When the countess arrives in Corfu, the empress is already there. Elisabeth from Austria (Susanne Wolff) has set herself up on the Greek island to escape the constraints of the Viennese court and her increasingly chilly marriage to Franz Joseph (Markus Schleinzer). And Irma (Sandra Hüller), whose family comes from Hungarian nobility, is meant to loyally serve the restless empress on her endless journey because her previous court lady couldn‘t keep up. It‘s lucky for the two of them. When the women meet each other, the chemistry is right from the start: Irma, who has never been interested in men, is deeply fascinated by the unusual monarchist, and Elisabeth quickly sense that her new companion is more than just an obedient servant.

SISI & ICH shows the two women getting closer, trusting each other and getting tested. It is the story of a friendship, a love, also a farewell, and the film ends with the assassination of the empress on September 10th 1898 while taking a walk in Geneva. The screenplay was written by Frauke Finsterwaler and her husband, the author Christian Kracht, who was also involved in the draft of her first feature film FINSTERWORLD (2013). Sandra Hüller also acts in the surreal German fairy tale. This time the director and her co-writer created a role for her that fits her like a glove, because Irma, despite her down-to-earth nature, always seems a bit alien, a bit weird, funny and human at once. Together with Susanne Wolff‘s Elisabeth, the film becomes a stand-alone Sisi portrait – despite the obvious parallels to Marie Kreutzer‘s CORSAGE, from its individual plot elements to the modern staging with pop music.

Pamela Jahn

Translation: Elinor Lewy