Rhinegold (1978) - full transcript
On 15 May 1928, the most famous
express train of the German Reichsbahn
travelled for the first time between
Hoek van Holland and Basel.
As its route for the most part
followed the course of the Rhine,
it was given the name "Rheingold",
referring to the well-known legend.
With its violet/ivory-coloured pullman
cars it was a sensation at every stop,
and often people waited for it near the
tracks along the way and waved at it.
Since 1965 the legendary route has become
a part of the European TEE network.
Today the travel time
is three hours shorter.
The violet cars are now red,
but the name remains the same.
Still today this train
means more to the travellers
than only getting from
one town to another.
At platform 15, Trans Europe Express 7
"Rheingold" to Geneva is arriving,
via Cologne, Mannheim,
Basel and Berne.
Stand well back
while the train is arriving!
Elisabeth.
- You'll be away for such a long time.
- Well then, Mum, I'll write to you.
At platform 15, Trans Europe Express 7
"Rheingold" to Geneva, all aboard!
Doors close automatically. Stand
well back while the train is departing.
And take good care of yourself, yes?
Come! Let's go to the next car.
Would you like a drink?
Coffee, cola, mineral water, beer.
Would you like a drink?
Have you got a cognac?
- Here you are.
- Thank you.
Would you like a drink?
Coffee, cola, mineral water, beer.
Would you like some cookies?
But only if you don't make crumbs.
- Yes, cookies!
- Cookies, please.
- 1.50, please.
- Thanks. Here.
I haven't ordered coffee, only cookies.
The coffee is for Frau Drossbach.
Thank you.
Would you like a drink?
Coffee, cola, mineral water, beer.
Any more fares?
That's the one for the child,
and this is mine.
- Here you are.
- Thank you.
Sit properly, and
don't eat everything at once!
Have a pleasant journey!
Do you always have to be told ten times?
Would you like to have a drink?
Wolfgang!
You are different.
Does that surprise you?
Return trips are bad, aren't they?
This time you seem to be glad.
Peter! Come here now and close the door!
Elisabeth.
Come!
I have to tell you something.
Is that so? He has found out, eh?
Your liaison with a waiter.
Your love for the "Rheingold".
I know.
The nights in Coblenz.
The wife of a diplomat in bed with a...
No. He'll be transferred to New York.
It's the last trip.
I already guessed it yesterday.
In Düsseldorf.
You were... different.
Cold.
You didn't even know whether
I'd get the "Rheingold" today.
We wouldn't have seen each other again.
Perhaps you even hoped for it?
Frau Drossbach was diplomatic, eh?
I simply couldn't.
I couldn't because I like you.
Then finally leave him. Now, at once.
Wolfgang!
Wolfgang, understand me.
This is Bonn Central Station.
Bonn Central Station.
You must promise me.
What do you want in New York?
Just tell him it's over.
The UN will manage without you.
Do you hear me?
I'll finish in Basel, anyway.
Then you'll give him a call.
You'll call him out of a peace conference
and simply say: "It's over."
He'll drop the receiver.
Or perhaps not, because
he's just in bed with his secretary.
We've always been in love,
even in school.
You sat in front of me,
with your long golden hair.
And your kisses that I imagined...
I'm afraid.
Of what?
He'll survive it.
Love is not a contract.
And the cooperation among nations
is more important now than ever.
Well then, see you in Coblenz.
I'm very happy.
Would you like a drink?
One Apollinaris.
2.50, please.
Keep the change.
You won't believe it, but he's
on the train, two cars from here.
And? Did he recognise you?
He only ordered an Apollinaris.
If you stay here you'll be safe.
Perhaps he secretly met a woman.
Why not, he travels
even more often than you.
It's well possible.
And you'd have all reason for a
simple divorce from Karl-Heinz Drossbach.
Here's your coffee.
It's 2.50.
I'll pay for it. Set it off against
the 10 marks I gave you earlier.
I went to school
with Wolfgang Friedrichs.
He was the friend of my youth,
if you like.
Excuse me, where's the restaurant car?
In the other direction,
almost at the end, madame.
Thank you, thank you very much.
You are a very good actor, but
that's no reason to sleep with my wife.
And if she wants it?
Even often, and everywhere.
Perhaps... I didn't count,
I only know it was good.
Please, Wolfgang...
But it's true.
I ask you not to
trouble my wife any longer.
That's great. We'll get at a round table
in Geneva and negotiate a contract.
In and around Coblenz she's mine, and
from there to Geneva, in and around Geneva,
no, let's say in all of Switzerland,
she's yours.
Oh yes, and in all of the US, too.
Of course in keeping with that UN note
or Human Rights Charter.
Please, Elisabeth,
leave this compartment.
Coblenz might get under UN control, too.
Elisabeth!
That's a good offer.
I'm making big concessions!
We're flying on Tuesday.
Dr. Stein is coming with us.
I can definitely get
the old official residence.
It can't be as tasteless as
the one in Geneva; Stein knows it.
A wonderful view and a huge living room.
He thinks you might like it.
We can have a few things sent on to us.
How's mother?
Good morning, tickets please.
Slow and steady wins the race.
One ticket. Here you are.
Have a nice journey!
Any more fares since Bonn?
For you. For your new office.
From mother.
She likes you more than you think.
Really.
Perhaps.
I know I should have visited her,
but yesterday morning I didn't know yet
that I had to be in Bonn in the evening.
She didn't expect it.
but as we are moving to New York
and won't see her for half a year...
She'll never change.
So that I can open
mother's letters more easily?
Aren't you pleased?
K. H. D.
She is proud of it.
Yes, I'm pleased. I'll call her.
Would you like a drink?
Coffee, cola, mineral water, beer.
Would you like a drink?
Are these seats taken?
Excuse me. Come!
Trans Europe Express 7, "Rheingold",
to Geneva, all aboard!
Doors close automatically. Stand
well back while the train is departing.
Hello!
We must reach it!
One does what one can.
Yes, faster!
Where is he?
Did he get off?
I don't know. Perhaps he got off.
Have you told him? Is it over?
Elisabeth, you must calm down.
If he were still on the train
I would have seen him.
But the suitcase...
Here, drink this.
See you soon.
Would you like a drink?
Toast, cheese sandwiches, chocolate.
Perhaps the motorway is faster.
I've never done such a race.
I don't know.
Perhaps the distance
is shorter after all.
And if you consider that you have to
drive back into the city from the motorway,
and all the traffic lights...
Are these seats taken?
Come.
Do you see those ships?
One... two... three...
And the castle?
That was Lahneck Castle.
And now you can see the Marksburg.
And who lives there?
Tell me, grandfather.
Well, the knights lived there.
The robber knights, too.
They held up the merchants,
who carried many treasures.
Or they only passed the Rhine boatmen
with their big barges
after taking money from them.
They built their castles with it.
Look out, soon the Lorelei will come!
Who is that?
The Lorelei is a rock.
But a woman, too,
who, in former times, in the evening or
even at night when the moon was shining...
- So, here's your order!
- Ah, yes.
- Father, you have to pay!
- Can't you see I'm working?
3.75, please.
There! There it is! Drive faster!
I'm driving the best I can.
I don't want to break my neck.
Yes, and one day the son of
the Count Palatine came
and heard about the
beautiful woman and her singing.
When once he was bathing near the rock,
she saw the young count,
but she didn't show herself, nor
did she bewitch him with her singing,
because she didn't
want to cause him harm.
Since then, the count seemed to be
accompanied by a benevolent spirit.
When he got thirsty on the hunt,
a well sprang up next to him at once.
When he wanted to rest after a long ride,
he found a soft bed of moss in a cave.
The Lorelei wasn't seen
on the rock for weeks.
And thus the fishermen could cast
their nets right up to the rock again
without being harmed.
One day the young count
wants to return home after the hunt,
but he can't find the way home anymore.
He strays through
undergrowth and stones,
and finally climbs up a crag,
hoping to perhaps see the river.
Suddenly he sees the
beautiful woman in front of him.
Without any fear
she stands above the precipice.
The last rays of the sun
make her long blonde hair shine golden.
She smiles at him and waves at him.
The she suddenly disappears again,
like an apparition.
And now the count quickly finds
the right way down to the river.
Day and night the young count
thinks about the enchanted being...
But first you see the two ruins,
Sterrenberg and Liebenstein.
The two brothers who were enemies,
fighting over an inheritance.
They were supposed to
share it with their blind sister,
But because of their greed,
each wanted to have all the treasures
and all the money for himself alone.
With cunning they succeeded
in deceiving the sister,
so that she received almost nothing, but
the brothers fell out with each other.
And each of them built his own castle.
You can see them over there!
Finally they even had a
high wall built between the castles.
And the Lorelei?
Where was I?
Oh, yes, the young count.
The father noticed rather quickly that
something must have happened to his son.
- Yes, it's about my wife.
- I see.
He's simply not in the mood anymore
for hunting and tournaments.
Soon his father wants to know
what has so strangely changed him.
And what did he say?
