L'arbre qui chante

In the days of only 3 tv channels (1970s) British kids were treated to an eclectic variety of European television productions. Always dubbed, often in black and white and endlessly repeated. Much of it was excellent and fondly remembered by many.

However The Singing Ringing Tree was essentially a hammer horror movie for children made in East Germany. For those of us who saw it when very young, it become the stuff of nightmares filled with evil dwarf wizards, spoilt princesses made ugly by spells and a kind hero Bear. The production was all studio bound, but with a strange psychedelic atmosphere. I loved it.

Wonderful and fascinating as The Singing Ringing Tree is, myself and my contemporaries were totally traumatised by its images as young children. The man dressed as a bear and the dwarf terrified me and the fish at the waterfall made me very uneasy. The very nature of the theatrical effects and make-up was what I found disconcerting as a 7 or 8 year old. I watched it in a local cinema as an adult and thought that my demons had been exorcised but recently I saw a TV programme which featured a "mechanical" fish and my childhood trauma came flooding back instantly ! No film however violent or scary has ever had this kind of effect on me before or since, but please don't let me put you off from watching The Singing Ringing Tree !!

The East German DEFA produced quite a number of fairy tale adaptations of high standard, but this one is certainly one of the best and most beautiful. Exceptional and fantastic set design combined with expertly done trick-cinematography make a delicious cinematic treat for every age group, though the original colours have faded. Good cast and precise direction by Francesco Stefani.

This is as you remember watching it as a child. Lifelike, overtly coloured and full of magical splendor, terrifying nasties and surreal characters. In short, do not shy away from this opportunity to show a "Christmas Special" to your children in favour of the usual fare from Disney and co. Rather, pop a fresh batch of pop corn, get first dibs on the comfy chair and opt for what was arguably one of the highlights of East German children's programming.

The GDR did a good line in children's films during the fifties & sixties and like many of my generation I grew up on this macabre little tale televised in three parts under the banner 'Tales from Europe'.

I well recall being pleasantly surprised when I saw it again in the seventies and discovered that it had originally been in colour, and even more pleasantly surprised when it was screened at the 1990 London Film Festival and only then realised it had originally been a film.

Ironically it was generally agreed that the beautiful princess was greatly improved (SLIGHT SPOILER COMING:) by being made ugly by the evil dwarf with results that made her look like a kindly Vampira, while the most distressing aspect was probably the fate (ANOTHER SPOILER COMING:) of the giant fish.