Original subtitles

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.