'The Empress' Review: A Blend of Romance & Politics for a Sumptuous Look at the Doomed Habsburgs
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Loading... - Samira Hicham
- 02 Nov 2022
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If you're still pining for the splendor and drama of ITV’s Victoria series, Netflix’s new German historical drama The Empress is the perfect substitute. Set in the mid-19th century, The Empress explores the relationship between sixteen-year-old Duchess Elisabeth "Sisi" von Wittelsbach (Devrim Lingnau) and Franz Joseph I of Austria (Philip Froissant) as she finds herself thrust into the complex and duplicitous court politics made worse by her new husband’s mother, Princess Sophie of Bavaria (Melika Foroutan), and brother Archduke Maximilian (Johannes Nussbaum).
From the first episode, there is no doubt that The Empress was created by Katharina Eyssen who has crafted a series that is equal measures a coming-of-age romance for the young Duchess, and a tale filled with political intrigue and the rumbles of a growing rebellion. The series’ directors Florian Cossen and Katrin Gebbe shape Elisabeth’s life with a delicate grace, showcasing the naïveté that comes from being only sixteen years old, while carefully presenting the small horrors in her life. The Empress doesn’t shy away from the intrusive nature of stone-faced physicians performing chastity inspections, the disappointment Elisabeth feels in being faced with her new husband’s former lover at their wedding, and the stifling subjugation of her new life in Vienna.
Devrim Lingnau is a breath of fresh air as Elisabeth, playing her with a level of nuance that will undoubtedly bring devastation if The Empress runs its course through to her tragic end in 1898. She is truly just a rambunctious teenager whose only cares are freedom, poetry, and her horse before she catches the eye of Franz when he’s meant to be courting her sister Helene (Elisa Schlott). She was never raised to become the Empress, it was something that blossomed from unexpected love, and altered the course of not only her own life but the fate of Austria. You feel for her, even when you know that the Hapsburgs are hanging their opposition. Read More...
