Jorinde und Joringel (2011)

Jorinde and Joringel are in love with each other and want to get married. The problem is that Joringel works as a farmhand at the inn owned by Jorinde’s father. He thinks little of Joringel and believes the boy has nothing but foolishness on his mind and that his daughter deserves a “better” man. Joringel, on the other hand, impresses those around him—especially Jorinde—with all kinds of magic tricks and other skills, such as juggling. When a robber knight and his two companions descend on the village, Joringel confronts the knight. By means of a trick, Joringel manages to take back the knight’s spoils—the takings belonging to Jorinde’s father. After the knight leaves the village again, believing he has made off with a rich haul, Jorinde throws her arms around her “hero” in delight, and the two kiss passionately in front of the entire family. A fierce argument breaks out with Jorinde’s father, whereupon the lovers flee into the nearby enchanted forest. There they meet a powerful sorceress who can turn into an owl when she needs to. In her youth, she was disappointed by the great love of her life, and now sees it as her mission to spare other young girls that painful experience. Convinced that Joringel, too, will soon disappoint Jorinde, she drugs the young man and abducts Jorinde to her castle, where she transforms the girl into a nightingale. Other enchanted girls already live in the castle. They have renounced love and pass the time working on their own birdcages, into which the sorceress locks them when she chooses. Joringel sets out to rescue his beloved. He reaches the vicinity of the castle but cannot enter because it is protected by a powerful force field. So he presses on and encounters the robber knight again, who has by now seen through Joringel’s trick. However, he feels no desire for revenge and has taken a liking to the boy. He tries to win him over by showing him his riches. The robber knight was also the one who broke the sorceress’s heart back then, and ever since he has pursued nothing but power and money. He has a magic flower from her, which he uses in critical situations to gain an advantage. But using the flower comes at a steep price for its owner: each time it is used, it consumes some of his remaining life. Joringel wins the knight’s trust by deception and steals the flower. Pursued by the robber knight and his two companions, he comes across a beautiful acrobat’s daughter in a wooded area. For a moment, Joringel considers traveling the countryside with her instead of continuing to search for Jorinde. Meanwhile, the sorceress has flown with Jorinde to that same wooded area, where they watch the scene. She takes this as confirmation that Joringel will soon forget Jorinde. To make him see this for himself, she conjures up a storm that prevents the young man from leaving. But after spending a night in the acrobat’s daughter’s tent, Joringel chooses Jorinde and uses the magic flower to pass through the force field and enter the castle. However, using it costs him so much of his remaining life that he reaches the courtyard only as an old man. There he meets the sorceress and gazes in amazement at a large number of birdcages. With the help of an owl feather belonging to the sorceress, which Jorinde has kept with her since her abduction, he identifies the right nightingale and thereby frees Jorinde. At first, she does not recognize that the old man is her beloved, but she goes back to the village with him. There, beneath an old tree where they once swore their love to each other, Jorinde realizes who is really standing before her. She takes the magic flower, and Joringel turns back into a young man. She herself does not change. At the same time, all the birdcages in the castle courtyard open as if by magic; the birds fly away and turn back into young women, who stream into the village. The sorceress, who had earlier turned the knight to stone, also flies into the village as an owl. The moment she lands on the knight’s arm, she, too, turns to stone. Joringel and Jorinde are happily reunited.