"Die Gänsehirtin am Brunnen" or "Die Gänse" or "The Wishmaker" is an East German German-language movie from 1979, so this film happened a decade before the Fall of the Berlin Wall and this also means that this film is now already over 40 years old. The director is Ursula Schmenger and she is also one of several writers we have here, really many writers given the fact that this is a film that stays even under the one-hour mark. It is in color of course, but this can pretty much be taken for granted for 1979. As for Schmenger, she is still alove now being way into her 90s and this film was not one of her earliest or latest career efforts, somewhere in the middle. Her career basically ended with the German Reunification as she did not work on any other films in the 1990s. But then again, she was already in her 60s at that point, so maybe she simply decided it is time for retirement anyway and no need to face the challenge to try to become a successful filmmaker in a new country.
I already mentioned that this film is from the GDR and if I think it is not too surprising that this film is still on national television here and there and has not been forgotten entirely because GDR fairytale films are among those things that are still remembered from this country that no longer exists. And I am not just talking about film genres, but about things in general. There is some nice heart to many films, most of them older than this one, considerably older even, and also in terms of looks (i.e. costumes, sets etc.) they turned out pretty nice. This one is no exception. It felt especially obvious during those scenes at the palace that were actually dream sequences, but somehow it did happen and there was some magic involved right? It was not a coincidence that he dreamt all of that. Probably the elderly lady he helped played a major role there. I mean she really makes sure he sleeps at her place. Or maybe was it just a manipulative dream selling us (and him) her daughter as a (former) princess? Nah I doubt it. It's not entirely clear though, but it's okay. Some mystery is never a bad thing and the film works well despite these doubts. Actually, they only came up right now for me and not when I was watching the film or immediately after.
The title is a bit confusing though because the girl mentioned there (and it is of course also the one you see on the poster here on imdb) does not even come close to the screen time the young man has. He is the one you see in the background and you also do not even see his full body. And while the girl does indeed look like a princess (cannot deny that, even if I am not really into blondes), there is at best simple charm to the boy, also with his wild hair, which is definitely seen as something more stylish and expressive in 2021 than in 2979. I think in GDR (fairytale) films in general, the male protagonists did not need to eb as handsome as they had to be in films from other parts of the world. This probably applies to 1979 as it does to 2020 (the second part I mean, of course there is no GDR anymore). It took a little longer for me than I hoped with this movie to develop interest, but eventually I did. And near the end, I had no doubts anymore that I could give the outcome here a positive recommendation, even if it was never really a great watch. The look inside the well (last word from the German title) was nice though and there were some more quality shotws here I would say. Costumes and sets were good too as I said early on already. Of course, you need to bury your realism with this one, like why would he constantly sleep at the stranger woman's house. Or why is the girl after her revelation in the end even interested in him as she does not know him, at least from what we know. He at least knew her from his dreams. You could still wonder if he is a honorable man because he had no interest in her before seeing her beautiful self. So some questions marks here and also some flaws, but overall I would say the positive is more frequent.
I mentioned the usual components in the title of my review and this includes the fantasy element of course, but also the king and queen, even if the latter is only included briefly in the end, the princess, the moral, that he needs three attempts to finally make the right choice what is good for him etc. Many alright components. This is a film worth seeing I would say. I also did not really feel as if there was a great deal of political propaganda in here as you frequently have it with GDR films, even some fantasy/fairytale films from the country in which I was born five years after this movie. Oh and of course I as an animal lover must also mention the beautiful non-human characters we see on some occasions. I think the cat still gets the most screen time here and there and we also have brief shots of horses, owls and geese I believe, even if the latter were definitely not features as frequently as you could think from the title. This basically means in the sense of a literal translation "The Goosegirl near the Well" you could say. A bit difficult to translate because "Hirtin" and "Gänsehirtin" are nothing we really use anymore when speaking about the profession and also because I believe these terms are restricted to Europe, maybe the Alps region or so. I have never heard somebody say these words for farmers in North America for example.
Anyway, the punishment for the king (liked the actor there, Mr. Günter Naumann, may he rest in peace too) and queen in the end is regret because their daughter is gone and with those now that appreciate her and want her to be happy no matter what. She did not fit in to where she was born. Although the punishment for the queen may be a bit unjust because it was only really the girl's father who kept punishing her and took away those things that meant joy to her. It's an okay punishment though, actually from some perspective at least as cruel as being sent to prison or being forced to leave the castle the way it happens in other fairytales more frequently. The road taken here is a bit of an unusual one. Finally, the scene with the salt, i.e. what she answers when asked a crucial question from her dad, is one that seemed familiar to me. I have seen this scene in another much more recent fairytale film not too long ago. The title there was completely different. I think it was "Die Salzprinzessin" / "The Salt Princess", so I was a bit surprised to see a similar reference with this one here. That is all now. Thanks for reading if you got here, but what you should really do (if you haven't already) is go watch this film. It's not too difficult to find despite the low amount of ratings here on imdb. Don't be worried that there are no big names in the cast (admittedly I am not an expert on GDR actors). Lead actor Schneider never appeared in a film after this one and also only has two credits from before this one. Lead actress Schallerová was more prolific, but also has not acted for decades now. Christine Schorn, however, who plays the third-biggest character here is one who is a prime example of an East German actress who has managed a really long and successful career in unified Germany as well, has even won two German Film Awards in the new millennium. Okay, enough now, go see this one and don't switch it off if the first 15 or 20 minutes are a bit on the bland side. It does get better. I give this film a thumbs-up.
