An alcoholic, abusive ne'er-do-well is shown the error of his ways through a legend that dooms the last person to die on New Year's Eve before the clock strikes twelve to take the reins of Death's chariot and work tirelessly collecting fresh souls for the next year.
A jaded prima ballerina reminisces about her first love affair after she is unexpectedly sent her lover's old diary.
The wife of a dull-witted miller is in her deathbed and the miller must find a new woman to marry. He is expected to marry the sister of a local forester, a refined woman he wants to love. She is gentle and motherly, though a rather austere Christian. But the miller lusts after his maidservant, Lise, a ruthless and calculating woman determined to climb up the social ladder. Lise tries to use her lower class sensuality and a bit of magic to entice the miller.
