This 2006 retelling of the classic story features Armin Rohde as the title character. We’ve seen him in quite the variety of roles in German film, and can even be seen in English language films such as Contagion. Rufus Beck, who is mentioned in the post about Die Wilden Kerle, plays Petrosilius Zwackelmann. Even Katharina Thalbach joins the cast as Portiunkula Schlotterbeck, who is really an endless source of entertainment throughout.
This is originally a children’s story by Otfried Preußler, published in 1962. The first film version was a TV movie back in 1967. While I have yet to see the earlier versions, this version keeps a good pace to keep the attention of young viewers today.
While there are some “scary” points for very small children, this film is appropriate for almost all ages. In fact, with the German rating system, it is a 0. (It is not rated in the U.S.)