The Emperor's New Clothes (1994)

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Movie
German title The Emperor's New Clothes
Original title Císařovy nové šaty
Country of production Germany , Czech Republic
original language German
Publishing year 1994
length 86 minutes
Age rating FSK 0
Rod
Director Juraj heart
script Bernd Fiedler
production Sabine Tettenborn ,
Marius Schwarz
music Petr Hapka
camera Rudolf Blaháček
cut Gisela Haller ,
Marion Monheim ,
Joachim G. Staab
occupation

The Emperor's New Clothes is a Czech-German fairy tale film by Juraj Herz from 1994 , which is based on the fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen . In Germany the film started on March 3, 1994. The first broadcast on German television was on December 26, 1995 on ZDF.

action

The street boy Tobias befriends Lorenzo, the emperor's court tailor. Both of them dislike the injustice with which their emperor rules the country. In order to get enough money for his lavish lifestyle, the emperor constantly increases taxes. It is part of his passion to have new and expensive clothes tailored every week. The necessary money has to be raised by his subjects, who then mostly live in great poverty.

When Lorenzo learns that the emperor is considering hiring a new fashion designer, he decides to give his employer an apprenticeship. He takes Tobias with him to the palace and hires him as a page. This helps him to tackle his daring venture. He makes dresses from scraps of fabric and makes them appear as the unsurpassable latest fashion. The court applauds when the emperor presents himself in his new clothes and Lorenzo is knighted. When a mishap happened while undressing the new jacket and the right sleeve was torn off, the emperor found the idea of ​​only wearing his left arm so good that he asked his court to wear only one sleeve. In doing so, he asks himself how honest his subjects mean with him if they find everything he commands good.

After Lorenzo fails to keep a promise to the major, he is chased from the court by him. Tobias and he now decide to take the emperor's vanity and take revenge. Dressed as oriental drapers, they return to the emperor's court and ask to speak to him personally and alone. They explain to the emperor that they can weave a very special cloth that has a wonderful property. The fabrics would be invisible to anyone who was unsuitable for his office or who was immeasurably stupid. The emperor likes that and lets work immediately.

Lorenzo receives the finest raw materials and begins to weave the new fabrics. The emperor waited impatiently and sent a confidante to see how far the work had progressed. Of course, he does not see anything and does not want to admit his - thus proven - inability for his office. He praises the fabrics in the highest tones, but the Kaiser is skeptical and sends the major to look again. But it's no different for him, he does n't see anything that he doesn't want to admit either and confirms the impression made by his predecessor. The emperor now looks at the fabrics in disbelief and cannot believe that he can not see anything while the court employees around him are just raving about the new fabrics.

The emperor wants his entire people to decide whether he is really too stupid and incapable of his office. They would tell him the truth, unlike his court. And so he wants to show himself to all subjects in his new clothes. But when the emperor wants to change clothes, Lorenzo and Tobias identify themselves. They think their joke has gone far enough. But the emperor is determined to lead the game to an end in order to teach his lying court a lesson.

So the emperor appears half-naked in front of his people and although the people want to laugh first, they suddenly cheer him, because they don't want to admit to themselves that they are stupid either. Only when a small child exclaims: “The emperor is not wearing anything!” Does the ruler enlighten his people. Lorenzo is delighted to finally hear his emperor speak honestly to the people and they promise to do more for his people in the future. The first thing he does is have them repay taxes.

criticism

The lexicon of international films described the film as a "splendidly furnished and atmospherically photographed film adaptation", which, however, "never achieved the subtle irony of the original" because of the humorless, educational script and the superficial drawing of the characters. In addition, the director reveals "weaknesses in the choice and management of the small actors [...]".

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of release for the emperor's new clothes . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , March 2014 (PDF; test number: 70 994 V).
  2. The Emperor's New Clothes (1994) - Release Info. Internet Movie Database , accessed September 22, 2014 .
  3. The emperor's new clothes. In: filmportal.de . German Film Institute , accessed September 30, 2016 .
  4. The emperor's new clothes. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used