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The Crown Prince (2006)
Reviewer: Charity Bishop
European television is rarely dominated by Austrian
projects but this miniseries is a rare exception, a
gorgeous foreign film with particular detail to
elaborate costumes and breathtaking countryside. But if
you are looking for accurate history, you must turn
elsewhere.
Prince Rudolf (Max von Thun) of Austria is not
thought to be the next potential monarch following the
death of his father. Considered by many to be too
progressive in his views and entirely diverted by the
pursuit of beautiful and sometimes married women such
the Baroness, he is little respected at court and
underestimated by all save his mother, Empress Sisi
(Sandra Ceccarelli). His one assurance of the royal
lineage is through marriage and the production of a son
and heir, which will insure him political power. Rudolf
is much more interested in learning more of his people
and bringing about liberal reform, so at the
encouragement of his friend, a painter (Omar Sharif), he
walks among the common man and finds himself falling in
love with the beautiful daughter of a local baker. But
when their interest in one another goes array, Rudolf
immediately agrees to marry a foreign princess,
Stephanie (Daniela Golpashin). Though well-suited, as
the years pass they prove somewhat incompatible with one
another's personalities and his attention once more
strays... this time to the Baroness' beautiful daughter,
Mary (Vittoria Puccini).
Their affair and what comes of it play out against
the turbulent political atmosphere in pre-WWI Austria,
and underline the scheming of the Prime Minister
(Christian Clavier). Visually, this miniseries is one of
the loveliest I have seen, with many exquisitely
detailed gowns and panoramic shots of period-authentic
streets and drawing rooms. The setting is also unusual
enough that it captures one's interest, but it somewhat
suffers from an audience unfamiliar with the source
material -- while at the same time benefitting from it.
It suffers in the respect that it does a very poor job
of distinguishing and introducing characters -- I made
it all the way to the end and still did not know who one
of the women was -- if she was a relative, a past lover,
a friend. Names are used so infrequently that the
audience has a hard time remembering them. But where
ignorance is bliss is concerned, so many changes have
been made to the actual historic events that it bears
only a mild resemblance to the true story -- including
the necessity of making Rudolf likable. The real prince
was not -- he was known for his philandering and for
keeping detailed notes of all the women he "conquered."
Motivations here are very obscure and not well-defined,
leaving us wondering just what drove him to his ultimate
actions.
Many of the cast members are quite good, but others
are stiff and wooden -- I do not know if it is that they
lack talent or if it is that they are speaking in a
foreign language. Most of them are Austrian and the
miniseries was filmed (or perhaps, simultaneously
re-filmed) in English. The finest actor in that regard
is Christian Clavier, who distinguished himself some
years ago by playing Napoleon; it was a joy to see him
on screen again. I loved the intros to each episode but
do question the motives in attempting to "sex up" the
series with completely unneeded nudity. Shortly into the
production, we see the Baroness and Rudolf in bed
together -- full side nudity and breast nudity is seen
on her, and the scene lasts for three or four minutes;
in the second episode, Rudolf and Mary have a very
passionate (and poetically filmed, ironically) love
scene that includes breast nudity on her; later, we see
her standing naked in her room admiring a present he has
given her. Pointless, gratuitous, and absurd considering
everything else is so demure -- his wedding night with
his new bride ends before anything happens, and he's
never seen engaging in behavior inside the brothels,
although one of his cousins boasts on two occasions that
he has mastered two women upstairs at once. Rudolf keeps
a mistress on the side and Stephanie accuses him of
having contracted VD from her -- and spreading it to his
wife. There are three uses of GD and a couple mild
profanities.
The characters are quite well written in the sense
that the audience rather likes Rudolf, but at the same
time has trouble reconciling his immorality with their
fondness for Mary. Romanticism wants us to desire for
them to be together forever and in love, yet in the back
of our minds is the nagging reminder that not only did
he once have an affair with her mother, he also has
syphilis and will give it to her. It's hard to like him
after that. Overall, I thought the series was engaging
and memorable in spite of its faults. A bit more
polishing on the script for those of us unfamiliar with
Victorian Austrian history and the absence of nudity
would have made this a production worth owning, but for
now it is somewhat tainted by its own inadequacies.
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