'The Sissi Collection' BD: Trilogy of Fictional Films Chronicling Princess Di of Austria

The Epic Film Movement Classics October 31, 2017 BD release "The Sissi Collection" cements the ENTITLEMENT of parent Film Movement to reognition as a national art treasure. Merely browsing the Unreal TV reviews of Film Movement releases confirms that that New York based company is much more interested in the art of the game than commerce.

The 5 discs in this magnificent 2K digital restoration consist of the trilogy of '50s films by Ernst Marischka in which young Austrian actress Romy Schneider portrays real-life 19th century Austrian empress Elisabeth (Sissi), the 1954 Schneider film "Victoria in Dover," and a bonus disc of incredible extras.

The highlight of the special features is the 1962 Paramount film "Forever My Love." This 2.5 hour English-dubbed film by Marischka and starring Schneider can be considered the Cliff Notes of the trilogy; this film (with a Burt Bacharach theme) is a condensed version of the three "Sissi" films in "Collection."

The highly significant other of your not-so-humble reviewer sharing that images of the real-life Sissie still prominently appear throughout Vienna provides a sense of the significance of this release.

"Sissi" from 1955 is a Cinderella story in a few senses of the word. The film opens with jocular Duke Max in Bavaria fishing with a few of his eight children in the idyllic wilderness around their castle. The group returns home to dine and is subdued by Duchess Ludovika (a.k.a. Mom).

An excited Ludovika (a.k.a. Vicki) soon summons daughter Helene (a.k.a. Nene) to privately share that Archduchess Sophie is summoning Nene to marry cousin/newly coronated Emperor of Austria Franz Joseph. A desire to conceal the purpose of this family reunion prompts bringing oblivious teen tomboy Sissi along.

The Cliff Notes of what follows is that an amusing wacky misunderstanding causes a bumbling security officer to mistake Sissi for an enemy of the state, Sissi and Franz meet and fall in love without fully realizing whom the other is, Nene and Sissi experience sibling rivalry, and our fairy tale couple have a storybook wedding complete with fireworks but sans animated woodland creatures.

"Sissi: the Young Empress" amusingly foreshadows the Princess Di story in that newly wed Empress Sissi is highly popular with her subjects and is at war with her mother-in-law. Two particularly large bones of contention relate to Sissi having a more lenient and supportive attitude towards Hungarian malcontents than Archduchess Sophie, and Sophie literally taking the infant heir to the throne away from Sissi.

The "incognito" element is particularly strong in "Empress." A spontaneous undercover second honeymoon soon after the (presumably) first one finds our couple staying at a small rustic mountain inn. Watching these young lovers freely frolic and literally spit shine boots is great fun.

Another particularly cute scene has Franz Joseph giving homesick Sissi a literal taste of Bavaria and distressing his mother (who comes across as the party pooper) in the process. Despite the grandness of this gesture, Sissi equally literally runs home to mother to escape the trauma and the drama of palace life.

Of course, this fairy tale epic reunites Sissi and Franz Joseph and ends with the grand spectacle that is a trademark of this trilogy. These final scenes additionally incorporate the nature scenes that enhance the films and make viewers want to visit the region.

Although time constraints prevented watching the 1957 film "Sissi: The Fateful Years" in time for this review, the synopsis of the film and other material share that it maintains the style and the quality of the other two films in the trilogy. The Di thread continues with mother-in-law problems and rumors of infedility. 

Classics offers another take on the Sissi story with the 1954 biopic "Victoria in Dover." This film (which also evokes strong thoughts of the Audrey Hepburn film "Roman Holiday") opens with Schneider playing young and sweet Princess Victoria in the period before she becomes the older 19th-century queen who often is portrayed as very rigid; the "Dover" portrayal of Victoria is akin to the Showtime series "The Tudors" centering around a dreamy young Henry VIIII.

Victoria soon literally inheriting the family business prompts her mother and other court insiders to determine that she must wed. This prompts the young queen to initially flee incognito to the titular locale with white cliffs ahead of sailing to France to learn about the nature of love.

In true romcom style, reluctant husband material Albert also is keeping a low profile at the same seaport inn as Victoria. The circumstances of his travels come close to making him and the woman whom we know that he will marry ships that cross in the night.

This rather Shakespearen tale follows the formula of Albert initially being an oaf who incurs the ire of the proper stranger who is not amused when he makes her look foolish. Meanwhile, the asexual middle-aged chaperones of the young not-yet lovers comically try to maintain order and propriety while constrained by the desires of the kids to maintain their secret identities.

The climax (TRULY no pun intended) comes when Victoria returns home to play who wants to wed a monarch. Our soulmates once again meet up and experience one more bump on the road to true happiness before beginning their well-publicized life together.

Another Bonus Disc highlight is a compilation of scenes from the 2006 documentary "Elisabeth: Enigma of an Empress."

The must-read essay in the booklet that accompanies the set comprehensively adds to the film synopses in this add-on and provides fascinating background information on the films, on Schneider, and on the real-life Sissi.

Anyone with any questions about this exceptional release is highly encouraged either to email me or to connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.