Krabat By Karel Zeman - Original Czech Animation Full Length English Subtitles 1977

**English subtitles are activated by clicking on the rectangle box on the left hand side of the "cog" change quality button in the lower black video bar - the box turns red when activated**

Krabat The Sorcerer's Apprentice AKA Carodejuv Ucen
Directed By Karel Zeman
Czechoslovakia and West Germany Production
(Two language versions were made, one in Czech and one in German)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075811/
Animation: stop motion, cut-out
Themes: sorcery, occult, black arts, love.

This is the original and far rarer Czech version of the film. The drawback of this is the fact the original subtitles were made for the German version, this has meant there are small sequences of dialogue that appear in the German version but are not present in the Czech version and vice-versa.

The animation is based on the 1971 novel 'Krabat' by Otfried Preussler. This story in turn is based on a 'Sorbian' folk-tale. The 'Sorbs' are a Slavic people based mainly in Lusatia, a region between Poland and Germany, this is where the story is set. In 2008 a live action German version of the novel was made.

If any Czech-English speaking Karel Zeman fan is into improving the subtitle translation, please get in touch and I can send you my revised subtitle file or if you are new to subtitles, it can be sent and opened as a simple text "txt" file. That way, you can just edit and update the lines of dialogue that need improving.

Text below taken from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krabat_%E2%80%93_The_Sorcerer%27s_Apprentice

"Krabat, a beggar boy in early 18th century Lusatia, 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 guising himself 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 and falls in love, but has to keep the romance secret in order to protect her. After witnessing his friends one after one 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." This is used when he ultimately has to defeat his master for the sake of love.."

Kosmikino Subtitles

The Central Film
Lending Office Presents

A Film Based On A Novel
By Otfried Preussler

Krabat: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Design And Artwork

Animation

Camera

Production

Film Editor

Music

Screenplay And Narration

Art Conception

Lyricist

Voice Actors

Written And Directed
By Karel Zeman

Nowhere in the world were
the meadows as green.

Nowhere dandelions bloomed
as yellow, as here in Lusatia.

The soil smelled like fresh bread.

At times, the Elector of Saxony's flag
flapped above it, and always some part

of the world was at war.

I was as free as a bird, a
bird that fell out of the nest.

I was all alone, homeless,

and parentless.

I roamed about Lusatia.

Sometimes in a hurry,

because the Elector had
prohibited, beggary and vagrancy.

Only the dogs enforced it.

By the way,

my name is Krabat.

untranslated

I love the country I'm living in, and if
I have my way, I'll stay here forever.

I liked the easy life.

Yet in Lusatia, summer must come to
an end, then the good times are over,

for the likes of us.

I slept like a log.

But I wasn't alone, two more beggar
boys were in the hay: now we were three.

Since Epiphany was around the corner,

we made a plan to fill,

our empty stomachs.

'The famous Three Kings are we'

'Kings from the Orient'

'Kings from the Orient'

'One is black and two are white'

'For Bethlehem we are heading'

'For Bethlehem we are heading'

'Bethlehem, we bear in mind'

'Beneath the star we make our way'

'Beneath the star we make our way'

'The hunger is plaguing us'

'The hunger is causing great distress'

'The hunger is causing great distress'

'Dear people, please
give us a slice of bread'

'Give us a piece of sausage'

'Give us a piece of sausage'

'Give us a sip to quench our thirst'

'What you may give will please us'

'What you may give will please us'

'What you may give will please us'

'In the name of the Lord Jesus'

'In the name of the Lord Jesus'

In the evenings we sat
at the royal table,

and after dinner we retired
to our royal bedchamber.

There was enough space and
it supplied a good ventilation.

Kra...

Krabat.

Who was calling me?

Kra...

Krabat.

Follow me to the Black Water Mill.

Krabat.

It will not be to your disadvantage.

Krabat.

"Krabat."

"Obey the voice of the Master."

"Obey his voice."

On the village outskirts,
I met an old man.

When I asked him about
the Black Water Mill,

he implored me to return,

warning me what a creepy place
out there, the Devil's Mill was.

Don't let yourself be cajoled!

Obey me!

Come in.

There you are at last.

It was the voice of the raven
that called me over here.

I am the Master of this mill.

You can learn the trade of...

a miller here.

But also anything else.

You agree?

The mill is now grinding again.

On the first night in the mill,
I couldn't sleep a wink.

To whom might these
eleven empty beds belong?

Who else lived here?

Apparently they were apprentices
like me, but where had they got to?

Except for me and the Master,
there seemed to be no other human soul.

On the next morning,

I finally got to know
my fellow apprentices.

The eldest was called Tonda.

The next was Michael.

There was Yuro, who cooked for us,
a good boy but a little stupid.

Lyshko was a snoop, he
was ordered to spy on us.

Honsa was the strongest.

