L'imperatrice

What an absolutely stunning series. Everything about The Empress was top notch. From the sets, to the costuming and the acting. It was perfection.

If you love a historical series then this is for you.

I could have quite easily started from the beginning again and gone straight into a second viewing.

I do hope that this series comes back for a second season.

The story is about Princess Elisabeth von Wittelsbach and her marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary. Their story is one of love at first sight, however Elisabeth is non conventional and not easily controlled and ready to bow to the rules of being an Empress.

Devrim Lingnau and Philip Froissant have perfect chemistry as Elisabeth and Franz.

Actually all of the acting is amazing throughout this series.

Watch The Empress - the only thing you will be disappointed by - is that it ends.

...while based on a true story it is far from historically accurate. But don't let that get in the way of enjoying a superb drama and beautifully created production. The acting is first class, and the palace intrigue among all the characters ever vying for power and influence maintains all the suspense.

My hope is that productions like these inspire people to do a little research of their own on these characters, and the history of the times. While this drama takes much license with historical fact, the essence of the Emperor and Empress's plight is not far from reality. Far removed from their subjects by tradition and duty, it took great courage to push the boundaries that even to think of doing so people of those times feared would bring their world crashing down were anyone to even contemplate such. The life of a royal was grand and luxurious but steeped in a mystical and suffocating reality. It took ages, centuries, and wars and revolutions to bring change.

It is a powerful and wonderfully executed drama, one well worth your time...and contemplation.

The first thing that I noticed was that "Sissi" who was supposed to be 15 years old, looked more like 25 years old. The exaggerated hairstyles of some of the female characters were entirely out of place. Why couldn't they just stick to what was correct for the period? And that troupe dance sequence?? Sorry, but that choreography just didn't fit either. The same went for some of the female costumes. Why did they have some of the female actors with a fifties cowl-like top to their gowns?

And did someone say at one point, "whatever floats your boat". Really, trying to paste 21st century slang into the 19th Century ! What are the script writers thinking? Or was it something that got badly distorted in translation? Anyway, it was jarring. That said, much of the camera work was inventive.

Like "The Crown" the film has little relationship to the facts and thus gives a distorted view of the period and the real Empress Elizabeth's story. The facts are just as interesting, and in my view, quite sustainable for television drama. When will someone eventually make a movie of the "true story"?

In any future series, I hope the writers, costumers and hair-stylists move closer to historical accuracy rather than continuing to pursue the quirky distortions of the first series.

I loved the series. The cast is great, the costumes and setting are amazing. For that alone it's worth watching it. I didn't know much about Sissi except remembering my mother talk about the Romy Schneider movie, which was also before her time. Curiosity made me spend the weekend reading about Sissi and the historical context surrounding her life in court.

This is where I think Netflix (or any other production, for that matter) should change - it wouldn't take much to just add a disclaimer saying it's a fictional account based on historical characters. There's nothing wrong with it and it would give people a fair warning when watching.

Again, worth watching.

The first thing the actress playing Elisabeth does NOT look 16. She's pretty but not drop dead gorgeous like Roma Schneider was in Sissi and she really was 16. The Emperor Waltz indeed was written for Emperor Franz Joseph...in 1889. NOT for his wedding to Elisabeth of Bavaria which was in 1854. And what's with the blonde pageboy hairdo sported by the spurned older sister Helene. And the weird modern dance routine. Wasn't the REAL story of Franz Joseph and Elisabeth interesting enough without these embellishments. And yet all the night scenes lit by torches and candlelight are period authentic and very hard to watch. I will probably continue watching because it's not bad just not great.