How are you?
- Don't you feel well?
- It's all right.
But everything is over now.
He will certainly ask for a divorce.
Wolfgang...
After the young count had confessed,
his father decided to send him
to the emperor's warriors,
so that he would be distracted.
But then, at the evening
before his departure,
the young count
goes out fishing once more.
He steers his barge along the banks of the
Rhine and approaches the dangerous spot.
Suddenly the moon
appears behind a heavy cloud
and bathes the rock in a pale light.
At this moment, the young count discovers
the beautiful Lorelei high up on the rock,
She only wears a thin veil
and sings her enchanting song.
She reaches out to him.
The young count is
blinded by this beauty.
At this moment, the count's little ship
gets into a giant swirl
and soon after sinks in the floods.
With last strength
he tries to reach the riverbank,
but he faints,
and the waves wash over him.
The water seems to devour him.
You are not exactly smart.
Yes, I beg your pardon.
May I offer you something?
You don't have to.
Elisabeth! Elisabeth!
Come, I'll show you something.
After the Lorelei had lured
his son into misfortune, too,
the old count was determined to put an
end to the works of the beautiful woman.
The following day already,
he had the rock surrounded by warriors.
Night has hardly fallen when
the warriors make their way to the top.
And indeed they soon see
the beautiful woman in the distance.
Watch now!
Over there! Now you can see it.
This is the rock.
This is the Lorelei.
She sits on the highest rock
and plays with a shimmering chain
which she wears around her neck,
and she sings a sad song.
Slowly the men climb up through
the undergrowth and the craggy rocks,
coming ever closer,
high above the abyss.
"Father, father, make haste, make haste!
Bring the white horses here to this place!"
"I want to ride
on the wind and the waves!"
Yes, that's what she yelled.
And then, suddenly, the Rhine rises.
Its floods fill the valley.
Until finally the waves submerge the rock
and carry the Lorelei away,
down the river.
The warriors are paralysed by fear,
until one of them yells:
"This was no earthly being!"
They return to the valley,
and already from afar they see
the windows of the palace brightly lit.
Music and cheering can be heard.
The warriors are speechless,
for the young count has
just returned in good health.
A wave has cast him ashore.
And it happened in the same hour
in which the Lorelei went down into the
valley on the back of the giant flood.
And thus the uncanny rock
was given her name.
Only hikers occasionally report that
they heard the echo of strange words
while crossing the mountain.
Kiss me.
Would you like a drink?
Coffee, beer, cola, wine.
Wolfgang? Wolfgang Friedrichs.
Elisabeth Meinert?
I wouldn't have recognised you.
You look so... changed.
You won't believe it, but I
thought of you even this morning.
When I went past the school.
What might he be doing?
Smart people take the train.
Well, I take the "Rheingold".
But like this.
Excuse me, but can I help you perhaps?
No, it's just that
the travelling makes me sick today.
You are Pisces, aren't you?
May I offer you a little something?
Thank you.
You may find it strange, but since
I've lost almost all of my stomach
I almost incessantly eat these things.
These are my meals.
Practical, but not good.
You're certainly travelling
to Switzerland.
Shit! But you must expect that.
- And what are we doing now?
- Mannheim.
It doesn't surprise me. You have
difficulties with your environment.
Neptune in the 7th house.
Premature affiliations.
Ascendant... Aquarius.
A strong desire for independence.
And the moon near the
ascendant in the 12th house.
Your talent lies in
handling your imagination.
This is how you should
cope with your dangers.
Ascendant Aquarius.
You are, so to speak, courted in a way.
You are able to be happy, but time
and again you compromise your happiness
by passionate emotions.
Moon in square to Mars.
Mars, however,
in conjunction with Uranus.
A permanent source
of accidents and dangers.
Uranus in square to Pluto.
You have an extraordinary
power of attraction
and special artistic talent.
Your relationships are mostly fateful.
This also means that
you're emotionally... well.
What you say is true.
You applied a lot of effort.
I'll gladly give you my card.
Now we'll make an accident!
No!
...Mannheim. There you have a direct
connection to the IC "Präsident" to Munich
via Heidelberg, Stuttgart,
Ulm and Augsburg.
1.25 p.m.
All right, I'll give you
a fixed rate if you want.
Yes, yes, do so.
I must make a phone call.
I'll call her.
TEE 7, "Rheingold", good afternoon.
It's rather hot!
Yes, yes, I know.
I'm driving the German Grand Prix.
- The German Grand Prix?
- Yes, yes.
Frau Drossbach is asked
to come to the secretariat.
