Original subtitles

You know how to shoot. sir?

My dear sir

Iet me see.

Really, it's nothing,

He was an extremely fat ambassador,

In my opinion, the Moroccans' behaviour was exemplary, given the situation,

In fact, I 've been in love with them and their beautiful country ever since.

I must be sure to visit. - Oh. do. do. But beware the baths,

Or over-eating,

Keep an eye out for him at the opera,

Spy out a grotesque being prised out of his seat, by two servants with little red hats,

Gentlemen, much as I relish your company I fear I must forsake you

for a somewhat less engaging reality.

Driver! The house here.

You are a relative of the Marquis de la Mole?

Alas, no. I am merely his private secretary,

Good day, sirs.

And a good day to you too, sir,

A secretary.

Pardon. A thousand pardons.

Mademoiselle?

Forgive me.,. I should not have disturbed you at your work,

Might I be of some assistance?

I wondered if...

so few of my friends read anything but trivia.,.

perhaps you might recommend some works that,.,

I hardly imagine, mademoiselle, that you believe l, an unsophisticated cleric

could suggest suitable entertainment,

It was not mere entertainment that I sought, sir,

Forgive me.

Is my work a cause for concern, sir?

It is exemplary.

What concerns me is after three months arriving in Paris

you have succeeded in embarrassing one of the leading members of the aristocracy,

It sets me to ponder, sir - are you intending to embarrass me?

In no way, sir, - Then why have you hidden your noble ancestry?

Sir?

According to the Comte de Beauvoisis, who, by the way, speaks of you in the highest terms

you are the natural son of an intimate friend of mine,

I have played no part in such a rumour, sir.

I am aware of that.

Your friend can hardly have it known that he fought a duel with a carpenter's son.

But it does now fall to me as to whether or not to give the tale some touch of credence.

And it suits my whim to do exactly that,

Allow me, my dear Sorel, to make you a present of this blue coat,

My lord?

Put it on.

Outside of our work time, Monsieur Sorel

if ever you deem fit to pay me a courtesy call, put on this blue coat

and I shall be pleased to greet the natural son of my old and dear comrade, the Comte de Blanes.

Diversion, Julien. One must have diversion.

All that makes life bearable,

A man cannot save my life on a battlefield every day

or help me double my fortune

but he might, if he had a generous heart, and a witty mind

relieve me for an hour of my almost infinite boredom,

Sit, my friend, please.

Now, tell me the Musketeer's Tale

of the wicked coachman, the loyal soldier and the languid Lord.

What do you make of it, sir? - Tell should have used his arrow and killed the villain.

What is so amusing, Monsieur Sorel?

Monsieur Sorel?

A private jest, mam'selle. Of little consequence.

It's a surprise to know our cleric has a sense of humour,

Perhaps he gets it from his father,

Please don't add to the gossip, Etiennette, I really can't bear it.

Is that all that you are ever going to do? Is this your life? Is there nothing else?

By no means, I was merely - - Don't deem her an answer.

She was not expecting one.

Monsieur Valenod. How delightful,

Any day, I hope.

I understood it was confirmed.

Paris is a small town. sir. Open your window and hear every whisper.

And I've heard tales of your rise in fortune, Monsieur Sorel,

The title, it must add to your confidence in your bid to become Mayor of Verrières?

Well, your old master is practically a revolutionary,

The whole world knows that,

Whilst you, sir, are a renowned monarchist.

As ever,

How fares Monsieur de Rênal?

Still making nails.

And his family, what of them?

Madame de Rênal? Is she well?

With the backing of the Ministry I could obliterate our mutual friend.

You ought to introduce me to the Marquis de la Mole,

I am far too humble a person, sir, to take it upon myself to introduce anyone.

But you have influence, sir,

But it's wonderful, my boy. Wonderful. How ever did you notice the discrepancy?

I merely requested the estate for a full statement of expenditure.

Merely,

I then requested the requisite repayment going back the five years.

Five years! I marvel. I marvel.

My dear boy, take it. Take the whole three thousand francs,

Sire, I must decline the gift,

But why, sir?

It's not to the man in black that it is offered

and it would endanger the liberties that the Marquis is kind enough to tolerate from the man in blue,

Sir,

Are you attending the Monsieur de Retz's ball tonight?

I have not had the honour to be presented to him,

Come, Come with my brother,

Are you to be perpetually on call for the diversion of every member of this family?

Expensive, Our count must be popular with the tradesman, if not the artists.

I understand he has transformed the ballroom into the Alhambra,

Last week at Prince Korassof's. we were trapped in some kind of snow palace.

We are obviously incapable of imagining anything but palaces in some shape or another,

But that of course is our destiny.

She's the Belle of the Ball. No question.

You can tell that by the expression on Mademoiselle Fourmont's face!

She cannot compete with the beauty of innocence.

