her duty. How will she strike a balance?
I like period dramas and expect that filmmakers will take liberties with historical accounts so I decided to watch “Corsage” then become a devoted pupil. Krieps carries the entire movie and delivers a magnetic performance with some shattering of the fourth wall direct glances at the camera. Even before I embarked on a deep dive, while I was impressed with the acting and the sumptuous, period perfect visual spectacle, I found the actual story lacking and off-putting. While I do not need historical fiction to be vengeful or action based, it seems tragic that two women’s imagination of the best alternate history for the historical figure was so bleak. Also did they realize that she could be sympathetic and horrifying in her treatment of her underlings? If director Marie Kreutzer and Krieps think that they made a feminist film, then it explained why so many people would be leery of this type of feminism.
“Corsage” does show Elisabeth as an inspirational image of rebellion with her physicality whether doing gymnastics, fencing and beating her husband, furtive smoking or her unconventional approach to acts of service or echoing an aggressive move intended to intimidate her. She appears to relate to the women in a mental health facility and visits wounded soldiers at a hospital. It would not surprise me if Princess Diana inspired Kreutzer and Krieps framing of Elisabeth though Elisabeth was reported to be very invested in charity.
Elisabeth is sympathetic because her family, husband, sister, children and subjects chide her every spontaneous and joyful moment then wonder why she is not doing well, but Elisabeth lacks empathy. “Corsage” feminism is the kind that just replaces a man in power with a woman. Only wealthy women near power deserve liberation. Elisabeth is a literal queen bee. Sister solidarity is about her ladies in waiting and servants sacrificing their lives and lifting her up, but not deserving to live independent full lives otherwise who would make her beautiful. There is a difference between having a flawed, even unlikeable woman, protagonist, but she is clueless. She cannot remember her servants’ names and exploits her ladies in waiting’s devotion to destroy their lives.
“Corsage” depicts other women as a threat. Elisabeth is a cool girl who only likes hanging out with guys. There is no equal exchange of female friendship. If she was more of a jerk, she would resemble Snow White’s stepmother, who is obsessed with being the fairest in the land and is the Highlander of women. To be fair, her power lies in her looks and fertility so it is understandable why she would be obsessed and try to control the source of ger power. Ultimately Elisabeth is just an unloved, faithful wife because no one wants her sexually. When she sees her husband, Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph (Florian Teichtmeister) with a little girl, the script falls all over itself to stress that the girl is a woman, 18, twice married. The movie sees Elisabeth as the main victim of this scenario. Did Hilary Clinton contribute to this film?
After I watched “Corsage,” I did my usual deep dive, and historians must be pissed. They flattened a three-dimensional woman to fit the driving force of their narrative. The real-life woman was far more successful at having affairs than her fictional counterpart and lived a long life doing what she loved. Her husband was the one who could not get her to really like him. Also of all the aspects of history that the film decided to remain faithful to, Kreutzer and Krieps landed on eating disorder, which is fine, but in a world where alternative history can be triumphant and potentially utopian, the historical image that resonated to them was a powerful woman starving herself.
In an unexpected case of truth is stranger than fiction, it turns out that those scenes of inappropriate, unequal sexual relationships may have been accidental documentaries! #METoo protested “Corsage.” For legal reasons, the allegations that the film employed a sexual harasser were vague so Kreutzer and Krieps denied and dismissed allegations. Krieps took a page out of the toxic playbook and said, “So, a feminist film made by two women should be discarded because of the misconduct of a male colleague? Who is exactly harmed by this?” What happened to unfounded? On January 13, 2023, police charged Teichtmaster with child pornography charges and may have been using film locations as a personal hunting ground as he took photos with minors then used them to make a collage with pornographic content! Who is harmed? The minors on your set! Again Kreutzer and Krieps’ version of feminism has women in power erasing actual or potential targeted victims and centering themselves as the real victims, kind of like how they made visual parallels between Elisabeth as her experiences were equal to the women in the mental institution, especially her use of the bathtub as therapy. They are not victims, but at worst, an accessory to a crime, and at best, suffering from internalized misogyny.
Should Kreutzer and Krieps be punished for Teichtmaster’s crimes? Absolutely not, but it is not a coincidence that their dismissal of concerns and protection of a man echoes the same mindset promulgated in “Corsage.” Their version of feminism means that a select few women get to be creative and powerful, but every woman and girl beneath them cannot share the same privileges and must be sacrificed for their vision, their benefit. Their mindset colors the film’s unsatisfying narrative and poisons their imagination, which is why their vision of a better, alternate history is so nihilistic and despairing. I love a bleak film and am an enthusiastic anti-natalist, but this film was a waste of imagination although maybe Virginia Woolf would love it.
After “Corsage,” I discovered that the title is a French word that refers to a dress’ bodice or jacket which hugs the body, but is not a corset, which tightens laces to cinch the waist. So now I am annoyed about that too. There were some anachronistic moments with people singing modern songs in English, and the flight of whimsy did not work for me because I did not understand the significance. I later found out that Sofia Coppola did that in “Marie Antoinette” (2006), which I do not remember, but yup, it tracks with why I would not get it.
I watch too many movies so if you are not as analytical as I, “Corsage” may work for you since the spectacle is splendid, but it is disappointing that an alleged feminist movie is not self-aware enough to realize that they are promulgating regressive themes. I hope that now that #MeToo critics have been vindicated, Kreutzer and Krieps will devote some time to reflect on how they have contributed to a harmful atmosphere of abuse and be more open to correction.
