All language subtitles for The.Reckoning.2002.720p.WEBRip.x264.AAC-[YTS.MX] eng

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( woman vocalizing )

( ominous theme plays )

NICHOLAS: Seek those things
that are above...

not those things
that are upon the Earth.

NICHOLAS:
Brothers and sisters...

( people coughing )

...every day I hear
a grumbling against God.

Times are hard.

The times are bad.

Grievous times.

And that they are.

( baby crying )

But let us not forget...

the words of the Apostle

in his letter to the Romans.

"The sufferings

"of this present time

"are not to be compared
with the future glory...

...the glory that shall
be revealed in us."

Indeed, brothers and sisters,
I would go further.

I would go further and say

that this life

simply has to be harsh...

to stop Earthly happiness
being loved.

It is essential

that this life be troubled
so that the other life--

Right now

it is still dark.

You cannot see God yet...

or hold in your hands...

( baby continues crying )

...all that he has promised
you.

But do not despair.

Trust in him.

Hope.

Hope in him.

You will not be disappointed.

Tribulation produces patience.

Patience passes the test.

Passing the test
gives us hope.

( panting )

While hope...

( panting )

Hope does not disappoint.

( speaks Latin )

Amen.

( panting )

NICHOLAS: ...so the other life
may be light.

Seek those things
that are above...

not those things
that are upon the Earth.

( panting )

( violin theme playing )

( birds chirping )

( grunts )

( twig snaps )

( indistinct animal noise )

( twigs snapping )

( crackling )

MAN: Straw, Springer...

look away.

Look away.

( men grunting, snarling )

MAN 2: I have his legs now.
Now's the moment.

WOMAN: Okay, okay.
MAN: It's all right.

It's all right, Brendan,
God be with you.

( grunts )

Hey!

MAN 2: What's that?

( yells )

( grunts )

( woman vocalizing )

( cackling )

( yells )

( making animal sounds )

Robber scum skulking
in the bushes, eh?

Where are the others?
Up ahead?

No, I'm alone!

Yes!
I'm alone!

MAN: Stephen!

In these times,

what kind of fool
travels the road alone?

I'm a laborer out of bond.

I left my master's land
without a license.

He's lying.

Oh, God, please.

Speak up.
Please don't.

Or shall we loosen
your tongue with a knife?

Listen, let me go.
I promise I won't say
what I saw.

What?
What did you see?

I saw a merchant
dragged from his cart.

Aye, now we
are the brigands.

Your clothes.

Our costumes,
worn against the cold.

NICHOLAS: Costumes?

We're actors.

Traveling actors.

And here's our badge
of livery.

We're Lord Robert Sanville's
company.

Martin?
He's no brigand.

I saw you kill a man.

Brendan was my father,

our father and our leader.

He's been ill
for many months.

A canker of the belly.

He begged us to end his pain.

The hands of a laborer?

I don't think so.

TOBIAS:
Come on. This bloody axle!

It's getting worse.

We'll find a cartwright
in the next town.

What do we pay him with?

We've not even got enough
to bury Brendan.

Then we'll perform.

Where are you headed?

North to Durham, to perform
for our lord's cousin.

That's all we are,
a Christmas gift

from one noble family
to another.

TOBIAS: Come on!

Can I come with you?
SARAH: No!

Hello!

( panting )

I want to join your troupe.

You know you're short
an actor. I could learn.

No one could ever
replace Brendan.

No one.

Well, I wouldn't try
and replace him,

just plug the hole
he left behind.

Whoa.

Plug the hole
he left behind?

Hmmm.

All right,
let's see what you can do.

I know, be a bird.

( makes chirruping sound )

Be a what?
A bird. Be a bird.

How about if we try
a heron?

A big gangling lad
like you.

Aye, that's it.
But now on one leg.

Hop. Move, move.

Not around in circles.
Go that way.

Godspeed, stranger.

He's right.
With Brendan gone,

our parts will have
to change.

We need someone to play
the minor roles.

Attendant Angel,
Devil's Fool.

You're the fool,
Marty.

We don't even know
who he is.

Halt!

Whoa.

We'll vote on it.

What?

As our leader,
I'm calling a vote.

Springer?

Oh, well, there's a surprise.
I'm against it.

Need you ask?

Straw?

( stammers )

Well, I've-- I've never
seen a heron like it.

I'm with you.

Welcome.

Ho!

I know what
you're doing.

Come on.

TOBIAS: Where to now?

MARTIN: We head west.

And why not east?

Fenland's impassible.

And towards the west?

I don't know, Tobias,
I've never been there.

( grunting )

( ominous violin theme plays )

MAN: Hey, hey, whoa.

