I just wanted to say I'm sorry this is a day late -- I completely forgot :(
I thought the DEFA film was a little wacky to say the least. I felt as though it was a combination of a few of the Grimms tales (IE: Clever Hans) and never really quite understood the humor behind it. The main character is completely out of it and cannot correctly comprehend anything he is told. He is also extremely scared of mice (weird since he's not a little girl but okay...). His naivety is akin to DEFA's Snow White; Hans' spaciness reminded me of DEFA's Snow White's persistent need to count all the cutlery in the dwarfs cottage. This change in character from the original tale makes him completely undesirable.
What I also found odd about this film was the ending -- how the devil was made to eat a whole ox, drink all the wine, and dance. What did this accomplish? It just added to the unneeded quirkiness of the film.
I'm copying Chester and adding a song to this blog. "Let's Here It For The Boy" Footloose Soundtrack.
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You make a good point about the ending that I didn't really think about: it makes absolutely no sense. I don't have a clue what it is supposed to accomplish but I would like to know now. I really hope that it was changed specifically to fit better into DEFA ideology and not just for "entertainment," but they might have just done it for the comedic value. Either way I think the Grimm's ending is more in character with the rest of the tale.
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ok the way i read the ending was that it was another one of DEFA's slaps at overindulgence and royalty so to speak even though the devil isnt a king, because yes it seems like a really weird way to end it. I don't know if I'm on the right track with this interpretation but it's what I came up with
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