Original subtitles

Heinrich

after documents, letters and writings by Heinrich von Kleist

cast ... Stimmings near Potsdam 1811

... Berlin 1806 - 1811

... Aspern 1809

Fortress Mainz 1797 - 1799

Frankfurt/Oder 1799 - 1811

the Theatre de Soleil Paris 1801

... Weimar 1808

... the Riebisch couple, hired laborers

Henriette Vogel

Ernst von Pfuel

Ulrike von Kleist

Heinrich

but I swear to you ...

it is quite impossible for me to live any longer.

My soul is so injured

that I, I'd almost say ...

whenever I stick my nose out of the window

the daylight is hurtful to me

that shines upon it.

Some people might think this morbid and eccentric.

By having been in constant contact with beauty and decorum since my earliest youth, in my thoughts and writings,

I have become so sensitive

that the slightest attacks

a person's feelings are subject to during the course of things

are hurting me doubly and triply. [letter to Marie von Kleist, 10 Nov. 1811]

Mummy, let me in!

Mummy, let me in!

Highborn

Freiherr

august

august

Herr

Privy Councilor

State Chancellor

Even though ...

even though

the distance

far away from ???

who certainly

certainly

is solely

guilty

guilty

of the disgrace

highborn

highborn

Freiherr

damages

claim for damages

since the

fatherland

fatherland

is threatened by danger

highborn Freiherr

born

Freiherr

without doubt will succeed

Your venerable Excellency, to ...

to ...

to convince

convince

that

convince

Berlin, 19 Sept. 1811

Herr von Kleist

asks for ...

a private loan

of 20 pieces francs d'or.

To be filed

since the persona von Kleist,

21.11.11,

is no longer alive.

Berlin,

22 November 11

Hardenberg

to be filed

to be filed

to be filed

to be filed

to be filed

K ... K ... K

Kleist

In the midst of this triumphal song my soul starts singing at this moment of death,

I think of you once more and want to unbosom myself to you, as much as possible.

Everything else on earth, the whole and the lonely,

I've totally overcome within my heart.

Yes, it is true:

I've cheated on you,

or rather, I've cheated on myself,

but as I've told you a thousand times

that I won't survive this,

I'm giving you now, by taking leave of you,

the proof of it.

I've exchanged you with another woman friend,

but if this is of any comfort to you,

not with one who wants to live with me,

but who, sensing that I won't be true to her either, like I wasn't true to you,

wants to die with me.

I can't tell you more, my relationship to the lady doesn't permit it.

Only know that much:

that my soul, by being touched by hers,

has wholly ripened to death,

that I've measured all the splendour of the human soul within hers,

and I die because on earth, there remains nothing for me to learn or acquire.

Farewell. [letter to Marie von Kleist, 19 Nov. 1811]

in pairs - and not a word!

good morning, Frl. von Kleist

good morning, Frl. von Kleist

I cannot die, feeling as content and gay as I feel now,

without having reconciled with the whole world, and therefore, before all others, my dear Ulrike,

without having reconciled with you too.

Really, what you've done for me was beyond the forces of a sister,

but within the forces of a human being,

in order to save me.

The truth is: on earth, no one could help me.

And now farewell.

May ...

Heaven ...

grant you ...

a death ...

with only ...

half of the joy ...

and ...

inner serenity ...

resembling mine.

Stimmings

near Potsdam,

on the morning

morning

of my death.

Your

Heinrich. [letter to Ulrike von Kleist, 21. Nov. 1811]

more coffee!

wait!

more coffee!

That's Madame.

yes?

and now you can help me get dressed

Monsieur

don't bother, Heinrich

I'm embarrassed

the robe

afterwards the lady and the gentleman came down, paid the bill

and when I enquired if they would be here for lunch

they refused.

then we'll have a much better appetite for dinner

won't you have a nice cup of broth?

with pleasure

in the evening the guests ...

when two people say the same thing

they'll stay together for another year

as the saying goes

on the morning of my death

how many are there today?

17.

good morning

how late is it?

it's half past eight

I must know the exact time

the bell will ring right now

you see

thank you

it's half past eight

Heinrich

on the morning of my death

the landlord isn't in?

they've both gone out

can I do something for you, sir?

how late is it?

I don't have a watch

it must be about 11

like the Persian king's bride, anointed with oil,

when she is led to his chamber, pouring down over all his carpets

what a weird phrase

It's from a play. [K�thchen of Heilbronn]

a play?

oh my!

on the morning of my death

how late is it?

past 12

then the messenger's been here already?

yes, just now. Did you want to send a message?

no, not really

no.

you can still see him ride off from your room

on the morning of my death

that Vogel woman in this tragedy, like some stupid accident

Ernst?

I shall never get married.

You be a wife to me, my children, grandchildren.

Besides, after the remarks I made earlier, I claim

that between the two, there existed a sympathy of souls and a spiritual love,

and that both considered the dissolution of their bodies as the highest good

and strove towards it.

