A lot of things happened in 1977. Annie Hall came out and made men's wear for women popular(here). The historical mini-series Roots came out too(here). The last Star Wars movie came out (the "second trilogy" does not count)(here). For kid's the movie "Pete's Dragon" came out (here). The Muppet Show was in its second season(here). And in East Germany DEFA released 'The Devil's Three Golden Hairs."
Guess which one was the worst. I was surprised while first watching the film that it had been made later than Schneewittchen. Perhaps this is due to what seems to be some location shooting and its effort to use "special effects." The whole thing seemed somewhat shoddy. I suppose it could be given a break since it was a made for tv movie, but at the same point, a bit of effort could have been made. I could be picking on it a bit hard.
The story seemed to be trying to make too many points for children. An obvious first point is that drinking is BAD. The boy main character takes one sip of the king's liquor, and is put all out of sorts as seen by the double vision and dizzying camera effects. The king is constantly drinking from his flask, he is an obvious alcoholic. His character is also the worst one, therefore it takes no fool to see the 'subtle' message.
I thought it was funny that a big part of the movie was questioning the leader. They levy tax, and no one believes the king is telling the truth about robbers. In fact, the king's tax collector, once he does finally happen upon the robber's den, is surprised that one even exists, saying "but there Are No Robbers!" For East Germany, I would think that this would go against their system. Questioning what the government tells you does not seem like the best idea to give to children in the GDR.
I suppose in the end, this movie left me a bit confused. Why did he go to such trouble to get the hairs, if in the end he would give them back to the devil? What was the point of him being afraid of mice, and then claiming to not be in the end, I still think he was, the devil did not test him twice. Why did only the leader of the robbers on the boat set himself free? Did the other robbers get to leave later? I don't know. DEFA could have handled this better, I am not sure exactly how this fairy tale jived with their ideals, since I saw what I think were a few jarring subplots.
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You make really good points. I think that the other robbers went free when the leader of the robbers went free. The king and his men took their places and all the robbers laughed at their misfortune.
ReplyDeleteI guess when you're tested once and pass, it's assumed you'll pass all other times. I agree, the mouse bit seemed out of place and unnecessary, but heck, what in Grimms isn't?
ReplyDeletei liked that first part of your blog about all those things that happened in 1977. that was really interesting! i didnt even know that so much happened! i agree that there were alot of points that the film was trying to point out to children- very humorous in trying to portray that to children.
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