Original subtitles

ELVIRA MADIGAN

In 1859, a Swedish army lieutenant, Count Sixten Sparre...

and a Danish tightrope walker, Elvira Madigan, alias Hedvig Jensen...

shot themselves in a forest in Denmark.

This film is their story.

SVENDBORG, DENMARK

- What is it, Sixten? - A bee! Stung my arse!

I won't be able to sit down, ever! Never in my whole life!

Come...

Let me blow on it.

CHRISTIANSTAD, SWEDEN Captain! First troop

as ordered.

Captain, Second Army, as ordered!

Where is Lieutenant Sparre?

Are you happy?

Are you happy?

I'm so happy, Sixten.

I can hardly believe...

that I dared to escape.

I was always brave on the wire,

but nothing but a coward on the ground.

SUNDSVALL, SWEDEN

Where the hell's Elvira?

Without Elvira, they'll want their money back.

Let them search for me.

Even I hardly recognize myself.

No... stop that!

Hold the mirror for me.

Elvira...

Call me Hedvig.

It's my real name.

Dear, sweet Hedvig.

See the bear? Like those trick pictures.

Not a bear. It's a rabbit.

It's a bear.

Can't you see?

Rabbit!

- Bear! - Rabbit!

- What is it? - Feel for yourself.

Just imagine the news...

"Missing: Lieutenant Sixten Sparre.

Description: with half a beard...

...can not and will never sit.''

Do you love me?

You gave me back my name.

Before you, I had to be both Hedvig and Elvira.

Now I know who I am.

First we need to buy civilian buttons for your coat.

How much money do we have?

Don't worry... we'll get by.

- How much? - 18 Million...

and 11 cents.

A present from me.

You have more use for it.

How elegant.

You see, I'm a civilian now.

Thanks a lot.

It looks expensive.

Can we afford it, Sixten?

What a beautiful couple!

Think they'll stay in our hotel?

I think I saw them in the woods.

But the man had a beard and gold buttons, so it can't be them.

Do you like it?

I can't sleep with that in the room.

What can we do about it?

Have you seen this, Sixten?

Who drew it?

A cripple.

He never said his name.

He drew me while I was sitting in a cafe in Paris.

May I borrow a needle and thread?

- Black? - Yes, please.

Thanks.

You are the cook in this hotel?

Yes, I cook, clean and do everything.

You are a busy woman.

Yes... I certainly don't sleep all day long.

Could I try?

Yes.

Let me show you how it's done.

No, wait a moment...

I have another skein here.

Cast on and try again.

I've never sewn on a button before.

You can support us as a seamstress.

You can't do anything about a fall.

I fell, but I was lucky.

In Venice.

I danced on a rope over the canal.

They had an orchestra that played

on a raft in the lagoon.

By the light of burning torches.

Oh, I love Italy!

Am I happy?

You ask if I'm happy.

Sometimes I wonder if I deserve to be so happy.

What we're doing is perhaps not allowed yet.

But the time will come...

One day people will be able to choose Moe than one...

way to live.

People will have courage to admit that they change.

The war...

The war...

Have you been in the war, Sixten?

You're a soldier, but you know nothing about your job.

War is a soldier's job, right?

Our circus tent burned down in Paris.

It was hit by a grenade.

I was only 2 years old,

but they told me.

It was in 1871.

All the animals were burned to death.

I remember the smell.

War is not pompous parades, Sixten.

It's the smell of burning flesh.

Nothing is sacred these days.

Nothing.

Sporrong, Stockholm.

Where did you get that?

In the woods.

"When John arrived in Stockholm, he borrowed money to rent a room...

in the Lardugard quarter.

Always extremely sensitive...

he wanted to live where he used to watch the workers' parades."

Have you seen the clothesline?

No.

"We are speaking of our circus princess,

Elvira Madigan.

The circus came to SUNDSVALL...

to perform at Rullan's arena.

