Sissi

In one of those fictional Mitteleuropean kingdoms that Victorian writers were so fond of -- Graustark, Ruritania, Scythia-Pannonia-Transbalkania, but here called Austria-Hungary -- the Emperor's mother arranges for her son to marry her sister's eldest daughter. When he meets her second daughter wandering in the woods, however, they fall in love.

The charming anti-Cinderella tale of Sissi is based on history, sort of, but it is brought to the screen in its fairy-tale glory with shots of Schonbrunn Castle, Bad Ischl, lavish sets and costumes and 15-year-old Romy Schneider. Its nostalgia for the dead glories of a lavish court life, stuffed-shirt bureaucrats -- Josef Meinrad has a very funny turn as the incompetent major in charge of security -- is certainly fun to look at, so long as we remember that it's just as unreal as any Disney feature cartoon, even if there are no singing mice. If only the characters in this one didn't look so real.....

There was a time, about thirty years ago, when Marischka's SISSI trilogy was considered kitschy by many critics. Fortunately, these times are gone and again we all can see these beautiful films without being influenced by the critics and their politics.

I must admit that Sissi has always been one of my favorite movies. Romy Schneider, her acting, gestures and her face are almost identical with real Sissi. Marischka could not make a better choice. However, I heard that this role had such an impact on Romy's life that she was associated with Sissi throughout her career. As a result, some people consider SISSI films the deepest insight into Romy's life. Hasn't she got through the terrible sorrows similarly as empress Elizabeth did?...

Other cast are also very, very good. Magda Schneider, Romy's mother, gives a fine performance as Ludovika, Karlheinz Bohm (Franz Josef) does an excellent job. Vilma Degischer is particularly memorable as a cruel Sophie. Only Gustav Knuth's portrayal of Duke Max is a historical travesty. He was not so much attached to family life...

Another reason why I like these films is the fact that despite its historical inaccuracies (their love did not look like that), these movies are very gentle, show the value of love between a man and a woman and as a result, they can be watched even by small children without harm done to their psyche.

Some say that Sissi is for sentimental girls and old women. This viewpoint is absolutely wrong. I am a 25 year old man and come back to these films with great pleasure and so do a lot of my friends. See it and you will not regret. Make your personal judgments, not being influenced by the unexplained criticism.

I certainly love the Sissi saga :everytime it's broadcast,I find myself watching for the umpteenth time these three films which the highbrows despise so much.

I read several biographies of the empress and it's stating the obvious to say it's fictionalized history (the right term would be "fairytaled" history for this first episode strongly recalls Cinderella).Romy Schneider did not think much of her part and she used to approve of Visconti's Elisabeth she played in "Ludwig" (1973).

"Sissi" is pure entertainment ;all the characters are endearing :the colonel provides a good comic relief ,Sophie is a perfect villainess,the witch, ,Ludovica the good fairy,Max the bon vivant,the swarm of children a foretaste of the "sound of music" -the Trapp were Austrian,weren't they?-and the lovers ,Franz and Sissi are as close as fairytale prince and princess as they can be.

I certainly love the Sissi saga.Down with the highbrows!

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.

A schmaltzy but moving, lushly produced fairy tale which has nothing to do with the real Elisabeth von Oesterreich, who was, well, a quite complicated woman.

Young Romy Schneider rather sleepwalks thorough the lead but does it well. The pic was enormously successful and Romy quickly became Germany's most popular teenage star, with Heidi Bruehl of 'Immenhof' fame a close second. Though not as beautiful as Christine Kaufmann (shot to fame with the lurid child-in-distress cheapie 'Rosenresli') or as talented as Karin Baal (Germany's reigning bad girl after the runaway success in 'Die Halbstarken') Miss Schneider brought to it all the freshness and sparkle audience had come to expect from Magda Schneider's daughter.