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Poster for Heart of Stone

Heart of Stone

1950 · 101 min

A somber, moralistic fairy tale that lingers on the cost of a wish, blending rustic charm with a cold, unsettling heart.

Overview
Lavish adaptation of Wilhelm Hauff′s fairy tale: Young charburner Peter Munk dreams of joining the upper class. He makes a deal with the sinister Holländer-Michel, who offers to trade Peter′s human heart for one made of stone. Once he has the "cold heart" in his body, Peter eventually strikes a fortune and enjoys great wealth, but at the same time, he becomes a bitter and emotionless man – and, having lost all traces of humanity, even murders his wife Lisbeth. Only then does Peter Munk finally realize what has become of him, and he decides to regain his real heart from Holländer-Michel.

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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • darkstrength 2 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
  • earneststrength 2 of 3
  • whimsicalstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • greed
  • morality
  • redemption
  • love
  • class
Places
  • countryside
  • small town
Era
period
Audience
adult
Form
  • twist ending
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language none
  • Violence mild
  • Sex none
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action2
Horror3
Humour2
Realism3
Romance3
Tension4
Darkness7
Complexity5
Emotional weight7

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Where to watch in the UK

No UK streaming, rental or purchase options are known.

Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Genres
family, drama, fantasy
Directed by
Paul Verhoeven
Written by
Wolff von Gordon, Paul Verhoeven
Starring
Lutz Moik, Hanna Rucker, Paul Esser, Paul Bildt, Erwin Geschonneck, Hannsgeorg Laubenthal, Walter Tarrach, Lotte Loebinger
Cinematography
Bruno Mondi
Runtime
101 min
Country
East Germany
Languages
German

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