The Devil's Three Golden Hairs: DEFA style

As I watched this movie, I imaged its target audience as the working class society of Soviet occupied Germany. DEFA provided the leading medium for re-educating the German populace after being subjected to over a decade of Nazi rule. The humor and political commentary is clearly geared towards adults of the working class. DEFA makes a mockery of the king (who symbolizes lavish living) and honors the honest workers (i.e. the blacksmiths and Jacob). The working class members wish to "prove that there are actually robbers" by becoming robbers themselves, which serves to poke fun at the aristocracy and king who tax them on rubber in order to support a seemingly unnecessary army. We see how the king is at the root of the kingdom's problems, which allows the film to herald socialist ideology.
The film reminds me of the DEFA version Snow White, as well. When the king takes Jacob down the elevator so that he may be received by the Princess, the scene reminds me of the mirror in Snow White. The mirror is a piece of technology rendered absurd, and the elevator ride is portrayed in the same fashion with cheesey music and a cheap-looking iron cage. The devil's lair, and the devil himself, are portrayed in the same absurd fashion. His cave is just a bunch of smoke and fake shrunken heads. And the devil looks like an over-grown four year-old in a caveman costume... plus a tale.
I think the film medium serves an important role in how the target audience is chosen and how the images are relayed. The scene where Jacob "fights" the dog in the grass comes to mind. In writing, this scene would just seem silly. But put on screen, it's rather funny. And when Jacob gets attacked by the hungry children, their father tells him that the king's men made the well stop and the mill stop working. Yet again, the film medium serves to highlight the plight of the lower class at the expense of the boorish aristocracy. The special effects with the devil's golden hairs are also highly entertaining.