The Princess and the Warrior

TIFF [2000]

(DER KREIGER UND DIE KAISERIN)
(GERMANY 2000) 132 minutes
Starring: Franka Potente, Benno Furmann, Joachim Krol, Marita Breuer
Director/Screenwriter: Tom Tykwer

THE STORY:

Sissi is a nurse whose whole live revolves around her job as a nurse in a psychiatric hospital. She lives there, and she socializes principally with other staff and patients. One day, while running an errand for a friend, she's caught in the middle of a freak road accident in which she's run over by a tanker truck. The accident was inadvertently caused by Bodo, a troubled army veteran who was running from police when the accident happened. He thinks that under the truck would be a great hiding plae, but finds Sissi struggling to breathe. He performs an emergency tracheotomy on her, then vanishes, but Sissi can't forget him. Her efforts to locate him lead to profound changes in both their lives.

LIDIA F's REVIEW

Talk Back

Anyone expecting a re-run of Tom Tykwer's fast and furious last feature, "Run Lola Run" will be surprised. "The Princess and the Warrior" is the polar opposite in mood and pace, so slow in fact that I may not have appreciated it as much as I did had I not had a good night's sleep beforehand. At nearly two hours and 15 minutes, it might seem that Tykwer his imbued this story with more time than it deserves, and I can see that criticism coming. But Sissi and Bodo's strange, halting courtship is indeed a battle, not just with each other but within themselves, and I think Tykwer's slower, gentler pace allows us to see their developing affection in a very real light. Furmann's Bodo is an intense, moody man whose emotional wounds are deep; Potente, in another great performance, gives the fragile Sissi a heartbreaking vulnerability. "The Princess and the Warrior" is as visually stunning as "Lola" was, and clearly shows Tykwer's broad range of talent as a writer and director.

- Lidia F

Talk Back

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