The Cold Heart

DEFA didn’t produce horror movies—with the exception of this rather bloody and spooky fairy tale. The Cold Heart, based on a story by Wilhelm Hauff and directed by Paul Verhoeven, was DEFA’s first color film (Agfacolor), its first live-action fairy tale, and—with over 10 million viewers—the GDR’s most successful cinematic fairy tale.  

Young charcoal burner Peter Munk is very poor and deems himself unworthy of his love for Liesbeth. He seeks money from a forest spirit but quickly loses it, so he turns to darker forces to fulfill his dream: the notorious and glass-eyed evil spirit Dutch Michael. The only caveat is that he must exchange his heart for a stone. Soon after, the heartless Peter abandons his Liesbeth and becomes rich and ruthless. When he learns of Liesbeth’s charitable actions, he brutally murders her, then comes to his senses. With the help of the forest spirit and a trick, he gets his heart and Lisbeth back.

Streaming as part of “Spotlight on Genre”, a series revisiting post-war genre films made in Germany. From the postwar era to the present, this collection spans a wonderfully unruly range of genres: cult horror, dystopian science fiction, revisionist Westerns, dark fairy tales, psychological thrillers, rock musicals, and bittersweet social comedies. Whether embracing genre conventions or gleefully dismantling them, these films show how genre filmmaking can explore social anxieties, challenge expectations, and push cinematic boundaries. Discover the unexpected side of German cinema. 

Image © DEFA-Stiftung/Erich Kilian, Manfred Klawikowski