Sissi

Got to admit that I wasn't expecting anything out of it, and yes this isn't for everyone because it's historical BUT the cinematography and the fact that the actress that plays Sisi were great!

This show probably has very little to so with the actual lives of the emperor and empress. If the characters were names to fictional persons, people might have given higher ratings. As the story is entertaining, the decor and costumes are beautiful and the acting is good. So if you are looking for more insight in the imperial couple watch a documetary, if you want an entertaining costume drama, this is a good watch.

Season One: 5.5/10

Themes: Costume Drama, History, Royalty, Court, Marriage, Nineteenth Century, War, Feminism & German.

Review: I'm not sure how I feel about this series. The main emotion I felt while watching this was frustration or indignation. I think the series harmed itself by naming it Sisi: everything about this plot and the characters were different from what I was hoping or expecting them to be. The love story was also not a love story at all: Franz and Sisi were absolutely horrible together and I still do not know if either of them even knew the other. Franz treated Sisi like dirt and Sisi let him walk all over her. Gone was the strong and beloved woman we associate with Sisi, and instead we had this pathetic girl, desperate to get the attention of a man unworthy of her love. I did think Sisi grew into herself more in the later episodes, especially with how she got involved with the politics, but I still wasn't a fan. Overall, I did enjoy watching the series quite a bit, but it simply wasn't all that great. It could be fun from time to time, but it was ultimately very flawed.

Least favourite character: Franz Jozef.

Some of this is historical fabrication, however, real history recalls that Sisi was indeed a fantastic horse rider, she did lift weights and stick with a fitness regime, climb mountains with her 7 brothers and sisters and that she did in fact, champion the poor and passionately embraced life in a fantastic and empowered free-thinking way. She was, in real life, in a word, exceptional and strikingly so for her time.

This retelling is vibrant and mostly beautifully acted. But series three must have been directed by someone else as it's lacklustre, lengthy, more of a yelling, tantrum throwing emperor than one will ever need, and some historical great gaffs. And way too many sex scenes... yeah, we get it, people have sex but this seems to leverage the fact and, although they are very pretty people romping, it nonetheless gets a bit tired.

It appears that in real life Sisi did suffer mental health issues related to the absurdity of being a monarch and most likely because of her husband's constant tirades, therefore she sought freedom - for herself and others. I enjoyed this show very much through season one and two, although one of the subplots left me scratching my head and It's beautiful to look at, but it manages to keep some very important core elements of this brave, amazing woman true to history despite its faults.

Make sure you read up on Emperor Fran's Josef and Elizabeth to learn their true story, because this series is not it.

That being said, it was a very good TV series, well done and entertaining. If you're a stickler for history it will grate for sure, but hopefully will spur viewers to do some research on these characters and the times, and that would not be a bad thing.

The true story of Sisi is actually far more tragic than this portrayal. She did influence her husband in certain matters, particularly in relation to Hungary but her experience as Empress was nowhere near that depicted in this show. She was beloved by the people but spent little time even living in Vienna, and she herself was assassinated when she was in her 60's.

Also interesting is that the Emperor Franz Josef would later be responsible for setting the wheels in motion that resulted in WWI, after his presumptive heir, Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, were assassinated in Sarajevo by a Serbian.

To me, the true story -or history - is almost always better than what these writers and producers feel they need to conjure up for whatever reasons. That's disappointing.

But it's a good TV series, "based on a true story", with good acting, and beautiful direction in a beautiful country. You'll just have to bear with the alterations of fact, something I'm not fond of watching happen but as I said hopeful folks will be intrigued enough to do some research and find out the true story.

I'd recommend watching it but with those caveats.