The Princess and the Warrior (2000)

The lonely nurse Simone "Sissi" Schmidt (Franka Potente) spends her life with the interns and colleagues at the Birkenhof mental institution where she works. One day, a friend of Sissi from overseas asks her to go the bank to check her inheritance that is in a safe and Sissi goes to the city with a blind patient. Meanwhile the smalltime crook Bodo Riemer (Benno Fürmann) is chased by two men that he had robbed and he provokes an accident. Consequently a truck runs over Sissi while she is crossing the street and Sissi lies under the truck, but she can not breathe. Bodo helps her with a tracheotomy and she becomes infatuated with the guy. Fifty-three days later, she is discharged from the hospital and she seeks out Bodo. However Bodo has a severe trauma from the past and rejects Sissi. Further, Bodo and his brother Walter Riemer (Joachim Król) are planning heist the bank where Walter works. However their lives entwine again when Sissi arrives at the bank where Bodo and Walter are robbing.

"Der Krieger und die Kaiserin" is a weird romance, with an unconventional love story and bizarre characters. However, Bodo is an unlikable character; the shallow screenplay has many flaws and is too long; and the film is boring in many moments. The masturbation scene is silly; there is no explanation why Bodo had background to perform a tracheotomy; the insistence of Sissi in visiting Bodo is annoying; and the participation of Sissi in the heist is ridiculous, and to open a safe in the bank she should have provided her personal data to the clerk. The camera work and the soundtrack are excellent. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "A Princesa e o Guerreiro" ("The Princess and the Warrior")

Fmovies: Having loved Tykwer's impressively energetic RUN, LOLA, RUN (1998), I was really looking forward to watching his follow-up feature but, somehow, I never managed it until now (I did get to watch his subsequent film, HEAVEN [2002]). Thankfully, it was worth the wait and the result is almost as good. While the film is long and often rambles on rather aimlessly, it is never boring and, at times, disarmingly inventive and emotional; the leading players, especially the enchanting Franka Potente, have a lot to do with the latter quality. THE PRINCESS AND THE WARRIOR's main themes are matters of chance and fate but it also features an elaborate bank robbery and a long stretch of it takes place in an insane asylum (where Potente practices some unorthodox therapy on a couple of her patients) which is not too far removed from the one seen in ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (1975).

This is a modern fairy tale, treat and appreciate it as so. The characters are bold, and their actions are representative of who they are than what actual people do. I say this because I noticed every negative review of this film was caught up in looking for realism- there isn't any. The setting may be proposed as so but the method through which the story is told unfolds like a performance piece.

This film is brilliant- stark personalities, dynamic relationships, and a mix of modern, classical, and fanciful direction. The allegorical context is brilliant when mulled over. I would compare it to `Last Tango in Paris'.

The Princess and the Warrior fmovies. Only a fool would expect this to be a second Run Lola Run. But unfortunately, there will be a lot of fools out there: This won't be the hit that Tykwer's former film was. And, just to say that: Run Lola Run still plays in a higher league.

But that's, of course, not to say that The Princess And The Warrior is a bad movie. Quite the contrary: there should be more films like this one. It's slow at times, yes, but to the ones with keen eyes it's meditative. It's metaphysical, in the end even surreal, it's down-to-earth, but at the same time very outlandish, it's a love story, but without the usual assets: there's no kissing, let alone sex; yes, even holding hands just occurs for a second. It's about a spiritual love, something epic, as the title suggests.

Many people won't like it; far too few people will love it. And I'm somewhere in between: It's a bold movie to make, especially in the dull (to be polite) movie scene of Germany, and a good one, too. Something refreshingly different (and wonderfully written, directed, shot and acted, I might add...). But somehow, you can't help feeling just a little disappointed after the milestone of modern film making that Tom Tykwer released two years ago.

8 out of 10.

This film was playing in our little theater here, as part of the Beyond Normal Films promotion about a year & a half ago. I must say that before then, I had never heard of Tom Tykwer.

Since then, he has become 1 of my favorite writers & directors. I immediately went out & got the highly acclaimed *Lola rennt* & I must say that I was very impressed. I also got to check out his most recent film *Heaven* as part of this year's Beyond Normal ticket; I LOVED it.

If you are not familiar with Tykwer's work, I would suggest you start with *Der Krieger.* The story has several elements that almost everyone will enjoy & although the story may be a little slow in a few parts, it is nonetheless, interesting. It is not really a film for kids though.

I was once a little intimidated by films in a language I could not understand (German, for instance). There were several times that I did not even have to read the subtitles to know what was going on, it was great & even a little inspiring to me for wanting to learn some German (Danke schön, Tom). I encourage you all to check this flick out if you have not yet.

My rating: 8/10

This is a rich, layered film with characters behaving in believable, realistic manners. There are no holes I could find anywhere in the film, and no clichés either. A fresh script that revisits the CUCKOOS NEST asylum setting with a woman as the anti-McMurphy - she is employed there but thinks it may be time to leave.

The man she encounters in a harrowing little moment underneath a semitruck is the trigger that allows her to confront the life she has in comparison to the one she may want. But the only way she can know for sure is to meet up with this stranger once again.

Coincidence as a theme plays heavily in this director's oeuvre (Lola was based entirely on the premise of what is needed for no coincidences to have occurred). But the plot is much deeper after initial relationships are laid out.