Friday, February 7, 2025

“SISI & I”

THE STORY – After an elaborate application process, Empress Elisabeth hires Countess Irma as her new lady-in-waiting and takes her to her summer residence on Corfu. As the two women become closer there, this soon leads to tensions back in Vienna.

THE CAST – Susanne Wolff, Sandra Hüller, Georg Friedrich, Stefan Kurt, Sophie Hutter, Anthony Calf & Angela Winkler

THE TEAM – Frauke Finsterwalder (Director/Writer) & Christian Kracht (Writer)

THE RUNNING TIME – 132 Minutes


Cinema has long been obsessed with the lives of royalty – and they make for great entertainment. Some of the most notable on-screen royals have been women, and while it’s a delight to savor the lavish style and grand Palais of these queens, the fascinating elements are the cracks hiding beneath the crown. Whether it’s Catherine the Great or Elizabeth I, the lives of royalty have turned into a kind of myth that is only matched by gods. It is often a crazy concept to remember that some of these people and their conflicts really did exist, and film allows us into their world and, often, helps to paint them as more human. One royal figure, known as one of the most beautiful women in 19th century Europe, had her life turned into a romantic myth from her depiction on-screen, but lately, it has also transformed into one that rings more modern.

Elisabeth, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, nicknamed Sisi, is recognized more notably from Romy Schneider’s portrait of her in the trio of films of the 1950s. Schneider, just a teenager at the time, presents Elisabeth as she is remembered best: As a young beauty devoted to her husband, Emperor Franz Joseph I. However, these films end before we see her towards the end of her life, where she is determined to live privately, away from court, and independently from her husband. Marie Kreutzer’s “Corsage,” starring Vicky Krieps, is a much different portrait of the Empress, touching on how unhappy her marriage was and how she begins to obsess over her fading beauty. One could call it unflattering compared to the image we have built for Sisi, but it’s one portrait that is more honest. Frauke Finsterwalder’s “Sisi & I” takes the examination even further, tackling the Empress’s story from an entirely new and thought-provoking perspective.

Countess Irma Sztáray (played here by “Anatomy Of A Fall’s” Sandra Hüller) was Sisi’s lady-in-waiting during the last four years of her life, and she documented those last years spent with the Empress in detail in memoirs. However, this story, co-written by Finsterwalder and Christian Kracht, is a more fictionalized retelling of Sisi (played here by Susanne Wolff) through Irma’s perspective, one that explores their power dynamics and imagines what a friendship between the pair could have been, and it’s apparent from the beginning that they couldn’t be more opposite.

Despite being a Countess, Irma is initially presented as an unkept duckling who perhaps needs a bit of royal treatment to finally blossom. But it’s no surprise that this number one candidate for Sisi’s new lady-in-waiting feels much younger than her mid-forties: Her domineering mother controls everything about her, keeping her on a tight leash. While we never see the environment they live in together, the audience knows it’s suffocating. A trip to Sisi’s Corfu palace means freedom to the unwed and childless Irma and signals that her life may finally be beginning. Told by her mother to make sure that things don’t get “out of hand” with the Empress, whatever that could mean, creates a sense of curiosity; Irma seems ill-equipped for the task, especially when met with Sisi’s unusual demands. Irma has barely set foot on the palace grounds when she is told to sprint and do hurdles and pull-ups like she’s training for the Olympics. This fish out of water immediately meets the intensity of the weight-obsessed Empress, and she doesn’t know if she’s prepared for it.

Many at the time thought that Sisi exiling herself to a Greek island with only women around her and without her husband was pretty odd, but that’s not even half of it. She relies on a pendulum for answers, constantly drinks laxative tea, and her “girl dinner” consists of a bowl of warm water. Weirder things happen behind closed doors, and Irma has no idea how to adapt to a very restrictive regime and a whole new wardrobe. Irma just wants to eat a lot and sleep a lot but is made to go hiking early in the morning and skip breakfast. The new lady-in-waiting has a big appetite that is soon replaced with a hunger for Sisi’s affection. Despite the unusual demands presented, there’s an immediate display of playfulness between the pair and their childlike energies, which come out many times throughout the film. This new, overwhelming life she’s thrown into does eventually find Irma more cheerful, but that might be because of the cocaine Sisi has added to her diet or because she’s madly in love with the Empress. However, as Irma explains, Sisi’s often shifting moods can mean you either feel the light of the world shining on you or you feel that there’s a shard of glass piercing your chest. Frustratingly for Irma, there always seems to be a wall between her and Sisi, creating two women deep in loneliness. This separation creates a lack of emotional satisfaction because you never really know how Sisi feels about Irma. But how this relationship builds creates a fascinating watch and proves interesting and complicated – the characters even more so.