The reticent, Kubo.

The derisive Andrush, and finally,

Stashko and Merten.

They were eleven, and I was
twelfth, and the youngest.

Thus I became an apprentice
at the Black Water Mill.

The work was no picnic,
but I'd a roof over my head,

and enough to eat daily; more
than a beggar boy could wish for.

Time flew by while I worked,
and soon it was...

spring again.

None of the mill dwellers did I detest
as much, as the ugly tomcat.

It didn't give me a minute's rest,
it was lurking everywhere.

Once I got so annoyed,
I flew off the handle.

I instantly felt,

the Master was angry about it.

After this bad experience,
I decided to run away.

Somehow I would manage
to get along in this world.

All night long I ran,

and ran.

Only when the Black Water
Mill was miles behind,

did I take a short rest.

Get on with it.

Work!

What I had only previously
suspected, now proved to be true.

I was trapped in a magic mill.

Soon I would learn,

more about it.

Krabat, you have been here
now for a quarter of a year.

You passed the probation.

Hitherto you've been an apprentice,

from now on you will be my scholar.

Come closer now, Krabat.

At first I didn't know what to do.

The metamorphosis curdled my blood.

How do birds fly?

I was at a complete loss,

but soon got the knack of it.

Not half bad at all.

I didn't know then, from that moment
on, I was in bondage to the Master.

With body and soul:
a matter of life and death.

Sit down.

Krabat, you must realise this
is a school of black magic.

Here you won't learn to
read, write or calculate.

Here you will learn the art,

of arts.

This grimoire here on the table,
is called 'The Koraktor',

the 'Force of Hell'.

It contains the spells
of the entire world,

but only I am allowed to read them.

Because I am the Master.

You scholars are forbidden to read it.

Completely forbidden.

Mark my words, Krabat.

Now, pay attention.

I will teach you another hex.

One that may,

be of particular use to you.

Thus I grew from a miller's boy,

to a sorcerer's apprentice.

Who'd have guessed
from the mill's outside,

that in reality it was
a black magic school?

The Master kept us
under tight discipline.

We were not allowed to leave
the mill without permission.

Yet sometimes he sent us out,

to test our progress in conjuring.

Once he sent me and Tonda to the next
village: I wasn't very happy about it,

because Tonda had to turn me into
an ox to sell me on the market.

It was not quite to my taste.

But as an apprentice,
you had to put up with it.

On the cattle market,
I instantly caused a stir.

What a beauty of an ox,
I must have been.

The cattle dealers appraised me from
horn to hoof, outbidding each other.

But Tonda kept shaking his head.

I tried hard to put on a good show.

No matter how much they bid,

it wasn't enough.

At last, Blaschke from Kamenz,
offered a bag full of silver thalers.

Tonda shook on it.

That's how I got sold to
Blaschke from Kamenz.

Finally Blaschke spotted an inn; already
from afar, he announced his order.

Roast pork, dumplings, cabbage and beer!

- And for the ox, a bundle of hay.
- No, I'd like a roast and beer, please!

When they heard an ox speak with a
human voice, they were thunderstruck.

I think we passed the test well.

The Master can be satisfied with us.

On Holy Saturday, the
Master sent us out again.

This time, all of us, two at a time,
had to spend Easter night together,

at a place where a
violent death occured.

Tonda and me had to
search for a long time.

Here and there, places were already
occupied, so further out we went.

I didn't like this place much either,

though it had a wonderful
view of the village.

How long since I heard
the ringing of bells?

The Easter bells of my hometown
had the exact same sound in childhood.

Once again I longed for
the company of people.

'Fountain, oh my fountain'

'Beneath the Easter dawn'

'Show me, my dear'

'What usually is hidden to me'

'Today on Easter morning'

'On Easter morning, I will walk to you'

'He who is meant for me'

'Let me see him'

Since that Easter morning,
I couldn't get her out of my mind.

I didn't even know her name.

Time flew by, soon the
first year was over.

When Christmas got closer,

I couldn't help thinking of 'Kantorka'.

Get thee hence!

It's completely out of place here!

It was a strange Christmas.

One morning I discovered
a coffin in the shed.

As if someone had died.

Then I saw Tonda.

He didn't go out to dig a grave, did he?

I called him,

but my best friend walked on,
as if he hadn't heard me.

I tried to discover what
was going on, in vain.

There was nothing but angst.

The apprentices seemed
to have lost their tongue.

"The moment of truth has come,
there can be only one Master."

"Either me or you."

"The coffin is waiting for the loser."

When Tonda died,

the mill stopped and it would not
grind until Tonda was replaced,

and we were complete again.

The Master didn't have to wait too long.

There were enough
beggar boys in Lusatia.

Soon one of them would turn up to
take shelter from hunger and the cold.

The web was spun and
the prey got trapped in it.

The mill is now grinding again!

