Original subtitles

He had a black cat named Macak when he was a boy.

The cat followed him everywhere.

And one day, when he stroked the cat's back ...

... he saw a miracle.

Light crackled under his hand.

the lightning in the sky, his father explained...

is the same thing as the sparks shutting from Macak's back.

And Tesla ask himselves...

Is Nature a Giant Cat?

And if so:

Who is stroking his back then?

NINE YEARS EARLIER

EDISON MACHINE WORKS, NEW YORK AUGUST 11, 1884

The power of the thought. That's what it's all about, right?

The candles are there in the cupboard, right?

Eventually we will be able to see in the dark.

I found them.

I think there are more in the crazy drawer. Do you know where it is?

The crazy drawer?

Aren't there cluttered drawers where you come from?

My mom had a crazy drawer. And yours?

Leave my mother out this.

Nobody expected you to come tonight, Tom.

No? Seriosly?

I expected it.

When I was five years old ...

Ed, you don't have to stop because I'm talking.

When I was five years old, we sailed across Lake Erie...

to visit the Edisons in Vienna.

Vienna, Ontario.

Mother and father. My sisters Marion and Aunt. My brother Charlie. Grandpa Sam.

I learned to swim.

When I was back in Ohio ...

I went out with my good friend George.

George Lockwood.

He was my age.

We went to a canal near my house. I entered the water and George followed me.

Afterwards I went home. I felt numb and went to bed.

When my mother woke me up, it was very dark.

She asked me about George.

Everyone was looking for him. Half the town.

They lit lanterns, calling his name, and looking everywhere.

I told her I saw George's head disappear under the water ...

... and that I had waited a long time for him.

I didn't know what to do.

I was five years old.

Why did I have to think about that now?

Go home, Tom. Seriously.

I always assume that people can swim.

Hello, Tesla. I haven't seen you there.

Is it true that you are from Transylvania?

No.

Have you ever eaten human flesh?

Are you married?

No.

Why do you ask that?

We like to give new man hard time.

I can swim.

What? What was that?

What you told before ...

I can swim.

Can you? Good.

Will see.

Feel sorry for the poor immigrant.

That is sung in a song.

Tesla come to America with an open heart.

Full of expectations and hope.

I told you about my brother.

It was this time of the year.

I was seven, he was twelve.

He had not died immediately after being thrown off the horse.

My mother woke me.

She took me to the body.

She told me to kiss him on the lips.

His ice-cold lips.

He was the brilliant of the two of us.

I couldn't measure up to him.

'Beste Szigeti.

I find my way at Edison Machine Works.

There is always too much to do.

There is not enough time, never enough money or man.

Constant fixes, upgrades, emergencies.

Edison hardly sleeps.

He expects everyone around him to sleep even less.

He talks to everyone, but he is uncapable off listening.

He's not interested in my motor.

You know the saying.

"Nothing can grow in the shade of an oak."

I was hoping Edison and I ...

That we would work together. That he...

... would understand me.

That we would be friends.

Edison doesn't even have time to comb his hair.

There is more to it.

There was a death in the family.

Nobody talks about it.

His wife.

His wife died.

When was that? -Tuesday.

Alternating current is a waste of time.

Impractical and deadly.

There is no future in it.

Fifty thousand dollars.

Do you really think I owe you $ 50,000?

Tesla.

You don't understand American sence of humor.

I don't think it really happened that way ...

... but what can I tell you about it?

If you google Nikola Tesla you will get 34 million results.

As for images, there are three or four photos that keep coming back.

They are rotated. Some are in color or have lightning in the background.

But it is really only four photos.

The rest is all murkier and more imaginative.

HE CREATED A DEADLY RAY

He was born in 1856. Far from the Gilded Age.

In Lika, Smiljan, a small rural village in what is now Croatia.

His father is an Orthodox Serbian priest.

But he has a closer with his mother.

A brilliant woman who could neither read nor write.

He is a careful boy. He is somewhat withdrawn and closed.

He has a knack for languages and is good at math.

He defies his father by studying engineering in Prague.

He never graduates.

In Budapest he's had depression,...

he'll walk through the park with a friend.

In a flash he sees the engine that would be his first revolutionary invention.

Alternating current is a waste of time.

Impractical and deadly.

There is no future in that.

Fifty thousand dollars.

Do you really think I owe you $ 50,000?

Tesla, you don't understand American sence of humor.

A man who claims not to give money ...

... may feel tormented by the lack of it.

Edison, on the other hand, values money ...

... but spends it faster than he deserves it.

But he always earns it in large quantities.

Googling Thomas Edison will get you over 64 million results.

Twice as much as Tesla.

Edison is one of the most famous, successful people of his time.

