The supposed suicide in 1889 of Crown Prince Rudolf, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, has long fascinated both historians and conspiracy theorists. The official version was that Rudolf died in a suicide pact with his teenage mistress Maria Vetsera, although numerous alternative theories have been put forward. Conspiracy theories normally make for more intriguing cinema that the official versions of suspicious deaths- I doubt, for example, if we will ever see a feature film putting forward the theory that John F Kennedy really was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald acting alone- so it is rather surprising that the makers of "Mayerling" (the title is taken from the name of the hunting lodge where the tragedy occurred) have accepted that these deaths really were suicide rather than murder.
That does not, however, necessarily mean that the film is entirely historically accurate. As played by Omar Sharif, Rudolf is a contradictory character, a strange mixture of liberal and libertine. In his public life he is the symbol of opposition to his more conservative father, the Emperor Franz Josef, and the advocate of enlightened, progressive policies. In his private life, however, he is a dissolute, alcoholic morphine-addicted womaniser with numerous mistresses; his marriage to the Belgian princess Stephanie is miserably unhappy. There is, in fact, some historical evidence to support this view of Rudolf's character, but the political background to his suicide seems to be an invention of the film-makers. Rudolf allows himself to become drawn into a treasonable attempt to dethrone his father as King of Hungary; his motivation is partly the chance to put his liberal ideals into practice, but mostly the thought that as monarch of an independent country he will be able to divorce Stephanie and marry Maria, something that his father has always refused to countenance. (After the Ausgleich of 1867, which granted Hungary self-government within the Empire, most Hungarians were in fact satisfied with the Dual Monarchy and would not have wished to replace Franz Josef as their king, especially if the rival candidate for the throne were a divorcée, something which would not have been acceptable in a predominantly Catholic nation).
None of the leading actors seem altogether believable, the worst offender being, surprisingly, Catherine Deneuve; one would not believe from her withdrawn, passionless interpretation of the role that Maria is a woman so desperately in love that she is willing to die for, and together with, her beloved. Omar Sharif tries harder to make something of Rudolf but without much success. James Mason as Franz Josef often looks as though he wishes he were somewhere else altogether, playing the King (in the words of the old joke) as though someone else had just played the Ace. Ava Gardner's performances during the sixties and seventies were rarely impressive; there were occasional exceptions, but "Mayerling", in which she plays the Empress Elisabeth, was not one of them. Only James Robertson Justice, who plays the Prince of Wales with gusto, makes any impression or shows much enthusiasm.
The film is attractive to look at, with lovingly re-created late Victorian interiors and costumes, but it is overlong and lacking in movement; it would have been improved by editing to make it at least half an hour shorter. 5/10
Some goofs. The Prince of Wales states that his mother is eighty-five years old. At the time of Rudolf's death in January 1889, Queen Victoria was actually sixty-nine years old. She never lived to be eighty-five, dying in 1901 at the age of eighty-one. Franz Josef refers to Marie Antoinette as his great-aunt; she was actually his great-great-aunt, being the sister of his great-grandfather the Emperor Leopold. Elisabeth says that she never says "goodbye" because it "sounds too final". The characters in this film would have spoken German, and the German expression "auf Wiedersehen" sounds much less final than the English equivalent. Like the French "au revoir" it translates roughly as "until we meet again", so I doubt if Elisabeth would have made this remark in real life.
That does not, however, necessarily mean that the film is entirely historically accurate. As played by Omar Sharif, Rudolf is a contradictory character, a strange mixture of liberal and libertine. In his public life he is the symbol of opposition to his more conservative father, the Emperor Franz Josef, and the advocate of enlightened, progressive policies. In his private life, however, he is a dissolute, alcoholic morphine-addicted womaniser with numerous mistresses; his marriage to the Belgian princess Stephanie is miserably unhappy. There is, in fact, some historical evidence to support this view of Rudolf's character, but the political background to his suicide seems to be an invention of the film-makers. Rudolf allows himself to become drawn into a treasonable attempt to dethrone his father as King of Hungary; his motivation is partly the chance to put his liberal ideals into practice, but mostly the thought that as monarch of an independent country he will be able to divorce Stephanie and marry Maria, something that his father has always refused to countenance. (After the Ausgleich of 1867, which granted Hungary self-government within the Empire, most Hungarians were in fact satisfied with the Dual Monarchy and would not have wished to replace Franz Josef as their king, especially if the rival candidate for the throne were a divorcée, something which would not have been acceptable in a predominantly Catholic nation).
None of the leading actors seem altogether believable, the worst offender being, surprisingly, Catherine Deneuve; one would not believe from her withdrawn, passionless interpretation of the role that Maria is a woman so desperately in love that she is willing to die for, and together with, her beloved. Omar Sharif tries harder to make something of Rudolf but without much success. James Mason as Franz Josef often looks as though he wishes he were somewhere else altogether, playing the King (in the words of the old joke) as though someone else had just played the Ace. Ava Gardner's performances during the sixties and seventies were rarely impressive; there were occasional exceptions, but "Mayerling", in which she plays the Empress Elisabeth, was not one of them. Only James Robertson Justice, who plays the Prince of Wales with gusto, makes any impression or shows much enthusiasm.
The film is attractive to look at, with lovingly re-created late Victorian interiors and costumes, but it is overlong and lacking in movement; it would have been improved by editing to make it at least half an hour shorter. 5/10
Some goofs. The Prince of Wales states that his mother is eighty-five years old. At the time of Rudolf's death in January 1889, Queen Victoria was actually sixty-nine years old. She never lived to be eighty-five, dying in 1901 at the age of eighty-one. Franz Josef refers to Marie Antoinette as his great-aunt; she was actually his great-great-aunt, being the sister of his great-grandfather the Emperor Leopold. Elisabeth says that she never says "goodbye" because it "sounds too final". The characters in this film would have spoken German, and the German expression "auf Wiedersehen" sounds much less final than the English equivalent. Like the French "au revoir" it translates roughly as "until we meet again", so I doubt if Elisabeth would have made this remark in real life.