All language subtitles for Prästänkan (1920) eng

THE PRESIDENT

A novel by Karl Emil Franzos

Karl Victor v. Genblingen's lineage.

THE STORY PRECEDING THE MAIN STORY
The three generations:

The story is set towards
the end of the 19th century.

In a modest abode outside the town
Franz Victor v. Sendlingen...

is living out
the last days of his life.

June the 3rd. My son tells me
that my cheeks are dark red...

but I know all too well that
it is the roses of death...

that are blooming on them.
And that is why I today...

will let him know what
his kin is forbidden to do.

The son Karl Victor.

The ruins of Sendlingen castle,
once so proud,...

now a playground for
the children of the poor.

Escaping.

My son, I have lived a wretch
and I shall die a wretch....

But I shall not bemoan my fate
if it serves as a waning to you!

I asked about the maid and learned that
she was the daughter of the new porter.

I met her again a few days later.

I offered to take her on the water...

Our trysts were
clandestine and frequent.

She utterly bewitched me.

She was now with child;
she demanded that we be wed...

or shed would tell my father,
so she wrote.

The nuptials will take place on Sunday;
a Sendlingen may be reckless,...

but never a villain!

The following Sunday
the wedding took place.

Will you take
this woman in matrimony?

Then swear by our family honour
that you will never marry a commoner.

For no good ever comes of it,
naught but curses and remorse.

I have done my duty
and now I am ready...

30 YEARS LATER

Karl Victor V. Sendlingen,
the highly esteemed and much
belover president of his home town...

returns from a prolonged absence
and is welcomed at the station
by Vice-president Werner...

who was served
as deputy in his absence.

The president's
trusty servant, Franz.

Brigitta.

Today president von Senligen returns
from his four month travels.
The townspeople sincerely welcome him...

back to the office that he
constantly fulfils in accordance
with the von Sendligen family motto:

The majesty of justice
is the holiest on earth.

Here is a list of
the prisoners awaiting trial.

CRIMINAL CASE NO. 337/82 A
NAME: Victorine Lippert

PROFESSION: Governess
ARRESTED FOR: Infanticide

REMARKS: Pleads guilty
VERDICT:______________

Although I do not curse you,
but wish with all my heart...

that you have not sacrificed
me and my daughter...

whom I have named Victorine
after you, in vain.
Hermine

The next morning.

He has not been in bed at all.

"Dear friend, I shall come to you
in order to talk to you about
the wretched Victorine Lippert...

"infanticide, whom I am to defend.
Werner always applies the death penalty
in such dread causes...

"as you know, and I therefore beseech you
to take over the bench in this case.
Your devoted friend Georg Berger"

Counsellor Berger

"I dare not hear this case."

"The young woman to be sentenced
tomorrow is... my... daughter."

"I had just graduated
and was appointed...

to serve the judge
in the town of S...

where my uncle,
Count Warnberg resided.

"I often accepted
my uncle's invitations...

mostly because I was deeply
in love with his little
daughter's governess."

"A Sendlingen may be reckless...

but never a villain.
She is to be my wife!"

"Do not forget the oath
you swore when your father died!"

Darling, I cannot marry you,
although I love you. I cannot...

An oath that I swore my father
renders it impossible...

Try to forget me, and believe me,
an alliance between us...

would be our ruin...
Your Karl Victor

"A year later
I received this letter".

Although I do not curse you,
but wish with all my heart...

that you have not sacrificed
me and my daughter...

whom I have named Victorine
after you, in vain.
Hermine

"Poor friend � and poor,
poor girl!"

"I am to leave for my son's tomorrow,
and have come to beseech you...

to grant me the favour
of taking the bench...

in the trial
of Victorine Lippert."

"My honour as a judge
must not be stained.

All my life the family motto
has been my guiding light...

and may God permit
that it continues to be so."

Before the bench.

"Silence for the counsel
for the prosecution!"

The representatives
of the local newspapers.

"Her crime, which was clearly
with malice aforethought,...

reveals that she was corrupted
at an early age."

"The daughter of a woman
of easy virtue."

"A lie! A damned lie!"

"I admit that I deserve death,
and I want to die...

But as God is my witness:
My mother was noble and good...

Where she erred was
in trusting an unworthy man."

"I ask for the death sentence."

"Silence for the counsel
for the defence!"

"Your honours! Permit me
to describe the suffering
of this young lady."

"Only 17 years old,
she lost her mother....

Soon afterwards she was engaged
as a governess by the dowager...

countess at Graskowitz, an arrogant,
heartless woman by all accounts."

A few months later, the countess's
son visited his mother.

From that day forth, the young woman,
who was all alone in the world...

formed an everlasting attachment
to the young master of Graskowitz.

Unused to kind words,
she believed in his assurances.

"Do you recall the ballad
about the dandelion?"

The maiden sighs
To the dandelion seeeds:

O little flower, how long will it be
Until my wedding day?

A hundred seeds remain
On the dandelion bloom...

A hundred years!
At the seeds the maiden stares
Her heart full of sorrow.

Shortly afterwards he informed her
that he was going abroad...

but promised to marry her
upon his return.

When she realised she was going to
become a mother, she wrote to him...

letter upon letter,
but no reply did she receive.

