Original subtitles

The first version of Robert Reinert's monumental large-scale film OPIUM,

which premiered in Munich on January 7, 1919, is no longer preserved

It is said to have been 2,486 meters long and was created in autumn 1918,

when German film censorship was abolished after the end of the World War

It was not until June 10, 1921 that the reintroduced censorship examined the film

and released it with a length of 2,282 meters Unfortunately, the censorship files are lost

The present version, digitally reconstructed in 2018 by the Film museum Munich

and the Film museum Düsseldorf, corresponds to a length of around

2,100 meters and is more complete than all previous versions of the film,

that survived in the archives with poor image quality

Since no script has been found so far and no detailed synopses are available,

the film could only be reconstructed by comparing the original nitrate film fragments

obtained from the Film museum Munich, the Film museum Düsseldorf and

the Film archive Austria. However, these materials showed significant differences

in the shots and editing sequences used, which suggests that there were at least

two different negatives at the time For the reconstruction, it was necessary

to identify alternative shots and to sort the better shots and colorings

in the film positive material according to plot logic

In the process, age-related color changes in the lighting were compensated

ROBERT REINERT'S MONUMENTAL FILM-WORK

OPIUM

Professor Gesellius Eduard Von Winterstein

Maria, his wife - Hanna Ralph

Nung-Chiang - Werner Krauss

Sin, later Magdalena - Sybill Morel

Dr. Armstrong - Friedrich Kuhne

Dr. Richard Armstrong, his son Conrad Veidt

Ali - Alexander Delbosq

The opium girl - Sigrid Hohenfels

Writer and director: Robert Reinert

Cameraman: Helmar Lerski

OPIUM - 1st ACT

Opium, strangest of all poisons,

benefactor of sufferers of illness and pain

both benevolent and terrible!

Woe to those who succumb to it ...

For more than a year Professor Gesellius, the famous doctor had been in China,

the homeland of opium, in order to study this mysterious poison

Ali, his faithful Indian servant,

who makes final preparations for their return home

"If your ship didn't leave so early in the morning,

I could take you back to Nung-Chiang"

"Due to its special preparation, his opium produces terrific sensations,

though I admit it destroys mind and body like no other"

The Opium den of Nung-Chiang

Professor Gesellius recognizes the girl from Nung-Chiang's opium den

"If you are a man, RESCUE ME!

Shall I stay here and be destroyed?"

"I will wait for you in front of the house"

"You will never leave this room alive ..."

"Smoke! You will no longer feel pain nor hunger, nor despair"

"My opium carries you over all the hardships of death!"

The love of the Malayan

"Let me out!"

"You should understand my love for Europeans"

"I lived happily for 17 years with Sin's mother, my wife ..."

"Among our guests was a noted European doctor"

"... He had a wife and child in his own country, but despite that ..."

"... All was destroyed, happiness and honor ..."

"I didn't strangle him nor did I stab him!

Oh no! Opium, my opium would be my revenge"

"The scoundrel deteriorated quickly and disappeared.

My wife paid with her life"

"The child - her child and his -

remained in my hands"

"Relax and smoke the opium.

It is the same as I gave to that scoundrel"

"You are just like your mother!"

Opium, strangest of all poisons, benefactor of sufferers of illness and pain

Both benevolent and terrible! Woe to the unlucky one who succumbs.

Through all the dreams, his longing for his wife and child,

who he loved above all, pulled him back toward his home

Night

"HELP ME! Guard —"

"... Hold him back ...!"

"Quickly! We must run for our lives!

In a quarter of an hour the ship puts out to sea"

"You will pass only over my dead body"

Death to the European

"They will not escape my revenge!"

"As he, that scoundrel, once took my love from me,

so will I take yours that which is dearest to you"

End of the 1st act

OPIUM - 2nd ACT

Home

On the same day, Sin, under the name of Magdalena

was enrolled as a nurse in the sanatorium of the professor

Dr. Richard Armstrong, the favourite student and assistant of the professor

Richard Armstrong is the son of a doctor who has been missing in China for 17 years

"You seem so depressed, Richard. Is something worrying you?"

