Dir.: Marco Bellocchio; Script: Marco Bellocchio; Phot.: Giuseppe Lanci; Ed.: Francesca Calvelli; Mus.: Carlo Crivelli; Cast: Andrea Di Stefano, Barbara Bobulova, Toni Bertorelli, Anita Laurenzi, Fabio Camilli, Bruno Corazzari; Prod.: Pier Giorgio Bellochio, Filmalbatros s.r.l., Via di Villa Ada, 10, 00199 Rome (Italie), tél.: (6) 855 47 00, fax: (6) 855 52 80; Sales: SACIS, S.p.A., Via Teulada, 66, 00195 Rome (Italie), tél.: (6) 374 98 204, fax: (6) 373 53 521 .

One sultry summer night, in the palace garden, the Prince of Homburg, commander of the German cavalry in the Thirty Years' War against the Swedes, braids himself a laurel crown. He seems awake but is actually asleep. The Elector of Brandenburg, the Prince's commander and mentor, seizes the crown from his hands. The following day, the Prince, distracted by the sight of the Elector's niece Natalia, listens inattentively to the military orders. On the field of battle he disobeys them. He defeats the Swedish invaders in a daring attack but is charged with insubordination and sentenced to death. The Prince pleads for his life. The Elector agrees to clemency on condition that the Prince ask for it publicly. The Prince's dilemma leads him to choose the firing squad. As the execution is set to take place, the Prince finds himself once again in the palace garden and, as in a dream, the royal family surrounds him while Natalia lays the laurel crown on his head. "Marco Bellocchio has faithfully transcribed Heinrich von Kleist's last play into a classy psychological drama played out in reverberating dream imagery." -- Deborah Young (Variety)