Alma Mahler-Werfel

1945 - 1964

In the 85 years of her life, Alma Mahler-Werfel experienced two World Wars and changes in civilization as had never previously occurred. From turn-of-the-century Vienna to the America of the 1960s, where she used to hold court like a fallen monarch in exile, the film «Almlma» is to shed light on all stages of her path through life, a life in which the cultural history of half a century is reflected.
It is up to the viewer of the film «Alma» to interpret her life on their own terms. There is no justification for the assertion upheld over generations that Alma was merely a collector of geniuses, a head-hunter. On the contrary, she participated to a significant extent in the lives of those geniuses and became an indispensable part of them.

Her men would have undoubtedly lived on without her: Mahler in his symphonies, Gropius in his steel constructions, Werfel in his novels, and Kokoschka in his untamed painting. For each of them was a creative genius. Alma, on the other hand, would be forgotten today were it not for her men. She only left any mark because, as she expressed it herself, she »hold for an instant the stirrups of her glorious knights«.

And her autobiography names still more; Alma had intimate relationships to a greater or lesser degree with Alexander Zemlinsky, her composition teacher, with Ossip Gabrilowitsch, the pianist, with Gerhart Hauptmann, the dramatist, with Paul Kammerer, the biologist. In her life, she succeeded in binding countless geniuses to her; musicians, architects, painters, writers. She was revered by Gustav Klimt, idolized by Koloman Moser, pursued by Max Burckhard, and never attained by many, many others... Her last conquest was, of all people, a priest; for after all, men had composed, painted and written poetry for Alma, but never had one said mass for her before.

left: Alma Mahler (Cartoon by Dolbin) right: Alma on her deathbed, 1964, photo by Trude Fleischmann

Alma was a goddess, and elevated each of her lovers to the status of a god. Every man who had bewitched her, who was so extraordinary, had also himself to be extraordinary. She could not love a man whose work did not enchant or thrill her - and in this, her instinct was almost infallible. She would see him in a glowing light, spoke enthusiastically of his abilities and, through her enthusiasm, would give the first real impetus to his creative power. And so the man whom she dropped would fall all the further.

How wretched a man was without her! For her power lay in the fact that no-one succeeded in definitively conquering her. It was always she who had been the conqueror. Alma saw herself as a member of an elite, as a noble and superior creation. And there is no doubt that she was exceptional; through her almost magnetic power of attraction, she became the radiant focus of attention wherever she went. She was the centre of gravity, controlling every movement that went on around her. She was not only beautiful, but also intelligent; she was both gifted and educated. But she could also be hurtful and occasionally unfathomable. The list of her victims is long, for she lived according to the maxim of Friedrich Nietzsche: »Whoever falls, should also be given a push!«.

Women like Alma no longer exist in our society. «Alma» illuminates this extra-ordinary character in all its facets; the character of a woman who basically wanted never to give, but only to receive - love and glory, like a tribute owed to her by the world. But also, in this woman´s life, full of fervour and passion, that very special sphere, the private, the intimate and the erotic, cannot be disregarded. For the most intimate aspects of Alma´s life are also entirely representative of the life of one of the most important women of the day, a monument to the extraordinary things in life.

For artistic creativity is always determined by emotion, and yet sex and love are often kept hidden, even in today´s open-hearted climate. The innermost secrets are only really known to those involved; they remain a book with seven seals. The film «Alma» explores this mystery.