Original subtitles

[blowing wind]

- Ah!

- Ah!

[grunts]

- It's us, Sire!

And it's you! You're here at last.

[gurgling]

- Ah, gentlemen.

The King of Rome's first charge,

and as you see, he's chosen to attack the heights

like I did in Austerlitz.

- Alas, Sire, Austerlitz is far away.

The defeat of our armies--

- Not a defeat. A retreat.

- Certainly, Sire.

But thousands of our men are still in Russia.

Without you there, what can they do?

- I came back because the affairs of France demanded it,

but I have Murat at the head of our troops and I know him.

He will save all that can be saved.

The men he brings home will stay home forever.

As it is nearly Christmas,

I have decided to give a present to all the French people,

and most of all to you, my dearest.

The wars are over.

I declare peace to the world.

[gasping]

- Bravo, Sire! Bravo!

[soldier:] Company!

Present arms!

- This way, please.

The fact that the people of Paris

adore their beloved Empress more each day

is a great joy for us all.

- That's not what she says in her letters.

- No? Oh, her natural discretion, I expect.

Your Excellency would agree that it's tactless

for a woman to acknowledge that she is irresistible.

- Humility is hardly a prominent virtue

in a Princess of the House of Austria.

Wouldn't you agree?

- Let us not forget that the Empress Marie-Louise

has become completely French,

like most of Europe.

- Only France is French, Monsieur de Caulaincourt.

The other countries are French by force.

So it's temporary.

- Come now, Metternich!

[clicks heels]

No need for rituals.

The Austrian ambassador is at home here.

But first of all, tell me how dear old Francois is.

- His Majesty the Emperor of Austria is very well.

And you, Sire?

- I couldn't be better, ever since I declared

peace to the world.

- An admirable phrase, Sire.

- I'm glad you like it. It's not just a phrase.

- In that case, Sire,

you are bound to accept the conditions

that Emperor Francois has asked me to relay to you.

- Conditions? - Yes.

What we expect in exchange for this peace

that France has asked for.

- Perhaps I have been unclear, Metternich.

I'm not asking for peace, I'm making it.

In fact, I'm imposing it.

- I'm afraid France is in no position to impose

anything at all, Sire.

Everyone is aware that you have lost

most of your troops in Russia.

- You dare order me to give up my conquest?

And to restore the old boundaries?

So hundreds of thousands of Frenchmen

will have suffered and died for nothing?

You're insane. Your Emperor is insane!

- Your Majesty is free to do as he pleases, of course.

- Oh, thank you so much.

- But if France refuses to subscribe

to the conditions we propose...

Austria unfortunately will be obliged

to declare war on France.

- Austria declare war on me? On me?

It can't be.

Have you forgotten whom l've married?

Come over here, Let me show you something.

[cheering]

It only took me three months to build up the Grand Army again.

This is one of my new regiments.

[cheering]

- Your new toy soldiers, you mean.

They are children, Sire.

- You're wrong to disparage them.

They are called the Marie-Louise, named after my wife.

Because of her, my son has Austrian blood in his veins,

so if your Emperor declares me war,

he will be rising up against his own daughter and grandson.

- Rest assured that Emperor Francois has not forgotten

that he gave you his daughter as Empress of France.

But he can and will act solely in the interests of his people.

[cheering]

- It's not in Austria's interests to attack France.

Prussia, Russia and England are using you, and that's a fact.

I married Marie-Louise for peace,

and obviously l've been betrayed. It is not surprising.

French people have thought all along

that they were getting another Marie Antoinette.

- I was told they had come to love her.

- You were misinformed.

Nobody loves her. No one except me.

Take this answer back to your master:

of Austria dares to declare war on me,

I will reduce Vienna to rubble.

I swear it.

- Then you are lost, Sire.

You are lost.

[crumpling paper]

[singing in German]

[man:] Fire!

Company, pull back!

[men shouting]

- So you're deserting!

- Sire, I know you do not mean that.

Marshall Murat was informing Your Majesty

that he's going to his kingdom of Naples for reinforcements!

- His kingdom? I made you king.

of I fall, you fall.

And I don't believe a word about your damned reinforcements!

You have negotiated your departure with the Austrians.

- What are you implying?

- I'm not implying, I'm saying it to your face.

