Royal Children - Romy Schneider & Elisabeth of Austria, 45 min., WDR ©1998. A film by Birgit Schulz, co-directed by Claudia Schmid.

 

Synopsis

In 1854, the Bavarian Princess Elisabeth was crowned Empress in Vienna. From that moment on, the Austrian people projected onto the 16-year-old qualities of a benevolent, almost religious nature. In an era when the absolutist monarch brutally suppressed the ideals of civic democracy, the figure of Elisabeth served—from the very beginning—as a beacon of hope. Yet the reality of the woman herself—isolated from that hour forward—went entirely unnoticed by the public. The myth surrounding Empress Elisabeth of Austria was deliberately harnessed once again in the 1950s: the three *Sissi* films, starring Romy Schneider in the title role, struck a deep chord with the public during the harsh post-war years. Once again, a young woman—this time Romy Schneider—became the vehicle for two nations' collective daydream; through a sugar-coated distortion of history, cinema audiences were presented with a savior figure designed to distract them from their own lost identities. The myth of Elisabeth took shape once more—a falsified myth from which Romy Schneider would spend her entire life trying, in vain, to break free.

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The film analyzes the structure of these projections—which had, at times, brutal consequences for both women—and highlights the stark contrast between the public persona and the actual individuals. It examines the women's attempts to break free from their prescribed roles, as well as the public backlash and sanctions these attempts invariably provoked. The film offers a psychological explanation as to why neither Elisabeth of Austria nor Romy Schneider stood much of a chance of ever escaping the image created around them.

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The opening montage allows the authentic images of the two women to merge seamlessly with the cinematic portrayal of the *Sissi* character as envisioned by director Ernst Marischka. Romy *is* Sissi; Sissi *is* Elisabeth—such was the prevailing perception throughout the 1950s. In its first chapter, the film examines the structures of initiation that predispose an individual to becoming an idol: childlike innocence, purity, beauty, and naivety. In the next step, the problems inherent in this public role are addressed—specifically, the formative years that lay the groundwork for future attempts at escape and foster addictive behaviors. Their radical resistance to being publicly pigeonholed occupies the third sequence. This is followed by a portrayal of the two women's restlessness and their tragic inability to find a center of inner peace.

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The penultimate chapter discusses death as an integral part of the myth. The final chapter—titled "The Immortality of the Sissi Myth"—concludes with the film itself, which ultimately allows Elisabeth of Austria and Romy Schneider to merge once again within the figure of Sissi.