Grimm is a 2003 Dutch film by Alex van Warmerdam. It relates the story of Marie (Halina Reijn) and Jacob (Jacob Derwig), two Dutch youngsters who pass from one Fairy Tale to the other.
First they are in Holland and famished because their parents do not have anything to feed them. Their father leaves them in the forest then they are taken into a sort of ogre's house in however they manage to escape and travel to Spain to their uncle. The uncle is deceased with his wife but Marie still finds a husband out of nowhere. Marie starts to live in his mansion, Jacob also however the marital life soon comes to a close. Then they arrive to a town where a Spaghetii Western once was shot. The final shootdown is due...
Tropes
- Adaptation Amalgamation: It takes Hansel and Gretel by The Brothers Grimm and Bluebeard and twists them.
- Asshole Victim: The movie tries to show that Horewhopper who agreed to become a client when Marie offered herself to him is antipathetic so that one does not feel pity when he is killed.
- Bilingual Bonus: Marie and Jacob can speak both Dutch and Spanish and once speak Dutch in the presence of the Spanish husband of Marie. It is justified as their uncle is Spanish and they were going to him in Spain.
- Black Comedy: Quite a few moments of this, though the comedy is very dry. As for its blackness, one of the jokes here is that when Jacob kills a man to rob him the siblings want to verify that he is dead. So they need a mirror to put it to his mouth. However they are dwelling a tent where a homeless person previously lived so they do not have any mirror. Except for the back mirror of a jalopy standing nearby. Jacob first tries to break the mirror off the car and when he fails he and Marie drag a fairly heavy man to the car and rise him so that his mouth is against jalopy's mirror. Then they proclaim him dead.
- Brick Joke: First when an elderly Spaniard at the dinner confesses that he adores to shoot birds and see them die, the green-minded Marie exclaims that it is horrible. The Spaniard jokes that the Dutch are so keen on animals they even do it with them. Later when the siblings hide from the police under the veranda and the policemen discover a donkey in the room where they hid him, one of them says that those Dutch are always adoring their animals and keep them in the rooms.
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: Zigzagged. When a farmer's wife forces herself on Jacob he is distressed quite a bit but not traumatised afterwards. He is simply disgusted during the act and does not enjoy it.
- Fairy Tale Free-for-All: Hansel and Gretel meets Bluebeard.
- Ghost Town: Marie and Jacob arrive to the one while on the run from Diego in Spain. Justified obviously because many Spaghetti Westerns were shot in that country so it is implied that they end in the town built to shoot them.
- Hard Head: For Horewhopper who needs several blows by a board to the head to pass out. After two of them by Marie he is only angrier than before.
- Instant Sedation:
- Played straight for Jacob who passes out instantly after an injection.
- Played straight though less obviously for Marie when Diego presses a tissue with chloroform to her lips. She passes out only after some resistence.
- Karma Houdini:
- Played with for Jacob who kills a man in cold blood and rides away then this incident is never brought up however later he loses his kidney.
- Played straight for Marie who once robs a woman in the WC taking away her black clothes and does not suffer any special consequences.
- Kick the Dog: Jacob kills the dog of a farmer who has his leg caught in the trap and roasts it then tastes the meat. Soon the farmer arrives and he is less-than-pleased.
- Not Quite Dead: Diego twitches for some time after he is shot in the heart by the arrow.
- Earlier when his car crashes he appears to die in it but manages to survive.
- Off-into-the-Distance Ending: The siblings climb away from the camera through the rocky terrain with their donkey.
- Significant Wardrobe Shift:
- First Marie robs a woman in a public toilet taking away her clothes.
- She is dressed casually during the happy phase of her marriage with Diego however once she puts on an orange tank top it is clear that the marriage is nearing its end.
- Spaghetti Western: The film becomes this in the third act.
- Three-Act Structure:
- The first act is Hansel and Gretel.
- The second act has a hint of Bluebeard.
- The third act is Spaghetti Western.
