Corsage, the big sensation of last year’s film festival and awards season, will finally be available in cinemas on Wednesday, 1 February. Directed by Marie Kreutzer, the period piece is a contemporary take on the complicated life of Sissi (Empress Elisabeth of Austria). Vicky Krieps, who is currently lauded as one of Europe’s best actresses, portrays the Empress with an unadorned honesty. Sonora Broka will introduce the film and speak about Sissi’s life and the era she lived in. Broka is the Creative Director of RIGA IFF and has a special interest in life during the late Victorian era, its architecture, fashion, and traditions.

Sissi’s glamorous life is like champagne that even the ruling Habsburg patriarchy, a passionless marriage, and stiff traditions cannot quell. Vicky Krieps is magnetic as the Empress of Austria, her portrayal transcending the stiffness characteristic of costume dramas. In the late 19th century, Sissi makes her own rules, raising an elegant middle finger to the establishment. Marie Kreutzer’s direction is engagingly cinematic and contemporary, and the script does not reduce Sissi to a parody.

With her magnificent hair adornments and her cinched waist, the famous Elisabeth feels bored. Her marriage to her husband Franz Joseph is dull, her children are independent, on top of which the Empress has no real political power. As she approaches her 40th birthday, she struggles to maintain her public image by pulling her corset tighter and tighter. Finally, starving for knowledge and joie de vivre, Sissi travels to England and Bavaria to visit her former lovers and old friends. She hatches a plan to leave a lasting impression, despite the norms that are imposed on her.

Krieps won both the award for best performance at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section as well as the award for best actress at the European Film Academy Awards for her role in Corsage. The film has additionally been nominated for awards for best director at 15 international film festivals. Corsage has already attracted interest in Latvia, becoming the second most viewed film at the Riga International Film Festival in 2022.

The screening on 1 February marks the start of the film’s limited theatrical run. More information about the film can be found at rigaiff.lv/corsage.