Bride of the Wind (2001)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Bruce Beresford

Writer:

Marilyn Levy (writer)

Release Date:

4 January 2002 (South Africa)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Music

Plot:

This movie is a biopic of Alma Mahler, the wife of composer Gustav Mahler (as well as Walter Gropius and Franz Werfel), and the mistress of Oskar Kokoschka.

Plot Keywords:

Composer | 1800s | Art | Artist | Independent Film

Cast

Sarah Wynter	...	Alma Mahler
Jonathan Pryce	...	Gustav Mahler
Vincent Perez	...	Oskar Kokoschka
Simon Verhoeven	...	Walter Gropius
Gregor Seberg	...	Franz Werfel
Dagmar Schwarz	...	Anna Moll
Wolfgang Hübsch	...	Karl Moll
August Schmölzer	...	Gustav Klimt
Marion Rottenhofer	...	Bertha Zuckerland
Sophie Schweighofer	...	Anna Mahler (Age 6)
Johannes Silberschneider	...	Alexander Zemlinsky
Daniela Dadieu	...	Justine Mahler
Brigitte Antonius	...	Frau Kokoschka
Johanna Mertinz	...	Frau Gropius
Erwin Ebenbauer	...	Dr. Alfred Loos

Also Known As:

Die Windsbraut (Austria)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality and nudity.

Runtime:

USA:99 min

Country:

UK | Germany | Austria

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Canada:A (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Vienna, Austria

Company:

Alma UK Limited

Soundtrack:

Rückert-Lieder: No. 5, Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen

The Boring Bride

This film begins with very great promise. The opening credits are very involving. Unfortunately, the script is banal and not very engaging at all. So after the opening credits, it is all downhill. I just do not believe that the romantic liaisons of Alma Mahler were this shallow and trite. We are led to believe that Alma Mahler is nothing but an opportunistic loose woman. We are given no background to understand her actions. With the exception of her relationship with Gustav Mahler, we are not given any information so that we can understand why so many talented men were drawn to her. Perhaps a more formidable actress would have convinced us otherwise. Her relationships with most of these important historical figures are never really fleshed out so that we can become involved and feel something for these characters.

The acting by Jonathan Pryce as Mahler is good. Vincent Perez is alluring as Kokoschka. However, the weakest acting is that of Simon Verhoeven as Walter Gropius. Ms. Wynter is obviously an excellent actress but she is destroyed by this awful script and she is not that sexually alluring. The music is, of course, wonderful. It is Mahler for the most part.

I was drawn to this film because I wanted to be moved by a chapter in the life of Mahler and to perhaps experience some of the excitement of this period of creative activity in Vienna and Central Europe. The settings are enjoyable but the film is a great disappointment for anyone seeking to know more about the life of Alma Mahler.