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Volker Schlondorff's film adaptation of the Heinrich von Kleist novella "Michael Kohlhaas" tells the true story of a righteous man in the 16th century who seeks vindictive justice and bloody revenge for injustice suffered. Unjustly treated by a nobleman, the horse dealer Kohlhaas becomes a relentless fighter against arbitrariness, corruption and oppression.

On his way to market to sell his horses, Kohlhaas is intercepted by the minions of a nobleman named Tronka. He is informed that he is trespassing on Tronka's land, must pay a toll in order to continue, and winds up being forced to leave two of his horses behind as a surety. Upon returning to reclaim the horses, he finds that they have been maltreated and starved. Outraged, he seeks justice through official channels, but is stonewalled at every turn by the prevailing old-boy network. At length, his indignation erupts into violence. Brushing off advice to "just let it go," he takes up arms, gathers a band of similarly disenfranchised people, and starts an insurrection.

Director: Volker Schlondorff
Cast: David Warner, Anna Karina, Thomas Holtzmann, Michael Gothard, Anton Diffring, Peter Weiss, Inigo Jackson
Country: West Germany
Genre: Drama

DVD5 | NTSC 4:3 | 01:35:57 | 3.34 Gb + 3% rec
Language: English
Subtitles: none

This is the international English version that was recorded directly from cable TV.

DVD9 | PAL 4:3 | 01:29:58, 01:35:17 | 7.80 Gb + 3% rec
Language: English, Deutsch
Subtitles: English, Deutsch

There are two versions of this film, German (no subs) and English (with German dubbing as additional audio track, with English and German subtitles).
There are minor content differences between the two versions of Michael Kohlhaas.