The Lieutenant of the Royal Guards Regiment

Herr von Kleist

the former Lieutenant

my dear Kleist

I brought new sheet music

I used to sing this as a child

go on, play something

sing something

[Ich steh an deiner Krippen hier]

# I lay in deepest deadly night

# you were my sun

# the sun which brought me

# light, life, joy and bliss

# O sun, you've prepared within me

# the dear light of faith

# how beautiful are your rays.

you may have her, if you like

I cede her to you

that wasn't necessary

# take away the straw, take away the hay

# I want to gather some flowers

# for my Saviour to rest upon them

# upon sweet violets

# with roses, carnations, rosemary

# from beautiful gardens I shall ...

# bestrew him from above

this is so beautiful one could shoot oneself

it is

isn't it

so dead

what is death?

it's like sleeping

only much more beautiful

much much more beautiful

it's an incurable disease

Vogel has been finding me repugnant since two years

he'd be glad to get rid of me

that was the reason for his act

forget about it

now I distinguish neither colours nor shapes

and now all lies in darkness below me [Prinz Friedrich von Homburg]

it takes more diligence

I don't have that

hue ... blue ... bluer

one ... mine ... his

yours ... new ... his

Napoleon stood here

the Austrians advanced

but there wasn't any snow

no, it was in May

pardon me

I'm sorry

you were there

I was

but you didn't fight

no, we just came ... we

we took a walk across the battlefield

we?

Dahlmann and I

I met Heinrich Kleist in 1809 shortly before the outbreak of the war between France and Austria

he didn't know what to do with himself in this Napoleonic world

Heinrich!

leave the dead alone!

they're defeated!

Napoleon is defeated!

they're defeated!

here's it's all ???

and there are cart tracks on the riverbank

hey, old man!

did the French pass through here?

the French?

yes, from there to here?

from here to there?

the French?

do you understand?

he misunderstood you

your passport [Austrian accent]

- are you together? - together

it's valid

- Frenchmen? - we're Germans

I'm a German, I'll read something to you

if you allow me

he's a German poet from Prussia

a former Lieutenant of the Royal Prussian Guards

he's left Prussia because Prussia doesn't fight against Napoleon

we're enemies of the French

Heinrich, you don't have to read something

they'll understand me

they've shed blood for the fatherland

I'll read a dialog to them

here

on the arch-enemy

question:

who are your enemies, my son?

answer: Napoleon, and as long as he's their emperor, the French

question: is there nobody else whom you hate?

answer: nobody in the whole world

question: all the same,

when you left school yesterday

you fell out with somebody, if I'm not mistaken

answer: I, my father? with whom?

question: with your brother, you've told me yourself

take him away

answer: yes, with my brother

he didn't ... my bird, like I told him to

question: so your brother is your enemy, who did this to you?

not Napoleon, the Corsican, not the French people he rules

no, my father, what is he saying

answer: I don't know how to answer this

silence!

he can even shout!

question: what do the grown-up Germans have time for now?

Lieutenant von Kleist from Prussia

but a great admirer of the Austrian Emperor

answer: to restore the empire which has been shattered

question: and the children?

answer: to pray that they may succeed

Herr von Kleist?

I even have something better

if this wasn't to your liking

wait

I only must search for it

here

here

answer:

I am a German

A German? You must be joking.

you were born in Mei�en

and Mei�en lies in Saxony

I thought you were a Prussian?

von Kleist?

a relative of the Kleist of Magdeburg?

he mustn't get involved in politics

either he joins the fight or he's a civilian and a subject

and he's to await his fate

but that's just the point

what makes the Frenchmen superior, that they're no longer subjects

he's still a friend of the French

we won't decide the matter here

take him to Fieldmarshall Hehler ???

this is the new drama

the Battle of Hermann [of the Teutoburg Forest]

and those are poems

to the Emperor Franz

to the Archduke Charles

Germania to her children

and this is rather nice

"furry bear and panther beast

- the arrow ... how goes it - "the arrow has vanquished.

"only for money in the wire trellis

"the young are still on display.

"you no longer see any snakes,

"otters and the like,

"nor the dragon's ghoulish host

"with swollen stomachs.

"only the Frenchman is still around

"in the German Empire.

"brothers, take up the mace

"so that he too shall yield.

nice, nice

splendid

oh you bridegroom of the goddess of victory ...

what's the matter with your friend?

he's dreaming

a dreamer

a dreamer, yes

a poet

and daily, like fir trees before the storm [Robert Guiskard]

the heads of your faithful sink into the dust

he who fell won't rise anymore

and where he fell, he fell into his grave

he struggles, with infinite ...

Heinrich got us the passport which bound us like a married couple

Heinrich

during those several days of wandering we actually permeated each other

took possession of each other

you see him bare his horrible teeth against God and men

against the friend, the brother, father, mother, children, against even the approaching bride he was raging.

I always think

that you fought in the first campaigns of the Revolutionary Wars

as Prussian Guards officer

and that you didn't stay with them

what did you say?

you didn't listen

I did

you could have served the fatherland better

yes yes

no no

do you want to die with me?

live, Heinrich

ah

victory or death

1795.

the Corporal of the Prussian Guards Regiment Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist

is promoted to Ensign

1797.

the Ensign of the Prussian Guards Regiment Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist

is promoted to Second Lieutenant

does he know the penalty for desertion?

I do

and why has he ...

what's the Prussian Army to me!

I wanted to get back to my potato fields

I wanted to get back into bed with my wife

I wanted to see my children

if the Officer knows what I mean

the punishment will teach him the value of the Prussian Army

they made me drunk

they sewed me into a sack

and when I woke up I already wore the uniform

that's the Prussian Army!

the usual ???

