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THE PRINCE OF HOMBURG

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 4 out of 5

Because of: thematic elements

Rated:

Stories with uncertain endings are favored among college English Literature students, because it evolves into speculation and an attempt to discern just what the author was attempting to imply. One such haunting tale is The Prince of Homburg, an English translation of the German play by Heinrich Von Leist shortly before the renowned playwright killed himself.

One evening the guests of the king are drawn to the courtyard to observe the musings of Prince Frederick of Homburg (Frank Langella), who has just returned from the field of battle. Known for his daydreaming, he has allowed himself to be swept up in the moonlight. Deciding to play a trick on him, the King and his court descend on the garden and leave him with the illusion of a dream, broken only by the reality of his cousin's glove clasped in one hand. Not knowing where he has obtained the artifact, Frederick is astonished the following evening to find that it belongs to the Princess. Distracted by his illusions and confusion over whether or not to return it to her, he neglects to listen to the military strategy being explained. Returning her glove under the farce that he has found it on the floor, Frederick goes into battle with no knowledge of his orders.

Rather than holding off the charge as instructed, Frederick leads them into battle and a tremendous victory is won as a result. The relief and pride of the queen is profound enough to agree that he may have his cousin's hand in marriage, but the King is furious that his orders have been disobeyed and throws Frederick to the mercy of the local court. Much to the horror of his men and his fiancée, not to mention Frederick's own despair, he is given the death sentence, provoking those that love him to go to great lengths on his behalf. The story is not filmed as a movie, but a play filmed in outdoor locations. This damages the weak production value. Scenes within interiors or taken direct from Broadway have the greatest poignancy and strength; they allow the actors to truly dazzle. There are some lovely sequences in the woods, but to see the soldiers standing on the hillside describing the battle to one another seems rather absurd when the audience wants to see the skirmish.

As a student of psychology, I cannot help but wonder what the author was attempting to achieve, or even what he meant through the horribly misleading ending. We cannot determine if it is reality, if it has been a dream, or if Frederick is truly mad. The beginning and the end are obscure and perplexing, while the middle of the story is remarkably dramatic and heart-wrenching. Langella's performance as the distracted, misguided, but good-intentioned hero is very memorable. His character wavers between distinct heroism and ultimate cowardice, but ultimately comes to grips with the notion of death. It has some beautifully poetic dialogue and passages about honor. The prose is rich and the romantic-leaning scenes were perfectly staged. The flaws therefore come from the film lacking to discern its own intentions. I like ambiguous endings, but not ones that leave me scratching my head in puzzlement.

Most individuals do not like plays translated to screen because they are often wooden and in poor quality. It takes time to learn to enjoy them for what they are, when modern audiences have been spoiled with spectacular movie sequences. The Prince of Homburg is befuddling in many ways, but if you take foreign literature in college, no doubt someday you'll run across it in written form. There is no content to be concerned with, but the script does rely on a half dozen mild abuses of God's name. It's not for everyone, and has no morally redeeming value, but does no damage, either.