The Watchmaker’s Apprentice 2015

Narrator sets the stage for a quiet, old-fashioned fairy tale about Urban, a child whose fate is shaped by wish and time. In a ritualized moment at his cradle, three guiding figures—Rodovoj, Rodovít, and Lichoradka—circle his early life with very different hopes. The first two wish him well, imagining a life of happiness and light, while Lichoradka dares a stark, selfish wish: that Urban will grow up an orphan, trapped in poverty and unhappiness. The fairies then strike a compromise of sorts, praying that Urban’s hardships will be temporary and that a lasting happiness awaits him in the end. A playful, if risky, bet follows: whose wish will come true is left to fate.

As the tale unfolds, Lichoradka’s dark wish begins to cast a shadow. Urban’s mother dies, and he becomes an orphan, moving into a world where care is scarce and innocence must be fought for against hardship. In a bid to shape Urban’s future more directly, Rodovoj and Rodovít influence a dream given to a watchmaker—one that hints Urban might come into a treasure when he marries. The Watchmaker, a stern yet capable figure, takes Urban in as an apprentice and welcomes him into his household. He is determined that Urban should marry his daughter Laura, hoping the marriage will secure both Urban’s future and the means to claim the fabled treasure. Laura and Urban fall in love, a natural bond that blossoms even as they remain unaware of the treasure that supposedly awaits them.

Inevitably, Lichoradka reveals a grim truth to the Watchmaker: Urban and Laura’s wedding would signal the Watchmaker’s own end. Desperate to protect his own life and the treasure’s power, the Watchmaker considers calling off the marriage. Yet a glimmer of possibility survives in a mysterious watch said to grant protection to its bearer against death. That glimmer becomes a guiding thread as Urban is sent on a difficult quest to locate this legendary watch, a task that will determine not just his happiness but the family’s survival.

Urban’s journey is a test of endurance and resolve. He faces a series of obstacles conjured by Lichoradka, designed to deter him and push him toward failure. Yet with help that arrives from unexpected sources—Rodovít and Rodovoj, who lend their timely support—Urban presses on. The search culminates in a reunion with Laura in a moment of deep personal need: she is overwhelmed by sorrow, and her life seems precarious without the watch’s protection or Urban’s presence. Their reunion leads to a wedding, a moment of hope that briefly eclipses the Watchmaker’s fears.

The story reaches a grim counterpoint when the Watchmaker, driven by his own fear of losing the coveted watch, turns to inspection and invention in a desperate bid to safeguard his power. His plan collapses as the treasured mechanism stops, and he dies. In the wake of his death, Urban and Laura inherit what remains of his workshop and the life he built—an inheritance that is revealed, gradually, to be the true treasure itself. With the Watchmaker’s wealth and knowledge at their disposal, Urban and Laura begin a new life together, rooted in mutual love and resilience rather than the brittle power of a magical object.

The film closes with a sense of continuity and quiet triumph. Rodovoj, Rodovít, and Lichoradka observe the cradle of Urban and Laura’s newborn child, a symbol of renewal and the possibility that wishes—though powerful and dangerous—can lead to a deeply grounded happiness when tempered by love and perseverance. The final image lingers on the family’s evolving legacy, a gentle reminder that the threads of fate are often woven by many hands, and that a life built on care, courage, and a shared future can outlast the most perilous wishes.