"Die vertauschte Königin", which means "The Switched Queen", is an East German fairy tale from 1984, so this one is already over 35 years old and still it is from the final days of the GDR, well later days, as the Wall fell in 1989. It is not too long at minimally over 70 minutes and the director and writer is Dieter Scharfenberg. He as a prolific writer, but in terms of directing, he only worked on one other film and in both fields, this is his final career effort, even if he lived until 2012. No successful career transition for him in united Germany. Just like with so many others. This film is perhaps his most known work. His co-writer here is Gerd Gericke and for him it is probably not his most known work. He worked a lot on a long-running series of short films named "Das Stachelschwein" ("The Porcupine") in the 1960s before (over) a decade later, he moved on to work on fairytales and other full feature movies. The lead actress playing the title character (or title characters) is Ursula Karusseit and she managed to be a successful actress in united Germany, although from what I have seen her in ("In aller Freundschaft"), I am not sure I would say she was talented. Yes, "was". She is also no longer with us, died a few years ago, but she was also already way into her 40s when this movie was made, not a fresh young starlet, which makes it not a surprise that she is dead now. By the way, this movie is from the year I was born. I still think that here and there it looked a little older than 1980s, but sometimes it fit. As for the rest of the cast, I cannot say too much because I am not familiar with the cast members. Some are still alive today, but the majority not anymore because they were no spring chicken anymore when this film was made. Steyer is alive and so is Michèle Marian, who was very young back then. And very stunning too I must say.
Now, as for the story, it needs to be said that this is not a film that is based on an old fairytale, but the plot and characters were written specifically for this movie. It feels like they are from an old tale though, so this is definitely a success. There is a reason why people say that one of the best things from the GDR were their fantasy movies and looking at this one, even if it is not a revelation or anything, I would not disagree. i enjoyed the watch overall. The intorduction was solid and the parts where the two women were in different locations (castle/relatively poor home) were interesting too while I was watching them deal with this new situation. The idea how the "new queen" introduces changes that are far more humane than everything the "old queen" did before her works well the way it is depicted here. Only minor criticism: If she is that much against violence, then why did she agree to have the torturer get a bit of his own medicine. It's alright though. She is a fair woman with good intentions, but not a saint. The ending is interesting too. Everybody is in their original spot again, but perspectives have changed. Or one perspective in particular. The queen's. Or has it really? Debatable if she will not be as cruel again one month later. But we will never find out because all we know eventually is that she is struggling with the loud noise. Definitely not a fairy tale textbook ending the way you would maybe see it in West German fairytales from that era. Not that there weren't many admittedly. In general, these GDR fairytale films are frequently more bland visually in terms of style, costumes and sets and this also applies partially for this one here. But they still work. That is the most important aspect. Also there is no princess or prince in here, which is not too often the case. One criticism for these East German fairytales is sometimes that they do include political messages, but either this one here did not or they were subtle enough for me not to spot them. It is a bit surprising though because in 1984, the Cold War situation was pretty massive. Anyway, if the film does not have these scenes and twists, let's not make this review about them. What else is there to say? Not much I suppose. I think it is a decent watch. I am not sure if it is one that children will really dig, but I'd also not call it inappropriate. Absolutely not. Yes there is implied violence (not graphic) with the whippings, but kids are not made of sugar. Especially not these days. Maybe if you want to watch it with your kid, wait for the first 15 minutes and how it takes those and then decide if you want to keep watching. I mean the movie is not too long, so attention span should not be an issue here. If it's not working out for your offspring, then watch it alone one day. It is good enough for that and why would grown-ups not watch fairytales. No valid explanation in my opinion. Their loss. And who knows, maybe if you are from the GDR you will even have a bit of a flashback if you are one of those who watched this film when they were young. Many did, I'm sure. Oh yes, finally there was one moment when we have one male character call a female character a "Schlampe". I spare you the English translation. Maybe you understand it anyway, otherwise feel free to use a(n online) dictionary. That was unexpected, such profanity, although I am not sure if the meaning back then in the mid-80s of that term was the same as it is in the 21st century. But it doesn't matter anyway. People should man up and deal with this kind of stuff. I give the overall outcome a thumbs-up and recommend checking it out.
Now, as for the story, it needs to be said that this is not a film that is based on an old fairytale, but the plot and characters were written specifically for this movie. It feels like they are from an old tale though, so this is definitely a success. There is a reason why people say that one of the best things from the GDR were their fantasy movies and looking at this one, even if it is not a revelation or anything, I would not disagree. i enjoyed the watch overall. The intorduction was solid and the parts where the two women were in different locations (castle/relatively poor home) were interesting too while I was watching them deal with this new situation. The idea how the "new queen" introduces changes that are far more humane than everything the "old queen" did before her works well the way it is depicted here. Only minor criticism: If she is that much against violence, then why did she agree to have the torturer get a bit of his own medicine. It's alright though. She is a fair woman with good intentions, but not a saint. The ending is interesting too. Everybody is in their original spot again, but perspectives have changed. Or one perspective in particular. The queen's. Or has it really? Debatable if she will not be as cruel again one month later. But we will never find out because all we know eventually is that she is struggling with the loud noise. Definitely not a fairy tale textbook ending the way you would maybe see it in West German fairytales from that era. Not that there weren't many admittedly. In general, these GDR fairytale films are frequently more bland visually in terms of style, costumes and sets and this also applies partially for this one here. But they still work. That is the most important aspect. Also there is no princess or prince in here, which is not too often the case. One criticism for these East German fairytales is sometimes that they do include political messages, but either this one here did not or they were subtle enough for me not to spot them. It is a bit surprising though because in 1984, the Cold War situation was pretty massive. Anyway, if the film does not have these scenes and twists, let's not make this review about them. What else is there to say? Not much I suppose. I think it is a decent watch. I am not sure if it is one that children will really dig, but I'd also not call it inappropriate. Absolutely not. Yes there is implied violence (not graphic) with the whippings, but kids are not made of sugar. Especially not these days. Maybe if you want to watch it with your kid, wait for the first 15 minutes and how it takes those and then decide if you want to keep watching. I mean the movie is not too long, so attention span should not be an issue here. If it's not working out for your offspring, then watch it alone one day. It is good enough for that and why would grown-ups not watch fairytales. No valid explanation in my opinion. Their loss. And who knows, maybe if you are from the GDR you will even have a bit of a flashback if you are one of those who watched this film when they were young. Many did, I'm sure. Oh yes, finally there was one moment when we have one male character call a female character a "Schlampe". I spare you the English translation. Maybe you understand it anyway, otherwise feel free to use a(n online) dictionary. That was unexpected, such profanity, although I am not sure if the meaning back then in the mid-80s of that term was the same as it is in the 21st century. But it doesn't matter anyway. People should man up and deal with this kind of stuff. I give the overall outcome a thumbs-up and recommend checking it out.