Murat, there is only one way,

just one, for you to convince me of your loyalty.

Come back from Naples with troops

who are ready to give their lives for me.

- Sire,

I do have to take my leave.

This wound of mine--

- Your wound?

Yesterday, you said it was a mere scratch.

I won't hold you back!

Well, gentlemen!

Any more candidates for desertion?

No one is indispensable to me, you know!

- Sire, Sire. We love you.

Those who must go leave with broken hearts.

For those who stay, we only ask you

for one thing: the truth.

We have lost the war, haven't we?

- Lost the war? Because the enemy has a few more troops?

I have my reserves, easily enough for a counter-attack.

[murmuring]

What was that? General! What did you say?

- He was saying, Sire, a counter-attack is impossible.

We can barely hold on to our positions as it is.

Perhaps an orderly retreat, to defend France--

- France?

Fight on our own soil?

- France must be defended, Sire.

She is in mortal danger.

[chickens clucking]

- Go away!

I have nothing to give you.

I've got nothing left but my hens!

And if you take them--

- You can keep your hens.

We need horses, two or three will do.

- You've got horses! They're right under your asses!

- We need farm horses

to pull our cannons out of the mud.

And if you have any sons to lend us a hand...

- I had two sons.

But that monster Napoleon got them both killed!

I will make him suffer for it,

if I have to follow him to hell!

- Sire! We're wasting time.

- Sire?

He called you Sire?

You're...

- The monster.

- No! Leave her.

What were your sons called?

- The oldest was Gervais.

The little one, Clement.

He wasn't even 16.

- Gervais and Clement.

We cannot let them die for nothing.

- They died for you. But you're nothing!

You're less than that pile of dung!

- You have a right to refuse.

But if you lend us your horses,

to pull out our cannons of the mud,

their shells will avenge your boys.

- What's the use?

The enemy is all over France.

Everyone says we're finished.

- No, no.

We're never finished. Never!

All France is fighting against the enemy.

Your sons gave their life so this country might survive.

I'm giving my life for it.

And you cannot give up a horse?

- One of you come to the stables with me.

[bell tolling]

[bell ringing]

[grunts]

- Madame, it's Joseph!

The Emperor's brother!

Open the door, please!

- You've had news of His Majesty?

- Yes. Well, no.

It's all terribly confusing.

But you must leave Paris right away.

- What?

- The enemy is at the gates of the city.

All of them! The Russians, the Austrians, the Prussians!

Please! Take the child and flee!

- Flee? of I leave, the population will think

they have been abandoned!

And their despair will cause more damage

than the enemy's cannons.

I swore to wait here for Napoleon to return.

Otherwise, the Empire will be lost!

- Madame, it's an order from the Emperor,

dated the 8th of February 1814.

''of the enemies march in Paris

''with troops that cannot be resisted--''

which is the present situation, Madame--

''then send my wife and child away.

''l would rather know that my son was drowned in the Seine

''than in the hands of France's enemies.''

You recognize His Majesty's writing?

- Yes, but not his mind.

Napoleon cannot want his son's death.

- Only as a last resort, if escape is impossible!

But it will be possible!

I've arranged everything for your departure.

- What about him? Where's he?

At the head of his armies, l suppose.

[scoffs]

- His armies. What's left of them.

- Go! Find the little King of Rome.

Get him ready for a journey.

Where have you arranged for me to go?

- To Blois, on the banks of the Loire.

- Very well. But I warn you, I shall not stay there.

I shall join the Emperor wherever he is.

He cannot bear to be parted from his son for long.

And you, Monsieur, can I count on you

to assure the defence of Paris till the bitter end?

- I hope you do not doubt my courage, Madame.

[thunder clap]

- We need the horses. It is very urgent...

- l've already told you, I have none to give you.

- Please, Sire. I don't want to force you.

[discussion continues in distance]

- You can have them.

- OK. Thanks.

They have agreed to give us fresh horses!

We can be in Paris in an hour.

- They are not shouting ''Long live the Emperor.''

It's the first time.

- Well, Sire...

- General Beliard? What are you doing here?

- Marshall Marmont's orders, Sire.

I have come to find housing for the troops

who will evacuate the capital.

- Evacuate the capital?

Are you mad, General?

My brother Joseph is in charge of the defence of Paris!

