Original subtitles

Your majesty.

You are a great general, Hassad,

unequalled in battle.

The generals respect you,

The people love you.

If I am great,

it is only because you have made me so.

You understand I must be certain of your loyalty.

There are those by my side who would see me fail.

Point the traitors out and

I shall strike them down with my sword.

Permit me this one final test.

What is that the sorcerer has in his hands?

The light of truth.

I have proven my what is that the sorcerer has in loyalty in blood.

So...

It is as I suspected.

You would betray me.

No!

The light of truth never lies.

KING: seize him!

[screaming]

Nudity,

sexuality,

contemporary western society

has evolved numerous taboos

against the naked human form.

The greeks from whom

we've acquired much of our art,

culture, government

harboured no such inhibitions.

Think back to the original Olympics.

Athletes competed completely nude.

But if I were to, say,

conduct this lecture au naturel

STUDENT: We wouldn't report you.

Thank you.

SYDNEY: Now, where were we?

Yusef.

Oh... Yusef, oversleep this morning?

YUSEF: Sorry.

So how do we explain

this seismic shift in attitude?

Are we more uncomfortable with our bodies

Where were you?

You ask about the light of truth?

She said she'd see me after class.

SYDNEY: Have a look at advertising

in popular culture in the...

KAREN: Any luck?

I'm afraid finding a decent one-bedroom apartment

is proving to be as difficult as tracking down

the lost ark of the covenant.

It took me forever.

I've already lost two this week.

Oh, hey, your highness,

didn't see you there.

SHAREEM: Please. Shareem.

KAREN: Okay, Shareem,

I'll let the professor know you're here.

Mr. Bailey.

Shareem.

You here to see Sydney about your thesis?

No.

Prince Shareem's here to see you.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to drop your class.

Why?

You're an excellent student, Shareem.

Your work shows a lot of promise.

NIGEL: It's not because your bodyguard

doesn't share our passion for ancient studies?

I apologize for Yusef.

He's never been much of a student.

But I need him by my side now more than ever.

My father is gravely ill.

I must return home immediately.

I'm so sorry.

Listen, if there's anything we can do to help.

Are you familiar with the light of truth?

It's a mythical lamp in Middle Eastern folklore.

Goes back to the 9th century.

Legend says the light it shines reveals

the true allegiance of anyone holding it.

I came across this ancient scroll

while researching my thesis project.

It's written in Assyrian.

SHAREEM: It tells of a great leader who possessed a lamp

which tested men's loyalty.

All we need to do is to find the place

where the story says the light of truth is hidden.

Excuse me? "We"?

SHAREEM: With your expertise,

we could find it before I return home.

Shouldn't you be thinking

about your father at a time like this, Shareem?

I am.

He will call upon me to take his place.

I will need the lamp and its power.

When I arrive home, a legion of

ministers and advisors will descend upon me.

Decisions will have to be made.

Who am I to trust?

Shareem, the hunt for this relic

could be a lot more complicated

than you're imagining.

At a time like this,

you really should be at home with your family.

I'm sorry I can't help you.

How did it go?

She said no.

Good.

You want me to fail.

I'm supposed to watch your back

and that's what I'm doing.

She didn't even seem interested in the lamp.

Professor Fox is the expert on relics.

If she thinks looking for it is a bad idea,

you should listen to her.

I know the lamp exists.

SYDNEY: What?

Don't you think you were a little hard on him?

Nigel, if there's one thing I've learned

time and again, it's to never ever

get involved in politics, yes, I know.

But ruling a country, that's a big thing.

It's an enormous responsibility.

Shareem's just afraid to face it.

That's why he's reaching out for a crutch.

He's hooked into tradition. That's important.

He's a bright kid. He doesn't need a gimmick.

The sooner he realizes he can make

good decisions for himself, the better.

He has to learn to rely on his own judgment.

Excuse me.

I've been told that

I can find a man named Kafka here.

Who's asking?

SHAREEM: Tell him there's a general U.S.

grant to see him.

[speaking arabic]

KAREN: I hear you're the king of

rent-controlled accommodations, Ron.

May I call you Ron? Thanks.

Listen, this is about a friend of mine, Nigel Bailey.

He... Yeah, English accent, right.

Look, the other day when he came to see you,

there must've been some sort of mistake.

I mean, asking him for key money

was illegal, wasn't it, ron?

Sort of violates the whole rent control principle,

Don't you think?

Proof?

We just got you on tape.

Oh, yeah, and that sound you hear,

that's your off-campus rental license

going up in smoke if the University...

You bet I would.

Well, I'm a reasonable person.

Okay, then, he'll...

He'll meet you at two.

You said we had him on tape?

