Kronprinz Rudolf (2006) (TV)

Director:

Robert Dornhelm

Writers:

Didier Decoin (writer)
Klaus Lintschinger (writer)

Release Date:

30 April 2006 (Austria)

Genre:

Drama | Biography | Romance | History

Tagline:

Rudolf - The true story of a royal rebel and his tragic love.

Plot:

A retelling of the tragic love affair between Austrian Archduke Rudolf and Baroness Mary Vetsera.

Plot Keywords:

Crown Prince | Palace | Tragedy | Suicide | Costume Drama

Awards:

1 win

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Max von Thun	...	Rudolf
Vittoria Puccini	...	Mary Vetsera
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Caroline Athanasiadis	...	Female Opera Singer
Gabriel Barylli	...	Miguel de Braganza
Wolfgang Böck	...	Bratfisch
Klaus Maria Brandauer	...	Emperor Franz-Joseph
Renate Brandtner	...	Gisela
Andrew Burey	...	Albrecht
Sandra Ceccarelli	...	Empress Elisabeth 'Sisi'
Julia Cencig	...	Marie Larisch
Christian Clavier	...	Prime Minister Taaffe
Hilde Dalik	...	Anna (at Madame Wolf's)
Stefanie Dvorak	...	Ida Ferenczy
Saskia Fanta	...	Maid Erna
Manfred Feller	...	Petitioner
Albert Fortell	...	Dr. Widerhofer
Rainer Frieb	...	Sarah's father
Michael Friedl	...	Jewish Boy #2
Michou Friesz	...	Madame Wolf
Phillippa Galli	...	Hanna Vetsera (adult) (as Pippa Galli)
Daniela Golpashin	...	Stephanie
Georg Hauke	...	Reuss
Veronika Hepperle	...	Mary Vetsera (child)
Wolfgang Hübsch	...	Archbishop Schwarzenberg
Julia Jentsch	...	Sarah Maisel
Bernd Jeschek	...	Count Hoyos
Christian Kainradl	...	Commanding Hungarian Officer
Fritz Karl	...	Archduke Johann
Georges Kern	...	Schönerer
Karl Maria Kinsky	...	Brehm
Michael König	...	Georges Clemenceau
Hubert Kramar	...	Bay Middleton
Thomas Kratochvil	...	Valérie's Fiancé
Joachim Król	...	Moritz Szeps
Karl Markovics	...	Bombelles
Roman Martin	...	Johann Strauss
Birgit Minichmayr	...	Mizzi Kaspar
Lily Moshen	...	Valérie (adult)
David Oberkogler	...	Canon's Servant
Maxi Österreicher	...	Jewish Boy #1
Michael Ostrowski	...	Count Pista Karolyi
Nikolaus Paryla	...	Loschek
Adolf Peischl	...	Archbishop
Kimberley Petzl	...	Valerie (child)
Lothar Michael Proksch	...	King Leopold II
Stefan Puntigam	...	Bohumil
Lea Rometsch	...	Erzsi
Kimberly Rydel	...	Hanna Vetsera (child)
Robert Sadil	...	Official
Heribert Sasse	...	Krauss
Balazs Schallenberg	...	Hungarian Officer
Steven Scheschareg	...	Male Opera Singer
Sabina Schreib	...	Mary's Maid
Roland Schröck	...	Leopold of Bavaria
Dagmar Schwarz	...	Nun
Omar Sharif	...	Hans Canon
Marcus Siebert	...	Willigut
Johannes Silberschneider	...	Meissner
Robert Stadlober	...	Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany
Otto Tausig	...	Capucin Monk
Gudrun Tielsch	...	Susi (at Madame Wolf's)
Peter Traxler	...	Tailor
Alexandra Vandernoot	...	Helene Vetsera
Christoph von Friedl	...	Demonstrator
Francesca von Habsburg	...	Queen Marie-Henriette
Lukas Weinfurter	...	Small boy
Lena Wiesbauer	...	Maid
Peter Woy	...	Coburg
Christoph Zadra	...	Event Producer

Also Known As:

Il destino di un principe (Italy)
Kronprinz Rudolf - Sissis einziger Sohn (Germany) (DVD box title)
Kronprinz Rudolfs letzte Liebe (Germany)
Prince Rodolphe: l'héritier de Sissi (France)
The Crown Prince (International: English title) (DVD box title)

Runtime:

Austria:180 min (2 episodes) | Germany:180 min (original length) | Germany:105 min (TV premiere) (heavily cut) | Germany:105 min

Country:

Austria | France | Germany | Italy

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Austria

Company:

EOS Entertainment

Excellent

This mini TV-serial is a dramatic retelling of the life and death of Kronprinz Rudolf von Habsburg, who committed suicide together with his love, Baroness Mary Vetsera, in the infamous small castle at Mayerling. There have been various films about this subject, even a Hollywood production starring Catherine Deneuve and Omar Sharif as Rudolf, who is also part of this recent production as a painter and friend of Rudolf, but they all stressed the romantic subtext of the events and largely ignored the political and personal conflicts which made Rudolf do what he did. But this new film version of the story really does include quite a lot of Rudolf's personal and political background and in the end portrays him as one of the first to imagine an united and peaceful Europe, an idea his time and age wasn't yet ready for.

Direction and photography of the lavish sets are very well done considering this is just a TV production. The cast consists of mostly well known Austrian or German actors who all do a great job, but also includes Omar Sharif and Sandra Ceccarelli as Empress Elisabeth of Austria, who possibly (next to the actor playing Rudolf) gives the best performance of this movie. Being cast as Elisabeth of Austria always involves carrying the heavy burden of Romy Schneider's great performance in Viscontis "Ludwig II", but Ms. Ceccarelli not only has the very well done script which portrays Elisabeth as a multi-faceted person on her side, but also her interesting face and her talent.

All in all it's funny to compare this Austrian TV-event with its recent German counterpart, the mini TV-serial "Störtebeker", which was big fun to watch but not only lacked good direction and photography, but also the depth and talent behind it that "Kronprinz Rudolf" obviously has.