When Peter Munk, a poor young charcoal burner, wants to get married, he recognizes that poverty is a terrible thing. He has learned from the good Glass-man that children of fortune are granted three wishes. They meet each other deep in the Black Forest, and Peter receives what he desires: money and property. He buys himself an old glassworks and spends the money like crazy. On the day of his wedding he has nothing left. His creditors take away his glassworks. In this desperate situation he calls upon the evil Dutchman Michel who asks for Peter’s heart in exchange for making his wish come true. Peter loses all his positive qualities with his heart of stone. He becomes powerful and rich, unjust and cruel. His young wife Lisbeth keeps trying to soften Peter’s heart, but a heart of stone knows no love. Once when she gives two poor journeymen something to eat and drink, Peter is so enraged that he beats his once so beloved wife to death. Yet one last spark of humanity makes him realize what a terrible thing he has done. Desperate once again, he calls upon the Glass-man. Since Peter has one wish left, he gets his heart back. Now he changes into the boy everyone knew and liked, a good worker who is not ashamed of being poor, someone for whom honesty, modesty and a willingness to help are more important than money and power.

Hauff’s fairy tale “Heart of Stone” tells the well-known story of charcoal burner Peter which allegedly took place 200 years ago in the Black Forest. The screenplay stays very close to the original tale and relates strongly to the ethical goals of the allegorical story. “Heart of Stone” was the first post-war color film. Months of preparation and a half year of shooting were necessary to enable a coloring that was never equaled afterwards. (Catholic Film Service, No. 46/1951)

“It’s unusual how brilliant and unreal the Agfacolor colors are, but they are more fitting than ever. Nowadays you might refer to it as a fantasy film (extensive set design, excellent special effects). Over 35 years ago it was a fairy tale film. But no simple one like the many, many other adaptations of famous folk fairy tales in the fifties that paid little attention to set design and good acting. (zitty, 7/1986)

Important for Hauff was that the human heart must beat warmly if we as people are going to live together in peace and if we are going to help our deprived brothers. This film glorifies a secondary aspect of life, work, which can make our lives happy. The political accent which we sense in this film’s message makes us suspicious. Hauff based his story on a Christian point of view. This film doesn’t. (Lutheran Film Observer, 3rd Year, 1951)

“Verhoeven consistently does justice to the humanistic ideas in this fairy tale. He does a very imaginative job of transferring Hauff’s typical combination of fairy tale elements and social characterization into a film genre. His favorite hero is the Glass-man, the fairy tale world’s moral conscience–a goodhearted, incorruptible figure who is always willing to forgive. It is a brilliant role for Paul Bildt. Verhoeven lets the Dutchman Michel (Erwin Geschonneck) perform as a cruel giant without any glossing over. Using distinctive makeup and gestures, both actors develop astonishing and very differentiated figures who create the fairy tale atmosphere of the film together with the magical scenery. (77 Fairy Tale Films, Henschel Verlag, Berlin 1990)

Production Period

1950

Production Year

1950

color

color

Aspect Ratio

1:1,33

Duration

Feature-Length Film (61+ Min.)

Type

Feature Film

Genre

Fantasy / Fairy Tale

Topic

Relationship / Family, GDR, Film History

Target Group

Junior film (7-11)

Available Media

DVD

Original Version

German (de)

DVD

Subtitles

German (de), English (en), French (fr), Spanish (es), Portuguese (Brazil) (pt)