This evening TF1 broadcasts the last three episodes of season 1 of “Sissi”, the perfect opportunity to wonder if this new version of the story of the famous empress sticks more to reality than the films with Romy Schneider. ..
Last Thursday, TF1 launched with great fanfare Sissi, a new iteration in the history of the famous Empress Elisabeth of Wittelsbach. But from the first minutes, the fans of the films did not fail to rise up against this version which does not resemble the one with Romy Schneider at all.
Much more modern and sulphurous, this Sissi made in 2021 does not hesitate to mar this history which has been more than idealized over the years. For all that, is the series historically fairer?
The story of love at first sight
Whether in the movies or in the series, the love story between Sissi and François-Joseph is worthy of a fairy tale: as soon as their eyes met, it instantly became true love.
In reality, the story is much less whimsical. If Franz immediately falls under the spell of young Sissi, the teenager is much more reserved. Although flattered by his attention, she does not fail to notice that their temperaments are very different and that if she accepts, she will have to undergo the pressure of the court and say goodbye to her freedom.
However, she is aware that the Emperor of Austria will never accept a negative response, and is therefore obliged to respond favorably to his request. This does not prevent the two lovers from having sincere feelings of affection for each other.
A happy marriage?
Contrary to what the 1955 films might have suggested, the marriage between Sissi and Franz was far from the happiest, a point that the German series takes the time to address. The character of the two spouses could not be more opposed.
Sissi dreams of freedom, she wants to travel and go on an adventure. She hates Vienna, the palace and its overly demanding conventions. On the other hand, her husband is happy within the walls of the palace and has to face obligations which very often distance him from his partner. They do not see each other very rarely and very quickly, the young woman will leave the court to devote himself to many trips.
The Emperor’s infidelities
Shortly after the wedding, many rumors of infidelity circulated at court. Noises from the corridors affirmed that François-Joseph had a mistress and that Sissi, for his part, had a relationship with Count Andrassy, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Hungary. If the suspicions about the latter were quickly dispelled, Franz, he had affairs after his marriage.
François-Joseph would have deceived the Empress but, that, at the request of Sissi. Indeed, aware of abandoning her husband, she would have suggested to him to find a second wife who could fill him during his absences. It would even be she who would have organized the meeting between her husband and actress Katharina Schratt, who will become his mistress and support him at the time of Sissi’s death.
A slow depression
Many historical facts were put aside in Ernst Marischka’s films because they did not fit the story he wanted to tell. One of the major oversights, which is addressed in the TF1 series, remains the death at the age of two of Sophie, Sissi’s first daughter.
In the spring of 1857, François-Joseph and Elisabeth left for Hungary accompanied by their daughters, despite the opposition of Archduchess Sophie. Unfortunately, because of the insalubrity of certain regions of Hungary, little Sophie will contract dysentery and die in Budapest on May 29, 1857. The Empress, consumed by guilt, will sink into a deep depression and entrust the education from her children to her mother-in-law.
