The salt prince

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Movie
German title The salt prince
Original title Sůl nad zlato
Country of production ČSSR
BR Germany
original language Slovak
Publishing year 1983
length 100 minutes
Age rating FSK without age restriction
Rod
Director Martin Hollý
script Martin Hollý
Peter Kovacik
production Stefan Gasparík
Omnia Film
music Karel Svoboda
camera Dodo Simoncic
cut Maximilián Remen
occupation
synchronization

The Prince of Salt (original title: Soľ nad zlato ) is a Czechoslovakian- German fairy tale film by Martin Hollý from 1983. The film was based on motifs from the Slovak fairy tale Soľ nad zlato ( Salt is more precious than gold ) by Božena Němcová . Both The Salt Prince and Once Upon a King (premiered in 1955) are Czechoslovak film adaptations of the fairy tale.

The great love between a princess and a prince from the underworld is able to defeat an otherwise irreversible curse that not only threatened to destroy a love, but also as punishment would have almost ruined an entire kingdom for its iniquity, namely the transformation of all Salt in gold by the king of the underworld.

action

prehistory

King Pravoslav opens the knightly tournament in honor of his three daughters, whom he would like to marry off and then pass his crown on to one of them. His Royal Highness, King Norbart III, wins the first battle with sword and shield . He wants to ask for Princess Vanda, the king's eldest daughter, and is honored by her. Prince Kazimir, who wins the second fight, bows to Princess Barbora. When two knights also want to fight a fight for the favor of the youngest king's daughter, Princess Maruška, she gives the father to understand that she does not want that and runs away. In the park she looks around searchingly and at her request a young prince appears, who hugs her tenderly. He gives her a rose made of pure salt, the most precious rock on earth, because without salt there would be no life. If she warmed her with her breath, it would come to her immediately.

Back in the underground cave world, the salt prince has to answer to his father, who doesn't think much of people. He thinks that the laws of the underworld are to be obeyed, only then will their power remain unbroken and ultimately their immortality too . The salt prince tells him about his love for the king's daughter Maruška, without whom he can no longer be. Through her he recognized what love is. The father thinks he is wrong, because he knows what human love is worth, but people do not appreciate it, they take it for granted, for them only fleeting splendor and wealth count. They would fight and kill and wage wars for gold and precious stones. The treasures of the earth are plundered by them out of greed, not because they enjoy it. Each of them wants to be richer than the other. He too will get to know her true character, he prophesies to the prince. They would spurn his love and make fun of him, the prince of the underworld. But for that they would get their punishment and even he, his son, would then not be able to escape his punishment. The mother of the salt prince cannot change her son's mind any more than his confidante Argonite, who warns him that he is losing his immortality and becoming vulnerable. Not only would people have love, joy and happiness in their hearts, but they would also know grief, suffering and hatred, even illness and death.

In the meantime, King Pravoslav ponders back and forth and cannot decide which of his daughters should be his successor. He would love to see his youngest daughter Maruška on the throne, she is his favorite because she resembles her mother. The king's jester suggests that he simply ask his daughters how much they love him and that he entrust his kingdom to the one who loves him most . At the same time, Princess Vanda checks the income of the kingdom and is not satisfied despite the richly filled treasure chests. After all, she needs gold, because gold is the key to everything, to the power and obedience of the subjects, even to love and justice, so she needs a lot of it. Princess Barbora also surrenders to her passion, diamonds and beautiful clothes that she can never get enough of. The youngest king's daughter, on the other hand, has all the rooms in the palace decorated with flowers, because tomorrow is the day of roses. When she is alone, she breathes on her salt rose and immediately her prince appears. From tomorrow on, nothing will separate them, she happily lets him know. He'll be there, replies the prince.

The expulsion

The other day, King Pravoslav gives a speech in the throne room. Since fate had not given him a son, he decided to leave the throne to those of his daughters who had chosen the brightest bridegroom and who would show him the most love. Vanda and her bridegroom, King Norbart, are the first to appear before their father. Norbart points to his precious shield, which already belonged to his father and his ancestors and is a guarantee that the kingdom entrusted to him will not be conquered by anyone. He will defend it to the last drop of blood. Vanda turns to her father and says that he is more valuable and dearer to her than all the gold on earth. The Prince Kazimir, now questioned, draws his sword with which he will conquer every other kingdom, yes, he does not only want to defend the country of the king, but also to enlarge it. Barbora speaks of her love for diamonds and jewelery in general and assures the father that all the riches of this earth compared to her love for him are only grains of sand in the sea. Then the salt prince bows before the king. He had neither shield nor sword, love had brought him here, he promised the king neither gold nor precious stones, but blooming gardens, green meadows, forests full of game, happiness and peace for his kingdom and peace for his people. Now it is Maruška's turn. She begins to know that gold is something very valuable and precious stone something very precious. But the most precious thing of all is salt. Without salt there would be no life. That is why she loves her father as much as the salt. There was general laughter and the king asked his youngest daughter to think again and to correct herself. However, Maruška sticks to her statement. The king jumps up indignantly, after all there is salt like sand on the sea, it is lying around everywhere, even every beggar can have as much of it as he wants, because what does it cost, nothing! A thunderclap, a flash of lightning and the king of the underworld appears. “You humiliated my son and thereby offended me, his father. Just as you despise true and genuine feelings, you also cannot see the real values ​​and glorious gifts of Mother Earth. I curse this land. I curse this kingdom. You will get the punishment you all deserve. "

