Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed
There are some movies in this world that mostly are for children or film buffs, and this film definitely is one of them: Lovely but rather childish story, a few somewhat racist elements and absolutely stunning visuals.
Today, I would say that there is one thing I prefer over films, which are operas. In some ways, “Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed” is an opera, because it follows certain rules (the ones of fairytales, that is), and because its looks are somewhat different from what we are used to. Personally, I found the silhouette style incredibly beautiful and the thought that they were animated as stop-motion pictures gives me the chills. It must have been so much work! (The same applies to “The Fantastic Mr. Fox”, though it’s somewhat less beautifully done there.)
And oh my God, the backgrounds are SO Walther Ruttmann! They are the best and blend in perfectly with the cut-out characters.
I know that the story doesn’t have so much to offer, but perhaps that’s just because we are used to faster stories (see operas again). It’s a nice, generic “prince saves his princess” story, and whenever there was a seemingly pointless scene with random people dancing, I also enjoyed myself quite a lot. The whole thing lasts only about 60 minutes, so it’s a perfect film to watch in-between, or even better: in a film theater. The film must be so much fun with a great silent film pianist!
All in all, I would totally want to see this film again if it came in a cinema one day. It’s quite a pearl of animation (perhaps one of the first really good ones) and I think it deserves to be on Satoshi Kon’s list much more than many of the present ones. But then again, he seems to barely have watched any silents (how typical for a director really). Quentin Tarantino and Tim Burton win in that department, I guess.