- my dear R�hl ... - Ernst von Pfuel, you've been with him a lot lately

more than with us

we hardly see you anymore

don't worry

worry?

why? because of Pfuel?

you're jealous

Herr von Pfuel

- Ernst - Heinrich

he's from a good family

you don't like him?

but I expect great things of him

he's my friend, like you are

[Mozart - clarinet quintet KV 581]

Heinrich?

I shall never get married

you be a wife to me, my children, my grandchildren

Ernst

don't throw yourself at fate's feet

it's ungenerous and it will crush you

let one sacrifice be enough

preserve the ruins of your soul

let them remind us of the lust and romantic times of our lives

and when one day a good war calls you to the battlefield ...

your homeland, then go

they will appreciate your value

when the emergency calls to arms

accept my offer

if you don't ...

then I shall feel that nobody in the world loves me

I want to tell you even more [but it's not fit for a letter, to Pfuel, 7 Jan. 1805]

Heinrich

you've handed in your resignation

yes I have

yes yes yes

yes

through these observations the soldier's profession [letter to Martini, 19 March 1799]

which I never liked, became hateful to me

because it carries inside itself something unnatural to my whole being,

so hateful that by and by it became annoying to me

having to participate in its aims.

The most miraculous feats of military discipline

which are a cause of astonishment for all connoisseurs,

became subject to my heartfelt contempt;

the officers I took to be only drilling masters,

the soldiers to be only slaves,

and when the entire regiment was performing its routine,

it seemed to me like a living monument to tyranny.

Heinrich

to have a life-plan means [letter to Ulrike, May 1799]

a voyager who knows the destiny of his voyage and the road to it

he has an itinerary

what the itinerary is to a voyager, the life-plan is to a man

to leave for a voyage without an itinerary

means to expect that pure chance will lead us to our destiny

which we don't know ourselves

living without a life-plan means to expect from pure chance

to make us as happy as we ourselves couldn't imagine

Heinrich!

my soul, you're in Berlin!

my God, Heinrich

I've handed in my resignation

I want to study

but not right now!

how did you know I was here?

I've already been at home

- but when did you set out? - this morning

without food?

Heinrich!

Heinrich!

what are you writing, Heinrich?

something on physics

for the Zenge girl?

yes

what trouble you're taking for her

wait

I'll read to you what you wrote to me about her recently

my dear Ulrike

the only company I see daily are the Zenges [letter to Ulrike, 12 Nov. 1799]

and I would have given up on this company too, because of my embarrassment,

if I hadn't been resolved to get rid of this disagreeable emotion

because during my life-path I'll encounter all sorts of people

and I must be able to make use of everyone of them.

the eldest Zenge girl, Minette

even displays some fine feelings which are occasionally receptive to beauty

at least, I'm content when she's listening to me with interest

even though I get nothing from her in return

Heinrich?

yes?

but of all this there remains nothing once the whole crowd has gathered

one couldn't call their intermingling babblings a conversation

that's her

I'll open the door

good day, Herr von Kleist

I've come to fetch today's composition

what about the composition, Wilhelmine?

won't you read it?

I will

then take it out

Wilhelmine

- yes? - what are you reading?

- from Herr von Kleist - what's he saying?

- he says ... - what is it?

- that the girl ... - yes yes, what next?

that he's been fondly in love with me for a long time

and that I'd make him happy by giving him my hand in marriage

aren't you glad?

it feels so strange

what does he want of you this time?

Wilhelmine?

he's such a noble person

with the patience of an angel

read it to me

when a woman is adorable, it doesn't automatically make her interesting [letter to Wilhelmine, summer 1800]

and how can a woman obtain and sustain her husband's interest?

don't you know?

go to him and ask him

he's your fianc� after all

but he already wrote it

so ... the answer

with interest it's like with all things on earth

it's not enough that they were created in Heaven:

He must also sustain them if they are to last

and nothing needs the most careful nourishment more

than that mysterious thing which produces it, we don't know how,

and which often disappears again,

we don't know how,

the interest.

and then he goes on and on

he means it more in general

yes I know

but it still hurts

and then there are other questions he wants me to answer

question:

what is more desirable?

to have been happy for a short time or never ever?

question:

when the husband uses his brutal right of the stronger against the wife, with the weapons of violence

doesn't the wife too have a right against the husband?

one might call the right of the weaker

and which she could exercise with the weapons of meekness

question:

what binds people more to each other with the bonds of trust,

virtues or weaknesses?

I want to do everything right

what do you say to this?

when a girl is asked what she demands of a future marriage

in order to be most happy in it,

she must decide first: 1.

what characteristics her future husband should have:

whether he should be extraordinary in mind and body,

or ordinary, and to what degree etc.

furthermore

whether he should be rich, noble etc.

2.

what office he should hold:

whether a military office, a civilian office, or none at all

none at all?

