''Maximilian – Das Spiel von Macht und Liebe'' ("Maximilian: The Game of Power and Love"), released in the United States as ''Maximilian and Marie De Bourgogne'' or simply ''Maximilian'', is a 2017 German-Austrian three-part historical miniseries. It is set in 1477, and stars

Jannis Niewöhner Jannis Niewöhner () (born 30 March 1992) is a German actor known for his role in the ''Timeless'' trilogy of films: ''Ruby Red'', ''Sapphire Blue'', and ''Emerald Green'', based on a book series A book series is a sequence of books having certa ...

as Maximilian I and

Christa Théret Christa Théret (born 25 June 1991) is a French actor, best known for their roles as Lola in ''LOL (Laughing Out Loud)'' and as Catherine Hessling, Andrée Heuschling in ''Renoir (2012 film), Renoir''. Early life As a child, Théret aspired to ...

Mary of Burgundy Mary of Burgundy (; ; 13 February 1457 – 27 March 1482), nicknamed the Rich, was a member of the House of Valois-Burgundy who ruled the Burgundian lands, comprising the Duchy of Burgundy, Duchy and Free County of Burgundy, County of Burgundy a ...

. It was directed by

Andreas Prochaska Andreas Prochaska (born 31 December 1964) is an Austrian film director and editor. He directed the 2014 film '' The Dark Valley'', the 2017 miniseries Maximilian and Marie of Bourgogne, and the 2018 series ''Das Boot'', among others. He has cont ...

. It had its world premiere at the

Urania Urania ( ; ; modern Greek shortened name ''Ránia''; meaning "heavenly" or "of heaven") was, in Greek mythology, the muse of astronomy and astrology. Urania is the goddess of astronomy and stars, her attributes being the globe and compass. T ...

movie theater in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, then aired on the Austrian network

ORF 1 ORF 1 (''ORF eins'', ''Österreichischer Rundfunk 1'') is an Austrian public television channel owned by ORF. It was the first television channel in Austria, started in 1955, with regular programming started in 1957 when it now operated six days ...

in March 2017, and on the German network

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

in October 2017. It was acquired and made available for streaming by American cable network

Starz Starz (stylized in all caps as STARZ; pronounced "stars") is an American pay television network owned by Starz Entertainment, and is the flagship property of Starz Inc. Launched in 1994 as a multiplex service of what is now Starz Encore, ...

in April 2018.

Plot

When

Charles the Bold Charles Martin (10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), called the Bold, was the last duke of Burgundy from the House of Valois-Burgundy, ruling from 1467 to 1477. He was the only surviving legitimate son of Philip the Good and his third wife, ...

, Duke of Burgundy, dies in battle, his heiress and only child

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

, intends to rule alone, despite being coveted by various suitors. Mary resists the rich

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

burghers who, in cahoots with

Louis XI of France Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revolt known as the ...

, try to force her to marry the Dauphin

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

, a boy who is of a weak mentality and twelve years younger than her. Meanwhile, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III wants his son, Maximilian, to marry the duchess. Witnessing her ministers being executed and her territories invaded by France, Mary decided to send her lady-in-waiting Johanna von Hallewyn to Maximilian with a message. The young and warlike Maximilian despises his father's sluggishness and aversion to his enemies like the Hungarian King

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and ...

. Although he was in love with his sister

Kunigunde Kunigunde, Kunigunda, or Cunigunde, is a European female name of German origin derived from "kuni" (clan, family) and "gund" (war). In Polish this is sometimes Kunegunda or Kinga (disambiguation), Kinga. People with such names include: *Kunigunde of ...

's lady-in-waiting Rosina von Kraig, ultimately he decided for the marriage as a chance to prove himself. After overcoming many dangers, the prince and the duchess finally meet each other. The two find that they share many similarities and develop sympathy for each other. Johanna falls in love with Maximilian's close friend Wolfgang von Polheim, which temporarily give them some troubles because she's a married woman. Mary gives birth to a son,

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...

. Maximilian defeats the invading French army at the Battle of Guinegate. Not long after this, they have a

daughter A daughter is a female offspring; a girl or a woman in relation to her parents. Daughterhood is the state, condition or quality of being someone's daughter. The male counterpart is a son. Analogously the name is used in several areas to show r ...

. But at the height of their happiness, a fatal accident befalls Mary while the couple are hunting together, leaving Maximilian alone with the children.

Principal cast

Production

The series was filmed in a mix of French and German, with German-speaking actors (such as Niewöhner) speaking German and French-speaking actors (such as Théret) speaking French. The Austrian ORF broadcast the film immediately after filming, in December 2016, but ZDF waited ten months so that it could be broadcast on 3 October of the next year, the

German Unity Day German Unity Day (, ) is the national day of Germany, celebrated on 3 October as a public holiday. It commemorates German Reunification in 1990 when the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) joined the Federal Republic of Germany (West Ger ...

. The production of the film made use of "55 castles, palaces, cloisters and medieval streets, 3000 extras, 680 horses, 1050 costumes and 450 suits of armours".

Reception

The film has induced some discussions on historicity and the modern images of the main characters. The German ''

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The (; ''FAZ''; "Frankfurt General Newspaper") is a German newspaper founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt and is considered a newspaper of record for Germany. Its Sunday edition is the ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung'' ( ...

'' criticizes the film for making Mary of Burgundy a proto-feminist character and opines that the viewers should be spared "the smut of a young man between two women", given that the marriage had been planned in details between the two families for a long time (according to historians such as Maximilian's prominent biographer though, at this time, the prince was actually in love with the lady-in-waiting Rosina von Kraig, and it was not easy for him to leave or forget her either, although later he did fall in love with Mary). The critic on the other hand praises the film for living up to its title "Game of love and power" and illustrating contemporary politics well, with good hints for modern problems. The art historian Koen Kleijn finds the movie impressive and wonders why this Austrian-German-Hungarian collaborative project gets broadcast in Finland, Russia, Italy, Denmark, and Spain, but not in the Netherlands where Mary of Burgundy was introduced into the Canon of the Netherlands in 2019, with part of the commission's explanation being cited as "Maria

ary ARY may stand for: * Abdul Razzak Yaqoob, a Pakistani expatriate businessman * Andre Romelle Young, real name of Dr. Dre * Ary and the Secret of Seasons, an action adventure video game * ARY Digital, a Pakistani television network * ARY Digital Net ...

s Habsburg marriage determined the international position of the Netherlands for centuries." (a decision Kleijn is personally against, for "The only demonstrable significance of Mary of Burgundy ..is that she willingly allowed herself to be married off by her father to an Austrian."; historians' evaluation of her person and reign has remained controversial until this day).

References

External links