"Chantal im Märchenland", engl. "Chantal in Fairy Tale Land", is a German
comedy. It's still in the cinemas, and it's already the most successful film
of 2024 in Germany, out-grossing the American blockbusters. As a serious film fan I had to acknowledge it by
laying my money on the counter.
It's a spin-off of the
"Fack Ju Göthe"
film series. That's a strange premise. "Fack Ju Göhte" is a high school
comedy that takes place in the real world, whereas "Chantal im Märchenland" is
a fantasy film. Chantal is a girl that we met in the previous films. Now she's
in her early twenties and she's trying to become famous as a YouTube
influencer. It's not as easy as she thinks. She only has 500 subscribers to
her channel.
One day Chantal falls into a magical mirror that she wants to use as a prop
for a video. Her best friend Zeynep jumps in after her. The two young women
find themself in a fantasy world. Chantal is a princess, while Zeynep is a
commoner. The fantasy world is a mixture of fairy tales and other fantasy
stories. Chantal meets a witch and realises that she's about to be cursed to
become Sleeping Beauty, so she deflects the curse onto a prince. The prince
falls into a deep sleep until he's awakened by the kiss of a stable boy. The
two men fall in love, but he's ashamed to admit it, so he tells his mother
that Chantal's kiss woke him up.
There are other things mixed in. There's a sword in a stone which will belong
to whoever can pull it out. Many men try in vain, until a princess arrives and
pulls it out easily.
Then Chantal meets a young man called Ali Baba. She weaves him a flying
carpet, so that they can fly together to Bagdad.
The film is hilarious. It's a product of today's mixing of gender and
sexuality roles, but it's successful because it's a comedy. When the prince
and the stable boy kissed, nobody in the audience sighed romantically, they
all laughed.
The film's biggest problem is the language. The dialogue is full of vulgar
swear words. I see no reason for it. It's a fairy tale world, so why is
everyone swearing? Is it supposed to be funny? I didn't find it funny. The bad
language is totally unnecessary.
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