- He has signed the surrender,

and has given the order to withdraw the troops.

- Even the army has given up.

But the people of Paris have never let me down!

I will call them to take up arms,

and drive out the enemy. The Battle of Paris!

- There will be no Battle of Paris, Sire.

It's too late. It's over.

They've signed the surrender,

and Your Majesty is honour-bound to respect it.

France has given her word, Sire.

[clock ticking]

- Even my bodyguard deserts me.

[door closing]

- Sire?

The Cossacks have entered Paris.

The people will agree to any treason to protect the city.

They even applauded the Allies' decree

demanding your abdication...

abdication, under these conditions.

[laughs]

- I don't need to read it

to know the conditions are unacceptable.

- Unappealing, perhaps, Sire, but unacceptable...

is a word that is no longer in our vocabulary.

You have to leave France.

But they are granting you sovereignty of the Isle of Elba.

It's off the coast of Italy.

- I know the place. It's a pebble.

Napoleon, king of a pebble. Grotesque!

- Sire! There's a Polish lady who--

- Countess Walewska.

I gave everyone else so much, and they all abandoned me.

And I refused her the one thing she desired the most,

the sovereignty of her beloved Poland,

and yet she has come.

- Shall I bring her in, Your Majesty?

- Yes.

No!

No, I can't see her.

Tell her to go away.

of they hear I have received her,

they could use it as an excuse

to stop me seeing Marie-Louise and my son again.

My conquerors are very petty, Caulaincourt.

Marie will understand.

I'm sure she will.

I'm sure she will.

- What has been decreed for him?

- Exile.

- Forever?

- It's out of his hands, Madame.

But one can hardly imagine the Emperor's agreeing

to be a phantom king for long.

They were allowing him

to assemble a royal court... of sorts.

- Does that mean I'd be able to visit him?

- Oh, yes.

Perhaps not right away, of course.

But...

Madame...

the Emperor, he...

he...

Madame, the Emperor loves y--

- He loves me.

Give this to the Emperor.

Explain that it's not because I'm angry with him,

but because he might need it.

I know his enemies. They are mine too.

They will strip him of everything, introduce him to nothing.

- Madame. [clicks heels]

[clock ticking]

[Napoleon:] My sweet Marie-Louise.

I love you more than anything in the world.

Know that my misfortunes trouble me

only because they make you suffer.

Kiss your son for me.

Farewell, dear Marie-Louise.

I am yours.

[Napoleon groaning]

- Your Majesty?

[coughing]

Your Majesty-- oh my God!

Your Majesty!

[groaning]

Help! Help!

Sire...

Go get Dr. Ivan! Rush!

[groaning]

- Sire? What's happening?

- Drink! He's poisoned himself.

- Sire?

Yes!

Sire! Sire!

Sire! Sire!

- These beans remind me of Corsica.

So does the sun.

Many things here remind me of Corsica.

It's not so bad here.

- We are so far away.

- Far from what?

Army tents in the mud, carriages that people throw bombs at?

Men who have betrayed you?

Women who have been unfaithful?

Ah, Napoleon, judging from what l've seen,

ruling over France brings very little happiness.

- Ruling over this island brings even less.

- Ruling? But you're not ruling here.

You're like a landowner,

what you would have been in Corsica if you had stayed.

- It was my father who wanted me to be a soldier.

He sent me to school in France,

without asking me if I wanted to go.

- You would have left anyway.

Our island was too small for you.

You found even France too small,

you had to make it bigger and bigger.

- Not to spread our borders, but to spread our ideas!

Our love of liberty, our audacity, our youth!

That's what I wanted to spread throughout Europe.

- And Europe didn't want your gift.

Or maybe the colour of the ribbon you tied

was too much the colour of blood.

- It was England that didn't want it.

The English plotted everything, right from the start.

of it had not been for them,

I would never have fought with Spain.

The Czar would have stayed my friend.

And Austria would not have forgotten

that I was a part of the family.

I'm sure it's the English who are stopping my wife and son

from coming to see me.

- What makes you think she wants to come here?

Your wife's become Austrian again.

You've seen the last of her and your son.

It's a beautiful day!

You should try to enjoy yourself a little.

[lively music]

[applause]

[man laughing]

- That signora is not dancing! Do your duty, Cambronne.