"I don't deserve your kindness ..."

In the evening

"Pardon me, Marie, I must prepare my lecture for tomorrow"

"I have so much to say that is vital for the happiness of all mankind"

"... for the happiness of all mankind ..."

All of the work and all of the success in the world means nothing

if one doesn't bring the condition of mankind nearer to happiness

...every single one of us dreads the happiness of others...

The next morning

An instinctive aversion

"... it is as if at this terrible time, all the happy feelings

of the world would come to depend ..."

"... a terrifying absence of joy thrusts people back down to earth"

"... So it is, that many, some of the best and finest

rouse their weary soul with poison, the smoke of joy — Opium!"

"You poor souls who secretly indulge in these vices ...

Your souls and bodies are ravaged

A horrifying torment, a miserable infirmity is their lot

You are lost"

"I will create an asylum in my house for these unfortunates"

"My house will be a house of joy"

"Do you recognize me, my old school friend?

I have wandered restlessly through the world for 17 years"

"Richard Armstrong! What has become of you?"

"I have paid for the heavenly pleasures

and delights of smoking opium"

"Do you know what is the worst thing? ...

That I can never allow myself to do it again"

"I can't even allow myself to see my son"

Dr. Armstrong was admitted to the Sanatorium under an assumed name

"It is not possible!"

"What has become of my son?"

"Your son is my pride and joy. How I love him!"

"What a terrible disaster hangs over us ...

He is a saint ... and we ..."

Prof. Gesellius had passionately undertaken a war against Opium.

His "House of Joy" was filled with the sick,

who sought cure and protection from this poison

For the sake of his son, Dr. Armstrong

with superhuman efforts overcame terrible sufferings and pain

which the withdrawal from opium causes

"Great God, my son didn't recognize me!"

Help me to become a new man! I want to face my son without

being ashamed Help me!

But Richard neglected his profession, for reasons which no one suspected

In a foolhardy ride alone, he sought forgetfulness and - an end

"I came across the sea to be where you are -

until my hour strikes"

End of the 2nd act

OPIUM - 3rd ACT

Having heard of your investigations in China

we would like to help you in fighting the opium problem in India

"His father must of course know nothing"

"Don't leave me alone! Why should I live without you?

" ...alone for 6 years..."

"The happiness of the world was all that counted in your life.

Where is our happiness?"

"I have gone to ruin by your side!"

Robbed of speech

"You do not know what he is. You see, he is in your hands"

"His wounds are not fatal. He will live"

"Do you know what is the most bitter?

When the one you love is taken away from you"

The next day, Prof. Gesellius gave one of his famous lectures

...each of us is afraid of the other's happiness...

Despair

"I have only done good to both of them ..."

"I have lost faith in mankind"

"I am at the end of my powers"

My poor Maria, Farewell

I leave of my own free will this life

which is so miserable to me.

Give her this...

"Your writing is so unclear. I can't read it"

Robbed of his vigor, confused by the blow of fate

which dashed him down, the professor grasped at the poison,

the fight against which had been his life's work

"My peace, my happiness, destroyed by him - He must die!"

"What a terrible Opium dream!"

"He is dead!"

"I didn't do it, so help me God, I didn't do it"

"Because of you, my son, I wanted to begin life anew,

now I see you as a corpse"

"Do you recognize me?"

The doubt, the terrible doubt ...

... we would like to help you in fighting the opium problem in India

End of the 3rd act

OPIUM - 4th ACT

At India

Since that dreadful night, mixing dreams and reality,

the Professor was tormented. Had he really killed Richard Armstrong?

And there was the accusation of Maria.

So he took up the offer to go to India

Despite his outward calm,

Magdalena guessed at the true state of his soul.

The colorful splendour of the Orient

was not able to erase the past from his memory.

A shadow-like figure followed him there...

the sinister Chinese

Tormented memories

"Can't you leave the dead in peace?"

"I didn't kill him!"

