|
|
 |
|
“One of the finest and most misunderstood of all Ophüls' films”according to Ophüls authority Robin Wood, FROM MAYERLING TO SARAJEVO was the last film the director completed in France before fleeing the Nazis to America (and Hollywood). A sumptuous historical drama shot with the extravagant style of his later work, the film is set in the corrupt Austro-Hungarian court, and chronicles the love affair of Countess Sophie and Archduke Ferdinand as they are swept up in the events that led to the First World War. Ophüls luxuriates in the elegance of court life and characteristically is more interested in the plight of the countess than in the impending doom of the heir apparent. “Finds him relishing the sort of thing he did best - casting an ironic eye on the aristocracy and portraying a bitter-sweet romance against a background of operas, balls, and rides through the woods” (Bloomsbury Foreign Film Guide).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|