Colonel Redl

"Gentlemen, is this a great moment or a small one? I can't tell."

The strange case of Alfred Redl remains legendary in Central Europe. A Galician Jew, his intelligence, dedication and innovative methods (introducing electronic surveillance to espionage) nonetheless earned him appointment to Austria's general staff while pursuing various homosexual affairs. The latter left him open to blackmail, with Russian intelligence operatives forcing Redl to provide them military secrets. Besides the case's tabloid aspects, many believe Redl's transgressions (selling fortification plans and troop deployments to Russia) directly cost thousands of Austrian lives in World War I.

Redl's best-known in the Anglosphere through John Osborne's scandalous play A Patriot for Me (1966), whose outre decadence (namely a lengthy drag ball in Act II) demolished the Lord Chamberlain's censorship power in England. Hungarian director Istvan Szabo's Colonel Redl (1985) is more subdued, mixing character study with rich historical panorama. Szabo shows prewar Europe as a tinderbox of ethnic tensions and imperial power plays.

Alfred Redl (Klaus Maria Brandauer) rises through the turn-of-the-century Austrian army. He pursues a discreet private life, marrying a noblewoman (Gudrun Landgrebe) while seeing a succession of male lovers. Redl's talents impress Archduke Franz Ferdinand (Armin Mueller-Stahl), who enlists him as chief of intelligence, ferreting out Russian spies and removing political undesirables. After a botched cleanup operation Redl begins losing faith in his mission. Redl learns that Ferdinand is planning a coup d'etat against the ailing Emperor Franz Josef, leading him to betray military to secrets to Russia.

Elegantly directed with rich period trappings, Colonel Redl functions primarily as a personal tragedy. Redl reminds us of Bertolucci's The Conformist, a deviant outsider obsessed with being "normal." In his polyglot country with dozens of nationalities (Austrians, Magyars, Poles, Galicians, Ukranians, Czechs) identity becomes a key marker of success. Forced to suppress both his sexuality and Jewish origins, Redl becomes a violent chauvinist, physically assaulting those who insult the Emperor. He keeps an unloved wife for appearance's sake, distancing himself from lifelong friend/lover Kubinyi (Jan Niklas). Redl's pose unnerves his peers but pleases Austrian officials, who peg him as an unthinking hatchet man.

Unfortunately, Szabo ascribes Redl's betrayal to conscience and principle. This wasn't a single act in a weak moment, but years of sustained espionage extorted by Russian spymasters. Svabo himself served as a police informant, and the movie may have been a covert act of self-justification. Regardless, Colonel Redl could have shown its protagonist in a more accurate and complex light, instead of an honorable man pushed too far. Nonetheless, Redl's central dilemma - of creating a false image, of "becoming" the ideal Austrian, at the loss of genuine identity - retains dramatic power.

Szabo additionally draws a vivid portrait of prewar Europe. Dominating the film's second half is Archduke Franz Ferdinand, a ferocious schemer eager to preserve the Dual Monarchy at all costs. The Austro-Hungarian Empire teeters on the verge of collapse, its minorities clamoring for independence; neighboring Russia, Italy and Serbia nibble at its borders. Reviewing one of Redl's operations, Ferdinand runs down a list of ethnicities to blame before finding an "acceptable" scapegoat. Later he chillingly predicts the need for a "local war," initiated by an assassination, to reinvigorate Austria. When Redl's superiors learn of his homosexuality he too becomes an expendable pawn.

Klaus Maria Brandauer gives a commendably sensitive turn. Wisely, Brandauer doesn't make Redl likeable, instead playing him as a single-minded careerist mixing jingoism with self-loathing. The actor gradually allows Redl sympathy, his ultimate realization and downfall registering powerfully. Brandauer briefly became an international star, appearing in Never Say Never Again and Out of Africa before returning to European cinema.

Armin Mueller-Stahl (The X-Files) underplays his villainous Archduke, soft-spoken but effortlessly menacing. Hans Christian Blech (Decision Before Dawn) features as Redl's mentor. Jan Niklas and Andras Balint play two of Redl's colleagues and lovers. Gudrun Langrebe handles a thankless role well, showing tragic awareness of her superfluity in Redl's life.

Colonel Redl is an enjoyable period piece. For viewers put off by the artsiness of Miklos Jancso and Bela Tarr, it's a good intro to Hungarian cinema.