Horst in Translation ([email protected])
Modern adaptations of traditional fairy tales have been booming in Germany in recent years. Two big TV stations ARD and ZDF have ordered a whole lot of them in the last 10 years or so and aired most of these in the mornings or around noon. And it's not a rarity that you find some of Germany's most famous actors playing parts in these. "Der Teufel mit den drei goldenen Haaren" for example features Christine Schorn, André Hennicke and Saskia Rosendahl. While the first two are as established as it gets, Rosendahl ("Lore") is one of the big rising stars in German cinema and she doesn't even look bad with a fake mustache on.This television production was directed by Swedish filmmaker Maria von Heland and written by Rochus Hahn ("Das Wunder von Bern"). It's not exactly one of my favorite Brother Grimm tales, but it's still worth a watch. As most other fairytale movies, it does not run too long, only slightly under an hour. The acting is solid from start to finish although the lead actor Jakub Gierszal (looks like a young Max Riemelt) disappointed me a bit and I felt it was a bit obvious he is not as experienced as the rest of the cast. He's not so bad that it would destroy the film though.I won't write too much of the story, but I liked that the movie does not take itself too seriously. At one point one character tripped the devil himself and I also liked the film's moral on greed for money. As a whole, I recommend it. It's also nice to watch for smaller children.
