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zazzander · 2 years

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The Empress on Netflix

Very rarely do I notice the ‘male gaze’ in film but I did in the first episode of this show. Despite the fact our titular character is “The Empress” i.e. Elisabeth ‘Sisi’ in Bavaria, the show seems to care little about her.

What it does care about is the thoughts and motivations of her love interest: Franz, the Emperor.

Please note that I’ve watched this in the English dub, not in the original language so some phrases may have been lost in translation. However, this analysis is about the writing, direction, and acting far more than the words themselves.

Let’s start with the opening scene. We see Sisi dressed for a wedding. She seems nervous as she approaches the altar. This helps establish for us that she will get married, however, it does little to persuade us of her character or her desire for the wedding to take place.

The story then flashes backward and we find Sisi hiding in some curtains. She looks mischievous and beautiful. Soon enough, we learn that she is avoiding a man who wishes to marry her. She hides with a little girl, who finds her funny. She tells the girl the reason why she is hiding is because: “I want to marry my true soulmate”.

She disappears and it’s revealed she’s gone riding rather than be caught be her mother. The opening does a good job in establishing her love of horses and riding. Not to mention solidifies her unruly nature. As far as introductions go, this isn’t terrible.

However, as the episode progresses a lot of this elaborated on in a poorly done way. Or is directly conflicted by her actions.

From here on we flip back and forth between Franz’ perspective and Sisi’s. And there is a palpable difference between how their stories are told.

We see Franz struggling as emperor, his dynamic with his mother, his emotional conflict regarding the way he’s been taught to rule, the fact that the people hate him, etc. The story conveys his problems and this feelings regarding them. Not to mention, the shows offers scenes of titillation from Franz’ perspective as well.

On the other hand, Sisi’s thoughts and feelings are progressively lost. And while I said the opening did a good job in establishing her character, the dynamic between her and her parents speaks volumes.

When Sisi’s horse is injured, she goes to her father for guidance. Her interactions with her father feel very… odd. Our first introduction to him shows that he’s not only slept in (everyone in the house is awake, dressed, and ready to meet their guest) but he is surrounded by naked women who he has clearly slept with.

This tells us her father is equally as unruly as her – but the key difference. He is a man. Sisi is not. And despite the fact she really isn’t a child anymore, she doesn’t seem to have realised this. In this opening, we see that she favours her father. She forgives/ignores his indiscretions. She does not sympathise with her mother, her sister, or the women in the bed. The writers seem to have failed to acknowledge that she is a woman.

At the same time, her mother is set up as antagonist despite the fact she is looking out for Sisi. Her mother knows the reality in which that live: a patriarchy. She knows that she must find her daughter a match with a good man who can provide for her. Yet this is seen as a bad thing by Sisi. By itself, this wouldn’t be inherently wrong, but as mentioned before we see her lacklustre father being framed as a confidant.

The dynamic leaves the family as such: father is good, mother is bad.

“She is planning a life for me that I don’t want. There must be something else out there.”

This quote really solidifies that Sisi doesn’t want to get married. She doesn’t want that life.

Her father urges her to listen to her mother. And teaches her a lesson about life through her beloved horse.

“You ignore all the rules. You do want you want. That comes at a price.”

This scene is presents an opportunity for Sisi to expression her feelings to the camera. Either she is resistant to the lesson or she takes it on board. Unfortunately, it is left unclear and we can only guess from her later statements that she has not learned the lesson: she still does not want to get married. She writes a poem to this effect – a very useful device in telling us her feelings, if only the show cared to use it…

The theme of “not like other girls” continues when the family discover they only have mourning clothes packed. Hardly appropriate to meet the Emperor in. Sisi’s mother and sister are upset but Sisi is unconcerned. “It doesn’t really matter what you wear” so she says. This seems to defy Sisi’s historical character: she was known as a fashionista.

She departs from the room and we see that she walks around without shoes, traces her fingers along interesting surfaces, and collects a small bird from inside the house. It’s notable that she is painted in direct contrast to a feminine voice that calls the bird “horrible” (this could easily have been a man’s).

This sets up the meet-cute between Franz and Sisi. Where Sisi comes across as a historical “manic pixie dream girl”. Based on what we know about Franz we can see what he’d like her. She’s a little wild and he’s missing that from his life. However… we don’t know what would appeal to Sisi. Other than the fact he rides a horse (which is fairly common among nobles). The Emperor is the opposite of the freedom she is searching for.

