Original subtitles

There is something that justifies how I feel

as I begin to conduct with you today

this difficult and painful inquiry

which aims at establishing if our King

is still, in our opinion

fit to rule our bereaved, ill-fated

despised, ridiculed and tormented Bavaria

without betraying the unwavering trust of his people.

What I am referring to

is that I am one of the few.

One of the very few ministers who has been in office without suspension

since March 1864.

Since the day when, full of illusions and hopes, we all applauded

our prince as he was crowned and ascended to power.

I would like to remind my illustrious colleagues of our astonishment when

during the first meeting convened by His Majesty, we were told that

the only necessary and urgent thing that needed to be done

was tracing immediately Maestro Wagner

and trying everything in our power to convince him

to move to our country.

I am sorry I could not be at your coronation, but I was...

Where was I? Let me think.

Your ambassador said you were ill in bed.

That's not true. I was going to come,

but the thought of meeting all my relatives

made me change my mind.

- The same happened to me today - Really?

I was about to go for dinner when I heard you were here

- Who told you? - My aide-de-camp. He knows everything.

He knew you were not going to attend tonight's official dinner...

...with the excuse of being ill, as usual.

He also knew where you were.

So... I came here looking for you.

I suppose you pretended to be ill as well.

But you know, it's true.

People have been telling me you look more and more like me.

- Do you not think, mon cousin? - I do not know

I would like to, though.

- Would you? - Why not?

I would like it, too.

You can return to the inn, Countess Ferenczy. I have an escort.

- Very well, Your Majesty. - Am I right?

- I do not want to go home right away. - As you wish.

- I am your hostage. - Of course.

Changes can be deceiving.

New places, new faces,

new habits to learn.

In other words,

there was enough to make someone like me feel content.

At the beginning, I did not even miss my family.

I was occupied. I had a husband to love,

before I realized that he did not know what to do with my love.

He was looking for love elsewhere.

And I had a mother-in-law to win over,

before I realized that she is actually a hateful woman.

She even denied me the right to raise my children.

My own children - entrusted with tutors, generals and priests -

became strangers to me.

Then, all of a sudden, you discover that...

the house you've been living in is just a gloomy, sinister palace.

You start wondering why you've spent the last ten years trapped there.

How awful.

You feel betrayed,

like a moth that's drawn to a house by the lights

but gets trapped inside.

I suddenly realized it all,

as though I'd woken up from a long sleep.

My illness was the sorrow.

Then one day I left.

For pity's sake! This house is not good enough for me at all.

It has to be furnished throughout.

The curtains need changing. I need a new piano.

And the replacement furniture I want hasn't arrived yet from Vienna.

But you're lacking anything. I think it's too beautiful.

Too beautiful? What could that be, eh? Nothing!

Nothing can be "too beautiful" in the place I'm going to work.

Can you not smell the fragrance of the night?

Enchanting our souls with such sweetness

Drifting upon us mysteriously through the air

My questions melt away as I yield to its spell

The same magic drew me to you, my dear

On that wondrous day when our eyes first met

No more would I hunger for answers

My eyes saw you, and my heart...

My heart understood

I like poetry, I understand it,

but I wouldn't miss the music so much.

But the beauty of Wagner's poetry is in the music.

And the beauty of his music is in the poetry.

One cannot exist without the other

and from this powerful fusion a new language is born

that everyone can understand anywhere in the world.

A language that can even spread ideas.

I cannot explain it, but I know...

I know that the best thing you can do for your people

is to enrich their minds.

Mon cousin, what do you want to make of your Bavaria?

A nation of musicians?

Are you making fun of me?

It is a very important matter, at least for me.

To Wagner I owe my strength,

my willingness to do something in life

to be useful to somebody in the world

even if he has the modest role of an intermediary.

I owe all of this to him. As I owe to you.

What do you owe me?

I owe you the happiness of the past few days

I spent them looking forward to seeing you again.

Pure and utter bliss.

Promise me to always help me and not to abandon me.

- Will you promise me? - Yes.

You are like a child, Ludwig. And a crazy one too.

We all are in our family, including me. I am sure about this.

Promise me you will never leave me. Only this.

That I will always be able to see you if I need to,

even if only for a moment.

A moment all for myself.

Very well. But how can this happen?

You are in Munich, I am in Vienna.

I will go everywhere you are.

You never visit me... but I know you often go to Possenhofen.

Am I right?

From now on, I will...

I know when you have to come here -

for Wagner's Tristan,

the opera that we have decided to stage.

