Princess and Warrior no fairy tale

The Princess and the Warrior (Der Krieger und die Kaiserin) is a disturbing, slow-moving, character-driven story that relies heavily on mood. The audience can just sit back and be sucked in by two characters having an extended glance, or be mesmerized by watching a boy eat a light bulb, blood pouring out his mouth.

This story starts off on two paths which eventually cross and become one main story line. The first part is about Sissi (Franka Potente), an insane asylum nurse whose life is pretty stagnant. Her mother was a nurse at this asylum and Sissi was born there, staying after her mother's death. Like all of the other nurses, she lives in the building and only goes out so her patients can get fresh air. Though she is very young, it doesn't look like much else is going for her.

The second story is about an ex-soldier, Bodo (Benno F?rmann), who lives with his brother. Bodo is stuck between a traumatic past and a criminal future. His wife died in an explosion at a gas station, yet he cannot forget the past. His brother thinks the only way to deal with this is for the two of them to leave home. So, they decide that they need to rob a bank and move to Australia.

At one point Bodo causes an 18-wheeler to hit Sissi in the streets only to give her life-saving first-aid in a very realistic and graphic scene. After she gets out of the hospital, Sissi makes it her mission to find her hero. She thinks he just may be the man of her dreams. Yet when they meet again, all her affection is rejected by the cold and confused Bodo.

Director Tom Tykwer is most famous for his high-velocity film Run Lola Run. In that film, he explores themes of time and coincidence and the importance of every moment in every day. In The Princess and the Warrior, he goes through similar ideas. Throughout the movie, characters ask whether something was coincidence or if it happened for a reason. Sissi feels that she met Bodo for a reason, but he feels it was just an accident.

Sure, it's interesting to ask these questions, but Tykwer has explored these themes many times before, most successfully in Run Lola Run. In this film he doesn't really answer the questions that the characters ask and The Princess and the Warrior seems more arbitrary than his other films. But the film definitely does not come off as pretentious. This film is much more dramatic and serious than Run Lola Run,yet Tykwer manages to direct it on the same level, instead of going over the audiences' heads with life-altering philosophy.

Some may feel that this style of filmmaking becomes too excessive after a while. With coincidence after coincidence, the story can come off as ridiculous. I felt that it only became this way towards the end of the movie. The film is 130 minutes long; it probably could have been 115. There are a few little tricks at the end that seem corny, only because they are extended so long. For example, the same gas station where Bodo's wife was killed is the one they visit at the end of the film. Oooooh, he's fighting his personal demons. It's just too much for us to believe they would happen to come upon the same gas station. Maybe there needed to be more editing at the end, but all in all, this film has a very interesting script with deep, dark characters. Tykwer put his usual flashy directing style on the back burner for a much more mature take on his same themes.

Just remember, this is not Short Cuts or Magnolia. Tykwer is not trying to create these connecting situations. But, by the end of the movie, it merely feels like the director is controlling the actions more than the characters.

The Princess and the Warrior (in German with subtitles) is currently playing at The Charles Theatre, located 1711 N. Charles St. For more information and showtimes, call (410) 727-FILM or check out http://www.thecharles.com.