Cheap Sissi - Box Set (French Only Version) (DVD) (Gustav Knuth, Magda Schneider, Uta Franz, Karlheinz Böhm, Romy Schneider) (Ernst Marischka) Price

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Customer Reviews of Sissi - Box Set (French Only Version)

Kitsch and cosiness at their very best
In my teen years, this trilogy was a staple of German christmas TV, and living close to the border I saw it several times and loved every bit of it. But I only got reacquainted with it recently, and was surprised to find that it has lost nothing of its charm and attraction. Having meanwhile read several biographies of the real "Sissi" (in fact: Sisi), and thus being aware that her actual life was a VERY different story indeed, had no effect at all. Similarly, the fact that Romy Schneider detested her Sissi imago and only appeared in parts 2 and 3 because she was forced to by her imperious, co-acting mother (featuring as the deceptively sweet "Duchess Ludovika in Bavaria"), isn't for a moment noticable in her acting. In a movie this arteficial, it is in fact surprisingly unmannered and natural. (It is, nonetheless, a comfort to know that she got her vindication fifteen years later, when she played a rather more realistic version of the lonely, depressed and self-obsessed Elisabeth in Visconti's "Ludwig"). <
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>The Sissi-trilogy (and if Schneider had not put her foot down after part 3, there would actually have been more...) was wildy succesful in its time, drawing an audience larger than "Gone with the wind". But the colorful, good humoured "Gemütlichkeit" these films exude remains quite unique, and utterly persuasive to this day. You know right from the start that even the evil mother-in-law is not REALLY that bad. The comedy element, in the person of the clumsy and lovesick Oberst Böckl, is laid on very thick, but will draw smiles nevertheless. The impact of the films is hightened further by dazzling costumes and settings, wonderful views of Austrian and Bavarian countryside, and quite overwhelming crowd scenes. All this was done, of course, decades before we got used to historically informed BBC style costume drama, and it shows - but even the slips tend to be endearing. Don't be surprised to see an occasional car driving by in the background (especially in part 1); the Hungarian coronation in part 2 shamelessly recycles scenes from the wedding in part 1; and during Sissi's progress on the Canal Grande, it becomes clear that the digital touch-up of the film did not include wiping away the numerous TV aerials on the Venetian roofs - nonetheless, 95% of viewers are sure to be groping for their hankies not 2 minutes later. <
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>Part 1 tells the story, very roughly historically accurate, of how Elisabeth, a younger daughter of a Bavarian Ducal family, captures the eye and the heart of the Austrian emperor, thus thwarting the plan of her mother and her aunt (the emperor's mother) who intended to marry Franz-Joseph off to Elisabeth's elder sister Helene. Archduchess Sophie fears the worst and with military ruthlessness sets herself to the task of turning this silly country child into an empress. <
>Not surprisingly, by the beginning of part 2 relations between mother-in-law and empress have cooled to arctic temperatures. Sissi is appalled when Sophie takes over the upbringing of her firstborn, and flees the court to go back to her parents in Bavaria. A second storyline focusses on Elisabeth's interest in the fate of the Hungarian people; again roughly accurate, though no doubt overstating her actual historical role, she becomes instrumental in reconciliating the Hungarians with the Austrians, culminating in her coronation as queen of Hungaria. <
>Part 3 is generally the least inspired, and now and then uses not too convincing stage sets (the cardboard night sky under which her romantic encounter with Count Andrassy is played out is definitely below par). Here, we follow Elisabeth on her travels to Madeira and Corfu (necessitated, for the sake of the movie, by her lung disease - in actual fact, Elisabeth was simply on the run from her dreary marriage and the court etiquette); then, in an amusingly farcical episode, we see how she elegantly turns the slights of Italian aristocrats against themselves, and finally we witness her grandiose arrival in Venice, which constitutes a fitting climax to the trilogy. <
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>The films have been beautifully restored: the colors sparkle, and there are hardly any tape artefacts. The original German sound, however, remains awful, especially when Duchess Ludovika's perennially screaming brood comes barging onto the scene. Note, furthermore, that the film was screened in the 4:3 ratio that was the cinema standard at that time. <
>Recently, a new "Royal" edition was issued on DVD in an aptly kitsch red velvet, gold-embossed box. It is available from amazon.de, but unfortunately for non-german speakers lacks any but German subtitles. (The several Bavarian and Austrian accents heard, I should add, are an untranslatable delight in themselves). This deserves wider availability and is recommended!

Why in French?
I first saw this trilogy in Brazil around 1992. It was in German with Portuguese Subtitle. I am so fascinated with these movies. The story, the actress... everything. Since then I've been looking for the whole trilogy on DVD. When I've found it... it's in French? Come on, let's make this Trilogy Box Set in its original German Language with English, Spanish, Portuguese and all languages Subtitles. Hurry up! The world is waiting. These movies must be seen by the whole Planet. It's a Classic and one of my favorites since I first saw them.