Alma & Oskar

In 1912, the young widow of Gustav Mahler, who had just died, was the most sought-after woman in the Viennese avant-garde. Well-known personalities cross her path: composer Bruno Walter, architect Walter Gropius and Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne and assassination victim in Sarajevo in 1914 - triggering the war.

Alma finally met Oskar (Kokoschka) - the most radical artist of his time: "I don't belong to Viennese Modernism. I am the only modernist in Vienna!" - and their relationship takes up a lot of space in the film, but not as all-encompassing as the title would have you believe. It is above all a film about Alma, her strong and emancipated personality, her relationship with Gropius and Walter and her own work as a composer. (Even her friend Bruno Walter denies her talent solely on the basis of her gender).

A stylish portrait of the era of the Viennese Secession, the bohemian society and the aristocracy in Vienna and Berlin - on the eve of the First World War. With a convincing Emily Cox, good production design, yet a little staidly staged.

Or is it comes (to) .... no pun intended of course. The movie is based on real life people - I did not know them. Any of them, but you may be more knowledgeable than I was (am). You have a muse here - and you have quite a few ... let's call them encounters. Quite a bit of nudity occurs - and I only mention it, so you are aware of it. It is nothing that will entice you to watch the movie (there are other things that are far better for you, if you are looking for stuff like that), but it may sway some to not watch it.

That all said, the drama this unfolds is quite something to behold. Acting is top notch - if you like dramas and real life ... well you could do a lot worse. I might even look up the real people now that I know they existed ...