A passable contemporary adaptation of the Grimm's Brothers fairy tale. The movie begins in Japan, with Ida, a German hitchhiking girl (Alexandra Maria Lara, who played Hitler's secretary in Downfall) who has the ambition of becoming a fashion designer. There she meets a couple of her compatriots, who are in the business of importing tropical fish to Germany. Ida soon couples up with the nerdier of the two guys, Otto, who is a veterinarian. Eventually, they get married. Back in Germany, they have to struggle to make ends meet, as many young couples do. Though she still loves him, she berates him for what she perceives as a lack of ambition. Eventually, as in the fairy tale, one of the fish collected in Japan by Otto, will help her dreams come true: she becomes successful in the fashion business. But success always has a price: as she becomes successful, she more and more despises her husband and the marriage becomes estranged. But, of course, because this is a comedy, they will eventually come to terms and find back love. The movie is mildly diverting, but it has interesting points one can argue with: Is it wrong to have ambition, to want to progress in life? Is it always good to settle? You can argue with what this movie says, but is moderately entertaining. The fish keeping motif helps the movie a bit.
Review of Der Fischer und seine Frau
