L'arbre qui chante

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 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 one of the most amazing looking,surreal films of all time and i only recently acquired it on video.it was just as good after fond childhood memories of it.highly recommended,with great special effects,and stunning set design,and vivid colour and cinematography.buy with confidence!

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.

This film was bought by BBC Children TV, dubbed in English and serialised in the late 60s which is where I originally saw it. You can buy a restored, German language with English subtitles which I did to see if my memory had played tricks on me - was it as good as I remembered?

I'm glad to say that its even better than I remembered, the stylish production, imaginative sets and performances enthralled me and my two you daughters again (the German language bit didn't seem to bother them at all!). I remembered the story but what passed me by on my B&W TV in the 60s was the imaginative and beautifully shot images.

Much recommended!