Scenes from the life of the German composer
ADRIAN LEVERKÜHN
A film by FRANZ SEITZ
Based on the novel by THOMAS MANN
Episode 3
So hell will be synonymous with the here and now of our present.
And nations, the Devil, Faust, and Mephisto merge with one another.
And every man can be or become both.
I have experienced it.
Adrian Leverkühn was a friend of mine.
The belief that art is no longer possible
without a hellish fire beneath the kettle
determines the young composer Adrian Leverkühn
to make a pact with the Devil.
The signing of the Devil's pact with his own blood
is substituted by the willful infection with syphilis.
The pact is sealed for good
when the Devil in person appears before Leverkühn
and promises deeply fulfilling, doubtless inspiration.
In exchange, Adrian's soul belongs to Satan
after the expiration of the set period of time.
He is also forbidden to love.
Your life shall be cold.
We want you cold.
Into the flames of production you shall flee
from the coldness of your life.
And out of the flames back into the ice.
So be it.
Leverkühn now lives reclusively in a secluded place in Bavaria.
During this time, he creates works that are completely liberated
and deny any kind of epigonism.
In the faith he's allowed to love that which was not female,
Adrian gives his affection to the young cellist Schwerdtfeger.
He dedicates a concert to him.
This is the happiest day of my life.
Thank you.
You don't even know what it means to me.
This...
This is ours now.
At a costume ball, Inez Institoris,
a married woman,
confesses her boundless love to Schwerdtfeger.
On the occasion of the premiere of his opera,
"A Summer Night's Dream,"
Adrian Leverkühn meets the French stage designer Marie Godeau.
I swear to you by Cupid's best arrow
I swear to you by Cupid's golden bow
I swear to you by Aphrodite's magic craft
In contempt of the Devil's pact,
he comes to the decision to marry this woman.
I swear to you by that fire Which burned the Carthage queen
I swear to you....
I feel as if I must see her every day.
As if I must always have her near me.
How should I look at this?
How? Quite simply, from a human point of view.
"Human" is an inappropriate word coming from your mouth, Adrian.
Pardon me for saying it.
But when you use it in relation to yourself,
I wouldn't want to hear a humanly inspired work of yours.
Lo and behold!
You absolutely wouldn't want to?
Even though you've played one three times for people already!
But you did like that I dedicated it to you!
And why do you think I did that?
Only because you...
...and your friendship managed to evoke
an emotion of human warmth in me.
For you.
Yes, perhaps only for you.
And of late also for Madame Godeau.
I seem to have been just a temporary makeshift.
And what if you were? It wouldn't diminish your influence on me.
So you want to marry her?
Yes. It is my wish and my hope.
Does she know it already?
No.
I find it difficult to express my feelings,
especially in the company of others.
Why not pay her a visit?
I don't want to catch her off guard.
I'm afraid of her bewilderment.
It could result in her spontaneous, overhasty rebuff,
without real consideration.
-Why not write her? -No.
No.
No exchange of letters. I find that to be too abstract.
So what approach do you envision?
I could ask you for help in this matter.
Me?
Yes.
Would it seem so absurd to you that I would ask a friend
to act as the mediator between me and life?
If I understand you rightly, I am to propose to Marie for you?
Yes.
All you would have to do is ask her, in that nice way of yours,
well, if she could love me.
I want to be candid with you, Adrian.
As candid as you have been with me.
Please!
I'm very curious about your confession.
I don't feel indifferent about Marie.
And when I say "not indifferent," it is nowhere near enough.
In other words, you love her, right?
Or let's say, you are in love with her.
What a fool I am!
I've been foolish enough to not even consider this possibility.
Are you thinking about marrying Marie?
No, I am not.
No?
So you're merely thinking of seducing her!
No, I haven't thought of that either.
Well?
Very good.
Then I will stand firmly by my request.
You share my feelings to a certain extent
without, however, sharing my intentions.
I cannot possibly imagine a more qualified messenger.
Let's get away from the tree!
I...
I don't know whether this is the first time, Marie.