Right away, everybody loved Miss Elvira.

They loved her more and more with each performance.

But one day she disappeared without trace.

No one new where she was...

and in their sorrow over their child, her parents...

...tried to hide the fact as long as possible that she had run away."

Let me see.

"It was clear to all, as soon as they saw this girl,

that she was of a whimsical and high-spirited temperament.

With her silky, golden hair flying around her head...

she looked more like a spiritual vision than human flesh and blood.

A strange fire shone in her eyes...

and a cold smile seemed always to play on her lips...

at the ardent enthusiasm of her admirers."

Excuse me.

"Missing: Elvira Madigan, Sixten Sparre."

Elvira!

I did not recognize you at first. I saw you at the Tivoli.

Our guests will be so excited knowing that Elvira Madigan is staying here.

I think Larsen baked a cake. Let me go and tell him.

No, please!

Look! Look who's disappeared...

What do you mean?

The scarecrow, the gold buttons.

It has to be them-- Sparre and Madigan.

I'm going to report them.

What'll they do to him?

As a deserter, prison.

Whistle.

I can't whistle, Sixten.

Miss Elvira, they know who you are.

I just spoke with Madsen. He has a horse for you.

You must pack right away.

Hurry, Sixten.

Wait.

You forgot your knitting. You'll need a sweater come autumn.

I've got one! Easy! Easy!

Slowly! Slowly!

Where is the fish?

Did we lose it?

Here!

We have food, Hedvig.

Food, we have food!

Food!

Find a good place for a fire while I gather sticks.

I have to clean the fish.

So I finally found you...

after a week of looking.

I've been searching for you for a week.

Nobody knows I'm here.

- Not even... - Not even Henrietta.

How are the kids?

Christian had whooping cough. Louise has lost a tooth.

Where?

Well here.

Here.

She's so proud.

Now she can spit...

with her mouth closed.

She always envied her brother that skill.

This is the friend I know!

No...

Not me.

I'm with the women now.

Unraveling wool. Lying on the grass.

I know about lying in the grass.

If you look at a blade of grass that's close to your eye...

that blade is clear but nothing else is.

The rest of the world is a blur.

We have to make choices, Sixten.

I believe...

one blade of grass can be the entire world.

And the world is nothing without grass.

We need to start somewhere, start with something real.

Words have lost their meaning for me lately...

and other things have come to life instead.

Our royal parades...

horses' hooves, drums...

bayonets bright and sparkling.

You know how many layers of skin a bayonet has to cross ...

before reaching your guts?

I looked it up in a medical book.

Epidermis, dermis, subcutaneous ...

a thin fat layer, then the aponeurosis.

You know what that is?

It's like a skin that covers and protects muscles.

Then the muscles themselves.

Through all that before you reach the guts.

Need to know it layer by layer.

Need to examine things closely.

Need to examine things closely.

She's distorted your vision.

Yes...

I agree, she has.

But isn't that...

what love is?

That you...

...borrow another person's eyes...

to experience the world...

as your beloved sees and feels it?

Isn't that what love is?

What a character!

Taking a carton of eggs to the opera.

Incredible!

-What is your favorite aria? - The egg aria...

Thank you.

What did he do with the eggs?

Who?

Lauritzen.

He ate them.

Can I contribute?

You're shivering.

I'll get your coat.

Well, what shall we say to each other?

You did that very skillfully...

...but can you really afford it?

There are times when you don't question the cost.

Are you happy?

I know someone who is unhappy...

One, two, three, actually.

I know that Sixten has two children.

But I know nothing about them.

Don't you ever think of the ones he left because of you?

What gives you the right?

I need him too.

You just need an admirer.

I'm sure your profession gives you many opportunities.

He is not the first, that's true.

But he's the best.

Up to now.

There will be others.

Not for me.

He'll be the last.

It's not just about people. He's betrayed his country too.

My mother is German, my father Danish.

My stepfather is American. I have friends in France and Italy.