Got your appointment, didn't I?

Well, yes, but...

KAREN: Nigel, people sell kidneys

for these apartments.

Look, just be there at two

or you lose your spot. Okay?

Okay.

Can I help you?

We've come to see Professor Fox.

You want Kafka?

There he is.

Whatever you do,

Don't offer to shake his hand.

What?

Why not?

BAZ: don't.

Mr. Kafka?

I've heard that you're an expert on

the archaeology of this part of the world.

I wish to find a relic.

It's 9th-century Persian.

Perhaps you've heard of it.

The light of truth.

I don't believe in fairy tales.

It's no fairy tale.

This scroll proves it.

But I need a professional

to help me with the dig.

I'm more than willing

to make it worth your while.

And I assure you, Mr. Kafka,

money is no object.

Excuse us, guys.

Sydney,

This is Prince Shareem's uncle,

His royal highness...

Hosni.

Your highness.

HOSNI: I have come to the United States

with the hopes of finding my nephew.

Finding?

Apparently, he didn't return home.

No, he eluded his bodyguard.

Two nights ago.

HOSNI: Shareem has gone to make

contact with a man

we believe to be a relic hunter,

By the name of...

Kafka.

Frank Kafka?

Yes. We must track him down.

That wouldn't be wise.

Seeing all of you arrive will only

put Shareem in danger.

Nigel and I will go.

This Sydney Fox, you trust her?

Yes.

Then pray that you and she

find Shareem and find him quickly.

You understand, Yusef?

NIGEL: You really threw me

for a loop the other day

When you said you weren't going to help Shareem and...

And now...

Kafka's a thief, whose clients wind up dead.

You mean murdered.

He'll take Shareem on the relic hunt,

squeeze him dry and then leave him

to rot in the desert.

Sounds like you know this Kafka pretty well.

Once in the gulf,

Kafka managed to steal a priceless

burial urn from a dig site.

I stopped him before he sold it

to the highest bidder,

but after I was done with him,

the authorities arrested him for theft.

They were less than understanding.

In the gulf,

The penalty for theft is loss of a hand.

He vowed if we ever saw each other again,

one of us would wind up dead.

All right, Yusef, this is where

we play good cop/bad cop.

And I play?

Guess.

How does a proprietor make any money selling

All of these disgusting provisions?

Rhetorical question.

SYDNEY: Actually, Nigel, in this part of the world,

everything's got a market.

Isn't that so, Baz?

Sydney Fox,

You...

You must have a death wish.

SYDNEY: Baz, Baz, Baz,

Charming as ever.

Where's Kafka?

Right where you left him.

SYDNEY: That's very funny.

Where's the rest of him?

Not here.

I guess neither is his new client.

Good lord.

Oliver. Give the man back his glasses.

NIGEL: Give me my glasses

or I'll have to spank you.

SYDNEY: Everyone has a price, Baz.

How much for your old pal Kafka?

I'm hurt you'd even think to ask.

NIGEL: Don't break them.

Experience tells me that's not a straight answer.

You know what he would do to me.

Do you remember what I did last time?

I'm still repairing the damages.

Look, Sydney,

it's not my place to know all of Kafka's...

I have no patience for liars.

NIGEL: No, don't scratch the lens.

Oh, where have you gone?

[speaking arabic]

Where is Shareem?

I'll suck the life right out of you.

Oh, Yusef, you really should ease up.

I'm sorry, Baz, I can't seem

to control this guy.

Okay.

It really hurts.

NIGEL: Come here.

When did Kafka leave?

Yesterday.

Took the rich kid to the well of Suerte.

NIGEL: My eyes, no!

The well of fate?

YUSEF: It's an ancient bedouin landmark.

It is in rebel territory now.

Always a pleasure, Baz.

SYDNEY: Nigel.

Thank you very much. Oliver, yeah?

Hey, Sydney, make sure you call next time.

I'll be out.

Follow them.

YUSEF: We will need an extraction team

to get Prince Shareem safely

out of rebel territory.

Believe me, he's in far

greater danger from Kafka.

All the more reason I must return

and personally select the men.

Got to go get old uncle Hosni's blessing?

Yes.

[train whistle]

What about us?

We'll continue on to the well by train.

Here's my cell phone.

You don't trust him.

KAFKA: Your highness.

All we've found are shards of clay.

I based my calculations on your

translation of the ancient scroll.

Well, what if you've made a mistake?

If the lamp is hidden

near the well as you say,

we're in the right place.

[cell phone ringing]

Kafka, I have news.

If I want news, I'll watch CNN.

Well as it has reported that Sydney Fox

is on the hunt for your wealthy young client.

Sydney Fox? Here in Morocco?

