7 Zwerge-Manner allein im Wald: 7 Dwarves-Men Alone in the Woods

"I thought dwarves were smaller"
"Most people think that"
"A common misconception"

The notorious 7 Dwarves live in the Enchanted Forest and avoid all contact with women.  The dwarves, led by Brummboss (Hoenig), who never talks about his past, are dimwitted Bubi (Waalkes), military-esque Tschakko (Nontschew), gourmet chef Cookie (Majowski), slow-moving / talking Speedy (Schneider), perpetual optimist Sunny (Schmitz), and eternal pessimist Cloudy (Aljinovic).  When a women crosses the bridge to the forest, they decide to discourage future visitors.

Meanwhile, in the kingdom across the river, the Queen (Hagen) has undergone a series of beauty treatments with the hopes of being the most beautiful woman in the land.  However, Spiegel (Hoffmann) is not impressed and names Snow White (Shiva Hagen) instead.  Soon Snow is on the run in the Enchanted Forest and at the dwarves doorstep.  Can they help each other evade the Queen?

I discovered this film while randomly searching through the instant streaming films on Netflix.  I love fairytales and took 4 years of German in high school, so it seemed like a solid choice.

The film takes the well-known Snow White fairytale and adds to it.  The film (specifically the dwarf characters) is slapstick-heavy.  The dwarves repeatedly hit each other, they even play a game that involves hitting each other with boards.

The film also features a large amount of sexual innuendo, and is not suitable for young children.  The humor is a bit juvenile, but it is still entertaining.  In fact, the film was popular enough to get a sequel 7 Zwerge-Der Wald is nicht genug (7 Dwarves-The Forest is Not Enough), which reunited the original cast (with one exception).  I loved some of the gags, like all the bad brunette jokes... Spiegel's attitude, the "bloodhound," etc.

German punk rocker Nina Hagen is the Evil Queen, has excellent timing.  Her daughter, Cosmo Shiva Hagen is the film's other female character, Snow White.  The other characters are entertaining, with a few exceptions.  I don't know anything about German cinema, so I don't know about the usual roles these actors play.  Overall, an entertaining and extremely silly film.

7 Dwarves - Men Alone in the Woods [7 Zwerge - Manner Allein im Wald] (2004) 90 minutes
Director: Sven Unterwaldt Jr.
Starring: OttoWaalkes as Bubi
Heinz Hoenig as Brummboss
Mirco Nontschew as Tschakko
Boris Aljinovic as Cloudy
Markus Majowski as Cookie
Martin Schneider as Speedy
Ralf Schmitz as Sunny
Cosma Shiva Hagen as Snow White
Nina Hagen as The Queen
Hans Werner Olm as Spliss
Norbert Heisterkamp as Ralfie
Rudiger Hoffmann as Spiegel