Frau Drossbach, please come
to the secretariat. Thank you.
A cola, please.
Frau Drossbach is asked
to come to the secretariat.
Frau Drossbach, please come
to the secretariat. Thank you.
In Cologne we'll
get off the train, Elisabeth.
You are possessed.
In former times
they would have burned you.
And you would have kindled the fire.
Elisabeth!
Black? Are you in mourning?
It doesn't become you, black.
Attention at Platform 12.
Trans Europe Express 7, "Rheingold",
from Hoek van Holland to Geneva, via
Freiburg - Basel, is now arriving.
This is Karlsruhe Central Station.
Karlsruhe Central Station.
I don't understand it.
She could have gone to answer the call.
The telephone call only cost us time.
That's my opinion.
There! There it is!
Is this seat taken?
Perhaps you should see a doctor.
In Freiburg, I can take you there.
In Geneva.
It's not bad, really.
I don't want to.
All right, then I'll come along.
But give me a cigarette.
Shall I get you something else?
Coffee?
Tea?
No, please leave the door open.
It's rather warm.
Tickets, please!
That bastard!
Any other fares here?
Are you going to Switzerland, too?
You live in Switzerland, don't you?
At Lake Geneva, am I right?
Yes, you're right.
I'm turning my back
on this country, too.
You certainly won't know me,
but I'm the inventor of the
smallest sewing machine in the world,
of the biovision glasses, the fridge
boiler, the 33-blade miracle knife.
75 registered patents.
But now: unemployment.
No good deed goes unpunished.
They dissolved my stock,
took away my license,
and only because
I was short of the ready.
Look, I was able to save this one.
These are the biovision glasses.
This morning I dissolved the store,
put up a sign and made off.
Closed for holidays!
I said to myself: If the bank
goes haywire, you can do it, too.
I had 120.000 of them made.
They sold like hot cakes!
And at a price!
19.45 marks.
With these glasses you have,
with one movement of your hand,
the three-dimensional world at home!
The absolute cinema experience
in your living room!
Every TV broadcast becomes
a compelling experience.
Your ticket, please.
The ticket...
Well, actually I'm sitting at the fore.
You already know my ticket, I'm just
conducting business talk here.
This is the conference
compartment, isn't it?
I've had enough of you
playing hide-and-seek.
Well, you could be a little friendlier!
- Where are you going?
- Well, to Geneva. That is, to Lausanne.
- You got on the train in Karlsruhe?
- Yes.
From Karlsruhe to the border
it'll be 39 mark,
39 mark penalty,
and 10 mark TEE surcharge.
- That's 88 mark then?
- Yes, 88 mark.
For continuing to Lausanne you'll have
to pay my colleague in Switzerland.
Well, it's like this: this morning...
I don't have the money.
Well, I'm sorry, then I have to
note down your particulars
And you'll have to
get off the train in Freiburg.
That's what you get
for being a German inventor.
I'm paying for it.
You are paying for it?
If you please, Frau Meinert.
Many thanks, Frau Meinert.
Lausanne is where my sister lives.
By the way, may I introduce myself?
Soskamp, Herbert Soskamp.
Well, it's like this:
She's married to a Frenchman.
I was always against it,
but she works at Nescafé, Nestlé.
She got to know
the Frenchman thanks to me.
At the inventors' fair. In Nuremberg.
Only three weeks later
she moved away and married him.
At age 34! Fear of being
left on the shelf, don't you think?
Ladies and gentlemen, in a few
minutes we'll arrive in Freiburg.
I hope I'm not disturbing you?
We'd like to call attention to the start of
the passport and customs check in Freiburg.
Travellers to Switzerland
and Italy are asked
to have their documents ready
for the border crossing.
Trans Europe Express 7, "Rheingold",
to Basel - Geneva, all aboard!
Stand well back
while the train is departing!
Elisabeth,
I've considered it for a long time.
I'll accept the post in Geneva.
I only wanted to see how you are.
I am sorry.
I want you to leave this compartment.
I don't know this man.
I don't understand you.
You heard it!
The lady doesn't want to be disturbed.
Mother!
Mother!
Are you not well?
Can I help you?
It's all right.
But you don't look well.
Really not.
Yes, my wife needs some coffee again.
At once.
Swiss border police!
Passport check!
Your passports, please.
TEE "Rheingold" to Berne, Lausanne,
Geneva. Departure 3.52 p.m.
- Did something happen?
- A murder.
Attention, platform 6, TEE "Rheingold"
to Berne - Geneva, all aboard!
Caution, doors close automatically.
Yes, they already arrested the man!
