Sleeping Beauty (1971)
Sleeping Beauty is a DEFA fairy tale film from 1971 with Juliane Korén in the title role, directed by Walter Beck . The film made in the DEFA studios in the GDR is based on Grimm's fairy tale Sleeping Beauty .
action
On the occasion of the birth of the king's daughter, the king and queen hold a festival, and although the king actually wanted a son, he transfers the inheritance of the kingdom to his daughter Rosalinda. Due to a missing table setting, the king decides that not all thirteen great fairies of the realm can be invited. He does not invite the hardworking fairy because he has little regard for her gift. The fairy arrives enraged while the other twelve fairies distribute their gifts to the girl. She grievously reproaches the king for the way he runs his kingdom, but the king disrespects her and expels her from the castle. In her anger, the fairy utters a curse instead of a spell: the king's daughter will die on her fifteenth birthday by the stab of a spindle . With these words, it seems, she leaves the castle, but in fact she goes into a tower that is locked on the king's orders. He banishes the fairy and even dismisses the guard who let her into the castle. The other fairies agree that the thirteenth is right, but they feel that Princess Rosalinda shouldn't pay for the king's arrogance. The twelfth fairy, who has not yet pronounced her gift, instead counteracts the curse. The princess should not die, but sleep for a hundred years; with her the whole court. The fairies leave the castle and will no longer be seen by the king in the future.
The king has all the spindles in his realm collected and burned under threat of severe punishment, regardless of the fact that a large number of women in his people earn their money by spinning. Those now living in poverty curse the selfish king. Fifteen years pass during which all the fairies' wishes are fulfilled in Rosalinda; she is, it seems, a perfect princess full of virtues that neither the people nor the employees in the castle have anything against. On her fifteenth birthday, however, her parents went hunting with the country's nobility. Rosalinda roams the castle alone and finds the locked tower. Out of curiosity, she goes in and finds the thirteenth fairy spinning. Due to the ban, the princess has never seen a spindle in the whole country and is happy to be taught by the fairy how to use it. In the meantime the members of the court have returned, but since they are celebrating, nobody asks about the whereabouts of the princess. This stings its finger when changing the spindle. The fairy is by no means angry with Rosalinda because she has developed into a kind-hearted girl even without the hard work she has shown. When the princess falls asleep, every living being at the royal court falls asleep with her. The fairy takes her spindle and leaves the castle, around which a high hedge of thorns grows.
A hundred years later, in the country that had been without a king for a long time, people are told about the princess "Sleeping Beauty", who is said to lie in enchanted sleep in the castle behind the hedge. Daring princes and nobles, having heard of the king's fortunes, attempt to break into the castle, but fail miserably. One of these men is therefore very bitter and gets angry at a minstrel in an inn who is telling the story of Sleeping Beauty. When he tries to forbid him to sing under threat of violence, another prince intervenes. He notices a coin on which the portrait of Rosalinda is minted. Fascinated by the girl's beauty, he buys the coin from the impolite young man for several of the same value. The minstrel points out to him that this is the legendary Princess Sleeping Beauty, whom the minstrel’s grandfather (the court gardener) knew personally. The prince sets out for the thorn hedge where he meets another failed adventurer who warns him not to ride to certain death. But the prince ignores all warnings and rides on.
Near the castle he meets a seemingly normal woman, but in reality the thirteenth fairy, who asks him for help: An eagle stole her spindle and brought it to its nest. The prince agrees to help her, climbs up a steep rock face and brings the spindle back to her. The fairy promises him a rich reward and takes him to a cave, where she tempts him three times; with rich treasures, fame and honor or a beautiful, educated king's daughter who should belong to him if he wants her. The prince refuses, he just wants to know the way to Sleeping Beauty's Castle. The fairy shows him the way and disappears. Once at the hedge, the prince wants to penetrate it with his sword - but the hedge is suddenly completely overgrown by roses and divides, whereupon he can pass unhindered. Since he finds the whole court asleep, he goes to the tower, where he finds Sleeping Beauty sleeping and gives her a kiss. The princess wakes up and immediately falls in love with the prince. When she comes out of the tower with him, the court is also awake. The prince asks Sleeping Beauty's father for the princess's hand, but the king thinks that if he is not rich and powerful and the owner of a great empire, then he is not good enough for his daughter either. At that moment the thirteen fairies intervene. The thirteenth strongly rebukes the king, declaring that his word has long had no value within the kingdom. Rosalinda and the prince are to rule from then on because, unlike the king, they have a sense of justice. The employees of the castle celebrate Sleeping Beauty's wedding with her and chase away the snooty nobility. Years later, the thirteenth fairy gives Rosalinda a present; it is their spindle. With the declaration that her people want to learn to spin again, she asks Sleeping Beauty to lead the way.
Production background
Sleeping Beauty was created in the DEFA Studios in Babelsberg. Outdoor shots took place at Hartenfels Castle in Torgau , Saxony . The fairy tale film was released in GDR cinemas on March 26, 1971 and, with 4,584,967 viewers, ranks 23rd among the most successful GDR films.
criticism
For the lexicon of international films , it was a "child-friendly film adaptation of the famous Grimm Brothers' fairy tale".
The daily newspaper Brandenburgische Latest Nachrichten praised the film version: “What makes this adaptation of Grimm's fairy tale extraordinary is the expansion and modernization that was undertaken by screenwriters Margot Beichler and Gudrun Deubener together with director Walter Beck. They have made use of this legitimate right of the storytellers of all times and in their extremely colorful DEFA film 'Sleeping Beauty' expanded the ancient fairy tale to include areas of knowledge that enable even the youngest viewers to evaluate good and bad fairly without the sensual appeal of the fairy tale to reduce. "
Web links
- Sleeping Beauty in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Sleeping Beauty in the online film database
- Sleeping Beauty at filmportal.de
- Sleeping Beauty - entry in the film archive of Cinema
- Comparison of the cut versions Das Erste - SWR von Dornröschen at Schnittberichte.com
- Sleeping Beauty at the DEFA Foundation
Individual evidence
- ↑ The most successful GDR films in the GDR at Insidekino.com.
- ^ Sleeping Beauty in the Lexicon of International Films