Die Sechs Schwäne Revisited

      So I rewatched the lovely German film rendition of "The Six Swans" that I mentioned in my previous post regarding this particular tale. (I suggest you look up that post if you're unfamiliar.) This time when I watched it, what stuck out to me the most, aside from the surprising fact that I actually understood most of the German dialogue, was the relationship dynamic between the main character, Constance or Fee, and her husband, Prince Markus. It's something that never really stood out to me in my previous viewings, and perhaps that's because I wasn't in any sort of romantic relationship at the time, and now I am. But I digress.
      It's beautiful to watch the concern and care that these characters have for each other. Despite the fact that Constance speaks for maybe twenty minutes of the entire hour and a half film, Markus is always doing his best to understand her and do what's best for her. He's a prince, but he's not your typical entitled prince.  His mother is a harsh ruler to both her people and her son, and it's Fee who brings light, music, and love to his life and to the castle. Markus ends up in the unenviable position of trying to respect his mother the Queen, while still protecting Fee from being crushed by her harshness. The especially sad thing for Markus is that he's so accustomed to his mother's cruelty that he doesn't truly see it in its entirety until the very end.
      I think one of the best parts of this relationship dynamic between husband and wife, is when the Queen has gotten rumors circulating that Fee is a witch (all that nocturnal work to break her brothers' curse isn't conducive to positive PR), and Markus is confronted with the fact that the people are terrified of his wife.  He pleads with Fee to stop making those strange shirts, but of course, she refuses. Later, he follows her on one of her night excursions, to watch and protect her presumably, but ends up collapsing from a fever due to a wound he acquired a bit earlier in the film.  Fee naturally rushes to him as soon as she realizes what has happened, and the entire time that she's checking him over to see what's wrong he's muttering about how scared he is for her!
      It's so adorable and touching! Seriously, the man just collapsed and is no doubt in pain, but all he can think about in his semi-delirious state is that he's terrified for his wife's safety and well-being! I am not even doing any of these scenes justice. Just go watch the film. You can find it on YouTube.
      The relationship between those two is fantastic. I could very easily believe that the actor and actress were married in real life, and now that I've had that thought I kind of wish they were. They have a typical "love at first sight" sort of meeting that you expect from a traditional fairy tale, but despite that, they radiate such sincerity towards each other. I think part of their sincerity is conveyed in the ways that they hold and touch each other throughout the film. I could give a whole bunch of examples, but I don't want to spoil anything else with more of my fangirling.