But some facts are overlooked.

Tesla started working for Edison the same year that Mary Edison died.

'Brain edema' has been reported.

A code for morphine overdose.

She was 15 when they met in the rain ...

... outside Edison's store in Newark.

She was 16 when they got married. She was 25 when she died.

Edison was left with three young children and many worries.

You would think Tesla's luck would turn here.

He finds investors and starts his lighting company.

But his partners rip him off and leave him penniless.

He is on the brink of poverty.

He becomes a trencher and digs trenches for cables.

Telephone lines for Western Union.

After a humiliating year ...

... a sympathetic foreman introduces him to Alfred S. Brown and Charles F. Peck.

The key is that the engine runs by induction.

A rotating magnetic field.

I turned off the power exchanger that supplies electricity to the rotor.

So you no longer need the exchanger, brushes and sparks.

Awesome. -There are no sparks.

Are they bad? -They are just unnecessary.

The magnetic field diverts the current. -May I?

What kind of work did you do for Edison?

I have redesigned 24 different alternators.

And standard machines.

I've replaced longer magnets with short cores.

I couldn't interest him in alternating current, but ...

I know. I'm an electrician, but he ...

I am a lawyer. -But he understands ...

This is more than just an engine.

It's a complete system ...

... for generating, transmitting and applying power.

You made $ 15 a week at Edison, right? We checked.

Edison hires the best people, but makes them pay for the privilege.

We have $ 50,000 for an annual amortization fund.

And alternating current ... - It doesn't matter if it's dangerous.

That's not it. -Edison says ...

That fire is dangerous if you put your hand in it.

We will give you a lab and a salary.

From $ 250 a month. That's better than you expected, isn't it?

I understand your mother is not very impressed with me.

Edison met his second wife, Mina Miller, in 1885.

My mother thinks our earthly existence is insignificant.

Her father had made a fortune designing a lawn mower.

De Buckeye Reaper.

The youngest of seven children, she was engaged to the son of a priest.

She says if you leave this life ...

that you will start a happier life.

One that never ends.

Do you know what my mom said to me?

Never eat anything bigger than your head.

I'm going to ask your father ...

...or me...

... teach you Morse code.

So we can talk without talking.

Instead of a single coil, we use ...

... four coils wrapped around a laminated ring.

Two separate AC currents are fed into the coils on either side.

The flows will start to run out of phase.

This creates a rotating electric field.

No sparks.

I was with him in Budapest when he got that idea.

He saw it in his head and drew it in the sand.

That's true. That was five years ago.

Look where we are now.

New Orleans, St. Paul, Chicago, Philadelphia, Brooklyn.

Edison has 121 power plants in the United States.

Also in Berlin, Milan, Paris ...

... Bordeaux, Amsterdam, Munich, everywhere.

If we can make this strong, everything will change.

It will throw him off guard.

What's with that can?

That's a prototype.

Do you expect me to invest in a rotating shoe polish tin?

Yes, that engine will do the work of the world.

It will set people free.

It's perfect. I congratulate you on it.

The efficiency is undoubtedly equal to the best DC motor.

It is unparalleled in terms of voltage potential.

The best machine is the one with the fewest parts.

Everyone has been looking for this. Where were you hiding?

What do you mean?

You are not a member of the AIEE. -The American Institute ...

Het National Electric Light Association. Of de Electrical Club van New York.

Your approval means a lot to us.

For us all.

Mr. Tesla has kept a low profile.

That will change. -I can tell you ...

... that the patent office will not accept the application.

What do you mean?

Do you think you can classify everything you have done under one patent?

You have to break it down into a number of separate inventions.

That's how I think about it. We are at a turning point in history ...

Sorry I'm late.

Evelyn.

Dit is Mr Tesla.

Mr. Peck and Mr. Brown, his business partners.

En Mr ... -Anthony Szigeti. Tesla's assistant.

My niece Evelyn and ... -Anne.

Sorry, I'm a creature of habit.

Sit down and check out Tesla's engine. It will make him famous.

In that case we can share my sandwich.

Do you like snow? It looks like there is more to come.

Show them.

He turned off the exchanger and the sparks that go with it.

My uncle likes machines more than people.

Oh yeah? That is possible.

We see machines as an extension of people.

Not as the opposite of people.

Nothing touches. -That's right.

No sparks.

The new machines have something extra.

When my niece passed away, it seemed like she was with me when I turned on the light.

Electric light.

It seemed like there was something in the stream, the light and the air ...

... which allowed her to hang around.

I now have the pleasure of introducing you to a new system ...

... of electrical transformation and energy distribution ...

... by means of alternating current.

My announcement was rather short ...

... so I'll be very pleased if the little work I've done ...