The king orders Maruška to get out of his sight. Of his daughters he loved her best, but where the greatest love was, there was probably also the greatest pain. The court jester tries to influence the king, his anger darkens his mind. The king, however, coolly shows it within its limits. Maruška is led out of the castle by the guard. The king sarcastically calls after her that she will only return when salt is more valuable than gold, then she will become queen. When the princess asks the court jester, who came with her to the castle gate, where her prince was, he can only tell her that he has disappeared and that nobody knows where.

Maruška's search

Strange things have been happening in the kingdom lately, you find that salt is turning to gold, no matter where you look, all salt has turned into pure gold. The enormous salt reserves in the castle's basement have also turned into large nuggets of gold. After there is general joy over this miracle and above all the princesses and their husbands are completely blinded by the wealth, disillusionment gradually sets in, because without salt disease and death spread, people's strength dwindle, cattle perish in the pastures, hunger and misery are the result. A delegation that sets out with wagons full of gold to buy salt in the neighboring kingdom comes back without the precious goods. As soon as you cross the border into another realm, the charged gold becomes salt, if you cross your own border again, the salt changes back to gold. The king's sons-in-law, however, do not care, they would like to divide the kingdom among themselves and chase away King Pravoslav.

At the same time, Princess Maruška hurries through the forest, her pleading with her salt rose remains unanswered. When she wakes up and sees fairy creatures and tells them about her misfortune, the nymphs show her the way to the underworld. Here she searches in the lightless, shadowy world and is soon led before the angry king of the underworld. After showing her his contempt, he leads her to the prince. Maruška stares at her groom in disbelief, he has become a pillar of salt. That is solely her fault, the king grunts, because of her he wanted to get to know love, but hardly had he been with the people when his warning words were fulfilled. Without responding to her request for mercy, the king lets Maruška with his guards thrust into the labyrinthine underworld. As she wanders there helplessly, she meets a man who introduces himself to her as argonite. She doesn't need to be afraid that he has seen the Prince of Salt grow up, that he is like his own son to him. Maruška wants to know how to break the spell. He didn't know that either, but he knew that only a noble human being could free the prince. Maybe it is. There is a wise woman on earth, to whom she should go. Then he shows her the way.

After some adversity, the princess comes to an old house. When she asks the woman sitting at the loom for help, she initially reacts negatively, but then leads the princess to an empty well, which she should fill with water from the stream below. Maruška empties bucket after bucket into the well, but the water seeps away immediately and the well remains empty. It goes on for many days. Even a prince suddenly passing by from a distant country, who wants to lay his hand and his kingdom at Maruška’s feet, cannot dissuade her from completing the task given to her, because she already has a bridegroom whom she alone loves. She tirelessly tries to fill the well. After more time has passed, the wise woman Maruška lets a glimpse into her father's kingdom through the bottom of the well. After the people there had revolted in vain, they have now given up and vegetate without motivation. The king is also doing badly. When Maruškas asked what happened in her father's kingdom, she replied that the king of the underworld turned all salt into gold. Only if she could redeem the prince could she redeem her country. After she first disappears, the wise woman is standing in front of Maruška shortly afterwards, but this time in noble clothes. She no longer has to carry water, because it would be pointless anyway, but she passed the test to which she was put. She has shown her love, in which the Salt Prince has always believed so firmly. Because she was so faithful and incorruptible, she will now help her to save him. She had to walk over three mountains and three valleys until she came to a rock that she had to touch with this salt rose. Then it would open up and then she would have to find the meadow where only salt flowers would bloom. She must collect the sparkling dew drops from her goblets. It is no ordinary dew, it is the tears of the people from their father's kingdom. This dew is the water of life. With that she had to touch the Prince of Salt and he would be redeemed. The noble woman gives her a jug which alone is suitable to contain the precious drops, because only in this jug does the water of life not lose its magic power.

