You won't be disappointed!

Thanks for the memories!

Simply A Masterpiece

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

When you do the same thing over and over again you'll probably end up making a boring movie. And here is Tom Tykwers "The Princess and the Warrior" with Franka Potente and Benno Fürmann. It wouldn't be as bad without all the stereotypical styles of Tykwer. It's as if he works in a stasis without any new ideas. He doesn't deliver anything - ANYTHING - new here. There are the connections between strangers that tell us that everything is connected somehow (think "Cloud Atlas" and you see that Tykwer never has something new to tell), the moral dilemmas and all the personal challenges that are about nothing really. But if it's the first Tykwer film you watch, then you get a tense story about people who wanna break out of their normal life patterns told with slow dialogues and some very fine music. But for this you can basically watch every Tywker movie.

The Princess and the Warrior (2000)A fairy tale, as profound as the Grimms and as playful as Anderson, but told with enough gritty realism to avoid pure fantasy. It's creates a sweet spot between believe and make- believe, and the romantic in us wants life to be as full of the kind of possibility, beauty, redemption, and escape (as a last resort) given in this fictional world. The fact that people are miserable most of the time only makes it more pungent and glittering, and the moments of joy rise like, well, the steam from a fresh baked pie. For lack of better metaphor. It's about dreams, and dreams coming true, and sometimes we have to wait for the dreams to see an open door. Surely Potente's character knows about calm, and it's through her odd, almost zen-like inner peace that we see the constant beauty in her life. It's the power of disconnection, but knowing that there is a purpose somewhere and she'll find it. Even her bedroom, in a ward of a hospital, is a chamber within a chamber from the world. Likewise, the lead man, played by the compelling xxx, Accident connects them. Or a seeming accident. It's more like the old/new idea of "fate," where some bigger plan is letting a kind of frequency to find its sympathetic waves. That is, they find each other. They each leave their protective structures and go to heaven (which not by accident, I think, is the name of Tykwer's next film).Director/writer Tom Tykwer's earlier Run Lola Run set the stage for this film in many ways, mostly by opening up a huge audience eager to watch his development. (This alone is some proof that directors still hold their role of leading auteur in contemporary film-making.) The Princess and the Warrior carries the same lead actress (Franka Potente), the same composers (three are credited), and the same cinematographer. In a way, this is like the coterie of huge talent surrounding other auteur directors such as Woody Allen.Not that this is a bit like Woody Allen--there is essentially nothing funny here, though a lightness infuses everything--but it has a nice directorial solidity and consistency. And originality. I have always liked Run Lola Run better (if you haven't seen it) but both of these German films rise about what I remember of Heaven, which is a somewhat Americanized (or neutralized) international film, and made somehow made less peculiar. There is a feel to these films that is deliriously strange, and a mood gets grooving and doesn't let you go. There is a solid plot, but it isn't about plot (we couldn't care less about the bank robbery, I think). It's about that zone the two main characters occupy, of rising above the fray and recognizing what matters and, importantly, taking action on it. It's the woman's persistence against normal good logic that propels the film, and draws us into the higher state of peace it represents.

"The Princess and The Warrior" is a dreamy, atmospheric, twisted, (elegantly) awkward and sometimes violent take on a love story. It draws you into its world, captivates you, floats you on its cloud, makes you feel you are there in this alternate universe- a universe you've certainly never experienced before. I've seen many films, perhaps even hundreds, but never have I seen a film quite like this. It truly was like entering another universe only Tykwer himself could have though up... And a surreal one at that. And yet, unlike most 'surreal' films, it is human enough so that you, too, feel and move with the characters. It had me bawling at its profound beauty during one instance. This, like the infamous "AMELIE", is one of those romance films where everything is to be felt, rather than visualized. By this, I mean that, like "Amelie", "The Princess and The Warrior" displays very little of what every other 'romance' film feels the need to do... There is little (if not any... but I'll let you watch the film to find out) touching, kissing, sex etc. And yet, this somehow makes it all the more effective, and ultimately, one of the most heart-wrenchingly romantic films I've ever seen.This is no trendy, action-packed 'Run Lola Run'. It is certainly stylized as all of Tykwer's films (that I've seen) are, but less blatantly and pretentiously so. But even though many were disappointed at it not being another version of Run Lola Run, I personally found 'The Princess and The Warrior' to be much more of an evolved film... perhaps a bit slower, but much smarter, more profound, and ultimately a film that gets down to the core of your bones and leaves a lasting imprint. At least for me, anyway.

Der Kreiger und Die Kaiserin is a beautiful, existential and Romantic (in the pure sense of the word) film. Judging from this film and the recent Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Tom Tykwer is becoming one of my favourite film-makers.I won't do the typical plot outline because anyone who has seen and loved this film already knows how good it is and doesn't need a summary. Franka Potente and Benno Furmann are endlessly watchable and I could watch this film if it was 8 hours long. Life goes by slowly sometimes and this film's pace is appropriate to the essence of the story. There is longing. Longing for love, understanding, purpose and forgiveness: A masterpiece.