Original subtitles

THE NIKLASHAUSEN JOURNEY

Who needs the revolution?

The people.

And...

who makes the revolution?

The people.

And... who prepares the ground for it?

The party.

And if there is no party, but only a cell of three or four people?

Three or four people can form the vanguard of a party.

May three or four people attempt to start the revolution?

They must try to create the basis for it.

I see.

And...

how should they do that?

By means of agitation...

through instruction...

and setting a militant example.

If agitation has no effect,

may they resort to other means?

Yes, education, enlightenment.

Combative methods, too.

May they... enact a revolution?

That is impossible.

May they, for example, use theatrical effects

to make their agitation more forceful?

Yes.

Of course.

Who needs the revolution?

The people.

"Ye are the salt of the earth:

"but if the salt have lost his savor,

"wherewith shall it be salted?"

The sword of God hangs over the Earth...

terrible, implacable.

No one should go along...

who gives free rein to violence.

No one shall escape bloody retribution.

No one should forget

that He and His heavenly mother alone have the power to destroy us.

No one shall be able to say they did not know.

Didn't you recognize the sign?

Are you stupid like the beasts...

that you do not see where indifference leads?

Repent!

Forget who you are!

Worship Our Lady, the Virgin,

the morning star,

the white lily,

the midnight sun!

Sea star, thee I greet

Holy Mary, succor us

Mother of God, so sweet

Holy Mary, succor us

Holy Mary, deliver us all

From our distress

O rose without a thorn

Holy Mary, succor us

Thou chosen of God, pure born

Holy Mary, succor us

Holy Mary, deliver us all

From our distress

Comforter of the poor

Holy Mary, succor us

Have mercy upon us

Holy Mary, succor us

Holy Mary, deliver us all

From our distress

The days of retribution are upon us.

The Virgin has given me a sign.

She speaks to me when I pray to her.

She is filled with loathing at the sink of iniquity

into which certain prelates and many lower clerics fall.

They who should be an example

are but a foolish breed.

Bodices addle their brains

and arouse their base instincts.

They collect their tithes

with less pity than the henchmen of princes.

Compassion and humility

they have lost altogether.

They do not deserve esteem,

honor or gratitude.

They should be beaten.

You should beat them.

Beat them where you can

until the evil vapors spurt from their brains.

Who does this, does well...

the Virgin said.

Mend your ways!

Do penance!

Forget who you are!

Worship the Virgin!

Call the people

to pilgrimage to Niklashausen.

The sword of God...

hangs over the Earth...

terrible and implacable.

O rose without a thorn

Holy Mary, succor us

What does she look like,

the Mother of God?

Get up!

Let me kneel before you!

She has blue eyes,

tresses like an angel,

and the palest of skin. She is beautiful.

And her voice?

Her voice is soft and mild.

I must go, madam.

Where?

To my flock, where I belong.

You can't go back to your sheep.

Who should tend them, then?

The Mother of God speaks to you.

You can't tend sheep anymore.

I was not too lowly for the Virgin up to now.

She will not take offence at my society.

I offer you my house.

You shall lack nothing.

Tell him he can't go back to his sheep.

I shall ask Her if it would be right

to live in the house of a rich person.

She will give me a just answer.

I shall wait for you.

- How was he? - Hot stuff.

With his looks!

Yes, really wonderful!

He's so good looking.

I think he's great.

There's something about him...

What do you mean?

Something attractive?

No, attractive is the wrong word.

He... radiates something.

A certain aura.

You know...

I can imagine,

when people see him, they listen to him spellbound.

You know what I mean?

Somehow you just listen. I can't say why.

Some people have it, others don't.

You reckon we ought to move into that broad's place?

Do you want to eat properly?

Sure.

If you... can eat well,

you should eat well.

If you can live well, you should live well.

If you can go on vacation, you should go on vacation.

And if you want something, then... you should have it.

It's shit if people have to go without things.

Only those who enjoy wealth live agreeably.

The Virgin Mary...

appeared to him.

You...

stupid...

old...

sick man.

He's so young and beautiful.

I've invited him to live here.

The whole house is empty.

And there's nothing you can do about it.

Be quiet!

Eat your food!

Be good!

If you starve to death,

you'll have no part in my life anymore.

He's coming...

to me.

To me!

He's coming to me.

To someone...

as unworthy as I am...

unworthy as rarely a person is.

But he's coming.

The Holy Virgin has allowed me to make your home mine.

But she insisted that my friends join me.

I'll show you the rooms.

Come with me!

That will be your room.

You can pray here.

Will the Virgin visit you here?

