Essential Art House: Mayerling

Discuss releases in the Janus Contemporaries, Eclipse, and Essential Art House lines and the films on them.
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Jeff
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
Location: Denver, CO

Essential Art House: Mayerling

#1 Post by Jeff » Tue Jun 16, 2009 1:23 am

Mayerling

[img]http://criterion_production.s3.amazonaws.com/release_images/2347/EAH4_Mayerling_box_348x490_w128.jpg[/img]

The gorgeous duo of Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux first appeared on-screen together almost twenty years before The Earrings of Madame de . . . , in this sumptuous tragic romance from Anatole Litvak (The Snake Pit, Anastasia). Mayerling is the profoundly emotional true story of the doomed adulterous affair between Archduke Rudolph, heir to the Austrian throne, and the young and innocent baron’s daughter Marie Vetsera.

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tojoed
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:47 am
Location: Cambridge, England

Re: Essential Arthouse

#2 Post by tojoed » Tue Jun 16, 2009 8:04 am

zedz wrote: Does anybody recommend Mayerling?
Yes, it's a lovely film, a classic of French romanticism.
Certainly, the best thing Anatole Litvak ever did. If it had, say, Max Ophuls name on it, it would be far better known.

It's a shame it's not in the main line. The Mayerling story has been made several times, first in Russia in 1915, and there could have been some interesting extras.

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rohmerin
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:36 am
Location: Spain

Re: Essential Art House: Mayerling

#3 Post by rohmerin » Sun Sep 06, 2009 5:54 am

This film is good, but the 60's version with Omar Shariff is even better, it's more, I think it's the best film about "Royals" that I know. The Ophüls film is very good, but it's not about Prince Rudolph, it's about Archiduke Ferdinad.
The Jancso Italian version about Mayerling I didn't like it. It was like a porn chic joei de vivre but booooring and poooor.

I miss the Audrey Hepburn's version for tv, is it avalaible somewhere?

I expect someday the 1968 released in a good edition (in R1 or R2) and not the crappy Spanish one that it's one of the worst DVDs I've wached.

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sidehacker
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2007 2:49 am
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Re: Essential Art House: Mayerling

#4 Post by sidehacker » Sat Sep 12, 2009 12:37 pm

Beaver review.

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Tommaso
Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 10:09 am

Re: Essential Art House: Mayerling

#5 Post by Tommaso » Sun Dec 27, 2009 8:02 am

I'm surprised that there has been said so little about this release yet. Admittedly, it has been on my kevyip longer than it should have, too, but I fear that the fact that this was dumped into EAH made many people forget about this release soon, and it clearly doesn't deserve it.

What a magnificent film! As tojoed said above, if this had been directed by Ophuls, it would have been much more popular; indeed the comparison seems inevitable, given the story, setting and the two leads. But "Mayerling" feels much 'tighter' and even relentless, more like an American film than a French one in places, without however losing any of the 'poetic feeling' one tends to associate with French cinema of the time. Apart from the acting and the wholly believable story (this surprised me, actually), "Mayerling" is simply a joy to behold: lavish sets and costumes, a magnificent Darrieux, and unobtrusive, but always effective and simply perfect camerawork and direction. Honegger's music fits the film like a glove, too. The highpoint is the final sequence at Mayerling itself: the drama here becomes somewhat otherwordly, and much more than of Ophuls, I was reminded of Cocteau here (without the mannerisms, and admittedly Cocteau's "L'aigle" also always reminds me of Ophuls....)

A perfect film, and exactly the kind of stuff that I want CC to release. The dumping into EAH and thus the absence of any extras on this release is a shame, especially as there are so many topics (historical, film-historical etc) that cry out to be covered in a good audio-commentary at least. But anyway: if you haven't got this dvd yet, don't hesitate to get it as soon as you can. Apart from the Shimizu and Makavejev-sets, this might be the best film that CC has released this year.

Now I have to update my Wrapup Top Five list...

serdar002
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 1:13 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Essential Art House: Mayerling

#6 Post by serdar002 » Sun Jan 10, 2010 8:01 am

I completely agree, out of the three French "Habsburg epics" (the other two being "De Mayerling à Sarajevo" and "L'aigle à deux têtes"), this is by far the best.

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dad1153
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:32 am
Location: New York, NY

Re: Essential Art House: Mayerling

#7 Post by dad1153 » Tue Feb 02, 2010 1:09 pm


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Tommaso
Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 10:09 am

Re: Essential Art House: Mayerling

#8 Post by Tommaso » Wed Feb 03, 2010 6:09 am

To repeat what I wrote above: "if you haven't got this dvd yet, don't hesitate to get it as soon as you can." And now you have even more reason :(

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Essential Art House: Mayerling

#9 Post by knives » Sat Feb 20, 2010 11:57 pm

Just want to repeat what others have said, absolutely lovely film that has the best qualities of French and American film making in it. The ballet sequence, specifically the nutcracker montage is fantastic and worth a watch alone.

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swo17
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Re: Essential Art House: Mayerling

#10 Post by swo17 » Sun Feb 21, 2010 12:42 am

I feel it should be said somewhere that, while the historical context of the film adds another layer to appreciate, it was not something I was aware of going in, and it will spoil the film, so at the very least, don't read the booklet until after having seen it!

hangman
Joined: Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:33 am

Re: Essential Art House: Mayerling

#11 Post by hangman » Thu Feb 25, 2010 8:17 pm

Watched the film last night, pretty much agree with what Tommaso said though I do think Antole and Ophuls, if he had directed the film, is quite different from one another.

In that Antole strives, and pulls it off, to portray the affair as something magical and enchanting, the ballet sequence in the film comes to mind. That by the end it doesn't come across as an illusion of romance, that eventually would crack under pressure from reality as Ophuls does, but as a genuine steadfast romance.
SpoilerShow
On a sidenote anyone else impressed by the way love and death meld in this film? I'm particularly taken by some of the strongest moments of romance between the Rudolph and Maria. There is such stillness in the scenes of the theatre when the two gaze at each other, Rudolph staring at Maria as she looks at the mirror when she enters his room, the giving of the ring, and of course the last scene. Its a stillness that is both love and death at the same time, especially when one considers the rather busy background for most of those scenes. You can see their love for one another but at the same time you do have a feeling of death looming over them, course part of it thanks to the many allusions and foreboding but it is handled quite well.
Definitely should be given a chance by people, kind of sad to think that if it weren't for it going out of print it wouldn't compel others to give it a look.

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Tommaso
Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 10:09 am

Re: Essential Art House: Mayerling

#12 Post by Tommaso » Thu Feb 25, 2010 9:13 pm

hangman wrote:Watched the film last night, pretty much agree with what Tommaso said though I do think Antole and Ophuls, if he had directed the film, is quite different from one another.
Oh, I didn't mean to convey that this looks like an Ophuls film. I rather thought that it might have been prime Ophuls material story-wise and setting-wise, and of course there's Danielle Darrieux, too. Apart from that, there might be similarities in the lighting, but of course Litvak has a pretty different style, though one that is also very elegant, at least in this film.

Glad you liked the film, in any case. I completely agree with what you write in your spoilerized part, perhaps that was where my Cocteau association came from, as that of course is one of JC's main themes, not just in "Orphée", but also very obviously in "L'aigle".

So, I definitely want to see more from Litvak. I've seen his very nice early German production "Nie wieder Liebe" with the ever-charming Lilian Harvey, but that's all. Can anyone tell me which other Litvak films deserve immediate attention?

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