Sukkubus (1989) — AI Story Visualization

Plot Analysis Summary

A pastoral legend turns a blasphemous ritual into a crisis of superstition, violence, and feared supernatural punishment.

Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases

The Oath Beneath the Alps

Senn and the shepherds swear to follow strict pastoral and religious rules. They pray and begin the seven-day journey toward Roccia Nera with the cattle.

Key Events

• The Swiss Legend — A legend recounts how three shepherds were punished after becoming entangled with evil. Characters: Senn Location: Narrator's village
• The Shepherds' Oath — Senn and the shepherds swear to serve faithfully and care for the cattle. Characters: Senn Location: Alpine pastures
• Rules of the Pasture — The shepherds promise fair salt distribution, obedience, and avoidance of wrongdoing. Characters: Senn Location: Alpine pastures
• Prayers Before Departure — The shepherds repeatedly pray to God and the saints before leaving with the herd. Characters: Senn Location: Alpine pastures
• Seven-Day Journey — The shepherds drive the herd toward Roccia Nera for seven days. Characters: Senn Location: Path toward Roccia Nera

Superstition at Roccia Nera

At the remote pasture, work, drinking, jokes, and ominous charms coexist. Talk of a witch and a closed ring prepares the ground for a forbidden ritual.

Key Events

• Superstitious Talk — Rough jokes and ominous charms connect a witch's sickness with a closed ring. Characters: Senn Location: Alpine pastures
• Arrival at Roccia Nera — The shepherds settle with the herd at the remote alpine pasture. Characters: Senn Location: Roccia Nera
• A Crude Figure — The shepherds begin fashioning a female doll from food, drink, and sexual imagery. Characters: Senn Location: Roccia Nera
• The Doll Takes Shape — They shape the doll's breasts, belly, genitals, and buttocks. Characters: Senn Location: Roccia Nera
• Mock Baptism — The shepherds baptize the doll with holy water, schnapps, and a mock Christian formula. Characters: Senn, Sukkubus Location: Roccia Nera

The Blasphemous Creation

The shepherds construct a crude female doll and perform a mock baptism with holy water and schnapps. The ritual increasingly suggests the invocation of a Sukkubus.

Key Events

• Mock Baptism — The shepherds baptize the doll with holy water, schnapps, and a mock Christian formula. Characters: Senn, Sukkubus Location: Roccia Nera
• The Sukkubus Invocation — The blasphemous ritual increasingly suggests that the shepherds are creating or invoking a Sukkubus. Characters: Senn, Sukkubus Location: Roccia Nera
• Storm from Susten — A storm approaches from Susten, forcing the shepherds to gather the animals. Characters: Senn Location: Roccia Nera
• Prayers for Protection — The shepherds pray for protection as the weather becomes increasingly dangerous. Characters: Senn Location: Roccia Nera
• Lightning Strikes the Cross — Lightning strikes the cross, making the shepherds fear that their protected peace has been broken. Characters: Senn Location: Roccia Nera

Storm and Loss

A storm approaches from Susten, lightning strikes the cross, and the shepherds fear their protection has failed. Bruni is swept into a gorge and found dead.

Key Events

• Bruni Swept Away — The cow Bruni is swept away during the chaos and falls into a gorge. Characters: Senn Location: Gorge near Roccia Nera
• The Dead Cow — Bruni is found dead and can no longer provide milk. Characters: Senn Location: Gorge near Roccia Nera
• Blaming the Witch — In panic and anger, the shepherds blame and curse a witch for the disaster. Characters: Senn Location: Roccia Nera
• Forcing the Cattle Together — The shepherds try to force the remaining cattle together and use the bull to make a cow produce milk. Characters: Senn Location: Roccia Nera
• Packing to Flee — The shepherds pack up and prepare to escape the mountain. Characters: Senn Location: Roccia Nera

Flight and Burning

The shepherds blame a witch, struggle with the remaining cattle, and flee the mountain. Later, a witch-like doll is made and burned as a supposed confirmation of the ban.

Key Events

• Cutting Through Obstacles — The shepherds cut through obstacles while fleeing with the cattle. Characters: Senn Location: Mountain path
• Wake and Run — They repeatedly urge the boy to wake up and run as they leave the mountain. Characters: Senn Location: Mountain path
• Return to Roccia Nera — The final account says men from the narrator's village return to Roccia Nera. Characters: Senn Location: Roccia Nera
• The Witch Effigy — The returning men make another doll resembling the witch. Characters: Senn Location: Roccia Nera
• Burning the Doll — They burn the witch-like doll and believe the ban has taken effect. Characters: Senn Location: Roccia Nera
• Punishment for Sacrilege — The story closes with folk magic, religious ritual, and punishment for sacrilege. Characters: Senn, Sukkubus Location: Narrator's village

Story Breakdown

• Legendary Framework — The story begins as a Swiss account of shepherds punished after becoming entangled with evil.
  • Punished Shepherds — The opening legend establishes wrongdoing and punishment as the story's central frame.
  • Village Retelling — The final account returns the events to the narrator's village tradition.
• Pastoral Oath — Senn and the shepherds accept practical, religious, and moral rules before entering the mountain pasture.
  • Rules and Salt — They swear to care for cattle, distribute salt fairly, and obey the Alpine steward.
  • Seven-Day Journey — Repeated prayers accompany the herd's movement toward Roccia Nera.
• Superstition Grows — Everyday pastoral life becomes mixed with drinking, jokes, charms, and fear of a witch.
  • Closed Ring Charm — A charm links the witch's sickness with a closed ring.
  • Remote Pasture — The shepherds settle at Roccia Nera, isolated from ordinary protection.
• Forbidden Effigy — The shepherds create a crude female figure and transform their mockery into a dangerous ritual.
  • Sculpted Body — They shape the doll's breasts, belly, genitals, and buttocks from food and drink.
  • Mock Baptism — Holy water, schnapps, and a distorted Christian formula turn the act into blasphemy.
• Storm of Consequences — The storm and the lightning-struck cross destroy the shepherds' confidence in their protective order.
  • Broken Protection — Lightning strikes the cross while the shepherds pray for safety.
  • Bruni's Death — The cow is swept away into a gorge and found dead, unable to give milk.
• Flight and Retribution — Panic leads to blame, desperate cattle handling, escape, and a final act of folk punishment.
  • Blame and Escape — The shepherds curse a witch, gather the cattle, cut through obstacles, and flee.
  • Burned Witch Figure — A second doll resembling the witch is burned as proof that the ban has taken effect.

Directed by

Georg Tressler

Key Cast

• Peter Simonischek — Senn
• Giovanni Früh — Hirt
• Andy Voß — Handrbub
• Pamela Prati — Sukkubus