Corsage

Austria’s Official Oscar Submission for Best International Feature!
 
Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Phantom Thread’s Vicky Krieps, winner of the Best Performance Award at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival) is idolized for her beauty and renowned for inspiring fashion trends. But in 1877, ‘Sisi’ celebrates her 40th birthday and must fight to maintain her public image by lacing her corset tighter and tighter. While Elisabeth’s role has been reduced against her wishes to purely performative, her hunger for knowledge and zest for life makes her more and more restless in Vienna. She travels to England and Bavaria, visiting former lovers and old friends, seeking the excitement and purpose of her youth. With a future of strictly ceremonial duties laid out in front of her, Elisabeth rebels against the hyperbolized image of herself and comes up with a bold plan to protect her legacy. (Dir. by Marie Kreutzer, 2022, Austria/Luxembourg/Germany/France in German/French/English/Hungarian with English subtitles, 117 mins., Not Rated)