Sisi

I have to say I enjoyed the first episode quite a lot and was disappointed when the series began to lose its way in the labyrinth of ill-fitting desiner clothes, mediocre rock music, sloppy plot twists and completely improper comedy. A few drone shots of Vienna don't give the series any Viennese flavour, which instead feels kinda very post-Soviet. It struggles between being authentic and modernized, probably to attract a 21st century young adult viewer, and in doing so tends to lose its way. Moments of beautiful camerawork save induvidual scenes but are not enough to cover the somewhat empty narrative and the moments that reak of anachronisms. It almost feels as if there were two competing units at work - one that strives to make a downtonabbeyesque detailed trip into the history, and another that strives to make a rock opera in the vein of The Phantom that really doesn't give a damn about historical etiquette, accuracy or plausability of the events. Many overly dramatic but emotionally empty and disconnected scenes bear witness of an insecure and disfunctional team of writers and script doctors.

Often a nice fairy tale and a handsomely mounted tale, if you can look past the very preposterous twists, Franz Josef's waxed bodybuilder boobs and the endless array of haute couture dresses with zippers. And no, they didn't eat breakfast, ride or roll in the hay always in glittering, much-revealing, sex-oozing evening gowns.

I'm sick of reading "it's historically inaccurate" in every review about historical drama's. This is not a documentary, it's just a show like any other.

I think the creators didn't want to retell a story that has already been told so many times. Maybe not everything that happened in this series is based on true events, but in my opinion that's what makes it interesting. It's new and refreshing and I'm here for it!

The series was visually very beautiful. It was well filmed and the shots were really nice. I'm not sure if the costumes were historically accurate, but they were beautiful for sure.

What I loved most, was Sisi's character developement. In the start she was this cheerful and happy person, but you could see how she felt less happy each episode. The prince's emotions were good portrayed as well. I could feel his sadness and anger by just looking at him.

The only thing that bothered me, which is propably the most important thing too, is the storyline. It just didn't have a good continuous storyline. I can't really explain what exactly is wrong with it, but it most certainly isn't perfect.

Overall it's actually pretty good. Yes, the storyline could've used some more work, but it was still very enjoyable.

This show probably has very little to so with the actual lives of the emperor and empress. If the characters were names to fictional persons, people might have given higher ratings. As the story is entertaining, the decor and costumes are beautiful and the acting is good. So if you are looking for more insight in the imperial couple watch a documetary, if you want an entertaining costume drama, this is a good watch.

The cast is excellent, a viewer can really feel the chemistry between Franz and Sisi. But unfortunately the plot lacks historical accuracy. Franz Joseph is depicted as the most horrible, emotionally unstable husband, healing every personal tradegy or political defeat by escaping into heavy drinking and having sex with prostitutes, leaving his wife suffering alone (for example, after the death of their daughter).

Season 2 started very promising but lost track soon after part 1. The character of Marie doesn't seem to have a logical place there; it is somehow forced and innatural to the development of the story. And when the "Hungarian" part of the story kicks in, the imagination of the screenwriters went very very very wild (here, they got completely off the track as far as the historical facts go).

On the flip side, the scenery is beautiful and some shots are breath-taking. I feel really sorry for the actors, they would deserve a better-written story. The public as well.

Make sure you read up on Emperor Fran's Josef and Elizabeth to learn their true story, because this series is not it.

That being said, it was a very good TV series, well done and entertaining. If you're a stickler for history it will grate for sure, but hopefully will spur viewers to do some research on these characters and the times, and that would not be a bad thing.

The true story of Sisi is actually far more tragic than this portrayal. She did influence her husband in certain matters, particularly in relation to Hungary but her experience as Empress was nowhere near that depicted in this show. She was beloved by the people but spent little time even living in Vienna, and she herself was assassinated when she was in her 60's.

Also interesting is that the Emperor Franz Josef would later be responsible for setting the wheels in motion that resulted in WWI, after his presumptive heir, Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, were assassinated in Sarajevo by a Serbian.

To me, the true story -or history - is almost always better than what these writers and producers feel they need to conjure up for whatever reasons. That's disappointing.

But it's a good TV series, "based on a true story", with good acting, and beautiful direction in a beautiful country. You'll just have to bear with the alterations of fact, something I'm not fond of watching happen but as I said hopeful folks will be intrigued enough to do some research and find out the true story.

I'd recommend watching it but with those caveats.