Plot

A dramatic tale about the most popular European legend of Wilhelm Tell, who's independent spirit and fight for freedom still inspires many.

King Rudolf of Habsburg dies in July 1291 and leaves the valleys surrounding Lake Lucerne in a power vacuum. The new despotic bailiff named Gissler shows himself a tyrant. Humiliated and robbed Tell finds himself in the middle of the very same politics he did not want to get involved in. The planned uproar by the local gentry is off the table, after they have been bought by Gissler. This prompts Tell to act on his own authority. In December 1291, the saga ends in a bloodshed.

Hunter Wilko Tell belongs to the free men of the valley Uri, and yet he is not accepted by the old-established families. At the beginning of the film, Tell receives his freedom as a child when, after the murder of his father by robber barons, he is found by men of the imperial bailiff who reigns in Uri for a short time and brought to his residence. With his freedom Tell receives the right to hunt and the imperial bailiff, who reigns in good, gives the boy a crossbow, which is supposed to make it easier for him to hunt and provide for his mother and siblings. The fact that Tell does not belong to the established free families offends some barons. Nevertheless, they are aware that Tell, as the only freeman, can establish a connection with the unfree and the bonded: the unfree trust him, the bonded distrust the old patriciate for good reason. Alone, without the support of the unfree, an uprising will not succeed. But Tell also distrusts the freemen of Uri and he shows little desire to get entangled in the political machinations of the local nobles. Bailiff Gissler offers some concession to the local nobles, but they secretly continue the insurrectionary efforts, even meeting in a clearing with the other valley communities of Schwyz and Unterwalden for a conspiratorial assembly. Gissler, disappointed by the cold shoulder shown by the patricians of Uri, is now determined to force the "Black Bull" (Gissler's allusion to the banner of the people of Uri) under his yoke, even if it means breaking it. From now on, he pushes his arbitrariness further and further and even has his hat put up in Altdorf, which the people of Uri now have to greet with surrender. But especially Gissler's younger brother Ulrich is known for excessive actions. He even forbids the freemen, and thus Tell, the right to hunt and confiscates Tell's crossbow. Humiliated and robbed, politics now powerfully enters Tell's life; contrary to the advice of the bailiff of Uri and even against the urgent pleas of his wife Heiki, Tell is determined to address the bailiff himself on court day and reclaim his right and his weapon. Heiki's fears prove to be justified; the court day on the old Altdorf cult place at the moor lake under the oak tree falls and escalates thoroughly: Instead of getting his justice, the bailiff forces Tell, who is praised as a good shot, to shoot an apple from his son's head. Tell stands alone and the local nobles, who had been grandstanding before, duck and let the gruesome spectacle happen without a word. Tell succeeds in shooting, but Gissler recognizes in Tell the prototype of a rebel and wants to have him arrested. Finally, the freemen of Uri are outraged and allow Tell to escape. Tell hides, but he is betrayed and arrested by Gissler after all. Tell is taken by boat to the bailiff's castle, where he is imprisoned. On the journey across the lake to the Vogt's castle, the boat gets caught in a storm and Tell manages to escape again. Now Tell wages a private war against Gissler and Habsburg. Like a guerrilla fighter, he attacks the Landsknecht patrols, steals their weapons and soon advances to become a folk hero about whom people begin to sing songs in the taverns. Although the bailiff Gissler has appeased the nobility of Uri by means of bribes and an uprising is off the table, Tell's unauthorized actions provoke an uproar. This calls Duke Albrecht on the scene, who sees the pass route over the Gotthard to Italy, which is important for Habsburg, in danger. Gissler must act if he wants to survive as bailiff. In December 1291, he rides with a small troop to Altdorf to hold court, to punish possible rebels and to have the most rebellious among the freemen of Uri hanged on the oak tree. But Gissler will not reach Altdorf. For he is confronted by Tell and held accountable for his misdeeds. This episode of a hunt is over, but it initiates the next phase, which makes it an eternal hunt: Gissler's death now sets irrevocable facts, for now the local nobles can no longer count on an amicable relationship with the occupiers and must therefore anticipate a large-scale punitive action by the occupiers. Tell's deed now forces the freemen of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden to dare to revolt. And indeed, as the film follows the legend, after Christmas 1291 they storm the castle and the towers of the bailiffs and initiate a completely new development, which - at least according to the common understanding of the people - ultimately leads to the founding of the modern Swiss federal state.