Dieter Berner’s 2017 biography is subtitled after one of the best-known paintings by Egon Schiele (1890-1918), the Austrian artist who, under the influence of Gustav Klimt, developed a very personal expressionist style in which figures, often nude and emaciated, are depicted in awkward, painful poses. Criticized for the explicit nature of his work, as well as an unconventional lifestyle and a predilection for using young girls as models (all of which contributed to his arrest and the destruction of some of his canvases), Schiele died, along with his wife, in the Spanish flu epidemic that followed World War I. Schiele was an unusual figure, but Berner’s film treatment starring Noah Saavedra in the title role is extremely conventional, referring back elliptically to the madness of Schiele’s father but emphasizing the artist’s extreme closeness to his sister Gerti (Maresi Riegner), whose nursing of her ill brother in 1918 begins the narrative. Flashbacks start with 1910, when Schiele chose black dancer Moa (Larissa Breidbach) as a model, followed by 1911, as Schiele took up with Klimt’s model Wally Neuzil (Valerie Pachner), who became devoted to him. When Schiele got engaged to young, wealthy Edith Harms (Marie Jung) in 1915, the desolate Wally left (Death and the Maiden is his final portrait of her). The story then proceeds through Schiele’s marital years and army service before returning to 1918. Although handsomely mounted, Egon Schiele feels more like an illustrated encyclopedia entry than a searing drama, and it never fully captures the unique nature of its subject’s artistic vision. It does, however, serve as a capable introduction to the painter’s life. A strong optional purchase. (F. Swietek)
Egon Schiele: Death and the Maiden
Film Movement, 110 min., in German w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $24.95 Volume 34, Issue 1
Egon Schiele: Death and the Maiden
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