... gets your approval.

The Importance Of Maintaining The Intensity Of The Polar Constant ...

... is that if this can be produced ...

... we can use an ordinary steel block instead of the anchor.

Get me out of here.

Westinghouse. George Westinghouse.

Of course he wants to have the engine.

We tell him there is another party involved.

A San Francisco capitalist offering $ 200,000.

And $ 2.50 per horsepower ...

... for every engine we install.

A strategy. A trick. You can go along with that, right?

There is no one else. Westinghouse is the only one who has the money.

The money and the guts.

George Westinghouse was 16 when he went to fight in the Civil War.

He served in the Navy of the North ...

... and was promoted to corporal.

When he was 21, he invented the air brake for trains.

He made a fortune because all railroads needed it.

He is an inventor and businessman. A rare mix.

He buys patents from others to develop them into larger concepts.

He hates self-promotion.

If you google it, you will only get five million results.

He met his wife Marguerite on the train.

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA 14 AUGUSTUS 1888

Westinghouse buys Tesla's patents for what would now be worth a million.

He has Tesla come to his home base to supervise production.

Royalties for every engine sold earn Tesla more millions.

In the years that followed he made a fortune.

Do you know Brown? He works for Edison.

Harold P. Brown?

I know Alfred S. Brown. A business partner.

Brown is a common American name.

Brown and Green, two color names.

I've known an Orange, James.

But he pronounced it as Orange. Anyway.

Harold P. Brown secretly bought some of our machines ...

... and started 'westinghousen'. That's what he calls it.

He bought 24 dogs from children for 25 cents each.

What he does in the name of science ...

... is that he gives the dog a power pulse of 1400 volts DC.

Without fatal consequences.

Then he kills the same dog with 400 to 800 volts of Westinghouse power.

Sorry for the noise and heat.

Pittsburgh has its charm, but sometimes it seems ...

Brown challenged me to a duel.

He wants me to bring the machine to New York ...

... and expose myself to electric shocks.

Alternating current, of course.

While he will receive DC power.

We start with 100 volts ...

... and then always increase with 50 volts ...

... until one of us publicly admits his mistake.

I will do it.

That's very kind of you...

... but even if you or I join such a childish game ...

... then they will still prepare for Kemmler's execution.

Kemmler? -The ax murderer.

To be fair, he only used a small ax.

I had to.

I wanted to kill her. The sooner I get hanged the better.

Instead of hanging it, they now want to electrocute it.

Our friend Edison is going to testify.

He will suggest using a Westinghouse machine.

He is afraid.

Waiter, some more lemonade.

Do you want lemonade?

No thanks.

AC against DC.

People think it's a difference of opinion, but we know better.

I contacted Edison.

I invited him here and I proposed a merger.

He's too busy. He wrote me back.

"Working in my laboratory takes all my time."

It is war.

Your name?

Thomas Alva Edison.

What are your profession? -Inventor.

Have you spent a lot of time on the topic of electricity?

Yes of course.

How long have you been working as an inventor or electrician?

Twenty-six years.

Can you tell us how much power is needed ...

... to cause death in all cases?

Well, I am against the death penalty.

The question is not whether we as individuals believe in the death penalty.

The application is permitted by law at all times and in all countries ...

... and will probably last forever.

Mr. Edison, explain the difference between DC and AC.

Direct current flows like water through a pipe.

Alternating current is like water for a period of time ...

... flow through the pipe in one direction ...

... and then turned over for a specified amount of time.

Direct current is like a river that flows peacefully to the sea.

Alternating current is like a current that rushes furiously across the abyss.

Have you measured people's electrical resistance?

Yes I did that.

Can an artificial flow be generated and applied in such a way ...

... that it can kill a person in any situation?

I. -Direct?

Direct?

And.

Thank you. Mr. Cochran. -Thank you.

I am concerned that several of the men in your experiments ...

... have shown different resistances.

What would the effect be ... -Sorry.

I can not hear you. You have to speak louder.

I am concerned that the flow will have unforeseen effects.

What would the effect be on Kemmler ...

... if we apply the current for five or six minutes?

Wait a second.

What you say now ...

What happens to Kemmler if we apply the power for five or six minutes?

Will he not be charred?

No, he will be mummified.

All the water in his body would evaporate, but that's not the point.

Just a thousand volts from one amp of current

is ten times as much as you need ...

... to kill someone with the Westinghouse dynamo.

Westinghouse uses 2000 volts more.

Suppose a man touches a wire in a wet place ...

Well, then he is doomed.

Is that what you think? -Excuse me?

Is that what you think? Is that right?

Isn't it based on knowledge? -That's right.

I've never killed anyone.

Are you school friends?

Eight years ago we were colleagues in Budapest.

