Sisi & Ich
Funny and liberal take on the last period of Empress Sisi’s life, told from the perspective of her lady-in-waiting, played by Sandra Hüller.
Late in the 19th century, Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary – known as Sisi – is living in an aristocratic women-only commune in Corfu. Countess Irma is sent there to be Sisi’s companion.
At Sisi’s summer residence, Irma first must prove her athleticism in sadistic exercises and is then put on a diet of cocaine extracts before she finally meets the moody and erratic empress in person. In between laxative teas and watery soups, hikes and beauty treatments, the two very different women quickly become close – though only as close as Sisi will allow, naturally.
Empress Sisi still captures the imagination. The 1950s trilogy with Romy Schneider remains one of the most successful German films of all time, and recently Vicky Krieps played Sisi in CORSAGE. In her wild reinterpretation of the oft-told ‘Sisi’ myth, Frauke Finsterwalder unleashes two acting forces of nature – Susanne Wolff and Sandra Hüller – on each other and allows them to upstage each other. With stunning costumes by Tanja Hausner and set to an anachronistic soundtrack by Nico, Portishead and Le Tigre, the film transports us to a world dominated by women to which only the gay Archduke Viktor has access.