"THE PRINCESS AND THE WARRIOR" (2000) (Franka Potente, Benno Fürmann) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Minor Heavy Heavy Heavy Heavy Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Moderate None Moderate None Extreme Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy Mild Mild Moderate Extreme QUICK TAKE: Drama: A psychiatric ward nurse becomes obsessed with the mysterious and brooding stranger who saved her life after she was injured in an accident he inadvertently caused. PLOT: Sissi (FRANKA POTENTE) is a nurse who both works and lives in a psychiatric hospital where she complacently fulfills the needs of various patients such as Steini (LARS RUDOLPH), Werner Dürr (LUDGER PISTOR) and Otto (MELCHOIR BESLON). Bodo (BENNO FÜRMANN) is a smalltime crook who's planning an elaborate heist with his partner in crime, Walter (JOACHIM KRÓL), but still finds himself haunted by his wife's accidental death sometime in the past. The two lonely people's lives cross when Bodo inadvertently causes an accident where Sissi is severely injured. Bodo ends up saving her life, but she never learns his identity as he disappears after taking her to the hospital. Some two months after recovering from her injuries, Sissi finds herself obsessed with finding Bodo, but when she eventually does, he wants nothing to do with her. Nevertheless, the nurse can't shake the need to connect with him and eventually gets the opportunity to do so when another chance encounter sets into motion a series of events that will forever change their lives. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? Unless they're fans of someone in the cast, director Tykwer or German cinema, it's not very likely. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For disturbing images, language and some sexual content. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: FRANKA POTENTE plays a psychiatric nurse who fulfills her patients various needs (including sexual ones) and then finds herself needing to connect with Bodo after he saves her life. She eventually ends up assisting him in his criminal behavior. BENNO FÜRMANN plays a smalltime crook who saves Sissi's life, but then wants nothing to do with her despite her relentless quest to connect with him. While doing so, he plans and then carries out another heist with Walter, all while still being haunted by his wife's accidental death. JOACHIM KRÓL plays his partner in crime who's the mastermind behind their latest heist. LARS RUDOLPH plays a mental patient who persuades Sissi to manually stimulate him (sexually) and seems enamored with her. He also uses strong profanity, tries to kill Bodo via electrocuting him in bed and seems ready to commit suicide by jumping from the top of a building. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: Here's a quick look at the content found in this R-rated drama. Profanity (in German with English subtitles) consists of at least 10 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also used. A female nurse at a psychiatric facility manually stimulates a male patient under some sheets, while some brief, nonsexual nudity is also present. Violence consists of several deaths (from a shooting, electrocution and explosion), while non-lethal violence is also present in the form of people hitting, being physical with and/or threatening others, and a truck hits a woman and severely injures her (thus requiring a graphic and bloody impromptu tracheotomy). Some of those scenes and others may be unsettling or tense to some viewers, while various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes. Some drinking and smoking occur, some potentially injurious imitative behavior is present, while a man still grieves over his wife's accidental death. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for anyone in your home, you may want to examine our detailed content listings more closely for more specific examples of what occurs in the film. For those concerned with the bright flashing of lights on the screen, several instances of that occur during some thunderstorm scenes. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Walter pours a shot of liquor for Sissi and then himself and both down them. Walter pours shots of liquor for himself and Bodo, but we don't see them drink any. BLOOD/GORE We see a dead, older woman in a casket, but beyond being dead, she isn't bloody or gory. Discovering that Sissi isn't breathing after being hit by a truck, Bodo performs an impromptu tracheotomy on her (she also has a little bit of blood from her nose). Accordingly, he cuts into her throat with his switchblade (we see the incision and the blood running and slightly spurting out) and then jams a drinking straw into the incision (also graphically seen with more blood coming up through the straw that Bodo then sucks and spits out). It looks like Sissi has a little blood from her nose after a patient punches her. A man's shirt is bloody after he's shot (seen several times). We see a mental patient eating pieces of a broken, large light bulb (resulting in his mouth being very bloody). DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Bodo has apparently stolen materials he's carrying as two other men chase him through the city streets. When a store owner isn't nice (he also refers to one of Sissi's patients as an "idiot") and won't cooperate with Sissi despite her seeing that the man knows Bodo but claims he doesn't, she has one of her blind patients go over to the door and act like he's having an attack on the floor (and she tells the owner that they'll tell the authorities that the owner hit the blind man, all to pressure him into telling what he knows about Bodo). A patient punches Sissi. Both Bodo and Walter are somewhat curt with Sissi when she comes to see Bodo for the first time after he saved her life (he wants nothing to do with her). Walter and Bodo try to rob the bank vaults where the former works as a security guard and Sissi ends up helping them in an offhand manner. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" (especially a robbery that goes wrong and ends up with several gun standoffs) may also be tense or unsettling for some viewers. Discovering that Sissi isn't breathing after being hit by a truck, Bodo performs an impromptu tracheotomy on her. Accordingly, he cuts into her throat with his switchblade (we see the incision and the blood running and slightly spurting out) and then jams a drinking straw into the incision (also graphically seen with more blood coming up through the straw that Bodo then sucks and spits out). Played without any accompanying music, Bodo comes out of a shower to see someone sitting across the room in the dark corner. He then slowly approaches this person (who turns out to be his wife), but due to the lighting, we can't see her eyes. Although nothing scary ultimately happens, it certainly seems like something will. We see a mental patient eating pieces of a broken, large light bulb (resulting in his mouth being very bloody). We see a flashback of a person throwing a hairdryer into a bathtub to electrocute a person (it succeeds). A person then tries to do the same with a plugged-in toaster, but the intended victim catches it before it lands in the water. A man sits on the edge of the roof as if he's contemplating jumping. Two other people do jump, but do so into a deep pond and survive the fall. GUNS/WEAPONS Switchblade: Used by Bodo to perform an emergency tracheotomy on Sissi. Various weapons are seen in a gun shop. Handguns: Used to threaten and fatally wound others. See "Violence" for details. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases (in German with English subtitles): "F*cking sh*t," "What the f*ck?" "He's full of sh*t," "What the hell," "Piss off," "Jackoffs," "Ass lickers," "Kiss my ass," "I'm gonna jack you guys off," "Nuts" (crazy), "Pain in the ass," "Idiot" (how a store owner refers to one of Sissi's patients), "Nut house" (mental institution), "Loonies" (mental patients) and "Why the hell did you do this?" While being chased by two men through the streets, Bodo runs and then barely cuts in front of a large truck and then grabs ahold of the end of it to catch a ride. When a store owner isn't nice and won't cooperate with Sissi despite her seeing that the man knows Bodo but claims he doesn't, she has one of her blind patients go over to the door and act like he's having an attack on the floor (and she tells the owner that they'll tell the authorities that the owner hit the blind man, all to pressure him into telling what he knows about Bodo). We see a mental patient eating pieces of a broken, large light bulb (resulting in his mouth being very bloody). We see a flashback of a person throwing a hairdryer into a bathtub to electrocute a person (it succeeds). We then see a person try the same with a plugged-in toaster. A man sits on the edge of the roof as if he's contemplating jumping. Two other people do jump, but do so into a deep pond and survive the fall. JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A moderate amount of suspenseful music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY The following occurs in German with English subtitles: At least 10 "f" words, 3 "s" words, 6 asses (1 used with "hole"), 4 damns, 2 hells, 1 crap and 1 use of "My God" as exclamations. SEX/NUDITY One of the female mental patients loudly tells the others, "I'm gonna jack you guys off," but we don't know if that's intended in a sexual nature or not. We see Steini (one of the patients) in bed, urging/pleading for Sissi to do something with him, but she states that she's too tired. He then tells her not to be shy and that she's his girl and she eventually puts her hand under the covers of his bed and manually stimulates him (we see her hand rhythmically moving under the sheet and hear/see his pleasure reactions). Other patients then hear this and briefly watch. As Bodo showers, we partially see his nude figure (from behind) in the shower, but the frosted/wet/steamy door prevents any sharp details. As that fantasy scene then segues into reality, we see part of his bare butt as he hugs the small heating stove/radiator in his home (but he's not doing so in a sexual fashion). We briefly see part of the side of a woman's bare butt in the bathtub (after she's been electrocuted). We briefly see part of Bodo's bare butt as he jumps out of a bathtub. SMOKING Steini smokes at least once, while Walter smokes once and various patients, orderlies and miscellaneous characters also smoke in several scenes. TENSE FAMILY SCENES The writer of a letter to Sissi states that her (the writer's) mother had recently died. We learn that Bodo's wife died in an accident and that he's never gotten over that. Sissi states that her mother died sometime in the past. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Whether the events in one's life (including meeting/running into others) all occur by chance or follow some predetermined plan. Sissi putting up with the violence that's aimed at her (from Bodo and a patient, etc.). Tracheotomies. Bodo's reaction to and subsequent behavior related to his wife's death. In a flashback we see that a person is killed when they drop a cigarette at a gas station while pumping gas, thus resulting in a huge explosion when the spilled gasoline ignites, while other scenes involve successful and attempted electrocution via dropping electric devices into bathtubs. VIOLENCE After his boss reprimands him for crying at a funeral, Bodo grabs this man by the neck in a menacing fashion. A large truck runs into Sissi as she's crossing the street (we briefly see the impact and then see her lying under the truck - but not under the tires). Walter grabs Bodo away from a small heating stove/radiator and pins him to the floor. When Sissi surprises Bodo from behind him while he's practicing some martial arts moves, he throws her to the ground and partially chokes her (with his hand and forearm). One of Sissi's patients suddenly punches her in the face, knocking her to the floor (before stating that he needs to be restrained). Tired of Sissi butting into his life, Bodo forcibly removes her from his home and then pushes her to the muddy ground when she won't leave (she then throws mud at him while crying). Due to this, Walter later slaps Bodo on the top of his head. Bodo holds a gun on two men during an elaborate robbery attempt. Moments later, a security guard holds his gun on Walter and then shoots an alarm on the wall before aiming his gun at Bodo who enters the room and aims his gun at the guard. After a few tense moments, Bodo talks the guard into giving up his gun (after he's dropped his to the floor). A guard shoots a man, fatally wounding him (although not right at that moment) and then aims his gun at another person (with a third stepping in the line of fire to prevent him from firing). That second person then holds his gun to the guard's head before pistol-whipping him unconscious. Hearing some bad news, a man violently knocks over a TV and then repeatedly smashes it with a chair before being restrained by various guards/orderlies. We see a mental patient eating pieces of a broken, large light bulb (resulting in his mouth being very bloody). In a flashback we see that a person is killed when they drop a cigarette at a gas station while pumping gas, thus resulting in a huge explosion when the spilled gasoline ignites (we don't see the actual death). We see a flashback of a person throwing a hairdryer into a bathtub to electrocute a person (it succeeds). A person tries to do the same with a plugged-in toaster, but the intended victim catches it before it lands in the water. Reviewed May 21, 2001 / Posted July 13, 2001

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