3. where the setting of the marriage ought to be:

whether in town or in the country

and how, in each case, its location ought to be arranged,

whether in the mountains or on the plains,

or at the seaside, etc.

your composition has been returned

it couldn't be delivered

the Kleists have left

it doesn't matter

we'll send it on

all you did was write to each other anyway

even while he was here

"Heinrich, the coach is breaking

"no sir, not the coach,

"but a string of my heart that's in great pain [Der Froschk�nig - the frog king]

since all this is nothing but a wish

fantasy has its unlimited field of action

and must not bind itself to any fetters of reality

Pannwitz is dead

Pannwitz with whom you had lessons as a child

he's killed himself

because of melancholia, they say

Heinrich, sir, this is not the carriage

it is a part of my heart ???

we promised each other we'd die together

children promise each other many things

marriage and death

Butzbach

my horses!

my horses!

so a human life would depend on a donkey's bray [letter to Wilhelmine, 21 July 1801]

and if it had been terminated

I would have lived for this?

that would have been the Creator's intent,

regarding this dark mysterious earthly life?

hey there

it's nothing

come

I should have learned this, done this, and nothing else?

from Frankfurt to Potsdam

from Potsdam to Dresden

from Dresden to Leipzig

from Leipzig to Halle

from Halle to Halberstadt

from Halberstadt to Wernigerode

Ilsenburg and Goslar

then ...

then to G�ttingen

Kassel

in Butzbach the accident

then R�desheim

Frankfurt on the Main

Mannheim

Heidelberg

Dorlach

Chalons-sur-Marne

and then ... Paris

a fellow student?

travelling companion

in eight days, without a stop, we'll make Stra�burg-Paris, 120 miles

yes, young man

but with a wife, you can't do that

it will be impossible

it's my innate failure never to be able to grasp the moment [letter to Adolfine von Werdeck, 29 July 1801]

and to live always in a place where I'm not at the moment

and in a time which has passed already or hasn't come yet

when I was staying in my fatherland I used to be in Paris almost all the time

and now, even though I'm staying in Paris, I'm almost always in my fatherland

you really are bitten to death? [Penthesilea]

not kissed to death?

so it was a mistake

kisses, bites, that's a rhyme

and he who loves dearly may well take the one for the other

you, my dear sweet bridegroom, you forgive me

by Diana, I just mistook one word for another

because I wasn't master of the swift lips

but now I'll tell you clearly how I meant it

this is, beloved, what I meant, and nothing more, by Jupiter

if you were a man and not my sister

write a letter to Wilhelmine

yes

you really want to ... me, when I was stifling you, like a dove, quietly

no limb you possess, out of lust, insatiable Odiana

touched none of your limbs, doing it

will you write to Wilhelmine?

no

I'm writing about you

look, Prothoe, look

the remains of a lip, speak

doesn't it seem to you as if he were smiling

By Olympos, he's reconciled with me

and that other part, it's smiling too

so be it, you're right too

your idol, if you consider everything carefully

I've devoured you out of love

kisses and bites, that's a rhyme

heart and pains too

come, Heinrich

I attended the 14th of July, the anniversary the storming of the Bastille [letter to Karoline von Schlieben, 18 July 1801]

they celebrate on the same day the feast of regained liberty and peace

I am not sure myself how such days could be met with dignity,

but this I know:

that there can hardly be a more undignified fashion.

they didn't lack any obelisks, triumphal arches, decorations, illuminations, fireworks and aerial balls and cannonades

on the contrary

but none of those efforts reminded one of the principal idea.

the intention to distract the people's minds through a nauseating series of pleasures

was predominating

and if the Government had the impudence to oblige a man of honour to attend,

through the m�ts de cocagne, the jeux de caroussels, the th�atres forains, the escamoteurs, the danseurs de corde,

to be reminded of the gods' sacred gifts of freedom and peace,

this would be more insulting than to hit him in his face with a fist.

c'est bon, la f�te, la libert�, regagner de la paix

nous allons vous interpr�ter pour la derni�re fois

l'histoire �difiante de notre grand Consul

Napol�on Bonaparte

la France est enfin enceinte

� Ajaccio, une jeune femme 19 ans, Laetitia Bonaparte, met au monde un bel enfant

qui re�oit le nom de Napol�on

d�j� l'enfant Napol�on est trois personnes

orgeilleux et r�volt�

il ne daigne s'associer aux jeux de ses compagnons

que pour ordonner de batailles

la ville de Toulons est occup�e par les Anglais

la jeune R�publique Fran�aise est en danger

Bonaparte, jeune officier

prend le commandement de l'artillerie

et investit Toulons

il n'a que 24 ans, il est nomm� G�n�ral de Brigade

venu de si lointain

une belle Cr�ole

un produit de Barnabass ???

elle ??? la vie de notre grand soldat

c'est Jos�phine de Beauharnais

vos papiers, Messieurs

c'est mon fr�re

son nom est inscrit sur le papier

about Heinrich's and my stay in Paris I can't say anything but

that we were staying at La Place and that I accompanied him in male attire

nobody in Paris except the blind flute player recognized my female sex

and addressed me as Madame

vous jouez comme un dieu

vous �tes un veritable artiste, Monsieur

merci, Madame

c'est pas une dame

c'est un Monsieur

c'est une dame.

I'm as good as a man

there's no great thing in the world Ulrike wouldn't be capable of [letter to Adolfine von Werdeck, 29 July 1801]

a noble, wise, generous girl

the soul of a hero in a woman's body

and I would have no part of all this

if I didn't feel this intensely.

but a person can possess much, give much

still, one cannot always, as Goethe says, rest at his bosom.

she's a girl who writes and acts orthographically,

plays and thinks according to measure,

a being who has nothing feminine but the hips,

and she never felt how sweet a handshake can be.

there is no being in the world I honour as much as my sister,

but what mistake did nature commit by forming a being who is neither man nor woman,

and like an amphibian is tossed between the species.

what is remarkable in this creature is the conflict between the will and the force.

but let's keep silent about it,

it almost sounds like an admonishment,

and even the slightest remark sounds too bitter for a being

who has no fault but this one:

to be too great for her sex.

