The Cold Heart

The poor charcoal burner's son Peter (Frederick Lau) lives with his parents in simple circumstances in the medieval Black Forest. Since charcoal burners are low in the social hierarchy, Peter and his family are only despised and humiliated by the other villagers. Only Lisbeth (Henriette Confurius), the daughter of the wealthy glassmaker Löbl (Sebastian Blomberg), treats him with kindness and respect. No wonder Peter falls head over heels in love with the beautiful girl, knowing full well that she will never be allowed to marry a man of his standing. Therefore, he must somehow achieve wealth and prestige. The only way to do this seems to be a pact with the mysterious Dutchman Michel (Moritz Bleibtreu). But the price for wealth is high, because instead of his heart Peter henceforth carries a stone in his chest. But can he, wealthy but callous, win Lisbeth's love for himself?

The Cold Heart, the remake of Wilhelm Hauff's popular tale, is a very ambitious work. Director Johannes Naber has attempted to stage a visually stunning fantasy tale that at the same time has a certain authenticity. Dirt, suffering, hunger, cold - all this is comprehensibly realized here. Unlike in the Shire, for example, you don't want to live here as a viewer. As commendable as the efforts are to incorporate the fantastic aspect of the story into a realistic-looking setting, this also creates some problems. As such, the film just isn't fun to watch. The production takes itself far too seriously, leaving no room for playful levity. And this also drags down the entertainment value significantly.

Another problem is that almost all the characters seem too played. No question, Frederick Lau embodies the change from good-natured Peter to ice-cold businessman very well and Moritz Bleibtreu is also very convincing as Dutchman-Michel. Still, you can never escape the feeling that the actors somehow seem dressed up and artificial. Especially Sebastian Blomberg, who I really like, with his suave moustache and his pipe, seems too artificial to fit into the scenery credibly. This also results from the attempt to make everything as authentic as possible. A little more levity would have been desirable here as well.

When at the end a we-must-be-more-respectful-of-our-environment message is slapped around the viewer's ears, it's hard to avoid rolling one's eyes. There's no question about it: Das kalte Herz looks great, has some truly beautiful imagery to offer, the kind of which you unfortunately see far too rarely in German cinema. Still, the production gets in its own way with its overly high ambitions. Naber has created a film that can only be praised for its craftsmanship, but which is very difficult to assign to a target audience. The narrative is simply too unwieldy and too cerebral for that. A little more lightness, to allow the viewer to want to dive into this world, would have definitely done this work good. And that's why it just gets a: Worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp