The strangely named THE PRINCESS AND THE WARRIOR (DER KRIEGER UND DIE KAISERIN) reunites the director (Tom Tykwer) and the star (Franka Potente) of the hugely popular RUN LOLA RUN. Seen then sporting her signature orange hair as Lola, Potente played a tough-as-nails sprinter. This time she plays Lola's opposite as Sissi, a sweet and vulnerable, blonde nurse at a psychiatric ward. Both characters stand by their man. Potente, who was recently wasted in the bland part she was given in BLOW, reminds us again of how terrific her acting can be.
Because of a freak accident, Sissi ends up being befriended by a would-be robber (Benno Frmann). Joachim Krl (GLOOMY SUNDAY) plays the robbery's mastermind. The story centers on her need to get to know the man who helped her, and his need to avoid her. Although Tykwer has some of his time travel tricks up his sleeve again, the narrative structure is fairly traditional, and the movie is not so frantically paced as RUN LOLA RUN. Suffering only from a somewhat self-indulgent length of over two hours, the movie is nevertheless mesmerizing. Although it culminates in the robbery, the film keeps its focus on the human relationships and not the crime. Even if it's no RUN LOLA RUN, few films are, it is a captivating piece of work from an excellent team.
THE PRINCESS AND THE WARRIOR runs 2:10. The film is in German with English subtitles. It is rated R for disturbing images, language and some sexual content and would be acceptable for older teenagers.
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