Heinrich

if you were a man

then I could talk to you

couldn't you pretend that I am a man?

c'est bien, la maison est pleine

s'il vous pla�t, vous venez la voir, c'est celle l�-bas

sometimes I walk through the city with open eyes and see a lot that is ridiculous [letter to Adolfine von Werdeck, 29 July 1801]

and even more disgusting

and from time to time something beautiful

I walk the long, narrow streets, covered with excrement and dust,

passing the narrow but high buildings

carrying six floors, as if multiplying space

I wriggle through a crowd of people who scream, run, push and turn each other, without taking offense

on my way back I pass through the Palais Royal where one can meet all Paris

with all its gruesome pleasures

here, every sensual need can be satisfied to a nauseating degree

every virtue is mocked with abandon

all infamies are committed as if on principle

then it's evening

and I feel a burning desire to get away from all this

from all those roofs and chimneys

and from all those disgusting things

and to see nothing but the sky all around

but is there a place in this city where one doesn't see them?

vive la Nation

# vive la vie

# vive l'amour

my dear little Ulrike, I am worried when I think of your lonely voyage [letter to Ulrike, 16 Dec. 1801]

perhaps you're writing to me at this moment

that you forgive me everything

because it's your unconquered virtue, I know, Ulrike,

how unhappy this voyage had to end

which never gave you much pleasure

depuis le temps que tu passes par ici, regarde, qu'est-ce que c'est que �a

et �a, qu'est-ce que c'est que �a?

- veux-tu me donner le journal que te le demande? - je ne te donnerais pas, de toute fa�on, je ne l'ai pas

is he dead?

yes

did Heinrich write?

yes

from Paris?

yes, but he isn't there anymore

he wants to become a farmer

and you a farmer's wife?

yes, that's what he writes

do you want that?

ah

oh you whom I still love above all [letter to Pfuel, 1 Jan. 1805]

how we flew into each other's arms a year ago

how the world opened up for us, unlimited

like a race course, trembling with the desire for the contest on our minds

and now we lie on top of each other

our glances reaching out to the race's finish

which never seemed so brilliant to us as now

wrapped in the dust of our fall

that you're here!

and I have nothing further to say to you? [letter to Lohse, 29 Dec. 1801]

ah yes, there is something

but don't worry, you shall never hear me complain

I want to say farewell to you, for ever

and while doing this I feel so peaceful and full of love, like in an hour close to death

I ask for your forgiveness

I know that there is guilt upon my soul too

not an ugly one

but one, this one, that I didn't honour your goodness according to its dignity

because it wasn't the best

oh forgive me

it's my foolish exalted character who can never enjoy what's there, but only what's not there

don't say that God shall pardon me

you pardon me, it will suit you divinely

I forgive you everything

oh, everything

I don't love you?

how could you ever convince another that I don't love you!

what else have we been looking for, on our beautiful path!

wasn't it repose before the passion?

why did it have to be you? why you?

everything in the world was so indifferent to me

even the highest things, so indifferent

how could it happen, that often I sat down and occupied myself with nonentities

as if my life were at stake

oh, it's disgusting, disgusting

again I feel so bitter, so hostile, so ugly

and yet, you could have enticed all the noble notes from the instrument which you just tore apart

you know ...

what the old men do

after they have been courting for riches and lucrative posts for 50 years

they settle down onto a hearth and cultivate a field

tell me

couldn't one be wiser and go earlier to that place

where in the end one is bound to go

but that's what we're doing right now

among the Persian magicians

there was a religious law

one couldn't do anything more useful to the Goddess than this:

to cultivate a field

to father a child

and to plant a tree

you've restored the age of the Greeks in my heart [letter to Pfuel, 7 Jan. 1805]

I could have slept with you, my dear boy

that much all my soul has been embracing you

I looked at your beautiful body, when you got into the lake at Thun, with truly maidenly feelings

your small wiry head

upon a thick neck

a pair of broad shoulders

a sinewy body

the whole an exemplary model of strength

as if you'd been modeled after the most beautiful bull that ever was bled for Zeus

Now Lycurgus' laws on the love of adolescents has become clear to me, through the feelings which you awoke within me

come to me!

I can't

I'll write him that

I can't be a farmer's wife

I'll write him that

... defiled! You must be mad! [Robert Guiskard]

Do I look like one who's got the plague?

I who stand before you in the fullness of life

I who am in control of each of my limbs

You don't want to drag me, in the bloom of my youth, to join the putrescent on the field

Heinrich

defiled by the plague's breath

You must be mad, you!

Do I look like one who's got the plague?

I who stand before you in the fullness of life

I who am in control of each of my limbs

defiled by the plague's breath

You must be mad, you!

Good day, Herr von Pfuel

take me across the lake

??? then vintner the would have heard something

??? [Swiss dialect]

on the ??? running up and down

reciting

Ernst

Ernst

Ernst!

