The actress Romy Schneider captured the audience's hearts worldwide with her role "Sissi". The three movies about the life of the Austrian empress Elisabeth still gain high audience rates with TV reruns. However the "Ravages of time" has gnawed extremely on the old films. The Munich group of companies of Leo Kirch restored the three films with modern digital technology to conserve it for the posterity true to original.
The 17-year-old Romy Shneider immediately became a star with the first "Sissi" movie 1955. 23 September 2009 the unforgetable actress from Vienna, who died 1982, would have been 70 years old. "With every copy the original negatives were worn off through the years", said the material expert Paul Reichl of Kirch's firm Taurus-Film. And now there are thousands of copies made of the "Sissi" movies. The consequence: the colors faded, there was a grey mist. The 300.000 DM restoration was an exciting detail work for the technicians. Pictures were "scanned" electronically and assigned to another digital "master tape". The colors on the computer desktop were not only refreshed but also scratches on the film material were retouched. Also typical flickering of old films which develop from chemical changes in the emulsion coat of the film were eliminated, explained Reichl. The hissing was also largely filtered. We avoided an overdimensional electronical touch in order not to let the films appear sterile, the expert stresses.
 
Vakuumverpackt in Aluminiumfolie
The rights of sale for the "Sissi-trilogy" are at Kirch's place since the 70ies, also the original negatives are in the Munich media mogul's possession for a long time. Future copies will be drawn by the new digital master tape. According to the motto "Immortal Sissi" however, the original negatives should be frozen and conserved for eternity. The fluid of the emulsion coat of the films will therefore be detracted in dry boxes, then they will be rolled up easily and – similar to grounded coffee –vaccum-packed twice in aluminum foil. They will be put in card boards in the "sanctum" of Kirchs huge film camp in Unterföhring: in a chill room as big as a classroom where valuable films are packed in minus eight degrees.
"Sissi" auch im Jahr 2500 noch Kassenschlager?
"The death of every film material is fluidity and high temperature", explains Reichl. "With this conservation we safe films for at least 500 years. And I'm convinced that 'Sissi' is also likely seen in 2500 – these films are simply classic." The conservation is said to be important because you can't anticipate future techniques for editing.
The Sensation !
When searching for the best preserved film scenes the restorers also found unknown material in the archives, about 18 minutes, black and white film material, which documents shootings for the second part of the Sissi trilogy very well. Also a tape was found, on which Romy Schneider herself (!) comments on the work of the film team. She tells us how a balky donkey dropped her at the shooting and brought her bruises.
The black and white shots show Romy Schneider when she speaks her text on a balcony of the castle Schönbrunn in Vienna. At the same time her film partner Karlheinz Böhm drives up with a "Jockele" and toots. "Jockele" was a Karman Ghia, which Romy was given to recently on her 18th Birthday.
Jürgen Balthasar
& Das Romy Schneider Archiv
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