How Long Is “Colonel Redl”?

In this docudrama based on a tragic casualty of the pre-World War I tensions in Europe, the life and times of Colonel Alfred Redl (Klaus Maria Brandauer) is the focus of attention. Alfred Redl came from a poor family in the Ukraine and begins his military career at an academy for officer training where he becomes buddies with Christoph Kubinyi (Jan Miklas), of noble Hungarian birth. The two friends proceed up the military hierarchy, and Alfred, in fact, has a short affair with Christoph's sister Katalin (Gudrun Landgrebe) -- but that does not disguise his bisexual nature, even though he tries to keep his homosexual activities from becoming public knowledge. As Alfred's star continues to rise, he makes the acquaintance of Crown Prince Franz Joseph Ferdinand -- and that, along with his appointment as chief of the secret police, and his sexual overtures to friends in the military, all lead to his undoing. The Crown Prince sends him to spy on the Russians, and Redl begins to crib sexual and financial favors from both sides of the political divide. When he is blackmailed about his activities, he increases his demands on others for money. Jealous colleagues have no sympathy for Alfred, and the Crown Prince is looking for a scapegoat to show his own power over the military and at the same time extinguish any military ambitions to block the Crown's authority. Alfred's many deceptions catch up with him in the end. He walks into this trap partly on his own -- he did, in fact, let a Russian agent know that there was a military buildup along the Russian border, indicating a possible intention to invade. He is also a victim of an elaborate set-up by the Crown Prince. While the final verdict and all the facts are still out on the case of Colonel Alfred Redl, director Istvan Szabo has created an admirable, intriguing portrait of a poignant moment in a crucial watershed of European history.