Aren't you pleased?

Baz, my old friend, pleasure barely describes it.

NIGEL: Did you know he and the prince

were raised like brothers?

Yusef once told me that the prince's uncle Hosni

hand-picked him at the age of seven

to protect the prince's life.

Thank god I brought my own.

Protein bar?

You?

Looks like you made a friend.

What am I going to do with him?

No, thanks.

Hey, hey. Karen.

KAREN: Hey, Sanj.

Can you do a British accent?

Rather.

What?

Okay, I'll do the talking.

Can you be somewhere at two this afternoon?

I'll owe you, huge.

Sure.

So I... I hear that Sydney

and Nigel left for the gulf

to find Prince Shareem.

I... I thought you should see this.

A countryman of his was found

dead near campus?

Murdered?

Well, their secret service is investigating.

He was killed three days ago.

That's the same day Shareem was

pulled out of class.

He's in more trouble than we thought.

[cell phone ringing]

Sydney?

SYDNEY: Karen.

Bad news. A countryman of Prince Shareem's

was found dead on campus.

SYDNEY: When?

Today, but he was murdered three days ago.

SYDNEY: The day Prince Shareem

pulled out of class.

I couldn't get any more information

from the police but for all we know,

with the unrest at home, Shareem's on the run

and the assassin's still after him.

Thanks, Karen. We'll be careful.

That man's death is a very bad omen.

SYDNEY: The well of Suerte.

NIGEL: Looks pretty heavily guarded.

Kafka doesn't mess around

when he's milking a cash cow.

Is that the prince?

SYDNEY: Yeah. He seems fine.

Time to call Yusef with the good news about Shareem.

YUSEF: Thank god. Has he been harmed?

SYDNEY: No, but Kafka's got him

pretty heavily guarded.

Give me the map grid numbers.

I'll be there in two hours.

Oh, Yusef, were you aware

that a countryman of yours

was found murdered back in trinity?

No. That's terrible.

HOSNI: Yusef, what are you doing here?

I said to stay with the professor.

She's found prince Shareem.

I've come for support to bring him out.

Once again, you disobey me.

Do you think I would trust the prince's

safety to you now?

We leave immediately.

[chattering]

Get in the bag.

Shh!

Here, put this on.

I'll take it from here.

What is that?

Be careful.

A wax sealing scroll.

More worthless junk.

There are dozens at the museum in Marrakech.

Patience. If the lamp was easy to find,

it wouldn't have remained

hidden for centuries,

Would it?

Yes, well, time is a luxury I haven't got.

I'm going to go over my research.

I suggest you do the same.

Go away, Kafka. I don't want to be disturbed.

It's me, Shareem.

Professor Fox?

Come on, we should get out of here.

What are you talking about?

How did you find me?

Your uncle Hosni was worried

about you going after the lamp.

Hosni came to see you?

Yes. He told me you hired Frank Kafka.

Afraid I was right after all.

No, Shareem. Kafka is not a man to be trusted.

You find that relic, you won't

live long enough to use it.

What do you mean?

Kafka has no intention of handing

over a valuable relic

not when he can get ten times

the amount on the black market.

You're lying.

Trust me, he'll kill you and he may not be

the only one that wants to kill you.

A countryman of yours was found

dead back on campus.

Wait. First you refuse to help me,

then you show up out here in the middle of nowhere.

You tell me Kafka's a bad guy

and I'm supposed to believe you.

Now you tell me of some death?

Murder.

See, this is exactly why

I need the light of truth.

I don't know who to trust.

All right, Shareem. What have you dug up here?

A few double-handed amphorae,

shards of decorative objects

depicting Macedonian characters,

a wax sealing scroll.

All right, when did wax sealing

scrolls fall out of vogue?

Your scroll stated that a bedouin

hid the lamp in the 9th century.

And the objects we're finding

predate that by centuries.

You're a far better archaeologist than Kafka, Shareem.

He's got you looking in the wrong places.

Kafka's got you looking for water wells?

Uh huh.

In your scroll, there was a word. There.

That comes from an old Persian dialect.

That's the ancient word for "well".

Not exactly. The literal translation

is a hole in the earth.

Which could also refer to caves.

[whistling]

Come on, Shareem.

Go, go, go.

Shareem!

You go.

We've been digging in the wrong place.

Really?

SYDNEY: Psst, psst.

SHAREEM: The artifacts we're finding

are of the wrong period.

What do I pay you for if not your expertise?

Strange. A few minutes ago,

you were perfectly content

to dig where I told you to.

Suddenly, you know better.

KAFKA: What's that, Oliver?

Sydney Fox is here?

Have you been consulting

with Sydney Fox behind my back?

