At first, when I watched this film online (subtitled), I confused the title for the version of a poem by German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe that inspired French composer Paul Dukas to write his famous musical piece with the same title. But really, the film is based on a book called "The Satanic Mill" by Otfried Preußler and the Sorbian folk tale upon which the book is based. I thought the cutout animation was really good; it's like the illustrations of some ancient book come to life.
Well, anyway, the film is about Krabat, a beggar boy in early 18th-century Lusatia who is lured to become an apprentice to an evil, one-eyed sorcerer. Together with a number of other boys, he works at the sorcerer's mill under slave-like conditions while learning black magic, such as posing as a raven and other animals. Every Christmas, one of the boys has to face the master in a magical duel of life and death, where the boy never stands a chance because the master is the only person who is allowed to use his secret grimoire: "The Koraktor" or the "Force of Hell."
One Easter while performing an annual ritual near a small village, Krabat meets a girl (whom he dubbed the "Kantorka," or "the girl who sings") and falls in love with her. But Krabat has to keep his romance secret in order to protect her. After witnessing one after another of his friends being helplessly slaughtered by the master every Christmas, Krabat starts to sneak up at night to study the forbidden book. On the last page of the book, Krabat finds a phrase saying, "Love is stronger than any spell."
That's all I could tell you, folks. You will have to see the film for yourself to see how it ends. Overall, I enjoyed this dark fantasy film. And I should mention that watching this film was my first exposure to Czechoslovakian animation.