The redemption

As announced, the rock opens, and when Maruška slips through, she is confronted with argonite, much to her delight. He leads her to the meadow with the salt flowers, where the princess busily empties the water from her goblet into her jug. When it is full, argonite leads them to the king of the underworld. Again he meets her gruff and dismissive. Argonite prays for Maruška, and assures the king that she will turn his great grief into joy. The salt king remains stubborn and does not want to hear anything. What she imagines, not even he can take back this curse , which is stronger than death. When he wants to punish Argonite and the princess, the voice of the queen, who was also the wise woman and the noble woman, sounds and commands the salt king to stop: “Come to your senses, your hatred and your delusion have darkened everything. Your curse lies like a dark cloud on your subterranean realm. You scream I'm the master here, but you're just a passed out father. You are not even able to free the most precious thing the earth has given you, your son. You and the salt prince can only help the most beautiful and greatest and most powerful in this world. ”“ And what is that? ”The king wants to know indignantly. “Love” is the simple answer. Maruška goes to the salt prince and wets him with the drops from her jug. "Wake up my prince, wake up from your terrible dream" - and the miracle happens, the prince is redeemed. The Salt King is deeply touched and a tear falls from his eye. “What is that?” He wants to know, “these are tears, whole ordinary tears,” replies the Queen.

At the same time, King Pravoslav is left by his daughters Vanda and Barbora. Together with their husbands, they have gathered everything that the carriages can handle and wish the king to suffocate on his kingdom. As soon as they have crossed the national border, all of the loaded gold, ducats and precious stones, as well as all jewelry, become salt. In the castle, the king ponders that his daughters have not even said goodbye to him and his court jester pours oil on the fire, "the great love that was worth more, all gold and all diamonds ..."

The king of the underworld calls everyone together to inform them that he was wrong: “The daughter of king Pravoslav and the salt prince have shown us and people through the power of love how transient earthly wealth is. It is only of value if it is used to help others. ”Then he hands the young couple their wedding present, a bag that will never run out of salt. Turning to his son, he says he should take his bride and ride to the castle and bring the people the salt they urgently need. It is a gift from the earth. In the meantime, King Pravoslav wanders around lonely in the castle. He hears the clatter of horses without knowing that the salt prince and his daughter, Princess Maruška, rode into the castle courtyard with their entourage. The Salt Prince instructs his servants to ride across the kingdom, distributing salt everywhere, as much as everyone needs. The king's daughter is now going to her father. “I have brought you a present, the most precious there is, and medicine.” “There is no medicine for me,” replies the king, “and neither for my people.” Maruška pours salt into his hands. “Salt, that's real salt. Do you have more of it? ”He wants to know. Yes, she has enough for his entire kingdom. The king has still not recognized his daughter and asks how he can reward her with it. “I don't want anything, only that you love me as much, father, like this salt.” At last the king realizes who is standing in front of him. He had done her so bitterly injustice whether she could forgive old fools. The court jester announces in the empire that Princess Maruška is back and has reconciled with her father. Shortly afterwards, the king speaks to his people from the balcony: “Our misfortune is over, your tears have redeemed us from this terrible misery, but all sacrifices would have been in vain if we had not learned from them that love is the most valuable and beautiful thing Life is. Even now, her strength has brought two people together. In front of you stand the future queen and her husband, the salt prince. I hereby give you my scepter and with it the whole kingdom. I wish you a long life and good luck. Rule this beautiful country wisely and fairly. In the eternal memory of this day, I decide that every guest in our country will be received not only with bread, but also with salt. "

Under the young couple, the kingdom blossomed again with happy subjects, as the salt prince had promised the king when he was courting .

background

The Hallstatt culture bears testimony to early human experiences of a lack of salt and the vital value of salt, which was also known as "white gold". Similar to the fairy tale film adaptation of the Prince of Salt, the experience of an existential lack and a general need is also thematized in the fairy tale film The Key to Happiness and hinted at in the film adaptation The Rainbow Fairy . However, these two fairy tales are about the lack of water. Such experiences are reflected in the fairy tale of the Salt Prince. The film is based on the folk tale Salt is more precious than gold from the collection of Slovak fairy tales and sagas by Božena Němcová . However, the story of a salt prince from the underworld is not told there, but rather runs analogously to comparable fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm ( The goose-girl at the fountain ). In the film adaptation, Maruška becomes a heroine reminiscent of Orpheus in the salt event , who wanders the underworld for her loved one - albeit happily. A similar test of a heroine can be found in the fairy tale film Princess Julia based on the story of the same name by Josef Lada . The walk through the underworld is a classic test of a male hero in Greek mythology. Here this is done by a princess. The connection between salt and love is also reminiscent of the words Jesus addressed to his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount : “You are the salt of the earth.” The question of love itself already appears tragically in Shakespeare's King Lear - although Lear's compares the most recent Daughter Cordelia does not love her father with salt. She makes no comparison. She loves him as a daughter loves her father. The curse on King Pravoslav is a reminder of King Midas' gold fortune .

production

The film was shot in both republics. The stalactite cave Demänovská ľadová jaskyňa in the Low Tatras , Červený Kameň ( White Carpathians ), Pernštejn Castle and Lakšárska Nová Ves were Slovak film locations. In the Czech Republic, the film was shot in Křivoklát , Lednice and Prague .

