Sissi the Empress (1955-1957)

Following the release of Sissi’s new version “The Empress” on Netflix which I watched, I found it much more modern and dark, taking into account historical facts. Elisabeth has character, is fierce, free and rebellious. I prefer Sissi from my childhood, played with great delicacy by Romy Schneider. I find her radiant every time. That’s why I rewatched it and I’m sharing with you my favorite part of this saga.

This saga is inspired by the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria and Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, whose marriage took place on April 24, 1854 in Vienna. There are three films, directed by Ernst Marischka: Sissi (1955), Sissi Empress (1956) and Sissi Faces Her Destiny (1957).

This series has always accompanied me at all ages, from the young girl I was to what I am now. For me it is timeless and it is always a feast for the eyes to see the pretty landscapes of the Austria and Hungary (it made me want to visit these places) and the beautiful princess dresses of Sissi (they tried to reproduce the real dresses she wore as well as her long hair). I am always overcome by very beautiful emotions. It’s certainly a beautiful love story with a capital A between Frantz (played by Karlheinz Böhm) and Sissi (played by Romy Schneider) worthy of a fairy tale!

A small model family

Sissi is surrounded by brothers and sisters. She has a great bond with her father whom she calls “Papili” with whom she shares a love of horse riding and nature. In addition, the role of Sissi’s mother, Ludovica, is played by Romy Schneider’s real mother. I thought it was great.

I think that if I liked this film it was because I found the atmosphere of the Comtesse de Ségur books that I loved very much as a child. These are moral tales, intended for his grandchildren. I think of her book “Little Model Girls”. This family painting by Sissi reminded me of the world of these tales, with the spoken word of the nobility which fascinated me, and this innocence and playfulness of children accompanied by the punishments/punishments of yesteryear.

The big love

Sissi was locked in her room by her mother so that she could keep quiet in Austria while her sister Hélène and her Mother went to meet Archduchess Sophie. She goes off to visit Austria and go fishing. On the way, she meets the Emperor by chance. Their meeting is adorable. It was love at first sight between the two of them. I like to see them happy, so smiling. They meet to hunt together. She does not know his identity but she learns that his mother plans to have him married to her sister Hélène of Bavaria. From there, during the Emperor’s birthday, he told Archduchess Sophie of his intention to become engaged to Sissi.

The big love

First crisis of the couple

Frantz allowed his mother to take care of their daughter’s education. Sissi, furious, took refuge in Bavaria, with her parents without talking about the reason for her visit. Frantz knows Sissi’s fiery temperament, she no longer returns to Vienna, she was terribly injured. So he decides to go find her to reason with her. The reunion is as cute as anything. Neither of them were ready to argue as soon as they saw each other, their anger vanished, they couldn’t help but hug and love each other.

They are a couple that I find very glamorous. They love each other and together they have absolute trust in each other. Frantz supports all of Sissi’s decisions. I also liked the scene where she knew very well that it wasn’t him who took her diary. He was a little jealous when he heard rumors between her and Count Andrassy in Hungary. I found his concerns adorable. He preferred to go visit him in Hungary rather than send him a letter asking him to return to Vienna. I love this couple where love, trust and respect are present in each of their actions.

Frantz’s father is funny. They form a strange couple with Archduchess Sophie. Conflicts are often between the mother-in-law and Sissi but not with her husband. This one pretends to be deaf to be quiet.

Kissing hands, a symbol of attachment and respect

Moreover, this scene made me fall in love with the character Frantz and I found him to have a lot of charm. He knew how to manage the disagreement between his Mother and Sissi. I could feel all his love for his mother and his respect. I found it magnificent.

Sissi refused her hand to a lady-in-waiting because she is twice his age. Archduchess Sophie is outraged. And then I found the love of a mother towards her daughter-in-law by kissing her on the forehead. She loves Sissi after all. And this is the only sign of affection that we will see from the mother-in-law towards Sissi.

“Sorry Mom, let me talk to him. It’s not a question of age. At court, etiquette requires everyone to bow to you. When our wedding is celebrated, you will be the first lady of the Empire, which means that you will be alone at my side. The place my Mother occupied until now. This evening you will be the Empress of Author and by kissing your hand the other ladies want to show you their attachment and their respect due to their sovereign. The only lady in Austria who is exempt and has the right to kiss you on the forehead is my mother. Am I right, Mom, is that all you want to say to him?
– Yes Franz! »

The full extent of the hand-kissing is revealed to us when Sissi was invited to the home of her friend Count Andrassy (Sissi facing her destiny). Former rebels are there and they made no reverence when he came. Count Andrassy introduced his friends and so they simply bowed their heads to greet her except Count Batiany. Then she came to him and held out her hand for a kiss. And he gave in!

I take great pleasure in seeing how Sissi manages to win the hearts of her subjects by remaining herself, caring and full of hope for her people. She loves Hungary so much and will do everything so that the last rebels have confidence in their new sovereign.

The romantic waltz

I find the waltz scene magnificent with the overall view from the beautiful chandelier. It’s so beautiful the way this was filmed! Sissi’s dress is so beautiful. They are so beautiful and in love dancing together.

She would like this dance to never stop and she would like to only dance with Frantz. It’s a feeling that I understand perfectly because in the past I didn’t want to dance tango with my ex-Teddy and I stopped taking tango lessons because it frustrated me and caused me a lot of stress to dance with others. One day I will attend the Viennese ball!

Humor with Colonel Bokl

What I liked about this saga was the very good-natured humor. I really liked the character of Colonel Bokl (played by Josef Meinrad). He is a sincere person who always says what he thinks without ever turning his tongue in his mouth seven times, which is worth the displeasure of Archduchess Sophie.

Moreover, he finds himself clumsy and stupid but endearing in the exercise of his profession, and we wonder how he managed to be commander of his brigade. The people around him make me laugh, they all have a good face. He subsequently becomes Sissi’s personal guard. He is under the spell of Empress Sissi. He is adorable. Then he easily falls in love every time he arrives in a new country.

He makes me laugh a lot because he is a very lively character, every emotion he experiences, he expresses without restraint. He’s a character who had a big impact on me after Sissi.

This saga remains for me a wonderful fairy tale film that I love. It is not a biographical film because it does not retrace historical facts and truths because it is very fictionalized. However, that did not stop me from discovering this royal couple (see the documentary below). Sissi is truly a woman of character with a disastrous destiny (even the actress Romy Schneider also had a tragic end…)