Original subtitles

WITH FIRE AND SWORD

In a film by Jerzy Hoffman based on the novel...

"With Fire and Sword" by Henryk Sienkiewicz.

"This film is dedicated to my wife, Walentyna."

"Boys, marauders just ahead."

I'm a nobleman!

Stop! You sons of bitches!

"Why, it's Sir Zagloba!"

Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Sir Zagloba! Our friend and companion.

Let go before you break my bones! So strong and so dumb.

There he goes again!

Have you anything to drink?

How did you come to be here?

"God willed it, apparently."

The Princess told me to find Sir Skrzetuski.

What was that?

The Princess.

She's alive?

"Yes, but let go of me."

All right?

With a parched throat any drink's all right.

I mean the Princess.

"Fine, I hid her in Bar."

It's a huge fortress.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

"God has you in His care, Jan."

Bar is just ahead.

Horpyna!

"Is that you, Bohun? I've been waiting for you."

"Who the devil is that, your stud?"

My dog.

Shoot Czeremis!

The deuce!

They won't talk?

Not if they were skinned alive.

What's that?

Uninvited guests.

I arranged it the way you wanted.

Don't be afraid of me.

Where am I?

In a safe place.

Why do you persecute me?

Me? Merficul God!

"I'll stay by your door, just say the word."

Why do you so hate me that at the very sight of me...

...you stabbed yourself?

I prefer death to you.

I swear I'll kill myself if you touch me...

...though it will cost me my soul.

"Fear not, to me you are like an icon in church."

Let me just feast my eyes...

...and then I'll go.

"Jurko, let me go."

Are you in chains? You're the dame here.

Where do you want to go? There's war everywhere.

What have I done to deserve this?

"I don't know, but you're my misfortune, too."

"If I didn't love you, I'd be free to roam..."

...and famous as Chmielnicki.

"What is it you want? I'm rich, half of Ukraine is yours."

I'm not for you.

"Whose would you have been at Bar, if not for me?"

Nobody's! You took away the knife.

"If you weren't wounded, I'd order a priest and we'd be wed tomorrow."

"If I were a peasant, I'd beat some sense into you and..."

...have you without a priest. It's the Pole you love!

"I'll get him, skin him alive and throw his head at your feet!"

Horpyna!

I've killed her. Save her.

Leave.

Go!

Well?

She'll be fine.

Watch her. Don't let her out of your sight.

No one will find out.

People come here to have their fortunes told.

They're scared and they wait there.

"You saw the bones, didn't you?"

You killed them?

Who knows?

"Those who come to have their fortunes told, wait outside."

"I'll tell yours now, too."

Just don't see anything bad.

Then you won't go.

"I have to, all the nobles are against us."

What if you die?

You'll tell me if I am to die.

"What about the girl then, shall I wring her neck?"

Touch her and none of your devils or ghosts will save you.

"I've been drowned, almost executed, but I'm still alive."

I'll watch her like a friend. Nothing bad will happen to her.

"If I'm killed, tell her to forgive me and set her free."

That Polish lass is ungrateful. To reject such loving.

I wouldn't refuse.

"The devil with you, hag!"

"Czeremis, open the sluice gate!"

"Oaken wheel, white foam and bright fog..."

"...whether good or bad, show yourself!"

- I see something... - What?

"A forest, corpses, hanged men..."

...swaying in the wind with carrion crows circling above.

- Do you see me? - No.

"Oh oaken wheel, white foam... I see you!"

Fighting a small knight. Beware of him.

And the Princess?

I don't see her.

"I see you again, a traitor at your side."

Young or old?

I can't tell.

Old.

Blind? He's already betrayed me.

The princess in a white dress. A falcon above her.

Me?

"No, not you..."

"No, it's a hawk."

That's me...

"Only blood, wolves and corpses. Carrion crows above, and wolves."

"Only blood and corpses. Czeremis, close it."

It's time for me to go.

Won't you wish me Godspeed?

Godspeed.

I know that you hate me.

What should I do?

Release me.

I can't do that now.

The world is at war.

"But when I return, you'll do as you wish."

May God keep you in His care. Godspeed.

"POLISH ARMY C AMP Pilawce, September 1648"

Out of the way you rabble! The nobles are coming!

We shit on the rabble...

"And on yourselves. Back to the farm, yokels!"

We'll give Chmielnicki a bloody wedding!

Fire the cannons at the riff-raff.

We don't fear the Tartar rabble. We'll hang Chmielnicki on a hook.

