The name of Stefan Zweig means very little today, for most of his once popular novels about Austria and Europe, his biographies, his other works are out of print. In his heyday, the 1920s and 1930s, he was as popular a writer from Middle Europe as Thomas Mann or Robert Musil. But despite the distinction he brought to his work, he ran afoul of history. Zweig was Jewish. He was forced to flee Europe due to the rise of Hitler, and the spread of the Holocaust. Zweig tried to bring word of the mass murders to the rest of the globe, only to meet indifference or hostility or incredulity. In the end, in desperation that he could not do anything, Zweig committed suicide.
Therefore it is odd that this moving and delicate British film has a sensibility and twist that mirrors the tragedy of the author's death. Albert Lieven is seen as a middle aged man at the start of the story. He is approached by a young friend about an impossible love situation and how to handle it. Lieven tells the young man to make sure that he is in love before he decides anything, and then tells him the story of his tragic relationship, in the days just before World War I, with a young baroness played by Lili Palmer. Lieven was a promising Austrian army officer, who sees Palmer at a ball, and goes over to the seated woman to offer to dance with her. But she is crippled. Feeling sorry for Palmer, Lieven stays with her and escorts her home. Her father, Ernest Theisinger, notices that Palmer's sad emotional state is radically altered by Lieven's attention. Lieven, of course, just planned to be friendly that night, but Theisinger takes him aside and begs him to continue his visits. They may help Palmer regain her gaiety and love of life - both of which have left her ever since she had a riding accident that left her crippled.
Lieven, dutifully, keeps attending Palmer in her home. This slowly comes to the attention of his superior who warns him that although she is of the nobility her family are minor nobility at that. If Lieven hopes for the promising military career that he is capable of, he can't be married to this nobody.
Lieven has never actually come out to say that he is interested in marrying Palmer (although in her new euphoria she is thinking along those lines). As the social and career pressures on him, confronting his better nature, Lieven finds it increasingly difficult to decide what to do. At a critical moment he breaks with Palmer, and flees the small town to go to his new post. But on the way he starts reconsidering his situation and realizes he does love Palmer. But can he get back to her now...particularly as war is breaking out? And will she be there to take him back?
Albert Lieven is not a great name to conjure with in cinema, but he was an above average performer. He is one of the two spies/agents who are trying to retrieve a diary they stole in SLEEPING CAR TO TRIESTE, and carried off that role with a nice combination of sexiness, intelligence, and malevolence. Here he shows himself capable of decency and kindness. He tries desperately to do the right thing for Palmer, caring for her tragic situation. However his own tragedy is that he gets far too much advice from too many in this film, and he can't resolve the difficulties of his situation in a timely manner. His tragedy is that he concentrates on Palmer's fragile condition, so that he only sees his actions as pity for her. He fails, until the end, to realize that he would not have returned to her but for his growing affection for her.
As for Lili Palmer, this was not her first lead role, but it is one of her best ones. Her physical disaster has cast a pall over everything in her life (and as a wealthy aristocrat, she should actually have the world as a plaything at this time of life). And suddenly she has a handsome, military man showing concern and interest in her - but is the interest genuine or not. What is he, a lover or a temporary companion? Her tragedy is that her pessimism is too strong when her hopes get shaken.
The interaction of the two is quite good. So is the production, that manages to bring that greater tragedy of the summer of 1914 into the film - even to bringing a scene where Lieven and his fellow officers are addressed by a belligerent Archduke Franz Ferdinand before he went to Sarajevo. I recommend it to the movie fan, who appreciates a bittersweet flavoring at times in his or her cinema.
Therefore it is odd that this moving and delicate British film has a sensibility and twist that mirrors the tragedy of the author's death. Albert Lieven is seen as a middle aged man at the start of the story. He is approached by a young friend about an impossible love situation and how to handle it. Lieven tells the young man to make sure that he is in love before he decides anything, and then tells him the story of his tragic relationship, in the days just before World War I, with a young baroness played by Lili Palmer. Lieven was a promising Austrian army officer, who sees Palmer at a ball, and goes over to the seated woman to offer to dance with her. But she is crippled. Feeling sorry for Palmer, Lieven stays with her and escorts her home. Her father, Ernest Theisinger, notices that Palmer's sad emotional state is radically altered by Lieven's attention. Lieven, of course, just planned to be friendly that night, but Theisinger takes him aside and begs him to continue his visits. They may help Palmer regain her gaiety and love of life - both of which have left her ever since she had a riding accident that left her crippled.
Lieven, dutifully, keeps attending Palmer in her home. This slowly comes to the attention of his superior who warns him that although she is of the nobility her family are minor nobility at that. If Lieven hopes for the promising military career that he is capable of, he can't be married to this nobody.
Lieven has never actually come out to say that he is interested in marrying Palmer (although in her new euphoria she is thinking along those lines). As the social and career pressures on him, confronting his better nature, Lieven finds it increasingly difficult to decide what to do. At a critical moment he breaks with Palmer, and flees the small town to go to his new post. But on the way he starts reconsidering his situation and realizes he does love Palmer. But can he get back to her now...particularly as war is breaking out? And will she be there to take him back?
Albert Lieven is not a great name to conjure with in cinema, but he was an above average performer. He is one of the two spies/agents who are trying to retrieve a diary they stole in SLEEPING CAR TO TRIESTE, and carried off that role with a nice combination of sexiness, intelligence, and malevolence. Here he shows himself capable of decency and kindness. He tries desperately to do the right thing for Palmer, caring for her tragic situation. However his own tragedy is that he gets far too much advice from too many in this film, and he can't resolve the difficulties of his situation in a timely manner. His tragedy is that he concentrates on Palmer's fragile condition, so that he only sees his actions as pity for her. He fails, until the end, to realize that he would not have returned to her but for his growing affection for her.
As for Lili Palmer, this was not her first lead role, but it is one of her best ones. Her physical disaster has cast a pall over everything in her life (and as a wealthy aristocrat, she should actually have the world as a plaything at this time of life). And suddenly she has a handsome, military man showing concern and interest in her - but is the interest genuine or not. What is he, a lover or a temporary companion? Her tragedy is that her pessimism is too strong when her hopes get shaken.
The interaction of the two is quite good. So is the production, that manages to bring that greater tragedy of the summer of 1914 into the film - even to bringing a scene where Lieven and his fellow officers are addressed by a belligerent Archduke Franz Ferdinand before he went to Sarajevo. I recommend it to the movie fan, who appreciates a bittersweet flavoring at times in his or her cinema.