Friends, yes.

And then came Paris ...

He is also an inventor.

Apparently I have a gift for helping other inventors.

You remind me of my cat.

If I had to interview him then I have to prepare well ...

... to be able to ask him interesting questions.

Where are you from?

He comes from a small village in the Austrian Empire.

A humble start.

Just like Abraham Lincoln.

He has many fond memories.

And.

I remember when I was 17 ...

It was summer. I lived in the countryside.

There was a cholera epidemic.

They burned trees in the street to ward off evil spirits.

They drank contaminated water and died like dogs.

I just realized, Mr. Tesla and Mr. ... -Szigeti.

I just realized what time it is.

And someone's father is expecting her home on time.

He doesn't care.

You know who my father is, don't you?

And.

Do you consider my father an evil force in the world?

Someone who makes a fortune as a pirate or a gangster?

Who obtains power by exploiting workers and resources ...

... to play markets and manipulate economies?

Or is he a major industrialist?

Is he doing positive things?

In fact, he is expanding the markets and creating more jobs ...

... and does he give huge sums of money to the less fortunate?

This young lady is in my care and I have to take her home.

See you soon, Mr. Tesla.

Yes, see you soon.

Or faster. You never know.

Anne Morgan.

Daughter of J. Pierpont Morgan.

My father wanted to be called Pierpont.

Pierpont Morgan.

At the time, and for the years that followed ...

... he was one of the richest men in the world.

He was born rich.

He joined the family banking business early on.

In 1861 when he was 24 ...

... he married his first wife, Amelia Sturges.

He went to Europe with her.

She was diagnosed with tuberculosis and died four months later.

He was devastated.

He was absorbed in his work.

Banking, money matters, he bought and traded companies.

He never wondered ...

... who caresses the cat's back.

He married Francis Louisa Tracy and they had four children.

I am the youngest.

He hired Thomas Edison to install electricity in our house.

The first private home in New York to be illuminated by Edison's light.

While Tesla perfected his designs for the perfect induction motor ...

... my father put millions into the Edison General Electric Company.

A woman like her can make all your dreams come true.

All my dreams have already come true.

I know.

But you are short of capital.

I dawdled because I ...

... had to gather courage to show this.

It is a compass to steer ships at sea.

It is beautiful.

Yes, it is very beautiful.

But...

... Sir William Thomson has already made it.

Lord Kelvin.

If you want, I can show you the log.

New...

I should have shown you earlier.

And.

I...

Good luck with Anne Morgan.

Gentlemen.

This is William Kemmler.

I wish you all the best of luck.

I believe I'm going to a good place ...

... and I'm ready to go.

I'm not in a hurry.

Let's get this right.

I don't want to take any chances with this thing. Do you understand that?

Anne is very upset.

She says you live in your head.

Doesn't everyone do that?

Too much in your head. She feels left out.

Sometimes it seems like I'm just thinking.

For days, for weeks.

Have you seen this? The late edition?

They messed up.

Cruel.

Like my brain is on fire.

Who can live with that?

'When I thought I was sleeping all my mistakes ...

... I noticed that some had filled the bed with thoughts.

I was thinking about thorns. '

By pulling a lever, his body tightened.

It looked like he was going to be thrown through space ...

... if it weren't for the straps holding him back. '

What is that?

Home.

'The body was as stiff as if it had been petrified ...

... apart from the right index finger.

It contracted so that the nail pierced the flesh ...

... and the blood dripped onto the arm of the chair. "

There were two or three doctors who saw Kemmler breathe.

He was not dead.

They restarted the machine ...

... and applied another 1000 volts.

It worked with that.

What was Kemmler convicted for?

He killed his wife.

Was Edison there?

He's in Paris.

Seven of its companies merge with internationals ...

... with the support of Deutsche Bank.

KEMMLERS HORRIBLE DEATH

THE POWER WAS GIVEN A SECOND TIME

En Drexel, Morgan & Company. -Morgan.

It's because of the doctors.

She administered the power through his head. Hair does not conduct.

They should have put his hand in a pot of water.

They'll be fine next time.

You give me my way because of my father.

No.

I started to wonder ...

... whether anyone could ever reach or touch Tesla ...

... like his mother had done.

He had a vision just before she died.

Easter Sunday at 1:00 am, 1892.

After her funeral, he fell ill.

For three weeks he lived like a shadow in the village where she was born.

Then he revived.

He gave a lecture in Belgrade and came home.

No.

You think of people as machines, but you are wrong.

They are not. -The universe is a machine.

No, we have one outside and one inside.

We have a will and a soul.

I'm fine.

But sometimes I react to pearls quite unhappy.

Leave us alone.

My father ...

