Reviews & Ratings for
Sissi: The Fateful Years of an Empress More at IMDbPro »Sissi - Schicksalsjahre einer Kaiserin (original title)

18 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
The last part of the Sissi trilogy., 12 October 2002
Author: dbdumonteil

Like the first two Marischka movies ,and although nobody sings in these movies,they are closer to operetta than to cinema.Maudlin and syrupy to a fault,they nonetheless retain a kitsch charm.I must confess I love this exponentional schmaltz.History is given a rough ride,this is an euphemism,although most the events that are depicted here did happen: Sissi's brother did marry an actress, a misalliance,and the adorable little girl whom Sissi's mother pampers would later be Marie Larish who would play a despicable prominent part in the Mayerling tragedy.The Hungarian part would occur later in Sissi's life,and Andrassy's flame was purely fictional.

While watching such candid pictures ,listening to lessons in wisdom and kindness,we almost forget that Sissi's fate was in fact a very dark one,and that her husband was still here when WW1 broke out.Afgacolor pictures are delightful and the ending is guaranteed to make the impressionable use two boxes of Kleenex.

Romy Schneider made a volte face after Sissi the third.She turned down a one million marks offer,and despite her mother Magda -who plays her fictional mother and who was the star of Max Ophuls's "liebelei",left for broader horizons:she was to meet Visconti and Welles at the beginning of the sixties.We are far from Sissi.She played "Sissi " again in 1972 in Viconti's "Ludwig" and she used to say that the Italian master was the only one who showed Elizabeth as she was.

But Sissi is a dear memory ,particularly if you saw it when you were a child.You remember it like some kind of fairy tale in some faraway magic kingdom where every dream can come true.Or something like that.

16 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
Great cast, touching story, gorgeous locations, 20 December 2004

Author: Marcin Kukuczka from Cieszyn, Poland

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

The third part of Sissi trilogy is made in the same convention as the previous two parts: monumental scenes with a lot of historical inaccuracies, sweetness, and high morality. However, if there is any uniqueness of this part, it is its most tragic content. As a result, Sissi-Schicksalsjahre einer Kaiserin, which can be translated as "the fateful years of the empress", is closest to the historical picture of this person - one of the most tragic empresses and one of the most known figures of the Austrian history.

The first half takes place in Hungary. Sissi, the queen of Hungary, stays in a lovely place, Godolo, far from the loneliness of the royal palace in Vienna, and her cruel mother in law, archduchess Sophie. Although she loves her time there, she leaves Hungary when Count Andrassy's love gets stronger. However, there remains one trace in her from the time spent riding horses and relaxing in Godollo. Sissi falls into tuberculosis. She has to leave Vienna for an exotic southern place to change the climate. It is Madeira and Korfu. There are long scenes of her recovering, her mother Ludovika (Magda Schneider) comes to her, to Madeira, and gives her hope to recover. There is a reference of long scenes to the tiring process of recovering. But they are not boring thanks to gorgeous views of the Italian coast.

The part is equally classic as the previous ones. Great cast including Romy Schneider, her mother Magda Schneider, and Karlheinz Bohm, still living. Filming locations are also an aspect worth considering. For that time, it was really extraordinary to make the movie on the Amalfi Coast (southern Italy) or Venice. Most scenes of Madeira and Korfu are particularly shot in an idyllic town of Ravello with its wonderful villas, Villa Cimbrone and Villa Rufolo. There is also Paestum with its ancient temples and, of course, Saint Mark's Square in Venice at the end of the movie.

The final scene is the most memorable of all. Sissi, having recovered from tuberculosis, travels with Franz Josef to Venice (an anti-Austrian part of the empire). The picture of the imperial gondola embarking near St Mark's Square is strikingly based on the various pictures from the 19th century presenting the imperial visit to this beautiful and unique city. The silence of the crowds is widespread. While the imperial couple walk towards Saint Mark's basilica, Sissi suddenly notices her little daughter whom she could not meet due to her illness. Not caring for the people watching, she runs to her daughter, kisses her and cries out of joy. Someone from the crowd starts to salute and after a few seconds the whole Saint Mark's Square turns into a cheerful place. The people do not shout "VIVA" to adore the empress but the MOTHER.

"Blessed are the ones of joyful hearts, for joy comes from God"

(one notice: the anthem that is played while the imperial family enters the basilica is not the German anthem but the old Austrian anthem of the same melody "Gott Erhalte, Gott Schutze Unseren Kaiser, Unseres Land")

You may have one doubt to this final scene. The story somehow does not end. The imperial couple is in Venice, Sissi is well, happy, and what then? Marischka planned to make the fourth part but Romy Schneider refused. She was fed up with being associated with Sissi. She was an actress and not an empress and that was a good decision. More great films waited for her life career. The role of Sissi in 1957 was not the lat one Romy had. She played Elizabeth of Austria one more time in Visconti's Ludwig almost twenty years later, but this was an entirely different portrayal.

Sissi Schickslsjahre einer Kaiserin is a classic, beyond times. Generations to come will watch it as a treasure of the Austrian cinema of the 20th century. FOREVER IN MY FAMILY'S FILM COLLECTION

7 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
Kitsch, 16 November 1998
Author: Andreas Thenhaus from Cologne, Germany

What a film: full colour (from Agfa), all those typical Austrian names and characters, beautiful and young Romy Schneider, but it is "Kitsch". The movie has nothing in common with real history, but served in the 50s an audience which tried to forget the war and nazism. They took the most wonderful scenes in Venice, when Sissis little daughter welcomes her mother arriving by gondola. Kitsch as kitsch can!

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