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.
