How sad is this?

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

I really enjoyed this film! They are so fantastic in describing how Austria-Hungary went from high to low in a short period of time. As a matter of fact when I move around territories which used to be part of Austria-Hungary that country was more successful country then are the countries that exist on its territory save may be Austria today.The plot is great, shots of fantastic vistas of the former Empire and acting is excellent, especially EMB.If you are history student of Austria-Hungary period this is a definitely film for you.If you are from Austria or Hungary or other countries that inherited territories of the former Monarchy, you have to see this film, it is a part of your history.

"Colonel Redl" is based on a famous scandal that took place in the last years of the Austro-Hungarian empire, and its greatest strength is in how it evokes the masculine militarism of the era. It follows the life of Alfred Redl (Klaus Maria Brandauer), who rose from humble origins to become a spymaster for Crown Prince Franz Ferdinand, but struggled to repress his homosexuality and eventually betrayed his country.The movie makes Redl less treasonous than he seems to have been in reality, and Brandauer's performance keeps him sympathetic, too. We see how Redl's extreme loyalty to the army destroys his humanity and fills him with self-loathing; thus, when he finally stops lying to himself, it comes as a relief (even though this now means that he is lying to everybody else)."Colonel Redl" is probably too long (2 hours 20 minutes) for the story it wants to tell, and yet it still sometimes glosses over its characters' motivations. For instance, Redl claims he has no interest in marrying, then the very next scene depicts his wedding; and his wife never gets sufficiently characterized. Sometimes the scene transitions are subtly clever; other times they are abrupt and choppy."Colonel Redl" is thus neither accurate history nor fully engaging drama, but it is a good portrait of the declining Austro-Hungarian empire. It shows many of the factors that led to World War I: pervasive ethnic tensions, the belief that war was necessary and proper, and a military command more concerned with preserving archaic ideals than with investigating actual, pressing threats. In the end, they paid for this, when discontented Serbians assassinated Franz Ferdinand and started World War I--the war that caused the world of "Colonel Redl" to disappear for good.

The second of director Istvan Szabo's collaborations with actor Klaus Maria Brandauer (I have also watched the first, MEPHISTO [1981, but not the third, HANUSSEN [1988]) is a well-mounted and stately production, typically meticulous and thought-provoking, highlighting the actor's towering leading performance. Once again examining the country's history at the time of a major upheaval (the eve of WWI) and with Brandauer - very ably inhabiting every facet of his complex role - giving another subtle, compelling portrayal of misjudged pride and the shameful exposure (thankfully, the homosexual angle of the plot is barely stressed) at the hands of the regime he had devoted his life to serving.

"Colonel Redl" (German, 1984): Starring Klaus Marie Brandauer, directed by Istvan Szabo. This is the second film of a trilogy. (The first, "Mephisto", the third, "Hanussen" I do not own, but will try to find for rental.) Here we are in Germany again, but before WWI. A young man decides that the only way to raise himself from his peasant roots is to enter the aristocratic military world – and is willing to do anything to get in, stay in, and advance in. This he does, but there's always The Price. He slowly loses those things and people which held any meaning or joy for him. He finds himself an amateur in a world that is completely Darwinian, and long-practiced in the art of manipulation. Like "Mephisto", the ladder climber seems to reach spectacular heights, only to be tossed down when it most serves those who were never out of control. These films of Szabo start light, start fluffy, and slowly change into foreboding, evil, hopeless stories with NO optimism towards the human spirit, organized groups of humans, or Time being a teacher. They are very insightful essays on these subjects.