Horst in Translation ([email protected])
"Das singende, klingende Bäumchen" or "The Singing Ringing Tree" is an East German live action film from 1957, so this one will have its 60th anniversary next year. The director is Francesco Stefani and he also co-wrote this film together with Anne Geelhaar. Of course, the original is by the Brothers Grimm. And there we also have the fairy tale connection already. If you know a bit about East German (GDR) filmmaking, then you will know that most of the country's films that are still known today are either political movies (usually about World War II) or fairy tales and this is one of the latter. The film only runs for approximately 70 minutes, which is relatively short for a full feature film, but actually some of the other GDR's fairy tale films have an equally low duration. It is in color like the other fairy tale films too and I really like it. The other genre I mentioned produced many black-and-white films in years way after 1957 and this is what hurts them a lot. It is no coincidence that the only Oscar-nominated GDR film is a film about politics, but an exception because it is also in color.But back to this one here. I don't think the short runtime hurts it at all, but helps it staying focused. Yes there were moments when the film becomes a bit too absurd, especially in the second half, but it's all bearable as fairy tale films frequently go over the top and they get away with it most of the time because of all the fantasy surrounding the action. The title of my review is a reference to the fairly simple recipe. We have a hero, who is good from start to finish (even a bit dumb early on), a female protagonist who has to grow in character throughout the film, a main antagonist (a dwarf this time) who is evil from start to finish and gets defeated at the very end and finally some minor characters like the King, who add very little as it is really not about them. Yes it is a bit generic in terms of the (missing) shades of the characters, but I still felt that this film was a success. It certainly looks a lot newer than 1957. The acting is as good as the direction and script, but what really stands out is the visual side in terms of set decorations, art directions and most of all costumes. The effects may look a bit goofy by today's standards, but they are pretty charming given the year of production. If there is one thing the GDR was really better than the FRG (not only in terms of filmmaking), then it is fairy tale films. This one here is a success and I recommend the watch.
