Das Schicksal derer von Habsburg

A film version of the Mayerling affair (and the subsequent events). Crown Prince Rudolf of Habsburg and his mistress Mary Vetsera committed suicide on January 30, 1889, shaking the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire. Rolf Raffe's film is very good, and anyone interested in either German cinema of the 1920s or the fate of members of the Habsburg monarchy will appreciate it. Unfortunately, the retrospective reception is somewhat complicated by the casting of Leni Riefenstahl as Mary, which motivates interest in the film for people who only know her name in connection with Triumph of the Will. And that's a problem. It was also a problem in academic literature because The Fate of the House of Habsburg unintentionally defamed Susan Sontag. Riefenstahl was a woman of many careers, by the end of the 1920s she had already had a career as a dancer, began collaborating with filmmakers dedicated to mountain dramas, and soon added photographic publications to her activities, which were supposed to support those great mountain films. The Fate of the House of Habsburg thus represents Riefenstahl's only attempt at a different kind of genre of historical film. It is excellent to see her outside those endless snowy plains in a dramatic role and period costume. The drama is palpable, and her royal rival is played absolutely accurately by Maly Delschaft. Erna Morena as Sissi is also brilliant. The end of the film is a montage of actual period documentaries showing the events leading to the downfall of the monarchy. (17/01/2023)