She appears only outdoors. She doesn't like enclosed spaces.

Pray with me!

I don't like rooms like this.

It's so dark.

No light at all.

- It makes me ill. - Be quiet!

That's my husband.

He is stupid, old and sick,

and he can't speak.

"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle

"than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."

What a sight!

What person is this?

A peasant, your lordship.

He stinks.

He... stinks?

I must smell him for myself.

Follow me!

You're right. He stinks.

- Can you speak? - Me?... I, er...

Delightful!

These people... are so wonderfully stupid.

What brings you here?

Have you something to say? Speak!

I've come from Niklashausen,

for the bishop is my lord, and I love him.

This morning at the Niklashausen spring festival

a shepherd threatened to murder his lordship and the others.

Murder?

The bishop?

What?

Why me of all people?

The Virgin Mary appeared to him. She told him to...

and told him to spread the message.

And... what will happen now?

There are situations, of course,

the injustice of which cries out to heaven -

when whole peoples

are deprived of the bare necessities of life

and live in a state of dependency,

that robs them of all initiative,

all sense of responsibility.

That hinders their cultural advancement

and their participation in social and political life.

Then the temptation is great...

to fight against these injustices to human dignity...

and to use violent means.

Nevertheless,

every revolutionary uprising

leads to new injustices,

occasions new unrest

and inequalities...

and gives rise to new disruption.

An evil mustn't be driven out with an even greater evil.

The poor peoples of the earth

cannot guard enough against the temptations

with which they are confronted by the wealthy nations.

They must scrutinize the things they are offered most critically

and select them with care...

rejecting things of specious value...

which are detrimental to human ideals.

On the other hand, healthy, useful values should be accepted

and combined with native ones

to strengthen these peoples' own special character.

It is this rich humanism that should be developed.

That is the only true humanism,

the kind that opens itself to God

in gratitude for a calling

that communicates the proper ideals of human life.

Today, power is wielded

by an economically privileged minority.

This minority will never act against its own interests.

That is why the majority must organize itself

and take all necessary steps.

No one should be excluded,

unless he owns property,

which gives him power and influence over the have-nots.

The land,

which is needed for the community,

shall be expropriated without compensation.

It shall belong to those who work it.

In return, the government will require

farmers to cultivate the land on a co-operative basis

and comply with an agricultural plan,

which shall also provide loans and technical aid.

Free enterprise shall be abolished and replaced by co-operatives.

All banks, hospitals, clinics,

and bodies exploiting natural resources shall be nationalized.

The state shall provide free universal education,

which will be compulsory up to completion of secondary school or vocational training.

Parents who neglect to educate their children shall be punished.

The following offences shall constitute crimes against society:

profiteering, hoarding, speculation,

flight of capital, smuggling,

defamation by the press, radio, television or film,

and the misleading of public opinion

through false, incomplete or biased information.

In every community,

in every village or district,

action committees will be set up.

No one shall be oppressed anymore.

No one shall divide us.

United, we are strong.

And when we are strong we need fear no clerics,

dukes or capitalists,

neither the bishop nor the lord of the manor.

Forward, you working people

In unyielding line

The scarlet banner

That is your sign

Forward! With fresh courage

New paths we tread

The scarlet banners

Are waving ahead

Blood-red banners hailed by the sun

Calling to judgment, drawing us on

Blood-red banners in triumph unfurled

Harbingers of hope for the world

Long live Lenin!

Smash Fascism!

Exploited classes

Surrounded by need

The blood-red banner

Shall onward lead

Proletarians

Be exhorted!

The blood-red banners

Are waving ahead

Blood-red banners hailed by the sun

Calling to judgment, drawing us on

Blood-red banners in triumph unfurled

Harbingers of hope for the world

Long live Lenin!

Smash Fascism!

You have sown hatred among the people.

The words I speak are not mine.

Do you think the Virgin

would go against the laws of the Holy Roman Church?

All I know is what I say.

What speaks to you is a phantom from hell.

Whatever speaks to me is beautiful,

and beauty comes from God, I learned.

Hatred has its place, so that everyone can see beauty.

Let the earth sing

Let it ring

Loud and strong with its joyful song

Heaven above

Sing loud of love

God be with you!

In Niklashausen, there's talk of a new distribution of land.

New or different?

Everyone will get an equal size plot of his own.

And the feudal lords?

Bishops, Emperor and Pope will be slain.

That blasphemes God!

Not God, for they say the Virgin wishes it so.

There's a man who passes on Her words.

What they say will happen would be just.

I'll go with you to Niklashausen with my wife and children.

Let's assume

among hunting people

it requires twice as much work

to kill a bear as it does to kill a deer.