You have to meet my father.

Like you, he is good with numbers and objects.

I would like to meet him ...

... if he's not too busy helping Edison.

Watch out for him.

What's up? -Z'n nose.

I assume you've heard about it.

He is the richest man in the world and he has a terrible skin disease ...

... causing his nose to be inflamed and misshapen.

He asks you to pretend you don't see it.

Maybe it will happen to me.

Just a matter of time.

Maybe I would be better off without a nose.

Like the sphinx.

When are you going to Chicago?

How did you know that?

Westinghouse will install hundreds of alternators ...

... 250,000 light bulbs.

We leave tomorrow.

With your boyfriend?

The Hungarian?

Szigeti.

No, he lost his compass.

He went to South America to try his luck.

Wasn't he ... your best friend?

I can come and see you in Chicago.

No that is not necessary.

No thanks.

You need me.

My father taught me to think ...

... is more interesting than knowing ...

... but less interesting than watching.

That's one way the light pavilion ...

... at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893.

The machines from Tesla and Westinghouse provide electricity and lighting.

The exhibition uses three times as much electricity than the city itself.

Twenty-eight million visitors from all over the world ...

... all see what Edison has tried to deny.

Alternating current is beautiful ... and safe.

Thanks for your visit. Sit down.

I took the liberty of ordering for both of us.

An American meal: pie.

So you went to my exhibition. The tower, the Edison Column.

Eighteen thousand light bulbs. Really.

They were surrounded by 2500 different types of Edison lamps.

Feel free to eat. It's fresh.

I am now an American. A full-fledged citizen.

Of course you are.

Like I said ... There was a lot to see.

Edison dynamos, irons, sewing machine motors ...

... dining room fans, elevators.

I like the dolls. -The dolls.

Very funny.

The talking dolls? We got rid of them. They are not perfect.

Kinescope. Moving images.

Everyone will like that.

But I invited you. There you are.

Tesla, it is abundantly clear.

The entire World's Fair is lit by alternating current.

Machines from Westinghouse, your design.

I was wrong about AC.

I was wrong about you.

I still have capital and investors.

I have unrivaled PR capability.

Let's start over.

We let the past rest.

You will be bursting with ideas.

Choose a project.

Something incredible.

We can do incredible things together.

What do you want to do now?

Do you have a fire?

Do you have a fire?

This meeting never took place.

They did not speak to each other at the World's Fair.

Edison has never admitted to being wrong about AC power.

There was no excuse. There was no reconciliation.

You wonder ...

... what would have happened if Tesla were assisted by a clever person.

An open-minded con man who could guide him through the chilly commercial world.

What if ...

Dr. Tesla. He is waiting for you.

I know you don't like to shake hands.

Excuse me. Watch your toes.

I was assured this was a remote meeting place, but ...

I have been misinformed.

Let's ... Maybe ...

Edison has gone under. He is on the brink of collapse.

We beat him.

It was never about Edison.

He was simply wrong.

When I look at my legal fees ...

... the situation is not so rosy.

It's like this ...

Westinghouse Electric is fighting for his life.

Edison's economy and merger ... You will understand.

Even though the Niagara Commission is on our side ...

... eventually JP Morgan is in full control.

We don't stand a chance unless we also merge.

The new board of directors says ...

... that if I pay you the royalties that are in your contract ...

... that we will then go bankrupt.

That's too much money. The whole company is in danger.

They refuse to merge ...

... unless the horsepower clause in your contract is nullified.

Do you mind if we go to a less dusty place?

Are you saying if I give this up and the merger goes through ...

... that you remain in charge of your company?

Then the multiphase system finally ... - Yes, finally.

The whole country runs on alternating current. On your machines.

Our machines. -Your multi-phase system.

You know how I feel about that.

And if I refuse?

Then you will have to deal with the bankers.

I wouldn't blame you, but in that case I'd be out of the picture.

A sensible man would say, 'Wait a minute.

Let me talk to my lawyer. �

Maar Tesla ...

Just tear it up.

Just tear it up. -But...

I'd rather you tore it up.

You will have no regrets. We're going to Niagara.

Nothing can stop us. -Okay.

It'll be fine. No worries.

Several roads lead to Rome.

Yes, I heard that. Is it true?

Of course. Take that from an ancient Roman.

Sarah Bernhardt. The divine Sarah.

The first world-famous superstar.

Legend has it that she once dropped her handkerchief at Tesla's feet.

Or was it her scarf?

She has been on the move all her life and travels the world.

She first appeared on the American stage in New York in 1881.

At two in the morning on our way to Boston ...

... she stops in Menlo Park in New Jersey to visit the Wizard ...

...Thomas Alva Edison.

Listen to me carefully, Theseus.

