Das kalte Herz

Who has watched that film in his childhood will probably never forget it. It ranks with classics like Sinbad or ET in my memory. The story is taken from a German fairy-tale by Wilhelm Hauff. Like many German fairy-tales the setting is the Black Forest, which is nevertheless an interesting fact, keeping in mind that it was cold-war times and the Black Forest part of West-Germany. Apart from being a piece of very subtle socialist propaganda, it is an impressive work of art. The movie plays with German archetypes in a masterly way, the character of the Hollaender Michel is one thing that stays in mind, the state-of-the-art special effects are another one. East-German movie production came never again anywhere close to it. It is a very interesting experience to watch that movie again some 20 years later and notice the dream-like narration in complete accord with the allusions to class-struggle and the last breaths of a unified German conscience at that time. Very nice, and never really appreciated for its accomplishments... I give it 9 of 10, the last frame is too obvious...