SARAH: Whoa. Whoa!

So where is everyone?

Hello?

STEPHEN: There's no one here.
MARTIN: We'll head
up this way.

Hyah! Hyah!

Get. Get.

Get, get, get, get, get.

( stirring theme plays )

SARAH:
Hey, hey, hey, come on!
Come on.

Yeah, yeah.
SARAH: Come on.

Come here.
Come here, you.

You're useless!

Whoa.

MAN: How many can say
they walk their roads

and work their fields
without fear?

Sleep safe in their beds
at night, their bellies full?

If we can, it is because
each man plays his part in it.

There can be no exceptions.

For his vigilance
in this affair,

the court is beholden
to Brother Simon Damian,

confessor to our noble lord,
Robert de Guise...

...from whom this court draws
the power to dispense justice

according to the laws
of the land.

After due deliberation
of the facts

and circumstances
of this case,

it is our finding

that the accused
is guilty as charged.

It is the sentence
of this court

that you be hanged
by the neck

and your body drawn
until you are dead.

( crowd whispers
indistinctly )

And may God have mercy
on your soul.

What was her crime?
MAN: Murder.

Young Thomas Wells.

Sixpence for this?

For the use of the yard,

two pence on every shilling
taken at the gate.

Two pence?

It's the Feast of Saint
Lazarus tomorrow.

There'll be plenty other
minstrels

happy to pay the price.

We're not some band
of minstrels.

We're actors.

Actors, minstrels
or scoundrels, it's a share
of the purse.

We'll take it.

When I think
of the respect

our profession
used to command...

One, two, three. Pull!

Sorry, Martin.
Straw.

Come on, Straw.
Get the head.

Get it in front, Straw.
Get it.

Get the head.
I'm trying.

Keep him covered. Quickly.

Hold him up,
Straw.

To the barn.
ACTOR: Hold him up.

That's right,
hold him up.

Which way, Martin?

To the right.
To the right.

He's not stiff anymore.

STEPHEN: That's what happens

after a day
and a night have passed.

MARTIN:
Cover him up, Stephen.

Stephen, cover him up.

You know a lot
about death.

So does Stephen.
Stephen was a soldier.

This one doesn't strike me
as a veteran of any war.

The first plague
hit my village hard.

Those of us who were spared
saw to those of us
who weren't.

He's a liar.
That fucking lad is a liar.

Again.

That's it.

Tobias is right,
we need a cartwright.

( tranquil harp
theme playing )

MARTIN: Good people,

we give you our play
of Adam and Eve.

We pray you,
give your ears and eyes.

See Eden lost by Satan's lies.

How woman led her man to fall

from holy grace
and with him, all.

I, God,

great in majesty,

in whom no first

or last can be.

Heaven and Earth
are made through me.

And at my bidding

now... be light.

( audience member chuckles )

With breath and body...

him to bless,

above all creatures...

both great... and less.

The serpent...

( hisses )

...came with song...

and smile, but Adam slept,

free from his wiles.

And while he slumbered,
thus alone,

I drew from him
a single bone...

and fashioned forth

a human mate...

that mankind might
itself cre--

( clears throat )

Create.

( dog barks in distance )

( Tobias shouts ):
Ghostly paradise...

I was in.

But thence I fell,

and through my sin...

( hisses )

...Earthly Paradise,
my God's gift,

men and women dwell within.

I have tried my all,
but in vain,

by my wiles
to bring them pain.

( hissing )

By my wiles to bring
them pain.

By my wiles to bring
them pain!

Or must I say that line again?

If the world belong
to thee,

lord of all things
thou wouldst be.

TOBIAS:
If the world belonged to me,

women all would ready be

to harken

to the devil!

( roars )

I'm-- I'm sorry.

( cries )

MARTIN:
Two measly shillings.

We used to make ten.

TOBIAS: Not exactly
a fortune, is it?

Well, it is enough to bury
Brendan and be on our way.

Oh, Brendan, Brendan.

Who would have thought
he would end up
in this hellhole?

MARTIN: Father?

Father?

We'd like to have
a word with you.

There's a friend of ours
we'd like to have buried.

Dead, I trust?

PRIEST: As you can see,
we're a little busy here.

( woman shouting indistinctly
in distance )

A child's grave.

Thomas Wells.

MAN: Come now.

NICHOLAS: The boy murdered
by the woman?

MAN: Aye.

She, uh,
strangled him.

Yeah.

- Six shillings.
- Six?

Six.

Six shillings.

Are you, by any chance,
related to the innkeeper?

I am not some tinker
to be bartered with.

We'll bury him
in a wood

out of town.