Then it should be possible to trade one bear for two deer.

The work of two days or two hours

should be worth twice as much

as that of one day or one hour.

That's obvious.

But what happens, in a peaceable society,

if one bear is exchanged for one deer,

because the deer hunter wants a bearskin

and finds someone prepared to give him a bearskin?

That would be very bad, because...

It's logical...

You need two days for a bear and one day for a deer.

If a bear could be exchanged for a deer,

no one would hunt bear anymore.

That's obvious.

Everybody would hunt only deer,

and there would be a surplus of deer.

In the end, you wouldn't be able to get rid of them.

Supply and demand.

Only the bartering rate -

two deer for one bear -

would create stability.

And the bartering rate is determined by the labor expended.

That applies as long as everyone is producing...

and exchanging goods with each other.

But when personal needs

are regulated by barter...

they can be satisfied only relatively.

Let's assume...

a person lives in a little house...

situated among other little houses.

This little house

satisfies all social requirements of a dwelling.

But if the little house stands next to a palace,

the little house shrinks to the alarming size of a tiny hut.

The owner of this little house,

of this relatively small house,

will feel increasingly uncomfortable,

discontented and oppressed within his own four walls.

Maybe.

Oh, how I love the bright red flowers

That springtime promises me now

That spent so many dismal hours

Still captives of the frost and snow

Let spring invigorate me, too

With jubilation, blissful seeds of life

The world is full of joy anew

The first question we must ask ourselves is,

"What is the value of an article?

"How is it determined?"

The value of a hundredweight of wheat

is always the same.

But if one exchanges it for a certain amount of steel,

both commodities, wheat and steel, will be related

to a third entity, which is their common measure.

The calculation of the exchange rate

is based on the labor required to produce a commodity.

If someone says,

"50 marks are a lower rate,

"and 100 marks are a higher rate for a week's work",

that's not much help.

Wages can only be defined as high or low

if they can be compared with a standard,

against which their size can be measured.

But why is a certain sum paid for a certain amount of work?

That is determined by the law of supply and demand.

And what law regulates supply and demand?

Is it a law of eternal validity,

incontrovertible for trade of all kinds?

The prices of goods are not determined by wages.

Prices also contain the producer's profit...

and the property owner's annuity.

It's not enough.

But even so...

They still don't understand.

No.

Should we abandon the whole thing?

What, now?

We've come a long way.

But... they just don't learn.

It's for their benefit.

Of course.

We...

We shall get the Virgin Mary to speak to them.

The Virgin Mary?

Johanna will be their Virgin Mary.

"He who would persuade you

"that property is not part of some natural order..."

"Property is not part..."

- That's what I said. - You said "that".

"Property is not so much part of a natural order

"that...

"property imposes an obligation..."

"Property alone imposes obligations."

Let me finish!

- "That responsibility alone..." - "Property alone imposes..."

"Property alone imposes obligations,

"that they bear responsibility alone..."

"They alone can bear responsibility who own property..."

"They alone can bear responsibility who own property...

"he is of the devil."

"He is of the devil."

Second sentence!

"He who would have you believe...

- "that everything is done in your interest..." - Leave out the "that".

"He who would have you believe everything is in your interest..."

"He who would have you believe everything is done in your interest,

"but who grants you no insight, he..."

He what?

"He...

"blasphemes God."

What?

Pretty good, isn't it?

No... It should have more dignity.

"...sins against our Father."

The pose is not right.

More humility.

Yes, more humility.

Humility is really better.

Let's try the words with...

With a humble pose.

It loses something when I just recite it.

Deliver it more aggressively!

"He who would persuade you...

"that property is not..."

- "Property is not..." - I know. Let me have a sip!

"He who would persuade you property is not part of the natural order...

"Anyone who owns property can bear responsibility...

"Property means obligations...

"he is of the devil."

I should look up at this point.

"He is of the devil."

Then you must deliver it more aggressively.

"He who would have you believe...

"that everything is done in your interest,

"but who grants you no insight...

"he blasphemes God."

"He is of the devil."

You must deliver it much more aggressively.

- Maybe I'm... - And the pause was far too long.

"In an embittered exchange of fire with the police..."

"on December 14 last year...

"in a Chicago apartment,

"two leaders of the militant Black Panther movement were shot dead.

"That, at least, is what the police report says

"on the deaths of 21-year-old Fred Hampton

"and 22-year-old Mark Clarke.

"An investigating committee came up with one significant finding -

"of the 100 shots fired,

"99 were from police weapons

"and one from the Black Panthers.