He has been waiting for six years.

I promised him that he would stage it.

You must come and see it.

It is wonderful.

You will understand everything I have been trying to tell you.

You will also understand me

and what's happened to me over the past few days.

Then you will share a moment with me

and you'll be able to say,

"Now I understand."

Do you know where I'll wait for you?

Hmm?

Remember five years ago,

the Island of Roses?

The flag high on the yard means, "I am waiting for you."

Remember?

Come.

You have to promise me.

Tristan...

is like an ocean of harmonious sounds

where you can abandon yourself

as though in someone's arms.

Please stay.

Elizabeth.

Sophie.

- Where have you been? - When did you all arrive?

Late. Countess Ferenczy said you were in bed and did not want to be disturbed.

She said it was your wish.

And you listen to countess Ferenczy? She is stupid.

Yes, I did not feel too well.

- So to speak. - Where have you been? Tell me.

I could not sleep, so I went out for a ride.

- On your own? - Of course.

Well, with the groom. Is that all right?

Let's go, help me to undress.

You look very well.

- You are very pretty - Really?

And in the next few days here,

you will have to be even prettier than usual.

Why is that?

- Somebody is eagerly waiting for you. - For me?

He delayed his departure for 15 days, can you imagine?

- Just to see you. - Who are you talking about?

Who is he?

Who would you like him to be? Eh?

I do not know.

He is handsome, he is a king. He will be your husband

- Who is he? - Ludwig.

Yes, that's right, our cousin.

- Ludwig. - Ludwig.

The staging of Richard Wagner's Tristan

in June 1865

cost a fortune to the State.

To that unwise spending, we should add the King's personal expenses

to receive in an adequate way Empress Elisabeth

who instead decided not to attend.

And in doing so, she signalled to everyone her disapproval.

Do not say anything.

In my opinion, the truth doesn't have anything to do

with this search for the impossible.

When freedom is a privilege of the few,

it does not have anything to do with real freedom,

the same freedom that belongs to every man

and that each of us has the right to hold on to.

We live in a world

where there are no innocents,

where nobody has the right to judge anybody.

I am speaking as a friend.

The generosity that Your Majesty showed me

when we were both younger emboldens me now

to speak frankly,

from one man to another.

I am a soldier who was left alone on the battlefield

at a time of danger and bitterness.

But I feel neither contempt nor rancour

for the king who abandoned me.

Instead, I feel great pity.

My king thinks he has made a brave decision,

but he is mistaken if he thinks he can find happiness

outside the rules and the duties of men.

Those who love life cannot afford to search for the impossible.

Instead, they have to tread cautiously.

This is true even for a sovereign.

Even for a sovereign,

because the great power that a monarch has

is limited by the boundaries of the society of which he is part.

What man could follow him beyond those boundaries?

Who?

Certainly not the poor and weak

whose overriding concern is to find security.

Not just material well-being, but also moral.

The same security Your Majesty was talking about with such contempt.

The only people following him

will be the ones who see freedom

as a quest for pleasure without any moral boundaries.

No.

No, you surely do not want this.

Being followed only by low-down servants

opportunists and con artists.

No, I do not believe it. Your Majesty cannot like such creatures.

Who would take advantage of his generosity and would try to deceive him.

Why would a young person, with his whole life ahead of him,

not be tempted to find a different reason to live?

Even if it is difficult because it is the one of common people

who accept mediocrity.

It takes a great deal of courage to accept mediocrity

when you are someone who strives for ideals beyond this world, I know.

But it is the only way to be saved from a terrible loneliness.

Father, I feel like I am waking up from a nightmare.

A nightmare you have not helped me much with, truth be known.

- Please, take a seat. - Thank you.

It must be a great relief.

I hope...

that His Majesty has found a stable balance.

It's just that...

a lot of young men struggle to find balance within themselves.

- An inner harmony. - He has found it.

What matters is that he's found it and is getting married.

I'm surprised that His Majesty has never mentioned his intentions to me.

I was saying that I hope that he has weighed this up carefully

before arriving at his decision.

Because...

this choice does not only involve him,

but also his spouse who, with the blessing of the Lord...

Enough, Father Hoffman!

What matters is that they get married,

and that the wedding is celebrated as soon as possible.

This is exactly what we all hoped for.

- Am I right? - Of course. It is a relief for all of us.

And for the country.

We will probably need a papal dispensation,

given the close relationship between the two.

Of course.

I am sure there will not be any problems.

