CHANNEL 5 – “ SISSI “ * « THE LEGENDARY SOVEREIGN OF THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE, WITH DOMINIQUE DEVENPORT – JANNIK SCHÜMANN – DÉSIRÉE NOSBUSCH – GIOVANNI FUNIATI (FROM 28/12) »
11.58 – Tuesday 27 December 2022
(The following text is taken in full from the note sent to the Opinion Agency) –
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The true story of young Sissi and the iconic Empress. From 28 December in exclusive and absolute premiere, the second season of the series-event with Dominique Devenport, Jannik Schümann, Désirée Nosbusch, Giovanni Funiati.
Pop star and influencer of her time, Sissi – the legendary sovereign of the Austro-Hungarian Empire – is an icon that seems to have made many converts, from Lady D and Charlène of Monaco, from Soraya to Her Imperial Majesty Masako, from Marie Antoinette to the Duchess of Sussex. HRH accumulated from beauty, heart and soul torments, reasons for rebellion and ruthlessness.
From the first silent film of 1920 to the series broadcast in exclusive and absolute first vision – with the awaited second season – from Wednesday 28 December on Canale 5, the life of Elisabetta Amalia Eugenia of Wittelsbach at the court of Vienna continues to be a great source of inspiration. In 2022 alone, in fact, The Empress was released in streaming and, at the cinema, Corsage-
The serial that tells the story – in a modern key, making use of large budgets and filmed on the field between Bavaria and the Baltic – is the one featuring two young lovers, torn between personal desires and political power struggles. A reinterpretation designed for a new generation of spectators, much closer to the real historical figure of Sissi, with scenes full of passion and action, between magnificent locations, sumptuous costumes and hairstyles and, in the center, the mad and desperate love between Sissi and Franz.
The most beautiful woman in Europe – gloomy and restless, victim of neuroses, obsessions and depressive thoughts, she bordered on anorexia without ever being able to fully accept herself – fights the cruel dictates of the court and for her ideals. The Empress Elisabeth chooses love and energetically cultivates her passions and inclinations, and experiences the treachery of the court in Vienna with pain. And Franz, in turn, behind the facade of sovereign rigor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire hides a whirlwind of emotions and feelings.
Swiss-American actress Dominique Devenport and German Jannik Schümann were perfect to play the Habsburg royal couple. Furthermore, more and more important this season is the figure played by Giovanni Funiati, that of Count Gyula Andrássy. Historically sentenced to death by Kaiser Franz, then saved by Sissi, Andrássy will become Hungary’s Prime Minister.
Born in Göttingen in 1991, raised between Italy, France and Germany, Funiati trained at the State Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in Stuttgart, then dedicated himself to theatre, cinema and TV (among which, the film Francesco, by Liliana Cavani, and the series Il Paradiso delle Signore).
Born Duchess in Bavaria, Elisabeth was killed in Geneva on 10 September 1898, at the age of 60, by the anarchist Luigi Lucheni. The man, to the commissioner who questioned him, declared that he had done so “Because I’m anarchist… because I’m poor… because I love the workers and I want the death of the rich”.
Beta Film is the worldwide distributor of Sissi. The series is produced by Story House Pictures and Satel Film. Co-producers, Heinrich Ambrosch and Bettina Kuhn. Showrunner Andreas Gutzeit, with Robert Krause and Ela Hell. Directed by Sven Bohse. Historical consultants, Thomas and Philipp Ilming. Sissi received support from the FFA German Federal Film Board and the FFF Bavarian Film and Television Fund.