Every moment is precious to me now.

I was the monster in this riddle.

I was crazy about incestuous passion.

Now I am drunk on pure poison.

I can feel my wrists pump it icy into my feet, hands and hair roots.

Ten years later, she returns for the Chicago World's Fair ...

... and for another big tour.

She travels around with a coffin ...

... where she sleeps.

She is sleeping in a coffin.

To prepare her for the reality of death.

I would like a coffin.

Her motto is 'quand mAame'.

That means 'all the same' or 'despite everything'.

'Despite'. -'Whatever happens'.

Can you speak French?

I can speak a few words ...

... even some paragraphs.

I'd love to see her again.

Are you coming with me?

Still?

Pleasant.

Robert Underwood Johnson, Century Magazine.

My wife and I ...

Katherine. We have wanted to meet you in person for a long time.

For a long time. It's beautiful.

Impressive.

May I introduce you to someone? Do you know the brilliant Nikola Tesla?

It's like burning paper.

Are you an actor?

He looks like an actor.

He is the greatest inventor of all time.

The greatest inventor of our time.

He is shy.

But you insist on looking me directly in the eye.

Yes, he does.

Ah, the divine Miss Sarah, you couldn't have been more divine.

Of course you already know each other.

Hello, Robert, Katherine.

I don't think you have met my wife Mina yet.

When you died I had to hold my breath. It was terrifying.

I thought so too. - That's my wife, Katherine.

Mr. Tesla worked for me nine years ago.

He was there ... - Six months.

He resigned after six months.

Not true.

He thinks I owe him money. How much was it, $ 50?

I know I can't talk about money or make fun of it.

Certainly not with someone who has no sense of humor.

It's okay. We are friends.

And now he makes tons of money.

His machines sell better than mine.

Oh yes, saltwater fudge for you from Florida.

Because you already have everything else.

Where is your chest?

"You can't stare at me like that without consequences."

That's from a play.

We will see each other again.

Just as good friends.

What did you say to her? I could not do it...

I asked about her coffin.

I think she keeps it in her hotel.

Tesla is designing completely new machines for the Niagara hydroelectric plant.

Unprecedented generators, five times bigger than ever built.

With transformers, motors, transmission lines, turbines.

Revolutionary in their strength and range.

He didn't invent alternating current. Nobody has done that.

But his system makes it possible ...

... to use it efficiently all over the world.

His system had to be broken down into 40 fundamental patents.

The most valuable patent since the invention of the telephone.

We will see that later.

Last week in St. Louis, more than 4,000 people attended his talk.

Yale gave him an honorary degree and Columbia too.

You have read the articles and the magazines.

And now he already has eight new patents for wireless energy.

Electromagnetic pulses with high frequency waves.

You know him. You talk to him.

Is he looking for an investor ...

... or to a woman?

Chastity is a path to enlightenment.

A great inventor should never get married.

You realize this.

We are what our thoughts have made of us.

I believe that.

So be careful what you think.

Thoughts live and travel far.

My goal is to develop a completely new communication system ...

You said that. -... with new principles.

Electric signals, voices, even photos, sent by air.

You could fill your wireless boat with a load of dynamite.

Then let him go under water and sail ...

... and then explode it ... -Yes, you could.

... to destroy a battleship. -I thought of something bigger.

This will change the way the world works.

A whole system. I know.

It is paradoxical but true.

The more we learn, the more ignorant we become in an absolute sense.

Lighting makes us aware of our limitations.

That's why I'm going to Colorado.

That is far.

How so?

The sky. The height. Storm.

My brain only receives.

In the universe there is a core from which we receive everything.

Information, inspiration, knowledge and strength.

I know it is not easy to love quietly.

To trust without fear.

To dedicate yourself to demanding tasks with unlimited energy.

Is it better to be justified or loved?

Idealism cannot go hand in hand with capitalism.

Is that true...

... or not?

Are dreams and intelligence enough to save the world?

Is your high ability ...

... your genius ...

... a blessing or a curse?

You have become much better at asking questions.

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO 30 MEI 1899

DANGEROUS ENTRY PROHIBITED

In Colorado, Tesla is completely absorbed in his work.

He conducts experiments that have never been imitated ...

... and never fully understood.

He synchronized electricity in the air and the earth with electricity ...

... that ran through his electricity transmitter.

The so-called Tesla transformer.

It was as if he urged the ocean to pose for a portrait.

Greetings, Miss Morgan, from the Alta Vista hotel.

Mr. Lowenstein, my companion from New York, has altitude sickness ...

... but I am strengthened by the climate.

The dizzying calm air alternated with violent storms.

We haven't seen Colorado's legendary fireballs ...

... but my intention to generate them myself ...

