Hans Röckle und der Teufel

Defa fairy tale movie about a puppeteer and imaginative inventor called Röckle, who one day receives a mysterious visitor:The devil Flammfuß appears in his workshop and makes him a compelling offer: Flammfuß wants to vest Röckle with magical powers – but if Röckle does not manage to create something new in seven times seven hours, he would lose his soul to the devil. Röckle agrees on the pact and uses this chance to create things to help people and to facilitate living. Thus, he invents a needle for a sewer that sews on its own, and a flute for a farmer to play for rain. But it soon becomes evident that his marvellous inventions not only bring a blessing to mankind. The owner of the manufacture, for instance, cuts down the wages of the sewers, whereas the landowner takes away the flute from the farmer to irrigate his own soil by the power of magic. Finally, Röckle finds a a way out: By means of his newly invented telescope, he looks ahead into the future – and realises that his inventions are best placed there. In the end, he sets out for the future in his new magical boots.

The contents of this entry were funded with the support of the DEFA-Stiftung.