Alma Mahler Gropius Werfel either married, or had affairs with, half the great creative men of early 20c. Vienna (thank you, Tom Lehrer!) What did she have that they all wanted? To find out, you'll have to look elsewhere. This film's Alma never reveals the passion, intelligence, and wit that got her Gustav and Walter and Franz. Instead, the movie implies that she gets Mahler interested in her by making a few insulting (and shallow) remarks about his music. When their relationship begins to cool, it's because, among other things, he's been forgetting her birthday.

Mahler himself comes off as an odd combination of diffidence and arrogance; onscreen he displays little of the legendary manic energy and hyperemotive behavior that made his performances at the Court Opera seem revolutionary. I guess the director wanted to stress, in conventional screenplay terms, that he was an Older Man. Even the music he conducts onscreen is taken at a geriatric pace, slower than any of the great recordings of those scores.

Things pick up once Alma moves on to Gropius, and especially when she takes up with Kokoschka and Werfel. Yet a kind of dusty solemnity continues to hang over the proceedings, aided by the beautiful but underlit settings and some very pedestrian dialogue. Renee Fleming fans will enjoy the last scene, and so will folks who enjoy parodies of "American Graffiti."

For music aficionados only: The guy with the bald head in several scenes is Arnold Schoenberg, a genius whose wildly unconventional music helped form the basis of 20c. classical style. Unless I fell asleep (and I may have), he doesn't get to utter a single word. I consider that symptomatic of the whole movie's effort to turn these tortured souls into Ordinary People.


Untitled   June 27, 2003
 11 out of 11 found this review helpful

I stumbled upon this film knowing that it was based on Alma Mahler, the woman who was married to classical composer Gustav Mahler. Since Mahler is a huge fascination of mine, I was compelled to watch this film. While Gustav Mahler seemed to be the central focus of the story in the first half, Alma Mahler gets more of the spotlight during the second, which makes this seem like two different films.

Like another reviewer stated, if you're a history/research buff, you may notice some loopholes or inaccuracies within the story. However, I'm guessing that this wasn't really intended to be epic material. Other than that, the film is quite artistic, beautiful and seductive. In the first half of the movie, it was nice to see Mahler (played by Jonathan Pryce) conducting parts of his 5th symphony, and some of his other pieces, while gaining a little bit of insight into the personality and thought-processes of the composer, however accurate they were. Some of those scenes were painful to watch (especially when Mahler found out he had heart problems, and he was going to die.) Elsewhere, like the critic said on the page, Sarah Wynter as Alma, had a seductive air about her, as she portrays a woman with talent, lust, passion and heartache. Some of the love scenes in here were quite steamy as well.

Overall, if you have interest in Gustav Mahler, Alma Mahler or any of the other historical figures involved in the story, I'd recommend that you view this. Despite not being the most serious or epic of documentaries, there's more than enough ear and eye candy to keep you fascinated.


Bruce Beresford triumphs one again!   June 11, 2003
 4 out of 5 found this review helpful

I must admit, I did rent this specifically to see Renee Fleming (in her very first film role!). My plan was to drudge through a boring movie so Fleming's appearance would make sense to me. However, I was pleasantly surprised to abandon my plan when I found myself not falling asleep, but heavily engrossed in this fascinating and compelling story! First off, Sarah Wynter, an unfairly neglected talent! What a committed and involved actress! She was totally dedicated to this woman. You could tell that she researched this woman's life and throughout the filming, really BECAME Alma in the process. Simple mature sophistication in her acting all the way -- a class act. Gregor Seberg, who plays Franz Werfel gives a convincing portrayl of his wonderful funny charming character. Big kudos to Vincent Perez who plays Oskar Kokoschka. Oskar has a lot of depth and Perez captures this extremely convincingly!

The story kinda drags in the beginning but eventually creates a compelling plot. I thought Alma was written so so well. She was such a developed character and person. I grew to really like her.

And of course, Renee Fleming was spectacular. Such a round, rich, velvety cream chocolate of a voice. Too bad there's less than 10 minutes of her. However, I'm such the movie's soundtrack has more.

I thought this movie was good. It didn't change my life or anything, but it was very good. Out of a 5.0, I give it at 4.0.