The Princess and the Warrior
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The Princess and the Warrior | |
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German | Der Krieger und die Kaiserin |
Directed by | Tom Tykwer |
Written by | Tom Tykwer |
Produced by | Stefan Arndt Katja De Bock Gebhard Henke Maria Köpf |
Starring | Franka Potente Benno Fürmann |
Cinematography | Frank Griebe |
Edited by | Mathilde Bonnefoy |
Music by | Reinhold Heil Johnny Klimek Tom Tykwer Lou Rhodes |
Distributed by | X Verleih[1] |
Release dates |
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Running time | 135 minutes |
Country | Germany |
Language | German |
Box office | $871,058 (US) |
The Princess and the Warrior (
Plot
Sissi, a nurse in a psychiatric hospital, receives a letter from her old friend Meike, asking for her help in retrieving a bequest from Meike's recently deceased mother. Sissi cares for her patients to the extent that they appear to be her extended family (in fact, she states that her own father is a patient in the hospital). As such, she has little experience of life outside the hospital. Meanwhile, Bodo, living with his brother, applies for a funerary job but is quickly dismissed because of his inability to control his emotions. He later robs a grocery store and during the ensuing chase indirectly causes a truck to hit Sissi. Taking cover from the police underneath the truck, Bodo finds Sissi, who cannot speak or breathe. In order to save her life, he performs an emergency tracheotomy. Once Sissi is in medical care, they are separated without Sissi ever learning his name.
The circumstances of her accident prevent Sissi from re-adjusting to her mundane life at the hospital, as she obsesses about tracking down her saviour. One of her patient friends, who had accompanied her on the day of her accident, helps her do so. She manages to track down Bodo, who is not interested in maintaining contact with her or any other woman. Bodo is seen several times, in a semi-conscious state, embracing a hot stove, having to be restrained by his brother Walter. It later becomes clear that Bodo is
Walter, employed as a security guard at a local bank, involves Bodo in a planned robbery (in preparation for their impending move to
Sissi makes the decision to leave and asks Bodo to come with her, telling him of her dream in which they were "brother and sister, father and mother, husband and wife". Meanwhile, Steini, one of the patients, who recognized Bodo's identity and is jealous of him spending time with Sissi, calls the police and in a delusion tries to kill Bodo by electrocution (by throwing a toaster into Bodo's bathtub). The delusion, really a
The final scene (taking place at the scene of Bodo's wife's accident) strays into a bit of surrealism: Bodo's past personality, unkempt and finally emerging from the gas station restroom, takes a seat behind the wheel, while the real Bodo gets in the back of the car. As they drive off, Sissi touches (old) Bodo's face to wipe away his tears, but he stops her and does so himself, pushing her away yet again. This visibly stirs (real) Bodo, who leans forward and covers his former self's eyes, forcing him to brake. "Real" Bodo tells "old" Bodo to get out and leaves him standing in the middle of the road thus symbolically taking over "old" Bodo's life; perhaps a visual metaphor for beginning anew.
In the international version of the movie, a small scene commences with the abandoned "old" Bodo as a more resolved ending to this surrealistic character and moment. Turning, he notices a sign indicating a bus stop in the field off the road; he waits by it, and an empty bus, driven by Walter, soon arrives to pick up this "dead" version of Bodo. The brothers do not speak, and they drive off a short distance before disappearing.
The film ends with Bodo's redemption through his acceptance of Sissi, as he is shown at last content and dry-eyed as the couple arrive at Meike's seaside house on the edge of a cliff.
Cast
- Franka Potente as Simone, "Sissi"
- Benno Fürmann as Bodo
- Joachim Król as Walter
- Lars Rudolph as Steini
- Melchior Beslon as Otto
- Ludger Pistor as Werner
- Natja Brunckhorst as Meike
References
- Lumiere. Retrieved 22 June 2021.