I promised him
hallowed ground.

We have no choice,
Martin.

You understand?
What kind of God

inflicts such suffering
on his loyal servant?

Or, indeed,
his own son?

( Nicholas speaking Latin )

Amen.
ACTORS: Amen.

TOBIAS:
Goodbye, old friend.

Nicholas, thank you.
Thank you.

Thank you,
Father.

( attempts to speak Latin )

It's just you, a priest.
Martin, shh. Please.

What did you do?

A priest on the road,
traveling incognito.

A man's secrets
are his own, Tobias.

No, no, no, it's fine.

I should tell.

I lay with a woman
from my village...

another man's wife.

Ahh...

I thought that went
with the job.

MARTIN: Enough said, I think.
No, no, no, no, no.

I want to know every
sordid little detail.

Get off.
Get off of me.

It's been so long.

STEPHEN: You're the devil,
my guest.

TOBIAS: Stephen!
Tobias!

( grunts )

( laughs loudly )

Stay.

( soft romantic
theme playing )

What are you really
running from?

I see it in you.

Not the woman.

Some darker secret.

As long as you're with us...

...you force us to carry
it too.

( light snoring )

( bird flutters )

( distorted scream )

( woman vocalizes )

( groans )

Where will you go?

The traveler's friend.

Saint Christopher.

It was my mother's,

and her mother's
before her.

Where is she now?

Plague.

Who did you lose?

A sister.

I begged to be taken with her.

And God had another
purpose for you?

I--

I think he's given up
hope on me by now.

Without you,

a good man would not have
received the burial
he deserved.

You've earned our thanks,
I daresay.

Our friendship will follow.

It may not be much...

but it's more
than lies out there.

( rooster crows, dog barks )

Nicholas,
would you have paid

good money to have seen
our play last night?

You're not alone.

No one comes
to see us anymore.

Our purse is always empty,
our stomachs rarely full.

In Wakefield and York
the guilds put on cycles

of all of the mysteries
in a week,

everything from
the fall of Lucifer

to the Day of Judgment.

In Coventry, I saw Christ
resurrected from the tomb,

hoisted up to the heavens

on a cord not visible
to the eye.

How can we match them?
You can't.

Not unless we change
our stories.

You can't change stories,
they're written in the Bible.

I'm talking about
new stories.

Ask yourself--

What matters more
to the people of this town,

Eve's temptation
of Adam,

or the murder
of a young boy

who's lived among them
for years?

( pig squeals )

Feast of Saint Lazarus.

Bad day for pigs.

I'll settle up
with the cartwright.

Martin?

It's a gift.

( Stephen clears throat )

STEPHEN:
That ass-faced innkeeper
and his poisonous ale,

I'll be glad to see
the back of both of them.

Bad news.
The axle can't be repaired.

It has to be replaced.

TOBIAS: How much?

We must perform again.

I can barely
stand upright,

let alone prance about
a yard on stilts.

You may not have to.

I have a proposal.

We change our play.

Oh, please, please,
not the Crucifixion.

All that hollering.

A new play.

A play about greed,
temptation and mortal sin.

A tale in which
virtue and vice contend

for the soul
of a young woman,

and justice prevails
as she must.

Thomas Wells?
STRAW: Thomas who?

He's the young lad
who sleeps beneath Brendan.

I knew it.
The one that girl murdered.

STEPHEN: Who dares play things
that happen in this world?

It was just a question
of time.

I believe this is the way
plays will be made in
times to come.

Ah, so you've been saying
for years.

But what did your father
think of your ideas?

By naming me
as his successor,

I believe
he was condoning them.

Lies! Lies, Martin.
Even at the last.

Lies,
and you know it.

Your father'd turn in his
grave if he could
hear you now.

I don't know about that.
It's a tight fit in there.

Martin,
it's just a killing.

So was Cain and Abel,
and we've played it often.

Cain and Abel
is in the Bible.

God has not
revealed to us

the meaning
of this story.

So much of God's meaning
remains hidden to us.

Why does he visit blights
upon our crops,

plagues upon our people?

The priests spout empty words
from the pulpit,

but we can show the people
God's hand at work

with real stories,

in events
that touch us directly.

Why did she kill him?
You've no voice in this.

But I have.

Greed. The boy was carrying
his father's purse
at the time.

She lured him off the road,
then strangled him.

Then the road
is the way of life.

The path of righteousness.
MARTIN: Yes.

And by turning aside
for temptation,

the boy found death
lurking for him.

Don't you see?
It's a morality play.

Only the figures
are different.

So where are the words
for this play?

We can do it in mime,

speak words
as we think them.

Tobias?

