The Singing Forest

Starring:Singing Forest
Studio: Vanguard Cinema
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

The Singing Ringing Tree (Tales From Europe)
The Grimm's Forgotten Fairy Tale
creepy
A must-have for children of the 1960s
Magical Childhood

The Singing Ringing Tree
Starring: Fredy Barten , Egon Vogel , Paul Knopf , Paul Pfingst , and Friedrich Teitge
Director: Francesco Stefani
Manufacturer: First Run Features
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

7-9 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

10-12 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Adapted from Books | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Family Films | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Fantasy | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video

General | Indie & Art House | Stores | DVD | Video

The Story of Little Mook
The Golden Goose
The Devil's Three Golden Hairs
Snow Maiden
Munchhausen

ASIN: B00004YS9R
Release Date: 2001-10-23

Amazon.com

This 1957 film version of the classic Grimm fairy tale The Singing, Ringing Tree--or Das singende, klingende Bäumchen, as the original German dialogue has been retained and subtitled in English in an adequate but unsubtle fashion--is wonderful in its strangeness. The story is a fairly straightforward morality tale in which a haughty princess receives her comeuppance by being magically robbed of her beauty. Only when she learns to treat others with the consideration they deserve is the spell undone. The magical Singing, Ringing Tree is a gift she demands from a suitor, not knowing that it will only do its thing in the presence of love--and, yes, it does finally happen.

The presentation, however, is something else again. Imagine a fairy tale conceived by Wagner and directed by Fritz Lang, with nods in the direction of The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari and German expressionism, and you'd be close. The hyper-real coloring process of the time, together with the quasi-operatic sets and theatrical acting styles make this European classic fascinating viewing for adults, while children will be mesmerized by this unfamiliar, haunting, yet compelling film (it's also handy practice for anyone learning German!). Heddenhausen's swirling score is marvelous, too. --Roger Thomas

Description

To win the love of a beautiful but conceited princess, a prince sets out in search of the mythical Singing, Ringing Tree, which she deeply desires. But there is on catch: the princess has to declare love for the prince before sunset! This is the original, uncut version of The Singing, Ringing Tree digitally remastered and presented with the original BBC English narration.

Customer Reviews:

The Singing Ringing Tree (Tales From Europe).......2006-01-30

You have to take into account that this was broadcast when the UK only had 2 tv stations (BBC1,ITV in black and white only) and kids tv broadcastiing was only 1 1/2 hours a day.(around 1968)
This was also shown in the grim (no pun intended) mid winter it was scary as hell and has stayed with me for years and thanks to Google I was able to contact others traumatised by this not fairy tale but a scary folk tale.
A walk in the woods was totally different experience after a episode of tales from europe.
I have problems with this, as this has stayed with me subconsciosly since I was 10 years old (a real 10 year old none of this modern fast tracking kids to adulthood) The Tinderbox Rumplestiltskin etc.
It even had me on edge as a soldier in the British Army on excercise in the dark German forest on guard duty at night!During the cold war years. Guten Tag Sennelager.
But still a must see! Watch in the dark in black and white with the kids hopefully they will hide behind the sofa! when it gets scary else your kids have been spoiled by the modern world!
There was also debate about this on the Ken Bruce BBC radio 2 show this week ending 28/01/06 Auf wedersehen pet!

a working class boy

The Grimm's Forgotten Fairy Tale.......2004-11-11

Having seen this movie when I was seven, I have searched for it ever since.
The original story was written by the brothers Grimm in 1802 and published in their collected works in 1812. It has never reappeared in print since.
The Singing Ringing Tree is a classic fairy tale of the same calibre as other popular Grimm tales... but somehow forgotten and thankfully unchanged by Disney.
The 1956 movie is of course primitive in its technological aspects when considering todays special effects. However, it is true to the storyline; has wonderful costumes and colourful sets; and very little dialogue to confuse the tale.