Look, my hand...

Its like a map.

Here are the lines...

The borders.

What does it matter where the lines are?

I worry about the hand. The whole hand.

There aren't any cigars left.

Remember Axelsson's trousers?

Axelsson's trousers!

His pipe was passed round and round.

I remember it was a good summer

only because Christian was not well.

He was still weak.

I used to nurse him every morning, before going to the regiment.

The sun would shine through the lace curtains

that she'd bought in Brussels.

They made patterns on Christian's bedspread.

I have to tell you something, Sixten.

Something difficult.

She tried to commit suicide...

Tried to drown herself...

after she'd put the children to bed.

You knew she was there?

You lied about Henrietta?

Then you're no longer my friend!

Hedvig!

Hedvig!

He was lying, he lied about Henrietta.

You must come back.

You must come back.

Look at me Hedvig...

My darling, look at me!

"To Father from Louise"

I'm going for a walk.

Anything I can help you with?

Can't I help you with something?

No, it's not your kind of work.

Hello, Signorina!

How lovely to see you, Claude.

I hope you can come to the concert tonight.

Tickets for the concert.

It's no oil painting.

- What's that? - "T.L.," I think.

I can't remember his name.

He sketched me in a cafe in Paris.

He was a cripple.

A cripple's work isn't worth much.

How about 2 kronor?

Hedvig.

Sixten.

Hedvig.

Sixten.

Sixten.

Sixten.

I bought cream for raspberries.

Look how thick it is.

Did you buy some wool as well?

Yes. I had enough for some wool.

It'll do the front and a sleeve.

Then there's only one sleeve left to do...

and I've money left over.

"Performing Artists Wanted

For Annual Craftsmen's Fair."

Can I help you, Miss?

You're looking for performers?

Yeah, what do you do?

I'm a rope-dancer.

We don't need one of those.

But we have a good floor.

Can you dance on that?

Show me your legs.

Will you show me your legs?

A little higher.

All right. 25 kronor.

Tonight, at eight.

She's a pretty little piece.

Eh?

Think I could screw her?

I'll tell you one thing, I'd really like to do it!

What the fuck are you doing out here?

You saw her knees?

She was kind to me ...

Come and see... they're fighting!

He'll be all right...

But we better get away from here, Sixten.

They know who we are.

Why did you show your knees?

Eh?!

You weren't supposed to...

Or were you?

How much did you show?

Up to here?

Here

Or to here?

- Why did you do it? - I can't go and get my money now.

Don't you see, it's not my knees we're quarreling about.

Don't you see...

It's something else completely.

Don't talk about love, Sixten.

Can we butter our bread with it?

You want me to find a job?

Do you?

Can you tell me where!

Do want me to find work?

Where?

Tell me!

How would I do it?

Should I go in...

and say "Excuse me, my name..."

"...is Lieutenant Count Sixten Sparre."

I have deserted from the Swedish army.

Can you give me work?"

Is that how I should do it?

"Forgive me."

Don't you realise what we have to do, Sixten?

Don't say it.

We have to...

We've no other choice.

Sorry, I've made a mistake.

Sorry, I'm not well today.

I'm so hungry.

Tell me how it's done, Sixten.

The heart.

The temple.

And we thought we knew...

everything about our bodies.

How about some eggs?

- We don't have any eggs. - One minute.

Don't be sad, Sixten.

We're just going out to have breakfast.

How do you want your eggs?

Hard-boiled.

How hard?

What?

For how many minutes?

Four.

From the start?

No four minutes...

after the water boils.

How many slices of bread do you want?

Is everything ready?

Yes.

So let's get going.

"I hope this covers the rent. Forgive the inconvenience."

You never told me your name.

You never told me your name.

My name is Anton.

My name is Sixten.

I can't do it.

You have to.

I can't.

You have to.

You have to do it.

We have no choice.

I can't.

Sync and revisions by FatPlank for KG