The innocence is pure masquerade, She knows exactly what effect she makes

from the downcast eye, the flicker of an uncertain hand, to the turn of an ankle.

All convey, 'l fear you, but I want you',

The silent quintessence of seduction.

Who would dare approach such a sublime beauty?

Some reigning Prince, or perhaps a natural son of the Emperor of Russian

for whom a kingdom would be made,

Paris always esteems arrogance higher than sincerity.

But she does have the charm of youth, Julien.

Monsieur Sorel. is not this the finest ball of the season?

I hardly constitute a judge, mam'selle, as this is the first I have ever attended,

So how does a sage see us?

I suspect you view us rather like Monsieur Rousseau,

Our follies surprise but do not tempt you.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was an idiot, mam'selle.

For all his preaching of republics and revolutionaries

he went delirious with joy whenever a duke so much as nodded at him,

But does Rousseau not write in his memoirs that he thought,.,

Mathilde!

What could be duller than a life with any of these men?

They would adorn you with everything needed to sleep for ever,

What is the use of a love that makes one yawn?

One might as well take up religion,

I see the widowed saint has deemed to grace us with her presence.

No doubt she is looking for a priest to make confession,

My friend, Monsieur Sorel, of whom you might have heard me speak.

Madame de Fervaques. - Madame,

You do not dance. sir. - Not even if compelled, madame,

Good. Paris is too dominated by compulsion.

A widow with a fine fortune. but marred by a vice for virtue.

But she lacks the vivacity of your mistress.

Do you think she's attractive?

How beautiful she would look on a throne.

If we must have such institutions,

My dear Count Altamira! You are the last person I expected to see here,

They like to keep an eye on me. And I like to eat.

Who is the man our clerk speaks to?

A conspirator, - A conspirator at a ball.

How charming. - He is under sentence of death,

Is that what makes him shine?

See that weasel over there?

The Principe D'Arceli, the ltalian ambassador,

This morning he applied for my extradition.

If we must die unnaturally, should it not be from more noble hands?

What will you do?

Perhaps the new world, my friend, South America. Peru.

Europe is dead, The flame is smothered here,

But the young countries, perhaps they will return the gift of revolution we gave to them,

Croisenois is such a handsome man.

Am I to be sacrificed to his fine features?

I am bored.

You are cross, dear. I warn you, that is bad manners at a ball,

Nonsense, Mother, I have a headache, It is too hot in here.

A revolution wipes out all titles conferred by social caprice.

Then a man can make his destiny according to his capacity for facing death,

But in this age, what can a man achieve?

What would a lawyer like Danton be today, in this world of petty intrigue?

He probably wouldn't even have made Assistant Prosecutor,

He'd have done what was ever necessary to rise to power

to gain a position from which he could create change.

My friend, even Napoleon stole food and jewels in ltaly in order to feed his men,

Yes, but must one steal, or sell oneself?

Never condemn a man for what they think or do in the midst of a great action,

After all, these things are not as easy as firing a pistol.

You believe a great man makes his own laws?

Yes, he who seeks to banish ignorance and corruption must pass like a whirlwind through the world,

Napoleon, Danton, Danton too, Yes, Danton was such a man,

Was not Danton a mere butcher, sir?

Has Mademoiselle de la Mole some order for her father's secretary?

He is obliged to listen and to fulfil them with respect,

He is not, however, paid to communicate his private thoughts to her.

Mam'selle.

Do I intrude on private grief, sir?

Not mine, my dear Comte de Blanes.

Once a year my daughter puts us all through this charade.

On this day, in 1574, my ancestor, Boniface de la Mole, was beheaded

for his attempt to release our young princes from the grasp of Catherine de Medici.

A rather impulsive endeavour, but one that has endeared him everlasting

to my equally headstrong daughter.

To be candid. I doubt it is his political folly that attracts her

but rather that he was the lover of Queen Margueritte de Navarre,

Margueritte is Mathilde's second name. Her mother's whim,

This fine lady bribed the executioner for her lover's head

and carried it in her lap to a secret burial place,

I sometimes pity the poor lover whose head will lie in Mathilde's lap,

And now, sir, your time to tell a tale,

Any fop can wear a pretty uniform,

But what courage is demanded to wield a sabre for real around your head?

To look death itself directly in the face?

Oh, my friends, what a difference it would be to be in the thick of battle

to have followed Napoleon beyond the point of idle show

to where tens of thousands of men are killed

there. there to find one's true worth beyond rank and breeding.

Beware of that young man, For all his priestly sanctity, he's a hypocrite biding his time,

If the Revolution should come again, he will have us all guillotined.

Am I mad or could she love me?

Do you Iove her?

It doesn't matter. Take her and move on.

To arms!

Mam'selle. I wonder if I might take the liberty to recommend,.,

I am surprised you offer me work by a man you so clearly detest.

