Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) When you hear the word "Krabat", you will probably wonder first of all what is that. If you think, it has to do with the Moroccan city, you are completely wrong. If you think it includes the German word for raven, you are much closer, but most of all the film is simply named after the film's main character played by David Kross. This movie has some of the most known younger German actors in its cast. Apart from Kross, who you may have seen in "The Reader", there is also Daniel Brühl, Robert Stadlober, Anna Thalbach, Hanno Kofler and my personal favorite Charly Hübner. I'm usually not too big on Kross, Stadlober and Brühl, but at least the latter impressed me occasionally here. I would say that this is mostly a kids movie, although a fairly dark one, but adult audiences can also have a good time watching.The main antagonist is played by Christian Redl, who is also the only older actor in the cast. He plays an evil sorcerer, but as he seemed to be a bit of a father figure to the boys for quite a while, it was initially unclear how evil he really is and I even considered for a moment that Stadlober's character my be the main villain because of Krabat's dislike for him. The movie is written and directed by Marco Kreuzpaintner. It is an adaptation from the late Otfried Preußler's (one of Germany's most famous children's book authors) novel. Kreuzpaintner already worked with a few cast members like Kofler, Stadlober or Paula Kalenberg, the female main character and love interest to Krabat. For the director it is the return back to Germany from Hollywood after making a film with Kevin Kline one year earlier. He is still fairly young, was 30 when he made this film, so we may get many more films from him and I hope they won't be worse than "Krabat".The film won a handful awards and also scored nominations at the German Film awards in the smaller categories. There really wasn't much wrong with this movie. The thing that maybe bothered me the most was the choice of the song "Allein, allein" for the soundtrack. It was a huge hit here in Germany, but I felt that it did not suit the film or the topic at all. Apart from that, it's not a good song at all in my opinion. Really bad choice. They simply should have gone for some gloomy tune without lyrics in my opinion. But back to the more positive factors: I liked how, with the introduction of Krabat's childhood friend, Krabat turned into Brühl's character and the young boy was pretty much Krabat when he freshly joined the group. The fact that the boys are the ravens was clear from the very beginning and it is a good idea although I wish it could have surprised me or they would have added more to that subplot except the ending scene with the girl choosing the correct raven. The 20th Century Fox intro with the ravens was pretty nice as well. However, I wondered what the whole leaving your body plot was about. Brühl's character and Krabat were doing it when Krabat meets his girl the first time. And what was behind the whole thing that they should not have a girlfriend? I guess it was the sorcerer's fear that he could not fight love and that he may lose all his boys just like he did at the end of the film. But one or two more scenes could have helped in my opinion. They could have cut some of the less significant scenes for that. The film runs for pretty much exactly 2 hours and they could have done without 5-10 minutes, because it is already very long, especially for children. Most German kids movies these days do not cross the 100-minute mark.Anyway, as a whole I liked this movie and finally I would also like to mention explicitly the good work with the aging makeup for Redl's and Brühl's characters. The film has some nice fairytale and fantasy elements which made sure it did not drag at all or only once or twice which is very acceptable given the runtime. Very atmospheric too. Recommended.

brigitta-schmid Krabat, boring??? How can that be? I just don't get it - Preussler s novel would have made a wonderful script, if they stuck to his idea instead of changing most of it. didn't they see it? In an age when fantasy works like the Lord of the Rings are made into fantastic movies, it is inexcusable that the screenwriters changed so much of the original storyline, and killed so much of its beauty and depth. The movie was shallow at best Yes, the basic story is about love being the only thing that can overcome the darkness. the biggest crime that was done here was to change the characters: The deep bond between Michal and Merten, which leads to Merten trying to run away and finally kill himself. Lyschko not a bad guy in the end, the betrayal played down to nothing... I really like Daniel Brühl, but Tonda? Also, whatever magic there was, it didn't come through.It was all about power over people, why not lighten the story up as Preussler had done magnificently in the book and send them off to the market or show how the master - and therefore the devil whom he served - manipulated the politicians of this time? could it have been a matter of budget? Or is it just impossible for us Germans to dive into the spiritual side of things? I don't think any of the changes made to the story were really necessary - it was perfect as it was written, and the screenwriters changed it into a mediocre, lenghty dark tale, nothing more or less. Definitely not what the book was: A story that captured generations of readers. I predict that this movie will be forgotten very quickly.

g-moff The story is set in the European 30-year-war and is about a young homeless boy (Krabat) who ends up as an apprentice in a mill. Its miller is in fact a dark magic master who needs 12 apprentices to get the mill going. Every year, one of the apprentices has to die to keep the master alive; this does, no surprise, somehow frighten the apprentices... There is a way to become free again: through the love of a girl. Etc. etc. guess what happens? Right... The movie is based on Ottfried Preußler's "Krabat" novel which I recommend very much. The movie I don't recommend so much. It starts OK, setting is OK, actors are OK, Krabat slowly unfolds the mill's secrets - but after about two thirds of the movie, it slows down somehow and you can pretty much guess what's gonna happen. Problem is that vital elements of the book were left out: a confrontation between the master and a straying legendary wizard (the master loses and therefore the apprentices learn that he can be beaten) and a magical journey to the magnificent Saxon capital Dresden, which certainly should have been included into the film. Also, in the book it takes three years (which are actually nine years outside the mill) until the final showdown; in the film one year has been omitted and, knowing the book, I felt rather disappointed and betrayed about that. It might not be that bad if you don't know the book. Like other commentators, I recommend not to watch the movie in case you have read the novel; if you haven't you might watch it and get entertained a little but not too much.

patrickgamer I went to see this last night at the Toronto Film Festival. My wife picked it out, and I had expected it to be a silly kid's flick about magic and I was happily surprised. Krabat turned out to be a very good movie.It is not at all cheesy or goofy. I found the screenplay well written, the acting was impressive, and the plot that keeps you engaged. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a change of pace from American fantasy flicks.The basic story takes place at the end of the 30 years war in Germany. It focuses on a young orphan named Krabat. I won't give any more details, except to say that it's an interesting twist on the idea of magic.I'm not saying it's a 10/10 (I gave it 9) there are a few inconsistencies in the film, but they exist outside the main line of the story, and you don't notice them until after the credits are finished.