How did the director transform Empress Sissi into a feminist heroine?

This Friday, November 22, Arte broadcasts Corsagea film with Vicky Krieps. The director of the feature film explains how she transformed Sissi into a feminist heroine.

Immersion in 19th century Europe. In the 1950s, Austrian films Sissi with Romy Schneider tell the love stories of Empress Sissi. Daughter of Duke Maximilian and Duchess Ludovica of Bavaria, the fifteen-year-old teenager has a strong character and does not let herself be walked on. At the dawn of adulthood, young Sissi is informed that they would like her to become empress and she will find herself at the heart of Europe's political games. This feature film was a huge success at the time and made Romy Schneider a popular actress. These films will give ideas to Marie Kreutzer who will be released in 2022, the film Corsage with Vicky Krieps. It is broadcast this Friday, November 22 at 8:50 p.m. on Arte.

Corsage : Sissi gets rid of the corset of the function

Corsage tells the story of Elizabeth of Austria in 1877 who is celebrating her 40th birthday. First lady of Austria, wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I, she saw her rights restricted, finding herself unable to express herself and must remain beautiful. To carry out this constraint, the empress complied with a rigorous regime of fasting, exercises, hairstyles and daily measurement of her height. Unhappy with living this life that she never wanted, Élisabeth rebels and decides to change her life. Corsage is part of the lineage of these women who take power and director Marie Kreutzer has succeeded in emancipating Sissi from patriarchal constraints.

Corsage : Sissi, an empress who rebels against injunctions

In an interview given to Allocinatedthe director affirmed that her film is a reflection of the society of the time but also of current society, where too many injunctions are imposed on women. “The cardinal and most valuable virtue of a woman is always beauty. History, the feminist movement and emancipation have not changed that. Women are always put down when they are overweight or getting older. From a certain age, whatever they do, women are always wrong: if they have surgery, they are accused of being vain, if they do not, their wrinkles earn them nastiness. This particularly affects women who, like Elisabeth, are exposed, but as they are representatives, it affects us all. she declared. The director documented the end of Sissi's life and readapted the story of the empress. “I took a lot of liberties with the content and form. Nothing that I say badly or that I show badly is the result of chance, everything is a matter of artistic choices.” she estimated.