TV
Third “Sisi” season: “Vienna is not Paris”
On the occasion of their return to Vienna, Sisi (Dominique Devenport, 2nd from right) and Franz (Jannik Schümann, 2nd from left) take the photo with their children Gisela (Kristina Schroeter, r.) and Rudolf (Arian Wegener, left).
© Armands Virbulis/RTL/dpa
When it launched, the “Sisi” series was hailed as the “most successful fiction reboot” on the streaming service RTL+. Now the third season starts. The motto: “Vienna is not Paris”. Or is it?
When the revolution is imminent, he has Napoleon III completely different worries. With his face contorted in pain, he stands at the imperial urinal and tries to relieve himself. Just one more drop. Empress Eugénie can no matter how excitedly she knocks on the toilet door because the revolutionary mob outside is about to proclaim the republic. There are things that have priority.
Duke Max (Marcus Grüsser) later says that it was the bladder weakness that was Napoleon’s downfall, which may not be 100% historically accurate. And that’s why what happened in France is actually unthinkable in Austria.
Troubled times are beginning in season three of the successful series “Sisi” about the extraordinary Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1837-1898), which will be shown on the streaming service RTL+ from this Friday (December 1st). And that doesn’t apply to politics.
Disagreements between Sisi and Franz
There are also disagreements between Empress Sisi (Dominique Devenport) and her Franz (Jannik Schümann) because they have different opinions about whether Crown Prince Rudolf (Arian Wegener), at nine years old, might not be old enough for rigorous military training.
A test of the love between the (former?) dream couple, which at the beginning of season three is prevented from a surreptitious shepherd’s hour in a rowing boat by the news of Napoleon’s fall. “Vienna is not Paris,” Franz tries to reassure Empress Elisabeth. Or is it? Because revolutionary sentiment is also spreading among the workers on the famous Prater.
Makers wanted to be “more psychologically truthful”
The makers of “Sisi” wanted to “be psychologically truthful rather than stick strictly to the history books,” RTL said about season two of the series about a year ago. They seem to be sticking to that in season three.
The new episodes of the series will be shown on linear television on RTL – as in 2021 and 2022 – between the years, on December 27th and 28th. In doing so, RTL is consciously continuing the year-end tradition established by the famous Romy Schneider and Karlheinz Böhm films, which are dripping with kitsch.
The “Sissi” image that these three films shaped for decades has now been countered by more diverse and significantly more complex interpretations of the Bavarian princess who rose to become empress – and not just on RTL. The German historical drama “The Empress,” produced for Netflix, just won the International Emmy for best drama series.