One of this film's great strengths is its convincing portrayal of conscious, yet suppressed, homosexuality in an earlier historical context. Redl's scenes with Katalin--the perceptive sister of his love object--are intelligent and convincingly acted. While a scene of Redl watching the handsome Kubinyi have sex with a prostitute, and a later scene with a lover are without ambiguity. At the same time, it must be said that homosexuality in this film is not truly a subject. It really functions to underline Redl's status as an outsider. He is part Jewish, part Catholic, part Ukrainian, part Hungarian, and gay. Within his socio-political context, there is nowhere to fit.

Klaus Maria Brandauer, in a brilliant performance, embodies the pained conflicts of Redl, while maintaining a sympathetic side of the character. This fascinating film is loaded with irony and pain at nearly every turn.

The DVD issue of "Colonel Redl" features a high-quality print of the film (there is a slight soft focus feel that is intentional); English-only removable subtitles; original trailer (don't watch it first--spoilers); 22-minute documentary interview with Istvan Szabo, featuring scenes from the 'trilogy' of which "Colonel Redl" makes up the second part, and comments from Brandauer.

Highly recommended

Technical Review (Rating: 4.00)
Review : An excellent film, but here's also a technical warning: At several points in the film, the audio and video are out of synch. So it looks like a dubbed film at first, but in fact the audio is running ahead or behind the visual. I suppose if you spend the whole movie reading subtitles, you won't notice, but if you watch and listen, it can be frustrating.

A Film of Intelligence and Subtlety (Rating: 5.00)
Review : The second in Istvan Szabo's loosely-linked trilogy that began with the brilliant Mephisto, and ended with the weaker Hanussen, Colonel Redl should become one of the classics of cinema.

The story of the machiavellian rise of Colonel Redl and his ultimate downfall is a fascinating one, as is the meticulous depiction of central Europe in the years before the first World War. The period detail, including the recreation of the political intrigues of the Austro-Hungarian court, is impressive. The performances are outstanding, particularly that of Klaus Maria Brandauer (which should be no surprise to anyone).

For people who like intelligent movies made for grown ups, this film should not be missed.

Good Film, But Slow Moving (Rating: 4.00)
Review : I found this to be an excellent, well-done foriegn film about military life around the turn of the last century in Austria-Hungary, but it is a slow moving film that undoubtedly requires several viewings as many of the subtle inner-details of the story will be lost on most viewers.

I would recommend this film mostly as an accompaniment to the earlier (and superior) "Mephisto". It follows a similar pattern and storyline.

The DVD is a decent quality with a bit of grain, but overall a nice picture and sound. There is no overdubbing in English, and the film is in German with subtitles - it lends much credibility to the historical feel to the story however.

There is an extra featurette included with interviews with the director and Klaus Maria Brandauer, but is exactly the same as the one on "Mephisto" so its kind of a waste here.
Overall this is a fine DVD and I enjoyed it.