English subtitles by Tommaso.
express train of the German Reichsbahn
travelled for the first time between
Hoek van Holland and Basel.
As its route for the most part
followed the course of the Rhine,
it was given the name "Rheingold",
referring to the well-known legend.
With its violet/ivory-coloured pullman
cars it was a sensation at every stop,
and often people waited for it near the
tracks along the way and waved at it.
Since 1965 the legendary route has become
a part of the European TEE network.
Today the travel time
is three hours shorter.
The violet cars are now red,
but the name remains the same.
Still today this train
means more to the travellers
than only getting from
one town to another.
At platform 15, Trans Europe Express 7
"Rheingold" to Geneva is arriving,
via Cologne, Mannheim,
Basel and Berne.
Stand well back
while the train is arriving!
Elisabeth.
- You'll be away for such a long time.
- Well then, Mum, I'll write to you.
At platform 15, Trans Europe Express 7
"Rheingold" to Geneva, all aboard!
Doors close automatically. Stand
well back while the train is departing.
And take good care of yourself, yes?
Come! Let's go to the next car.
Would you like a drink?
Coffee, cola, mineral water, beer.
Would you like a drink?
Have you got a cognac?
- Here you are.
- Thank you.
Would you like a drink?
Coffee, cola, mineral water, beer.
Would you like some cookies?
But only if you don't make crumbs.
- Yes, cookies!
- Cookies, please.
- 1.50, please.
- Thanks. Here.
I haven't ordered coffee, only cookies.
The coffee is for Frau Drossbach.
Thank you.
Would you like a drink?
Coffee, cola, mineral water, beer.
Any more fares?
That's the one for the child,
and this is mine.
- Here you are.
- Thank you.
Sit properly, and
don't eat everything at once!
Have a pleasant journey!
Do you always have to be told ten times?
Would you like to have a drink?
Wolfgang!
You are different.
Does that surprise you?
Return trips are bad, aren't they?
This time you seem to be glad.
Peter! Come here now and close the door!
Elisabeth.
Come!
I have to tell you something.
Is that so? He has found out, eh?
Your liaison with a waiter.
Your love for the "Rheingold".
I know.
The nights in Coblenz.
The wife of a diplomat in bed with a...
No. He'll be transferred to New York.
It's the last trip.
I already guessed it yesterday.
In Düsseldorf.
You were... different.
Cold.
You didn't even know whether
I'd get the "Rheingold" today.
We wouldn't have seen each other again.
Perhaps you even hoped for it?
Frau Drossbach was diplomatic, eh?
I simply couldn't.
I couldn't because I like you.
Then finally leave him. Now, at once.
Wolfgang!
Wolfgang, understand me.
This is Bonn Central Station.
Bonn Central Station.
You must promise me.
What do you want in New York?
Just tell him it's over.
The UN will manage without you.
Do you hear me?
I'll finish in Basel, anyway.
Then you'll give him a call.
You'll call him out of a peace conference
and simply say: "It's over."
He'll drop the receiver.
Or perhaps not, because
he's just in bed with his secretary.
We've always been in love,
even in school.
You sat in front of me,
with your long golden hair.
And your kisses that I imagined...
I'm afraid.
Of what?
He'll survive it.
Love is not a contract.
And the cooperation among nations
is more important now than ever.
Well then, see you in Coblenz.
I'm very happy.
Would you like a drink?
One Apollinaris.
2.50, please.
Keep the change.
You won't believe it, but he's
on the train, two cars from here.
And? Did he recognise you?
He only ordered an Apollinaris.
If you stay here you'll be safe.
Perhaps he secretly met a woman.
Why not, he travels
even more often than you.
It's well possible.
And you'd have all reason for a
simple divorce from Karl-Heinz Drossbach.
Here's your coffee.
It's 2.50.
I'll pay for it. Set it off against
the 10 marks I gave you earlier.
I went to school
with Wolfgang Friedrichs.
He was the friend of my youth,
if you like.
Excuse me, where's the restaurant car?
In the other direction,
almost at the end, madame.
Thank you, thank you very much.
You are a very good actor, but
that's no reason to sleep with my wife.
And if she wants it?
Even often, and everywhere.
Perhaps... I didn't count,
I only know it was good.
Please, Wolfgang...
But it's true.
I ask you not to
trouble my wife any longer.
That's great. We'll get at a round table
in Geneva and negotiate a contract.
In and around Coblenz she's mine, and
from there to Geneva, in and around Geneva,
no, let's say in all of Switzerland,
she's yours.
Oh yes, and in all of the US, too.