***PS*** For customers in countries other than US and Canada
This DVD is available as a UK export through the Amazon.de site.
If anyone wishes to read the children's picture book by the same name (retold by Selina Hastings, 1988), it is also available through Amazon.com... however, it is severely lacking in the magic portrayed in the movie and original tale.

creepy.......2002-08-12

There are only a few tv programmes that create a truly indelible mark on your mind when you're a kid.For me,this was one of them.This is a genuinely amazing piece of work-a fairy tale with such a twisted edge that you simply cannot shake it from your mind.The print used here is gorgeous-incredibly vibrant and colourful.It was great to rediscover this film.I thought I'd never see it again.

A must-have for children of the 1960s.......2002-01-10

During the period 1964-69, the BBC ran the 'Tales from Europe' series of tea-time fairy tales, all of them in black-and-white, some of them created by the BBC itself but many of them coming from the East German DEFA stable. THE SINGING, RINGING TREE was for many British children, the most memorable, not just because the BBC ran it several times, but also because it was the most scary. This film has almost archetype status for many of us now in our forties.

Dwarves (or should it be dwarfs?) do not get a good press in this story. The evil dwarf is a hideous, voyeuristic presence throughout much of the story. (This story is not about the Eastern bloc, but if the bear and the princess are imprisoned behind an impenetrable iron curtain, the dwarf could represent a Stasi spy.) I am sure this story influenced many of us children to look upon dwarves as malign, and that may be why this film isn't more widely available. We certainly need the likes of Tolkien to provide children with a far more positive view of dwarves.

Seeing this again for the first time in more than thirty years has been almost a psychological release for me. The dwarf isn't all evil. The good-looking couple both have their individual faults. The sets aren't very well done. My 10-year-old daughter laughed when the fish turned up in the magic pool. The film has lost much of its psychic power because in comparison to today's big-budget productions, it just isn't convincing. It's just a fairy tale well told.

Seeing it in gaudy colour is extraordinary. It has been well remastered, and the faltering sound quality of the music only adds to the magic.

As other reviewers have said, the accompanying short film on the DVD seems an irrelevance. It carries a Tangerine Dream-like soundtrack, lasts about five minutes and appears to have been made in 1971.

This is a film I absolutely had to see. The only question for me is whether I'll want to replay it again and again.

Magical Childhood.......2001-05-24

This is one of THE most sought after videos in the UK: the one with the English narration over the 'subdued' German. It's the one that was broadcast by the BBC in the 60's and the one that a generation of children hid from when it flickered on our black and white tellies. This is haunting, beautiful, terrifying; everything a fairy story should be. It's just been released in the UK on PAL so now we can all enjoy it again...

Average customer rating:

A Little Film Full of Fine Ideas, Some Under-realized
This movie is...
Unwatchable non-entertainment.
REALLY bad!!!!!!
Worst gay film I have seen

The Singing Forest
Director: Jorge Ameer
Manufacturer: Vanguard Cinema
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Gay & Lesbian | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Gay & Lesbian | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Holocaust | Jewish Heritage | Specialty Stores | DVD | Video

Broken Sky
Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds
Third Man Out
Phoenix
Almost Normal

ASIN: B00029NM3G
Release Date: 2004-08-31

Customer Reviews:

A Little Film Full of Fine Ideas, Some Under-realized.......2006-10-23

Writer/director Jorge Ameer may just be another edgy filmmaker waiting for larger budgets to set his ideas afire (think Gus van Sant, Gregg Araki, etc). Reading all the comments and reactions to this film is fairly good evidence that he is a controversial filmmaker - and that will probably work in his favor. He has technical problems with his product: the dialogue, which is really fairly good when it can be heard, is drowned out by ocean waves, dogs barking, street sounds, and the worst pastiche of heart-tugging micro-excerpts from classical music (Adagio from Mahler's 5th, Albinoni, Tchaikovsky ad infinitum); he fails to adequately introduce his characters' motivation which would further the storyline; he opts for some pretty cheap effects borrowed from the archives of WW II.

But given all that, THE SINGING FOREST has good thoughts about reincarnation, a stable cast some of whom show real promise, and an overall feeling of commitment that is so often lacking in these startup movies.

