Sisi & Ich (Berlinale selection, 2023)
Sisi & Ich is a German arthouse film about the special relationship between Empress Sisi and her favorite lady-in-waiting, Countess Irma.
The life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1837-1898) continues to fascinate filmmakers. After the successful Netflix series The Empress and the award-winning Austrian film Corsage (with the great Vicky Krieps), there is now this German production, which premiered at the Berlinale earlier this year.
Sisi & Ich is the work of director Frauke Finsterwalder, who wrote the screenplay with Christian Kracht. The film boasts a great lead role for Sandra Hüller, who plays the favoured Countess Irma, and an equally impressive second major role for Susanne Wolff as Sisi.
The first half of the film is set on the Greek island of Corfu, where Sisi has withdrawn during one of the lesser periods in her marriage to Emperor Franz-Joseph.
It is a kind of hippie commune (including modern folk songs on the soundtrack) that is only for women, but sometimes also allows special men.
That first half is the stronger of the two, because that part is infused with a free-flowing spirit in which time does not seem to matter.
As soon as the two women start making trips, to Tangiers or England, and also back home to Vienna or Budapest, the film takes on a more episodic character.
It’s still worth it, for the strong acting and the quirky (= anachronistic) period detail. And also because of the obsession Irma develops for Sisi, who can be both loving and cruel, but as a fifty-something is also struggling to find real meaning in her life.
Sisi & Ich makes for a fitting double-bill with Marie Kreutzer’s Corsage, which presented Sisi more as a modern strong woman, who tried to bend the Austrian court to her will.
With Sisi & Ich Finsterwalder shows that even the most privileged people are never really able to control their destiny as much as they would desire.
I think we have reached the point where everyone can now project their own psychological theories on Sisi, so I won’t be too surprised if we keep revisiting her life for a long time to come.
Note: Sisi & Ich had its world premiere at the Berlinale earlier this year. It has since then had a theatrical release in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and The Netherlands. It is also playing the international festival circuit.
Note 2: I wrote about the Netflix-series The Empress last year. Double click on the picture to read the full review: