Geopolitics of Film: The Case of Sissi

Eyes on Austrian Cinema

Source: IMDb, photo from Sissi, the Young Empress (1956). 

Seit ich an seinem Grab gestanden,

Bin ich von Gluten aufgezehrt;

Ich schmachte nach dem stillen Hügel,

Und doch hat er mir nichts gewährt!

Since being there, at his grave standing,

Consumed I’ve been by ember ash.

The quiet hill has left me pining

For faintest glimpse of ancient past.

Poem "Longing" by Sissi (1885) 

From a bygone era yet with timeless charm, Romy Schneider delivers an unforgettable performance as an empress who worked as a diplomat, offering great geopolitical prospects for her empire. Three chefs’ d’oeuvres that French & German people are used to watching when December comes. So, before the end of the year, dive into the Austro-Hungarian Empire politics with the one and only Romy Schneider as 'Sissi.'

Triptych of an Empress

Sissi (1955-1957) is a three-part film by director Ernst Marischka. Although there have been numerous adaptations of the great Empress, his work remains almost mythological, as a soft reconstruction of a diplomatic and mystical figure who has disappeared. Would I even dare to call this triptych a form of duty of remembrance for this Austrian director? The memory of an Austria that, after the war, sought to remember an era without violence- a past as soft and silky as its former Empress.

Volume I, Sissi (1955)

The first part of this triptych lays the foundation for the spectator. You need to understand who Sissi was; you need to see her alone before seeing her evolve as a diplomat at the Court of Vienna. This first film recounts the meeting between Sissi and Franz Joseph, between a young duchess and an emperor. This duality runs throughout the first film, as there are numerous scenes that contrast the nature that Sissi loves so much with the oppressive court and its codes to which Franz Joseph belongs. This opposition transforms into harmony in the first film, as Sissi does not reject the state but becomes a force for the monarchy.

In this first film, Marischka clearly makes a political gesture by presenting the Austro-Hungarian Empire as capable of intimacy and tenderness. It can be seen as an attempt to deny the historical truth of the Empire’s violence to opposition that contributes to the mythological construction of Sissi's character. Sissi does not yet govern; she influences, she does not contest too much; a contrario, she appeases.

Volume II, Sissi, the Young Empress (1956)

The second film in this triptych already hints at Sissi's transition and her role at court in its title. She is no longer a young woman; she is a wife; she is an empress. Between nationalist movements and the Empire's difficulty in maintaining relevance and unity, Sissi is a political player.

Marischka, still intent on glorifying Sissi as a myth, to that extent, he does not address these political tensions through strategies or violent ideologies, but rather through the softness of an Empress. Sissi is a figure whose natural goodness calms conflicts. The scenes in which she comes into contact with politics are quasi-mystical pacifications. A geopolitical rewriting that prefers an attentive Austrian empire rather than a coercive role. Marischka works on this second film with splendid sets and an absolutely superb palace, raising another subject that will be addressed at greater length at the end of the triptych: despite the magnificence of the Court: its stifling protocol of the court. When Sissi comes to imperial power, she also comes to the constraints of an overly strict court. More intimate issues are addressed, such as her relationship with her mother-in-law. A sort of domestic closed-door drama then unfolds before us. Sissi is a prisoner in this palace; she is manipulated. She is an Empress but she remains a wife, she must comply.

Volume III, Sissi, the Fateful Years of an Empress (1957)

The third and final film in this triptych is the most political. Great tensions call for great responsibilities, and Sissi takes on this diplomatic stature, enabling her to reconcile the powers. This last film elevates her to the rank of an almost prophetic figure. This woman, whose fragile health prevents her from being at court, is nevertheless a diplomatic powerhouse and has managed to calm the greatest tensions in the empire.

The numerous scenes in this last film draw on religious codes, with scenes filmed from above and solemn music, presenting Sissi as the chosen saviour of the Empire. Despite this destiny, Sissi gradually succumbs to illness. The second film shows the beginnings of a deep and growing evil that is eating away at the empress. Sissi becomes a victim of the myth. She is like an ark for the empire, but the weight of the ark is too heavy, and she gradually collapses.

Intimacy and Statecraft

The relationship between Sissi and the Emperor plays a central role in Marischka's trilogy. There is a time before Franz Joseph, a time with Franz Joseph, and a time without him. Where emotions reign supreme, the relationship between Sissi and Franz Joseph forms the entire political matrix of the trilogy. Their glances, their gestures, their silences- the spectator cannot resist this conjugal space into which they are invited. The imperial bedroom becomes a council chamber, and love weighs heavily on geopolitical decisions. The first film, which recounts their marriage, is all about tenderness, but behind this marriage lie real manipulations aimed at strengthening Austria and Bavaria, a form of dynastic consolidation to guarantee the continuity of the monarchy.

Although Marischka seems to romanticize the love between the two characters, he nevertheless allows the viewer to understand Sissi's acceptance of her fate: by marrying, she enters an imperial structure that is beyond her control. She is faced with her destiny, and no one can stop her. Franz Joseph, however, does not perceive this coercive dimension in Marischka's work. He takes care to focus the political events on the couple; Franz and Sissi face adversity with unity. Franz Joseph is greatly softened by his wife's gentle behaviour. The night scenes offer the most intimacy, as it is in these rare but crucial moments that Franz Joseph, known as Franz, seeks refuge with Sissi due to the heavy decisions taken during the day. Sissi is not only an empress, but she is also a diplomat of intimacy. She does not govern, she guides; she does not sign treaties, of course, but she influences. 

This triptych leaves no doubt as to Sissi's love for Franz. She loves her husband, but unfortunately, she is watched over, her body is controlled; she’s not free, she’s not safe. Romy Schneider plays these tensions with great relevance, with shifty glances and rapid breathing that reveal a woman trying not to suffocate. The palace spaces are quite reinforced, with numerous doors, and the protocol of opening and closing weighs heavily on the scenes, allowing the viewer to see her as a prisoner. She is a wife, she is the emperor's confidante, his stabilising force, without whom Franz would become fragile and hesitant. More than a wife, she is, in fact, the invisible architect of the empire.

 The Empress as an Ambassador

Hungary

Hungary's turn to be deeply charmed by Sissi comes quite fast in the second film. Throughout the films, several scenes focus on Hungarian language lessons where we see Sissi. A state she does not know, dreams of yet. Hungary was marked by deep tensions with Vienna at the time. Emperor Franz Joseph had to navigate an extremely complex political landscape where Hungarian national aspirations clashed fiercely with imperial authority. Sissi often acted as an ambassador, navigating these tensions. On those numerous occasions, where  she was able to talk to Hungarian emissaries who had come with little courtesy for the Austrian court, she dealt with so much softness that she introduced this diplomacy of emotions where she is able to soften any tensions by her calm. 

One of the most memorable scenes depicts Sissi's arrival in Budapest, where she is to be crowned. A symbolic moment in the reconciliation between the empire and the Hungarian nation, all under the aegis of Sissi's mediation. She, the sovereign, is an agent of emotional legitimacy. The shots emphasise the empress's graceful ceremonial gestures and her exchanges with the local population, showing the spectator that Sissi's love for Hungary is not just perceptible but a key component of how the Empress acted in politics. Sissi is not alone in this Hungarian matter and as a wife close to her husband, she advises him on numerous occasions. She is his moral advisor. 

Lombardy-Venetia

The triptych takes on real geopolitical significance thanks to two other powers that push Sissi to surpass herself and act diplomatically. This Italian sequence in the third chapter of the triptych is one of the moments that best reveal Sissi's diplomatic power. Italy during the Risorgimento is torn apart by revolts, and it is into this drama that the empress is sent to support her husband.

Sissi appears in Lombardy-Venetia, which is presented as a territory in the throes of protest. When the imperial couple arrives, the procession faces contempt stares. The shots are wide, and Sissi seems tiny as she enters hostile territory. Romy Schneider plays this situation with great subtlety, with a look that seems to convey to the viewer that she is in a fragile position. The camera then focuses on her breathing. But a tender gesture from her own little girl arrives, and Sissi becomes an emotional catalyst. With this soft gesture towards her daughter, Sissi breaks down the distance between herself and the people, she is a mother and the Italian population relates to and finds comfort in that figure.

Sissi represents grace and embodies the role of mother of the nation. By her mere presence, she restores social order. The Italian resistance then softens, far from hostility towards Austrian authority, and a shift takes place: the people are won over by Sissi and cheer her. A true rewriting of the historical balance of power, Marischka does not tell the exact story, but creates a kind of allegory of moral power in which Sissi's emotional diplomacy is highlighted. Sissi is a sovereign who rises to the rank of miracle worker. She goes beyond the role of wife and becomes an ambassador.

Ode to Romy

It seems impossible to write about Marischka's Sissi without writing about Romy Schneider, a section all her own as if this analysis is a diplomatic chamber in which only she could preside.

The remarkable actress is here not just a mere historical reflection but a true oracle of the Empire where her gestures are subtle and controlled. Romy makes Sissi a miracle of flesh and gaze. Romy does not just play Sissi; she embodies her with a truth that transcends history, becoming the mythological creature of an Austria dream from the past. Since Marischka cannot change what happened in the past, he will work for a fictional Austria with Romy at his side as the great actress of this fiction. Every shot follows her, her breathing, her gaze, her movements which lends a ceremonial meaning to her stature. This precious interpretation is not only about the actress's charm, but also about a part of herself that she leaves like an indelible ink on the screen. Yet Romy did not yet know how much this role would ask of her. Sissi will become as much a burden to her as a crowning glory.

Romy Schneider often regretted being always associated with the role of Sissi as the role ended up devouring her like a royal seal that seems impossible to break free from. Yet this ode must recognize that in this fusion of myth and actress, Romy Schneider did not just shape cinematic Austria but she became for a suspended moment the embodiment of an Empire that never existed, except through her and through her Sissi. 

This triptych is a chef d’oeuvre, despite the films being quite far from the truthful events they evoke. Ernst Marischka does not seek to document the Austro-Hungarian Empire; rather, he seeks to fantasise about it, with an empress portrayed as a complex woman, a devoted diplomat and a tormented wife. In this sense, this triptych is thus not a historical reconstruction but rather an aesthetic refuge. And at the heart of this rewriting is Romy Schneider. Through her grace and her measured intensity, she makes this restorative myth credible.  And thanks to Romy Schneider, this myth of a soft past Austria continues to reign supreme far beyond the screen.