Pop Goes the Culture: Sissi

Part 2 of my ongoing series about Austrian Pop Culture is a bit of a throwback, and definitely something you’ve already heard about: The Sissi Trilogy. After hearing all the hype about Austria’s beloved Empress Elisabeth and the beloved movie trilogy based on her life, seeing her face EVERYWHERE, and then visiting the Sissi Museum in the Hofburg Palace, which told me everything pop culture had to say about the woman is a lie, I decided I needed to actually watch these films as part of my cultural education. Here are my reactions.

I am only slightly ashamed to say that I LOVED the first movie. It’s all about how Sissi, a young Bavarian princess with the perfect Bavarian life and the perfect Bavarian family, meets her first cousin Franz Josef, newly crowned Emperor of the Austrian Empire and falls in love (yes, her first cousin, we’ll get past that by remembering this was a different time, and the Hapsburgs wouldn’t be the Hapsburgs without some inbreeding). I’m not going to tell you the plot because I want to remain spoiler free, but I will say that I loved the cinematography, the costumes, the breathtaking landscapes, and though the dialogue was cheesy and sappy, FJ and Sissi did have lovely chemistry. Plus, Romy Schneider (the actress who plays Sissi) is undeniably beautiful, and FJ isn’t too bad looking himself. The film was the perfect fantasy story for any young girl, complete with a wedding unmatched by anything I’ve ever seen. 

I couldn’t help but snicker, though, whenever Sissi and FJ talked to each other. Literally every time Sissi walks into a room, FJ will dramatically look up and exclaim “Sissi!” and then she will say “Franz!” and then they run to each other and embrace. As if every time they see each other it is a huge surprise reunion. If I had a nickel for every time one of them says “Ich bin SO glucklich….” (I am SO happy/lucky) I would be able to afford my own royal wedding. Also, I could have a penny for each time someone said “Aber Sissi, du bist Kaiserin von OESTERREICH!” (but Sissi, you are empress of AUSTRIA), with exactly the same inflection every time, I would be rich enough to buy out the Hapsburgs and all their golden age holdings.

Look how adorable they are! True love.

Anyway, first movie, super adorbz. Second film “Sissi: The Young Empress” was only slightly less great and slightly more cheesy. In this one, Sissi gets pregnant and has to deal with her evil mother-in-law’s attempts to take over her life. I have to say the most entertaining parts of this installment were twofold. 1) Sissi’s 8,000 siblings who dress in adorably stereotypical Bavarian clothes and seem incapable of speaking their own dialogue. Instead the poor kids are relegated to unison cries of “hooray!” and “Sissi!” and “warum?!”—they’re so cute and so entertaining. And 2) The incredibly tacky and lacey baby blanket little baby Gisella was wrapped in during the scene below. Outrageous.

They're so cute! And so funny! Here they are learning that Sissi is pregnant!

Tell me that's not the most ridiculous birthing blanket you've ever seen.

My feelings on the third film, “Sissi: The Fateful Years for the Empress” are quite strong. It seems the director and writer were confused about whether they wanted these movies to be good or horrible, because this one was horrible. The main plot deals with…well…I don’t know because there were just stupid story lines that dropped or magically resolved and weird scenes that were too tacky for even a Disney freak like myself (who thrives off of tacky) to accept. 

Here is Sissi pathetically shoving a gypsy man who was fighting with this gypsy woman. Right after, the gypsy woman tells Sissi some lame depressing fortune that one thinks will spark a plot line for the rest of the story. It doesn't.

Also, the relationship between FJ and Sissi is very tumultuous. I understand that couples fight, but their version of fighting is stupid and resolved much too quickly. There’s also a sickening scene of the two of them wandering through a random field in the alps that is too perfect to be cute—it just made me gag. This is coming from someone who has princess fantasies whenever she visits a castle, so it’s not like I’m naturally adverse to cuteness and romance. This scene was just that horrible.

oh please.

Also, don’t get my started on the ending. It was incredibly daft. Talk to me once you’ve seen it. We’ll discuss.

Anyway, the third movie was rough but the first two were definitely worth watching, so I highly recommend the series to anyone who speaks German or can find an English copy! Just remember to read a book about the real Empress Elisabeth or something so you can see just how tragically different her real life is from the picturesque film version.