Ernst

Ernst

Ernst

I'll come with you

to Geneva

Milano, Paris

wherever you want

we'll get your things

that would be very nice, till death

you've burned the Guiskard, Heinrich

Aeschylus and Shakespeare

your greatest work

Ernst?

Ernst?

this is no good, Herr Kleist

this isn't smooth enough

and you've fined down too much already

but this isn't your true profession

Napoleon has entered Hanover with his troops

or rather, his General Mortier

we're going to have plenty of wars now

what do you say to this, Herr Kleist?

I don't know

which side are you on?

I don't know

he's going to abolish serfdom

- yes - but he's drinking the people's life-blood

that's also true

go home to your family

Herr von Kleist

I don't want to watch you ruin yourself

all those circumstances [Wieland to Wedekind, 10 April 1804]

his pride, violently pressed down by fate,

his terrible tension, the eccentricity of his whole life,

he's been moving in restlessly to and fro, ever since he quitted the army,

his fruitless striving for an unreachable mirage of perfection,

his Guiscard which has become his id�e fixe, on top of it, his ruined health,

force me to believe that his good genius gave him the idea to work for a carpenter in Koblenz

allons enfants de la patrie, le jour de gloire est arriv�

contre nous de la tyrannie, l'�tendard sanglant est lev�!

L'�tendard sanglant est lev�!

Entendez-vous dans les campagnes mugir ces f�roces soldats?

Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras �gorger vos fils, vos ...

sit down behind me

otherwise, I cannot think

Heinrich!

I'm working on a strange phenomenon

listen to this:

[On the Gradual Production of Thoughts Whilst Speaking]

Often I sit at my desk over the files

and search in a complicated legal suit for the angle from which it can best be judged.

I usually look towards the light

as the brightest spot I can find, striving to enlighten my inner being.

And look what happens:

As soon as I talk it over with my sister,

sitting behind me, working,

I realize what I wouldn't have found out by brooding for hours.

It isn't as if she was telling me herself.

Neither does she lead me to the decisive point by skillful questioning,

even though the latter case may occasionally occur.

But since I have a vague hunch

which is somehow connected with what I'm searching for,

then once I have embarked on the formulation of the thought,

it is as if the need to lead what has been begun to some conclusion,

transforms my hazy imaginations into complete clarity in such a way

that my insight is completed together with my rambling period.

didn't you mention that we're invited at Wilhelmine's and her husband's tonight?

as you like, Heinrich

she used to be your fianc�e

she didn't make a bad match

her husband is the successor of Prof. Kant, after all

Prof. Krug

in return, we've kept you

you're knitting, Wilhelmine?

- my wife is ... - Wilhelmine?

I've written a play about a woman who is loved by a man and a god

Amphitryon

Wilhelmine is expecting a child

Heinrich!

we are very happy

aren't we, Wilhelmine?

- your predecessor ... - Herr Prof. Kant

his philosophy has deeply moved me four years ago

I told Wilhelmine about it in a letter

I remember

Heinrich

read it, Wilhelmine

she showed me all your letters, Herr von Kleist

you're quite a brain

one must admit

yes, a brain

if all men had instead of eyes green glasses [letter to Wilhelmine, 22 March 1801]

then they would have to judge: the objects they see through them are green

and never would they be able to decide whether their eyes show them the objects as they are,

or whether they aren't adding something, belonging not to them, but to the eyes.

Likewise it goes with the intellect:

We cannot know if what we call truth, is truly the truth

or if it only seems like it.

I was desperate at the time.

those thoughts ...

so my great predecessor has confused your youthful mind.

I strive towards a good relationship with my students

and towards happiness at home, which is ridiculed so often

I hear you belong to the so-called patriots

you have my sympathy

my sympathy, but you see ...

since the Frenchman is in the country

and since even Herr von Goethe comes to an arrangement with them

"voil� un homme!"

he's supposed to have said

so you see: Bonaparte to Herr von Goethe

after all

"voil� un homme"

you're no longer wearing male attire, Frl. von Kleist?

this way you look a bit more feminine

really more feminine

please, let's have some harmony, at least in here

this is a fight you're fighting with other weapons than I do

you possess the language

be silent

so be it

as if my eyelids had been cut off [Feelings in front of C.D. Friedrich's landscapes of the soul]

the lonely centre inside a lonely circle

take care, Heinrich, that they don't arrest you

they're searching for me

they might know that you're my friend

your friend?

Heinrich stayed for another half year

and then went to Berlin, accompanied by Pfuel and two other officers

Pfuel parted from then before they reached Berlin

Heinrich

what shall we do now?

they'd never let him enter Berlin

he hates the French

and they hate him

come

I hate them too

because of him?

because Pfuel hates them?

