The use of fairy tales in Germany Pale Mother

Perhaps one of the most haunting and compelling parts of Sanders-Brahms’ film Germany Pale Mother (1979) is the nearly twenty minute long telling of The Robber Bridegroom. The structual purpose of the sequence is a bridge between the marriage of Lene and Hans, who battles at the war’s front, and the decline of the marriage during the post-war period. Symbolically the fairy tale, called the “mad monstrosity in the middle of the film,” by Sanders …

…s of her parents generation, and making sure that it is not forgotten. Fairy tales are timeless pieces of literature. As Anton Kaes wrote, “... fairy tales stand outside of history, they confront us directly with unconscious impulses and let us project into them our own wishes and fantasies. (Kaes, 149). Works Cited Kaes, Anton. From Hitler to Heimat. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1992: pp148-150. Sanders-Brahms, Helma. Germany Pale Mother (Deutschland bleiche Mutter), Helma Sanders-Brahms Filmproduktion, 1979.