The Princess and the Warrior (2000)
Young nurse Sissi lives a secluded life entirely devoted to her patients at Birkenhof asylum. Her first encounter with ex-soldier and drifter Bodo has a lasting impact. He causes an accident in which he provides first aid, Sissi wonders if he may be the man of her dreams. But when she finds him weeks later she is rejected, as Bodo is stuck somewhere between a traumatic past and a criminal future.
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Waste of time
hyped garbage
if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.
Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
The Princess and the Warrior (2000): Dir: Tom Tykwer / Cast: Franka Potente, Benno Furmann, Joachim Krol, Lars Rudolph, Ludger Pistor: Provocative German film about the events that unite two people. It stars Franka Potente as a young nurse at a psychiatric clinic. Benno Furmann robs gas stations and is pursued by police. During the chaos Potente is struck by a truck and Furmann performs an emergency tracheotomy in a scene that is unnervingly graphic. She recovers and seeks his whereabouts and eventually tracks him down at a hideout with his brother. She is rejected but turns up again during a bank robbery where consequences are much more severe. Detailed screenplay that flashbacks to the fate Furmann's wife and the reason his brother awakens to find him caressing a hot furnace stove. Insightful directing by Tom Tykwer with a sympathetic performances by Potente who is intrigued and cares too much. Furmann plays off regret and grief. One wonders whether the conclusion is satisfactory with regards to the future of this relationship. Joachim Krol plays his brother who looks out for him until he can no longer. Lars Rudolph plays an overprotective patient who cannot maintain the focus sought for the situation. Conclusion is wayward yet it is an insightful analysis about mental instability and the consequences living in the edge. Score: 8 / 10
If you read this review now, chances are you've seen the The Princess and the Warrior when it came out many years ago. Unless you're reading this to find out whether you should take the plunge and watch a foreign film with subtitles. Short answer, if you have a little time and want to escape into a unique, strange and ultimately inspiring world of Tykwer's imagination - definitely do. Not a short answer...my bad.Very few movies successfully create a powerful atmosphere without messing with your emotions. This film takes its time. Each scene is focused and serves a purpose and what's nice about this particular movie, is that it doesn't indulge in tragedy - this shouldn't be seen as a spoiler, more as an encouragement to watch it - I've seen more than one of the director's early work.With this movie, Tom Tykwer consciously goes beyond the bleak and hopeless reality he creates in 'Die Tödliche Maria' and 'Winterschläfer', or the manic energy of 'Run Lola Run' and introduces you to a flawed, peculiar microcosm of unlikely heroes and fiends. An impressive and gripping scene towards the beginning of the movie will give you a taste of how much he's holding back to tell this unusual story of emancipation and the common underlying question of coincidence versus fate. An artistic, subtle and engaging look into a character's journey through life - twisted, maybe, but never cold or heartless.The soundtrack deserves a mention. Pale 3, three German geniuses had worked together on Tykwer's films before and manage to craft an unusual but intriguing soundtrack which after many years I still enjoy listening to. It helps tell the story with few words and leaves enough space for the viewer's emotion to be part of the movie, without dictating the mood. Why review a film from 2000? Honestly, few take you on an emotional journey as unexpected and rewarding as the Princess and the Warrior - with all its German-ness - you will make you feel good about yourself for having spent an hour and a half with a thought-provoking - and that's kind of my point here - artful movie, that doesn't indulge in violence and tragedy but instead tells a satisfying story in a way that few directors seem to have the financial support, patience or confidence to create anymore.
"The Princess and The Warrior" is a dreamy, atmospheric, twisted, (elegantly) awkward and sometimes violent take on a love story. It draws you into its world, captivates you, floats you on its cloud, makes you feel you are there in this alternate universe- a universe you've certainly never experienced before. I've seen many films, perhaps even hundreds, but never have I seen a film quite like this. It truly was like entering another universe only Tykwer himself could have though up... And a surreal one at that. And yet, unlike most 'surreal' films, it is human enough so that you, too, feel and move with the characters. It had me bawling at its profound beauty during one instance. This, like the infamous "AMELIE", is one of those romance films where everything is to be felt, rather than visualized. By this, I mean that, like "Amelie", "The Princess and The Warrior" displays very little of what every other 'romance' film feels the need to do... There is little (if not any... but I'll let you watch the film to find out) touching, kissing, sex etc. And yet, this somehow makes it all the more effective, and ultimately, one of the most heart-wrenchingly romantic films I've ever seen.This is no trendy, action-packed 'Run Lola Run'. It is certainly stylized as all of Tykwer's films (that I've seen) are, but less blatantly and pretentiously so. But even though many were disappointed at it not being another version of Run Lola Run, I personally found 'The Princess and The Warrior' to be much more of an evolved film... perhaps a bit slower, but much smarter, more profound, and ultimately a film that gets down to the core of your bones and leaves a lasting imprint. At least for me, anyway.
Tom Tykwer sacrificed the sure footing that Lola Rennt had granted him to make a far more ambitious and abstract film: Der Krieger und die Kaiserin. Like Lola Rennt, it heavily explores the themes of fate and romance, navigating the path that life can take depending on where you are and what you want. Now, it is said that no good film can ever be too long, but this film is very good and it is too long so scratch that saying. It is no Lola Rennt for me (I'm inexcusably partial to that film) but it is a wonderful story and Tykwer in his element.First, it details the sedated and secluded life of young nurse Sissi (Franka Potente, who else?) in an asylum, where she is unmistakably popular with the patients but feels something is missing in her life. When one day she crosses the street, a twist of fate brings her together with equally lost Bodo pinned underneath a truck. He saves her life but parts with her on the way to the hospital, leaving Sissi lusting and searching after her savior for weeks to come until one day she decides to seek him out, much to Bodo's dismay.Throw in a bank heist, troubled asylum patients, overlapping incidences of fate and a splash of surrealism and you have Der Krieger und die Kaiserin one of those fairy-tales masking as a contemporary film (Big Fish, Undertow, Running Scared), and aptly so. No doubt it contains many unspeakably beautiful and touching moments that Tykwer enforces with his dutiful use of techno- and piano music, such as the first meeting between Sissi and Bodo. The result is undoubtedly less raw and kinetic than the adrenaline-pumping Lola Rennt, but rest assured that Tykwer still delivers his trademark devices: shots of people running, screaming in stop-motion and fast-motion with speeding overhead trains and a booming score.For that matter, Franka Potente is also a dutiful inclusion to any Tykwer film and as Sissi she is remarkably emotive, soft-spoken, honest and gentle but with the same no-nonsense approach to tasks as Lola: get it done. Yet it needs to be said that because Bodo has trouble reciprocating her emotional needs, her character treads a fine line between sweet idealist dreamer and creepy stalker. Both characters also look almost incongruously lost at times, but this is unmistakably what Tykwer wants to highlight: being lost in life.Der Krieger und die Kaiserin is a perfect showcase for excellent photography and indeed my visual expectations were floored by the well-handled cinematography of the film. There are sharp, colourful frames after another and picturesque settings that tip over into surrealism at times, becoming medidative, abstract and introspective. This is it starts moving too slowly and you wish some condensation would have been made. Nevertheless, this is a beautiful story and a damn well-executed film, Tykwer-style.8 out of 10