Mayerling

This movie is perhaps one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen-both literally and figuratively! I've never seen a more beautifully photographed movie. The use of location settings and outdoor photography is second to none. The costumes and settings show that the producers obviously didn't skimp on quality. They're breathtaking and almost rate their own review. Aesthetically I can't remember the last time I saw such a beautiful film. Dramatically it drags a bit at times but overall is a very compelling tale, made all the more poignant because it is based on events that actually took place. Omar Sharif and Catherine Deneuve are remarkable as the doomed lovers. Their final scene together, as they talk while she's falling asleep is magnificent. It's obvious why Deneuve has had such a love affair with the camera over the years. She's absolutely flawlessly photographed(no other woman with the exception of the late Sharon Tate even comes close). You can see why a man would be driven to give up an empire for her. As an added bonus the great Ava Gardner came out of semi-retirement to play Sharif's mother and gives this movie an added touch of class(not that it needed any more). If you're a fan of costume dramas or doomed love stories then this movie is for you. Quite simply it combines the best elements of both genres. A treat.

Mayerling is supposed to be a story of love and passion set in the backdrop of political turmoil in the austro-hungarian empire. The problem is there is very little passion in this movie. Catherine Deneuve, which I usually love, and Omar Sharif give such wooden performances that it is hard to imagine they would die of love. Ava Gardner is about as bad and James Mason does hardly better. Only James Robertson Justice and Genevieve Page seem to believe in what they are doing.

As far as the political story, you will not know very much more of the state of the empire after seing the movie. Characters drop by Omar Sharif once a while without enlightening us very much about their problems and goals. The only redeeming values are production values which are quite good. Better watch the original French movie with Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux.

All modern historians agree that it was not the "impossible " love depicted in all Mayerling versions.No Rudolph did not throw away his empire for the love of Mary!He had at the time of his affair with baroness Vetsera other mistresses(the most famous was Mizzi Kaspar).Too bad for those who are still dreaming of romantic passion,but the harsh truth is that Rudolph was a jaded man,using morphine to relieve his sufferings .He was seriously ill,since he contracted a VD.Historian Jean-Paul Bled goes as far as to say he would not have outlived his father anyway(think that his father died in 1916!).Just before his death he was not physically the handsome man played by Omar Shariff anymore!As for Mary,she was seventeen (Deneuve was already too old in spite of her stunning beauty),and she did love Prince Rudolph,but she was too young to understand that she was used by her lover as a helping hand to die:Rudolph had already asked Mizzi(see above) to die with him because he was frightened to pass away ALONE.

Another scene is completely refuted by every earnest historian:during the ball in the German Embassy,Mary refuses to bow before Rudolph's wife Stephanie.Or ,absolutely nobody,among these who attended the reception,spoke

about it afterward.The only person who mentions it is Countess Marie Larish,who was not invited,and who was a very shady and perverse lady,who wrote a book called "my past" .And what a past!She was Empress Elisabeth's niece,child of a misalliance:Sissi's brother had married an actress.In the Mayerling saga ,she played a very bad part,that of a go-between(Genevieve Page in the movie)

The imperial couple reunited James Mason and Ava Gardner ,who were the leads in "Pandora and the flying Dutchman" (Lewin,1951),a treat for cinema buffs.The cinematography is dazzling,and at least the story was filmed where it took place.Francis Lai's score is nice too(Un Homme Et Une Femme,1966,love story,1970).The director ,Terence Young ,is the movies odd-job man:James Bond (Dr No,From Russia with love,thunderball),the amorous adventures of Moll Flanders,wait until dark,the Christmas tree,spy thriller,horror,melodrama,not a genius but a competent craftsman.

After Mayerling,the hunting lodge was razed to the ground and the emperor had a nunnery built on the site.Hence the necessity to film the last part in a studio.

Another scene completely made up from start to finish is the Deneuve /Gardner meeting.At the time ,Elisabeth had become the wandering empress she would remain until her death in 1898,nine years after the Mayerling tragedy.She used to shun Vienna,the Court ,the étiquette and even politics.But the movie is true for one thing:she was here when Rudolph died.Marie Larish(Genevieve Page),the go-between, was her protégée,but she would realize too late what a perverse creature she was.

Rudolph was a depressed man,who failed twice:politically,he was kept out of things by his father and his plots led to nowhere.He used to worry about the Monarchy's (actually a double one,Austrian and Hungarian since 1867)future and he dreamed of federalism and parliamentary democracy;besides,his marriage was on the rocks,his wife Stephanie(Andréa Parisy) being unable to give birth to another child. The opening scene is the only one which deals with politics:a student riot during which Rudolph is arrested by the police:once again,it's very implausible,since the Kronprinz's actions were watched day and night by Francis Joseph's henchmen.Even his numerous -and almost absent here ,to give the movie a romantic flavor-mistresses used to "help" police reports.

The best thing-one user noticed it- is Marie Larish's obnoxious behavior.Genevieve Page is remarkable,acting with Mary Vetsera like a spider with a fly,unbeknown-st to her mother (Mony Dalmes).

Outside Litvak's version ,already mentioned by some users,there's also Jean Delannoy's "le secret de Mayerling" (1949),with Jean Marais as Rudolph which has a rather good reputation,in spite of a weird ending:Bismarck was behind the lovers' assassination.Even stranger:when Zita,Austria's last empress ,came back from exile in the early eighties,she hinted at a political assassination as well.

Although not up to the excellence of the classic 1936 film starring Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux, this remake of the tragic romance between Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria and commoner Maria Vetsera is still quite compelling. Omar Sharif is burdened with the worst haircut imaginable, yet when he looks longingly at lovely Catherine Deneuve, it should send your heart fluttering. And while Maria isn't as strongly written as the character should be, Deneuve projects innocent maturity beautifully. Ava Gardner and James Mason don't have much to do, but James Robertson Justice is a joy as Prince Edward of England. Extraordinary production values make it a visual delight. Finally, while the script fails to properly explain the political situation that would drive Rudolph to his drastic decision, director Terence Young builds the tension to heartbreaking pathos, with the final moments fully worthy of a great tearjerker.

The dashing Omar Sharif was born to be a crown-prince, or at least look the part to perfection (is he of royal Egyptian blood?), while Catherine Deneuve takes your breath away in every scene she's in, most notably as they watch "Giselle" at the theater. An Oedipus complex is hinted at here, and I suppose not all sons (not even only sons!) kiss their mothers on the lips (or it could be an Austrian thing, who knows?). But given his lifestyle of high living, promiscuity and dalliances with radical politics, coupled by an addiction to morphine and the off-chance of insanity in the blood, I don't think the end was as bittersweet and romantic as the movie portrayed it to be. No doubt the prince was a depressed, politically-impotent man who saw no promise in a future which included a loveless marriage, a domineering father and a mother who was never there--no big deal to most, but this was an only child used to getting his way most of the time. I'm sure Maria Vetsera, practically a child in love for the first time, was only too flattered to have been chosen by the prince to die with him. All in the name of love, of course.