Ehrengard The Art of Seduction Review: Directed by Bille August, this Danish rom-com period film (Ehrengard: Förförelsens konst) is based on the novel Ehrengard by Karen Blixen. The film, with a runtime of 94 minutes, stars Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, Alice Bier Zandén, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Emilie Kroyer Koppel, Jacob Hauberg Lohmann, Emil Aron Dorph, Sara-Marie Maltha and others.
Ehrengard The Art of Seduction Plot
In order to teach her son the art of seduction in hopes that he will find a wife soon, the Grand Duchess appoints Cazotte, a seduction expert, to help him break through his shy exterior. However, he finds himself in a shocking scandal of his own when he finds himself falling in love.
– Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction Review Does Not Contain Spoilers –
Ehrengard The Art of Seduction Review
Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction feels like one might be gossiping with their friends while sitting in a castle somewhere. There’s something really uncomfortable about the movie that will leave you very confused about what is happening. There is a lot of flirting, a lot of horniness, and a lot of sexually charged discussions that will leave you feeling positively heated. However, not because you feel their passion or something but because the situations seem a bit weird and painfully cringy at times.
Cazotte is an artist, and what that means is that he flirts with everyone and tries to get into anyone and everyone’s pants. He’s quite cocky as well, but he’s not as suave as everyone in the film will have you believe. At least as the audience, you will be able to see how hard he tries to get what he wants, and things don’t come as easily to him as he might have you believe.
The storyline is also quite clear and precise – there’s a throne to protect and people who are trying to take it. In the midst of this, Cozette just really wants to land this girl because she is beauty incarnate to him. Thus, this is a story as old as time, with little to nothing new. The storyline goes at an incredible pace, other than Cazotte talking about stuff in the most roundabout way possible. I guess it could seem like poetry to some, but I understand the Grand Duchess’s problem – just spill out what you have to say!
The Duke’s cousin and his wife play the bad guys in this tale. They really want the throne – a standard practice. However, the movie’s real antagonist, at least to me, feels like Cazotte. Much like After (and many other unwatchable movies like it), the guy starts a bet to seduce a poor woman who doesn’t know that she’s being very thoroughly manipulated with the help of several brains working together to make it happen. It’s just crass to watch this manipulation going down, regardless of whether this happens in the past or present.
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Thankfully, the series ends in a win for all those who don’t like cheap tricks to bed a woman, but it’s still not enough because Cazotte, somehow, turns into this lady whisperer of sorts. What I mean to say here is that, Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction doesn’t show us anything about seduction. We don’t see Cazotte successfully seduce anyone, other than women who want to sleep with him in the first place. Thus, his attitude and the ending all feel ingenuine and, frankly, embarrassing. The point of the baby and all, too, doesn’t work into the seduction plot because that, too, is neither seductive nor does it seem fair.
The movie, however, looks rather stunning, and the colours look rich and beautiful. Performances are fine as well, although the actors were dealt with really bad characters who are just annoying to watch. At least Ehrengard is a woman with a good head on her shoulders, so she gives hope that there’s something good in this world still. Mikkel Boe Følsgaard’s Cazotte is cocky as all heck but didn’t translate into being the casanova type for me, and the fact that an old man is preying on a young woman, making up conniving tricks with the Grand Duchess, and not bothering to ask her consent in all this, is enough to leave a bad taste in anyone’s mouth.
Ehrengard The Art of Seduction Review: Final Thoughts
Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction is a very confusing and anger-inducing movie that is very problematic and annoying. We don’t find anyone seducing anyone else, and what is termed seduction is just another word for manipulation and voyeurism in this scenario.
Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction is streaming on Netflix.
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The funny thing is that this movie received rave reviews in its home country Denmark. That is not surprising since the director is Bille August and it is true that he has made some good movies in the past.
I am Danish and soooooo tired of boring danish movies getting great reception. This one is really annoying and absolutely not funny. The acting is horrible but I think that is due to the material and bad direction.
Don’t waste your time with this one!
More than anything, I found the movie insultingly sexist and the Cazotte absolutely not charming. He was this greasy older man preying on women as if they were his playthings for the taking! Infuriating.