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6.9/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.9/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. So endete eine Liebe remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you like your history lessons served with a side of stiff collars and tragic longing, sure. It’s perfect for people who enjoy watching characters get trapped by their own social status. If you need explosions or even a single scene where someone just relaxes, you are going to be bored to tears. This movie is strictly for the crowd that likes their drama quiet, formal, and slightly painful to watch.
So endete eine Liebe feels like a museum exhibit that somehow started breathing. It is all about the machinery of empire, where people are just parts moving on a board. Napoleon isn't some dashing conqueror here; he is just a man looking for a convenient alliance. It is cold, but that seems to be the point.
Paula Wessely really carries the weight of the thing. She has this way of looking at a room that makes you feel like she’s already mourning her own life. It is not exactly a fun watch, but it’s observant. You notice the way she holds her head when the crown starts to feel heavy.
There is a scene near the middle—I won’t spoil it—but the lighting changes just a hair. It made me think of the visual starkness you see in City Lights, though obviously in a totally different way. Everything here is staged with such precision that you can almost see the director holding his breath.
The pacing is a bit weird. Sometimes it sprints through years, and then it stops dead for a conversation about a letter that lasts ten minutes too long. It feels like the movie is trying to make you feel as trapped as Marie-Luise. I don't know if that was a choice or just an old film being an old film, but it works.
I found myself staring at the background extras more than once. They have this stiff, robotic way of moving that makes the whole court look like a dollhouse. It’s charming in a weird, dusty way. Like a relic you found in an attic that still smells like mothballs and ambition.
Don't expect some grand, sweeping love story. The title tells you exactly what happens, and the movie doesn't try to lie to you about it. It’s just people making bad deals for the sake of 'peace.' It reminded me a bit of the slow, inevitable dread you feel watching the characters in Jofroi, where you know how it ends but you still can't look away.
It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a solid piece of work that knows exactly what it wants to be. If you’re in the mood for something that doesn't care if you like it, this is the one. Just don't expect a happy ending. It's in the title, after all. 🕯️
IMDb —
1928
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