The Singing, Ringing Tree (1957)

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Movie
Original title The singing, ringing tree
Country of production GDR
original language German
Publishing year 1957
length 73 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Francesco Stefani
script Anne Geelhaar based on motifs by the Brothers Grimm
music Heinz-Friedel Heddenhausen
camera Karl Plintzner
cut Christa Wernicke
occupation

The Singing Ringing Tree (Alternative title: In the magical world of the Mountain Spirit and by singing, sounding tree ) is a DEFA fairytale of the GDR by director Francesco Stefani from the year 1957. The film is considered one of the best fairy tale productions of the DEFA film history.

The plot of the film is based on the fairy tale The singing, sounding tree, or the punished Uebermuth from the fairy tale collection Feen-Mährchen published in 1801 , which has similarities to the fairy tale Hurleburlebutz from the children's and house tales by the Brothers Grimm , published in 1812 .

action

A handsome prince comes to the king's castle to free his daughter. But the haughty princess spurned his gift, a chest full of precious pearls, and even dumped it on the floor with the words: "Every booby can give me such pearls." Instead, she demands the singing, ringing tree from him. After a long search, the prince finally meets a dwarf who is the master of a magical realm in which the sapling stands and who is ready to leave him the sapling with a deal: the sapling will only sing and ring when the princess meets the prince truly loves. If the tree remains silent, the prince has to live as a bear in the dwarf's realm. Sure of victory, the prince agrees.

Once at the castle, the plant is silent and the princess rejects the prince again. He sadly returns with the little tree to the dwarf, who turns him into a bear. The princess, meanwhile, desperately wants the little tree and wants to hear it sing and sends her father to fetch it. The king finally comes to the border with the magical realm of the dwarf, where the bear hands him the tree. But he only gives it to him on the condition that he gets the first being the king meets in the castle when he returns home. Since the king's dogs greet him first, he agrees. However, it is his impatient daughter who greets him first, who is then guarded under increased security in the castle.

When the bear realizes that the king does not want to keep his word, he enters the castle to get the princess. He takes her to the magical realm, where the dwarf, according to her nature, gives her an ugly face. The princess is angry about her ugliness and has to realize that she now has to look after herself. For the first time in her life she collects fruit from the bush with her own hands and builds a bed for herself with the bear. She asks the bear to see to it that the animals of the magic land come to her, whereupon the bear tells her that it is up to her: she can see to it that the animals like her herself, because they could be the essence of humans sense.

The dwarf enjoys teasing the princess with his magical powers. However, the princess gets the opportunity to help the animals out of tricky situations so that they can gradually regain their beauty. The dwarf realizes that the princess is becoming more and more good. He lures her out of the magic realm with the lie that her father is seriously ill. When the princess arrives at the castle and learns that her father is well and is looking for her across the country, she realizes the dwarf's lie. Suddenly she hears the tree singing in the castle garden and returns with the tree to the magical land. Although the dwarf does everything possible to block her way, the princess manages to return to the bear with the help of the animals that she once helped. By singing the sapling, the bear is released from its curse and becomes a prince again. The two return happily to the castle.

They leave the singing, ringing tree behind in the magical land so that it should bring luck to those who find it one day.

backgrounds

Scenographer Erich Zander created a fairy tale land that contrasts reality with emphasized artificiality and manages without historicizing elements. The trick specialist Ernst Kunstmann realized the special effects , especially the many transformations within the film.

The singing, tinkling tree is an outstanding example of fairy tale adaptations that were realized exclusively in the studios of the DEFA studios at the time, today's Studio Babelsberg in Potsdam , and that are successfully shown in cinemas and television to this day. This also includes the film adaptations of King Drosselbart , Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella and Snow White .

criticism

The lexicon of international films described the film as a " stylistically appealing " fairy tale, which could " stimulate the imagination of young viewers ".

Publications

The singing, ringing tree was released in GDR cinemas on December 13, 1957 . The film was shown in cinemas in the Federal Republic of Germany from September 14, 1958. Already in these two years of publication, almost 6 million viewers saw Das singing, sounding tree in German cinemas.

In 1964 the film was shown on BBC television in Great Britain as a miniseries in three parts and with commentary in English. The series was broadcast several times by the BBC until 1980 and is also considered a cult film there.

On July 2, 1977, it first appeared on GDR television on DFF 1 . It was first shown on West 3 on January 3, 1988 on German television . In 1998 the work was released on VHS cassette .

Since 2013 there has been an adaptation of the fairy tale as a play in Dresden.

Remake

2016 filmed director Wolfgang Eissler the tale with Hamburger actress Jytte-Merle Böhrnsen in the lead role of the princess again . The former princess of the DEFA fairy tale film, Christel Bodenstein , can be seen here in the role of a herbalist.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hans-Jörg Uther: Handbook to the "Children's and Household Tales" by the Brothers Grimm: Origin - Effect - Interpretation . 2nd Edition. Walter de Gruyter, 2013, ISBN 978-3-11-031763-3 , p. 431-432 ( google.de ).
  2. ↑ Ulrich Marzolph (Hrsg.): Feen-Mährchen: For entertainment for friends of the fairy world . (Critical textual reprint of the anonymous edition Braunschweig, Culemann, 1801). Georg Olms Verlag, 2000, ISBN 978-3-487-10687-8 , pp. 252-271 ( google.de ).
  3. ↑ Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm: Children's and Household Tales, Volume 1 , 1815, Appendix: Zum Hurleburlebutz , No. 66.
  4. ↑ Corinna A. Rader: “The studio and the fairy tale film - Of artificial worlds and artificial light” In: Annette Dorgerloh and Marcus Becker: “Alles nur Kulisse ?! Film rooms from the Babelsberg dream factory “Publishing house and database for the humanities (VDG), Weimar 2015, p. 38ff.
  5. ↑ Corinna A. Rader: “The studio and the fairy tale film - Of artificial worlds and artificial light” In: Annette Dorgerloh and Marcus Becker: “Alles nur Kulisse ?! Film rooms from the Babelsberg dream factory “Publishing house and database for the humanities (VDG), Weimar 2015, p. 38ff.
  6. ↑ a b The singing, ringing tree. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 27, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  7. ↑ The most successful GDR films in the GDR insidekino.com, accessed December 11, 2016
  8. ↑ Daniela Berghahn: " A cult film to shudder - on the reception of" The singing, sounding tree "in Great Britain " Berghahn 2013, pp. 405–420 In: Wedel, Michael / Byg, Barton / Wheels, Andy / Arndt-Briggs, Skyler / Torner, Evan (ed.): DEFA international. Cross-border film relationships before and after the wall was built. Wiesbaden 2013
  9. ↑ Daniela Berghahn: " A cult film to shudder - on the reception of" The singing, sounding tree "in Great Britain " springerlink, accessed December 11, 2016
  10. ^ Boulevard Theater Dresden: The singing, sounding tree boulevardtheater.de