SERIES. The Empress of Austria (1837-1898) is the heroine of a historical adventure fiction in 6 episodes. Available today on the Salto platform, it will be broadcast on TF1 from December 23.
Sissi (1955), Sissi Empress (1956), Sissi facing her fate (1957): this cinematographic saga, illuminated by the radiant face of Romy Schneider, which we traditionally savor every Christmas, is, and for once the word is not overused, quite simply cult. Why then decline it in series? “Empress Elisabeth of Austria is an iconic character and, more than 60 years later, it was time to give her a remake, with a more modern approach, far from the sweet clichés of Ernst Marischka’s films.», Explains Sven Bohse, director of this German series in 6X45minutes, met in October at the CanneSéries festival.
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Alone in bed
The first scenes set the tone. Sissi (Dominique Devenport), alone in her bed, moans unequivocally. Franz (Jannik Schümann), who witnesses the hanging of a Hungarian prisoner of war, is cursed by his widow: all those he loves will die. An independent heroine, sensuality, sex, action, violence… In short, pure contemporary entertainment! “The script had the courage to take liberties to better romanticize the story, confirms Sven Bohse. It is a fiction of historical adventure more than a very sharp arid biopic on the substance. In the movies, a naive country girl enthusiastically embraced everything that came her way. It’s also about feminism, how power can affect you and become a burden, how to deal with your emotions... ”The parallel with personalities like Lady Di or Megan Markle is essential. “These are women who fought, in golden prisons, against the pressure they experienced. With the difference that in the 19th century, if the emperor wanted to marry someone, no one tried to interfere, his power was absolute.», Underlines the interpreter of Sissi.
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If it does not necessarily respect the veracity of the facts, the series explores its characters in depth and does not water down a dark side. So with this curse which haunts the emperor with the fear of losing his beloved. Or the political dimension, wars fought, important in view of her relationship with Sissi, abandoned to her fate, alone in the castle. Painful moments, again, strategic failures or, worse, the loss of a child. So many tragedies that will forge their personality.
For little bypassing totally improbable situations, Sissi looks at himself with great pleasure. Quality of the reconstruction and of the image, the charm and liveliness of its young performers, the rhythm of the staging, assumed romantic bias… The gamble to entertain has indeed been met, and hands down!
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