Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction is based on the novel Ehrengard by famed Danish author Karen Blixen (Out of Africa), who published it under the pen name of Isak Dinesen.
Set in the fairy tale kingdom of Babenhausen, a self-appointed love expert is hired to try to teach a shy prince the art of seduction in order to secure an heir.
However, things take a dramatic turn when an heir is conceived out of wedlock, causing the royal family to flee. While hiding, the love guru finds himself in a bet with the Grand Duchess, where if he wins, he’ll seduce the beautiful engaged Ehrengard and live happily ever after, and if he loses, he must have sex with the Grand Duchess.
Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction Ending Explained
How does Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction End?
The film begins with a pair of people sword-fighting around the grounds and inside a beautiful castle — it’s a seductive dance that sets the tone for the entire film. As the royals have had a child out of wedlock, they are hiding it from their subjects in order to maintain the throne. Away in a remote location, the reality of the baby being born is discovered, and a plan is hatched to take the baby and prove the royals are being deceitful.
Twenty minutes before the end, the baby is taken by one man, and he’s running through the grounds, with everyone chasing them. Ehrengard has hatched a plan to pretend the baby is hers and Cazotte’s in order to help hide the truth.
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As other relatives fall for this, Ehrengarde’s fiance comes in and sees the whole thing and challenges Cazotte to a duel at dawn. At the duel, Cazotte is shot in the foot but is then left to live.
It cuts to the royal baby’s baptism, and here ends the love story between Cazotte and Ehrengarde; as he lost the wager, Cazotte must sleep with the Grand Duchess, and there’s a raunchy scene of the two doing the dirty, loud deed.
Cazotte then goes to Rome to further use his artistic talents, and his charismatic ways with women granted him the name Casanova. It ends with Cazotte in the theatre, seeking out his next sexual pursuit.
Does Cazotte find love?
He instantly has his eyes on a young woman called Ehrengard, who cleverly creates a job for her to be close to him. Ehrengard has a fiancé, though, much to Cazotte’s dismay, but this doesn’t stop him trying to seduce her. All the while, the grand Duchess has her eyes on Cazotte and clearly insinuates that she wants to sleep with him, so the two make a wager.
Cazotte secretly draws Ehrengard while she’s bathing in the water each morning, and even though she is unaware of this, he believes they are making a connection. His aim is to seduce her with this painting and win his wager with the Duchess. However, Ehrengard overhears his conversation with the Duchess and finds his drawings of her and begins to play him — begins to seduce him.
In the end, he does not win her heart, but it seems he never really wanted to. It was a bet, and he enjoys being a playboy, so no hearts broken, only more conquests to conquer.
Does Prince Lothar find love?
Within the first half an hour of the film, Prince Lothar and another noblewoman are running around like two frisky puppies, and they are instantly married. However, when the heir is on the way, the scandal is their baby is due four months into the marriage and was conceived before wedlock.
Does the Grand Duchess get what she wants?
Yes. In the end, the Grand Duchess gets an heir so they can keep the throne, and she wins the bet against Cazotte, so she gets to sleep with him. She’s one lucky lady.
What did you think of the ending of the 2023 Netflix movie Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction? Comment below.
Lousy
Excellent. I would love a sequal with Cazotte , now christened “Cassanova” at last learns the meaning of true love, bringing into the picture, once again the grand Duchess and a few others from Ehrengard. Wonderful acting. Grand story! Kudos
Most of the movie was captivating , funny and entertaining.
Too bad that the ending kind of spoiled it by trying to go for a rather puritanic moralistic twist of the “punished sin” motive instead of a more classical romantic (and yes less original) “happy ending” or perhaps even a (less original) “wicked” alternative.