Man! This is completely worthy of its exalted sources. Goethe and Schubert? No problem. Perfect pacing: the King gradually insinuates himself, and by the end it’s devastating. Perfect execution: the child’s fear! The father’s realization!
This is dark enchantment, accomplished through the most advanced technology, and opening up the most poignant and universal truths. The memoir of the great Ukrainian film director Alexander Dovzhenko (1973) reflect a reality all too common throughout the history of children and families: “My parents had many children—fourteen in all, a variable group of whom two survived.”