Cast: Christel Bodenstein, Eva Kotthaus, Blanche Kommerell, Werner Kruger, Liane Croon Review by Colin Dibben
The 5 films collected here are: The Devil from Mill Mountain, The Singing Ringing Tree, Rumpelstiltskin, Little Red Riding Hood and The Devil’s Three Golden Hairs.
The films are bracingly odd, with their minxy princesses, hard-working rural youths and rulers who eventually see the light of egalitarian living. All the actors have a panto-style optimism about them, unless they are the dastardly villains, and even they end up that way. Weirdest of all are the human actors dressed as animals: The Singing Ringing Tree and Little Red Riding Hood are especially challenging in this regard. The former is notorious as one of those ‘kid’s films’ that gave my generation nightmares after it was shown on TV in the 1970s.
I suspect a new generation will be affected by this release. Little Red Riding Hood is, if anything, even weirder in the humans-dressed-as-animals stakes: the wolf’s face looks like it has been hit with a hammer several times both before and after skinning and donning by the actor. And so the wolf dressed as granny becomes a very visceral palimpsest. Disturbing!
I found the strangeness of these films eventually getting in the way of my enjoyment of them. The best of the bunch, the ones that keep their weirdness in check, are The Devil from Mill Mountain – which actually has a gripping story of a proto-capitalist conspiracy – and the legendary The Singing Ringing Tree.
Rumpelstiltskin feels a bit claustrophobic – although this is perhaps natural, given the story – and Little Red Riding Hood is excessively odd. By the time you get to 1977’s The Devil’s Three Golden Hairs, the highly exaggerated colour film stock has changed and things look and feel a bit more normal, to the detriment of the viewing experience.
Still, watching these films is the visual equivalent of jumping into a river on a hot, sunny day.
The limited edition, 3-disc Blu-ray box set is itself a beauty to behold. It includes:
- hardbound slipcase featuring new artwork by Carly A-F
- 60-page collector’s book featuring a new essay on DEFA’s approach to folktales by East German film historian Sebastian Heiduschke, notes by DEFA Märchenfilm experts Sonja Fritzsche, Qinna Shen and Elizabeth Ward, plus the Brothers Grimm stories that inspired the films, and some nice classic illustrations from them
- 1080p HD presentations of all five films from restorations by the DEFA Foundation
- optional English soundtracks for The Singing Ringing Tree and The Devil’s Three Golden Hairs
- new audio commentaries by the likes of film historian Michael Brooke and Sam Goff, editorial director for Klassiki and host of The Klassiki Kino Club podcast
- new interview with writer, broadcaster and Fortean Times columnist Bob Fischer on the history of The Singing Ringing Tree
- DEFA and the Devil – new video essay on the depiction of the Devil in folktales from the Brothers Grimm to DEFA by film and literature scholar Mary Going
- short animations from DEFA
Into the Forest: Folktales at DEFA is out in a limited edition box set from Eureka! Video on 27 July 2026.
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