Actress Vicky Krieps, who was introduced to American audiences in a big way in a performance that should have earned her an Oscar nomination for Phantom Thread, is getting a lot of work lately. She had a prominent role in M. Night Shyamalan’s Old and stars in Mathieu Amalric’s Hold Me Tight, which is now playing in theaters. Most notably, she tied for the best performance prize in the 'Un Certain Regard' section at Cannes this summer for Corsage. It's a movie she both conceived of and executive produced, and now it's become Austria’s official Oscar entry.
Krieps plays Elisabeth, the Empress of Austria in 1878. The popular royal figurehead is turning forty, and she’s also watching her life slip away as her husband, Emperor Franz Joseph (Florian Teichtmeister), relegates her to uninteresting duties that don’t serve any true purpose...
Unhappy with the state of things, she feigns fainting while waving to a less-than-adoring crowd and very publicly giving her husband the middle finger as she storms out of a dinner. She’s certainly a personality, and even though acting out won’t improve her situation, she’s not willing to just sit back and take it.
There are moments in Corsage where it seems ready to transform into a Sofia Coppola production full of anachronisms, playing American music and slowing down the walk of its main character to make her look like a superhero, or at least an icon. Yet despite those brief interludes, the filmmaking, from director Maria Kreutzer, is rather standard. It’s the protagonist herself who drives and carries this film, even if her misery and irreverence threaten to send the film on an uncertain course. She feels like a much more modern ruler, one who doesn’t see value in tradition for its own sake and who will do whatever possible to rebel against a system of which she wants no part.
Krieps turns in a more subdued performance than her very memorable breakout in Phantom Thread. This restraint makes it all the more enthralling to watch her suddenly come alive and deliver an unexpected rebuke when she's been wronged. It is fictional non-definitive biopic of a real empress, checking in each month of 1878 with where she is, providing an eye-opening and entertaining look at her attitude and the way she dealt with a life that she couldn’t control. Knowing Krieps’ behind-the-scenes involvement adds dimensions to her performance, one that elevates an enjoyable film that’s not quite as refreshingly plucky as its lead character. B
Corsage is screening in the Special Presentations category at TIFF and will be released theatrically on December 23rd.