... and the essential aspects of my work here ...

... must be kept secret.

When my results are revealed ...

... humanity will be like an anthill stirred up with a stick.

I enlisted the help of a smart local guy ...

... who has humbly informed us that he does not know what electricity is.

I tell him very seriously, "Nobody knows what it is."

Every person is a motor, tuned to the gears of the universe. '

That is your fault. The generator is on fire.

You have caused a short circuit.

I have equipped the Earth with electrical resonance.

You darkened the whole city. Asshole.

You destroyed the generator.

I let electrons flow into the earth ...

... at a speed of 150,000 oscillations per second.

Each pulsation has a wavelength of two kilometers.

That expands and engulfs the Earth's curve ...

... and creates a stationary wave ...

... it rises and falls on the other side of the planet.

I'll pay for a new generator.

Beautiful.

On my costs.

She's in the dining room.

You are the only topic of conversation here.

Apart from me.

You work at night in a secret laboratory.

No windows.

You shoot lightning bolts from Earth to Heaven.

My only fear is that I could set the sky on fire.

It's like trying to tame a wild cat ...

... but that all I get is bloody scratches.

Do you like to be scratched?

If it is necessary.

She was in Colorado for her second worldwide farewell tour.

Or was it her third?

I think he was attracted to her.

For its fame and glamor. And because she is unreachable.

Colorado is a bit like a hospital ward.

Did you notice that?

It's full of rich people with tuberculosis ...

... who fill their lungs with pure mountain air.

They like theater, but they cough a lot.

Champagne?

I've been dying a lot lately.

Never the same death twice. That is my specialty.

I have died so many times that I feel immortal.

Your English is getting better.

Maybe.

But when I'm on stage, I only perform in French.

Americans pay to see the famous French actress.

There was a time when I hated death.

I regret that now.

Death is necessary ...

... and I love it.

Because he's waiting for you before he hits.

I can get you tickets for Camille tomorrow night.

Well, tonight, when the lights come on again.

I'll make sure they come back on before the curtain rises.

Imagine...

... that you have to cut your head off and give it to someone else.

What difference would that make?

Love is like that.

"Energy creates energy," said Sarah Bernhardt.

"Spending myself made me rich."

They look like streams in a lake.

When you throw a rock. And those lamps ...

Tell me again the distance between your machines and these lights.

Forty-two kilometers.

It is easy to use a 300 hp oscillator ...

... to simultaneously perform operations like this all over the world.

We just need to put the receiving device in the ground.

It doesn't matter if the transmission takes place within a few miles ...

... or a few thousand miles.

The waves go in all directions ...

... they go in smaller and smaller circles over the bulge of the earth ...

... and increasing in intensity ...

... until they converge on the other side of the planet.

So sending messages to a receiving terminal.

So if I understand correctly, you can signal steamships at sea ...

... and request stock prices directly from the New York stock exchange?

If you put a tower on the east coast ...

... and another on the other side of the Atlantic.

How much do you think you will need to make this happen?

To be honest, you don't leave a good impression.

You talk ... You are boastful.

And aside from the Westinghouse deal, you still have to make money on it.

But contrary to popular belief ...

... have never done anything except buying and selling securities ...

... to simply make money from it.

Will $ 100,000 Be Enough?

I think you are mistaken.

I understand what you're up to. You need more.

We will of course draw up a contract.

You and I have a lot in common.

I believe in high reality.

I believe in the recklessness of great men.

After the war of the currents, Edison stops studying electricity.

He says he's done.

He throws himself into his new method ...

... to extract low-grade iron ore from broken rocks.

He buys land in Ogdensburg, New Jersey ...

... and launch a massive operation involving more than 400 men.

In 1899, while Tesla is in Colorado Springs ...

... Edison's mining company ends in failure ...

... with Edison losing $ 4 million.

Yes, it's all gone ...

... but we enjoyed spending it.

His mother would say ...

... that he was trying to eat something bigger than his head.

WARDENCLYFFE, LONG ISLAND 19 DECEMBER 1901

Miss Morgan, I believe I have been negligent.

What does that mean, "negligent"?

That's the kind of word I never really ...

Yes, Marconi sends a signal through the air ...

... using 17 of my patents.

When our tower is finished ...

... we will send our message across the earth, through the earth.

He sent it over the channel.

Nobody has done that yet.

You did not. Seventeen of my patents.

Hello Anne.

I just made some tea.

I heard your father left for Cairo last week.

According to his assistants, he is unreachable for two weeks.

When the tower is finished ...

... then he is immediately available.

I'm not here to talk for him or about him.

Except to tell you he knows you're in debt.

Of course he is in debt. He revolutionizes ...

Deep debt.

