Die Schneekönigin (2014)

Gerda and Kay have been best friends since childhood and are secretly in love. Kay has even built Gerda a heated greenhouse so that their roses can grow in it through the cold winter without freezing. But this makes the Snow Queen angry, as she has tried in vain to turn flowers into ice. When Kay also mocks her, she hurls a shard of ice into his eye, and in an instant the lovable boy becomes a cold-hearted lad. Gerda no longer understands him, and they quarrel. During the argument, Kay breaks a pane in the greenhouse, so the blooming roses now freeze after all. In his anger, Kay runs across the snowy landscape and encounters the Snow Queen, who invites him into her sleigh. He willingly lets her take him to her ice palace. Gerda is left behind in despair and tries to find Kay. But all she finds is his sleigh beside a partly frozen river. Even when spring arrives, Kay does not return. Although everyone believes he is dead, Gerda is convinced that he is alive. So she sets out to search for her friend. On the riverbank, a boat drifts toward Gerda, and she climbs aboard to let herself be carried along. Her journey takes her to Flora’s blooming realm, a summer garden in glorious flower. The simple-minded Flora, who genuinely means well by Gerda, gives her a plant-based drink that temporarily makes her forget Kay. Flora greatly enjoys no longer being alone and would like to keep Gerda with her forever. But Gerda’s memory returns, along with her desire to find Kay, so she does not stay any longer and moves on. Flora has told her that a boy named Kay lives in the castle, so Gerda sets off there. She sneaks into the grand estate, only to discover that the prince is not her Kay. Nevertheless, she is warmly welcomed, and Gerda spends a lovely time there. They would like her to stay at the castle, too, but after a wistful dream, Gerda wants to move on. Meanwhile, Kay feels Gerda’s dream and suddenly loses the shard of ice from his eye. As a result, he no longer feels at ease in the Snow Queen’s ice palace, but he does not show this to his ruler and pretends to be the cold-hearted boy she likes. When Kay cuts himself on a shard of ice and a drop of blood in the snow looks like a red rose, his memories return as well. He tries to escape the palace, but the Snow Queen stops him. Gerda has a carriage take her away from the castle, but robbers attack it in the forest. The girl fears for her life and is lucky only because the robber chief’s daughter wants someone to play with and her mother cannot refuse the child. The robbers are not at all pleased, but they have to give in. At first, the robber’s daughter treats Gerda like a slave, but the more Gerda talks about her Kay and refuses to give up, the more the girl admires her, until she finally sets her “free.” Gerda continues on her way and gradually reaches the land of eternal snow, where she collapses from exhaustion and is found by a Lapp woman. The woman nurses Gerda back to health, and, strengthened, Gerda sets out on the final part of her search. When Gerda finally arrives at the Snow Queen’s ice palace, the queen has to admit that she cannot destroy the love between Gerda and Kay. The two young people return to their village and enjoy the next spring together.