- But, Sire, she's the fishmonger's wife.

- What of it? You're the son of a wood merchant.

- Would you give me the pleasure of this dance, madame?

[speaking in Latin]

That's Latin. It means:

''Napoleon is happy wherever he is.''

My new motto.

- Sire, Cipriani has just arrived from Genoa.

- At last, you're here!

No one suspected anything?

- I introduced myself as your steward,

saying l'd come to buy goods that can't be found on the island.

As soon as you talk business with the Genoese,

they drop their guard.

I have good news and bad news for you.

The good news is very good, but the bad is worse than ever.

- Start with the bad news.

- The English don't believe

you've resigned yourself to ending your days here.

The fact that the Island of Elba

is only three or four days by sea from the French coast

keeps them awake at night.

They are planning to send you to another island.

- They cannot do that!

The Island of Elba was assigned to me

by an international treaty, signed by all the powers!

- The English don't care.

They plan to capture you

and smuggle you in secret to St. Helena.

- St. Helena?

- It's in the middle of the south Atlantic Ocean,

thousands of miles from all inhabited land.

- What's the good news?

It had better be good, to make up for that one.

- I think Your Majesty will appreciate it.

According to my informers,

the situation in France is turning very bad, very fast.

After welcoming the Russians and Austrians as liberators,

the people can't stand them anymore.

The Emperor was right to want to gut them,

is what they're saying.

As for King Louis XVIll, opinion is unanimous. They all hate him.

So many Parisians have thrown away their royalist badges

that the main sewer is blocked up.

- What I wouldn't give to see it.

- What they wouldn't give to see you, Sire.

They want you back, with all their hearts.

- I have a brig and a schooner at my disposal.

Small ships, but built for speed.

We might manage to slip past the English fleet...

if the night is dark enough.

Come on.

inform General Bertrand we have news.

Join me after the ball, both of you.

[new song begins]

Will you give me the honour of this dance?

You have been crying, my little Fanny.

of Bertrand has been unkind to you,

just tell me and I will punish him.

I'll make you my mistress.

- I have been crying, Sire.

But my husband has nothing to do with it. It's because of you.

- Me?

- Yes, Sire.

When I think of the grief I am going to cause you.

I have received a letter from France, from Caulaincourt.

He should have written to Your Majesty directly,

instead of choosing me as a messenger

to bear you such sad news.

- Nothing's happened to my son or my wife?

Josephine?

- Sire, she's dead.

[echoing:] She's dead.

At first they thought she had caught a chill,

but it was far worse than that.

Purulent pharyngitis.

Madame de Beauharnais put up a very brave fight

for several days, but the fever got the better of her.

Caulaincourt says that her last words were:

Bonaparte.

[echoing:] Bonaparte.

Bonaparte.

Bonaparte.

Bonaparte.

- Sire.

Sire?

Sire?

- Cambronne!

Fetch the almanac.

I want to know the date of the next lunar eclipse.

Gentlemen, I want the brig L'Iconstant and the schooner

moored in a quiet bay outside the port.

Have them repainted to look like English ships.

- Yes, Sire.

- Row! Row!

Row! Row!

Men, haul her up!

Come on, men!

- Come on! Come on!

Sire! We live close by,

and my wife always has a good fish soup on the fire.

I'd be honoured if you'd wait

for the rest of your army at our house.

- That is my army.

- That's it?

That's all the men you have

to drive out the King and his bunch of scoundrels?

Listen, if you need more help, take my sons!

They're only 9 and 10,

but I'm sure they could still be useful!

- I have a blunderbuss in my cabin!

I'll get it!

- You will not need a weapon!

I intend to reclaim my throne

without spilling a single drop of French blood.

[all:] Long live the Emperor!

- Monsieur de Talleyrand- Perigord, Prince de Benevent,

begs Your Majesty to grant him an audience.

- Prince de Benevent, and what else?

Kindly oblige me by renouncing those preposterous titles

bestowed on you by the usurper.

What's that?

- A dispatch, Sire, from the head of the telegram service,

and judging by the state he was in,

it must be of some importance.

-[laughing:] In a state?

Was I in a state during all those years

that the odious Bonaparte spent loitering in this armchair?

