Customer Reviews

The Sissi Collection

5 star:		(51)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This delightful trilogy tells the story of Elisabeth of Bavaria (nicknamed Sisi) who ascended to the Austrian throne at the age of 16 upon marrying her cousin Franz-Josef. In doing so, she became Empress of Austria and beloved Queen of Hungary.

Elisabeth's beauty was legendary. 17-year old Romy Schneider was perfect in the role of the enchanting, outgoing, free-spirit. She plays Sisi from the age of 15 to her mid-20s when the last film ends.

The films were made between 1955 and 1957 as an Austro-German co-production under the helm of Austrian director Ernst Marischka. They are not historically accurate. They are in the style of mid-50s romantic comedies, good-natured and innocent and with a large dose of cornball humour. To modern viewers they may appear dated, schmaltzy and yes corny.

The first film "Sissi" is my favourite. It has the most pageantry and is the archetypal romance with the fairy-tale ending. It begins with Elisabeth's chance meeting with the young Franz-Josef, literally "hooking" him while out fishing in the lakes around Austria's picturesque Salzkammergut. It chronicles their secret whirlwind romance against the wishes of their parents and ends with the lavish Royal Wedding in Vienna amidst general rejoicing.
"Sissi: Die Junge Kaiserin" (The Young Empress) charts the first year of her marriage to Franz-Josef, her unhappiness at court, the meddling of her mother-in-law, her championing of Hungarian rights and ends with the Hungarian coronation.
"Sissi: Der Shicksalsjahre einer Kaiserin" (The Fateful Years of an Empress) chronicles her estrangement from the Austrian court, her diagnosis with a severe lung disease, presumably tuberculosis and her moving to warmer climes; her travels to Madeira, Corfu, Athens, Milan and Venice. The third film takes the most liberties in conflating fact and fiction. All the sad parts of her life have been removed or altered. The film ends with the Imperial Family meeting the Pope at St Mark's Basilica in Venice. The final lingering shot is of the happy family waving at their loyal Italian subjects in the Piazza San Marco as the band strikes up Haydn's rousing Kaiserhymne one last time.

Each of the 3 films is presented on its own individual disc. Disc 4 contains the 139min abridged version shown in America. It is recut with scenes reordered and dubbed into English and contains a new title song "Forever My Love" sung in English. In doing so it omits the original Sissi theme music. It is too truncated for my liking though American viewers averse to reading subtitles and not wanting to spend 5-plus hours on the originals may find this a worthwhile substitute.

Disc 5 contains the 1954 film "Mädchenjahre einer Königin" (Youthful Years of a Queen). 15-year old Romy Schneider plays Britain's newly crowned Queen Victoria. Amidst the scheming to get her married off to one or other of the royal houses of Europe, she travels to Dover and falls madly in love with a dashing young man who turns out to be the love of her life, Prince Albert of the German House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Like the Sissi films this is also a light-hearted romance with humour provided in the form of the 3-stooges-like ladies-in-waiting and the young Queen's bumbling old manservant. Nice costumes and sets but not on the scale of the Sissi films. And the lovely Miss Schneider is much too beautiful to be believable as the stumpy, dour-faced Queen. Still it is a nice change from the Austrian court. And after 4 films filled with the Kaiserhymne (Deutschlandslied), it's actually a pleasure to hear "God Save The Queen" once again. The film is in German with optional English subtitles.

Picture quality is excellent in the main Sissi Trilogy. The entire trilogy has been restored and remastered. A few scattered instances of damaged and off-colour segments can be found but they are thankfully rare. All 3 films are presented in their original 1.33:1 aspect ratio (fullscreen). Sound quality is clear 1.0 mono, although it tends to be very bright, noticeable especially when the children come screeching onto the screen. Overall, very pleasing picture and acceptable sound. Optional English subtitles are provided. The 139min American version has NOT been restored. Contrast is set pretty high, the image looks a lot brighter, washed out at times, and colours are slightly off - Franz's blue uniform looks almost green at times. "Mädchenjahre einer Königin" has similarly not been restored and suffers from the same deficiencies. Still they are watchable, about comparable to a TV broadcast of vintage 50s material. Extras are pretty limited: A trailer each for the first and last Sissi films and a vintage 18-minute "Behind the Scenes" featurette for "Die Junge Kaiserin" on Disc 2. Romy Schneider takes us through the filming at the Schönbrunn Summer Palace, the honeymoon in the Tyrolean Alps, and Fuchsl Castle which stands in for Sisi's childhood home of Possenhofen. Three truly delightful gems from the past, beautifully restored. The price though should be a little lower.

Sissi has been one of my favourite movies ever since i was a teenager. Although i still long to own the English-dubbed 3-tape sequels, this condensed version is near perfect with excellent translation & picture quality. Even my husband enjoys watching it with me, to my surprise, and I would recommend it to all the ladies that love Romy Schneider and the splendid scenery of Austria, Bavaria & the Mediterranean.

I watched "Forever My Love" many, many years ago and loved it! I wanted to read more about Sisi. Then several years ago I found a set of tapes in French and got it. The scenery in these films are breathtaking. I also have a tape of "Forever my Love". I am looking forward to the German language DVD set with English subtitles so that I have a more detailed understanding of the action. I also have the Young Victoria movie in French and it is delightful, too. The Sissi movies are based on a true event, but it is highly fictionalized, though it does not take away from my enjoyment of the movies.