"Conclusion:

"The action of the police would seem to justify public doubts

"about their competence or indeed their credibility."

O star in the sea

Thou queen of love

For all the oppressed

Comfort and solace

Stand by me

And I shall fear no harm

All is blissful

All is well

The ruling classes tell you,

"Everyone is master of his own destiny."

They tell you,

"Nothing is denied to those who genuinely strive for it."

I say unto you, these are empty words.

Those who wield power say,

"The ownership of land is part of a natural order."

They tell you,

"Property imposes obligations."

They say,

"No one can exercise responsibility who possesses nothing."

But I say unto you,

"He who would have you believe such things

"is of the devil."

The ruling classes tell you,

"Everything happens in your best interests."

But they will not grant you insight into affairs.

I say unto you,

"He who would have you believe such things

"acts against the will of God.

"Whoever fails to recognize the signs of the times,

"whoever refuses to understand what is happening,

"will be punished by God...

"harshly... mercilessly."

Hear my supplications

Incline your countenance to me

Grant, Holy Mother

Peace and salvation

My God... is here...

within me.

My Lord is...

in my womb.

It burns...

like fire.

Fire in my womb.

That is love.

God loves me!

I am insignificant...

and yet... I am loved.

I cannot speak...

shout aloud!

It needs light...

light!

It must breathe...

or I shall suffocate.

This pain!

I am... happy!

Everything must burn,

burn...

My womb...

You must love mel!

You must!

Now!

Here!

Take mel

Don't touch me, you pitiful creature!

I am spirit.

Defile me not!

You don't have eyes for me anymore.

I bless you as I bless all the others.

That's not what I mean.

I mean the way you feel about me.

I love everyone as myself.

You're not in your right mind.

You think you're really the person the others see in you.

I know who I am.

Look, Hans...

What we're doing is all well and good,

but when I look at you,

I feel sick.

God is with me...

and the Holy Virgin, too.

I am the Virgin.

You're blaspheming, woman.

Come on, Hans, let's leave!

It's not too late.

Let's forget all about it!

Leave?

Why?

Because it's all a fraud, and it makes you ill.

I'm the Holy Virgin. Just look at me!

I don't understand you anymore.

I'm so fond of you.

You may not touch me.

You have been told

that more schools will be built,

that education is the chief concern of this government.

But more money for schools means

more money for the privileged classes,

at the expense of others.

There is no place in these schools for two-thirds of your children.

Therefore, reject the building of schools!

Help yourselves!

Anyone can learn to read and write in less than 40 hours.

Tell of your experiences!

Speak about your lives!

You all know the well...

...of the big landowner,

who rations water as he thinks fit.

You know the rent you owe...

...the collection of which is enforced by the police.

With brute force...

...and terror...

...they attempt to hinder your self-determination.

When you speak of these things,

and read and write,

you will discover the reality of your situation.

No government can tolerate this elementary education.

No government has sufficient power to subjugate a people

that perceives the alienation of its environment in this way.

We wanted them to be free, hmm?

All free.

The end justifies the means.

We've made a big mistake.

They'll all come to a sticky end.

Instead of a clear mind...

religion!

We wanted them to think for themselves.

They've been crushed.

They can't think for themselves.

They can be induced to pray.

That's possible.

But opening their eyes...

And it could all be so easy!

Why does one person work...

so that another can have all the fun?

It's as simple as that.

Why don't they see it?

Because happiness is found only in heaven.

That's what you learn on earth.

We must fight in small groups.

Large numbers are detrimental.

No one knows the next man.

Only when they fight do they maybe know who they are.

We can kill the bishop.

But what will follow?

You must knock religion out of their heads.

Maybe they'll understand then.

If we wait for miracles, we'll never attain our goal.

How do you intend to put them off religion?

For many long years, the poor have been waiting for the call

to fight the decisive battle against the oligarchy.

At moments of greatest distress for the people,

the ruling class has always found ways

to deceive and distract them,

placating them with new slogans

that all amount to the same thing -

suffering for the people

and wealth for the privileged.

But from now on, the people will not fall for further trickery.

The people know armed resistance is the only way.

They are desperately determined,

ready to risk their lives,

so that future generations will no longer be slaves,

so that the children of those who risk their lives today

may enjoy education, housing, food and clothing,

and a sense of human dignity.

Every true revolutionary must recognize

that armed resistance is the only way.

But the people are waiting for the leaders

to set an example and sound the call to battle.

I wish to tell you

that this moment has come...

that I have been in the towns and villages

and have called upon the people to unite,

to organize themselves for the struggle for power.

For this cause, we must risk our lives.

Now all is ready.

