BD 359-363, 370-374 Folktales at DEFA

[ChunkyLover]

SYNOPSIS

Between 1950 and 1989, the East German studio DEFA produced a huge number of Märchenfilme, or adaptations of popular fairy and folktales. By turns macabre, heartwarming, odd, whimsical and occasionally downright frightening, these visually arresting and luridly colourful pictures drew on the works of authors such as Wilhelm Hauff, Hans Christian Andersen and, above all, the Brothers Grimm. Some of the finest – and darkest – DEFA folktales include The Devil from Mill Mountain, The Singing Ringing Tree, Rumpelstiltskin, Little Red Riding Hood and The Devil’s Three Golden Hairs.

In The Devil from Mill Mountain, a greedy miller attracts the ire of forest spirits when he and his accomplices disguise themselves as demons to burn down a rival mill. In The Singing Ringing Tree, a young prince must find a legendary tree to win the heart of an icy princess – and risks being transformed into a bear if she fails to fall in love with him. Rumpelstiltskin follows a young woman whose boastful father claims she can spin straw into gold, leading her to make an ill-advised pact with a magical imp. Then, the eponymous Little Red Riding Hood sets off to see her sick grandmother, relying on her friends the rabbit and the bear to help her evade the cunning fox and the big bad wolf. Finally, The Devil’s Three Golden Hairs sees an unfortunate young man tasked with travelling into hell to retrieve three golden hairs from the Devil himself.

DEFA’s Märchenfilme were perhaps the most enduringly successful genre films produced in East Germany, remaining popular for as long as the German Democratic Republic existed – but they are criminally under-seen outside of the former Eastern Bloc. Filled with uncanny imagery and socialist messaging in equal measure, DEFA’s folktale adaptations are both immeasurably important to Germany’s film heritage and wildly entertaining examples of popular European cinema. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present these five Märchenfilme together for the first time on Blu-ray in the UK.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Limited Collector's Edition Box Set [2000 copies]
Limited edition hardbound slipcase featuring new artwork by Carly A-F [2000 copies]
Limited edition 60-page collector’s book featuring a new essay on DEFA’s approach to folktales by East German film historian Sebastian Heiduschke, new notes on each film in this set by DEFA Märchenfilm experts Sonja Fritzsche, Qinna Shen and Elizabeth Ward, plus the Brothers Grimm stories that inspired The Singing Ringing Tree, Rumpelstiltskin, Little Red Riding Hood and The Devil’s Three Golden Hairs [2000 copies]
Reversible inner sleeves featuring new artwork for each film by Carly A-F
1080p HD presentations of all five films from restorations by the DEFA Foundation
Original German soundtracks
Optional English soundtracks for The Singing Ringing Tree and The Devil’s Three Golden Hairs
Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
New audio commentary on The Devil from Mill Mountain by film historian Michael Brooke
New audio commentary on Rumpelstiltskin by Sam Goff, editorial director for Klassiki and host of The Klassiki Kino Club podcast
Fairytales and Nightmares – new interview with writer, broadcaster and Fortean Times columnist Bob Fischer on the history of The Singing Ringing Tree
DEFA and the Devil – new video essay on the depiction of the Devil in folktales from the Brothers Grimm to DEFA by film and literature scholar Mary Going
The Magic Scissors (Bruno J. Böttge, 1956) – short silhouette animation inspired by traditional folktales and produced by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film
Sleeping Beauty Was a Beautiful Child (Katja Georgi, 1987) – short puppet animation adapted from Sleeping Beauty by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film
The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats (Otto Sacher, 1990) – short cut-out animation adapted from the Brothers Grimm story by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film
*All extras subject to change

[domino harvey]

Overlap of two films with the Deaf Crocodile set

[TechnicolorAcid]

Overlap of two films with the Deaf Crocodile set

Both of which are probably the highlights from the set, here’s my thoughts on them from the Deaf Crocodile thread:

Little Red Riding Hood shifts from charmingly quaint fairytales to almost downright horror at points, not helped by the almost-certainly traumatizing costumes designed for the animal characters, particularly for the wolf and the fox who seem to be just a bit too overly excited in their roles. There’s an annoying comic relief bear and a child in what I can only assume is a rabbit fursona.

I’d love to know what happened stylistically during the 15 year gap from Little Red Riding Hood to The Devil’s Three Golden Hairs because you can imagine how big of a shock it was to go from what basically amounted to storybook retellings only slightly more budgeted than a public access episode to high-budgeted adventure comedies. But ignoring the whiplash between styles, I had a lot of fun with this one. There’s a clear sense of fun behind the scenes and it creates a lovely movie, it’s not a great movie mind you and I think the film honestly peaks before we enter the Devil’s cave, but it’s nevertheless a fun way to spend 90 minutes.

[olmo]

Most UK schoolchildren of my vintage (just turned 55) recall The Singing Ringing Tree on BBC TV during the Summer school holidays in the 70's. It's an indelible memory for myself, watching avidly in 1977 as a terrified six year old.

The reverse motion shot of the evil little person disappearing back into the tree from whence he came has stayed with me for 49 years.

[cubist]

Most UK schoolchildren of my vintage (just turned 55) recall The Singing Ringing Tree on BBC TV during the Summer school holidays in the 70's. It's an indelible memory for myself, watching avidly in 1977 as a terrified six year old.

The reverse motion shot of the evil little person disappearing back into the tree from whence he came has stayed with me for 49 years.

This film also scarred me for life! I’m now 65 and it was regularly screened on BBC when I was of an impressionable age. I was living in London in the early 90s and it was screened at The Ritzy Cinema in Brixton for a Sunday matinee one time. I had to see it again. When I arrived at The Ritzy, the queue, all comprising my rough age group, snaked back and all around the cinema! It was a full house! This fiendish little film has clearly left its mark on entire generations!!