The Sissi CollectionI was searching for this movie for a long time.Iam german and every christmas in germany there show this movie.I haved watched this movie over and over and will watch it again and again.Thanks amazon for making this happening for me.

"Sissi sticks to me just like oatmeal"... Romy Schneider would often use that quote when asked about the film trilogy which launched her international career. Schneider always harboured misgivings about starring as the Empress Elisabeth of Austria, but the movies themselves (which stretch the truth in favour of fairytale fantasy) are an endless delight for romantics and followers of world cinema. Hopefully Ms. Schneider made her peace with "Sissi" before her untimely death in 1982. This box set contains all three "Sissi" movies (plus the dubbed SISSI: FOREVER MY LOVE and the prequel, VICTORIA IN DOVER).

In the classic original SISSI (1955), we first meet the vivacious 16-year-old princess. At her family estate in Bavaria, Princess Elisabeth--nicknamed Sissi--spends her days riding horses, tending to her collection of animals, and hunting in the woods. When her elder sister Nene (Uta Franz) wins an arranged marriage with cousin Emperor Franz-Joseph (Karlheinz Bohm), Sissi and her mother, Duchess Ludovika (Magda Schneider) accompany her to Austria. But things take another turn altogether when Sissi herself meets Franz-Joseph by chance, and captures his heart. The original SISSI is overflowing with charm, lavish costumes and breathless romance. Schneider and Bohm spark off the screen with their strong chemistry as Sissi and Franz-Joseph.

SISSI: THE YOUNG EMPRESS (Sissi: die junge Kaiserin) (1956) picks up the story shortly after the wedding of Sissi and Franz-Joseph. Young Sissi finds it very difficult to adjust to a structured lifestyle in the Austrian palace, following her carefree family life in Bavaria. Adding to her stress is a love/hate relationship with mother-in-law Archduchess Sophie (Vilma Degischer), who still disapproves of Franz-Joseph's impetuous love-match. After a dispute concerning the upbringing of her newborn baby, Sissi escapes back to her family in Possenhofen...with Franz-Joseph in hot pursuit.

SISSI: THE FATEFUL YEARS OF AN EMPRESS (Sissi: Schicksalsjahre einer Kaiserin) (1957) provides a touching finale to the trilogy. Sissi and Franz-Joseph are blessed with a little daughter, yet life in Austria still leaves Sissi feeling restricted, so she decides to spend more time in Hungary. Franz-Joseph spends most of his days attending to political matters at the palace, aided and abetted by his meddling mother. In the midst of the drama comes the news that Sissi has been diagnosed with potentially-fatal tuberculosis. Rest assured there's a happy ending in store for this charming finale of the SISSI franchise.

As mentioned above, this set also has the dubbed SISSI: FOREVER MY LOVE, a condensed version of all three movies, released to English-speaking audiences. VICTORIA IN DOVER (Mädchenjahre einer Königin) was released a year prior to the first "Sissi" movie. Romy Schneider stars as a young Queen Victoria in this romantic drama based on her letters and diaries of the period, leading up to her engagement to Prince Albert. The film serves as a neat little prequel-of-sorts for the "Sissi" movies (and also co-stars Magda Schneider).

The original "Sissi" trilogy looks superb on DVD, faithfully restored from original Agfacolor film elements. VICTORIA IN DOVER fares less well, with some print damage in evidence. The English subtitling is clear and well-timed.

When the movie Sissi came out in Puerto Rico, I was just a sprouting teen. Sissi and her story blew me away. I always wondered what happened to the series and if I will ever see it again. Then one day recently, as I was browsing for movies in your European category, there it was! Beautifully restored, in original German with captions in English. A feast to all my senses. My set is now traveling to places, for I wanted to share it with my niece and she is just as delighted as I am. Thank you, Amazon, for making this almost senior a young, vulnerable woman once again.

At long last the Sissy collection is available in the USA. Beautiful sets and costumes make the film enjoyable in any language. The true history of Empress Elizabeth may be twisted, but they are beautiful films. Watch the English dubed Sissy; My Love Forever and then watch the un-dubed version. That will make watching the foren language films in the collection a lot easier to follow the plot.

This was in my queue for months and I always bypassed it for other more interesting looking movies. Well over the holidays I decided to watch it and in the beginning I thought it was a bit cornball. I ended up really enjoying the movie and found the "drama" between Elisabeth and her mother in law interesting. Was was so fascinated by the Austo-Hungarian empire that I now have Austria on my "must see" travel list! Wanting to know more, I even googled and found out that some things about their lives were actually embellished. I won't mention it here but it is easily found online.

All in all it's a very good series and I didn't mind the sometimes crazy translations...it happens in most foreign films.

What I like about this alltime classic is the combination of love story, comedy and a bit of history. Superb actors and a great story round out this movie. Great for kids too.

Please note that the movie is in German with English subtitles.

If you are familiar with Romy Schneider, you will love these classics!The DVD's are in the German Language with English subtitles. I understand German and found the English subtitles not to be the greatest translation, however it works. I think someone who understands German and is from the Region of Germany, Austria, or Bavaria would love to watch it. My family and I enjoyed it!