"Das Feuerzeug" or "The Tinder Box" is an East German 80-minute movie from 1959 so this one is already really old and it will soon have its 60th anniversary. The director is Siegfried Hartmann and he is also one of the writers who adapted the Hans Christian Andersen tale here for the screen. Hartmann is still alive today, almost 90, and he worked on several fairy tale-themed films in the GDR, even if he has not made any films anymore for almost 4 decades. The lead actor here is the late Rolf Ludwig and I must say I am neither familiar with him nor with any of the other cast members. But I thought he gave a good performance and occasionally reminded me of Errol Flynn's Robin Hood. In terms of the story, it was a good watch too. I quite enjoyed the film for the most part, which means I felt that the movie actually lost some quality towards the end when the protagonist had exposed the 3 maggots and decided to do the right thing and have a meal with the little boy. Everything afterward felt very generic and forgettable and this film, for me, could have ended around the 50-minute mark too. I liked the inclusion of the big dogs, even if I somehow felt they may have deserved a better elaboration in terms of who they were and their connection with the hero. Anyway, the ending was not bad enough to destroy the good quality from early on and that is why I give this one still a thumbs up and recommend the watch. I think Andersen may have liked this version.
Review of Das Feuerzeug
