Film ReviewsBeloved Sisters: Schiller LightMar 6, 2015 Anchorage Press
|
|
History is made up of events and the people who propel them forward, whether by direct actions or by laying the foundations of thoughts and emotions that help subsequent generations put it in context. History is especially tantalizing when the private lives of historical figures are unconventional or so complex that the telling and retelling of private affairs becomes fodder for the imagination. Beloved Sisters by German director, Dominik Graf tells the story of German writer, poet and thinker Friedrich Schiller (Florian Stetter) and his relationship with his wife and sister-in-law. There is disagreement among historians about the true account of the relationship of Schiller to the sisters, and whether the relationship was sexual, intimate, sibling-like, incestuous, or all four.
The story told in Beloved Sisters hinges on a promise made at the foot of the Rhine Falls between the two sisters, Caroline von Beulwitz (Hannah Herzsprung) and Charlotte von Lengefeld (Henriette Confurius). The aristocratic sisters have grown up without a father and are in a precarious social situation in which marrying well will make the difference between destitution and their continued place in society. Their most intimate and important relationship is with one another, any other relationship, including marriage is secondary and utilitarian. Their pact, witnessed by the wild and flowing waters of the Falls, solidifies their bond and sets forth the promise of sharing everything, being loyal and truthful, always. The sisters are young and beautiful, and their willingness to share makes it so that, when the equally beautiful and young Schiller comes on the scene, he is in like Flynn. One could say that a ménage à trois is all fun and games until somebody gets hurt and someone usually does. The protagonists in Beloved Sisters are not exempt from the imbalance that comes and goes in love triangles. The sisters find that their bond is not immune to growing jealousies and desires.
The premise of Beloved Sisters is alluring and entertaining. The cast is gorgeous, as is the cinematography and painterly tableaux that reflect the social structure of the time and the interactions between characters. The pace and composition of certain scenes are like slow moving paintings of the 18th century. However, Graf does Schiller, his contemporaries, and the events of the time a disservice. The character development relies too much on Stetter's Ken-doll looks and shallow affect. The plot is centered on the partnership of three protagonists in a world unscathed by the reality of the century, in other words, a fantasy place.
Schiller's work is lightly referenced, which makes Beloved Sisters smart, but not brilliant. Graf touches on the significant relationship between Schiller and Johann Wolfgang Goethe, which was monumental to the development of philosophy and literature in that part of the world at that time. But, in Beloved Sisters, Goethe is more of an idea than a player, and this idea looms over the young Schiller until by the end of the movie, it has fizzled in importance. The character of Schiller himself is rather light, so viewers have to take the director at his word that Schiller was brilliant, after all, all the characters say so; Graf does a poor job at showing it. Schiller, as portrayed by Graf comes across as male chauvinist who is more in love with himself than the women he relies on for his livelihood and their connections. There is a subplot that addresses another writer of the time, Caroline von Beulwitz, this subplot is far more substantive because it deals with issues of women writers in the 18th century, not to mention that Herzsprung delivers the complexities of her character flawlessly.
Beloved Sisters is a long movie, too long. So long in fact, that Graf divides the film into two parts. This would be effective except that the time frame and plot are presented linearly, so splitting the movie into two parts does nothing for it, except maybe give the viewer hope that he or she has made it to the halfway mark. Graf goes as far as to use fly-in captions and titles to augment or clarify scenes, but one has to wonder if he has recently discovered the fancy fonts and animation functions in Power Point. It is hard to believe that Beloved Sisters was Germany's official entry to the Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film category, when this is the same country that gave the world the work of Wemer Herzog, Fritz Lang, Rainer Wemer Fassbinder, and even the genius but misguided Leni Riefenstahl.
Beloved Sisters plays at Beartooth on Monday, March 16 at 7:40 p.m.
The story told in Beloved Sisters hinges on a promise made at the foot of the Rhine Falls between the two sisters, Caroline von Beulwitz (Hannah Herzsprung) and Charlotte von Lengefeld (Henriette Confurius). The aristocratic sisters have grown up without a father and are in a precarious social situation in which marrying well will make the difference between destitution and their continued place in society. Their most intimate and important relationship is with one another, any other relationship, including marriage is secondary and utilitarian. Their pact, witnessed by the wild and flowing waters of the Falls, solidifies their bond and sets forth the promise of sharing everything, being loyal and truthful, always. The sisters are young and beautiful, and their willingness to share makes it so that, when the equally beautiful and young Schiller comes on the scene, he is in like Flynn. One could say that a ménage à trois is all fun and games until somebody gets hurt and someone usually does. The protagonists in Beloved Sisters are not exempt from the imbalance that comes and goes in love triangles. The sisters find that their bond is not immune to growing jealousies and desires.
The premise of Beloved Sisters is alluring and entertaining. The cast is gorgeous, as is the cinematography and painterly tableaux that reflect the social structure of the time and the interactions between characters. The pace and composition of certain scenes are like slow moving paintings of the 18th century. However, Graf does Schiller, his contemporaries, and the events of the time a disservice. The character development relies too much on Stetter's Ken-doll looks and shallow affect. The plot is centered on the partnership of three protagonists in a world unscathed by the reality of the century, in other words, a fantasy place.
Schiller's work is lightly referenced, which makes Beloved Sisters smart, but not brilliant. Graf touches on the significant relationship between Schiller and Johann Wolfgang Goethe, which was monumental to the development of philosophy and literature in that part of the world at that time. But, in Beloved Sisters, Goethe is more of an idea than a player, and this idea looms over the young Schiller until by the end of the movie, it has fizzled in importance. The character of Schiller himself is rather light, so viewers have to take the director at his word that Schiller was brilliant, after all, all the characters say so; Graf does a poor job at showing it. Schiller, as portrayed by Graf comes across as male chauvinist who is more in love with himself than the women he relies on for his livelihood and their connections. There is a subplot that addresses another writer of the time, Caroline von Beulwitz, this subplot is far more substantive because it deals with issues of women writers in the 18th century, not to mention that Herzsprung delivers the complexities of her character flawlessly.
Beloved Sisters is a long movie, too long. So long in fact, that Graf divides the film into two parts. This would be effective except that the time frame and plot are presented linearly, so splitting the movie into two parts does nothing for it, except maybe give the viewer hope that he or she has made it to the halfway mark. Graf goes as far as to use fly-in captions and titles to augment or clarify scenes, but one has to wonder if he has recently discovered the fancy fonts and animation functions in Power Point. It is hard to believe that Beloved Sisters was Germany's official entry to the Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film category, when this is the same country that gave the world the work of Wemer Herzog, Fritz Lang, Rainer Wemer Fassbinder, and even the genius but misguided Leni Riefenstahl.
Beloved Sisters plays at Beartooth on Monday, March 16 at 7:40 p.m.