Why do we actually do this? Why do we eagerly await the Berlinale every year, queue for hours for tickets, sit excitedly in front of the computer in the morning hoping to get all the tickets and then spend the whole day in the darkness of the cinema.
Of course we want to see the stars live that we usually admire on the big screen and enjoy this unique festival atmosphere. But actually, we only do all this for the love of film - in the hope of seeing that one very special film. This magical moment is what drives us when we lose ourselves in a film, are carried away by it and leave the cinema as a different person.
This Sunday, there were many of these moments with fairytale films and films about fairytales.
La Tour de Glace
The competition was certainly magical, as the French film La Tour de Glace retells the fairy tale of the Snow Queen. In the 1970s, young Jeanne runs away from home and hides in a seemingly abandoned building. However, this is the location of a film adaptation of the Snow Queen, Jeanne's favourite fairy tale. Fascinated by the leading actress Christina (played by Marion Cotillard), she begins to work on the set as an extra under a false name. As Jeanne tries to get closer to the mysterious, diva-like Christina, the boundaries between dream and reality, fairy tale and film become increasingly blurred.
Director Lucile Hadžihalilović creates a poetic world full of magical images, allusions and facets, a film that stands out from the previous entries in the competition - glitteringly beautiful and dreamily lost.
Den stygge stesøsteren
The film Panorama is more dramatic, because here the fairy tale becomes a horror trip. The film Den stygge stesøsteren retells the story of Cinderella, who the prince recognises by her little shoe after the ball. It takes the perspective of the stepsister, the supposedly ugly and rejected one. Elvira, the stepsister, submits to a brutal beauty programme in order to win the prince's hand. She has her nose broken and artificial eyelashes sewn in, and even swallows a tapeworm.
The film is a body horror movie. Similar to the Oscar-nominated film The Substance, the focus in Den stygge stesøsteren is on the female body, which is supposed to conform to rigid norms and is treated accordingly. If you want to be beautiful, you have to suffer
Director Emilie Blichfeldt stays true to the fairytale genre. She conjures up images like still lifes and baroque vanitas mondi, combining beauty and horror. At the same time, she plays with the familiar elements of earlier retellings, such as the pumpkin carriage and the little mouse, and yet tells them in a new way. Cinderella has an affair with the stable boy and the prince is a vain dominiser. And yet - as in the original fairy tale - Elvira is prepared to go to extremes for him. Rucke di guh, blood is in the shoe.