But the young master
wrote to his mother.

Well, mother dear,
now I have confessed to you...

You must admit
that she is at least...

as much to blame as I am,
and I hope that...

you will sort things out
as well as possible."

And now the noble lady
was so brutal as to evict...

the poor girl from the castle
in the dead of the night.

Trembling with fever,
weary unto death...

the wretched yougn woman staggered
towards the nearest village.

But she never reached it.

Next morning she
was found unconscious...

her dead child beside her.

In these long nights
I have prayed to God...

that I would not be acquitted,
for I long for death.

"Although I see that your
votes are equal and mine...

is the deciding ballot, I am not afraid
to vote for the sentence of death...

for it seems to me that it is
the only just penalty in this case.

"...to forfeit her life!"

A grave responsibility.

"The result is... death!"

"I have decided to see
my daughter and speak to her...

as my only friend, I ask you
to accompany me to her cell."

The two friends agree
that Berger shall prepare...

for the father's visit
to the young woman.

Victorine recalls
the death of her mother.

...but if fate should ever
lead you to your father...

tell him that
I have forgiven him.

"Father!"

"I shall go home,
and I shall petition for
clemency this very afternoon."

"Thank God I am alive
and able to repay my debt!"

A week later.

The minister of Justice has
authorised me to inform you
that you have been promoted...

to president of the residency town,
and that you are to take up
your post within four days...

Accordingly, you will avoid having
to carry out the death sentence
passed upon the infanticide...

Victorine Lippert, whose petition
for clemency has been turned down.

"The petition for clemency
has been granted...

and when it's official in a couple
of days' time, you will be released."

I hereby inform you
that your petition for clemency...

for the condemned
infanticide Victorine Lippert...

has been turned down.
O. Krause.

"I am so glad you came so that
I can thank you from my heart."

"For I'm sure you are aware
that I have been pardoned...

My father has
just been to tell me."

An important consultation.

Four days later.
In honour of the promotion
of the president...

and his journey to the residency
town, his fellow councillors...

are bidding him farewell
at a ceremony at the town hall.

"Now we longer have you as
a shining example of judges
virtue among us...

your features on this frieze
will be a constand reminder
of your justice."

"Your efforts have proved
that it is the judge's duty...

to act in accordance
with the law...

even if it breaks
his heart to do so."

At the same time as
the ceremony at the town hall...

the townspeople gather
for a torchlight procession...

in honour of the president.

The town watchman.

If you want to know the hour
Master, maiden, lad

it is time to go to bed
And commit your soul to God

Be diligent and wise
Tend candle and fire

Our clock has struck ten.

"Urged by thousands,
the council hereby awards you...

the keys of the town,
dear von Sendlingen."

"The procession is approaching."

"He who has won suck a love
must be a happy man."

Half an hour later.

To his Excellency
the Minister of Justice.
I hereby tender my resignation...

I am ailing, and under
no circumstances am I able...

to undertake any task save
that of my own recovery...

Your humble servant
Karl Victor von Sendlingen.

"Oh, here you are! We have been
looking for you everywhere...

Your train leaves
in a quarter of an hour."

"I am deeply touched by your
kindness, and I hope my fellow...

townspeople and colleagues will
never amend their opinion of me."

Twenty minutes later.

"Drive as fast as you can....

We must be across
the border by dawn."

Now the black night is passing
and day is drawing nigh

O god, defend us from those
Who would make us sigh

The clock has struck three
O pious Father

Come to our aid
Grant us mercy!

Next morning.

I know that you cannot forgive me,
and I do not ask you to...

Promise me but one thing:
Do not give up hope that one day...

you will again consider me
worthy of your respect.

Your friend, Karl Victor.

On a river boat on a journey abroad,
Councillor Berger meets Weyden,

a plantation owner from Java...

who has come to Europe
to get married.

"Victorine!"

Birgitte is
finishing a monument...

to commemorate a friend
who died recently.

"Tell him that I shall always
remember him with love and respect."

"With respect:
do not forget that, Franz!"

And the following Sunday
the wedding took place.

A belated wedding procession.

"Do you take this woman
to be your lawful wedded wife?"

The blind organist strikes
up the wedding march.

"Pack this very afternoon, Franz;

tomorrow we are going home."

Two days later.
Karl Victor, whom no one
has ever suspected...

confesses his crime
to president Werner.

"I have come to demand the punishment
I deserve as a criminal."

"What you have told me
must remain a secret.

If it came out,
it would completely...

undermine confidence
in the judiciary!"

"If you deny me my punishment
I shall confess in public."

"If you do not drop the matter
of your own free will...

I swear we shall find
your daughter...

and execute her sentence."

"I bow to your will.

God forgive me for
what you have done to me."

That night the president wrote...

his last will and testament.

and past the old place of execution
he walked the last...

burdensome mile to the ruins
of his ancestral castle.

When darkness Earth does blind
And the day is done

That time shall remind us
Of Death's dark grove

Enlighten us, gentle Jesus,
Every step of the way

To where the grave does lie
And give us a blessed death

This film has been restored
by Marguerite Engberg
from a master print...

made from the original negative.
Dreyer has left directions
for the tinting of the film.

The English intertitles
are translations from
the original Danish ones.