The next day there was
another apprentice.

Nobody knew where he was from and we
didn't ask; the new guy was called Witko.

He started his first day in the same
manner as everybody else before.

He also had a ravenous appetite.

After Witko's arrival, matters
ran their course again.

He would soon find out
where he'd really landed.

Some things appeared strange to
him, but they didn't frighten him.

Before he'd even a clue what was going
on, he was already the youngest scholar.

Attention.

I said attention.

Today I will teach you,

a well tested spell.

This is how you turn a common
pine cone into precious jewelry.

But beware,

before the hour is up,
the spell will expire,

and the cone will be as it was before.

What would be the use of it?

But I didn't know,

the Master.

To the audience In front
of the Elector's throne,

the Master offered his jewelry to
the illustrious court society.

The ladies were cheering,
they couldn't get enough of it.

Each of them wanted to try on
one of the precious pieces,

and keep it.

Many a cavalier felt impelled
to pay through the nose.

A great deal for the Master.

But what would happen
when the hour was up?

Only five minutes were left.

Then they'll wear pine cones
on their illustrious necks.

And we will be given short shrift.

But he simply stopped time.

The court society froze in a blink,

and we made a bolt for it.

One can win so much gold
with a couple of duff cones.

If you knew the proper hex.

Another spring came,

and Easter was getting closer.

As usual, the Master sent
us out on Holy Saturday.

Again we had to spend the night at a
place where a man died a violent death.

This time I was sent with Yuro,

but I didn't feel like
following the instruction.

My heart was in my mouth,

as if I knew, that on this Easter
night, my life was fated.

I repeat it again, because
these two were late.

He who commits himself to black magic,

is addicted to it, body and soul.

His heart no longer belongs to himself.

He who nevertheless,

wants to give it away,

may as well dig his grave straight away.

Which of you two has defied me?

Answer me, Krabat.

Answer me, Yuro.

Very well.

You will live to rue it.

The Master conceived of
a dreadful punishment.

He turned Yuro into a horse, and I
was to sell the nag for fifty gulden.

Poor Yuro, now he was supposed
to eat oats for the rest of his life.

As he was too stupid
to retransform himself.

I had to give him a hand;
spontaneously we changed roles.

He became a human again
and I turned into a horse.

Yuro might as well sell me,
I would find a way.

For me, it's a walk in the park.

We stopped at the town hall square,
but the market place was abandoned.

Suddenly a buyer showed up
and offered fifty gulden at first go.

Oh Yuro, if only you
had taken a closer look.

Never try to deceive me again.

This is my last warning.

See that you become human again.

Got it?

Krabat.

Krabat!

Once the master had to go
on a journey for a few days.

Though the hard work continued, life
at the mill was suddenly much easier.

I felt like I was in a dream.

Kantorka was always on my mind.

What if I tried to meet her again?

I knew how to fly, didn't I?

Only Yuro watched me leave the mill.

This day was our lucky day.

Though we had never talked to
each other, she knew me at once.

We didn't need words now either,
our eyes did the talking.

Suddenly I heard Yuro's voice.

He warned me, the Master was back.

Back to the mill quickly.

I must not put
Kantorka's life in danger.

We flew back low.

In the shelter of the
woods and shrubbery.

The master awaited us.
disguised as a bird of prey.

While he sharpened his claws,
we sneaked into the mill unseen.

There's no secret you
can hide from me, Krabat.

Who's that girl?

If I find her,

she will be lost.

You committed yourself
to me, body and soul.

You belong to me.

Now and forever.

That night I decided to turn my back on
the mill for good, and seek freedom.

There was one solution:
I had to beat the Master in a showdown.

It wouldn't be easy,
perhaps Yuro would help?

In fact, Yuro was
savvier than all of us.

He had only pretended his ignorance.

This was the Koraktor,

the grimoire.

From now on, we used any
opportunity to learn from it secretly.

To defeat the Master, I had to prepare.

This year, winter set in early.

All of Lusatia was deep in snow, and
people looked forward to Christmas.

Only we at the mill, lapsed
into worry and uncertainty.

As always, at the end of the year,
an inescapable fate awaited one of us.

This time, it was the turn of Michael.

Take the shovel.

There is a grave to dig.

For whom, that will soon prove.

Michael.

Michael, turn back.

Let it be,

Krabat.

You cannot turn that
trial away from me.

The bell tolls for everyone.

Are you ready, Michael?

Michael was dead and once
again the mill had stopped.

But not for long.

Another apprentice,

trudged along through the deep snow.

Come morning, we had
a look at the new guy,

I'm sure I used to know, wasn't he
Lobosh the funny little blackamoor king?

So far away, those times...

And I had yet another
reason to defeat the Master.

Another year was over.

In March it began to thaw.

I took advantage of the bad
weather and left the mill.