I mean, I could well imagine that you've been asked before,
if you would be willing , under certain conditions,
which I will address later,
and certainly only in your personal realm,
to give up your independence.
In a way that you would accept a very serious proposal,
with the goal of...
Speak on, Rudolf.
With the goal of winning you over and becoming his wife.
Why not?
If the man who poses this question...
I've admired Adrian Leverkühn ever since I've known him.
I am proud I may call myself his friend.
All the more, I am happy to tell Adrian Leverkühn,
in whose name I am here, that he has reason for hope.
I don't understand.
Leverkühn?
I don't understand.
He has asked you to court me for his bride-to-be?
Yes.
I am doing so out of a sense of duty.
How very kind of you.
Marie, you have to consider the circumstance
that I could not refuse as a friend.
A sense of responsibility for a man who...
That greatly contributed to my willingness
to fulfill Adrian's desire.
You don't have to try so hard, Mr. Schwerdtfeger.
It doesn't matter.
Whether I understand the role you have accepted doesn't matter at all.
I regret, but I have to disappoint your hopes as a friend.
Of course,
the character of your initiator has highly impressed me.
I admire Leverkühn as a human being and as an artist.
But that's not enough.
No, it's not enough to establish a union
that you have so eloquently suggested.
I will never meet him again.
It would be embarrassing.
Should we not think it over--
Unfortunately, you are his messenger of love.
So the change of affairs affects you, too.
I say adieu to you.
It would be better if we wouldn't see each other again.
Adieu, monsieur!
I couldn't turn down his request.
Even though I, myself...
Adieu, monsieur.
I refuse to reply to his letter.
A faithless friend! What else?
I feel like a schoolboy,
who being overjoyed when finding a bird's nest
shows it to his friend, and he steals it.
Rudolf has betrayed your trust.
I think he's ashamed.
In any case, he won't stay in Munich or close to you.
The couple will settle in Paris at the end of the season.
I see.
By the way, one last performance of your cello concerto
is part of the program.
Sort of a farewell performance for Schwerdtfeger.
-Thank you. -Would you please sign this for me?
-Here you are. -Thank you.
My pleasure.
-For you. -Merci.
It was absolutely wonderful.
Good luck to you both. Good luck in Paris, Madame.
Merci, Professor. That's very kind of you.
Au revoir.
Oh, yes. Does someone have a pencil for me?
Thank you.
Next stop, Riegelschloss. Please purchase your tickets.
Someone else who needs a ticket?
The gentleman?
Here you are.
Thank you.
Stop!
Stop! Stop! Murder! Murder!
-Train conductor! Stop! -Stop!
Police!
Welcome.
-Welcome, dear niece. -Hello, Uncle.
How are you? Long time no see.
Did you have a pleasant journey?
Yes, quite pleasant. Just a little hot.
My brother Nepomuk must be thirsty.
Are you glad Echo came to see you?
He calls himself Echo. So we call him so, too.
I should say so.
And I hope you, too, are glad to meet all of us.
Yes, it's a pleasurable meeting, indeed.
The coffee is already served.
Then let's go inside.
Would you like another cup, Doctor?
So, when are you planning to leave?
The day after tomorrow, Uncle.
Unfortunately, I have to. Father needs my help in the store.
Now we also carry everything needed to make photographs.
Not only glasses and binoculars. It's a lot of additional work.
-Does Echo like it? -It is delicious.
-Would you like another piece? -Nuff! Nuff!
Here you have some fresh lemonade.
Thank you.
I'm leaving Echo with you for five or six weeks,
so he'll completely recuperate.
I've prepared two rooms for you upstairs.
Or do you share a bedroom with the boy?
Yes, of course. That's fine by me.
Then we'll move the bedding over there, Clementina.
The name of the evil witch was...
Sycorax!
Her little servant was too weak, too delicate,
to act all her earthy commands.
Therefore, he was punished.
She trapped him in the rift of an old withered fir tree.
In which the poor soul remained locked for 12 painful years.
Until a good magician found...
...and freed him.
How old was the little spirit?
I mean, afterwards.
Well, you know...