Napoleon?

the three arrive, are arrested and taken to France

without having given the slightest reason for arrest

this is our city

we're officers of the Prussian Army, everybody knows us

je ne comprends rien du tout

il dit que nous sommes des officiers de l'arm�e prussienne

que c'est notre ville, Berlin

et que pour cette raison, nous n'avons pas de passport

c'�tait jamais n�cessaire d'avoir un passport pour nous

vour parlez bien fran�ais

trop bien pour un officier de l'arm�e prussienne

il dit qu'il est prussien mais il parle fran�ais come un Parisien

en plus ils n'ont pas de passports, parles-leurs

I speak a bit German

you speak German with me

are you German?

we're former officers of the Prussian Army

we've resigned voluntarily

this gentleman is a poet

a German poet

his name!

his name is von Kleist

I want to know from this gentleman

il parle fran�ais comme sa premi�re langue

s'il est prussien je suis Galles ???

gentlemen, I hope you understand that we'll have to arrest you

unfortunately we cannot let you pass

you've no passport, no documents

please don't put up any resistance

je suis un officier prussien

je demande �tre trait� comme un officier

according to some, they mistook him for Pfuel

whom the French knew quite well and feared too, being an important patriot

according to others, he aroused suspicion because he got embarrassed so easily, stammering, blushing

had a baby face and in fact, spoke French more fluently than German

des papiers!

de l'encre!

I want to write!

I want to roll the Ida onto the Ossa [Penthesilea]

du papier, de l'encre!

when, with golden flaming hair, Helios flies past my face

flees ... je veux �crire!

Mlle de Kleist

I'll get up, travel to Berlin, go to the French administration and won't rest until I have freed Heinrich

vous �tes courageuse, Mlle de Kleist

il para�t que vous aimez votre fr�re

he isn't a spy

he's a poet

he hasn't done anything against the Emperor

he's been writing

that's all

but the written word is all-powerful

sometimes it is a more powerful weapon than all the guns

but he isn't successful with his writings

nobody wants to read it

he isn't dangerous

that might be the shortcomings of his readers

so you like his writings?

it is ...

I'd say ...

very German

my dear Mademoiselle

we must consider carefully whether we can release him from the fortress

according to the report of the commandant at Fort de Joux, he's busy writing from morning till night

perhaps he's never been so industrious before

and will never be like that again

but this is ...

inhuman!

but true

those prison cells

are like graves

perhaps this is just what he needs

Toussaint Louverture

has died in such a cell

he wasn't a Prussian

like your brother

I'll see to it that he is released soon

a bit against my convictions

my girl companions [Penthesilea]

ten thousand suns

to ...

one ...

ball of fire

molten down

molten down

so brilliant

nothing but a victory

my victory over him

M. Kleist

vous �tes libre

you girls, approach, with baskets full of roses [Penthesilea]

where can I find the wreaths for so many brows?

out with you, into the fields

and breath upon the soil to make the roses grow which spring is yet refusing me,

rush to your office, priestesses of Diana, open up the temple's gates

let them fly open like the gates of Paradise, filled with brilliant light and incense

oh let me, Prothoe, let my heart, for two moments, dive into this stream of lust, like a soiled child

with each break of its splendid waves, a stain is washed away from my bosom

this is for Heinrich

Heinrich won't come

but he's been released

Heinrich won't come

and he doesn't need cake, he needs money

he always needs money

well ...

then ...

you should marry, Frl. von Kleist

no!

never!

Heinrich!

what's the matter?

what's happened?

she's dead

she's dead

who is?

who else but Penthesilea

but you've killed her yourself

yes ... indeed

the Erinyes are fleeing, the horrible ones [Penthesilea]

a storm is raging, as if the gods were near

I want to join their chorus right now

I never was as ripe for death as now

they say, misfortune purifies the mind

I, beloved, I didn't feel it that way

it made me feel bitter towards gods and men, revolted me in inexplicable passion

how strange, each joyful face I saw was hateful to me

the child playing in its mother's lap seemed to conspire against my pains

how much I want to see everything around me content and happy

oh Prothoe, a human being can be great, a hero in suffering

but he's only divine when he's blessed

Heinrich von Kleist

the greatest poet of the Germans

for his 30th birthday

the father said, before he died: [The Broken Jug]

listen, Marthe, find a brave husband for my girl

and if she turns into a wanton whore

then give a penny to the grave digger

and let me turn over with my body

upon my soul, I'm turning in my grave

do you want to honour father and mother, according to the fourth commandment, my Eve?

speak up then, I let the boot maker into my chamber, or a third man

but it wasn't the bridegroom

I pity her. Leave the jug, I beg of you

I am to have broken it?

you mean man, shame on you

very well, I broke the jug

phooey, Ruprecht, shame on you that you didn't trust me

didn't I give you my hand and said "yes" when you asked for it

"Eve, do you want me?"

Mlle Elsermann is wearing an excellent costume, Herr von Goethe

tonight's sorbet didn't agree with me [Saxon accent]

too much lemon - too sour Weimar - The Prisoner - The Broken Jug

this is really boring, Privy Councilor

exceedingly boring

It always pleases me that you're willing to promote young talent

but this pitiful ...

who is the insolent person who dares whistle in my presence

Constable, arrest the fellow

my dear Privy Councilor, this is getting unprofitable

fortunately, at the Weimar theatre anything like that hasn't been staged yet

it won't happen again

venerable highborn sir [letter to Goethe, 24 Jan. 1808]

esteemed Privy Councilor

on my heart's knees I present to you ... [the play fragment Phoebus]

may the feeling which makes my hands tremble, compensate for what they are offering

may the feeling which makes my hands tremble, compensate for what they are offering

on my heart's knees I present to you ...

on my heart's knees

on my heart's knees

I'll ... I'll challenge him to a duel

even though he's a civilian and not noble

I'll challenge him

it's his fault

he's turned one act into three

he's destroyed everything

you're unfair, Heinrich

no, it's his jealousy

but I'll tear the laurel wreath from his head

Heinrich!