[MichaelB]

I think some people were quite surprised that it wasn’t in the Dead Crocodile set, but I don’t think it has the same instant recognition/cult following in the US that it does in the UK. But omitting it from a British set would clearly have been mental.

[What A Disgrace]

SYNOPSIS

Possessing an eternally uncanny, weird and phantasmagorical quality, Märchenfilme – or adaptations of popular folk and fairytales by the likes of Wilhelm Hauff, Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm – remain the productions that most distinctly characterise the cinema of East Germany and its state-operated film studio, DEFA. Collected here are some of the greatest – and strangest – folktale films made in the German Democratic Republic: The Tinderbox, Snow White, Snow White and Rose Red, The Frog King and The Robe.

In The Tinderbox, a young soldier agrees to help a conniving witch in her quest to retrieve a magical tinderbox protected by a guard dog of monstrous proportions. Snow White sees an evil queen task a hunter with murdering her stepdaughter when a magic mirror deems her the most beautiful woman in the land. Then, in Snow White and Rose Red, two young sisters encounter a pair of princes who have been transformed into animals by an evil mountain spirit. The Frog King follows a princess who must endure a series of trials to reach the castle of the Frog King, where she hopes to reunite with the handsome prince she once mistreated. Finally, in The Robe, two weavers arrive in a town surrounded by an impenetrable wall and are tasked with making garments befitting of a tyrannical ruler in an adaptation of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”

Collected here are some of DEFA’s best-known Märchenfilme – including The Tinderbox, which was shown in a dubbed version on the BBC as part of the Tales from Europe series – and some true rarities, including The Frog King and The Robe, which was put into production in 1961 but not completed and released until after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Masters of Cinema series is proud to present these five Märchenfilme for the first time on Blu-ray in the UK.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• Limited Collector's Edition Box Set [2000 copies]
• Limited edition hardbound slipcase featuring new artwork by Carly A-F [2000 copies]
• Limited edition 60-page book featuring a new essay on the production design of DEFA’s folktales by Märchenfilme expert Corinna Alexandra Rader, new notes on each film in this set by DEFA historians Sebastian Heiduschke and Qinna Shen, plus the original Hans Christian Andersen and Brothers Grimm stories that inspired The Tinderbox, Snow White, Snow White and Rose Red, The Frog King and The Robe [2000 copies]
• 1080p HD presentations of all five films from restorations by the DEFA Foundation
• Original German soundtracks
• Optional English soundtrack for The Tinderbox
• Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
• New audio commentary on The Tinderbox by socialist cinema expert Ally Pitts, host of A Russian and Soviet Movie Podcast
• New audio commentary on The Robe by film historian Michael Brooke
• Two Kingdoms – new interview with German cinema expert Rachel Palfreyman on the history of folktales in German culture and their adaptations in West and East Germany
• Mirror, Mirror – new video essay on DEFA’s adaptations of Snow White and Snow White and Rose Red by film and animation scholar Sam Summers
• The Emperor’s New Clothes (Herbert K. Schulz, 1956) – short stop-motion animation adapted from the Hans Christian Andersen tale by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film
• Hans Christian Andersen tale by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film The Fisherman and his Wife (Werner Krauße, 1975) – short stop-motion animation adapted from the Brothers Grimm tale by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film
• Beauty and the Beast (Katja Georgi, 1976) – short stop-motion animation adapted from the Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve tale by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film
**The Robe started production in 1961 but was not completed and released until 1991**
**Only The Robe is 2.35:1**

[TechnicolorAcid]

My thoughts on the two Snow White films from the Deaf Crocodile thread:

Snow White is a very much straightforward adaptation of the source material but is strengthened by some pretty good color cinematography, nothing essential but a good introduction to the Snow White legend for kids.

Snow White and Rose Red is probably my favorite of the set. Seemingly inspired by films like Three Wishes for Cinderella, it’s a wonderfully delightful mix of earnest fairytale retelling and occasionally hilarious moments of comedy (at one point the titular characters let a bear into their house after commenting that it has sad eyes) that makes for a warm, lovely closer to the set. Nevertheless, it pails in comparison to the other 1978 Eastern Bloc fantastical romance/comedy film involving a sorcerer and transformations surrounding a man and a bear titled Ordinary Miracle, although that one’s a bit more of a downer.

Interested in seeing if Eureka does any more of these sets because I’ve grown quite fond of the charm in the DEFA fairytale cycle, even if I think that there’s only one objectively good film that I’ve seen so far from that cycle (although The Singing Ringing Tree is a wonderfully deranged film)

[swo17]

So this just leaves Frau Holle unique to the Deaf Crocodile set?

[TechnicolorAcid]

So this just leaves Frau Holle unique to the Deaf Crocodile set?

Yes, although I’m not surprised it didn’t get included as its biggest (only?) strength is the nice set designs and the commentary on the Deaf Crocodile is already the best analysis that a film like it could receive.

[swo17]

Have either Eureka or DC indicated that they would be producing more volumes than what we currently know about?

[TechnicolorAcid]

Have either Eureka or DC indicated that they would be producing more volumes than what we currently know about?

Not a definitive answer but I asked a close collaborator with Deaf Crocodile on the Discord if we could expect any of the titles on either set to be released in the US besides the stuff duplicated on the first DC set and he replied with:

Not that I am aware of which means most likely not

So I imagine that unless we’re going to get a set of rare DEFA fantasy, which admittedly wouldn’t be entirely out of line for DC, then I wouldn’t bet on a future volume to come out from them