Of course in keeping with that UN note
or Human Rights Charter.
Please, Elisabeth,
leave this compartment.
Coblenz might get under UN control, too.
Elisabeth!
That's a good offer.
I'm making big concessions!
We're flying on Tuesday.
Dr. Stein is coming with us.
I can definitely get
the old official residence.
It can't be as tasteless as
the one in Geneva; Stein knows it.
A wonderful view and a huge living room.
He thinks you might like it.
We can have a few things sent on to us.
How's mother?
Good morning, tickets please.
Slow and steady wins the race.
One ticket. Here you are.
Have a nice journey!
Any more fares since Bonn?
For you. For your new office.
From mother.
She likes you more than you think.
Really.
Perhaps.
I know I should have visited her,
but yesterday morning I didn't know yet
that I had to be in Bonn in the evening.
She didn't expect it.
but as we are moving to New York
and won't see her for half a year...
She'll never change.
So that I can open
mother's letters more easily?
Aren't you pleased?
K. H. D.
She is proud of it.
Yes, I'm pleased. I'll call her.
Would you like a drink?
Coffee, cola, mineral water, beer.
Would you like a drink?
Are these seats taken?
Excuse me. Come!
Trans Europe Express 7, "Rheingold",
to Geneva, all aboard!
Doors close automatically. Stand
well back while the train is departing.
Hello!
We must reach it!
One does what one can.
Yes, faster!
Where is he?
Did he get off?
I don't know. Perhaps he got off.
Have you told him? Is it over?
Elisabeth, you must calm down.
If he were still on the train
I would have seen him.
But the suitcase...
Here, drink this.
See you soon.
Would you like a drink?
Toast, cheese sandwiches, chocolate.
Perhaps the motorway is faster.
I've never done such a race.
I don't know.
Perhaps the distance
is shorter after all.
And if you consider that you have to
drive back into the city from the motorway,
and all the traffic lights...
Are these seats taken?
Come.
Do you see those ships?
One... two... three...
And the castle?
That was Lahneck Castle.
And now you can see the Marksburg.
And who lives there?
Tell me, grandfather.
Well, the knights lived there.
The robber knights, too.
They held up the merchants,
who carried many treasures.
Or they only passed the Rhine boatmen
with their big barges
after taking money from them.
They built their castles with it.
Look out, soon the Lorelei will come!
Who is that?
The Lorelei is a rock.
But a woman, too,
who, in former times, in the evening or
even at night when the moon was shining...
- So, here's your order!
- Ah, yes.
- Father, you have to pay!
- Can't you see I'm working?
3.75, please.
There! There it is! Drive faster!
I'm driving the best I can.
I don't want to break my neck.
Yes, and one day the son of
the Count Palatine came
and heard about the
beautiful woman and her singing.
When once he was bathing near the rock,
she saw the young count,
but she didn't show herself, nor
did she bewitch him with her singing,
because she didn't
want to cause him harm.
Since then, the count seemed to be
accompanied by a benevolent spirit.
When he got thirsty on the hunt,
a well sprang up next to him at once.
When he wanted to rest after a long ride,
he found a soft bed of moss in a cave.
The Lorelei wasn't seen
on the rock for weeks.
And thus the fishermen could cast
their nets right up to the rock again
without being harmed.
One day the young count
wants to return home after the hunt,
but he can't find the way home anymore.
He strays through
undergrowth and stones,
and finally climbs up a crag,
hoping to perhaps see the river.
Suddenly he sees the
beautiful woman in front of him.
Without any fear
she stands above the precipice.
The last rays of the sun
make her long blonde hair shine golden.
She smiles at him and waves at him.
The she suddenly disappears again,
like an apparition.
And now the count quickly finds
the right way down to the river.
Day and night the young count
thinks about the enchanted being...
But first you see the two ruins,
Sterrenberg and Liebenstein.
The two brothers who were enemies,
fighting over an inheritance.
They were supposed to
share it with their blind sister,
But because of their greed,
each wanted to have all the treasures
and all the money for himself alone.
With cunning they succeeded
in deceiving the sister,
so that she received almost nothing, but
the brothers fell out with each other.
And each of them built his own castle.
You can see them over there!
Finally they even had a
high wall built between the castles.
And the Lorelei?
Where was I?
Oh, yes, the young count.
The father noticed rather quickly that
something must have happened to his son.
- Yes, it's about my wife.
- I see.
He's simply not in the mood anymore
for hunting and tournaments.
Soon his father wants to know
what has so strangely changed him.
And what did he say?
How are you?
- Don't you feel well?