As one character puts it, the portrait of Sisi that the public knew was one of beauty, but the one “Sisi & I” paints is more of misery. Even though the film reiterates the fact that jewels, ball gowns, and castles can’t create happiness, there is a lot of comedy to be found within Finsterwalder’s film. So much humor is in the quirks of everyone and every situation but also contained within Hüller’s performance. Even in the most serious scenes, you know she’s about to do something, even subtly, to levitate it. Hüller and Wolff bring out so much joy that there are many moments that will bring a smile to one’s face. Wolff is phenomenal as Sisi, commanding the screen with a powerful, regal presence and capturing every moment of strength and vulnerability that makes the character so fascinating to try to dissect.

“Sisi & I” has everything you could want out of a period piece, including beautiful gowns, grand production design, and picturesque shots that look like classic paintings. But it also harkens back to films like “Marie Antoinette” with its more modern soundtrack. From bands like Portishead and Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her, the film has an eclectic mix of tracks that perfectly match the tone of scenes where they are used, even despite the film’s setting. Rock can match Irma’s frustration over fighting for Sisi’s affections, while softer ballads can emphasize intimate reflection.

Much reflection comes in the film’s profound examination of womanhood through the lens of these two historical figures. The image of Sisi here is one ahead of her time in both her queerness and independence. She welcomed vulgarity in a more classical world, and her rebelliousness saw her fighting against the expectations and constraints of her role in society. “Sisi & I” brings new life to the famous Empress, creating a picture of a very complicated woman who could be both kind and terrible. She struggled with depression and an eating disorder, feared aging, and became obsessed with diet culture. Many in today’s modern world can check one or more of those boxes. It’s a refreshing portrayal, even unconventional at times, of someone who was incredibly difficult to understand. Both Sisi and Irma are met with expectations they must follow, whether by a mother or by a man in their life. They face abuse, both from life and those who know them. What’s most interesting, though, is how the portrayal of these high-status women feels unconventional. Traditionally presented as prim and proper, they’re really just big kids. The shift from childhood to adulthood may go slowly, but the shift where you have to actually “grow up” is more sudden, especially in the centuries when you were wed in your teens. “Age is a monster who expects us to behave decently,” the film explains, when really, like Sisi, all we want is the freedom of childhood back – and being allowed to try to recreate it.

THE RECAP

THE GOOD - This is a new and unconventional portrayal of a woman behind a romanticized myth. Finsterwalder's direction and writing create a picture of an Empress that feels poignant in its relatability and modern relevance. The titular performances are fantastic and inform this very complicated and interesting relationship.

THE BAD - There are times when the emotional distance between the characters can create an unsatisfying experience – but maybe that's the point. It does start to feel quite long, and there's a plot point about a prophecy that gets lost.

THE OSCAR PROSPECTS - None

THE FINAL SCORE - 7/10

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Sara Clements
Sara Clementshttps://nextbestpicture.com
Writes at Exclaim, Daily Dead, Bloody Disgusting, The Mary Sue & Digital Spy. GALECA Member.

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<b>THE GOOD - </b>This is a new and unconventional portrayal of a woman behind a romanticized myth. Finsterwalder's direction and writing create a picture of an Empress that feels poignant in its relatability and modern relevance. The titular performances are fantastic and inform this very complicated and interesting relationship.<br><br> <b>THE BAD - </b>There are times when the emotional distance between the characters can create an unsatisfying experience – but maybe that's the point. It does start to feel quite long, and there's a plot point about a prophecy that gets lost.<br><br> <b>THE OSCAR PROSPECTS - </b>None<br><br> <b>THE FINAL SCORE - </b>7/10<br><br>"SISI & I"