The captured little spirit was a child of the air.
He had no age and was the same both before and after the 12 years.
The Rhine has quickened the soil.
Quickened by the Rhine?
Rhine quickened , quickened by the Rhine.
Rhine falling from the sky.
I see! You're talking about the rain!
My dainty Ariel.
Where the bee sucks there suck I.
In a cowslip's bell....
-May I have an apple? -Yes, take one.
The pennants and feathers! Who sings?
A harp.
Who plays it?
Whoever wants to play it.
Echo? It's bedtime!
Good night, Echo.
-Good night. -Sweet dreams.
About what?
Perhaps about the chanticleer
which always cries "cock-a-doodle-doo!"
There he is.
Just look at him.
Adorable, Adrian.
The cherubs must turn the pages of their psalters in that fashion.
"Good morrow, Mr. Caraway. I fear the swimming's bad today."
Say, can you read already?
Echo cannot yet.
He just knows.
"Three guests from Sweden are here,
who've swum in close.
A swordfish, a saw-fish, and a shark.
They're very hungry, these three.
Better not to swim in the sea."
-Look, it's turning like this. -I see.
"Guests from Sweden are here,
who've swum in close."
And where are the sea horses?
Yes, they will show up soon.
"A swordfish, a saw-fish, and a shark.
They're very hungry, these three."
May I have some milk?
Of course, Echo. Give me the cup.
-Here you are, boy. -Thank you.
Well?
Fortune and glass break easily.
Can I have my toys, please?
Nuff! Good night.
We should call Dr. Kuerbis, just as a precaution.
Echo has a fever.
I think a more serious illness might be in the offing.
His fall in the barn was definitely just a common dizzy spell.
Do you think so, Doctor?
Something about it is not quite right.
Not quite right?
Well, yes, in the sense I said it.
You could be looking better yourself, good sir.
Awfully fond of the little lad, aren't you?
At the moment there's no need to worry, Mr. Leverkühn.
I'll come back tomorrow.
Did poor little Echo have to vomit?
It will be better soon. For sure.
I'll bring you fresh bedding. You don't have to be sad.
I beg you to come right away, Doctor.
The child threw up and complains about headaches
that are apparently unbearable.
Cerebrospinal meningitis.
-What are you saying, Doctor? -Meningitis.
You should inform the parents via telegram.
The presence of the mother would probably have a calming effect.
I'm a simple country doctor.
We need to summon a higher authority.
Who do you have in mind?
Professor von Rothenbuch from the Haunersche Children's Clinic.
We'll just have to ask him to come by.
Meanwhile, all I can do is to perform a spinal puncture.
It's the only means to get rid of the mad headaches.
At least for a few hours.
We'll have to make the boy sit up.
Unveil his back.
Pull up his shirt.
And hold his head all the way forward.
Nuff! Nuff!
Good night.
Mark that another's prayer is fit To save the prayer's soul with it
While Echo prayeth for mankind in God's good arms is he entwined
Amen.
What do you want here?
You are a good man. This is no place for you.
At least make your sign of the cross.
The way you did as a child, for your protection.
Adrian, Mrs. Schweigestill notified me.
She gave me a phone call.
I did some research. There is hope, by all means.
If one succeeds, in the course of the illness,
meningitis doesn't have to be fatal.
But of course I would like to be
at your side under these circumstances if...
Spare yourself your humanist humbug!
Then take him.
But make haste, if you will.
Perhaps he's unable to make haste with his evil and filthy means!
Monster!
Take him!
Take him, you filthy blackguard!
If you will not concede even this!
I thought that he would permit it.
This after all.
But where should he find grace?
He sure had to crush this above all else in his beastly rage!
Take him, scum!
Take him! Take his body!
You only have dominion over his body!
You won't get his soul!
And that is your impotence!
For which I shall scorn you! I shall laugh and scorn you for eons!
For heaven's sake, calm down. You're beside yourself.
Pain has you imagining crazy things.
Spare yourself.
Make the sign of the cross, but for me, too.
For my guilt.
For me, too. For my guilt.