- It's all right.
But everything is over now.
He will certainly ask for a divorce.
Wolfgang...
After the young count had confessed,
his father decided to send him
to the emperor's warriors,
so that he would be distracted.
But then, at the evening
before his departure,
the young count
goes out fishing once more.
He steers his barge along the banks of the
Rhine and approaches the dangerous spot.
Suddenly the moon
appears behind a heavy cloud
and bathes the rock in a pale light.
At this moment, the young count discovers
the beautiful Lorelei high up on the rock,
She only wears a thin veil
and sings her enchanting song.
She reaches out to him.
The young count is
blinded by this beauty.
At this moment, the count's little ship
gets into a giant swirl
and soon after sinks in the floods.
With last strength
he tries to reach the riverbank,
but he faints,
and the waves wash over him.
The water seems to devour him.
You are not exactly smart.
Yes, I beg your pardon.
May I offer you something?
You don't have to.
Elisabeth! Elisabeth!
Come, I'll show you something.
After the Lorelei had lured
his son into misfortune, too,
the old count was determined to put an
end to the works of the beautiful woman.
The following day already,
he had the rock surrounded by warriors.
Night has hardly fallen when
the warriors make their way to the top.
And indeed they soon see
the beautiful woman in the distance.
Watch now!
Over there! Now you can see it.
This is the rock.
This is the Lorelei.
She sits on the highest rock
and plays with a shimmering chain
which she wears around her neck,
and she sings a sad song.
Slowly the men climb up through
the undergrowth and the craggy rocks,
coming ever closer,
high above the abyss.
"Father, father, make haste, make haste!
Bring the white horses here to this place!"
"I want to ride
on the wind and the waves!"
Yes, that's what she yelled.
And then, suddenly, the Rhine rises.
Its floods fill the valley.
Until finally the waves submerge the rock
and carry the Lorelei away,
down the river.
The warriors are paralysed by fear,
until one of them yells:
"This was no earthly being!"
They return to the valley,
and already from afar they see
the windows of the palace brightly lit.
Music and cheering can be heard.
The warriors are speechless,
for the young count has
just returned in good health.
A wave has cast him ashore.
And it happened in the same hour
in which the Lorelei went down into the
valley on the back of the giant flood.
And thus the uncanny rock
was given her name.
Only hikers occasionally report that
they heard the echo of strange words
while crossing the mountain.
Kiss me.
Would you like a drink?
Coffee, beer, cola, wine.
Wolfgang? Wolfgang Friedrichs.
Elisabeth Meinert?
I wouldn't have recognised you.
You look so... changed.
You won't believe it, but I
thought of you even this morning.
When I went past the school.
What might he be doing?
Smart people take the train.
Well, I take the "Rheingold".
But like this.
Excuse me, but can I help you perhaps?
No, it's just that
the travelling makes me sick today.
You are Pisces, aren't you?
May I offer you a little something?
Thank you.
You may find it strange, but since
I've lost almost all of my stomach
I almost incessantly eat these things.
These are my meals.
Practical, but not good.
You're certainly travelling
to Switzerland.
Shit! But you must expect that.
- And what are we doing now?
- Mannheim.
It doesn't surprise me. You have
difficulties with your environment.
Neptune in the 7th house.
Premature affiliations.
Ascendant... Aquarius.
A strong desire for independence.
And the moon near the
ascendant in the 12th house.
Your talent lies in
handling your imagination.
This is how you should
cope with your dangers.
Ascendant Aquarius.
You are, so to speak, courted in a way.
You are able to be happy, but time
and again you compromise your happiness
by passionate emotions.
Moon in square to Mars.
Mars, however,
in conjunction with Uranus.
A permanent source
of accidents and dangers.
Uranus in square to Pluto.
You have an extraordinary
power of attraction
and special artistic talent.
Your relationships are mostly fateful.
This also means that
you're emotionally... well.
What you say is true.
You applied a lot of effort.
I'll gladly give you my card.
Now we'll make an accident!
No!
...Mannheim. There you have a direct
connection to the IC "Präsident" to Munich
via Heidelberg, Stuttgart,
Ulm and Augsburg.
1.25 p.m.
All right, I'll give you
a fixed rate if you want.
Yes, yes, do so.
I must make a phone call.
I'll call her.
TEE 7, "Rheingold", good afternoon.
It's rather hot!
Yes, yes, I know.
I'm driving the German Grand Prix.
- The German Grand Prix?
- Yes, yes.
Frau Drossbach is asked
to come to the secretariat.
Frau Drossbach, please come
to the secretariat. Thank you.