- Their parents are cousins too. - Exactly.

Some believe that's why

the Wittelsbach and Hohenzollers families

have had so many cases of anomalies.

But as far as I know, young Sophie enjoys good health.

And His Majesty the King has never given us any reasons to worry.

We should mention certain timidities and indispositions of His Majesty

so that Sophie can help him and be understanding.

Like her sisters,

Sophie will quickly learn that a woman in her position

does not only have rights and privileges, but also duties.

Many duties.

My dear.

- Sophie, are you happy? - Yes, indeed.

With the wedding approaching, His Majesty gave the go ahead

to the building works for his damned castles.

I was in charge of making the King experience certain things

that he was thought to be totally new to.

It was all so complicated.

They told me so many things about you.

They recommended you.

Who did?

Your Majesty sent his aide-de-camp to the theater

to invite me for dinner

and I suddenly found myself at the center of a grand State affair.

Closed carriage, curtains down.

I was taken to a place full of offices.

And then?

Do you want to know? Are you curious?

Thank you.

There were some gentlemen.

I think one of them was sent by the Archbishop.

A very indiscreet person.

And another one was sent

by Her Majesty the Queen Mother.

Oh, my God, Your Majesty!

Are things always so complicated when a king wants to make love?

For us actors it is much simpler. A gaze is all we need.

A sign like this.

The jewels that the queens of Bavaria have been wearing for 700 years.

But I will give you a better present.

It is a secret, you cannot tell anybody.

I will introduce you to Richard Wagner.

I daresay that calling off the engagement with Princess Sophie

marked the beginning of our misfortunes.

From that inauspicious day, our King lost his interest in State affairs.

Despite everything that was going on in the world, His Majesty

seemed interested only in building all of those castles

in which nobody would ever live.

To make matters worse, Prince Otto was getting more and more ill

and the Queen Mother sought comfort in the Catholic religion.

Our heart is filled with joy, Your Majesty.

How painful for a mother - he did not want to be caressed.

On behalf of our Provincial Father too,

I would like to express my contentment

for Your Majesty's decision to attend this ceremony

compensating partly for the King's absence

and the deepest sorrow that is caused by

seeing him living more and more in seclusion.

Lately, I have been visiting him frequently

to ask him about his health.

Very often His Majesty refuses to see me.

Remember His Majesty in your prayers.

I never forget our beloved King in my prayers.

But I must say that it's a source of great embarrassment to me

and profound dismay,

having to explain the King's position to his Catholic subjects.

Sadly, we are on the verge of a war that, at best,

will result in Prussian forces becoming triumphant in Europe.

And we may hope that the course of these earthly events which,

as the Lord knows, are totally alien to us,

will encourage us to keep on strengthening

the sacred bonds with the mother church

and the Holy Pope.

But our King is not helping matters.

If God, in his eternal mercy

accepted me as His humble servant,

I am sure that He will help us.

I have faith.

I cannot wait any longer.

I must see His Majesty the King.

I will take sole responsibility for this.

When did you get here?

At eight o'clock this morning,

and I have been waiting out there since.

As Your Majesty knows very well.

I am ill.

Chloroform is the only thing that helps me get any sleep.

- Does the smell bother you? - Not at all.

Shall I ask someone to open the window?

I am so cold.

Take a seat.

Thank you, but I must go tonight.

- Really? Where to? - To Versailles

I have spoken to Chancellor Bismark

and I must give him an immediate answer.

For the purpose of this difficult inquiry

in order to understand the problem and ascertain a solution,

I suggest that my colleagues visit all of His Majesty's castles,

of which only Linderhof Castle has been occupied by him

on an occasional basis.

I would also like to remind you that Wagner, who left Bavaria long ago,

has still been a burden on our finances.

When his new theatre in Bayreuth was opened in August 1876

with his famous Tetralogy, it was only because of

the financial support that with his renowned greediness,

Wagner was able to obtain from our naive King.

Why is that black veil on the piano?

I've heard about that.

The King ordered it to be put up for Wagner's death.

That was long time ago.

- Tell His Majesty I am here. - His Majesty is ill, he cannot see you.

His Majesty says that the castle is at Your Majesty's disposal

for as long as you wish.

We are going back to Possenhofen.

Now it's your turn.

Who did you put in charge of conducting this inquiry?

Count von Holnstein, Highness.

The Count has always been very close to His Majesty.

His advice is therefore very helpful for us

I have always distrusted favorites.

And ex-favorites have to be regarded with even more suspicion.

