Into the Forest: Folk Tales at DEFA Blu-ray
'Into the Forest: Folk Tales at DEFA' (1955-77) Eureka Masters of Cinema Limited Edition 3-Disc Blu-ray Boxset | 5 films + 3 shorts | Restorations | German w/ English subtitles
Between 1950 and 1989, the East German studio DEFA produced a huge number of Märchenfilme, or adaptations of popular fairy and folktales. By turns macabre, heartwarming, odd, whimsical and occasionally downright frightening, these visually arresting and luridly colourful pictures drew on the works of authors such as Wilhelm Hauff, Hans Christian Andersen and, above all, the Brothers Grimm.
Films included:
The Devil from Mill Mountain (Herbert Ballmann, 1955)
The Singing Ringing Tree (Francesco Stefani, 1957) [English audio option]
Rumpelstiltskin (Christoph Engel & Erwin Anders, 1960)
Little Red Riding Hood (Götz Friedrich, 1962)
The Devil’s Three Golden Hairs (Egon Schlegel, 1977) [English audio option]
Limited Edition contents:
- Limited edition of 2000 copies
- Hardbound slipcase featuring new artwork
- 60-page collector’s book featuring a new essay on DEFA’s approach to folktales by East German film historian Sebastian Heiduschke, new notes on each film in this set by DEFA Märchenfilm experts Sonja Fritzsche, Qinna Shen and Elizabeth Ward, plus the Brothers Grimm stories that inspired The Singing Ringing Tree, Rumpelstiltskin, Little Red Riding Hood and The Devil’s Three Golden Hairs
- Reversible inner sleeves featuring new artwork for each film
Special features include:
- Audio commentary on The Devil from Mill Mountain by film historian Michael Brooke
- Audio commentary on Rumpelstiltskin by Sam Goff, editorial director for Klassiki and host of The Klassiki Kino Club podcast
- Interview with writer, broadcaster and Fortean Times columnist Bob Fischer on the history of The Singing Ringing Tree
- Video essay on the depiction of the Devil in folktales from the Brothers Grimm to DEFA by film and literature scholar Mary Going
- The Magic Scissors (Bruno J. Böttge, 1956) – short silhouette animation inspired by traditional folktales and produced by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film
- Sleeping Beauty Was a Beautiful Child (Katja Georgi, 1987) – short puppet animation adapted from Sleeping Beauty by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film
- The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats (Otto Sacher, 1990) – short cut-out animation adapted from the Brothers Grimm story by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film