"So you weep for your lady, eh? Was she pretty?"

"If so, then she's alive."

"Out of the way, good fellow."

How dare you?

Stop!

Get Wisniowiecki's men!

Ready... aim!

Only strong heads can manage vodka!

"Sir Skrzetuski, the Duke awaits."

See what's going on here?

"A nobles' picnic, and they want to beat Chmielnicki with that scum."

They won't give me command. They accuse me of cruelty.

Hetman's deputies...

...three damned weaklings.

Not a leader among them.

Say the word and all the soldiers will follow you into battle.

They'd brand me as a rebel.

"Our foes are nearby, yet we know nothing about them."

What does he want with Sir Skrzetuski?

"The Duke is giving him a mission, so that he'll forget his pain."

"I never knew his lady, but I wish such misfortune had happened to me."

"I saw her but once, yet the thought of her brings heartache."

What of me who loved her as a father?

What of Sir Skrzetuski?

Perhaps she's alive?

They say Bohun captured Bar.

He might not have found her.

Thousands died there.

I'd swear he found out where she was.

"If so, then he saved her from the slaughter and hid her somewhere."

But where?

We're going on reconnaissance.

Where?

Near Chmielnicki's camp.

The Duke must know what our enemy is planning.

"My ataman brothers, half the Republic is against us."

Regular forces are nothing.

"But if Duke Jarema leads them, then it's a serious matter."

Jarema's a dangerous man.

Who's not afraid of him?

I'm not.

"Jurek, if you were, you wouldn't have captured Bar."

We need to scout the enemy's camp. Will you go?

I'll go!

Good luck!

Tar!

"Black as Mother night, Polish eyes will never see me."

"We'll go separately, to increase our chances of taking a prisoner."

I agree.

"I'll take the first detachment, you the second, Michael."

"Sir Longinus will lead the third, Sir Zagloba will take the middle."

"If you wish, I can have the sergeant take the fourth squad."

"Fine, but under my command. I didn't want to part with you."

We'll soon give those rebels something to party about.

"So, it's a rebellion you wanted! I'll put you all in stocks!"

"Now, you'll have to pay me for all your crimes!"

"But Sir, they are innocent people!"

They're Chmielnicki's scum!

Have mercy! We've never even laid eyes on Chmielnicki.

We're just having a wedding here.

Drink to the newlyweds.

Don't think I'll let you off if I have a drink.

It's our wedding.

May God bless you.

"In the name of the Father and the Son, I'm in hell!"

Welcome. Don't you recognize me?

Noble Sir...

"Ah yes, I do."

How are you?

"Not bad, I've recovered from the treatment you gave me in Rozlogi."

Now I'm going to take care of you.

"I never asked for such a doctor, but if it's God's will..."

I could've stabbed you. I didn't.

I'm not about to stab you. I'm going to look after you...

...like the apple of my eye.

Thank you for taking the girl from Rozlogi to Bar.

You're invited to the wedding.

Maybe you won't live that long.

Wedding?

"Am I some Tartar who would take her by force, without a priest?"

Or that I can't afford a wedding feast in Kiev?

Order them to free me!

Lie there!

You must rest for the long road ahead.

You filthy swine! I'll order you flayed!

I'll tear you to shreds!

Guard that bastard!

"No doubt about it, I'm a good leader."

What the hell?!

He's gone!

God have mercy!

He's in the loft.

Come down nobleman. You won't escape.

"You're a smart man, come down by yourself."

Or I'll skin you alive!

"Careful, he has a sword."

"He knows if he touches me, the ataman will thank him."

Son of a bitch!

"Come here, you bastards!"

"Come meet Sir Zagloba's noble arm, you sons of whores!"

Bastards!

Tear off the hatch! Take him alive!

"Afraid of taking a knight yourself, you bumpkin plough man?"

Take him alive!

God has rewarded my bravery.

"Jesus Christ, she's alive!"

Are you certain?

Bohun himself told me.

That he slipped from my grasp.

"When I pressured him, he told me everything."

Many a man would exchange minds with you.

But I wouldn't exchange with just anybody.

I'll find him if it kills me.

He's getting married in Kiev.

I'll make my way there.

"I'm with you, Jan."

I'll be your guide.

Woe to us!

Disaster!

That looks like Wierszul.

Without a fight!

What are you saying?

The Republic is finished!

"Jesus Christ, talk man!"

Turned and ran without a fight!

It can't be!