The minds of men
may change...

but we have no authority
from God on this.

Aye, yeah.

I'm still against it.
So am I.

Well, why not?

We are stuck here till
tomorrow, like it or not.

Springer?

MARTIN:
Three for, two against.

The deciding vote
is yours.

An equal split
goes against the proposal.

Remember,
you're a priest.

God hasn't given us
this story to use.

No.

But he is everywhere,

even in this story.

Martin's right,
it's for us to find him.

Aye, aye, aye.
Just as I thought.

An ally to swing
the vote your way.

( Martin chuckles )

We'll perform
this afternoon...

...and use the morning to find
out more of what happened.

NICHOLAS: Jack Flint?

MAN: Yeah?

Uh, um...

You're the man who found
the body of Thomas Wells.

Are you from the castle?
No.

Because I've already--
No, I'm a player.

We plan to tell the story
of the killing.

( ominous theme plays )

Worse than I feared.

De Rougement.

Ampleforth,
even Vilius.

Martin!

( horse whinnies in distance )

Martin?

Where are you going?

What did you find out?

Nothing.

He wouldn't speak to me.
No one would.

It's a feast day.

They've got other things
to think about.

Come on.

Half a shilling?
See into her heart.

The heart of our play.

( door unlocks )

In.

MAN: Did you hear?
NICHOLAS: Who are these
people?

JAILER: Guests of Lord de
Guise. There's one who
left his lands

to work for another.
Another who preached dissent!

Hey!
( bangs on wall )

( chuckles )

Hey, wha--?

It was he that gave me
the money.

You can stay here
and watch.

Hey.

Beware her touch.

They say...

she has the power.

Eh?

What power?
Well,

you've paid dear
for the pleasure

of hearing
your own crowing.

She's deaf and dumb!

JAILER ( in distance ):
What you looking at?

( door slams shut )

( chains jangle )

My name is Martin.

That's Nicholas.

We're players.

What am I doing?
She can't hear.

Look.

You can see my words?

We're to tell your story
on our stage.

( grunts )

( whimpers )

Why did you do it?

What possessed you?

A young boy, a child.

The monk saw you
near the woods at dusk.

He's lying.
Why?

But the sheriff
and his men

found the boy's purse
in your house.

The monk.

The one at the trial?

That-- That monk?

Purse.

The monk's purse.

The boy's purse.

The monk...

grabbed the boy's purse and...

...hid it
under your bed.

You saw him
do this?

You weren't there?

So the--
The monk was with them...

when they searched
your house?

And they arrested you
when you returned.

Silence in there!

( cackles )

You didn't do it.

( mouths words )

Got it.

She didn't do it.
She wasn't even there.

So she says.
So would you.

She wasn't there.
What would you have us do?

Declare her innocent
based on a few snatches
of mime?

You're a player,
a master player.

And you know how
to read people.

Tell me she was lying.
Look at me.

For heaven sakes, man,
we're actors, not judges.

Well, that's exactly
what we have become.

Just tell me
she was lying.

Look at me.

I'll hear no more
of this.

( suspenseful theme plays )

Right.

The lad went
with his family

to a village just near here
to sell his horse.

It was a cow.

A horse, a cow,
it doesn't matter.

The point is,
his father went straight

to the nearest alehouse

with the money,
to drink it all away.

And he would have done so--
If his wife

hadn't slipped it to Thomas,
sending him home with it.

Which is why
he was on the road.

It's why
he got strangled.

Yes, all right,
we know the rest of it.

Good work,
Springer.

We'll open with the alehouse.

Tobias,
set up the table here.

Stephen,
you play the drunken father.

Straw,
you'll have to double.

You'll play both
the mother and the woman.

Her name is Martha.

And you, Nicholas,
shall be Good Counsel,

urging Thomas
to stay on the path,

the way of life.

STEPHEN: Right. Right,
where should we start from?

From over there.

( sniffs )

What troubles you?

Ask your brother.

MARTIN: You're free to leave.

If I do, does my precious vote
go with me?

I will put on this play

with or without you.

The first are arriving.

Sarah.

Well,
take your place.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hey.

( speaks indistinctly )

Thank you.

( crowd chattering )

Tobias.

( shouts ):
Oh!

Good masters!

We beg your patience.
MAN: Yes, sir.

And also to give
good audience to our play,

which is also yours.

It's a new thing to make a
play that belongs to a town,

and this play does honor
to your town, for it shows

that wrongdoers
are punished here

with great speed of justice.

MAN: Aye.

Gentle people,
we give you our play

of Thomas Wells.

( audience murmurs and gasps )

The family have just sold
their cow.

Their purse is full.