"There is a way to forget, to save yourself ..."

"Don't do it!

It is the terrible poison of Nung-Chiang"

"I would give my life for you"

"I know, Magdalena, but I don't love you,

I only love one"

From then on, Professor Gesellius was addicted to Opium

In the Indian Opium den

The unfortunate man succumbs to the lure ...

... the terrible memory of the dead mingles in all dreams .....

The one I killed won't leave me in rest any more, day or night!

What have I done?

In order to save her beloved,

Magdalena decided to sacrifice herself

"No, you unhappy man, I did it"

"I killed him because

he destroyed your life"

"I killed him because I believed his death would save you..."

"Because of you I have lost her — lost everything"

At an Indian festival the professor was

introduced to the Prince and Princess

The Princess takes a fancy to the famous man

"What do you want with him? He doesn't love you"

"To my last breath, I will be true to him"

Good, then today he will die

The Professor leaves the feast disgusted: there is only one way

to fill his nerves, devastated by the poison, with tension

Excited from the poison,

Gesellius allows himself an adventure with the Princess

The sinister stimulation of the Opium

"Maria! Is that you? My love, my wife!"

Ali and Magdalena search for their master

"Your wife and the European —"

The faithful servant overhears the plot against his master

"Seize his accomplice!"

Intoxication weakens his hold on reality

"Sir, save yourself!"

"Bring me dead or alive

the one who disgraced my honor!"

End of the 4th act

OPIUM - 5th ACT

For God's sake, get away from it. You are lost in Abyss

"Opium! Give me opium—

so that I forget and save myself

A boyish prank

The burning city

While ruin and devastation raged over him,

Gesellius wandered in the Elysian Fields

"... Oh, wonderful land of dreams ..."

Magdalena and Ali search in despair for their master

The deadly enemies

"The European has set fire to your holy city!"

A sense of despair

In the meantime, the Professor is captured by the Prince's men

"Strap him to a horse

and drive him into the lion-infested jungle!"

A bold decision

In the jungle of the Maharajah

The faithful servant knows

the terrible dangers of of the Indian wilderness

"You are best and truest of all men, we will never part!"

"Soon my revenge will be completed"

End of the 5th act

OPIUM - 6th ACT

After unspeakable strains & privations,

Gesellius and Magdalena arrived in Europe

"Daddy! Daddy!"

"You, you alone recognize me —"

"Is there room in the House of Joy

for one in despair?"

"You killed my son!"

"Not him... I... I did it!"

... Fate ...

In the "House of Joy" which he founded, the famous Doctor

now resides, himself a victim of opium, in loving care

"I won't hurt you anymore, you fool—"

"The one who killed your son is your daughter"

"Yes, you fool, your only daughter!"

"... And you, her father,

have delivered your only daughter to the executioner"

"I am avenged!"

"For the sake of your late mother, whom I always loved,

I will save you"

The Professor knows that he is lost

His poisoned body no longer possesses the ability to resist

the shaking, which the withdrawal from opium causes

"Feelings no longer oppress me —

Tell me the truth about you and him, Maria!"

A confession

"It was your right to love him, Maria"

My poor Maria, farewell. I leave of my own free will

this life which is so miserable to me

My poor Maria, farewell. I leave of my own free will

this life which is so miserable to me

"We know that you are guiltless of the death,

Why did you try to take it upon yourself?"

"To save that unhappy man from the delusion

that he had killed Richard Armstrong"

"You saint"

"My child, can you forgive a miserable wretch?"

Mysterious poison, deliver me forever from all the lust and all the torment

that you have so abundantly created for me

"To end everything would be merciful, Richard Armstrong!

Let me once more dream and die

Enjoying the last opium dream"

"Gather around me, dear ones..."

"No anxiety will obscure the wonderful harmony of my soul"

"Is it you, the truest of all friends?"

"Are you here to lead me?"

"... forgive me, think only good of me ..."

When Professor Gesellius was escorted

into the land of eternal rest he didn't have the desire to die

He wanted to live ... a new life

... a new life ...

THE END