Product Details

• Actors: Christel Bodenstein, Charles Hans Vogt, Eckart Dux, Richard Krüger, Dorothea Thiesing
• Directors: Francesco Stefani
• Writers: Francesco Stefani, Anne Geelhaar, Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: First Run Features
• VHS Release Date: October 23, 2001
• Run Time: 74 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00004YS9Q
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #524,061 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This 1957 film version of the classic Grimm fairy tale The Singing, Ringing Tree--or Das singende, klingende Bäumchen, as the original German dialogue has been retained and subtitled in English in an adequate but unsubtle fashion--is wonderful in its strangeness. The story is a fairly straightforward morality tale in which a haughty princess receives her comeuppance by being magically robbed of her beauty. Only when she learns to treat others with the consideration they deserve is the spell undone. The magical Singing, Ringing Tree is a gift she demands from a suitor, not knowing that it will only do its thing in the presence of love--and, yes, it does finally happen.

The presentation, however, is something else again. Imagine a fairy tale conceived by Wagner and directed by Fritz Lang, with nods in the direction of The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari and German expressionism, and you'd be close. The hyper-real coloring process of the time, together with the quasi-operatic sets and theatrical acting styles make this European classic fascinating viewing for adults, while children will be mesmerized by this unfamiliar, haunting, yet compelling film (it's also handy practice for anyone learning German!). Heddenhausen's swirling score is marvelous, too. --Roger Thomas

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for children of the 1960s, January 10, 2002

By 

Gavin Wilson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Singing Ringing Tree (DVD)

During the period 1964-69, the BBC ran the 'Tales from Europe' series of tea-time fairy tales, all of them in black-and-white, some of them created by the BBC itself but many of them coming from the East German DEFA stable. THE SINGING, RINGING TREE was for many British children, the most memorable, not just because the BBC ran it several times, but also because it was the most scary. This film has almost archetype status for many of us now in our forties.

Dwarves (or should it be dwarfs?) do not get a good press in this story. The evil dwarf is a hideous, voyeuristic presence throughout much of the story. (This story is not about the Eastern bloc, but if the bear and the princess are imprisoned behind an impenetrable iron curtain, the dwarf could represent a Stasi spy.) I am sure this story influenced many of us children to look upon dwarves as malign, and that may be why this film isn't more widely available. We certainly need the likes of Tolkien to provide children with a far more positive view of dwarves.

Seeing this again for the first time in more than thirty years has been almost a psychological release for me. The dwarf isn't all evil. The good-looking couple both have their individual faults. The sets aren't very well done. My 10-year-old daughter laughed when the fish turned up in the magic pool. The film has lost much of its psychic power because in comparison to today's big-budget productions, it just isn't convincing. It's just a fairy tale well told.

Seeing it in gaudy colour is extraordinary. It has been well remastered, and the faltering sound quality of the music only adds to the magic.

As other reviewers have said, the accompanying short film on the DVD seems an irrelevance. It carries a Tangerine Dream-like soundtrack, lasts about five minutes and appears to have been made in 1971.

This is a film I absolutely had to see. The only question for me is whether I'll want to replay it again and again.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Something to scare the kids with, January 15, 2001

By 

David M. Thompson - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Singing Ringing Tree (DVD)

A kids' classic. Also something of a cult favourite here in the UK, where a serialised version was shown on television several times in the 'sixties and 'seventies (those of us from the baby-boomer generation remember well being terrified by it!). In fact, the English-language narrated version on the DVD is taken from the BBC serial edit (although I seem to remember that this was a black and white print). Sadly, the original German soundtrack has not been preserved intact, unlike the subtitled print that has long been a fixture on the art house circuit.

'The Singing Ringing Tree' is made all the more compelling (for British viewers, anyway) by the fact that it is culturally so alien. There are cultural signposts that seem familiar on the surface, giving the illusion that this is a conventional Anglo-Saxon fairy tale, but the subtle East German flavour renders the production curiously eerie, enhancing its appeal dramatically. Presented under the heading 'Tales from Europe' (as indeed it was here in Britain), it only goes to show how diverse Europe is -- I consider myself European, but this has very little to do with the world I know.

An utter delight, and a rather scarey one at that!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars creepy, August 12, 2002

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Singing Ringing Tree (DVD)

There are only a few tv programmes that create a truly indelible mark on your mind when you're a kid.For me,this was one of them.This is a genuinely amazing piece of work-a fairy tale with such a twisted edge that you simply cannot shake it from your mind.The print used here is gorgeous-incredibly vibrant and colourful.It was great to rediscover this film.I thought I'd never see it again.