La principessa Sissi

A very young and innocent girl marries the powerful ruler of the most powerful empire on earth. Why? Because she loves him dearly. If that is not sweet. And it is also not far from the truth. Of course it helps that she was a little princess - only of Bavaria but of royal blood (I think). Of course everybody loved her - well, she got killed by someone eventually, but that is not in the film and it does not prove anything anyway. If you know Romy Schneider only from her later (mostly French) films do not even try to imagine how beautiful and charming, well sweet she was. She made two sequels. All three films will be valued as the highest art in the million years to come by anyone who can enjoy a fairy tale.

"Sissi" is the first part of a trilogy about the Austrian princess/empress Elisabeth in Bavaria, aka Sissi (Romy Schneider). The teenage princess lives happily in Bavaria with her parents, Duke Max (Gustav Knuth) and Duchess Ludovika (Magda Schneider, Romy's real life mother), and siblings. When Ludovika is invited by her sister, Archduchess Sophie (Vilma Degischer), to take Helene, Sissi's older sister, to the Austrian court in Ischl, in order to arrange a royal engagement for Helene and the young emperor Franz Joseph (Karlheinz Böhm), Sissi goes along. However, nobody could imagine that Franz would fall in love with the spontaneous, childish Sissi, instead of the sophisticated Helene.

"Sissi" is nothing more than a naïve, romantic matinée – but a very well done romantic matinée! Romy Schneider shines as the young princess, she's the heart of the movie. It's impossible not to fall in love with her gorgeous smile and sweet manners.

Released in the same year as another unforgettable romance ("Picnic", with William Holden, Kim Novak and Rosalind Russell), "Sissi" may not be called a masterpiece. However, I cannot give anything less than a "10" to a movie that makes you feel good and smile even during the hardest times.

I am well familiar with the story of the Empress Elizabeth. While the basic facts are all here, the story may have been both simplified and sweetened to present it in a movie. However, the end result is a thoroughly delightful and strongly idealized version of historical events. Both Sissi and the emperor are presented as extremely likable, visually appealing characters, interacting in a fairly-like story. The entire movie plays like a fairy tale and is visually very appealing. The majestic beauty of the Bavarian scenery contrasts with the opulent setting of the Viennese court. The costumes, manners, music, dances - all true to the period. I did not expect to like it as much as I did and would recommend it to all lovers of historical drama and 19th century Austrian history in particular.

I know these films are considered by some purported high-brows to be of low popular-art form and saccharine emotions. They have historical inaccuracies and pander to the idea of what should-have-been, rather than perhaps quite what was. But-man oh man-they are extremely well-made and extremely enjoyable. There is nothing wrong with these films on a visceral or visual level.

The production values in the sets and costumes and the magnificent outdoor locales makes these films really spectacular. But the very rich and cohesive performances by the cast are what keep these films alive. Above all Romy Schneider and Vilma Degischer as Sissi and Sofia playing the tension between the young empress and her formidable mother-in-law, are great to watch. Each has their own humanity and, actually, rich human qualities shine through in all of the other characters quite beautifully.

Karl-Heinz Boehm is excellent as the young emperor torn between his love for the fresh and lively Sissi and duty to his by-the-book mother. And Magda Schneider and Gustav Knuth are warm and sympathetic as Sissi's parents.

The restoration, recently performed on these films, has left them looking incredibly beautiful (on par with "Gone With the Wind"). And people are now able to enjoy these films in the U.S., as they have recently been sub-titled in English and given deluxe DVD transfers with bonus features. Apparently there was an assembled version made of all 3 films and dubbed-horribly-into English included in the set. But above all it is great to see them released here with a good translation and anexcellent DVD presentation.

I have seen these films over and over again, probably already more than fifty times. This is the first of a series of three Austrian films, produced in 1954 ("Sissi"), 1955 ("Sissi-die junge Kaiserin") and 1956 ("Sissi-Schicksalsjahre einer Kaiserin"), directed by Ernst Marishka, and are the epitome of total kitsch and enormously campy. I know that these films are almost unknown outside of continental Europe, but still, they are worth seeing! Played by a very young Romy Schneider - a role that stuck to her, much to her chagrin in later years. The trilogy is about the life of the Austrian Empress and Hungarian Queen Elizabeth (1837-1898) - or "Sissi" - in the first years of her marriage to the Austrian Emperor and 'Apostolic' King of Hungary Franz-Joseph I (1830-1916) - played by Karl-Heinz Böhm. Although the writers did fib frightfully with the historical truths (read for those "Elisabeth", the biography written by Brigitte Hamann), still, the sugar sweetness, the crinolines, the music and the grandeur of the scenes is breathtaking. However, my favourite character in the film is "Sissi's" mother-in-law, archduchess Sophie, played very ably by Vilma Degischer. Sophie is portrayed as a complete bitch of a woman (which in reality she was, after she managed to save the Habsburg monarchy single-handedly from the revolutionary mobs in 1848), something Joan Collins would be able to take lessons from... My most favourite scene is the closing scene of the third movie: "E viva la mama!" - where Sissi is reunited with her daughter on Venice's Piazza San Marco. Watch it, and have lots of handkerchiefs ready for use (if you're a closeted romantic like myself, that is!).