I longed for Kantorka, thinking of her,

gave me strength.

Outside the storm was raging.

She was sleeping tight.

Some day we won't
have to hide any longer.

That will be fine.

I had forgotten about time.

It was like a dream.

Already the dawn was breaking,

and I had to return to the mill.

Again the Master was waiting for me.

He was keen to finally
catch me red-handed.

In such cases, one could rely on Yuro.

Not one night passed without
the Master spying on us.

While he wasn't watching, we
sneaked into the forbidden chamber.

On the last page of the grimoire,
we found a puzzling phrase.

Love is stronger,

than any spell.

It was beyond us, and we didn't
have the time to think about it.

I couldn't let go of that phrase.

Was a girl able to defeat
the Master with love?

How could I ever ask
for something like that?

Anything I wanted to tell
her was well-considered.

But now I was not able to say a word.

The Master wasn't always lucky.

I had read the Koraktor
often enough now.

Who dares enter the forbidden chamber?

Well, I'll find out.

Yuro stays here.

I won't need the others.

Yuro, come along,
I'll assign a task to you.

It's a matter of life and death.

No sooner had the Master left the mill,
I didn't stay a second longer, either.

It was a beautiful moonlit night,
I couldn't wish for any better.

But as usual,

we had to look out for the Master.

What luck I was able to conjure.

There was a proper hex
for this situation as well.

The Master searched around.

But couldn't find us.

Only the Moon could have
told, but it remained silent.

But the Master wouldn't give up.

In the morning he ordered
me to the Black Chamber.

You know more about
magic than I imagined.

I will assign you a task
that is worthy of you.

Woe betide you, if you fail.

It means death.

The Master gave me the
order to fly to Hungary.

The Imperial army were again
making war on the Turks there.

At the headquarters further
orders would be issued.

After a long flight I finally arrived at
what they called, 'The Field Of Honour'.

At the camp, I immediately
reported to the Commandant.

What? A sorcerer that wants
to help us against the Turks?

At first, the General didn't believe me,
his officers roared with laughter.

But it wasn't difficult
to convince them.

I was right on time anyway, the Turks
had captured the Marshal of Saxony.

Was I able to free him and
bring him back to the camp?

Sure I was.

The Turkish tents were pitched as dense
as mushrooms, after a summer rain.

Where might they keep the Marshal?

Presumably in this huge tent:
but it was the tent of the sultan.

I tried to apologise, but
wasn't given a chance.

This sentry looked fishy.

Only a marshal would be
guarded so strictly, wouldn't he?

There had to be a way to tackle the guy.

I turned him into...

a harmless little mouse,
free to continue his watch.

At last I found the captive
Marshal of Saxony.

The guards bristled with weapons.

It wouldn't be easy to get him out
alive, unless one knew about magic.

Well, I knew and now I had
to show what I'd learned.

I'd already regarded the game as won.

but I rejoiced too early.

The Sultan had put his own wizard
onto us, to recapture the Marshal.

- Krabat.
- Wasn't that Yuro?

My blood curdled.

Krabat.

I had shot my best friend.

Now I realised what a vicious
game the Master had played on us.

Yuro and me were to wipe each other out.

But there was no time
to get outraged about it.

Poor Yuro was seriously
injured, I had to save him.

After turning him into a raven, we flew
home; I totally forgot about my task.

May he eat grass for the rest of
his life; better than fighting wars.

It took many days and
nights to fly back to Lusatia.

When we arrived it was winter again.

The Master was already
waiting, shovel in hand.

You failed the test.

The poor Marshal is still
galloping about Hungary.

Take the shovel and dig your grave.

That will be your last work.

Do you now know who the Master is here?

It is me.

The fight was over, I had lost.

The fate of Tonda and
Michael awaited me.

Only Yuro was still hoping
for help, he flew away.

What did the Koraktor say?
Love is stronger than any kind of magic.

What do you want from me?

Release my miller boy.

I don't know him.

Krabat is the one I love.

Krabat?

Do you even know him?

Then you'll be able to pick him out.

Very well.

If you can identify him.

He will be set free.

But if not,

you will both die this very night.

Off to the chamber with
you and line up properly.

Stay where you are.

Don't dare to make a sound,

or she will be finished.

I wasn't expecting that.

Now there was no hope left.

Slowly she walked past.

I felt as if my heart was
breaking from fear for her life.

It is this one.

Are you sure?

I sense he is worried about me.

He's the one.

Then we all stepped out
into the bright daylight.

Now our freedom was regained.

The magic mill burned to ashes.

The Master was overcome forever;
love is stronger than any magical power.

This was the end of all the evil force.

The moment the Koraktor went up
in flames, all magic came to an end.

What the Master had taught us,

was now gone,

once and for all.

As common miller boys,
we walked our way now.

and that's a good thing.

Czechoslovakia-West German Co-Production