Das kalte Herz (2014)

Peter Munk is blackened by his work with coal. One day, when he takes a liking to Lisbeth, he decides to give up his life as “Coal-Peter”—as people call him—and sets off to find the Little Glass Man, who is said to grant wishes to children born on a Sunday. After much difficulty, he manages to recite the verse that makes the little man appear, and thinks he has achieved his goal. But instead of wishing for good sense, all he strives for is money and respect, which nearly ruins him in the end: he is too naive, and there are plenty of people around him who are quick to take all his possessions away again. Since he still has one wish left with the “Treasure Keeper,” he asks for money a third time, but the little man refuses. In desperation, Peter enters the realm of Dutch Michael. He tells Peter that all his troubles are caused by his heart, and that life would be much easier without one. He knows Peter has come only because he needs money, so he offers him as many gulden as he wants in exchange for his heart. He shows him the collection of human hearts he has already amassed and explains that all their owners are much better off now than they were with that “thing,” which only caused them pain. Peter agrees, and Dutch Michael puts a stone in his chest in place of his heart. Back in the village, Peter pays his debts and asks Lisbeth’s wealthy but unscrupulous father, Ezechiel, for her hand in marriage. Since Peter now presents himself as a rich man, Ezechiel agrees, and Peter marries Lisbeth. But the young man has changed greatly for the worse. Hard-hearted, he dismisses some of the workers he considers insufficiently productive. Lisbeth and his own mother also suffer from his moods. He goes so far as to throw his mother out of the house, forcing her to return to the small hut on the edge of the village where she had once lived with her son. Peter himself can feel that he has changed and can no longer feel any real joy. So he visits Dutch Michael again and asks whether he could make his stone heart a little softer. But Michael flatly refuses. Peter will get his real heart back only when he dies—that was their agreement. One day, Peter returns from a business trip just as Lisbeth is giving a beggar something to eat. In a rage, he hits his wife with his walking stick, and she falls to the ground dead. Suddenly, the beggar reveals his true identity: he is the Treasure Keeper, disguised as a beggar, and he now gives Peter a stern lecture. He alone is responsible for what he has done, because even if a human court were to acquit him, he has sold his soul to evil and sealed his own damnation. This gives Peter pause, and when he learns that his father-in-law and several others in the village have also sold their hearts to Dutch Michael, he becomes frightened. In the middle of the night, he goes to the Treasure Keeper and asks him to grant his third wish: to exchange the stone heart for his real one. But the little man explains that Peter made that bargain with Dutch Michael, and only Michael can give him his heart back. So Peter sets off, intending to outwit Dutch Michael. He tells him that he thinks he can still feel a heartbeat in his chest, which must mean that Dutch Michael has cheated him: no one can simply swap out a heart. Outraged and stung in his vanity, Dutch Michael now wants to prove to Peter that his heart really is stone, and puts his real heart back in his chest. Relieved, Peter feels his warm heart in his chest, and when Michael tries to take it back again, Peter runs as fast as he can to keep his heart. Despite his tricks, Dutch Michael cannot stop him. Back in the village, Peter is happy to feel genuine joy again, but now he also feels grief over his evil deeds. Now that he seems to have made the right wish, the Treasure Keeper grants his third wish and brings Lisbeth back to life. Overjoyed, Peter also brings his poor mother back to live with him and tries to make amends for all the wrongs he has done. He runs the glassworks sensibly and takes exemplary care of his workers. He remains a respected and now contented man for the rest of his life.