Heart of Stone (Das kalte Herz) was the first colour film produced by East Germany’s state film studio DEFA, a big-budget spectacular which attracted huge audiences upon its release in 1950.
This adaptation of a macabre 19th century fairytale by Wilhelm Hauff was greenlit on the proviso that the film would be a parable about the virtues of hard work, lowly coal merchant Peter Munk’s downfall caused by his use of dark magic to improve his wealth and status rather than honest toil. DEFA brought in the West German Paul Verhoeven (not to be confused with the director of Robocop) to adapt and direct.
Hauff’s story was set in West Germany’s Black Forest, though DEFA and Verhoeven using the forest landscapes of nearby Thuringia alongside elaborate studio sets. You can instantly see where the money went: exterior and interior scenes are teeming with costumed extras and the delightful visual effects hold up well. We first encounter Lutz Moik’s Peter at a busy village festival, a leisurely prologue hinting at the systemic inequity beneath the idyllic setting. Paul Esser’s rich timber merchant Ezechiel, surrounded by sycophantic admirers, is an appealingly boorish villain.
Love interest Lisbeth (Hanna Rucker, pictured below with Moik) is pursued by Ezechiel’s floppy-haired acolyte Hannes (Handsgeorg Laubenthal) but has a soft spot for Peter’s boyish charms. Which leads Peter to look for the Glass Imp deep in the forest and ask for three wishes, the first two being money to buy a glassblowing business and a magic pocket containing as much money as is being carried by Ezechiel when the two of them are in the village tavern. Newly-acquired wealth also allows Peter to buy his mother a new hat and propose to Lisbeth, the wedding day a non-event when Peter’s managerial incompetence and gambling addiction push him into seeking further supernatural assistance. Enter Erwin Geschonneck’s terrifying Dutch Michael, a scarred, one-eyed grotesque who offers to solve Peter’s problems by giving him a heart of cold stone. It’s an unnerving sequence, Peter gazing aghast at the wall decorated with pulsating red hearts (including those of Ezechiel and Hannes). Now devoid of compassion and humanity, he becomes an amoral tyrant, taking Lisbeth as his trophy wife.
Peter’s Rake’s Progress-style descent into madness is dizzyingly handled by Moik and Verhoeven, particularly a scene in a decadent Amsterdam bar where he meets Ezechiel, now his equal, and sells an employee to the Dutch navy for a few coins. You genuinely wonder if there’s any hope of redemption. Though initially slow-paced, Heart of Stone is a dark marvel and one of the great cinematic fairy tales, looking and sounding wonderful in this 2K restoration. Eureka’s presentation and packaging are exemplary: Quinna Shen’s fascinating booklet essay places the film in its political-historical context and Claire Knight’s video essay Once Upon a Time in the East examines the role played by fairytales in postwar Eastern Europe. Three DEFA animated shorts are included as well, the two featuring silhouettes especially magical. You won’t find this sort of material on Netflix or Amazon Prime: treat yourself and buy this set.
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