Alma Mahler is flirting again.
Bride of the Wind (2001)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:65
Fresh:7
Rotten:58
Average Rating:3.6/10
Consensus: Bride of the Wind drags for its length, and Alma, rather than being the proto-feminist the film wants her to be, comes across more as a dilettante of mediocre talent.
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: In this semi-biographical tale of Alma Schindler (Sarah Wynter), who became Alma Mahler when she married the famous composer Gustav Mahler (Jonathan Pryce), director Bruce Beresford transports... In this semi-biographical tale of Alma Schindler (Sarah Wynter), who became Alma Mahler when she married the famous composer Gustav Mahler (Jonathan Pryce), director Bruce Beresford transports audiences to Vienna at the turn of the 20th Century. The film explores Alma's relationships not only with Mahler, her first husband, but also with architect Walter Gropius (Simon Verhoeven), artist Oskar Kokoschka (Vincent Perez), and the man with whom she remarried, author Franz Werfel. With excellent casting, these intriguing historical figures are brought back to life through actors that bear impressive physical resemblance to them. The joyous but loveless Gustav Mahler is expertly played by Jonathan Pryce, and maintains a significant role in the film even after his death, through both his music and a lifelike bronze bust that Alma displays prominently in her home. The rest of the story plays up Alma's beauty and her clever pickup lines, colorfully illustrating each move she makes as she learns to attract, charm, and enrapture the men she seduces, ultimately serving as their muse. However, throughout her love affairs, Alma maintains her individuality and her interest in her own musical compositions, which she victoriously produces for a grand performance near the end of the film. Thus, BRIDE OF THE WIND frees itself from its quaint biopic packaging, positioning Alma as a harbinger of women's convictions, rights, and creative talents. [More]
Starring: Sarah Wynter, Jonathan Pryce, Vincent Perez, Simon Verhoeven
Starring: Sarah Wynter, Jonathan Pryce, Vincent Perez, Simon Verhoeven, Marion Rottenhofer, Dagmar Schwarz, August Schmolzer, Johannes Silberschneider
Director: Bruce Beresford
Director: Bruce Beresford
Screenwriter: Marylin Levy
Producer: Mario Kassar, Evzen Kolar, Lawrence Levy
Composer: Gustav Mahler, Alma Mahler, Stephen Endelman
Studio: Paramount Classics
Reviews for Bride of the Wind
Sarah Wynter doesn't quite have the chops, Bruce Beresford doesn't quite have the heart, and the audience probably doesn't have anywhere near the level of interest.
Never successfully answers what Alma Schindler had that drew composer Gustav Mahler, architect Walter Gropius, writer Franz Werfel, and painter Oskar Kokoschka to her.
Beresford and his screenwriter, Marilyn Levy, have a wealth of compelling material at their disposal. But somehow the film doesn't quite cohere.
If this movie is any evidence of Alma's true persona, I'd contend that the miserable gal never deserved her own bio-pic in the first place.
Bride of the Wind is burdened with a wooden story and characterizations.
As Sarah Wynter plays Alma, it's difficult to see what all the hue and cry was about.
As in most film biographies, we suffer from lack of understanding of the motivating forces behind the events of the person's life.
It’s just another attractive costume drama, with a few sexy scenes thrown in for spice, and a classical music setting that qualifies this as another difficult-to-market artsy film.
Watching it is like walking, walking, walking down a never-ending aisle.
The filmmakers' limited notions of genius, simple humanity and, probably, feminism seem to have defeated everyone involved.
Incredibly superficial and clinically icy, with characters who act so aloof that it's hard to care about what happens to them.
"Remember Sharon Stone in 'The Muse?' Alma Schindler assumes that role in early 20th-century Vienna in this glossy but floundering drama."
The turgid Marilyn Levy screenplay ... induced giggles at the screening.
[Wynter] simply doesn't show the stuff of a major star, and the well-mounted movie falls flat all around her.
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