We'll begin with the "Parable of the Prodigal Son" from Luke XV, in Luther's translation. There's the promise of forgiveness, if only you return and repent. Karl Moor will do precisely that and is convinced beyond all doubt that his father will do as did the father in the parable. And it could indeed happen. But while Karl models himself after the repentant wayward son, relying on the promise provided by the biblical text, brother Franz chooses as his role model not the brother in the parable, which would be bad enough, but Shakespeare's Richard III, the deformed monster who craves to get even.

We'll watch a few scenes from SCHILLER, a film of the early forties by Herbert Maisch, starring Heinrich George and Horst Caspar. It is a depiction, at once brutal and satirical, of the oppressive military boot camp atmosphere in the Duchy of Wuerttemberg (and contemporary Nazi Germany--you wonder how they got past the censor) that turned young Schiller into a rebel with a lofty cause.
We'll watch as well the closing scenes from HENRY VI ("I, that have neither pity, love, nor fear") and the opening of RICHARD III ("Was ever woman in this humor wooed? Was ever woman in this humor won? I'll have her but I will not keep her long."). We'll compare Anne to Amalia, and their treatment of their tormentors. We'll look at Amalia's mental anguish over being attracted to the stranger, who is her lover Karl in disguise. Her death at the hands of Karl.

But we'll focus on Karl Moor's self-justification as an outlaw. Robin Hood on German soil? His growing disenchantment as he realizes his inability to be at all times in control of the momentum he has generated. His sacrifice ("Dem Mann kann geholfen werden"). Grossmannssucht, eitle Bewunderung, say his men. How about a 6th act?

The function of the Jew Spiegelberg.
The function of the pathetic old Moor.
Of Hermann. the illegitimate son.
The servant Daniel who recognizes Karl by his boyhood scar (Odysseus!).
The story of Kosinski and what it triggers.
Pastor Moser, the Pater, and what they represent.

It's a great piece, it sweeps you along, a true political Reisser. I saw it year after year throughout the Sixties in East Berlin's Maxim Gorki Theater.