Kronprinz Rudolf (2006)

A retelling of the tragic love affair between Austrian Archduke Rudolf and Baroness Mary Vetsera.

Director:

Robert Dornhelm

Writers:

Didier Decoin, Klaus Lintschinger

Stars:

Max von Thun, Vittoria Puccini, Caroline Athanasiadis

2 wins.

Cast

Credited cast:
Max von Thun	...	Rudolf
Vittoria Puccini	...	Mary Vetsera
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Caroline Athanasiadis	...	Female Opera Singer
Gabriel Barylli	...	Miguel de Braganza
Klaus Maria Brandauer	...	Emperor Franz-Joseph
Renate Brandtner	...	Gisela
Andrew Burey	...	Albrecht
Wolfgang Böck	...	Bratfisch
Sandra Ceccarelli	...	Empress Elisabeth 'Sisi'
Julia Cencig	...	Marie Larisch
Christian Clavier	...	Prime Minister Taaffe
Hilde Dalik	...	Anna (at Madame Wolf's)
Stefanie Dvorak	...	Ida Ferenczy
Saskia Fanta	...	Maid Erna
Manfred Feller	...	Petitioner

Storyline

The film recounts the last years of the life of the Austrian Crown Prince Rudolf of Hapsburg until his tragic death in Mayerling. They are highlighted the difficult relationship with his father, the Emperor Franz Joseph, and the affectionate bond with his mother, the Empress Sissi; the failed marriage to Stephanie of Belgium; and his romantic relationships with the prostitute Mizzi Kaspar and the young Baroness Mary Vetsera, together with whom he will die in Mayerling. The film endorses the reconstruction according to which the Archduke apparently committed suicide, overwhelmed not only by a role that weighed and imprisoned, but also from the disappointment due to the low esteem that his father would usually express.

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Plot Keywords:

amour fou | female nudity | topless female nudity | sex scene | father son conflict | 

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Taglines:

Rudolf - The true story of a royal rebel and his tragic love.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Austria France Germany Italy

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 April 2006 (Austria)

Also Known As:

The Crown Prince

Filming Locations:

Austria

Box Office

Budget:

€11,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

EOS Entertainment, MR Filmproduktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

180 min (2 episodes) 180 min (original length) 105 min (TV premiere) (heavily cut)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Omar Sharif made a cameo appearance in this movie. Sharif had portrayed Rudolf in Mayerling (1968).

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Goofs

Early on in the second episode, a prostitute offers Rudolf and his friends two bottles of Dom Perignon champagne, with the familiar bottle and label --"Gentlemen, special delivery just in from France" . Although it purports to be around 1886 (Wilhelm mentions "It's 1866 all over again", to which Johanne responds "It's been twenty years Wilhelm, don't you have anything else to brag about?"), Dom Perignon's first vintage was in 1921.

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Alternate Versions

In Germany, broadcasting network ARD cut 85 minutes, leaving out the plot's political aspects to concentrate on the love story. Being a two-part movie in the original Austrian version, it was shown in one part.

User Reviews

Rudolf der KronTwit

In trying to spin a script around Rudolf's vague attempts to carve out a role for himself in some kind of grandiose "one world" escape from the Dual Monarchy, the script writers reveal the truth about Rudolf.

He was exactly as his father's ministers thought he was and his father Franz Josef feared he was, a weak, indecisive, self-indulgent nitwit, who hadn't the courage of his convictions or the ones he so easily adopted in lieu of his own thinking.

Von Thun as Rudolf does a lovely job of conveying all this. In a nutshell an heir to the throne who can't have children because he passed on his VD to his wife and made her sterile, while having affairs with a mother and her daughter... and rewarding the familial devotion by taking the star-struck daughter along in his suicide.

If you love costumes and Viennese architecture and interior design enough, you may wish to endure the show (or you can sneak back and watch the Sissi trilogy which is now up on Netflix Roku). And there is some very nice acting by some of the minor characters.

This is about as dramatic and predictable as watching sand run through an hour glass.