Der Krieger und die Kaiserin (2000)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Tom Tykwer

Writer:

Tom Tykwer (writer)

Release Date:

12 October 2000 (Germany)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Irgendwo da draußen wartet die Liebe

Plot:

Young nurse Sissi lives a secluded life, seemingly entirely devoted to her patients at Birkenhof asylum...

Plot Keywords:

Nurse | Fate | Bank Vault | Loss | Self Sacrifice

Awards:

5 wins & 19 nominations

Cast

Franka Potente	...	Simone 'Sissi' Schmidt
Benno Fürmann	...	Bodo Riemer
Joachim Król	...	Walter Riemer
Lars Rudolph	...	Steini
Melchior Beslon	...	Otto
Ludger Pistor	...	Werner Dürr
Christa Fast	...	Sigrun Molke
Susanne Bredehöft	...	Zewil
Gottfried Breitfuss	...	Paul
Steffen Scheumann	...	Bruno (as Steffen Schult)
Rolf Dennemann	...	Dieter
Ali Nejat-Nouei	...	Ali
Sybille J. Schedwill	...	Schwester Maria Blum (as Sybille Jacqueline Schedwill)
Peter Ender	...	Dr. Thomas Kupfer
Friederike Frerichs	...	Schwester Corinna

Also Known As:

The Princess & the Warrior (UK) (USA) (promotional title)
Der Krieger & die Kaiserin (Germany) (alternative spelling)
Der Krieger + die Kaiserin (Germany) (DVD title)
The Princess + the Warrior (International: English title)
The Princess and the Warrior (USA)
The Warrior and the Empress (International: English title) (literal title)

MPAA:

Rated R for disturbing images, language and some sexual content.

Runtime:

135 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:PG (TV rating) | USA:TV-MA (cable rating) | Argentina:16 | Canada:14A (video rating) | France:U | Germany:12 (bw) | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Cornwall, England, UK

Company:

X-Filme Creative Pool

Trivia:

The German title "Der Krieger und die Kaiserin" translates as "The Warrior and the Empress", but Tykwer wanted the English title to be "The Princess and the Warrior" instead.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Bodo is being interviewed by the doctor in the psychiatric ward, the doctor pours a glass of mineral water for Bodo, and sets the bottle down on the desk, with the label at an angle to the camera view. In the next shot, the bottle is turned so that the label is nearly directly facing the camera view. (The water happens to be Apollinaris mineral water, which is sourced from a spring in Bad Neuenahr, Germany.)

Quotes:

Simone 'Sissi' Schmidt: I wish I could have told the man his sweat smelled tasty. I guess he'd been sucking on a peppermint drop.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Holiday (2006)

Soundtrack:

Escape (Afraid of No One)

My 1st Tykwer Experience

This film was playing in our little theater here, as part of the Beyond Normal Films promotion about a year & a half ago. I must say that before then, I had never heard of Tom Tykwer.

Since then, he has become 1 of my favorite writers & directors. I immediately went out & got the highly acclaimed *Lola rennt* & I must say that I was very impressed. I also got to check out his most recent film *Heaven* as part of this year's Beyond Normal ticket; I LOVED it.

If you are not familiar with Tykwer's work, I would suggest you start with *Der Krieger.* The story has several elements that almost everyone will enjoy & although the story may be a little slow in a few parts, it is nonetheless, interesting. It is not really a film for kids though.

I was once a little intimidated by films in a language I could not understand (German, for instance). There were several times that I did not even have to read the subtitles to know what was going on, it was great & even a little inspiring to me for wanting to learn some German (Danke schön, Tom). I encourage you all to check this flick out if you have not yet.

My rating: 8/10