I regret my suggestion is so misplaced,

However, by way of recompense, mademoiselle will no doubt be glad to know

that she will soon have the freedom of the library, without my encumbrance.

Are you leaving us, sir?

I fear the estates in Languedoc need my urgent attention,

When?

I have yet to speak to your father. However, there is little to stop me leaving forthwith.

You must not speak to him.

Do you not like me at all, sir?

Visit me tonight, at two.

Are they playing with me? Is this another trap?

Never refuse a trap, They will only set another one,

To arms.

Pistols. sir?

I am armed to the teeth.

You know the dangers and yet you dare to risk all?

It is necessary to lower the ladder. - Why?

To conceal it behind the balustrade.

Then how do I escape?

Through the door of my mother's room. After we have left for Mass,

In the morning,

You are well-prepared.

I have given the matter much thought.

Now is the time they'd kill a man.

Now is the time, sir.

Do you not think?

Mathilde! Time!

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa,

Ideo precor beatam Mariam semper virginem

beatum Michaelem Archangelum, beatum Joannem Baptistam

sanctos apostolos Petrum et Paulum omnes sanctos.,.

So pure.

Is that all?

Mam'selle would like a partner for the game?

Sir, you clearly believe you have a powerful hold over me

since, without my permission, you feel at liberty to follow me everywhere,

I can only conclude that such presumption draws strength from a possible threat to my reputation,

Is this how you see it, sir, that you have gained a mistress, whilst I have lost my freedom?

Mam'selle, I pledge to you eternal secrecy.

All that has transpired will be consigned forthwith to the sea of forgetfulness,

What is the meaning of this?

I loathe myself, sir, for having surrendered myself to the first comer.

The first comer? The first comer!

Fool.

Fool!

What am I to do?

Flee the field.

To where, sir? - The Languedoc, sir,

Your estates there need my urgent attention,

I have delayed until now but,., - No. sir.

There are matters of more weight at present than simply coining money,

You are confined to barracks. sir.

You will oblige me by never being absent for more than a few hours,

I may need you at any moment.

Idiots!

Do they want a revolution?

This is.,. this is gibberish, man, Have you lost your senses?

A slight indisposition, A fever,

I hope your memory is not impaired?

I forget nothing, sir,

France needs proof of your memory. Learn this by heart for tomorrow night.

It's like reading the end of the world,

There exists in France a certain class of men who are failed revolutionaries.

These men hold in contempt the present government

and breathe only to create the.,. I love her,

,.,and breathe only to create the wind of the tempest of change,

The French nation finds itself enveloped in a theocratic conspiracy,

What have I done?

Perhaps he is worthy to be my master. Perhaps.

'The King passed the evening in his apartments with R,R, and other leading members of his court.

Earlier in the day, the Dauphin had intended to review the cavalry regiment in their manoeuvres.

However, owing to bad weather, they have now been postponed until,.,'

Mathilde, Mathilde!

I think you might have mastered that by now, don't you?

Now I am free of Iove.

Performances, Théâtre français. Tartuffe, ç False confessions. Opéra comique.

No show. Vaudeville, The Pistol Shot. The Fire,

I'll kill myself,

Porte Saint Martin. The two Raymonds. The Jew, Yes. Cirque olympique.

Equestrian display, Elephants, It's the only way.

What. and have the woman mock you even more?

To arms!

You are mad. - If you cannot retreat, you must advance.

Punish me for my pride, my wicked pride,

You are my master, reign over me forever.

Take these locks, and if I scorn you again, show them to me as the mark of memory

the mark of my oath to obey you.

What are you doing? - I must go.

No, please.

I would never sacrifice you honour for my own selfish desire.

Selfish?

I love you, - Then don't leave me,

Think of the consequences,

Would Danton have thought of the consequences?

Don't go!

Let them know, Let the whole world know,

That would hardly be wise.

Wise?

Coward!

Wait!

Tonight,

I no longer think of love, sir,

Madame de Fervaques. His Grace the Archbishop of Rheims.

Sir,

Your young disciple seems a little preoccupied,

I fear he find these soirées somewhat vacuous. Madame,

One can only concur. Spirituality has vanished from our world, Monsieur Pirard.

We wander in a desert looking only for ices.

What do you think, Julien?

They make a fine couple, don't they?

My sister's arrogance and De Croisenois's perseverance?

Should give birth to a fine brood,

Julien!

Suffering as we are from the terrible consequences of the revolutionary logic

we can now appreciate the need for re-establishing the full sacred prerogatives of kingship,

Thus our ministers will no longer endorse the liberal campaign towards parliamentary supremacy

which would place the power into the hands of the mindless majority,

Such a move would be a crime against justice itself,

Vaudeville, The Pistol Shot. The Fire,

Porte Saint Martin. The two Raymonds. The Jew,

Cirque olympique. Equestrian display, Elephants,

Managing Director of La Quotidienne, Monsieur Laurentie.

