- Country: Austria, France, Germany
- Genres: Drama, History
- Release: 1994-12-25
- Director: N/A
- Writers: N/A
- Language: German
- Stars: Max von Sydow (I) , Charlotte Rampling , Claude Rich , Tilman Günther , Jean-Louis Richard , Julia Stemberger , Elena Sofia Ricci , Friedrich von Thun , Karlheinz Hackl , Fritz Muliar
- Runtime: 255 min
- Awards: 3 wins
- AKA: Radetzky March , La marche de Radetzky (Canada) , Marsz Radeckiego (Poland) , Radetzkymarsch (Austria) , Radetzkymarsch (Australia) , Radetzkymarsch (Germany) , La marcia di Radetzky (Italy) , La marche de Radetzky (France, French Republic) , Radetzkymarsch , O Fim do Império (Portugal, Portuguese Republic)
- Plot: At the battle of Solferino Joseph von Trotta, a lieutenant in the Slovenian infantry, is wounded while saving the life of the young Austrian Emperor Franz-Joseph I. The Emperor rewards him by elevating him in society to a position quite out of keeping with his social rank, and which entirely alienates him from his farming background: Joseph gets promoted to the rank of captain, and is made a member of the nobility. Years later Joseph von Trotta accidentally finds a description of the battle that changed his life in a text-book belonging to his son Franz. Enraged at the over-emotional, patriotic and sentimental way in which the Emperor's rescue at the hands of "the Hero of Solferino" is depicted, he lodges a complaint at the Imperial Court. During an audience, the Emperor, displaying a certain degree of resignation, attempts to convince him that myths are both justifiable and necessary. Joseph, however, discovers "that it was nothing else but craftiness that assured the existence of the world, the power of the law, and the majesty of monarchs. He lost all belief he had ever had in the Emperor." Embittered, Joseph leaves the army and retires to his country estate in Bohemia. Consistent with his actions, he forbids his son Franz von Trotta from taking up a military career. The latter, in his capacity as a provincial prefect, develops into a typical duty-conscious civil servant who never thinks of questioning the monarchy and its existence. Franz then brings up his own son Carl Joseph in a strict, military manner, and forces him to take up a career as an officer against his will. The weak and sensitive grandson Carl Joseph von Trotta bears no trace of the strength and wilfulness of his grandfather. Rank and position are hollow-sounding concepts to him. When his beautiful mistress, wife of sergeant Slama, dies while giving birth to a child that could have been his, and his closest friend, the regimental doctor, Dr. Demant, is killed in a senseless duel because of an alleged love-affair with his wife, Carl Joseph - in an act of self-punishment - has himself transferred to an infantry unit on the Russian border. There he falls victim to alcohol and becomes embroiled in debt trying in vain to escape his depressions and irrational feelings of guilt. His friend Count Chojnicki only manages to drag him out of his melancholy and despair on one single occasion, when he has a mistress brought to him. Carl Joseph spends several carefree weeks in Vienna with Valerie von Taussig, but once he's back in the depressing frontier town he very soon reverts to his old ways. Meanwhile, nationalist and democratic forces are bringing the old Austro-Hungarian Empire to its knees. During the armed suppression of a factory-workers' strike that takes place as the violence continues to escalate, Carl Joseph von Trotta is severely wounded. After his convalescence he is determined to resign his commission. Then during an orgiastic summer party at Schloss Chojnicki, the news arrives of the assassination of the Austrian heir to the throne and his wife in Sarajevo. Soon afterwards, war breaks out, and Carl Joseph, whose resignment has not yet been granted, is sent to the front. There, heroically and without a trace of fear, he walks to his death as, without any protection or covering fire, he goes off to get water for his thirsty soldiers. With this unselfish deed for his nameless men Carl-Joseph once more remembers the roots of his humble origins.
- IMDB:tt0108900
Radetzkymarsch Cast · · · ALL
Max von Sydow
(I)
Baron Franz von Trotta und Sipolje
Tilman Günther
Baron Trotta von Sipolje
Charlotte Rampling
Valérie von Taussig
Claude Rich
Dr. Demant
Jean-Louis Richard
Kapturak
Julia Stemberger
Eva Demant
Gert Voss
(1941–2014)
Graf Chojnicki
Friedrich von Thun
Rittmeister Taittinger
Ernst Stankovski
Kapellmeister Nechval
Fritz Muliar
Herr Knopfmacher
Friedrich W. Bauschulte
Kaiser Franz Joseph
Alexander Strobele
Held von Solferino
Karlheinz Hackl
Wagner
Dagmar Koller
Nachtigall aus Mariahilf
Elena Sofia Ricci
Catherine Slama
Miguel Herz-Kestranek
Kaiser um 40