6.4/10
Senior Film Conservator

A definitive 6.4/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Luise, Königin von Preußen remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have a weird itch to see how early German cinema treated its national myths, sure. Go for it. But if you're looking for something that actually moves, stay away. This is strictly for the history nerds and people who collect old theater programs.
Henny Porten carries the whole thing on her shoulders, which is honestly a lot to ask of anyone. She plays the Queen with this heavy, tragic intensity that makes you feel like she’s carrying the entire Prussian treasury in her pockets. It’s effective, I guess, but it’s also exhausting.
The movie feels stiff. Not just "old movie" stiff, but I-think-the-camera-was-bolted-to-the-floor stiff. You get these long, sweeping scenes of people in expensive costumes standing in rooms that look like they haven't been aired out in a decade. Napoleon shows up, and he’s portrayed exactly how you’d expect—arrogant and looming—but there’s no real spark between the characters.
There's this one moment where they're negotiating the Peace of Tilsit, and the tension is supposed to be thick enough to cut with a knife. Instead, it feels like watching a very slow, very expensive board game where everyone has already lost.
Comparing this to something like The W Plan makes you realize how differently people approached historical conflict on screen. One feels like a spy thriller, and this feels like a funeral march. It doesn't have the grit of Rain, that's for sure. It’s just... very polite.
I found myself drifting off around the hour mark. The film keeps trying to convince you that this moment matters, that history is happening right in front of your eyes, but it forgot to make the humans in the room feel like, well, humans. They’re just statues reciting dates. 🏛️
It’s not bad, necessarily. It’s just very, very heavy. If you want to see how a star like Porten navigates a script that doesn't give her much to do besides look sad, be my guest. Otherwise, it’s a bit of a slog.

IMDb —
1918
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