Description

THE TINDER BOX is a delightful cinema fairy tale, very much in keeping with the spirit of Hans Christian Andersen, and very much a companion piece to director Siegfried Hartmann’s earlier effort, THE GOLDEN GOOSE. In each, a good-hearted man wins friends and helps a community in turmoil with the help of magically-procured gold. In each, the hero manages to woo and rescue a compromised Princess. IN each, magical animals help our hero in his quest. In addition, the depiction of a typical fairy-tale village, with its King’s court, tradesmen, and various other citizens is evoked quite nicely in each.

Most exciting in THE TINDER BOX are the sequences involving the giant, magical canines, a Dachshund, a Terrier and a Boxer, all with glowing eyes and good hearts, each of which helps our hero countless times. Also notable is an old Witch, whose machinations cause our hero his travails, but also oddly his eventual triumph.

Also fun are the many scenes with the Soldier and his newly-found friends, The Fops. These three pretentious buffoons represent everything that was wrong with society at the time (and today!), lazy good-for-nothings living on their fathers’ income and adding nothing constructive to society, yet pretending to be an essential part thereof.