I awaited my hour, and my hour has come,

and this armchair is mine now.

It's exceedingly uncomfortable, actually.

I shall have it upholstered.

Do you know what's in this dispatch of yours?

- I do not, Sire.

- Bonaparte has landed in Provence.

Take it to the Minister of War. He will know what to do.

- Have you heard the rumour?

Napoleon has escaped from Elba.

The English were fools to leave him on an island!

A man like that should be locked up in a fortress!

- One will need to catch him before one locks him up.

- That won't be a problem with a regiment!

I'm on my way to the King right now

to offer to take charge of this.

I will bring that madman back in an iron cage!

- Don't you think it would be better

to bring him back dead, on a cart?

- It would be wasteful. Parisians adore sensations.

They would love seeing him in a cage, gripping the bars

and roaring like the bloodthirsty beast he is.

- I'm curious, Ney.

Why such hatred after so much devotion?

- I could ask you the same question.

- I only ever served him.

Changing masters is natural for a servant. But you loved him.

People say one of the reasons

he tried to kill himself in Fontainebleau

was because you'd deserted him.

- Nonsense! I was not the only one to take my leave.

He lost almost everyone

who believed in him and followed him.

- And what if he seduces them once again?

- With what? Napoleon is a wanted man now.

Alone and on the run,

with nothing but the boots on his feet!

- Sire, I beg you. Take cover behind your men!

Let me try to talk to them.

- With a gun in your hand? Put it away, Cambronne.

- But, Sire!

Ah, shh--

- I beg your pardon?

- Nothing.

- I recognize their insignias. It's the 5th of the Line.

And Ney is in command!

- Soldiers!

Prepare to fire!

[guns cocking]

- Soldiers! Lower arms!

Marshall Ney!

Soldiers of the 5th of the Line!

I am your Emperor.

- On my command,

fire!

Take the names of all who refused to shoot!

They will be charged with mutiny

in the face of the enemy, and shot!

Men to replace the mutineers!

- Soldiers!

of any one of you wants to kill his Emperor,

here I am.

[cheering]

- Well! You took your time, Ney.

You always used to be the first to come for my orders.

Keep your sword, you fool.

How will you be able to defend your Emperor without it?

[soldiers cheering]

- You're right, Sire!

Paris is still a good way off.

Officers and soldiers of the 5th of the Line!

In force! Music at the head!

And tear up those rags, for God's sake!

The tricolour or nothing!

[cheering]

- I asked you to come, my dear architect,

because there are too many things in here

that remind me of the usurper. I cannot concentrate.

I would be grateful if you would change the furniture,

hang new curtains, and repaint the walls.

- Repaint the walls, Sire?

By the time they are dry--

- I have learned to be patient.

I waited many years for my throne.

- Yes, of course, Sire.

But it is said that Bonaparte has crossed Lyon.

- What of it?

How does that affect my paint?

[horses passing]

- It's him! It's him, it's Napoleon!

[cheering]

- Out.

Your Majesty. [grunts]

Tomorrow, monsieur, tomorrow.

It is well past my bedtime.

- Your Majesty, Napoleon has already reached Fontainebleau.

He's marching on Paris.

- So it's all over, is it?

All by himself, that man has retaken France.

Who would have thought it?

- We must go, Your Majesty.

- But I would so much rather go to bed.

- l've made all the arrangements for Your Majesty's flight.

- Departure, Monsieur. I'm not Louis XVI,

and I have no intention of restaging that shabby drama

of the flight to Varennes!

Quickly, quickly!

My poor wretched feet. I'm out of bed.

And on top of everything, it's raining!

Oh! Oh! Push! Push me!

Push me. Push me again.

- Wherever you may go, Sire,

I will join you.

- Say no more, Monsieur de Talleyrand, I beg you.

[thunder clap]

- of the need arises.

[cheering]

- Do you hear that, Caulaincourt?

I have never known such enthusiasm.

Not even the day after Austerlitz,

not even at the coronation, gentlemen.

- While France exalts, Sire,

England mobilizes troops.

And they are not alone.

Austria, Prussia, and almost certain, Russia too.

- You have a new coalition against you, Sire.

- For what?

To put that old King back on the throne?

- He's meaningless, Sire.

It's you they want to catch and cage.

- Ney also said he would put me in a cage!