Christopher Hayes (Jon Sherrin) is an alcoholic man in mourning for his lost wife, who decides to attend the wedding of his daughter Destiny (Erin Leigh Price) and upon meeting her fiancé Ben (Craig Pinkston, eye candy in looks and with signs he just may become a good screen actor with some body language training). Christopher has met with a psychic Elvia (Toni Zobel) who has confirmed his thoughts that he is a reincarnated spirit of a lad named Jo who while protecting the Jews from the Nazis in WW II fell in love with a lad named Alexander: they both died in the war. When Christopher meets Ben he immediately knows that Ben is the reincarnation of Alexander. Destiny is a hard working girl, giving Christopher and Ben sufficient time together to talk, get loaded on drugs and alcohol, and act out on their hidden sexuality. Many confrontations occur, some including Destiny's discovery of the two men en flagrante, the psychic is re-consulted and the concept of reincarnation and the questions of reality/fantasy/fiction/illusion are addressed. The ending is a bit abrupt but the point is made.

Many subplots are touched upon (a rape scene that has more significance than we are allowed to understand, adequate exploration of the father/daughter relationship or the childhood histories of Christopher and Ben) and it is obvious that budget restraints prevented development of points that should have been clarified. But Both Pinkston and Price prove promising talent that needs developing.

Accompanying the film are several shorts that, while crude in nature, are funny and irreverent and again show some clever thoughts underdeveloped. In all, for a first film this is not a bad outing - if only there were some way to Dolby out all the background noise so we could actually hear the story Ameer is trying so hard to tell! Grady Harp, October 06

This movie is..........2006-04-20

...comparable to the experience of staring at a stranger's bowel movement for an hour and a half.

Unwatchable non-entertainment........2006-03-15

I'm not even going to pretend that I understood what this movie tried to be - it has been so incredibly badly made that I don't care. Bad sound, bad picture, bad dialogue, bad script - it has nothing going for it. If it was going for a couple of bucks I probably wouldn't be so hasty to warn people off buying it but at around $20 people should be made aware that they are buying an extremely badly made amateurish effort.

REALLY bad!!!!!!.......2005-09-27

I hate it when I pay good money for a movie only to realize I will never watch it again and would feel too guilty to sell it to another smuck here at amazon.
I could not even get through it the first time. TOTALLY unbelievable, the daddy must have had the daughter when he was what? 14!!! And the fiance falling into bed with the daddy {NUDE} was so fast you would have thought they knew each other from an adult bookstore instead of another time! Bad sound, bad acting, in short..BAD! So when you hear Micheal Jackson sing "who's bad" you can reply.."The Singing Forest...that's who!"

Worst gay film I have seen.......2004-09-17

What a disaster. A good example of of a talentless writer/directer who has no flair for making movies. Jeorge Ameer is really a no talent wonder. His script is so light, if you were to drop it from the ceiling, it would take two weeks to reach the floor. And somebody should tell him "directing" a film calls for more ability than to simply let a camera aim and shoot. I don't find anything about this tripe worth praising. It is void of any artistic vision. And the low budget is no excuse for it being so bad! Case in point: "The journey of Jarred price," was made for $20,000 and it was a very good gay themed movie.I could elaborate, but why bother? A movie this terrible deserves no attention. The only reason I am posting this review is to possibly save other people from having to watch this.

Average customer rating:

Colorado Sundown
Starring: Rex Allen , Louise Beavers , Stanley Blystone , Edward Cassidy , and Chester Clute
Director: William Witney
Manufacturer: ROAN
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00029NLNC
Release Date: 2004-07-27

Description

Slim Pickens' first pairing with singing cowboy Rex Allen came in Colorado Sundown, where the boys inherit a logging company. Trouble comes when brother and sister scoundrels (Fred Graham and June Vincent) try to seize control of the business. The sounds of the popular 50's vocal group Republic Rhythm Riders can be heard throughout this rollicking adventure.

Decades before Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, director William Witney (Zorro Rides Again, The Crimson Ghost) perfected a cinematic technique for increasing the intensity of onscreen violence, by overcranking the camera during fight scenes, so as to marginally speed up filming speed.

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

Perpetrators of the Crime

Lipstick Camera : DVD

The Pride And The Passion [1957]

DVD: The Shawshank Redemption (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Ein Fisch namens Wanda - Special Edition