If you're sending out distress signals ... - You don't understand what scale ...

... that only alerts other investors if they still exist.

My dad was just asking for a way to send stock reports.

We have no other investors.

Why would you?

My father has a 51 percent share of your patents.

Why do you say in interviews that you receive messages from Mars?

I heard three signals.

Clear vibrations, not random.

I really believe it indicates a message.

Why would you disclose that?

It indicates ... - From Mars?

My father reads those things. Do you believe in Martians?

The probability of alien life ... Alien life ...

... is a statistical certainty.

What if you pick up the signals from Marconi?

His test signals from the English channel?

Not Mars, but Marconi.

I believe I may be the first person ...

... who has ever heard the sound of a planet greeting another.

What happens if your system succeeds?

Who manages the distribution of the energy?

Nobody manages it.

It's like air, right?

You cannot split it into sellable units.

Available to everyone. -That's right.

Becomes the way the world turns ...

... not determined by the manipulation of all this?

Power.

Energy.

And what you want to do is ...

What do you want to do?

When this system is ready ...

... then we can go to a swamp ...

... or a desert, a dilapidated, ruined place.

There we place a small receiver, a few simple machines.

Then we have light, heat, motive power ...

... and a complete communication system for people ...

... who previously lived under the most dire conditions.

In...

... we will be able to do it cheaply.

You're not an economist.

Everything has to be paid.

Especially money.

My father gave 150,000 to Tesla in December 1901.

That equates to four million in today's money.

He spent the same amount on this painting in April.

This is my favorite painting that he bought during that time.

Vermeer.

Another 100,000.

In the same period, toiling day and night ...

... Pierpont creates US Steel ...

... the first company worth a billion dollars.

'For a year now, Mr. Morgan ...

... there has hardly been a night when my pillow was not soaked with tears.

But don't think that's why I am a weak man.

When wireless is used, the earth is turned into a huge brain ...

... capable of reacting in all its parts.

The principles I've discovered ...

... will cause a revolution so great ...

... that almost all values ??and all human relationships ...

... will change profoundly.

My patents entail a monopoly. '

Ah, Mr Tesla.

I understand your ship hit the rocks.

Pity. -Mr Morgan.

Not a single person has come to visit me in the last 30 years ...

... for a purpose other than begging for money.

I have sent you detailed telegrams and facts.

I'm not a vagabond begging.

Last year I gave you $ 100,000.

Months later, you asked for extra support and got 50,000.

Do you think I'm a bottomless pit?

When my work is done ...

... then you will earn back ten times your investment.

I am not convinced that you will finish your work.

Either way, I don't need any money.

Ball.

I am working on a new method.

To photograph thoughts.

Transcribing electrical impulses from the brain.

The Ottawa Indians considered the Milky Way to be muddy water ...

... that was moved by a turtle swimming along the bottom of the sky.

What do you think about that?

Nothing is sustainable, except the eternal state of affairs.

Don't be intimidated by the horrors of the world.

Everything is ordered and correct ...

... and must fulfill its destiny to achieve perfection.

Soon I will be able to release a new series of inventions ...

... that will make warfare unthinkable.

It is a bundle of submicroscopic particles ...

... that travel at a speed comparable to the speed of light.

They can stop an army 400 kilometers away.

They can take out a squadron of aircraft at an even greater distance.

The beam moves in a straight line ...

... and therefore the range is limited by the curvature of the Earth.

I've figured out all the essential details in my head.

welcome to your life

there's no turning back

even while we sleep

we will find you if you act your best

with your back to mother nature

everyone wants to rule the world

it is my own design

it's my own remorse

help me decide

help me make the most of freedom and fun

nothing lasts forever

everyone wants to rule the world

so glad we almost made it

so sad it had to fade

everyone wants to rule the world

I can't stand this indecision

married with a lack of vision

everyone wants to rule the world

Remember how I looked when I realized it was hopeless between us?

Or does everything become a jumble in your head?

Not a string of numbers ...

... but a haze of images, impressions, feelings ...

... like most of us remember things?

I finally met someone.

Someone as strong and willful as my father.

Someone who wanted me.

Bessie Marbury.

I moved to her villa in the French countryside.

We deposited American money into a relief fund during the war ...

... a health service, a camp for children.

Tesla survives Edison, Westinghouse, Sarah Bernhardt and my father.

He dies alone at the New Yorker hotel on January 7, 1943.

He was 87 years old.

Penniless but not forgotten.

More than 2000 people attend his funeral ...

... in the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine.

He always looked ahead.

He placed himself in the future.

Maybe he promised more than he could deliver.

Maybe he wanted too much.

Or maybe the world we live in is ...

... a dream that Tesla first dreamed.