Christmas, 1877. Empress Elizabeth of Austria (Vicky Krieps) is turning 40. Renowned for her beauty, she undertakes daily privations to ensure she fits her wasp-waist corset and keeps her picture-perfect looks. Suffocating in the stuffy Hapsburg court, she finds herself incapable of continuing to conform to the decorative role that is expected of her, instead carrying out desperate acts of rebellion. With echoes of Spencer and Marie Antoinette, Kreutzer delivers a refreshing take on one woman’s emancipation. Taking liberties with history and adding some fabulous anachronisms (including an evocative soundtrack by Camille), Corsage finds a perfect balance between melancholy understatement and a liberating punkish attitude. Krieps is sublime, the depth and nuances of her performance underpinning her character’s complexity. The Empress doesn’t care about being likeable and Krieps interprets her eccentricity and impulsiveness with great verve.

The Garden Cinema View: Corsage marks the coronation of Vicky Krieps as the queen of the European arthouse scene, following star making roles in Phantom Thread and Bergman Island, and preceding her superb turn in More than Ever (screening at The Garden Cinema from 20 January). Perhaps falling short of the vibrancy of Marie Antoinette, the psychodrama horror of Spencer, or indeed the humour of The Favourite, Corsage is nonetheless propelled by a singular sense of formal playfulness and provocation as it rallies against the suffocating constrictions of patriarchal structures and propriety.

Cast:
Vicky Krieps, Florian Teichtmeister, Katharina Lorenz, Jeanne Werner