They pass an alehouse.

( audience chuckles )

( slurps noisily )

MARTIN:
He tries in vain for
half a day,

to drink that precious
purse away.

( burps )

( yawns )

Are you ready?

MARTIN:
As daylight fades, so does he.

( whispers ):
Straw, take the purse.

MARTIN:
For his wife, an opportunity.

( yawns )

...each and every man
to keep well upon...

( whispers ):
Take it now, Straw.

MARTIN: The purse recovered,
she must stay,

and so dispatches
Thomas on his way.

...of Christ, Good Counsel
is my name.

MARTIN: The shadows lengthen,

night draws ever near,

he's tired and cold,
TOBIAS: Martin.

his young heart
gripped by fear.

He quickens his pace,

still clutching
his precious load,

Psst.

recalling the words of...
Straw needs more time.

Pas de deux it
as best you can.

Use your Latin.
You never know.

Uh...

Go on.
Good Counsel is my name,

and some
call me Conscience.

My task it is...

Come on,
come on, come on.

Head.
Come on.

...to urge each and every man

to keep well
upon the way of life.

Which path was opened
to us

by the sufferings of Christ.

Uh, ah...

( Nicholas stammers )

Come on, come on,
come on.

Um...

Heed well my words, Thomas,
for as everyone here is aware,

it's in the contrary nature
of the young

to be drawn to the very thing

from which they are warned,

convinced that
their elders conspire...

It's a disaster.
...to keep some...

( crowd murmuring )

...hidden fruit
that must be tasted.

( mysterious, seductive
theme playing )

( woman vocalizing )

MARTIN: Sin, in the beginning,
may seem full sweet,

but the reckoning comes,
be you never so fleet.

The die is cast,

his fate now sealed...

WOMAN: It wasn't like that!

MARTIN: ...as Thomas
to temptation yields.

WOMAN: No. No.
MAN: Shh. Shh.

Shh.
What did you say?

My Thomas was a good boy.

Too young to know
who holds his hand...

WOMAN: I know my son,
I know him.

MARTIN: ...and draws him
to the shady land.

He wouldn't have gone
with her, I tell you.

I'm sorry.
He wouldn't have
gone with her.

NICHOLAS:
Listen, what happened
to your boy was tragic.

He wouldn't have gone
with her, I tell you.

I'm sorry.
MAN: His mother should know.

( audience dissent
intensifies )

The Reaper...
Martin.

...in a guise so sweet.

But he must have gone
with her. His body was
found in the woods.

She wasn't strong enough
to carry him.

No, not strong enough
to wring his neck, neither.

Well, now, he was just a boy.

Big beyond his years,
he was.

And strong as an ox.

( audience clamoring angrily )

Get me the sheriff!
Now!

Get off the stage.

Get off. That's it.

Please! Quiet!

Quiet! Maybe she hit him
before strangling him!

No! There were no marks
on the body! Just his neck!

MAN: Yes.

That's what I heard
from Jack Flint.

The man who found
the body?

MAN 2: He's the only one
to have seen the boy dead.

Even his own mother
weren't allowed to see him!

Is this true?

A mother has a right
to see her own son.

Is this how you repay
the charity of your lord?

The man who gave your son
a proper burial?

Clear the yard!

Come on! Clear the yard!

Let's go.

Clear the yard.

SHERIFF:
Get word to the Lord de Guise.

WOMAN: Show us a play
about the other boys.

What other boys?
SHERIFF: Get a move on!

SOLDIER: Out of this square.
There were other boys?

Four in a year.

Disappeared without trace.

SHERIFF: Come on, come on!

I've never seen anything
like it.

Neither have I.

You wanted meaning...

you got chaos.

He got truth.

Gossip.

( door slams open )

Sunrise finds you on the road

or in my jail.

The axle's broke.
It won't be ready in time.

Your axle, boy,
was ready this morning

at first light,
as well you know.

It's only by the grace
of the Lord de Guise

that you lot still
have your freedom.

Sunrise.

STEPHEN:
You lied to us.

A broken axle,
just to put on your play.

Master player?

You're not worthy
of your father's title.

( festive medieval
music plays )

( crowd cheers )

( chattering and revelry )

Forgive me.

Grave robbery.

That's a capital offense.

Help him dig.

That's not a boy.

It's a man, my lord.

It's a friend of ours
that we buried here

just to save expense.

And who performed
the service?

I did.

Priest...

turned player.

Take him out.

( strains )

( coughs )

Well, uncover him.

That's why you came here,
to examine him,

see what his parents
were prevented from
seeing, yes?

Do as the king's justice
says.

The king's justice?

Uncover him.

Remove his robe.

