Famous Habsburgs in movies/plays/cartoons

[aor]

http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/kanaluebersicht/aktuellste/911208#/beitrag/video/926784/Sisi---der-1-Teil/

You can see the whole movie on this link.

Only when you are in Germany.......I tried, but because I am outside Germany (US), they can not show this movie outside Germany! 

[MarieCharlotte]

And where was the beard of Maximilian? And Karl Ludwig?

Well, I guess Maximilian had a shave right before the production started and Karl Ludwig was sent to his relatives in Dresden ... or he got lost somewhere in Schönbrunn ... who knows ... ;-)

And Eric: Elisabeth gave birth to Gisela in part one, but her name was only mentioned once.

[Eric_Lowe]

Poor Gisela...Still ignored...

[Madame-Sisi]

now how stupid they said dont compare this one with the 50s movies (thats what the makers said) but still we do that.

Yes, that was funny.
Was the countess of Esterhazy not unfriendly to Sisi and I thought Sisi didn´t like her. But in this movie Lily Hunyady was not her favourite lady in waiting.

yes they have turned that around..twisted it up i guess...

[Silja]

Today the movie starts on the German TV and Austrian Tv. I hope it´s good!!

The first part of the new Sisi movie has already been broadcasted yesterday on ORF (Austrian television). I liked it, but the director Xaver Schwarzenberger couldn't keep his promise to stick to political and historical facts. The young Italian actress who portrayed Elisabeth did a good job, but nevertheless, the character of the empress was shown in a very exaggerating way. We all know that Elisabeth was unconventional, headstrong and didn't agree with the rules at the Austrian court, but in the movie these features are definitely overdone. A lot of scenes were invented (for example: Elisabeth met Andrassy shortly after Sophie's birth in Possenofen) and far-fetched (for example: Elisabeth and Franz spent the night after their wedding somewhere in the gardens of Schönbrunn). Besides, the movie focused on the relationship between Elisabeth and Sophie - in short: good vs. bad.
There were also scenes that reminded me of the Sissi movies: Elisabeth's escape to Possenhofen, the scene in the opera in Milano, the couple in awe of the beautiful Hungarian landscape while being in a carriage, etc. The only negative person is again Sophie. Schwarzenberger kept his picture of the archduchess very close to the one of the Sissi movies, which is a pity.
Anyway, the dresses are amazing!! :-)

I thought it was a complete disappointment.  Unhistorical and still corny. I also thought Capotondi was okay, but the rest was gratuitous. As I thought, the "evil mother-in-law-vs. good and modern Sisi" contrast has been retained. Even worse, I thought Martina Gedeck's Sophie was a lot more unsympathetic than Vilma Degischer's in the Sissi films, and her acting couldn't compare to Degischer's either.


What made the writers turn the Countess Esterhazy-Liechtenstein into Elisabeth's confidante and a rebel in her own right I cannot imagine.

The consummation of the marriage in the park of Schönbrunn was an absolute low point of the film.

[Silja]

 the character of the empress was shown in a very exaggerating way. We all know that Elisabeth was unconventional, headstrong and didn't agree with the rules at the Austrian court, but in the movie these features are definitely overdone.

Yes, indeed. Besides, Sisi was rather shy and overawed during the first years as empress and actually in a way tried - if unsuccessfully -  to adjust to the court regime. She also already showed those signs of depression which were to become so obvious later on. In this film she is a self-confident rebel from the start. This isn't much more accurate historically than the housewifely portrayal of the Sissi films.

[Silja]

Has anyone of those who can receive ORF watched the discussion programme following the first part? What was it like?

[Eric_Lowe]

I think it is typical to go for drama that historical accuracy. I doubt the script writers even consulted historians for details. Just like "The Tudors"...

[Princess Susan]

 I sow the film yesterday on ORF2 and must say it was disappointment for me too.  I expected more historical accuracy. There were plenty of mistakes. I don't understand why the filmmakers do that? For more romantic impression? In my opinion a lot of facts were more romantic in reality like in the movie...For example the scene when Elisabeth gave birth her first daughter Sophie- mentioned in Archduchess Sophie's diary is very touching, but in the film was shown in different less "romantic" way. Probably because they couldn't admit to show "the mother-in-law from hell" in symphatetic way...Then many small inaccuracies like for example the Emperor always wore hungarian uniform in occasion of visit in Hungary, but Franz had austian one there...etc.
But in other hand the costumes were really fantastic and the actress who played Sisi was charming and beautiful.

[Imperial_Grounds]

So, it is not good when one wants historical accuracy... What a shock! Guess we could have expected this. Though I still hope it will be released here on dvd, like The Crown Prince was, and I simply adore that series no matter how over-dramatised it is. I think for now 'Kaiserin Elisabeth' with Marisa Mell is to be the only movie to be correct. And there is 'Sissi, L'Imperatrice Rebelle' which covers her whole life, though is not too romantic, but too dramatic instead.

Ohh, and I can't watch it on the link given. Odd, since I downloaded some stuf from there before and it worked. A pitty.

[Rani]

Part 2 was better. It was good that they showed how hard Rudolfs life was. My favourite scenes are with Maximilian. They showed how crazy Charlotte was after his death.
I think it was a good movie. Romy was better in an other way.

[Madame-Sisi]

indeed part 2 was better!!
i liked it that they putted the crownation dress in it and not like the romy movies a total other dress..
i think this part had a bit of more historical truth in it than the first part...
loved the scene also that franz goes to the front for the war..and how elisabeth helped the sick and injured people of the war while franz was there..so good they put that in it!

[Imperial_Grounds]

So, it is better... Makes me want to see it, I always wanted to have Charlotte and Max play a part in movies about the Habsburgs...

[Silja]

I didn't think part two was any better. Just as inaccurate.

Just like in Sissi they cannot get rid of the "happy couple" myth. Scenes such as when Sisi in support of her husband put her hands on Franz Josef's shoulder in the presence of Bismarck, or her statements "I have waited for you all my life"  and "From now on Maman won't ever go away again" (speaking to Gisela), made me laugh out loud. In reality Elisabeth quite neglected her children after little Sophie's death, but here she's presented as the perfect mother and wife.

Here there was nothing of her depressions, of Franz Josef's infidelities, of the empress's formal ultimatum to her husband to choose between her and Gondrecourt.

And unfortunately Maximilian's death DID NOT bring Sophie and Elisabeth any closer together.

I think Charlotte was the only character I thought convincing.

The film wasn't even good drama as the dialogue and acting seemed trite, mechanical and uninspired.

[Eric_Lowe]

Well...Elisabeth did felt sorry for Charlotte though. She went to see her when her former sister-in-law was totally engulfed in darkness.