''Krabat'' () is a 2008 German

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction f ...

directed by

Marco Kreuzpaintner Marco Johann Kreuzpaintner (born 11 March 1977) is a German film director, executive producer and screenwriter. Career In 1999, he began his career in the role of German dubbing assistant for the Stanley Kubrick film ''Eyes Wide Shut''. In t ...

from a screenplay by Michael Gutmann and Kreuzpaintner, based on

Otfried Preußler Otfried Preußler (sometimes spelled as Otfried Preussler; both ; born Otfried Syrowatka; 20 October 1923 – 18 February 2013) was a German literature, German Children's literature, children's books author. More than 50 million copies of his books ...

's 1971 novel of the same name. The plot is about a boy, Krabat (played by

David Kross David Kross (born 4 July 1990) is a German actor. He began his career at a young age with a small role in the 2002 film ''Hilfe, ich bin ein Junge'' and worked sporadically, mainly focusing on his school work. In 2008, he won the starring role o ...

), who learns

black magic Black magic, also known as dark magic, has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes, specifically the seven magical arts prohibited by canon law, as expounded by Johannes Hartlieb in 145 ...

from a sorcerer (played by

Christian Redl Christian Redl (born 20 April 1948) is a German actor and singer. Life Christian Redl is the son of a teacher. He grew up in Kassel, trained from 1967 to 1970 at the Schauspielschule Bochum and was then engaged in theatres in Wuppertal, Frankf ...

). A

DVD-Video DVD-Video is a consumer video format used to store digital video on DVD discs. DVD-Video was the dominant consumer home video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia in the 2000s until it was supplanted by the high-definition Blu-r ...

encode of the film is distributed in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

as ''Krabat and the Legend of the Satanic Mill''. It premiered in the US at the

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...

in 2009.

Plot

When the Plague sweeps across Europe after the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

a boy named Krabat (

) is left without family, food, or hope. An old Mill Keeper takes him in as an apprentice. There are eleven other boys working at the mill, and Krabat develops a friendship with one of them, a young man named Tonda (

Daniel Brühl Daniel César Martín Brühl González Domingo (; born 16 June 1978) is a Spanish-German actor and filmmaker. He received his first German Film Award for Best Actor for his roles in '' Das Weisse Rauschen (The White Sound)'' (2001), ''Nichts ...

). Soon, Krabat learns that the apprentices are also taught dark sorcery by the master, and one of the rituals (during Easter) lead to an excursion to the nearby village Schwarzkollm where Krabat meets a young girl and falls in love with her. There, Tonda also talks to one of the girls; both seem to be in love with each other. Later, Tonda warns Krabat that the master must never know the name of his girl. One day, while protecting the nearby village from soldiers, Tonda makes an error and his girl's name (Worschula) is revealed to the master. The next day, Worschula turns up in the creek, dead. Krabat mistakenly blames Lyschko, another apprentice. Tonda becomes a recluse and anticipates the end of the year. Krabat's first Silvester (New Year's Eve) brings to light the true horror of the mill. Every Silvester, one of the boys must be sacrificed so the master may remain young. And so at midnight, Krabat's best friend Tonda is viciously murdered, and when Krabat tries to help him he is stopped by the other boys who tell him that "there is nothing we can do". Before he dies, Tonda tells Krabat there is another boy in the mill Krabat can confide in. He also tells Krabat to take two sacks of flour to the village. Krabat is distraught over Tonda's death, but does as he is told. Bringing the sacks of flour to a tree near the village, Krabat once again meets the girl he first met while protecting the village. He is in love, but does not let the girl tell him her name, fearing for her life. Instead, he calls her Kantorka (Choir leader). During the ritual at Easter night, he goes to the village to meet her, this time along with a boy called Juro who appears to be mentally disabled and not able to learn the trade or properly do magic. When Juro tells Krabat that they must leave and go back to the mill, Krabat insists that he will stay with Kantorka. Juro then uses powerful magic to convince Krabat to come back with him, revealing that he is in truth highly intelligent and powerful, even able to change the weather. Juro promises Krabat that he will help him escape the master, and tells him that his girl must ask for him on Silvester to set him free. Krabat tells Kantorka that she must do so, and she agrees and gives Krabat a lock of her hair, telling him to have another boy deliver it to her when the time is right. When Krabat returns, a series of climactic events are set in motion.

Cast

as Krabat *

as Tonda *

as The Master *

Robert Stadlober Robert Stadlober (born 3 August 1982) is an Austrian actor and musician. His sister is Anja Stadlober, also an actress. Life and career Robert Stadlober was born on 3 August 1982 in Friesach in the Austrian province of Carinthia, and grew up in ...

as Lyschko *

Paula Kalenberg Paula Kalenberg (born 9 November 1986) is a German actress. She is probably best known to international audiences for her roles in films '' Krabat'', '' Vision – From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen'' and '' Jew Suss: Rise and Fall''. Career ...

as Kantorka *

Hanno Koffler Hanno Koffler (born March 25, 1980) is a German actor and musician. His most famous films include '' Summer Storm'', ''Krabat'' and ''Free Fall''. He also starred in the Oscar-nominated film, ''Never Look Away'' (2018), directed by Florian Henc ...

as Juro *

Anna Thalbach Anna Maria Joachim genannt Thalbach (born 1 June 1973), known as Anna Maria Thalbach, is a German actress. Her mother, Katharina Thalbach Katharina Thalbach (; actually ''Katharina Joachim genannt Thalbach''; born 19 January 1954) is a Germa ...

as Worschula *

Charly Hübner Carsten Johannes Marcus Hübner (born 4 December 1972 in Neustrelitz) is a German actor. He appeared in more than eighty films since 2003, including ''Magical Mystery or: The Return of Karl Schmidt'' (in 2017) and The Good Neighbour (''Unter Nachb ...

as Michal *Moritz Grove as Merten *

Tom Wlaschiha Thomas Wlaschiha (born 20 June 1973) is a German actor. Internationally, he is known for his roles as Jaqen H'ghar in the second, fifth and sixth seasons of the TV series '' Game of Thrones'', as well as Sebastian Berger in the TV series ''Cr ...

as Hanzo *Sven Hönig as Andrusch *Stefan Haschke as Staschko *David Fischbach as Lobosch *

Daniel Steiner Daniel Steiner (born 1973) is a German actor and film director. Life and career Steiner was born in Rheda. In the 90s, he visited the University of Leeds, where he finished his ''Broadcasting study'' with a bachelor's degree. After he worked ...

as Petar *Tom Lass as Kubo *Daniel Fripath as Kito *Ionuț Băiaș as Baro *Mac Steinmeier as Godfather Death *Carmen Ungureanu as Krabat's Mother *

Otto Sander Otto Sander (; 30 June 1941 – 12 September 2013) was a German film, theater, and voice actor. Life Education and early career Sander grew up in Kassel, where he graduated in 1961 from the Friedrichgymnasium. After leaving school he s ...

as the narrator (voice only)

Reception

Flickering Myth reviewed the

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

release of the film, in which he wrote: "Krabat has great potential even though the film doesn’t fully realize it. It fails to explore some interesting story elements and is a little slow on pace. However, it focuses really well on the themes of temptation; with the lure of black magic and power, and friendship; with the sense of brotherhood and companionship Krabat experiences. It’s an enjoyable dark fantasy that has a Grimm fairytale-like feel to it and effective performances from the lead actors".

Awards

''Krabat'' was nominated for the

Deutscher Filmpreis The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the German film industry. Besides being the most important ...

in 2009 in the categories ''Best Production Design'', ''Best Music'' and ''Best Sound Design''.

References

External links