Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction’ on Netflix, A Modern Fairy Tale Farce

Important Fact:

Release Date : 14 September, 2023

Running Time : 1 Hour 34 Minutes

Genre : Romantic, Drama, Comedy, Period Pieces

Language: English, Hindi, Danish

OTT Platform: Netflix

Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction Ratings & Review:

• latestmoviesreview Rating : (2.2/5)
• IMDb Rating : (5.8/10)

Directed By : Bille August

Screenwriter : Anders Frithiof August, Karen Blixen

Star Cast : Alice Bier Zanden, Emil Aron Dorph, Kit Eichler

Synopsis :

Opening Shot:

In the made-up country of Babenhausen, a castle is perched on a mountain. A stunning noblewoman named Ehrengard (Alice Bier Zanden) is present inside the castle. She dons a fencing mask and engages in a heated duel with a guy throughout the castle grounds until, exhausted, they pause and remove their masks to regain their breath.

The Gist:

Cazotte, a mediocre portrait painter who is adept at both the art of art and the art of seduction, is portrayed by Mikkel Boe Flsgaard. At least Sidse Babett Knudsen’s character as the Duchess of Babenhausen, Storhertuginden, finds him attractive. In order to avoid upsetting her spouse, the Grand Duke, he pushes her away when she throws herself on him while having her portrait painted. However, Storhertuginden is still of the opinion that Cazotte is knowledgeable about women, and during the public celebration for the unveiling of her painting, she puts out a scheme: her ailing husband is terminally ill. Due to some antiquated laws, her unmarried son, Prince Lothar, must be married in order to succeed his father and take the throne, but he has a bad relationship with women. In order for her son to seduce a possible queen and succeed his father as king before he passes away, Storhertuginden urges Cazotte to educate her son how to flirt as well.

Cazotte demands the Duchess arrange a meeting between him and Ehrengard, a stunning but reserved woman from a noble pedigree, so he can paint her image like the fencing from the opening scene as payment. Cazotte keeps his promise, and soon after taking on Lothar, the prince weds Ludmilla, a young noblewoman. However, the Duchess has deliver some bad news to Cazotte: Ehrengard’s stuffy, aristocratic father prevents his daughter from being painted and has no use for Cazotte or his portrait-painting abilities. Cazotte acknowledges that and continues. Until…

The pregnancy of Ludmilla is found out. a tad too pregnant. Because she and Prince Lothar had a child outside of marriage, if anyone found out, he would not be able to inherit the throne. In particular, Lothar will have to cede the kingdom to the Grand Duke’s cunning cousin if he discovers the child was produced before marriage. He is the next in line for the throne. When the Duchess approaches Cazotte for assistance, he devises a plan: Lothar, Ludmilla, himself, and a few servants would go to a remote castle where they will wait out the pregnancy in order to prevent anyone from finding out about it or spotting Ludmilla’s growing belly.

Ehrengard can be brought there to serve as Ludmilla’s valet. Cazotte wagers the Duchess that if he can get the better of Ehrengard, she will fall in love with him and agree to having her picture painted. He will be admitted to the court if he prevails in the wager. If he fails, he gets to spend the night with the lustful Duchess. (Cazotte’s objective isn’t to force Ehrengard to fall in love with him; instead, he wants to entice her through his artistic abilities; in essence, she is only a pawn in a game between him and the Duchess.)

That being said, suffice it to say that the plot thickens considerably from this point on, with Cazotte engaging in a duel with Ehrengard’s betrothed (oh right, she’s been engaged to another this whole time… to the man she was fencing in the first scene! ), an attempt to conceal the newborn baby from the Duke’s cousin, and Ehrengard learning of Cazotte’s bet with the Duchess. The story is told as a classic fairy tale, and Ehrengard is expected to fall in love with Cazotte. However, the outcome is a more contemporary version of the story, in which the man is not as attractive or charming as he thinks he is and the woman is fortunate enough to avoid him.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of? Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction is less sexual and gory than you might expect given its title; it’s more like a mild Dangerous Liaisons and Beauty and the Beast.

Our Take: A lovely farce makes up the opening two thirds of the movie. Cazotte is not the promiscuous libertine the Duchess thinks of him to be; rather, he is more of a sexy doofus, for lack of a better term.

But Cazotte transforms from fool to manipulator as the movie goes on. He secretly paints Ehrengard in her undies while she is taking a swim in a lake because he believes she will be charmed by the image. Cazotte’s bet with the Duchess gets heavier-handed and more difficult the longer he stays with her. After turning the tables on Ehrengard when he discovers she is the stake in a wager, she returns to Kurt instead of giving him the satisfaction of reciprocating his passion.

Even though the movie is a modernized rendition of a fairy tale, the conclusion can seem more amusing if viewed from Ehrengard’s perspective; after all, she is the one who prevailed. Unfortunately, the epilogue just mentions that she was given a position in the new Duchess’s court. Although she deserves a punchy, girl power conclusion, it’s still a good honor for her. Then we find out that Cazotte also has a happy ending since he relocates to Rome and spends the rest of his days seducing local women.

Sex and Skin: One sex scene and some light nudity (primarily depicted in drawings and paintings) are both present. This isn’t the romp you’re looking for, despite what the title might lead you to believe.

Parting Shot: Cazotte claims that he traveled to Rome in order to further his artistic abilities as he sits in his opera box and makes eye contact with a woman in the orchestra below. The alias I use was given to me by my pals, too. The woman underneath him swoons as he continues, “They called me…Casanova.