Starring Lutz Moik, Paul Bildt, Erwin Geschonneck

Directed by Paul Verhoeven

Eureka, out now

Peter Munk (Lutz Moik), is a woodsman in the Black Forest yearning for more in his life. Sick of being bullied by the wealthier residents of his town, he makes a deal with forest spirit Glasmännlein (Paul Bildt). The spirit grants his wishes, but Peter is about to discover that resources don’t equal experience. And Holländer-Michel (Erwin Geschonneck) is waiting…

Released in 1950, adapted from a classic German folk tale and directed by Paul Verhoeven (not the Robocop director: same name different guy) this is one of the most successful German movies of its era, selling over 9 million tickets. This rerelease by Eureka is my first exposure to the movie and it’s about as perfect as you could hope. Extras include a great video essay on the origins of the story by Mary Going and a handful of animated folktale shorts from the same studio, DEFA. With a movie like this it’s always helpful to understand context and background as much as the text itself and these extras do a great job.

The movie itself, beautifully restored, is great. This is an entirely different kind of aesthetic, and the 4K restoration lets everything shine. The makeup, both for the period it’s set and the period it’s made, is wildly different to what you’d expect and the pastels and light colours of the costumes pop wonderfully. Best of all, the movie’s combination of sets and location filming places it in an uncanny third space that fits the story like a velvet, mossy glove. There’s a moment of stop-motion that looks beautiful and some nicely handled wildlife work as well.

Best of all though are the ways that both the Glasmännlein and Holländer-Michel are portrayed. The former is a whimsical imp, coming and going in whiffs of pipe smoke and Paul Bildt brings a kindness to the role that helps ground the movie. Erwin Geschonneck has the same kind of uncanny presence but with infinitely more threat, aided by some neatly handled split screen work that’s over fifty years old and still looks good. There’s a late moment where he’s pursuing Peter who’s climbing up a ladder which is especially impressive and a lovely, full-blooded moment involving hearts and nails that’s the best sort of fairy-tale horror.

Moik as Peter is the heart of the movie, both real and stone, and he’s excellent. Peter’s emotional journey is essentially Scrooge’s but in reverse and looped and Moik balances arrogance, charm and cold seething rage very well. Paul Esser too, as local merchant Ezechiel is great, glowering like modern era Russell Crowe and landing a pivotal scene with a subtlety that many would struggle with today.

Verdict: Heart of Stone’s weak points are exactly what you’d expect: its female characters are decorative prizes rather than actual people, and it’s depressing that those problems persist 75 years after the movie was released. Take that in your stride if you can, because Heart of Stone is a beautiful, often timely story that’s shot like nothing else I’ve seen this year. A journey to the woods that’s worth making. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart

 

Heart of Stone is available on Blu-ray from Eureka.