A cola, please.
Frau Drossbach is asked
to come to the secretariat.
Frau Drossbach, please come
to the secretariat. Thank you.
In Cologne we'll
get off the train, Elisabeth.
You are possessed.
In former times
they would have burned you.
And you would have kindled the fire.
Elisabeth!
Black? Are you in mourning?
It doesn't become you, black.
Attention at Platform 12.
Trans Europe Express 7, "Rheingold",
from Hoek van Holland to Geneva, via
Freiburg - Basel, is now arriving.
This is Karlsruhe Central Station.
Karlsruhe Central Station.
I don't understand it.
She could have gone to answer the call.
The telephone call only cost us time.
That's my opinion.
There! There it is!
Is this seat taken?
Perhaps you should see a doctor.
In Freiburg, I can take you there.
In Geneva.
It's not bad, really.
I don't want to.
All right, then I'll come along.
But give me a cigarette.
Shall I get you something else?
Coffee?
Tea?
No, please leave the door open.
It's rather warm.
Tickets, please!
That bastard!
Any other fares here?
Are you going to Switzerland, too?
You live in Switzerland, don't you?
At Lake Geneva, am I right?
Yes, you're right.
I'm turning my back
on this country, too.
You certainly won't know me,
but I'm the inventor of the
smallest sewing machine in the world,
of the biovision glasses, the fridge
boiler, the 33-blade miracle knife.
75 registered patents.
But now: unemployment.
No good deed goes unpunished.
They dissolved my stock,
took away my license,
and only because
I was short of the ready.
Look, I was able to save this one.
These are the biovision glasses.
This morning I dissolved the store,
put up a sign and made off.
Closed for holidays!
I said to myself: If the bank
goes haywire, you can do it, too.
I had 120.000 of them made.
They sold like hot cakes!
And at a price!
19.45 marks.
With these glasses you have,
with one movement of your hand,
the three-dimensional world at home!
The absolute cinema experience
in your living room!
Every TV broadcast becomes
a compelling experience.
Your ticket, please.
The ticket...
Well, actually I'm sitting at the fore.
You already know my ticket, I'm just
conducting business talk here.
This is the conference
compartment, isn't it?
I've had enough of you
playing hide-and-seek.
Well, you could be a little friendlier!
- Where are you going?
- Well, to Geneva. That is, to Lausanne.
- You got on the train in Karlsruhe?
- Yes.
From Karlsruhe to the border
it'll be 39 mark,
39 mark penalty,
and 10 mark TEE surcharge.
- That's 88 mark then?
- Yes, 88 mark.
For continuing to Lausanne you'll have
to pay my colleague in Switzerland.
Well, it's like this: this morning...
I don't have the money.
Well, I'm sorry, then I have to
note down your particulars
And you'll have to
get off the train in Freiburg.
That's what you get
for being a German inventor.
I'm paying for it.
You are paying for it?
If you please, Frau Meinert.
Many thanks, Frau Meinert.
Lausanne is where my sister lives.
By the way, may I introduce myself?
Soskamp, Herbert Soskamp.
Well, it's like this:
She's married to a Frenchman.
I was always against it,
but she works at Nescafé, Nestlé.
She got to know
the Frenchman thanks to me.
At the inventors' fair. In Nuremberg.
Only three weeks later
she moved away and married him.
At age 34! Fear of being
left on the shelf, don't you think?
Ladies and gentlemen, in a few
minutes we'll arrive in Freiburg.
I hope I'm not disturbing you?
We'd like to call attention to the start of
the passport and customs check in Freiburg.
Travellers to Switzerland
and Italy are asked
to have their documents ready
for the border crossing.
Trans Europe Express 7, "Rheingold",
to Basel - Geneva, all aboard!
Stand well back
while the train is departing!
Elisabeth,
I've considered it for a long time.
I'll accept the post in Geneva.
I only wanted to see how you are.
I am sorry.
I want you to leave this compartment.
I don't know this man.
I don't understand you.
You heard it!
The lady doesn't want to be disturbed.
Mother!
Mother!
Are you not well?
Can I help you?
It's all right.
But you don't look well.
Really not.
Yes, my wife needs some coffee again.
At once.
Swiss border police!
Passport check!
Your passports, please.
TEE "Rheingold" to Berne, Lausanne,
Geneva. Departure 3.52 p.m.
- Did something happen?
- A murder.
Attention, platform 6, TEE "Rheingold"
to Berne - Geneva, all aboard!
Caution, doors close automatically.
Yes, they already arrested the man!
English subtitles by Tommaso.