Enough,

I personally vouch for this man's fidelity, as much as I do his memory.

You are to commit the following to heart, Julien

and deliver it into the hearing of one man only,

The future of France depends on you,

Do you understand?

It must be recalled and repeated in every last detail

and you must wait for a reply as long as it takes,

To our most esteemed friend, cousin. and Saviour of France

his Lordship, the Duke of Wellington,

You wish to sit, Julien?

It may be some time before you can see this place again.

The carriage will take you on to the outskirts of Paris

and there you will transfer to an unmarked coach.

Inside will be a false passport, papers, money, new clothes,

You are to voyage to England as a gentleman, travelling merely for amusement.

You ask nothing of this task?

I am your obedient servant, sir.

Take care,

There may be those who wish to kill you,

One of those present tonight may even choose to betray us.

I do not fear meeting death, sir.

I do, Julien. I do.

To our most esteemed friend, cousin. and Saviour of France

his Lordship, the Duke of Wellington

France, as you are aware, our dear sir

has already bled once with the wound of anarchy that ran like an open sore through the whole of Europe,

We patriots will mobilise thirty thousand gentlemen

all ready to sacrifice their lives for the protection of monarchy, and the stability of Europe,

We are however all too painfully conscious that without the moral and military support of England

the other great sovereign powers of Austria, Prussia and Russia

will lack the stomach to mount a campaign against a revolutionary France.

We therefore appeal to you, sir, the Saviour of the true France, to come again to our aid,

I am under instruction to return with a reply, sir,

Patience. Patience.

The Saviour of France.

What are you aiding your mad marquis?

I gave him my word,

Practising the art of boredom, sir? Excellent,

It really is the only expression for a man of distinction.

My dear Monsieur de Beauvoisis, what brings you to London?

Fashion. sir.

One should only travel for the most trivial of reasons.

Anything else, and one is in danger of becoming a moral force within the world.

And you, sir?

Diversion.

A kindred spirit.

And do you see anything that takes your fancy?

Charming, are they not?

However, they lack somewhat in the realms of passion,

You see, men here value modesty as the paramount quality to any woman.

Hardly the most diverting of virtues,

But what the English lack in love, they make up for in cravats,

I was mistaken, sir. You languish not in boredom, but in melancholy,

What is it? Have you fallen in love with some little actress?

It is true I am crossed in love. sir.

After two nights of complete fulfilment, I was dismissed from her affections,

No actress could afford to behave on such a whim.

So, she's rich?

And therefore proud.

Oh, it's impossible to match a cravat to such an expression,

So we will simply have to change it.

Nothing tempts, sir?

Not even a pastry?

Only the English could present a bordello as a gentlemen's club,

Its hypocrisy is not without a certain charm.

But obviously not for you.

Only the satisfaction of your love will suffice?

Then to the hard cure, There are two medicines, my friend

both a trifle sour, but you must take them religiously.

First, see the lady in question every day, but be benign with her.

Rule one of love - always be the opposite of what she expects,

Nothing intrigues a woman more than bafflement.

Second, you need to woo one of her acquaintances

who must be of almost unassailable purity,

How do I do that?

By correspondence.

Write her the most intense of letters, It never fails.

For a prude, the secret reading of passion is their supreme pleasure.

I cannot compose a line. I am dead.

Thank you for your advice, Leave me by the wayside,

My dear sir, I said the treatment was bitter. but not totally debilitating,

There is no need for a gentleman to compose them for himself.

Merely copy,

I can provide you with at least six volumes of love letters.

In fact, the most efficacious I discovered here

written by one Kalinsky to the prettiest and purest quakeress in London,

Does your life depend on it, sir?

Then take the tonic.

Now, more tea?

Enter.

Well?

He will not help us?

It is more he cannot,

The English are burdened with taxes, and preoccupied with their own internal strife.

There is no lobby there to aid Europe.

The Duke expressly begged me to tender to you his -

It is over,

Good,

One must not punish the bearer of bad tidings,

Is this how they dress now, sir?

Will this suit?

Not to be worn with the black coat, of course.

In the old days then they awarded the Légion d'Honneur, there was more ceremony,

Now all you get is an old man with gout.

I do not deserve this.

For secret services rendered to the crown.

So secret, they may never be spoken.

Thank you, sire.

Oh, forgive me, father, I -

And how is mademoiselle? I understand you and your mother visited the country?

I hope you found it enervating?

Field upon field ripe with tedium.

At least Paris offers ample diversion,

I was not aware that you found it so, Monsieur Sorel,

It is not without its intellectual stimulation,

Sire.

Mademoiselle.

The Légion d'Honneur, What has he done to deserve such -

That is a matter of concern only to the King.