Nothing.

Except the bruising
at the neck.

Bite marks.

Yes.

Oh, God.

Oh, God.

Oh, Christ!
What? What is it?

A swelling,
in the pit of his arm.

If he hadn't been killed,
the plague would have
taken him.

It's all right,
there's no danger.

He's three days dead.

There's no danger.
Help me.

Help me.

You'd be wise to move on
with your friends.

NICHOLAS:
Are they gonna hang her?

She's innocent.
No woman could have done this.

Are they going
to hang her?

And you, too, if you reveal
what you've done here tonight.

What does the king's justice
want with a dead peasant boy?

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

The sun isn't up.

They waited
as long as they dared,

then they left
by the north gate.

You might just make it.

( chuckles )

Hyah.

Jesus!

You mean
you dug Brendan up?

I had to,
to get to the boy.

He'd been violated.

She didn't do it.
She couldn't have.

We have to help.

STRAW: How?
And why?

You said yourself
the king's justice

has shown some interest.

Martin...

you gave her hope.

You gave her hope!

You can't walk away.

Why are you doing this?

I got no choice!

I have nothing else to lose.

Except your life.

It's just a matter of time
before they find me
and hang me.

What, for bedding
another man's wife?

Martin?

Come back with me.

Oh, Christ, Martin.
Come back.

Please.

( stammers )

( pushes roughly )

( somber violin theme plays )

( metal clanging )

( grunts )

How much
were you paid?

( struggles and grunts )

What?
How much were you paid?!

I don't know what
you're talking about!

How much?!

I found the boy and I brought
him back, that's all.

He'd been missing for two
days! I don't believe you.

Found him in the clearing,
by the big oak!

I thought he was asleep,
resting,

and then I saw the marks
on his neck!

What were you doing there?
I was collecting firewood.

I'm a potter,
you can ask anyone!

And then I loaded him onto
the horse, and that
wasn't easy

because he was stiff as
a board! He was what?

He was stiff!

But he'd been dead two days.

Well, so what?

Rigor mortis?

Come on.

Good boy.
Good boy.

Whoa.

( sighs )

I wish I were half the man
my father was...

and half the father
you deserve.

I shall see you all
in Durham!

( suspenseful theme plays )

MARTIN: I went to the jail
to see your daughter.

I have no daughter.

You don't care
that she's to hang tonight?

It is God's will.

But she's innocent.

No one is innocent.

Then what's her sin?

For it wasn't murder.

Blasphemy.

She lays on hands
and claims

that God himself
speaks through them.

She's a healer?

God is the only healer.

Man's nature is corrupt.

It has been
since the fall of Eden.

We can be redeemed,

but God is to be found
nowhere in ourselves

as she
and her followers claim.

What followers?

Who are you that brings
a message from my daughter

yet knows nothing of her
repute in these parts?

She's scared.

I warned her.

Warned her they would find
a way to bring her before
the judges.

They always do.
Who?

The monk? The Benedictine?

A minister of hell,

Simon Damian.

The lord he serves,
the judge.

They are as one.

And as one,
they will face the flames...

with their hounds, their
horses, and their whores...

that they feed and clothe
from the blood we sweat.

You talk of divine justice.

What of human justice?

You're not from these parts,
are you?

Else you would know,

those who seek justice...

fall prey to it.

( indistinct chattering )

( knock at door )

Father?

There is a brother of yours
who wishes to speak with you.

Well, have him come in.

( door closes )

Hush.

I know that the woman
didn't kill Thomas Wells.

She wasn't even there
the night he died.

What is that to me?

Shh.

I've seen the body.

Wounds no woman
could have inflicted.

No, the body
is buried.

Was...

and is once more.

( scoffs ):
So this is your proof?

Evidence
you dare not reveal.

I don't have to.

The king's justice
was with me when I dug him up.

It's only a matter of time
before you're taken.

Why tell me this?

Because I'm giving you
your life.

Your freedom.

But in return,
I want hers.

A written confession,
to be found after you're gone.

( scoffs )

I will not confess
to a crime

I didn't commit.

( door opens )

Brother Paul
is leaving.

( suspenseful theme plays )

Get that one.

( goat bleats )

( door opens )

Whoa.

JUSTICE:
Have they caught him yet?

Is it not enough that
an innocent woman should die?

Must I die too?

There is more at stake here
than you will ever know.

How do you sleep?

You!

Daniel! Leave him!
Leave him! Leave him!

The monk's dead,

found hanging
in his chamber.

Dead by his own hand.

Out! Out!

I'll have no gropers here!
Out!

Gentlemen excepted,
of course.

You went to see him.
Why?

