Der Krieger und die Kaiserin (2000)

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 shoves Sissi into the mud during the rain storm, she gets up and turns slightly and the back of her raincoat and the back of her arms are covered in mud. A few seconds later she stands and walks away and there's almost no mud. It is raining but not hard enough to wash the mud away that quickly. If you compare the amount of mud on Bodo's face and shirt in the same amount of time, there's almost no difference.

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:

Just Another Day

The Princess And The Warrior ***

Having loved Tykwer's impressively energetic RUN, LOLA, RUN (1998), I was really looking forward to watching his follow-up feature but, somehow, I never managed it until now (I did get to watch his subsequent film, HEAVEN [2002]). Thankfully, it was worth the wait and the result is almost as good. While the film is long and often rambles on rather aimlessly, it is never boring and, at times, disarmingly inventive and emotional; the leading players, especially the enchanting Franka Potente, have a lot to do with the latter quality. THE PRINCESS AND THE WARRIOR's main themes are matters of chance and fate but it also features an elaborate bank robbery and a long stretch of it takes place in an insane asylum (where Potente practices some unorthodox therapy on a couple of her patients) which is not too far removed from the one seen in ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (1975).