Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Die Prinzessin auf der Erbse" is another German fairy tale film that runs for about an hour like the others and it is based on a tale by Hans Christian Andersen, a pretty famous story that is well known here in Germany to this day. The director is Bodo Fürneisen and he has been extremely prolific in terms of German small screen filmmaking for decades, but sadly his experience here cannot change the film for the better. Maybe it hurt my perception that I am not an Iris Berben fan at all or a great Michael Gwisdek and the lead actress Rike Kloster playing the title character here did not do too much for me either. I kinda like Robert Gwisdek usually, but here he felt so restrained and reserved and it's sad to see because he is a far better actor usually, especially physically, so yeah I certainly found the outcome disappointing. I think it is more what they did to it here than the original tale that is the problem I guess. Sets and costumes were tolerable, but having seen many of these German ARD/ZDF fairy tale films I still would say that I've seen way better on other projects. And the charm is missing altogether. I think the perception of how much you will like it has to do mostly with how much you like the central character actress and like I said I never cheered for her really, maybe also because I don't find her physically appealing, but of course that is just me. Movie magic is nothing you will find here, quite a pity. Overall, nothing bold or daring here, all too much by the books and uninspired. The story deserves way better and I give this one a thumbs-down. Not recommended and I was glad it was over this quickly.
