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Bride of the Wind (2001)
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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.
Theatrical Release:Jun 8, 2001 Limited
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
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Reviews for Bride of the Wind
"Remember Sharon Stone in 'The Muse?' Alma Schindler assumes that role in early 20th-century Vienna in this glossy but floundering drama."
Alma comes off not as a courageous trailblazer but as an indiscriminate adventuress afflicted with a short attention span.
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.
This almost laughably shallow film is ultimately more interested in Alma's outfits than anything else.
A better title for the movie would be Accessory of the Wind or Hanger-on of the Wind or Get Rid of That Airhead, Gustav.
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.
The film is stuffed, a loaded basket, but Beresford, Levy and Wynter never find a credible fix on Alma, and the movie is high-brow tourism.
Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy) allows Bride of the Wind to spend too much time spelling out the film's passions in words rather than letting the players show them.
For all the brilliance of the artists portrayed here, not one whit of it is in evidence from their conversation or the way they behave.
Bride of the Wind is burdened with a wooden story and characterizations.
Even though the performers do their utmost to live in the skin of their characters, they're too suffocated to be believable.
Never convinces you that Alma's story is anything more than that of an amorous dilettante whose artistic bloom was delayed more by intellectual laziness.
I felt there was so much more there that could have been told, more struggles that should have been shown.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 83% 83% | Harry Potter and the H… |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 75% 75% | Julie & Julia |
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
| 49% 49% | Taking Woodstock |
| 26% 26% | The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard |
| 47% 47% | The Girl From Monaco |
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