"Die Heiden von Kummerow und ihre lustigen Streiche"  /  "The Heathens of Kummerow"

(1967 Germany)     94 minutes


A group of children play a game on their island home of Ruegen in the Baltic Sea. They revise an ancient heathen ritual one cold March day by standing in the frigid water. The one who lasts the longest in the icy cold will be referred to as the king of Kummerow.

The young boys enjoy nude swimming and a sense of freedom.  They befriend a poor shepherd who is something of a social outcast, and the group makes fun of a pompous preacher and the mean, miserly miller who tries to drive their shepherd friend out of town. The children rejoice when their nemesis the miller is hauled off to jail to pay for his past crimes in this engaging, heartwarming story.

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