I already mentioned that this film is from the GDR and if I think it is not too surprising that this film is still on national television here and there and has not been forgotten entirely because GDR fairytale films are among those things that are still remembered from this country that no longer exists. And I am not just talking about film genres, but about things in general. There is some nice heart to many films, most of them older than this one, considerably older even, and also in terms of looks (i.e. costumes, sets etc.) they turned out pretty nice. This one is no exception. It felt especially obvious during those scenes at the palace that were actually dream sequences, but somehow it did happen and there was some magic involved right? It was not a coincidence that he dreamt all of that. Probably the elderly lady he helped played a major role there. I mean she really makes sure he sleeps at her place. Or maybe was it just a manipulative dream selling us (and him) her daughter as a (former) princess? Nah I doubt it. It's not entirely clear though, but it's okay. Some mystery is never a bad thing and the film works well despite these doubts. Actually, they only came up right now for me and not when I was watching the film or immediately after.
The title is a bit confusing though because the girl mentioned there (and it is of course also the one you see on the poster here on imdb) does not even come close to the screen time the young man has. He is the one you see in the background and you also do not even see his full body. And while the girl does indeed look like a princess (cannot deny that, even if I am not really into blondes), there is at best simple charm to the boy, also with his wild hair, which is definitely seen as something more stylish and expressive in 2021 than in 2979. I think in GDR (fairytale) films in general, the male protagonists did not need to eb as handsome as they had to be in films from other parts of the world. This probably applies to 1979 as it does to 2020 (the second part I mean, of course there is no GDR anymore). It took a little longer for me than I hoped with this movie to develop interest, but eventually I did. And near the end, I had no doubts anymore that I could give the outcome here a positive recommendation, even if it was never really a great watch. The look inside the well (last word from the German title) was nice though and there were some more quality shotws here I would say. Costumes and sets were good too as I said early on already. Of course, you need to bury your realism with this one, like why would he constantly sleep at the stranger woman's house. Or why is the girl after her revelation in the end even interested in him as she does not know him, at least from what we know. He at least knew her from his dreams. You could still wonder if he is a honorable man because he had no interest in her before seeing her beautiful self. So some questions marks here and also some flaws, but overall I would say the positive is more frequent.
I mentioned the usual components in the title of my review and this includes the fantasy element of course, but also the king and queen, even if the latter is only included briefly in the end, the princess, the moral, that he needs three attempts to finally make the right choice what is good for him etc. Many alright components. This is a film worth seeing I would say. I also did not really feel as if there was a great deal of political propaganda in here as you frequently have it with GDR films, even some fantasy/fairytale films from the country in which I was born five years after this movie. Oh and of course I as an animal lover must also mention the beautiful non-human characters we see on some occasions. I think the cat still gets the most screen time here and there and we also have brief shots of horses, owls and geese I believe, even if the latter were definitely not features as frequently as you could think from the title. This basically means in the sense of a literal translation "The Goosegirl near the Well" you could say. A bit difficult to translate because "Hirtin" and "Gänsehirtin" are nothing we really use anymore when speaking about the profession and also because I believe these terms are restricted to Europe, maybe the Alps region or so. I have never heard somebody say these words for farmers in North America for example.
Anyway, the punishment for the king (liked the actor there, Mr. Günter Naumann, may he rest in peace too) and queen in the end is regret because their daughter is gone and with those now that appreciate her and want her to be happy no matter what. She did not fit in to where she was born. Although the punishment for the queen may be a bit unjust because it was only really the girl's father who kept punishing her and took away those things that meant joy to her. It's an okay punishment though, actually from some perspective at least as cruel as being sent to prison or being forced to leave the castle the way it happens in other fairytales more frequently. The road taken here is a bit of an unusual one. Finally, the scene with the salt, i.e. what she answers when asked a crucial question from her dad, is one that seemed familiar to me. I have seen this scene in another much more recent fairytale film not too long ago. The title there was completely different. I think it was "Die Salzprinzessin" / "The Salt Princess", so I was a bit surprised to see a similar reference with this one here. That is all now. Thanks for reading if you got here, but what you should really do (if you haven't already) is go watch this film. It's not too difficult to find despite the low amount of ratings here on imdb. Don't be worried that there are no big names in the cast (admittedly I am not an expert on GDR actors). Lead actor Schneider never appeared in a film after this one and also only has two credits from before this one. Lead actress Schallerová was more prolific, but also has not acted for decades now. Christine Schorn, however, who plays the third-biggest character here is one who is a prime example of an East German actress who has managed a really long and successful career in unified Germany as well, has even won two German Film Awards in the new millennium. Okay, enough now, go see this one and don't switch it off if the first 15 or 20 minutes are a bit on the bland side. It does get better. I give this film a thumbs-up.
