HerbertVeselywasoneofthepromisesforanewGermancinemaalreadyinthe50's,butafterthe60'shisstarwasalreadydimmed.Hemadeasmallnumberoffilmsinthe70'sand80's,allnontoogood.ThisbiographyofEgonSchiele,oneofthemostimportantAustrianartists,isanexampleofthepretensionsandemptinessofaVesely-filmoflaterdate.eee
ThelifeofSchieleispresentedhereasapuzzle;well,VeselythinksthatSchiele'slifewasapuzzle:thecoreofthestoryiscenteredaroundthefamous1912pornographytrialandusingthisasbasethefilmshowsfragmentsofpastandfuture.Theproblemisthatitneverbecomesaunityandthattheorderofscenesandsequencesseemstobeatrandom:acut-and-pastejobthatcouldhavehadanyotherresult.Indeed,afterseeingittwiceIamalmostconvincedofitthataunsatisfactorylinearthought-outfilmwaschangedintothepuzzleintheeditingroom.EgonSchielewasanenigmaticman,butnotatotalpuzzle,andthisfilmdoesnotbringhimanycloser.
ThefilmsalsofailsinconveyingtheeroticismandmeaningoftheSchiele'spaintings:thecamerawatchesandglidesoverthemodelswithoutanyunderstandingofSchiele'sintentions,weonlyseebeautifulnakedbodies.IfinterestedinSchiele,youbetterbuyabookwithhisworksinstead.