To ask for his confession,
and if you'd just--!

In return
for his freedom?

He wouldn't have got far.

His confession, if there
was one, will never be found.

This is his confession.
Why else take his own life?

He didn't.
When a man is hanged,

the rope rides up
behind the jaw, the ears.

The weight of the body
drags it up.

He was throttled.

Because of you,
all is lost.

It's over.

Leave.

Before they hang you too.

No, no, no, no, no.

No, no, no, no, no.

No, no, no. No.

No, no.

Our horses, fetch.
Saddle them.

How long
have you known?

How long?

There was talk
of other boys in France

while Lord de Guise was
on campaign with King Richard.

We needed him then.

At what price?

The greater good of the nation

is a strict mistress to serve.

Oh, I'm sure she is.

And does she now demand
that de Guise is brought down?

Yes, if many more
are not to die.

He's planning a rebellion
against the king.

They're gathered in the castle
as we speak.

So, to you, the children
were just a detail?

They were a reason
to arrest him.

Our only hope

was to get the monk

to turn king's evidence
against de Guise.

You see now what
your interfering has done?

You should have told me.

A player?

Affairs of state?

You soothe your conscience
with grand phrases.

But it's a weak,
contemptible man

who trades
in the lies of others.

De Guise is beyond my reach,

and certainly beyond yours.

Tell the people the truth.

They have a right to know
the truth.

You think they don't know?

Thanks to him, they have
food enough and shelter.

In these times,
how many can say the same?

Theirs is the silence
of consent.

( solemn theme plays )

( drums beat in cadence )

( sighs )

( drums beat in distance )

I'm not sure I can do this.

( woman calls out
indistinctly )

We are come here
to execute the sentence

passed down by our lord's
court upon this woman,

found guilty of the murder
of Thomas Wells.

She is to be raised
from the ground by her neck,

and her body drawn
until she be dead.

Let her death
be a lesson to all

who would stray from the paths
of righteousness.

( priest speaking Latin )

WOMAN: She is so brave.

WOMAN 2: God bless you!

( woman vocalizing )

( panting )

NICHOLAS: Stop this!

SARAH: Stop!

Arrest them!

( indistinct chattering )

We came here
in ignorance and poverty!

Poverty drove us to claim
your story as our own!

And ignorance blinded us
to its truthful telling.

For both,
we beg your forgiveness,

and in return we offer you...

the true story
of Thomas Wells.

WOMAN:
Yeah, tell us the true story!

Get word to the castle!

Let us begin.

( somber theme plays )

NICHOLAS: It was dark,
someone was watching him.

But it wasn't this woman
stood here before you.

It was the monk,
Brother Simon Damian.

Think of it.

Imagine it!

Thomas...

Thomas would have
gone willing,

trusting that a man of God

could not possibly have
designs

upon the money he was
carrying.

But a night,

a day,

and another night passed...

and Thomas was dead,

with his life wrung from him.

He had already been missing
for two days...

when he was found at daybreak
by Jack Flint.

Flint had difficulty,
and this is important.

He had difficulty loading
the body onto his horse

because it was stiff
with rigor mortis.

Now, he took that poor
dead boy back here
to the town.

And bad news travels quickly.

Thomas Wells is dead.

Thomas Wells is dead.
NICHOLAS: You people...

Thomas Wells is dead.
...you became angry.

Thomas Wells is dead.
And the monk...

The monk was frightened.

So he lied.

He said that he had seen
this woman,

Martha Lambert,

near the woods
the night Thomas disappeared.

And his word was enough...

( crowd chatters angrily )

...because he was a
man of God.

Now, he acted swiftly, and he,
the sheriff and his men

went to Martha's house
to arrest her.

But Martha wasn't there,

and she hadn't been
the previous day, either.

Where was she?

She was away.

She was away healing the poor.

Giving her time
to people like you.

They broke down her door.

( grunts )

They searched
and they ransacked her house.

TOBIAS: There, down!

And remember,
the monk still had the purse.

And when he was alone,
in her room,

he hid it under her bed,
where it was then discovered.

SHERIFF: Lies!

NICHOLAS:
He took this evidence

that would hang a woman
with him,

and he placed it there,
a man of God!

Lies, I say!

She killed the boy!

How?
With her bare hands!

She choked the life from him!
Why?

The money he was carrying.
When?

The night he disappeared.

Then why was the body
still stiff

when Jack Flint found him
two days later?

( crowd shouting
indistinctly )

The rigor mortis
would have gone by then.

MAN: Speak up, then!

You have an innocent woman
standing on your scaffold.

MAN:
My Lord de Guise?

Now, you all know Martha!

You know her!

