Film: In 1971, Ottfried Preußler, known for children's books such as "The Little Witch", "The Little Ghost" and, of course, the "Robber Hotzenplotz", published the surprisingly dark young adult novel "Krabat", which was based on an old Wendish folk tale. Sold millions of copies, winning several awards and translated into numerous languages, "Krabat" is still one of the most important works of recent German literature for young people. After the material had already been lovingly adapted into a Czech animated film about twenty years ago, "Sommersturm" director Marco Kreuzpaintner has now taken on the material.
The story takes place in the midst of the Thirty Years' War. 14-year-old Krabat (David Kross) has lost his mother to the plague and wanders the countryside begging with two friends. One night an inner voice calls him to a mysterious mill in Koselbruch. There he is already awaited by the master miller, who offers to take him on as an apprentice. The prospect of a bed and warm meals are too tempting for Krabat to think twice. But soon the boy learns that this is not a normal mill, but a school of magic, where journeymen are trained in black magic.
What proves to be absolutely fascinating in the first year soon turns out to be a dangerous burden. For once accepted as a student of magic, there is no escape from the black mill. Whoever rebels against the Master will find certain death. When Krabat falls in love with the peasant girl Kantorka (Paula Kalenberg) during one of his excursions, it is clear to him that there is only one way to live out this love: he must face the Master...
Visually, Kreuzpaintner's version of "Krabat" is quite successful. The mill is fantastically realized, spreading exactly the ominously gloomy atmosphere that Preußler created in his book. The cast is well chosen, with Christian Redl in particular as the Master being almost ideal. But also the well-known from "Knallhart" David Kross, Daniel Brühl and Paula Kalenberg can quite convince in their roles.
But even if Preußler calls the film adaptation of his novel extremely successful, should be refrained from a direct comparison between book and film. For in such a comparison the film comes off rather disappointingly. For example, an entire year was deleted from the story for the cinema version, which robs the final of an enormous amount of power. The conflict between Krabat and the master, the fear that the latter discovers his love for Kantorka, the constant threat of the fact that in every year a journeyman finds death - all this seems far less intense by the deletion of an entire year than is the case in the book template.
It is natural to compare the story of a young sorcerer's apprentice with the success stories around "Harry Potter". And two scenes in the film suggest that the makers speculated on being able to profit from the success of the British wizard student. But in reality, "Krabat" has nothing at all in common with "Harry Potter". The material is much darker and rooted in reality in a certain, fantastical way than "Harry Potter" is. Moreover, the adventures of the Hogwarts student are still very much aimed at young children (at least his first years at school), rather than the hard, dreary apprenticeship years of "Krabat". And it's no different in the film. Of course, the film is aimed at a teenage audience. But "Krabat" is not a children's film, some sequences are way too dark and scary.
A good set, a nice score, good actors and an intrinsically exciting story make "Krabat" well worth watching, despite a few hangs. But as a literary adaptation, the fantasy flick is a bitter disappointment, especially for lovers of the novel. Especially a somewhat lovelessly interspersed action sequence and the somewhat too strong accent on the love story make this clear again and again. There is no question that Marco Kreuzpaintner likes the original very much and has great respect for Preußler's work. But unfortunately this was only partly enough to transport the fascinating mood of the book onto the screen. Therefore, if you don't know the book, you shouldn't miss the film, if only because of its good visual realization. But those who hope for a satisfying realization of the wonderful book will certainly be disappointed.
Picture + Sound: The technical realization of the DVD is very well done. The audio has good spaciousness, with some well-mixed sound effects in addition to the great score, providing atmospheric action in the home theater. The picture is sharp and contrasty and can also convince in the many dark moments. In the brighter scenes, the good color mix also carries positive weight. Very good!
Extras: Here is definitely worth the handle to the Special Edition double DVD, which has plenty of extras worth seeing to offer. Things kick off on the first disc with a good audio commentary by director Marco Kreuzpaintner and his cinematographer Daniel Gottschalk. The commentary not only provides some interesting information about the filming, but also makes Kreuzpaintner's love for the original clear. Besides the commentary, the film disc only has the theatrical trailer to offer. All other extras are on the bonus DVD.
A nicely animated menu leads first to a making of, which offers some nice insights into the filming, but unfortunately also has a very high promo character. It continues with a featurette on the visual effects, which takes a closer look at the work of the effects wizards based on a few specific scenes. This special is followed by the video for the number 1 hit "Allein, Allein" by Polarkreis 18, the title song of the film.
Absolutely worth watching is the collection of cut and alternate scenes, which can be viewed with optional commentary from the director. Not all of the scenes are in their finished state, with some moments existing only in the pre-visualization stage, but there are quite a few moments in the nearly 40 minutes that add some depth to the story and its characters. It's particularly interesting to learn that a large scene was planned and also shot in parts, in which Krabat travels with the Master to Dresden, where he takes part in a large masked ball. In the end, the scene could not be realized for financial reasons. But what you can see of it here really makes you want to see more!
Continues with some short interviews with the director and his main actors, seven short behind-the-scenes clips, TV spots and a short excerpt from the radio play to the film. And finally, there are just under 30 minutes of impressions from the shoot, accompanied by the film's score, which provide some nice moments from the shoot. If you insert the bonus disc into your PC, you can also go on an interactive tour of the mill. An absolutely round bonus package thus!
Conclusion: "Krabat" may have its weaknesses, this double DVD does not have them. Technically first-class implemented, the Special Edition comes up with some very good specials, such as 23 deleted scenes and beautiful impressions from the filming. Absolutely recommendable!
Director: Marco Kreutzpaintner
Length: approx. 115 min.
FSK: age 12+
number of discs:2
languages: German (DD 5.1, DD 2.0), audio description for the visually impaired
Subtitles: German
Image Format: 16:9 (2.35:1)
Extras: Audio Commentary, Making of, Featurettes, Interviews, Missing Scenes, Trailers, TV Spots, Audio Drama Excerpt, DVD-Rom Part
Country Code: 2
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