The Fisherman and His Wife (Der Fischer und seine Frau / Germany / 2004)

As part of the International Film Festival of Montréal, this little german movie had its world premiere yesterday. Director Doris Dörre came up with an interesting twist to the classical Grimm brothers fairy tale. Ida, daughter of Romanian refugees who came to Germany, wants to be a fashion designer. During one of her trips to Japan, where she looks for exotic fabrics and clothes, she meets two German guys. She falls in love with one of them, Otto, and quickly get married. Otto is a veterinarian specialized in fish. Ida then becomes famous with her clothes designs and builds a fashion imperium of her own. Otto, on the other hand, remains with his old job, having no ambitions in life. At the end, when Ida loses all her money, she is also convined that true happiness and love does not depend necessarily on money. A fast paced story with a good soundtrack makes it a nice love story to watch.