serve him my challenge

I won't

but I'll leave you alone

you're unfair and ungrateful

I have a right to criticize him

because I've raised him and loved him

but either his development has been disturbed by the times, as has happened to many

or whatever other reason there may be

enough

he doesn't keep his promise

the Kleist of the Broken Jug has a lapidary style

somehow clipped, with much humour, wit and a bit of talent, he's amusing himself

without having the slightest idea how others feel about it

exactly

the Berlin Evening News

a cent for the Nation

editor: Heinrich von Kleist

the Berlin Evening News

a cent for the Nation, editor: Heinrich von Kleist

In the last issue I read the story of the brandy tippler and the bells of Berlin

pomegranates ... pomegranates

caraway ... caraway ... caraway

that was first class, first class

what's the Lieutenant busy writing?

still the play?

true, a sun [Prinz Friedrich von Homburg]

people are saying

is also shining there

and over more colourful fields than ours.

I believe it

only a pity that the eye is rotting

that is supposed to look upon such splendor.

My, Lieutenant, that's beautiful

and there's a lot of truth in it too

but the parson would call it profane

who's talking like this in the drama?

a Prince of Prussia

oh

the Court won't appreciate it

do you really think so?

I do

good workmanship

when I die, you may have it

Heinrich

sit down

so this is the gentleman your brother

yes

I've come to say farewell

Heinrich always comes only to say farewell

or when he needs money

you do need money,

don't you, Heinrich?

I do

so you still haven't entered a proper profession yet?

I ... I'll take up an office again

what would he do if it weren't for the family

and in a higher sense, the great family of our Prussian fatherland

who also takes a lost son to her bosom

and even slaughters a calf for him

just listen to her, Heinrich

we all have supported you long enough

it's high time for a change

it will change very soon

the good roast

it mustn't be wasted

Herr von Kleist

I thought you were with your sister in Frankfurt

I've done a few errands

you still want to?

I've done an errand too

I've had it made for Vogel

his birthday will be three days later

and he shouldn't go empty-handed, after all

then all preparations have been met

yes

yours ever, Henriette 23.11.11

and we'll proceed as agreed

III miles from Berlin

# the dawn shines upon my early death

# soon the trumpet will sound

# then I will have to part from life

# I and some comrade

# hardly imagined, hardly imagined

# there was an end prepared to lust

# only yesterday sitting on proud horses

# today shot through the chest

# tomorrow into the cool grave

# oh how soon, oh how soon

# beauty and shape will vanish

# are you proud of your cheeks

# shining like milk and purple

# ah, the roses will all fade

hey! hey!

they shot themselves

tell the master to call the police

Anna!

let your wife carry them

go on with your search

but this is all

take it to the table

don't touch them, they might still be loaded

I suppose he knows about pistols

it's still loaded

here you are, there's no more danger

a man like him used to be an Ensign in Mainz

his name had an L, Leih ...

but I may be wrong

do you have a statement to make for the police?

by God, no, only that the pistol on the table was loaded

the two corpses lay 100 yards from the road, to the left

near the so-called Little Wannsee, on a hillock

which is covered with trees at its noon side

the male person

a coat of brown cloth

a white muslin waistcoat

pants of grey cloth

and round soft boots

the mouth covered slightly with blood

the female person

in a white cambric dress

over it with a coat of blue cloth

dressed

and a blood spot

the size of a Thaler

below the left breast

on her dress

which at this spot

seems to be burnt

name?

Ribisch

Johann Friedrich

tell me what you know

thus I saw the two strangers who shot themselves here on 21. November

right after their arrival on 20. November, I saw them here myself

because the landlord ordered me to make a fire in their room

after that, I didn't see anything of them

except on the afternoon of 21. November

when I met them on the path

the dress is brand new, Heinrich

I've had it especially made

what if one is dead and smells of manure?

please move aside

how silly you are

but try to understand, Heinrich

for you such things are unimportant

thank you

just imagine the foolishness

the two people want to have coffee up there

in November

I guess the people are paying for it

that's what I said to her and ...

went my way

Your Grace ???

your turn will be later

careful

what will happen to them?

they'll be cut up to see what's inside

Jesus!

proceed

shortly afterwards my wife called me

and asked me to help her carry table and chairs to the lake

I took the table, my wife the chairs

and carried them up the hillock

where the two strangers stood still

yes, that's right

one might almost call it festive

in fact, I've rarely seen two people

who were so friendly with each other

like those two on the hill

they kept on calling each other "my child, my dear child"

and were extraordinarily cheerful

old man, tell the landlord to fill this bottle with rum

my dear child, do you want to drink more rum, haven't you had enough?

my dear child, if you don't want to, then I don't want either

leave it, old man, don't bring us anything

wife, take away the dishes

but you haven't had any milk

drink it, just drink it

just look at her milky beard

little mother, here's the cup

take it with you, wash it out and bring it back

thank you very much, madam, sir

and now farewell

May the Heaven grant you a serene and fresh morning

a shower of rain during the heat of noon

and a quiet cool star-filled evening

under which one can fall asleep softly and easily

Heinrich Kleist

Heinrich

Engl. subtitles: serdar202@KG