The 1928 Habsburg Tragedy: A Very Dusty and Dramatic Slog

You should probably watch this if you are a history nerd or if you really like looking at very detailed 1920s sets. If you want something with a fast pace or clear explanations, you are going to absolutely hate it.

It’s a silent movie from 1928, so you have to be in a specific mood for it. Like, a 'drinking tea while it rains' kind of mood.

The whole thing is about the Habsburgs. It's basically a long, slow walk toward a cliff for the entire Austrian empire.

The main thing everyone talks about is Leni Riefenstahl being in it. She plays Maria Vetsera, the young girl who died with Prince Rudolf at Mayerling.

She is actually really good at the doomed lover look. Her eyes are huge and she looks genuinely terrified half the time.

There is this one scene where she is just staring at a letter. It goes on for so long I started looking at the wallpaper in the background.

The wallpaper was actually pretty interesting. It had these tiny floral patterns that must have taken forever to put up.

The movie is very heavy. Like, physically heavy with all the velvet and the big hats and the serious faces.

Everyone looks like they are carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders. Which, I guess they were, since the empire was falling apart.

It reminded me a bit of Die letzte Stunde in how it handles that sense of an ending. But this one feels more like a museum piece.

The guy playing the Emperor, Franz Joseph, has a mustache that deserves its own credit in the cast list. It is magnificent and distracting.

I found myself wondering how he ate soup with that thing. Probably very carefully.

There are these weirdly long shots of empty hallways. I think they were trying to show how lonely the palace was.

But mostly it just made me think the director forgot to yell cut. Or maybe the actors just wandered off to get coffee.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Das Schicksal derer von Habsburg - Die Tragödie eines Kaiserreiches (1928) through its definitive frames.

The lighting in the palace scenes is oddly dark. You can barely see what is happening in the corners of the room.

It gives the whole movie a murky, claustrophobic feel. Like you’re trapped in a basement with a bunch of depressed royals.

I noticed a small dog in one scene that looked way more excited than anyone else. It was a nice break from all the historical tragedy.

The movie doesn't really explain the politics very well. You kind of have to know who everyone is already.

If you don't know who Rudolf was, you might just think he's a guy who is very bad at making decisions. Which is also true, I guess.

The makeup is wild. Everyone has these dark circles under their eyes.

It makes them look like they haven't slept since 1880. It’s very dramatic, but a bit much after an hour.

There’s a bit of a similarity to the vibe in Through the Valley of Shadows. Just that feeling of people being stuck in their own heads while everything goes wrong.

The titles cards are okay, but sometimes they stay on screen for about five seconds too long. I’m a slow reader, and even I was finished way before they flipped.

The ending is... well, it’s a tragedy. You know what's coming.

But the way they film the final moments is actually quite beautiful. It’s soft and blurry and feels like a dream ending.

It makes you forget for a second that the whole thing was kind of a slog to get through. Just for a second though.

I wouldn't call this a masterpiece. It's more like a very long, very expensive home movie for people who miss the monarchy.

But it has its moments. If you like seeing how people in the 20s imagined the 1880s, it’s worth a look.

Just make sure you have some coffee nearby. You'll need it during the hallway scenes. ☕