When I began watching "The Pied Piper" I assumed it would be a children's movie. After all, it starred pop singing star, Donovan, and is a tale traditionally told to kids. However, soon after it began I could tell this was no child's tale! Instead of the version I heard, this one is set during the time of the Black Death in the mid-1300s and is a tale about superstition, hypocrisy, wretchedness and greed. The version I'd heard as a child was more just a story about greed.
Hamelin, Germany is a town possessing three sorts of people--smart people (and I counted only three--Gavin, the Alchemist and the Piper), greedy turds (all the church people and leaders of the town) and assorted victims just waiting to get it! When the Plague nears, the smart Alchemist somehow knows the rats carry the disease (how he knows, we are never sure) and warns the town that they must rid themselves of the rats. At first, no one takes him seriously but when the rat population explodes, the folks in town become revolting (insert own joke) and the town's officials are forced to do something other than scrounge for money or conscripts in some god-awful war for the Papacy.
You probably are familiar with the rest of the tale, but if you aren't, the Piper agrees to remove the rats IF they pay him a thousand gilders. They readily agree, but after the miraculous feat occurs, they stiff him--saying they'll give him fifty and he should be happy to have that! Nice, huh?! So, to teach them a lesson (or perhaps he's a pedo), he plays his pipe again and the kids of town all follow him and disappear forever. The towns folk don't realize what's happening, as they're too busy burning the Alchemist alive for 'causing the Plague'! Only the handicapped kid, Gavin, is spared, as he walks too slow to keep up with the Piper. Whether this is a good thing or not is a bit vague--after all, what would a grown man want to do with all those kids?!? The film is well-made but also a really creepy movie from start to finish. It is more a story about stupidity and karmic retribution--not bad topics, really, but far from a fun film for the entire family! The costumes and sets were very nice but the whole film is a creepy downer (though I must admit the depiction of Plague was VERY sanitized). I know it's not in the traditional tale, but I wanted to have some reassurance the Piper was not a serial killer, pedophile or owner of a dog food company!!! By the way, in one scene Donovan plays a modern six-string guitar--something not invented until very recently. The original four and five-stringed varieties were not even invented until 100-200 years after the film was set.
Hamelin, Germany is a town possessing three sorts of people--smart people (and I counted only three--Gavin, the Alchemist and the Piper), greedy turds (all the church people and leaders of the town) and assorted victims just waiting to get it! When the Plague nears, the smart Alchemist somehow knows the rats carry the disease (how he knows, we are never sure) and warns the town that they must rid themselves of the rats. At first, no one takes him seriously but when the rat population explodes, the folks in town become revolting (insert own joke) and the town's officials are forced to do something other than scrounge for money or conscripts in some god-awful war for the Papacy.
You probably are familiar with the rest of the tale, but if you aren't, the Piper agrees to remove the rats IF they pay him a thousand gilders. They readily agree, but after the miraculous feat occurs, they stiff him--saying they'll give him fifty and he should be happy to have that! Nice, huh?! So, to teach them a lesson (or perhaps he's a pedo), he plays his pipe again and the kids of town all follow him and disappear forever. The towns folk don't realize what's happening, as they're too busy burning the Alchemist alive for 'causing the Plague'! Only the handicapped kid, Gavin, is spared, as he walks too slow to keep up with the Piper. Whether this is a good thing or not is a bit vague--after all, what would a grown man want to do with all those kids?!? The film is well-made but also a really creepy movie from start to finish. It is more a story about stupidity and karmic retribution--not bad topics, really, but far from a fun film for the entire family! The costumes and sets were very nice but the whole film is a creepy downer (though I must admit the depiction of Plague was VERY sanitized). I know it's not in the traditional tale, but I wanted to have some reassurance the Piper was not a serial killer, pedophile or owner of a dog food company!!! By the way, in one scene Donovan plays a modern six-string guitar--something not invented until very recently. The original four and five-stringed varieties were not even invented until 100-200 years after the film was set.