What are you saying? How could it have happened?

The nobles were drunk and panicked on hearing Chmielnicki was there!

They flung themselves onto horses and wagons... a terrible night!

Soldiers were out in the open! Their leaders betrayed them!

"The Duke called to them, but they didn't see or hear him."

They attacked the cavalry.

We barely managed to save the Duke.

What about the deputy hetmans?

They ran away!

Where's the Duke now?

Retreating to Zbaraz.

We need every man we can get to go there.

We're going to Zbaraz.

ZBARAZ The Wisniowiecki family home

Make Chmielnicki the hetman? Never!

"Such is the wish of the Primate, Chancellor and the Senate."

"If you show mercy to the defeated, they shall remember it."

But the victors will mock you.

"Rebellions must be quashed with blood, not agreements."

"Your excellency, that means civil war, and the blood of brothers..."

...from which only the Turks and Moscovy will profit.

Negotiations have already begun.

Nothing will come of them; over my dead body as long as I wield a sword.

If his excellency bears a grudge because he did not get the baton...

...then I tell you this...

...you deserved it for your military genius...

...but perhaps it's better you didn't...

...you would've drowned this wretched land in blood.

Senator Kisiel!

"Be careful, lest I forget about that gray hair of yours."

"I represent not myself, but the authority of the Republic."

What do you say?

"I'm a Ruthenian, sire, and should be in favor of a pact..."

"...but if I must choose between disgrace and war, then it's war!"

- War! - "War, my brothers!"

War!

"If you defy the Republic, you shall be the rebel, not Chmielnicki."

You're free to go.

What do you want?

Allow me to be your envoy to Chmielnicki.

So you too want an agreement?

"No, your excellency. I wish to seek my betrothed."

"Time for us to part, my friends."

"Godspeed, Jan."

A pity we can't go with you.

Farewell.

Until we meet again.

Let's go back.

Let's go have a drink.

"Cheers, gentlemen!"

Cheers!

Mead and a dish of meat!

Who are you backing?

Charles of Sweden.

That's right!

All this talk makes one thirsty.

Let's drink!

Mead!

Where's that meat?

"Sir Michael, Bohun."

Have you lost your mind?

"Do not fear, God himself has delivered him into our hands."

"Haven't we met before? At the wedding, wasn't it?"

"You left in such haste, I never had a chance to say goodbye."

And you regretted that?

I arrest you.

By what right?

"You are a traitor, and have come here to spy."

You could've challenged me to a duel.

"But as you've threatened me with arrest, I'll tell you something."

I am hetman Chmielnicki's envoy.

I carry a letter to Royal Prince Jan Kazimierz.

"Well, arrest me now."

"Pity, an envoy. But don't threaten with that sword of yours..."

...you've already run from mine once.

The field is yours.

Are you challenging me?

Here and now.

"You are my witnesses. The envoy challenges us, not we him."

That's how it was!

"If you get lucky, I'm next."

"You can be certain, sir, that I shall soon come for you."

It's time.

Your life is in God's hands. What of the Princess if you die?

What do you want from me?

Tell us where you hid her so that...

...we can free her if you should die.

"If I am victorious, will you give your word you won't look for her?"

We cannot do that.

Why not?

"Sir Skrzetuski isn't here, besides, none of us will ever stop looking."

So that's the bargain you Poles offer me?

"Give up your soul, Cossack, while we give you the sword."

"Why should I die, and not you?"

"For God's sake, Michael, take him! I'll never handle that bandit."

So why'd you challenge him?

The words just came out.

"Let's go, nobleman, I'm in a hurry to kill this hog."

"Ready, sir?"

Ready!

"In the name of God, begin!"

Get back!

Get up.

"Dear, sweet Michael!"

"For God's sake, don't let him die like a dog!"

I'm too old to help him.

We can't just leave him. Take him to the inn...

...and bandage his wounds with bread and spiders' silk.

"It won't help him much, but he'll die more comfortably."

"Well, we chopped up Bohun."

We?

CHMIELNICKI'S QU ARTERS July 1649

Why aren't you eating? Doesn't our simple Cossack food...

...go down those noble throats of yours?

"If they're too tight, we can open them up!"

"You should have brought me this baton sooner, it's too late now."

Now we have the power.

"War will be our undoing, yours and ours."

That's true.

"You're lying, Kisiel!" "Your ruin, not ours!"

For your faith and your blood.

He's sold out to the Poles!

"There are no nobles on our land, nor any priests."

