Cinderella (1922)

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Just perfect...

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This 13-minute black-and-white movie is Lotte Reiniger's take on the famous "Aschenputtel" story. As usual with her work, it is a black-and-white film and silent of course too, which should be no surprise looking at how this one is 95 years old. And it is Reiniger's scissor cut animation style once again in this fairly early work by the filmmaker. The original tale comes from the Brothers Grimm, but they sadly did not live to see this one. Or maybe not sadly as I personally did not enjoy the watch too much. I have seen some other of Reiniger's works and I guess the style just isn't my preferred choice. I will admit though that it rarely is the case that I don't miss sound in these silent films, but for Reiniger's works I believe they work better without sound than with sound. What I also found interesting is the great love for detail here, strangely enough especially for the bad guys. We saw their eyes for example, but never Aschenputtel's eyes. Overall, I give it a thumbs-down. It has its pros, but not enough to let me recommend it. Like I wrote before though, this may only be a matter pf personal preference.

Due to pressing time constraints, I am occasionally finding myself having to literally look up short films online to chalk up a respectable amount of viewings on a day-to-day basis. This, then – and the earlier GERTIE THE DINOSAUR (1914) – is one of the 10 animated short films that I had yet to catch up with that are included in the "All-Time Top 3,000" list compiled by the "Wonders In The Dark" website.Coming hot on the heels of my Yuletide fairy tale film adaptations viewings – which had included 3 versions of the titular fable: THE GLASS SLIPPER (1955; with Leslie Caron), THE SLIPPER AND THE ROSE: THE STORY OF Cinderella (1976; with Richard Chamberlain) and the X-rated Cinderella (1977) – this is also the third film I am watching from the German silhouette animator Reiniger, following her full-length feature THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED (1926) and the Christmas short, THE STAR OF BETLEHEM (1956). For the record, it seems Reiniger would return to the Brothers Grimm tale over 30 years later in a subsequent adaptation. While the animation present in the 14-minute short is pleasant in itself (not least because of the blue tint throughout), what really sticks out in this particular adaptation is a surprisingly gruesome (for its time, of course) sequence where Cinderella's two evil sisters lop off part of their own feet in a desperate attempt to make the all-important, unclaimed slipper fit them…not to mention the fact that in an intertitle they disparagingly refer to her as "a slut"!! Again, the inclusion of such trivial fare in these kind of lists is curious at best and questionable at worst but one can somewhat understand 'critics' wanting to keep them in the limelight this way and preserve them for their historical value.

If you are reading this because you have seen Lotte Reiniger's DIE ABENTUR DES PRINZEN ACHMED and are wondering if this measures up to that movie, the first animated feature, then the answer is yes. It's Cinderella done in Reiniger's exquisite articulated figures, similar in concept to stop motion. The figure of Cinderella is lovely; those of her step sisters humorously ugly; and the story you already know. Go look at it.If you don't know Lotte Reiniger's work -- well, I can't think of how you found your way to this review, but here it is: Reiniger's silhouette movies call on you to exercise a totally different aesthetic from any other type of movie you have seen. First of all, they are perfect black and white pictures: the backgrounds are done in shades of grey, but the silhouettes are black, and somehow that draws a discreet shade over the entire movie. One feels as if one is spying on something so beautiful and perfect that it is almost embarrassing, like looking through a keyhole at your parents. There is an intimacy about them that makes you hold your breath, and her silhouettes are so beautifully designed and decorated that they lend an air of delicate beauty to everything about them. So. You know the story of Cinderella and you should go and look at this movie. Right now. Shoo!