Krabat [2008]

August 10, 2009

Blending German folk tales, Harry Potter, and black magic, Krabat is a strange and intriguing movie. First of all, it’s incredibly easy to watch. The story is set in medieval times, following a couple of sorcerer’s apprentices. Secondly, directed by Marco Kreuzpaintner and starring Daniel Brühl (Intruders, The Fifth Estate, Rush), it has a distinctly European taste. I mean, what other could it have, but you know what I mean. We also learn a bit more about the history and how people lived back then. Although I think we’ve all seen a lot of these documentaries.

What you should also know is that the story develops kind of slow here. And there will be no epic battles or some other “eye candies”. Krabat is just plain fucking odd man, I don’t know how else to put it. It either feels like they didn’t know what type of movie they wanted to make or they exactly knew. And to find out what I exactly mean by that check this quirky fantasy movie out.

To entice you further, I should let you know that the UK title is Krabat and the Legend of the Satanic Mill. I mean, what kind of a fucking title is that? To make things even weirder, there’s this 1978 Czechoslovakian cutout animated dark fantasy Carodejuv ucen or Krabat – The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. It’s even weirder than this movie and you can find it in its entirety on YouTube.

The story follows a boy called Krabat, who becomes a sorcerer’s apprentice and accepts black magick as a part of his life. After Europe has been ravaged by the plague, he had no choice but to join this cult. Soon he will learn why it’s called black magick. And not only that but also how to work in the mill and many other things.

Of course, they had to crap the story with some love and a cute girl. It would be so much better if he accepted the black arts and became the new sorcerer. At this point I should probably mention that Krabat is based on a character in Sorbian folklore, also dubbed the “Wendish Faust”. I will drop a link below if you want to learn more. Krabat is a well-crafted movie, with great photography and beautiful landscapes. Special effects are very good too, especially when you consider the budget. Those opening scenes looked really impressive.

So if you are looking for something similar to Harry Potter, but you’re into satanism, this is a movie for you. It offers a different perspective and it reminds us of those creepier fantasy movies from the eighties and nineties. Finally, I would like to praise the acting skills of everyone involved. I am certain that a movie with this type of atmosphere and story is hard to comprehend when you’re an actor, but everyone involved, especially Daniel Bruhl and Paula Kalenberg were phenomenal.