"Our power, our faith. Keep to the conditions, and it's peace."

"If you don't, it's war. Isn't that so, ataman brothers?"

War!

Let's drink to that.

"They say I drink the blood of Poles, but I prefer wine and vodka."

"Do you know why I like you, Skrzetuski?"

Not because you saved my life...

...but because you grabbed Czaplinski and threw him in the mud!

What would you like?

A duel with Bohun.

"Bohun's not here, he's away acting as my envoy."

What do you have against him?

He stole my betrothed...

...and has hidden her somewhere.

Look for her then. I'll issue orders that you be helped.

"When Bohun returns, I'll order him to fight you and let fate decide."

May Bohun rest in peace.

That's the third such toast!

Third?

"Yes, third."

To the arm that chopped him up.

We've drunk to that too.

"You can't have enough resting in peace, so let's begin anew."

To Skrzetuski!

To the princess first.

God grant that he finds her.

Maybe he needs our help in Kiev?

On to Kiev!

"To Kiev, brothers!"

"You won't find three heads there, and yours won't help much."

Nobody forgets a galoot like you.

They'll recognize you right away.

Praised be the Lord.

Look who's praising the Lord! It's Rzedzian.

"That's right, and I extend my warmest greetings to you sirs."

Where is my lord?

"In Kiev, looking for his lady."

In what Kiev?

You've never heard of Kiev?

Why look there when a witch is hiding her in Czarci Jar?

Who told you she was in Czarci Jar?

"Bohun, who else?"

"Are you mad, boy? What Bohun?"

As if you didn't know!

He's alive?

Talk or I'll stab you!

"Let go, I'm choking!"

Talk!

Why shouldn't he be alive?

He told me himself how Sir Wolodyjowski did him in.

He told you the girl was being hidden?

"I'll choke, for God's sake!"

Talk!

"What am I, some bandit?"

Let him go so he can speak.

Let me just catch my breath.

Talk!

But I'm hungry.

Good mead.

Talk before I slice you up!

"Right away you get angry. Of course, I'll talk."

You give orders and I obey them.

I am a servant.

"Talk, I'm telling you!"

"Remember how in Czehryn, Bohun sent me sprawling?"

I saw it with my own eyes.

"I nearly didn't make it then, but I noticed Chmielnicki was in Czehryn."

When they began bringing in the loot they had stolen...

...it nearly broke my heart.

They were selling lumps of gold for a pint of vodka.

"I decided to take advantage and bought silver, gold and jewels."

Tell us about Bohun!

"That's when they brought him in hurt, and I decided to find out..."

...what I could about the princess.

I bound his wound and so gained his confidence.

Then Bohun told me that you and the princess had escaped.

"After Bohun left, I went home to my parents and 90-year-old grandpa."

"Is that right? No, ninety-one."

Let it be nine hundred!

God grant him as many as possible. Thank you for the kind words.

"I made them very happy, as they have this case with the Jaworskis..."

...about a pear tree which stands between our two fields.

"When the Jaworskis shake the tree, our pears also fall."

Look here...

"Look, you peasant, don't anger me by talking nonsense."

"Excuse me, but I'm no peasant. I'm a nobleman..."

...albeit a poor one.

"This case has dragged on for fifty years, just look."

This is the boundary strip and this is where the pears fall.

"Fine, dear boy, but tell us about Bohun, not pears."

"All right, we squeezed the Jaworskis and they're finished..."

...so I thought I'd return to my lord.

"Our Duke was in Zbaraz, so I knew that's where he'd be."

"So I rode to Zbaraz, and rode, rode and rode..."

And you met Bohun.

How did you know?

He was terribly happy to see me. He considers me a friend.

He said that I was a godsend because his wound had reopened.

"At first, I wanted to stab him, but I thought it didn't befit a noble..."

...to stick him like a pig, while he was lying in bed.

He then asked me to escort him for he was ill and the way perilous.

"Where? I asked." "On the Dniestr," he said."

That's where she is hidden. My heart stopped beating.

"The princess?" I asked. "That's right," " he answered."

"Talk faster, for God's sake!"

Haste makes waste.

"I decided to feign indifference." "Perhaps she's not there," " I said."

The witch Horpyna was to guard her until he returned for her...

...or sent someone with his baton.

He pleaded so much that I saw he really did love the princess.

So I forgave him for what he did to me.

And what?

"And nothing, I stole his baton."

And hastened here as fast as I could.

Subtitles @ Polart 2003