She doesn't have much,

but what she has,
she gave freely!

Do not let her pay for it
with her life!

You can stop this!

CROWD: Yes.

You can stop this
because you have the truth.

And the truth has power in it.

Thomas was not killed
that first night.

No, he was taken away

and he was held hostage
till the following day...

during which time
he was subjected

to the most brutal,
unspeakable acts.

( crowd gasps and cries )

Unspeakable acts.

( cries )

NICHOLAS:
But it was not the monk

that violated
and killed Thomas.

Nor did he kill himself.

He was murdered by the
very man whose hunger
he only served.

The man for whom
he procured the boys.

Lord Robert de Guise!

Lord de Guise!

De Guise!

He killed Thomas!

And he killed your other boys!

De Guise!

( horses whinny )

MARTIN: Stephen!

SOLDIER: You dare to accuse
Lord de Guise?

I dare to tell the truth!
Just the truth!

You ask yourself who
had Thomas buried
so quickly...

This way.

...not even his mother
could see the body!

MARTIN: Get Nicholas out!
Get out!

Go!

( crowd shouting
indistinctly )

SARAH: They're coming!

MARTIN: Martha, quickly!

Quickly!

Point the way!
Go, go!

SARAH: Come on!

( soldiers shout in distance )

SARAH: Quickly!
MARTIN: To the church!

Quickly!

Quick!

MARTIN: Tobias!

Hurry!

Get in! Get in!

Close the door!
We'll be safe here.

MARTIN:
We changed them with our play.

You changed them.

MAN:
May I ask who you are?

May I see the face of the man
who wishes to know?

I'm Nicholas de Vilance.

MAN:
Of Norman blood, like myself.

Well, houses become
somewhat diluted
over the years.

Hmph. And why
have you come here,

Nicholas de Vilance?

No reason.

No, fate.

Do you believe in fate?

I believe in a fallen bridge
that drove us westward.

But that's not fate,
but poor workmanship.

We create our destiny.

Fate is the religion
of the weak.

And you don't strike me
as weak.

Foolish, maybe...

and headstrong, yes...

...but not weak.

( snorts )

So it seems I'm accused by you

of unnatural acts and murder.

Do you deny it?
Not only deny it,

but defy you or any other man
to prove otherwise.

Well, you know I cannot.

And therein lies
your foolishness
and your ruin.

No.

No, don't threaten me.

We're protected by the
holy sanctuary of God's house.

Your threats
mean nothing here.

( chuckles )

Do you really believe

that your God has the power
to protect you?

No, nor the inclination.

Well, what kind
of God is that?

The kind who allows his
innocent children to
be murdered.

Well,
since the beginning of time,

your God has had us killing
each other

under his various banners.

So I'll ask you again,

what kind of God is that?

Hm?

I don't claim
to understand.

But I do believe.

Ah. The triumph of blind faith
over reason, huh?

But what you fail
to understand...

is that between faith and
reason lies the only true god.

Power.

You mean the power of evil?

To murder without conscience?

We are taught that God

bears no responsibility
for evil.

That evil springs
not from him,

but from the freedom of choice
he has granted

to us.

Well, then, that freedom
is a thankless gift

if all the suffering
in the world

is the price
we must pay for it.

Sacrilege to the ears
of a priest.

Sacrilege from the mouth
of a priest.

No.

( chuckles )

And what crime drove you

into the arms
of traveling actors, Father?

Adultery.

How disappointing.

( yells )

And murder.

And you dare lecture me?

You and your companions

are free to leave.

You have my word
you will not be harmed.

And if we refuse?

Are you prepared
to die?

Are you?

( chuckles )

Thomas Wells was taken
with the plague.

It is the one consolation
in all this.

He was dead before
you so much as touched him.

What did Brother Damian
tell you?

Not the truth.

He dared not tell you
the truth.

That he brought you a boy
touched with the plague.

You want to know
why I did what I did?

Well...

because I wanted to.

And...

( inaudible )

because I...

could.

( sighs )

( door opens and shuts )

( crowd gasps )

Arrest them all.

Wait.

( panting )

Hold me.

( gasping )

( cries )

( gasping )

( sword clatters )

WOMAN:
Get him!

( crowd shouts indistinctly )

( gasping rapidly )

( gasping stops )

Godspeed, my friend.

His death
was not in vain.

King Richard shall know of
the great service he rendered.

He didn't do it for you...

or your king.

Stephen? Straw?

Load up the cart.

We have to be off...
to Durham.

To perform our new play.

( slow, meditative theme
playing softly )

( crowd whispering
indistinctly )

Let's go!

( slow, meditative theme
continues playing )