The Prince of Homburg

While Heinrich von Kleist's 1811 play The Prince of Homburg is a historically significant work--one that helped to nurture the spirit of militant German nationalism that spurred the resistance to Napoleonic occupation--its exaltation of absolute deference to authority as the cornerstone of patriotism is, from the modern perspective, rather frightening. Worse, there's no sense of irony in Marco Bellocchio's curiously stilted 1997 adaptation, which stars Andrea Di Stefano as a rash 17th century nobleman who leads his cavalry regiment in a daring but successful assault against Swedish invaders. Nevertheless, since the prince violated direct orders in undertaking the attack, his Prussian sovereign orders him executed as an example to the troops, despite his own affection for the young man. Initially, the prince pleads for his life, as does his beloved, the duke's own daughter; but when the condemned man is given the opportunity to decide his own fate, he ultimately chooses death as just punishment for his disobedience. The message that personal judgment must be subjugated to the decrees of government is one that's hard to accept today, but even apart from that, the artificiality and stiffness of Bellocchio's approach is unlikely to endear his film to contemporary viewers. Not a necessary purchase. (F. Swietek)