DIR: Francesco Stefani | Cast: Christel Bodenstein, Charles Hans Vogt | Fantasy fable | 64′
The GDR did a good line in children’s films during the 1950s and 1960s and, like many of my generation, I grew up on this macabre little tale televised under the banner “Tales From Europe”.
I well remember being pleasantly surprised when it reappeared in the 1970s and discovered that it had originally been in colour, and even more pleasantly surprised when it was screened at the 1990 London Film Festival and only then realised it had originally been a film.
Ironically it was generally agreed that the princess was greatly improved by being made ugly by the evil dwarf (a haunting little creature who remains seared to the memory and the mind’s eye) with results that made her look like a kindly Vampira, while the most distressing aspect was probably the fate of the giant fish.
INTO THE FOREST: FOLKTALES AT DEFA (Masters of Cinema) Limited Edition Three-disc Blu-ray – July 2026