The Pied Piper

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The Pied Piper

G,

1972,

1h 30m,

Fantasy

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50%

10 Reviews

Tomatometer

25%

50+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

50%

Tomatometer

10 Reviews

25%

Popcornmeter

50+ Ratings

A caravan of performers travels to Hamelin, Germany, to celebrate the marriage of Franz (John Hurt) to the burgomaster's ailing daughter, Lisa (Cathryn Harrison). Fearing that they carry the plague, however, the townsfolk will not let them in until it is discovered that the music played by the group's piper (Donovan) has cured Lisa. Once inside, the piper strikes a deal with the burgomaster to also rid the town of rats. But when the piper doesn't receive his due, he exacts a terrible revenge.

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Dan Callahan

Slant Magazine

Jun 7, 2008

2/4

Jacques Demy's version of The Pied Piper is as distanced and uncertain as his masterpiece The Young Girls of Rochefort is ecstatically sure of itself.

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J. Hoberman

Village Voice

Nov 14, 2007

A dark and smoky affair that, although set in Germany during the Black Death summer of 1349, suggests something brainstormed in a St. Marks Place head shop.

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Time Out

Oct 28, 2006

Too often Demy has seemed to be doing little but produce cinematic candy floss; this admittedly imperfect film of Browning's poem is at least trying for more.

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Serge Daney

Cahiers du Cinéma

Nov 29, 2023

With this English film, beautiful and inexplicably unprecedented, Demy refines his mythology.

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Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

Sep 12, 2020

2.5/5

More of a curio piece for fans of Demy, The Pied Piper mostly seems a missed opportunity of the creepy legend.

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Jul 27, 2012

B-

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Abraham G

Feb 6, 2018

I uh wasn't expecting this to be so straight forwardly bland. It's literally just the like most text book version of this story with absolutely zero personality, take, additions... like cmon, spice this shit up Demy, I know you have it in you. Yeah sure it's a darker take than say like your average children's book but nothing you wouldn't expect. I mean, not gonna lie, Donovan is literally the ideal guy to cast as the pied piper. Maybe that's the whole premise?? Like, a "this just needs to exist" kinda thing. "Lookat this fuckin guy, we can't NOT make him the pied piper I mean," "Okay okay, lets just build the damn set, wrangle a buncha rats and children and be done with it."

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Jacques Demy

Director

Donovan

The Pied Piper

Jack Wild

Gavin

Donald Pleasence

The Baron

John Hurt

Franz

Michael Hordern

Melius

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Synopsis

A caravan of performers travels to Hamelin, Germany, to celebrate the marriage of Franz (John Hurt) to the burgomaster's ailing daughter, Lisa (Cathryn Harrison). Fearing that they carry the plague, however, the townsfolk will not let them in until it is discovered that the music played by the group's piper (Donovan) has cured Lisa. Once inside, the piper strikes a deal with the burgomaster to also rid the town of rats. But when the piper doesn't receive his due, he exacts a terrible revenge.

Director: Jacques Demy
Producer: David Puttnam, Sanford Lieberson
Production Co: Paramount
Rating: G
Genre: Fantasy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 16, 2017
Runtime: 1h 30m

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