What part does Colonel Dürckheim play in all of this?

He has been close to Ludwig since he was young.

Highness, we thought it would be better

to keep this situation as confidential as possible

due to the decisions we may have to make

should our King be declared incapable of ruling.

As Your Majesty may know,

in spite of the King's eccentricity

and the recent excessive spending on his empty castles

the people still love Ludwig very much.

Moreover, it is in the interests of some people to have a king

who does not rule.

Are you saying that Colonel Dürckheim is one of these people too?

No, not at all. We have great respect for Colonel Dürckheim.

I feel the same way as you.

So, I am sure you gentlemen will not mind

if I want to hear his opinion on the matter.

I also think it is more fair if we hear him while you are present.

Call Colonel Dürckheim.

The Cabinet of Ministers, represented by Count Törring here

is offering me the regency of Bavaria in case it becomes necessary

to make our King Ludwig II abdicate.

From what I hear, it is clear that he is not of sound mind.

Please, Colonel, take a seat.

Obviously, I would only accept the regency if there was a medical report

confirming this necessity.

I very much appreciate your impartiality, Colonel.

I know that on many occasions

you showed loyalty to the King.

So, I would like to know your opinion

I am the first one to admit that over the past few years His Majesty

has shown less and less interest in State affairs.

Loneliness gave him shelter,

but are we sure

that his lack of interest is not just a façade?

Maybe his eccentricity is only a way to show to himself

and to the whole world

the privileges he has the right to allow himself?

I apologize, Your Highness, but this is my opinion.

The King's private life is as eccentric

as his own Government wanted it to be.

Before putting an end to the excessive spending for his castles

this was regularly approved by the Treasury.

Somebody must have wanted to keep the King occupied in his follies.

Somebody who has been very close to the King in the past few years

and who has had a bad influence on him.

He was appointed by the Government.

Forgive me, Your Highness,

but Colonel Dürckheim seems to be accusing

our Government of plotting against the King.

Your words, not mine.

It is my duty to answer honestly to His Majesty's question.

I realize the seriousness of what I said,

but the proof is in the fact that some measures have been considered

before making any attempts to help the poor soul, if I may say so.

Our King is going through a crisis.

How many years has this crisis been going on, Colonel Dürckheim? Eh?

Let us look at the facts.

Obviously, the Government tried to be very understanding

because it wanted to prevent a scandal before it was too late.

If there will be one.

We are carrying out a detailed inquiry.

Colonel Dürckheim will be interviewed

and he will repeat what he said to us in private.

And maybe there will be others

who, like him, may think that the Government's responsibilities

are much heavier than the King's.

In this case, dear Pfistermeister,

our only option will be to resign and go to see a doctor.

Because if the King is judged to be of sound mind,

then we must be crazy!

Your Majesty should eat something now.

- What do you think I should eat? - Anything.

You can eat anything you want, Your Majesty.

No knives. An odd way to lay the table.

Only one dessert fork.

Am I supposed to start with the dessert?

I am not hungry. I want to sleep.

Of course, Your Majesty.

Wake me up at midnight.

I will take a walk,

then I will eat.

Your Majesty is expected to follow a more regular schedule from now on.

Of course.

Sleep at night, eat at set times

and with regards to going out- maybe in the future.

Soon I will ask them myself to grant you permission, Your Majesty

There is nothing more beautiful and fascinating than the night.

They say the cult of the night, of the moon

is a maternal cult.

The cult of the sun, of daytime...

is a masculine myth, therefore paternal.

However, the mystery,

the greatness of night

for me lies in

the infinite, sublime kingdom of the heroes.

Which is also the kingdom

of reason.

Excellent.

- Delicious. - I'm tempted to have some more.

It is half past seven.

He said he would not stay out more than an hour.

- What time did they leave? - I saw them. It was before six.

Send someone to look for them. They must have gone by the lake.

Get some torches, quick!

Who went with them?

They were alone. Professor Gudden did not want

any nurses accompanying them.

- His Majesty seemed very calm today. - How crazy! So irresponsible!

Dr Müller, do I have to teach you that crazy people can be clever too?

Go, quick! As soon as you find them,

send someone to inform us. Quick!

So?

Count von Holnstein.

Take the bodies to the castle, immediately!

The last original composition for piano by Richard Wagner

unpublished until today, is presented for the first time in this film.

Special thanks to those who, with their efforts and enthusiasm

made it possible to restore the original version

of Luchino Visconti's Ludwig.