Sydney Fox?

I don't know what you mean.

I've been going over the map and

my research and I realized the error.

I don't know why I didn't see it sooner.

She's here, isn't she?

Same old Sydney... Brilliant,

Crafty and predictable to a "t".

Sydney Fox.

Show yourself or I kill your friend.

Sydney, you know I'm not a patient man.

Yusef's probably hours away.

I'm going to count to three

and then it's bye bye, pretty boy.

I say we give the man what he wants.

KAFKA: One...

The same man who promised to kill you?

KAFKA: Two...

I'm open to suggestions.

KAFKA: Don't make me do it.

What about a diversion?

Do it.

Where will you be?

Dancing with Kafka.

Glad to see me?

Of course, relic girl.

I've waited a long time for this moment.

So you wanted me?

You owe me a hand, Sydney.

The way I remember it, you got greedy.

I just recovered a relic that you stole.

Wrong!

You stole my hand.

No,

that would be a quick death.

I'm going to have your beautiful hands first.

How does it feel, relic girl?

Oh, trying to be tough girl.

[gun shots]

Sydney!

SYDNEY: Nigel, slipping.

It's Yusef!

You had me worried there for a bit?

I can't believe Kafka's actually dead.

SHAREEM: Sydney, you were right

about the translation.

Some hole in the earth, huh?

This is ridiculous.

Shareem, you should be with your father,

not chasing after yet another relic hunter.

Your uncle doesn't seem too happy.

He's that way out of concern.

He's always supported me.

When I wanted to study abroad,

he made it happen,

Even stood up against my father which,

if you knew my father, was not an easy task.

Well, he doesn't seem really

supportive right now.

So where is your mystical lamp, Shareem?

Syd,

there's something here.

A bull.

The statue's outside.

The Assyrian symbol for kingship.

NIGEL: A bull used here indicates...

A path to wisdom...

NIGEL: ...And knowledge...

[together]... Is inside.

Oh.

Sorry. Sorry.

Nigel, see that trigger mechanism

at the back of the bull's mouth?

A trap.

Some sort of Assyrian guillotine.

NIGEL: It looks like it's triggered by

a change in pressure,

but it's hard to tell.

One way to find out.

Finally, a good use for that.

You always carry a meathook with you?

Just something I picked up.

That would've been too easy.

The trap's reset itself.

Just slight delay.

You know, if one were accurate enough,

something might get through.

Another trap?

You know, the vaulting in these tunnels

reminds me of the temple crypts in Kafiristan.

What?

We were nearly killed in Kafiristan.

Were we?

Still, similar.

There it is.

The light of truth.

You see, uncle, it does exist.

I see nothing but an old lamp.

I could buy a thousand like it

in any marketplace.

You've shown a lot of courage

in finding the light of truth, Shareem.

You know how to use it.

Yusef,

You've been by my side since childhood.

A loyal guard and trusted friend.

I know we don't always see eye to eye and

that you harbour some misgivings about the future.

But in order for our friendship

to move forward from this point on,

I need to know that you will always be loyal to me.

I knew I could count on you, Yusef.

You'll be my most trusted counsellor.

Are you out of your mind?

Yusef is just a bodyguard.

He has no experience in affairs of state.

Neither do I and yet I'm going to be king.

You have what you came for.

Let us be gone from here.

You don't believe in the power of the lamp.

What have you got to lose?

Why do you let them insult me?

Have you forgotten it was I

who helped you go to America to study?

Yes. But perhaps sending

me abroad served another purpose.

By having me dress in western clothes

and speak in a foreign tongue,

my countrymen might see me as a prince that

would turn his back on his own people

and their customs.

Yusef, take him out of here.

Yusef, that is an order.

You sent the assassin, didn't you?

What are you talking about?

My prince, I didn't want to worry you.

Your father's so sick.

Someone was sent to the University to kill you.

What has this to do with me?

There are thousands like it, remember?

What possible harm could come

to you by merely holding it?

All my life,

I've taken orders from my brother.

Now, I am expected to

bow down before his worthless son?

Never!

No!

[gun shot]

Your highness.

Welcome back.

How did everything go with Prince Shareem?

NIGEL: We found his lamp.

It's now on the way back to the national museum.

Yeah, he realized he didn't need it after all.

These are for you.

Thank you.

And this is for you.

Me?

My apartment.

Great, I... I thought I had missed it.

I kind of had someone stand in for you.

Well, I can't imagine who.

Thank you.

I'll explain later.

In the meantime, when you go to pick up your key,

If he calls you Sanjay

or asks about the laryngitis,

just tell him it was someone else.

I'm not even going to ask.

[chattering]

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