What guilt! What a sin!
What a crime that I let him get near me!
With my poisonous blood I have--!
Adrian , no. These self-incriminations are absurd.
"Praise to joy, the God-descended Daughter of Elysium!"
It is exposed! I'll take it back!
I don't quite understand. What do you want to take back?
The Ninth Symphony.
Professor Rothenbuch is considered the very best
in his field all over Munich.
Unfortunately, I'm no longer able to raise your hopes.
You'll take on the necessary relieving means, dear colleague.
Yes.
-With my utmost discretion. -I'll show you the door, Professor.
-Thank you. -Adieu, Professor.
Don't you think it's time to begin?
Ladies and gentlemen, may I ask your attention for our host?
Estimable...
Beloved...
Brethren and sisters.
First...
...I wish to extend my thanks...
...for your friendship...
...and your having come hither, to me.
I don't deserve it.
I have a request.
I would like to ask you to take no offense.
For now that the hourglass stands before my eyes...
... I make a confession.
I've been in league with Satan...
...since my 21st year.
-Do you understand? -Let's wait and see.
All I have accomplished since then...
...is the work of the Devil.
Poured out by the Angel of Poison.
For that...
Extra...
The extraordinary of art has grown impossible
without the hellish fire beneath the kettle.
Do not believe, beloved brethren and sisters...
Do not believe that for the establishment...
The establishment of the pact I had required a conjuration.
A conjuration.
Any deed will suffice.
Any deed.
There's no need of explicit words to accomplish invocation.
For it was a mere butterfly...
...Haetaera Esmeralda...
...that charmed me by her touch.
And who I followed after into the dusky leafy shade,
which she loves in her transparent nakedness.
It is beautiful.
It's pure poetry.
I've embraced her in spite of her warning.
And so I was in--
Initiated.
And so, by means of the concubine,
the pact with him was sealed.
I have also loved a child I had taken in, but...
The pact being con--
Conditional upon...
...that I might love no human creature.
So he did kill the child...
...with the use of my own eyes.
For the gaze of a wicked soul is as poisonous as the bite of a viper.
Let it be, dear friend.
Did you not want to play for us from your oratorio?
I'm not finished yet.
Formerly I had likewise thought
that I might love which was not female.
However...
...I had to...
...kill him.
And sent Rudolf...
...to his death.
I was acting on Satan's instruction.
I will have confessed here today...
...that I sit before you as a murderer.
But whatever a sinner I was,
I nevertheless did diligently and steadfastly
apply myself as a worker.
I heard violins...
And lutes...
And trumpets...
And each with four voices...
...of which I wrote much down.
Often there were also children...
...who were singing me motets.
Pretty, pretty children.
Their hair would rise...
...as aromatic as if upon hot air.
And little...
Little yellow worms...
...were crawling out of their nostrils.
This man is insane! There's no doubt about it!
I am not a psychiatrist and consider myself completely incompetent here!
All this said and confessed...
...I will play for you as a farewell...
...a few things from the structure...
...that...
...I've learned from Satan's instrument.
Clear out, all of you! Get out of here!
You have no understanding for the poor man.
Because you're city folks!
No understanding for someone
who talked so much about eternal grace,
and no one knows if it reaches that far,
the eternal grace for him.
But human understanding reaches far enough for all!
Get out of here now!
I had brought my straying child back to childhood.
Now, after 10 years, he has finally been redeemed.
We'll return Adrian's living shell to the earth this coming Friday.
Perhaps you'll be able to attend.
With friendly greetings, yours always, Elsbeth Leverkühn,
Hochbuche, June 25, 1940.
Mother!
You're back! At home!
I'm so happy to see you!
What a joyful day!
I brought you flowers!
Germany,
a hectic flush on your cheeks,
you are reeling at the heights of gloomy triumphs,
about to win the world on the strength of the one pact,
that you intend to keep and have signed with your blood.
But if hell has become synonymous with the here and now of our present,
nations, the Devil, Faust, and Mephisto merge with one another.
And every man can be or become both.
May God have mercy on your poor soul, my friend and fatherland.