The Salt Prince was shown in the cinemas of the ČSSR for the first time in 1983. The version dubbed in German was first broadcast on April 3 and 4, 1983 in two parts on ZDF . The film had its cinema premiere in the GDR on July 19, 1985. The TV premiere of the fairy tale film was on August 1 in Czechoslovakia and on August 22, 1985 in Hungary. Internationally, the film appeared under the respective translations of the title: In English as The Salt Prince , in Spanish El principe de Sal , in French Le Prince de Sel and in Italian as Il Principe del Sale .

Karel Svoboda - the composer of Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella and How to Wake Up Sleeping Beauty - composed the score here, too, which sounds like a simple way by Arcangelo Corelli on the one hand and a symphonic motif by Bedřich Smetana on the other . Somewhat unsuitable for the fairytale atmosphere in the Salzprinzen is the partial musical implementation on the synthesizer. The music will be played by the Prague Film Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Stepán Konícek. The film is a co-production by Omnia Film Munich and Slovensky Film Koliba Bratislava , © Omnai Film 1982. Stefan Gasparik was in charge of production and Hans-Dieter Radke was in charge of editing.

The costumes of the court society are inspired by the fashion of the late Middle Ages; for example, the double hennin appears as headgear.

The Salt Prince was released on DVD by Studio AVU on December 1, 2006, and it is also included on the DVD The Little Fairy Tale Collection along with two other fairy tales (Studio KSM GmbH, release date October 9, 2008). In all German-language DVD editions and the current television broadcasts, the film is shortened by around 15 minutes.

synchronization

The German dubbing emerged from a co-production by Omnia-Film Munich and Slovenský Film Koliba, Bratislava - Omnia Film 1982 on behalf of ZDF and ORF . The film was also dubbed in English, Spanish and Italian, among others.

role actor Voice actor
Princess Maruška Libuše Šafránková Madeleine proud
Salt prince Gábor Nagy Sigmar Solbach
King Pravoslav Karol Machata Holger Hagen
King of the Underworld Ladislav Chudík Alf Marholm
Princess Barbora Dietlinde turban Dietlinde turban
Prince Kazimír Ľubomír Paulovič Michael Schwarzmaier
Princess Vanda Zuzana Kocúriková Kerstin de Ahna
King Norbart Juraj Kukura Frank Engelhardt
Argonite Dieter Kirchlechner Michael Habeck
Jester Jozef Króner Horst Sachtleben
Queen of the Underworld (Wise Woman, Noble Woman) Viera Strnisková Edith Schneider
Goldsmith NN Eckart Dux

criticism

The lexicon of international films , based on the message of the film, wrote: “An old king wants to marry off his three daughters, but the youngest only loves the Prince of Salt, the son of the king of the underworld. All sorts of misunderstandings lead to a dispute: The underworld king curses the earthly kingdom because his son has been insulted and lets everything turn salt into gold. Soon people notice that you cannot live without salt, even if you have all the gold on earth. "

literature

  • Božena Němcová : The golden spinning wheel , there salt is more precious than gold , Paul List-Verlag Leipzig, o. A .; approx. 1960, pp. 69-79
  • Pavol Dobšinský : The sun horse , there salt is more valuable than gold - first book from the collection of Slovak fairy tales illustrated by L'udovít Fulla, from the Slovak by Elisabeth Borchardt-Hilgert, Mladé Letá, 1975, pp. 138–145

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. The Salt Prince at imdb.com
  2. Eberhard Berger, Joachim Giera: 77 fairy tale films - A film guide for young and old (ed.), There Der Salzprinz , Henschel Verlag GmbH, Berlin, 1990, pp. 334–337; ISBN 3362004474
  3. Treasures - Salt, the white gold at Umweltbildung.at. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  4. ^ Karl Kerényi : The Mythology of the Greeks - Die Heroengeschichte , there Orpheus and Eurydike , Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 2004, pp. 220–225; ISBN 3-423-30031-0
  5. Karel Svoboda (1938-2007): Film and fairy tale melodies ei jpc.de. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  6. The Salt Prince at fernsehserien.de. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  7. Der Salzprinz Original title: Sol nad zlato In: synchronkartei.de
  8. The Salt Prince. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used