And I had him eating out of my hand.

And they will be all eating out of my hand at the first victory.

- Victory? You mean war again?

- I have no choice. They're always attacking me.

I've always wanted peace, and they prevent me every time.

- Sire! Marshall Murat wishes to see Your Majesty.

- Murat.

[door opening]

- Here I am, Sire.

- So I see.

What about the reinforcements

you were bringing back from Naples?

- That was almost a year ago!

- Yes.

Yes, almost exactly.

- It's been a bad year for both of us, Sire.

But misfortune has brought some good.

When I lost my crown as King of Naples,

I became plain Murat again.

Marshall Murat. Murat the cavalryman!

Whom you will need for the war ahead of us.

- Need?

I think not.

Neither need nor want.

Thank you for offering your services,

but it is one year too late.

- Do you feel as bitter as that?

- Bitter?

I gave you my sister, I made you King,

and you betrayed me.

How should I feel, Murat?

How can you even look at me?

Ney will take your place at the head of the cavalry.

[horses galloping]

[Napoleon:] We will confront regiments

from Hanover and Brunswick, Bavaria and Wurttemberg,

Hesse and the Piedmonts,

Holland, Belgium, Prussia and Russia,

Austria and the English.

- 700,000 of them, only 200,000 of us.

- 700,000 once they have joined together.

We must attack them separately,

and fight the Prussian army under Blucher,

and the English army under Wellington,

before they can combine forces.

I hand the Prussians over to you, Grouchy.

- Thank you, Sire.

- And the English to you, Ney. - With pleasure, Sire.

[bagpipes playing]

- Attack!

- Has Ney lost his mind?

I didn't give the order yet!

Never, never charge infantry

before they've been broken up by a round of shells!

- I heard him say he wanted to earn his reputation

as the best cavalry officer in the army

by leading a wonderful charge.

- A brilliant massacre!

Who could cost us the battle as well as the future of France!

Send for Grouchy!

He will have finished with the Prussians by now.

He must direct his movements to fall on Wellington's left wing.

- Yes, Sire.

[cannon blasts]

- Marshall Grouchy, do you hear the cannons?

- Yes, I'm not deaf!

- It is the Emperor.

He's engaging the English. We must join him!

- My orders are to pursue the Prussians,

so I'm pursuing the Prussians!

- How do you know they're up ahead

and not spread around us?

- I do not answer to you, General, only to the Emperor!

The Prussians are over that hill,

and I'm preparing a big surprise for them.

Go, ride!

[cannons blasting]

- Over there, Sire, over there!

That cloud of dust!

- An army on the march.

It's Grouchy bringing us 30,000 more men.

Victory!

- Send out scouts immediately.

Make sure it's Marshall Grouchy's army!

- What's gotten into all of you,

taking initiative without waiting for my orders?

Do you doubt what I see, Cambronne?

Of course it's Grouchy!

I called him back. Where else could he be?

- Order rescinded, Sire?

- No, no, no. Send out your scouts if it reassures you,

if you're all so afraid!

As soon as Grouchy arrives,

tell him I'm waiting for him at the Sainte La Haye farm.

We will take it from the English.

- Yes, Sire.

- Vive la France!

- Sire, this prisoner has just been captured.

- I have no time now to interrogate an English soldier.

Have someone else.

- He's not English, Sire. He's Prussian.

- Prussian?

How can he be Prussian? Where was he captured?

- This army approaching us, it's not Grouchy.

It's the entire Prussian army led by Blucher.

- The Prussian army still exists?

What is Grouchy doing? What's happening?

Why don't people do what I say?

Why can't I count on anyone?

- Sire, we are all doing our best.

- Yes, sorry.

I know you're all putting your hearts into it.

Send in the guard!

- They are the last troops we have.

- I know!

I know.

[explosion]

- Over here, soldiers!

Come and see how a Marshall of France meets his death!

[shouting]

[all shouting]

- French soldiers!

No one will ever forget your courage,

but it's time to lay down your arms!

- The hell it is!

Charge!

[men shouting]

[bagpipes playing]

- Form the square!

Protect the retreat!

We will block the road to Charleroi to cover our retreat.

Our retreat.

[door opens and closes]

The blow l've been dealt this time...

is mortal, Caulaincourt.

