Heart of Stone (PG) |Home Ents Review

Fans of the classic children’s film The Singing Ring Tree will drool over this astonishingly coloured fairy tale, the first such offering from DEFA, East Germany’s state-owned film studio. 

Charcoal burner Peter (Moik) is of necessity a poor, grubby chap under his classic Aryan looks, but he has grown up playing with not quite so uber-blonde village clockmaker’s niece Lisbeth (Rucker) and knows that their love is fated. 

When another suitor, a protégé of the successful local merchant Ezechiel (Esser), smarms his way into Lisbeth’s attentions, Peter realises that his own poverty is going to get in the way of marrying Lisbeth. He remembers his mum’s tales of the Glass Imp (Bildt) who lives in the woods and grants 2 possibly 3 wishes to people born on Sundays, such as Peter; and goes looking for his own happiness through the Glass Imp.

Wishes granted, the law of unintended consequences kicks in. Peter decides to approach another mythical entity with magical powers, Dutch Michael (Geschonneck), who offers Peter limitless wealth and power if he will allow Dutch Michael to keep his heart, replacing it in Peter’s chest with a stone. 

Peter agrees and is soon immensely wealthy. He also becomes a bit of a c*nt. He seems to have lost something – his soul? – in his striving for material wealth. How will he get his moondust mojo back and will it be too late to save his love for Lisbeth?  

There are a lot of recognisable folk tale elements packed in here; and the overwhelming atmosphere is quite dark, despite the vibrant colours which almost require sunglasses. 

If it wasn’t for a sense of continuity wrought by the colours, one might almost call the film bi-polar in mood: the brutality and moral darkness of the last half – including spousal abuse and murder – contrasts with the carnival feel at the start. There is so much highly coloured, saccharined peasant dancing to oompah band music at the beginning of the film that I had to go for a lie down. 

By turns whimsical, weird and darkly macabre, Heart of Stone is an arrestingly beautiful work of fantasy. I think the PG certificate is warranted given the dark themes involved – god forbid any small child gets the idea that an alternative to unbridled capitalism is possible!

Extras include a wealth of academic musings on subjects such as socialist aesthetics, folk tales and gothic horror, as well as three short East German folk tale films from the same era as the main feature: 

• The Bremen Town Musicians (Bruno J. Böttge, 1954)
• The Magic Ring (Bruno J. Böttge, 1957)
• Thumbelina’s Adventures (Christl Wiemer, 1958)