Corsage

Corsage is a 2022 historical drama film written and directed by Marie Kreutzer. It stars Vicky Krieps, Florian Teichtmeister, Katharina Lorenz, Jeanne Werner, Alma Hasun, Manuel Rubey, Finnegan Oldfield, Aaron Friesz, Rosa Hajjaj, Lilly Marie Tschörtner and Colin Morgan. The film, an international co-production between Austria, Germany, Luxembourg and France, debuted in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival on 20 May 2022. It was released in Austria and Germany on 7 July 2022, and in France on 14 December 2022. Plot Empress Elisabeth of Austria is semi-estranged from her philandering husband Emperor Franz Joseph, with whom she unhappily celebrates her 40th birthday. Frustrated with her loneliness and fading beauty, Elisabeth tries to reassert agency by obsessively maintaining her appearance. Elisabeth's youngest daughter Marie Valerie falls ill after Elisabeth takes her for a nighttime ride, causing discord between Franz and Elisabeth. Rudolf joins Elisabeth and Marie Valerie on a trip, where Elisabeth amuses herself with a flirtation with her riding instructor Bay and a jaunt with aspiring filmmaker Louis Le Prince. After Bay rejects her, realizing her vanity, Elisabeth returns to Vienna and attempts to physically reconnect with Franz but fails; she later hears rumors of his affair with a much younger woman. After Rudolf leaves for Prague to begin his military education, Elisabeth expresses a desire to depart with Valerie, angering Franz. The argument causes Elisabeth to jump out the window, surviving with minor injuries.