Princess and the Warrior
The Princess and the Warrior **** ( R )
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Reviewed By George O. Singleton
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The style of Run Lola Run…with more depth
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Sissi: Franka Potente
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Bodo: Benno Furmann
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Werner: Ludger Pistor
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Walter: Joachim Krol
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Otto: Melchior Beslon
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Steini: Lars Rudolph
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Director: Tom Tykwer
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30 Second Bottom Line: A lonely young woman, devoted to her nurse's job in a mental institution, finds new meaning to her existence after a life threatening accident.
Story Line: If you are reading this review, you are probably aware of the prior film directed by Tykwer starring Franka Potente, Run Lola Run. The Princess and the Warrior is similar in that it looks at how fate affects our lives. Both films deal with the aftermath…the future rather than the past. You become more aware of the incidental things that happen in your everyday life and how you react to them, or not. These things affect the rest of your life, be they small or large events.
Sissi (Franka Potente) works as a nurse in a psychiatric ward that is the modern day equivalent of One Flew Over the Cockoo's Nest. She has no personal life, as she spends most of her time, both awake and asleep, at the hospital. When she leaves works she simply walks down the hall to her room where she spends her time off.
We know Sissi has a latent desire for a meaningful relationship with a man when she gives a hand job to patient Steini (Lars Rudolph) so he can calm his mind and go to sleep. This may be an example of what President Clinton was trying to say about the difference between sexual contact and a sexual relationship.J To Sissi, assisting Steini with masturbation was the equivalent of giving him his meds.
Things are going along in a day to day boring routine until Sissi gets a letter from a relative, which requires that she go into town to open a safe deposit box. She takes a blind patient, Otto (Melchior Beslon), with her and when the police are chasing a man through traffic, Sissi is hit by a car. This sequence provides both gripping tension and amazing photography, which is quite simplistic. As she lies on the ground, Bodo (Benno Furmann), the man being chased, performs a life saving procedure.
Almost two months later, Sissi is released from the hospital and returns to work at the mental institution. Wanting to thank the man who saved her life, she goes on a quest with Otto, who has excellent use of his other senses because of his blindness, and they find Bodo. The problem is that Bodo and his brother Walter (Joachim Krol) are planning to rob the bank where he works, which is also the location of the safe deposit box.
A series of events converge as the crime unfolds that result in the deaths of some and a profound change for Franka and others. While somewhat reminiscent of Run Lola Run with its action scenes, this film has less non-stop action and more dialogue with character development. They are similar yet very different and I love each of them.
Tell Me More About It: I also recommend Wintersleepers, which was directed by Tykwer prior to the making of Run Lola Run. These films are in the vein of Krzysztof Kieslowski's trilogy of films: Blue; White; and Red, as well as his The Double Life of Veronique. I find them very entertaining and thought provoking.
You can enjoy this movie more by seeing it a second time; but you don't have to see it more than once to get what it's about, unlike Eyes Wide Shut or Memento.
The Princess and the Warrior is impacted by four circumstances over which we have influence but not control…fate, coincidence, love and time. What we can control is our reaction to these factors in that when an opportunity presents itself to improve our lives, we need to first recognize it and then act upon it. Decisions are made as often when we do nothing as when we are active.
R (sexual content; disturbing images; violence; language)
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George O. Singleton © 2001
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Mini Filmography
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Benno Furmann: Kiss my Blood
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Melchior Beslon: Debut
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