Friday, June 20, 2008

A Rose From Bavaria

Authors: Juan
Location: Mexico

"A Rose from Bavaria”

Directed by: Lasse Hallstrom
Music by: Richard Robbins
Screenplay by: John Logan
Cinematography by: John Seale

Principal Cast:

Anne Hathaway- Empress Elizabeth “Sissi” of Bavaria
Leonardo Di Caprio- Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria
Catherine Deneuve- Princesa Sophie of Bavaria
Patrick Willson-George “Bay” Middleton
Peter O’Toole- Old Emperor Franz Joseph
Cillian Murphy- Luigi Luchenni
Anna Sophia Robb- Archiduchess Sophia
Freddie Highmore- Prince Rudolf
Elle Fanning- Archiduchesse Marie Valerie

Tagline: "Free spirits are easy to be captured"

Synopsis: In his dying bed, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria remembers the biggest love of his life, Empress Elisabeth of Bavaria, the woman he loved with his entire hearth and whose life was full of eccentricities, revolt and a deep unhappiness. Elisabeth, best know as “Sissi”, was born in a farmer environment, without restrictions, that forged her free spirit. Being a teenager, her beauty and lively captivated the heir to the throne of Austria, Franz Joseph, who was engaged to Sissi’s older sister, Helen. At the age of 16, she became the consort empress of Austria but her life had just started to darken. Her mother-in-law, Princess Sophia, tried to force her to live the conservative court’s lifestyle, but Sissi always rejected all those tedious etiquette rules, which made Sophia hated her. Being still too young, Sissi became a mother, but her first daughter died at the age of two, after that, Sophia decided to separate the kids from Sissi. She started ignoring her lovely husband which leaded him to cheat on her with other women.

Since then, Sissi started showing symptoms of a strange illness (anorexia nervosa). She was always depressed and irritable. She began paying extreme attention to her weight. She made punishing diets and debilitating exercise routines. She used to go for long walks and practiced excessive horse riding. In order to find some peace, she set off on long trips to many beautiful places of the Mediterranean Sea in companion of her closest friends and the man she really loved, her loyal British Equestrian trainer, George “Bay” Middleton.

Sissi represented a symbol of revolt for the Austrian Court because she preferred living in Hungary, helping Hungarian people and giving birth to her fourth child, Valéry, her “Hungarian daughter” as she used to call her. She was completely against the rules and challenged the authority of her mother-in-law. Sissi’s depression increased when her son was involved in a tragic love that ended with his suicide.

Since that moment, Sissi covered her beautiful face with veils and forbidden to be photographed, she didn’t want to be remembered as a sad old lady. In 1898, when she was about boarding a ship for another tripping season, she was stabbed by an Italian anarchist, Luigi Licheni, but he didn’t know that in that occasion, his victim wanted to die.

Emperor Franz Joseph knows he let Sissi down. He never helped her to find happiness within, and now he only expects to be forgiven before he dies; but he doesn’t know there is nothing to forgive. Sissi’s soul was dead before her assasination.

What the press would say:

Humanity has always witnessed traggic lives and misfortunes, some of them become legends because they are common to everyone, that is the case of Elizabeth, Empress of Bavaria’s life. The lates Lasse Hallstrom’s film ,A rose form Bavaria, make us part of her life, it lets us understand her mistakes, experience her fears and makes us reflect about the value of happiness. Hallstrom’s work is extraordinary, we can see a more mature direction and a big talent to transmit emotions, we can affirm this has been his most human work, he offers us a total master piece.

All the actors show a great level. The leading actress, Anne Hathaway confirm her position as a frontrunner for the next Academy Awards, her acting is touching, mature and sublime, the character she plays is really complex for an actress but she captured it completely; it is also remarkable her physical transformation, Empress Sissis was anorexic and Anne lost a lot of weight in order to become her, there is noting else we can say, her performance is one the most memorable in history of movies, after seducing everyone with her work, she only has to wait for the recognition.

The leading performances by Leonardo DiCaprio, Patrick Willson and Catherine Deneuve are also outstanding. Leonardo DiCaprio attracts our attention because of his tender performance, he plays a lovey husband that is rejected, a very sad situation that conduces him to get involved in several romances and have an unhappy life, DiCaprio show a great acting level, one of the best supporting performances of the season. Cathereine Deneuve totally deserves an AMPAS nomination for her work, her role is interesting and relevant, her performance is great, she becomes an evil mother-in-law in a special way, her quality is fantastic. Patrick Willson surprises us with his performance, he has a very important role, the reason he exists is to love Sissi, his interaction with Anne Hathaway and the emotional depth hi gives to his character set him in the spotlight.

The performances by Peter O’Toole, Cillian Murphy and the young actors add the necessary sentimentality to the story, without them we could not be able to reflect and understand Sissi’s tragic life. A rose from Bavaria tries to gives a message of hope to our lives, it tells the story of a legendary woman, but it is not another biopic, this one is special because it captured human suffering as any other movie has. The exquisite art design, the majestic costumes, the beautiful music and the other elements exalt the beauty of this film. We can finally say that A rose from Bavaria is a very special film, the Academy voters will not resist to its grace and living lessons.

AWARDS FOR CONSIDERATION:

Best Picture
Best Director: Lasse Hallstrom
Actress in a leading role: Anne Hathaway
Best Supporting actor: Leonardo DiCaprio
Best Supporting actor: Patrick Willson
Best Supporting actress: Catherine Deneuve
Original Screenplay
Original Score
Cinematography
Best Art Design
Best Costume Design
Best Editing
And many other technics

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