TV review
RTL series
Sexy Sisi, mean Franz – that is what the audience can expect from the new film “Sisi”
They look smart: Dominique Devenport as Empress Sisi and Jannik Schümann as Emperor Franz Jospeh. There is only a lack of harmony.
© MG RTL D
She masturbates and is portrayed as a self-confident woman: The new “Sisi” film does a good job of doing away with the prude, glorified kitsch of the original. That is what the audience expects.
It is already running on the streaming provider RTL plus, and on Tuesday it will celebrate its premiere on free TV: the eagerly awaited remake of the “Sisi” trilogy. Yes you’ve read correctly. In contrast to the Franz Marischka films from the 1950s, the new Sisi is historically correct only with an S. Instead of just three parts with kitschy names like “Fateful Years of an Empress”, the new series comes as a six-part series. But that’s not the only innovation.
With Dominique Devenport as Empress Sisi and Jannik Schümann as Emperor Franz-Joseph I of Austria, the audience again gets to see a dream couple to go on. Young, handsome and – this is new – versed. Already in the first scene we can watch the young empress masturbating. Otherwise there is no sparing with sex scenes. The new Sisi is not for prudes.
Devenport as Sisi is not the shy little bitch that Romy Schneider once had to be as “Sissi”. Although she languishes at Franzl, she is otherwise portrayed as a self-determined and self-confident young woman. This corresponds to the current zeitgeist and should also come much closer to the real empress, who turned away from court life and was by no means a model mother, than in the original version.
Franz is also portrayed as a rather ambivalent personality. Brutal, devoid of empathy, tormented by the impending loss of power of his former great empire. He goes to bed with other women in rows and takes pleasure in humiliating others. A disgusting package with a crown. The real emperor was probably much more sensitive (Franz Joseph was partly to blame for the suicide of the architect Eduard van der Nüll, because he had sharply criticized him for building the opera).
The “Sisi” remake takes clear borrowings from “The Crown” and cleverly weaves historical events into the framework. Not as correct as in the Netflix success, however. An assassination attempt on Emperor Franz Joseph is brought forward by years – from dramaturgical tricks. But even the sex and love scenes borrowed from “Bridgerton” do not always seem credible. Because the love story between Sisi and Franzl has one crucial flaw.
Sisi and Franz this love remains a mystery
Why does she love him This question remains unanswered for six episodes. Because he saved her life? Because he brings the emperor and with it power and fame? For hours we see Franzl as quite an idiot. He only allows something like feelings in hints. Who would want someone like that to be a man? Not much is left of the ideal world and dreamy dreams of the former “Sissi”.
The new Sisi is still worth seeing. Above all, Desiree Nosbusch can shine as a nasty mother-in-law. The role seems to her to be written on the body. The setting and the costumes are in no way inferior to large productions like “The Crown”. The makers are allowed to iron out the weaknesses in the script in the sequel. And maybe we’ll get to know the nice Franzl after all.
“Sisi” runs on Tuesday at 8:15 pm in a double episode on RTL. Episodes four to six can also be seen in a double pack on Wednesday and Thursday.