Till Eulenspiegel (2014)

Besides Till, the film’s main characters are his childhood sweetheart Kathrin, her daughter Marie, who is about ten years old, and the power-hungry mayor of Lübeck, Wüllenwever. Till tricks Wüllenwever with a blank painting and so thoroughly exposes him that Wüllenwever has Till pursued. Till flees and jumps from the street through an open window into Marie’s room. With her quick wit, she saves him from his pursuers. She proves to be very well-read and clever. In revenge for Till’s escape, Wüllenwever has Kathrin imprisoned. Till and Marie, who cuts off her braids, set off together to free Kathrin, repeatedly having to shake off their pursuers with cunning and mischief. Marie knows of two things they need for the rescue: a key from Erfurt that opens every lock, and a medicine that induces sleep. They set off for Erfurt with a donkey Till has freed from witchcraft. There, Till presents it to Professor Kopernikel as a donkey that can read. In return, he copies the shape of the key and has the blacksmith Dietrich make it. [Jule Hermann and Jacob Matschenz as Marie Lüdinghusen and Till Eulenspiegel; Sebastian Kaufmane and Jacob Matschenz.] The two are captured by Wüllenwever’s henchmen, but Till uses the lock pick to open his handcuffs and free Marie. To avoid drawing attention as they escape, they spend the night at a baker’s and bake owls and monkeys. They flee their pursuers to Schwerin, where they visit an abbess who knows the recipe for the sleeping potion and complains about how full her infirmary is. By means of a trick, Till ensures that the sick leave the house in a panic the next day, and he obtains a small bottle of the potion. On the way, at Till’s suggestion, they stop at an inn, where he hopes for a romantic adventure with the landlady, whom he knows. Marie objects, takes the lock pick and the bottle, and sets off alone for Lübeck. Wüllenwever’s soldiers capture her. Till follows her and enters Lübeck as a traveling healer, knowing that Wüllenwever has a cough. By now, Wüllenwever has had all of Lübeck’s church treasure melted down without the council’s knowledge in order to recruit new troops for a war. Till wins his trust as a doctor and steals his key ring, which leads him to Kathrin’s prison cell. In the meantime, however, Marie has used the potion to put the guards to sleep and the lock pick to open the prison doors. Mother and daughter fall into each other’s arms. Kathrin confesses to Marie that Till is her biological father. Till is captured at the prison, whose doors have already been opened, and Wüllenwever sentences him to death. Kathrin and Marie obtain some foreign, free land, load it onto a cart, and take it to the marketplace so that, standing on foreign land, they will not be subject to Lübeck’s justice system. They expose Wüllenwever’s schemes, which Kathrin learned about from Wüllenwever’s confidant, Johannsen. At the marketplace, the tide turns against Wüllenwever and in Till’s favor, and Till is set free. Wüllenwever is arrested, and Till proposes Johannsen as the new mayor. Till now also learns that clever Marie is his daughter. Kathrin and Marie send Till back out into the world so that Marie can continue writing down his pranks whenever he drops by from time to time.