Mortal.

[thunder clap]

[crowd cheering]

[clock ticking]

- Those people who are cheering you,

I hope you do not envision calling them to arms, Sire.

A few hundred Parisians who are still unaware

that Waterloo was a complete disaster.

- I have done all I can to heal the scars of the Revolution.

I will not reopen them by provoking a civil war.

- Then let's get this over with.

The deputies have given you one hour to sign your abdication.

of you fail to do so, they will depose you publicly.

It will be painful for everyone.

- Silence!

I will not allow you to dictate my conduct.

Nothing can force me to yield to your deputies!

Yes, I say your deputies,

because I believe it was you who turned them against me!

I don't care about them. I challenge their vote!

- That would be difficult.

In fact, impossible.

- Then I shall dissolve the chamber.

- The members have decreed

that anyone who attempts to dissolve the chamber

will be considered a traitor.

- You are the traitor.

Stab me in the heart with this.

It would be more loyal than anything you've done.

- Calm down.

Worse things can happen than falling from power.

You have been through this once before.

- But I rose again in triumph,

called back by the people.

- It only lasted 100 days.

Should that be called rising again,

or just a last, desperate leap?

- Get out, Fouche.

- Your humble servant, Sire...

for the next 45 minutes.

At which time, I shall have to ask you to leave.

- I should have had you hanged.

- A topic for your memoirs, Sire.

- Paris. June the 24th, 1815.

People of France,

I give myself up as a sacrifice

to the hatred of France's enemies.

My political life is over.

I abdicate and I proclaim my son

Emperor of the French,

under the name of Napoleon II.

My presence in Paris could create disturbances,

so I thought to take refuge here.

But Malmaison belongs to you, and perhaps you don't want to--

- Oh, I welcome you with open arms, Sire.

This is your home from now on.

So redecorate, move things around--

- No, no. I love this house as it is.

Just as your mother wanted it to be.

And I shall stay only a few days, anyway.

I have great plans.

- Please, Sire, I beg you. Don't think of--

- No, don't worry. I have no desire to reign again.

But I can't stand idleness!

I shall go to America and start a new career.

Science, Hortense!

I shall be able to devote myself to science.

It's what I have dreamed about for so long.

I shall cross the continent of America

from the north of Canada to the south of the Land of Fire.

And this great journey will keep me busy for years,

and will give me the chance to study

all the psychical phenomena of the planet.

I want history to remember me as a great scientific mind,

and forget...

I was also an Emperor.

[sighs]

- Thank you.

[door opening]

Ah, pull up a stool, Cipriani,

and try some of this.

We will never find, mmm,

fish soup like this in America.

- We're not in America yet, Sire.

There's an English fleet cruising off the coast

under orders to inspect all vessels

sailing under the French flag.

- Hmm. I would have taken the same precautions myself.

Very well.

We cannot escape by sea. What about over land?

- Hmm. l've come from Rochefort.

The whole town is teeming with troops sent by Louis XVIll.

- Anything would be better

than falling into the hands of that fat pig.

- I have thought of a plan.

We can hide you in a barrel,

and load it on a small fishing boat carrying salted cod.

The English will let it through.

And then we will join a ship chartered by your brother Joseph.

I've spoken to some fishermen.

- Napoleon Bonaparte a stowaway? I was crowned Emperor,

and will remain Emperor until the end of my life.

Abdication or no abdication, I am France,

and France doesn't flee in a barrel of cod.

- But you can't just stay here until they capture you!

- I could take the initiative,

and appeal to our opponents' honour.

- Hand yourself over to the English,

who fought you with such hatred?

- My real crime in their eyes was overthrowing tradition,

not conquering Europe.

I'm prepared to swear that I will never again act,

in word or in deed, against their damn monarchy.

I will even swear to stay away from America.

What I want is...

a little house in the countryside, near London.

A cottage, a garden...

and a few rose bushes.

How can they refuse?

It's probably the last important decision I shall ever make.

And it may well be the wisest.

[fire crackling]

And you know the rest, Miss Betsy.

When the English ship I had boarded in trust

reached Plymouth Harbour,

the First Sea Lord informed me

that I was not allowed to disembark,

scorning all laws of honour and staining her flag forever.