We set out early,

for the way is long.

But we must patiently hope and trust

that we shall win this battle.

For the people's struggle for power - unto death!

Unto death!

We shall give our utmost,

until we triumph!

For a people that risks its life will always triumph.

Christ, my Lord, said,

"I came not to send peace, but a sword."

Every Christian has the duty to be a revolutionary.

Every revolutionary has the duty to start a revolution.

Don't retreat a step!

Freedom or death!

Come, gleaming scythed chariots,

harvesting the battlefield for the feast!

Come, come, onward in terrible reaping rows!

You who crush underfoot the human seed,

that stem and corn are lost eternally,

you mounted hosts, gather all about me!

You, the whole great, terrible pomp of war!

You I call!

Exterminating,

fearful one!

Come to mel!

You, Ares, now I call,

terrible one!

You, the high founder of my house!

Oh, send your bronze chariot down to me

to raze the walls and gates of cities, you exterminating god,

cleaving asunder the people in the streets, trampling them underfoot!

Send your bronze chariot down to me,

that I may set my foot within its shell

and, seizing the reins,

roll out through the fields

and, like a thunderbolt hurled from storm-tossed clouds,

smite these people's skulls.

Take me to a monastery.

Mummy!

Put me into a cell where no one can harm me!

The man is being arrested

and brought here.

Here?

So he may kill me with his own hands?

Help me, Holy Mother!

He will be detained

and burnt tomorrow.

Burnt?

How does a human being burn?

Does he scream when he burns?

It is certainly very painful.

Doubtless, your lordship.

The pain will be unbearable.

How exquisite!

Exquisite!

And I... shall have my place in history.

They will write of me in books.

That may well be, your lordship.

You will have your place in history.

Then let be...

what must be!

How lovely blooms the May

The summer draws in sight

A maiden young and gay

Has captured my delight

With her, all would be well

Merely to think of her

My heart with joy does swell

How lovely blooms the May

The summer draws in sight

When a government has led to despotism

as a result of abuses and violations of the law...

it is our right, our duty, to overthrow such a government.

Everywhere freedom fighters have begun to organize resistance.

But others who hate Fascism

can be compelled or enticed

to support the Fascist cause or be storm troops of the pigs,

unless they decide instantly

to support the struggle to form a People's Army

to smash the forces of the pigs.

Wear the pigs down!

Allow them no peace!

Empty the prisons! Make the courts free our people!

Let the Fascists, the black-capped judges know

that they will be punished by the people.

Make life hell for the enemies of the people!

For every Fascist excess, the system must pay two- and threefold.

Let us not spare ourselves!

No one can be free in a land that enslaves others.

All power to the people!

Kyrie eleison

Mother of mercy

Sweet life

Mary, our hope

Help us, Mary

And all the children of Eve

Help us, Mary

And all the children of Eve

And deliver us

From this vale of tears

"Life, as it has been up to now,

"seems meaningless to us, desolate and inhuman.

"We set out in search of new horizons,

"to experience a joy and affection,

"a sense of solidarity

"that bourgeois society denies us.

"The prospect of having to live and work a lifetime

"under the prevailing conditions

"seems so terrible to us that we turn to alcohol or hashish

"and drowse our lives away

"without a care for anything.

"But soon we discover

"that the system still doesn't leave us in peace.

"The ruling classes set the cops on us.

"And then the money problem!

"This perverted society has managed

"to organize everything so that everyone must comply

"or perish.

"Every day I can count the victims of this oppression.

"Through their lives I understand the history of capitalism.

"As long as the economic conditions remain unchanged,

"a human way of life is impossible.

"There is only one way out -

"world social revolution,

"global civil war.

"In place of competition and individualism,

"we must set our proletarian solidarity.

"We must satisfy our needs,

"which will emerge fully only during our struggle,

"so that we may become human beings

"who take their fate in their own hands and create their own history.

"In place of alienated capitalist labor,

"we must, we shall set a way of working

"that satisfies our human needs.

"In brief, it involves the creation of 21st-century man,

"as Eldridge Cleaver says. That is our obligation,

"and we shall fulfill it,

"regardless of the cost.

"We shall resist.

"We shall be human beings,

"or the earth shall be devastated

"in our attempt to live a better life.

"Destroy that which destroys you!"

Destroy everything!

A man wanted to strike a blow against tyranny.

In storming the police barracks in the capital,

many were Killed.

The man did not know there are many different ways of fighting.

When he and 80 others returned three years later on a boat,

nearly all of them fell while landing.

But he and his comrades had learned from their mistakes.

They went into the mountains.

Two years later...

the revolution triumphed.