More Than Just Enemies

Synopsis

The 17th century: The super powers are the Habsburg Empire and the Ottoman Empire, being more than just enemies.  On September 11, 1697, the Ottoman army is annihilated in the battle of Zenta by the imperial army led by Prince Eugene of Savoy, thus ending the steady rise of the Ottoman Empire over the previous centuries.  The dominance of the Habsburgs is well documented, but the Ottoman Empire was a civilization that was no less developed and whose culture we know only little about.  Yet the Sultans ruled over Asia Minor, the Near East, the Balkans, North Africa, the Crimea and current-day Hungary for several centuries.  We follow Emetullah Rabia Gülnuş Sultan, first concubine in the harem and later, as a mother of two Sultans, Valide Sultan.  For more than 30 years the Greek woman, abducted from Crete at the age of four, had enormous influence over the political and cultural fortunes of the Ottoman Empire.  Our protagonist on the Habsburg side is Prince Eugene of Savoy, who, from an emotionally neglected childhood, rose to huge success as a feared army leader and the wealthiest man of his time.  Elaborate computer simulations and skillful re-enactments immerse viewers in the elegant, yet also brutal and merciless world of the Habsburg and the Ottoman Empire, showing not only their military encounters but also the mutual influences in the fields of culture, science and even food.

Film Information

Director(s): Heinz Leger, Martin Betz

Release: 2014

Runtime(s): 1 x 90 min, 2 x 52 min