The Princess and the Warrior - Tom Tykwer

The Princess and The Warrior follows Run Lola Run, and it seems to be the perfect third film for Tykwer before he expanded his style some. The first film Winter Sleepers dealt with multiple narratives that converge. His second film Lola tells one story but with multiple possibilities. This film is a bit more standard in storytelling, but what a great story.

Franka Potente returns as the lead female character. She plays Sissi, a shy caretaker/nurse at a home for those struggling with mental health issues, as well as a blind young man. While out with Paul, the blind man, she is hit by a truck and ends up stuck under it. Bodo (Benno Fürmann) is running away from someone he owes money to and crawls under the truck to hide...but then realizes she is under there and that she needs medical help. He creates a tracheal tube so that she can breathe, and he essentially saves her life. Once she recovers, she goes out searching for him, her savior. She finds him, but finds him to be a man with secrets, a possible criminal past, and a tendency towards violence. The rest of the film is about how despite all this they somehow seem to build a relationship. The two leads are really amazing, and you can really feel both of their struggles. The style of filming is pretty straightforward compared to Lola, and I found the story to be a really moving story.