Following this moment we get a few of half-smiles from Sisi which fall away when she realises, she shouldn’t be smiling. And then later still, these half-smiles become quarter-smiles like she is forcing them. They are awkward and unhelped when trying to understand her feelings.

These smiles are the only indication we get from her that she even possibly likes the Emperor. And it’s important to know that she gives this smile to Franz’ brother as well.

There is no moment when she confides her feelings with anyone. Furthermore, the camera pays close attention to Franz’ longing gaze. At lunch, he looks across the room as Sisi plays with his younger brother and when she is being witty. In the gardens he looks at her wistfully while she tries to be invisible.

The camera does not give her the same attention.

There is a very curious moment just after the garden scene when Sisi steps in front of a window. She lets the breeze brush over her. She stands, beautiful, like the subject of a painting. And I fully expected Franz to walk around the corner to spot her as this shot lingered. It was clearly coming from an outsider perspective. Instead, she remains alone, undisturbed – expect by the eyes of the audience. Which makes the painting comparison all the more poignant. Instead of showing what she’s thinking, the camera chooses to bask in her beauty.

And once more, the show cuts back to Franz and his life, his thoughts, his problems. In fact, this story develops, in this moment when he asks his brother to come to Vienna.

It is only then that he eventually discovers Sisi lying on the floor, still enjoying the breeze. And once again, this scene offers not true insight into Sisi’s thoughts or emotions. She seems curious about the Emperor – but he doesn’t offer her anything she could want.

“Sorry, sometimes I say exactly what I think.” [Sisi]

“Perhaps you could teach me.” [Franz]

The relationship so far as been all one sided. Sisi can benefit the emperor. But the emperor has nothing to offer her. Nothing that she wants.

If Sisi’s character had been established differently, this might not have been the case. If Sisi cared about fashion, for example, showing herself as new, spontaneous, unexpected in her wardrobe then it wouldn’t be a shock that the idea of Vienna intrigues her. She could like the idea of meeting artists and creators. Of stunning everyone with her creativity – in poetry and in clothing. We do get hints of such a character but they are overshadowed by the need for her to be empyreal.

Later, Sisi is summoned to the emperor's room.

This scene is incredibly confusing from the perspective of Sisi. She seems to both understand and not understand what is happening. When she’s first called, she questions why it’s her – and not her sister. Clearly understanding that it should be her sister. She even gazes at her sister, as if understanding what she is doing will hurt Helene.

She enters the room, clearly nervous. Her arms are wrapped around her. She is closed off. As they talk, she seems to realise what is happening, despite the fact that she clearly already understood. She says, “No, you are to wed Helene. It is all arranged”.

Now, this scene does give us a singular moment where we can see why Sisi might like him. He calls her “Elizabeth”, the name she prefers. And perhaps she assumes this means he sees her for who she truly is. But really, this is such a piss-poor realise to fall in love with someone. He called her “Elizabeth” and now she’s swooning? Seriously?

The rest of the scene is occupied with continuing Franz’s narrative; how she makes him feel.

When Franz says "I want you" she is hard to read. She looks neutral. Then smiles. Then is upset. He explains to her how she makes her feel. They kiss and she seems to enjoy it - but then she starts to cry and storms out.

This is the most crucial time for the narrative to convey her feelings. What does she want? Why does she leave him? Does she fear breaking her sisters heart? Does she worry that marriage to the emperor would be like living in a cage? We are left wondering.

She doesn't write poetry about it. She doesn't whisper to the trees. She doesn't confess her worries to her sister or her mother.

Instead we see the emperor's face (as if his reaction was more important than her own) and immediately skip forward to the party and Franz announcing his intention to marry her.

Her sister is upset, of course, but this seems to come as a surprise to Sisi. Despite the fact it was obviously going to go that way.

Finally. Finally. Sisi tells her sister: "I've never felt this way". But it is too little, too late. The show couldn’t care less why Sisi fell in love with the Emperor. Or even what feelings she is referring to her. All it cares about is that the Emperor fell in love with her and that she agreed to marry him.

Sisi’s choice to accept the proposal ruins her relationship with her sister, removes her from the countryside and the freedom she longs for, and binds herself to a man who cannot give her anything she is shown to want. It is a truly irreconcilable decision because the camera has given us crumbs when we needed a cake.

Despite being the titular character of this story, Sisi is not the main character. She’s barely a character at all. She is a vessel crammed full of stereotypes.

Truly frustating - and fascinating because it is so blatant - to watch.

#the empress #the empress netflix #die kaiserin #the empress (2022)#historical drama #long post #analysis

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