England went back on her word,

and turned me from a guest into a prisoner,

under house arrest on the Island of St. Helena.

- But St. Helena is better

than being locked up in an English prison

or sent off to Russia!

- St. Helena is a prison.

Your presence is the only thing that makes it bearable for me.

- Yes. We're really good friends now.

When I think how scared of you I was in the beginning!

But this is the last time we'll see each other.

- Oh, this is another one of your jokes.

Weren't you satisfied

burning my fingers with candle wax the other day?

What a wicked little English girl you are!

- We're going back to England.

My father has been posted to London.

- At Hudson Lowe's request.

He's doing all he can to isolate me,

sending away everyone I care for.

I know what he's doing.

Once there are no witnesses, he will be free to carry out his...

evil deed.

- What evil deed?

[laughs]

The Governor is a goose!

He's too silly to be as devilish as you think he is!

- He wants to kill me, Miss Betsy...

by poisoning me in small doses.

I don't know how he's doing it, but the fact is...

I'm growing weaker every day.

At night...

I have such pains in my stomach

that I have to bite my sheets...

to keep from screaming.

In London...

when you hear of my death...

remember what l've told you today.

Remember everything l've told you during these last three years,

when you were kind enough to keep me company so often.

Will you be my message in a bottle?

Tell them all that they were wrong about me.

That I'm not a monster.

Ah, we can't have you going away

with such a gloomy impression of me.

And it's gloomy in here too, so, Marchand, the lamp!

- No, l'll do it! Let me give you some light.

I'm afraid it's all I can give you as a parting gift.

Have you finished dictating your memoirs?

- Almost.

- And what have you said about me?

- Nothing.

- Because I'm not worth it?

Because you ruled the world and I am just a stupid little girl?

- The Imperial Crown of France

will contribute less to my legend

than the crown of thorns...

England forces me to wear now.

But you are not a thorn,

far from it.

So you have no place in my legend.

But in my heart, it's a different story.

Your parting gift is beautiful.

What can I give you?

Can you see any trinkets you'd like take away with you

to remember me by?

- Just give me a lock of your hair.

[door slamming]

[drum playing]

- Do you think you could see America, little general?

[footsteps approaching]

- ls that you, Marchand?

- Yes, Sire.

Is there anything I can do for Your Majesty?

- No.

I'm very weary.

I shall try to sleep.

Tell me,

has it been raining like that for long?

- Raining?

But Sire, it's very fine weather today.

The sun is shining.

Your Majesty must be dreaming.

[children's voices]

[rhythmic clacking]

[man:] Three, four!

Forward!

Push! Push!

[man continues shouting in distance]

- Welcome to the Royal Military Academy, Sire.

- This is my son, Napoleon.

- l'll take good care of him. Don't worry, Sire.

You should leave now.

[rain falling on roof]

Everything here at the Royal Military Academy of Brienne

works towards subjugating character and suffocating pride.

The cell doors are locked at night.

In case of absolute necessity, you have a bell.

Any misuse of it will be severely punished.

[lock turning]

[groaning]

[coughing]

[thunder clap]

- It's all right, Sire.

You've just had a bad dream.

The storm will blow out to sea, and it'll be sunny tomorrow.

[wheezing]

[thunder]

I've had some good news from the Comte de Montholon.

Your dear mother is sending you a new doctor from Italy...

and also a priest.

[thunder]

[sighs]

[man:] And in this type of cannon, fire makes the charge.

The shaft of light pierces at an angle

from back to front.

Here by the breach, gentlemen--

You, over there.

Are you not interested in what I'm saying?

- I know that already.

- Who do you think you are to answer me like that?

- I am a man.

[laughing and jeering]

- The mad dog has gone back into his kennel.

I doubt that we'll see him again.

[groaning]

- No.

It helps me sleep.

I would not exchange my bed now

for all the thrones in the world.

[clock ticking]

[squeaking]

Not even the rats are afraid of Napoleon.

[laughing and jeering]

[laughing]

[screaming]

- You call yourself a man?

All I see is a little boy who cannot control himself.

You will not go far, little fellow.

You will not go far.

[groaning]

[gasps]

[inhales]

- Head...

army.

[sobbing]

[bell tolls]

[bell tolls]

[clock ticking]

- Forty-nine minutes past five.

[bell tolls]