Into the Forest : Folktales at DEFA Blu-ray Limited Edition

Between 1950 and 1989, the East German studio DEFA produced a huge number of Märchenfilme, or adaptations of popular fairy and folktales. By turns macabre, heartwarming, odd, whimsical and occasionally downright frightening, these visually arresting and luridly colourful pictures drew on the works of authors such as Wilhelm Hauff, Hans Christian Andersen and, above all, the Brothers Grimm. Some of the finest – and darkest – DEFA folktales include The Devil from Mill Mountain, The Singing Ringing Tree, Rumpelstiltskin, Little Red Riding Hood and The Devil’s Three Golden Hairs.
In The Devil from Mill Mountain, a greedy miller attracts the ire of forest spirits when he and his accomplices disguise themselves as demons to burn down a rival mill. In The Singing Ringing Tree, a young prince must find a legendary tree to win the heart of an icy princess – and risks being transformed into a bear if she fails to fall in love with him. Rumpelstiltskin follows a young woman whose boastful father claims she can spin straw into gold, leading her to make an ill-advised pact with a magical imp. Then, the eponymous Little Red Riding Hood sets off to see her sick grandmother, relying on her friends the rabbit and the bear to help her evade the cunning fox and the big bad wolf. Finally, The Devil’s Three Golden Hairs sees an unfortunate young man tasked with travelling into hell to retrieve three golden hairs from the Devil himself.
DEFA’s Märchenfilme were perhaps the most enduringly successful genre films produced in East Germany, remaining popular for as long as the German Democratic Republic existed – but they are criminally under-seen outside of the former Eastern Bloc. Filled with uncanny imagery and socialist messaging in equal measure, DEFA’s folktale adaptations are both immeasurably important to Germany’s film heritage and wildly entertaining examples of popular European cinema. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present these five Märchenfilme together for the first time on Blu-ray in the UK.
 
 
Limited Collector's Edition Box Set [2000 copies]
Limited edition hardbound slipcase featuring new artwork by Carly A-F [2000 copies]
Limited edition 60-page collector’s book featuring a new essay on DEFA’s approach to folktales by East German film historian Sebastian Heiduschke, new notes on each film in this set by DEFA Märchenfilm experts Sonja Fritzsche, Qinna Shen and Elizabeth Ward, plus the Brothers Grimm stories that inspired The Singing Ringing Tree, Rumpelstiltskin, Little Red Riding Hood and The Devil’s Three Golden Hairs [2000 copies]
Reversible inner sleeves featuring new artwork for each film by Carly A-F
1080p HD presentations of all five films from restorations by the DEFA Foundation
Original German soundtracks
Optional English soundtracks for The Singing Ringing Tree and The Devil’s Three Golden Hairs
Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
New audio commentary on The Devil from Mill Mountain by film historian Michael Brooke
New audio commentary on Rumpelstiltskin by Sam Goff, editorial director for Klassiki and host of The Klassiki Kino Club podcast
Fairytales and Nightmares – new interview with writer, broadcaster and Fortean Times columnist Bob Fischer on the history of The Singing Ringing Tree
DEFA and the Devil – new video essay on the depiction of the Devil in folktales from the Brothers Grimm to DEFA by film and literature scholar Mary Going
The Magic Scissors (Bruno J. Böttge, 1956) – short silhouette animation inspired by traditional folktales and produced by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film
Sleeping Beauty Was a Beautiful Child (Katja Georgi, 1987) – short puppet animation adapted from Sleeping Beauty by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film
The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats (Otto Sacher, 1990) – short cut-out animation adapted from the Brothers Grimm story by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film