‘Sisi & I’ Review: Sandra Hüller Stars as the Lady-In-Waiting to One of European History’s Most Iconic Empresses
Courtesy of Film Movement
From Netflix's The Empress to Marie Kreutzer's 2022 festival darling Corsage, the past few years have seen an intriguing cultural resurgence in the fascination surrounding Empress Elisabeth of Austria. Better known by her nickname, Sisi, the empress has carved out her own unique legacy as one of the most rebellious and spirited female figures in the history of the European aristocracy. For her latest directorial endeavor, Sisi & I, German filmmaker Frauke Finsterwalder presents a refreshed and compelling vision of Empress Sisi, shown through the eyes of her lady-in-waiting, Countess Irma Sztáray, the empress' closest confidant during the final years of her life. Through Finsterwalder's rule-bending arrangement of a historical account, she successfully conveys Sisi's essence as a contemporary woman, even 120+ years after the empress' death.
Sisi & I concentrates on Irma (Sandra Hüller), a forty-something-year-old Hungarian countess who lived most of her life under the controlling yoke of her mother. Unmarried and denied entry into the convent, Irma is pressured by her mother to prevail as the latest lady-in-waiting to Empress Elisabeth of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Empress Sisi (Susanne Wolff) lives far away from her domain in a gorgeous villa atop the cliffs of Corfu, Greece, where she oversees a female-dominated group of her followers and intimates. Upon arrival at the sanctuary of the empress, Irma is stricken by Sisi's modern ideas, free-spirited way of living, and captivating nature; she quickly finds ways of navigating Sisi's unorthodox living styles and enters the inner circle of the empress. Irma's dedication to Sisi grows intensely as time goes by, especially as she comes to understand the empress' ever-shifting moods and often manipulative behavior toward others, along with a more profound sympathy towards Sisi's increasingly taxing monarchial duties. Years pass, and Irma pushes herself to unprecedented lengths, entirely devoting her life to Sisi, aiding the empress in fulfilling her own prophesies and crafting her lasting legacy.
Courtesy of Film Movement.
The two German actresses who operate as the core of Sisi & I play with the historical lore of the real-life figures they embody while simultaneously building fully rounded, nuanced characters who could feel at home in the modern age. Most familiar to moviegoers for her Oscar buzzy turns in last year's Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest, Hüller brings something entirely different to the table in Sisi & I. As Irma, Hüller embodies a precocious comedy, a piety and innocence that allows her to be easily shaped by Sisi's radical attitudes. In ways, Irma only enters adulthood under the tutelage of Sisi, opening her eyes to a world of possibilities that life had denied her as an unmarried woman of a certain age living during the late 19th century. Hüller's performance subtly warps as Irma struggles to find the balance of control she feels pressured to maintain within the eyes of the empress she serves. Through her performance as Sisi, Wolff seems untethered to the intimidations associated with portraying a prominent historical icon. Wolff is unafraid of the messiest parts of her character, a legacy that includes a cold aversion towards her children, disordered eating, and tempestuous attitude. Wolff brings symmetry to these undesirable elements of Sisi's persona by fully embracing her historic joie de vivre, the adventurous essence that kept her obsessed with youth, connected to nature, and questioning authority at every turn.
Finsterwalder constructs Sisi & I with a particularly bold abandonment atypical from other period films that focus their attention upon similarly notable aristocrats. Liberating her filmmaking process from the limitations of historical accuracy, the director combines pivotal moments in Sisi's later years with an abundance of style references from across time, culminating with a film that feels stimulating within a genre that often veers into stale territory. Reinforcing this idea, the director's screenplay (co-written with Christian Kracht) and leading performances boast a humorous levity and more airy tone that resists the melodramatic flair with which Sisi has been captured in other onscreen adaptations of her life. Sisi & I explores the verifiable queerness of some of its characters with great pleasure and fun: ranging from Irma’s strong distaste for men to messages from the beyond sent by the infamously eccentric Ludwig II of Bavaria during a hilarious scene involving a boozy seance.
Sisi & I finds great power in its visual language, evolving with the film's characters as they cross the Mediterranean Sea and traverse continental Europe. Shot by cinematographer Thomas W. Kiennast, the film's vision takes advantage of the sun-drenched Grecian landscapes and delicate mood that dominate the first portion of the film, slowly transforming into more structured and somber images in tune with the movie's narrative progression as Irma and Sisi are forced to return to customary aristocratic life in the latter half of Sisi & I. Finsterwalder bristles against traditional Victorian garb, instead collaborating with the film's costume designer Tanja Hausner to create flowy, almost 1960's silhouettes for her leading ladies which mirror their philosophies as emancipated women during an era dominated by conventional gender roles.
Inextricably connected to the overall sensibility that Sisi & I so snappily embodies is the movie's unique and unexpected score: instead of standard orchestral ensembles, Finsterwalder utilizes a menagerie of punk rock tunes, primarily from 1990s bands featuring female vocalists, including Le Tigre, Pop Tarts, and Portishead. This gutsy music choice works in tandem with the rebellious attitude that Sisi's character exemplifies and communicates so powerfully to Irma and the rest of her following. Instead of relying on the music as another layer of craft, Sisi & I employs it to concretize its distinctive impact.
Courtesy of Film Movement.
With Sisi & I, Finsterwalder delivers a fascinating portrait of Empress Sisi and her inner circle like none other captured for film or television. Fearlessly committed to her nonconformist approach, the filmmaker proves that there is no need to re-imagine the monarch within the context of contemporary ideas because she was already a brilliantly modern woman during her lifetime, a figure whose views of the world transcended her life and are still able to speak to audiences today.
4/5
'Sisi & I' made its world premiere at the 2023 Berlinale in the festival's Panorama section. Film Movement will handle the movie's theatrical release in the United States, which begins on Friday, June 12. Click here for more information about 'Sisi & I.'