Romy (4 Stars)

This is the third and last in my series of reviews of films starring Jessica Schwarz. The last for now, at least. I'm sure I'll come back to her again.

"Romy" is a biopic about the life of Romy Schneider, from her early teenage years to her death. She was born as Rosemarie Albach in Germany in 1938 in a town that has since become the capital of Austria. Her family moved to Berchtesgaden when the war began. Romy's parents were both actors, her father on the stage and her mother primarily in film. After the divorce of her parents in 1945 Romy's father went to live in Austria, while she remained with her mother in Germany. From the age of 15 she starred in a series of Heimatfilm films. Ouch! "Heimatfilm" is almost impossible to translate. Literally it means "home film", but it's a film genre that was popular in Germany after the war. They were films that took place in mountain regions, in small towns surrounded by grassy plains. Even though the films were set in the present (i.e. the 1940's and 1950's) they portrayed a simple old-fashioned lifestyle, reminiscent of the previous centuries. Everyone went to church, the young respected the old and families were intact. There was a clear line between good and evil, and good always triumphed.

From 1955 to 1957 she made a series of films in which she played the role of Sissi, the Empress of Austria. These films made her immensely popular in Germany, and for the rest of her life it was common for the press to call her Sissi. As far as the film studios were concerned Romy should have made Sissi films for the rest of her life, but she refused to be typecast. At the age of 20 she moved to Paris to continue her film career, even though she didn't speak a single word of French. Nevertheless, she was already well known in France, so she was immediately offered a film role. She learnt French through rehearsing her lines for "Christine". She never made another film in Germany. For the rest of her life all her films were made in France, with the exception of a few American films like "What's new, Pussycat?"

Despite the critical acclaim that she received, Romy was never satisfied with the roles that she was given. She thought that she wasn't being treated as a serious actress and wanted more challenging roles. She greatly enjoyed the plays of Heinrich Böll and wanted to appear in them in both stage and film versions. She allegedly wrote letters to Böll which he never answered, but in recent years this has been cast into doubt.

The film shows Romy's descent into depression and alcohol addiction, though not very clearly. It seems that the director Torsten Fischer had great respect for Romy Schneider and wanted to concentrate on the positive aspects of her life. That's my only real criticism of the film. It would have been more honest to show her faults, rather than discreetly skipping over them and only mentioning them in conversation. What were the pills that she was addicted to? We see her taking one with almost every drink, but we're not told what they are.

Jessica Schwarz's performance as Romy is perfect. She even shows subtleties such as Romy developing a slight French accent in her later years. It's also amazing how similar Jessica looks to Romy. The film is only available in German, but it's worth watching if you can understand it.

Romy Scheider was found dead at the age of 43. The cause of death was a mixture of alcohol and sleeping pills.

Romy Schneider
23 September 1938 – 29 May 1982