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Pretty Good

Boring

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

History is so full of questions - what if such and such occurred, or if so and so had lived and not died, or if the weather had not been so bad on the date in question. There are all over the place, and Franklin Roosevelt dismissed this as "iffy" history. But people have hopes, dreams, and imaginations. Sometimes these run away with them.On January 30, 1889 Crown Prince Rudolf Von Hapsburg of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was in his hunting lodge at Mayerling with his mistress Baroness Marie Vetsera. Rudolf was married to Stephanie, sister of King Leopold II of Belgium. They had a daughter, but were unable to have other children - such as a male child (Austria had a male only rule about its Emperors since the death of Maria Theresa, a co-ruler with her husband and later her son in the 18th Century). Rudolf therefore did not care about how his open affair with the Baroness affected his despised wife. However, the Vetseras were nouveau rich minor aristocracy, and it displeased the Emperor Franz Josef and the Empress Elisabeth ("Sisi"). The Emperor and his Prime Minister, Count Taafe, also wanted Rudolf to be more active in pursuing his regular duties at court and in the empire.Rudolf was considered more liberal than the Emperor by many people. He may have been approached about taking the leadership of a separation movement from Hungary as potential King, but if he did nothing came of it.That January day a shot rang out in the middle of the night. Some equerries ran to Rudolf's room but he answered the door and said nothing was wrong. Then, about six hours later, a second shot rang out. This time Rudolf was found with the top of his head blown off. Marie was dead from a shot in the skull too, but she was on her bed. Mayerling (it helps that the scene of the tragedy sounds poetic) has been the subject of several films and television shows and many books. This writer uses the name as his nom-de-plume on another website. There is a fascination with that tragedy - one can see it as that of two young people who died rather than give each other up due to a demanding father. One can see it as the end of the hopes of liberalism in the old Austro-Hungarian Emprire. One even has a sense of the richness of the royal families of Europe in 1889 by the setting in that lodge. It is open to so many interpretations or feelings.The 1936 film with Danielle Darrieux and Charles Boyer is the better version, but this 1968 version with Catherine Deneuve and Omar Sharif is actually quite good. It takes the view that Rudolf was a potential reformer and liberal, and that the reactionaries spurred on the events that led to the deaths. Franz Josef (James Mason) is shown hand-in-glove with the reactionaries (even screaming about Rudolf's friendliness with Jews), and not sympathetic about the need his son might have for Maria's companionship (given the really unlikeable Stephanie). Rudolf tries to make a deal - as an inspector general for the army checking out army weaponry and maneuvers. But nobody pays attention to him. The result is a total collapse of spirit leading to his suicide pact.He does try to escape with Maria. Bertie, Prince of Wales (James Robertson Justice) is visiting - can Rudolf and Maria flee to England for diplomatic immunity? But Bertie knows the drill - when you are finished enjoying yourself go back home to the wife and mother (Alexandra and Victoria). He also knows that the brouhaha of giving shelter to Rudolf and his mistress would not sit well with Lord Salisbury's government, or the government of Germany (Austria's ally) under Otto Von Bismarck.So the film ends with that final suicide, although to enhance the romance the dying Rudolf grabs the hand of his dead lover as a last snub at his father.Was it like that? My romantic side wishes it was. But the evidence shows Rudolf was a weakling, who played with liberalism but really did not believe in it. Franz Josef (a hard working monarch, with his own side-friendship with actress Katherine Schratt) always mourned his wayward son, but he was ashamed of Rudolf's cowardice - what always bothered the old emperor was that Rudolf took six hours to turn his pistol on himself after shooting Maria. He could not make up his mind of doing the honorable thing (completing the suicide pact) or fleeing. Rudolf was a coward to the end.

"Mayerling" is the technicolor-version of "Marie Antoinette", although the gorgeous gowns worn by the ladies are not nearly as sumptuous. Of course, Empress Therese produced many females to wed-off to all the royal courts of Europe. In fact, Empress Victoria (England) was sent to rule there as a teenager ! I only read one user's mention of Marie Antoinette; the early BW version (starring Norma Shearer) displays the opulence royal families led in their icy palaces.Dirctor Terence Young did a splendid job of getting all the right ingredients together for this love-story (script by Michel Arnold). As several users have pointed-out, history was a minor one: many fictional scenes in here, although they certainly contributed to the drama between Crown-Prince Rudolph (Omar Shariff) and "Maria" (Catherine Deneuve). This story is at the near-end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, after 600 years of ruling.Also as some users pointed-out, royal families (then) had little contact with their children - they were too busy being royal....primping and changing clothes so many times a day. Empress Elizabeth (Ava Gardner) portrayed that role with conviction. She did not like "court" life, and most likely wasn't that familiar with all of "Rudolph's" conspiring to take the throne from his father - Emperor Franz-Jospeh (James Mason). Politics then - even WITHOUT the TV-debates ! - was as notoriously corrupt as it is now. Some users mention the lovers' deaths could just as well have been assassinations. Myself, I thought the lovers had poisoned themselves, so I was shocked at the ending.Many users mentioned how well James Robert Justice played "Edward, Prince of Wales". I thought the role was good, but Justice was much too physically large: "Wales" was well-known to skip off to Russia to visit with Czar Nicholos (they were often thought-of as being brothers), so he could openly cross-dress for the many court celebrations....seldom mentioned....All-in-all, this is a very lush movie. Enjoy it for what you see on the screen. Pomp and circumstance certainly give our imaginations a lot of excitement, and this movie can be enjoyed by all. Bravo !

The dashing Omar Sharif was born to be a crown-prince, or at least look the part to perfection (is he of royal Egyptian blood?), while Catherine Deneuve takes your breath away in every scene she's in, most notably as they watch "Giselle" at the theater. An Oedipus complex is hinted at here, and I suppose not all sons (not even only sons!) kiss their mothers on the lips (or it could be an Austrian thing, who knows?). But given his lifestyle of high living, promiscuity and dalliances with radical politics, coupled by an addiction to morphine and the off-chance of insanity in the blood, I don't think the end was as bittersweet and romantic as the movie portrayed it to be. No doubt the prince was a depressed, politically-impotent man who saw no promise in a future which included a loveless marriage, a domineering father and a mother who was never there--no big deal to most, but this was an only child used to getting his way most of the time. I'm sure Maria Vetsera, practically a child in love for the first time, was only too flattered to have been chosen by the prince to die with him. All in the name of love, of course.

Although not up to the excellence of the classic 1936 film starring Charles Boyer and Danielle Darrieux, this remake of the tragic romance between Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria and commoner Maria Vetsera is still quite compelling. Omar Sharif is burdened with the worst haircut imaginable, yet when he looks longingly at lovely Catherine Deneuve, it should send your heart fluttering. And while Maria isn't as strongly written as the character should be, Deneuve projects innocent maturity beautifully. Ava Gardner and James Mason don't have much to do, but James Robertson Justice is a joy as Prince Edward of England. Extraordinary production values make it a visual delight. Finally, while the script fails to properly explain the political situation that would drive Rudolph to his drastic decision, director Terence Young builds the tension to heartbreaking pathos, with the final moments fully worthy of a great tearjerker.