Sisi & Ich

Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary (1837-1898), better known as Sisi, still captures the imagination. Many times filmmakers have portrayed her life, think of the 1950s Sisi trilogy with Romy Schneider, and more recently Marie Kreutzer's Corsage. German director Frauke Finsterwalder has now also filmed an episode from Sisi's life. Featuring Susanne Wolf as Sisi and the recently Cannes award-winning Sandra Hüller as Countess Irma.

Empress Elisabeth feels dead unhappy at the Viennese court and is therefore travelling almost constantly. She has a great love for Greece; in 1894, she settled on Corfu with other aristocratic ladies. In Vienna, it is decided to send a new lady-in-waiting: Countess Irma. Once there, she, like the other ladies, turns out to have to conform to Sisi's eccentric whims. But Irma becomes fascinated by the empress, and slowly something of a friendship grows. Of course, the court is not resigned to Sisi's absence.