Although none of Mozart's music is changed (except for being sung in English), this version of "The Magic Flute" is considerably darker than the usual version, which is usually staged as a lighthearted fantasy with a philosophical message behind it. Most of the intensity in this version comes from the fact that it has been reset to happen in and around a battlefield during World War I, although in one scene, the Queen of the Night goes completely berserk in a way that she never does onstage.
In a fit of anger, while singing an aria, the Queen of the Night ties Pamina to a revolving windmill and sets the sails on fire, but ultimately frees her.
Tamino is first seen trying to escape a moving cloud of poison gas.
Monostatos tries to drown Tamino and Pamina by unleashing a flood of water from a river at them.
In a moment of depression, Pamina almost commits suicide, but is stopped by the Three Boys. Although Papageno also makes preparations to kill himself, his situation is played partly for laughs, and is not intense.