Original subtitles

[choral singing]

[singing continues]

[dramatic music]

[singing continues]

[dramatic music]

(Christina) I, Christina, sovereign of Sweden..

...do hereby abdicate my throne..

...and do invest all my lands

and all my powers upon my successor.

By the grace of God, may He reign in peace.

[dramatic music]

(crowd) 'God save the king. God save the king.'

'God save the king. God save the king.'

'God save the king. God save the king.'

'God save the king. God save the king.'

'God save the king. God save the king.'

'God save the king. God save the king.'

'God save the king.'

[instrumental music]

[laughs]

[music continues]

[music continues]

[church bells tolling]

[instrumental music]

[dog barking]

[music continues]

[horse snorts]

[crickets chirping]

[music continues]

[indistinct chatter]

[instrumental music]

[music continues]

[crickets chirping]

But she is not expected for a week.

Nevertheless, she is here.

Tell the pope I've arrived to throw myself at his feet

to become his newest and most ardent Catholic.

Tell him I've sworn not to take my first communion

till I receive it from his hand.

Well?

Go.

We won't steal anything.

Caught him off guard, didn't I?

[instrumental music]

What do you think, Birgito?

Will the Vatican suit us?

I think it will suit me very well.

And one week from now

we're to welcome this woman into the faith?

Not exactly what one hopes for in a convert, is she?

She always presented herself as a philosopher

a lover of art and learning.

She's depraved, a libertine.

The church has been to bed with libertines before

and survived.

(Carranza) 'It could be only rumor.'

If people believe it, it has the force of fact.

She must not be allowed to come.

But all Rome has been preparing for months.

What about the decorations?

Oh, by all means, don't let's waste the decorations.

She is the most powerful Protestant monarch in the world.

'Her conversion is a victory, and it will bring thousands'

back to the sanctity of Holy Mother Church.

If these reports are true, her conversion to Catholicism

might be the greatest victory the Protestants ever had.

- Which side are you on? - Neither.

(Carranza) 'We can't admit her.'

She could make a laughingstock of the church

and all it stands for.

We should see the proofs of these stories.

How do you find proofs for these stories?

From the source. From her.

We must send someone to investigate her.

Where is she now?

(Carranza) 'In the north of Italy, I believe.'

Then we must have time to investigate her.

Agreed?

Agreed.

So we must send an envoy to her at once to impede her--

Your Eminence..

What is it, Dominic?

[whispering] She's here.

- The queen is here. - What?

[indistinct chatter]

His Holiness must be told at once.

His Holiness will not receive her.

But when her retinue arrives, the whole city will know.

Her retinue will be delayed, and her presence

in the Vatican kept secret.

Her conversion will not be celebrated

until we have determined that it is in the interest

of the Holy Church to do so.

Until we have determined that her conversion is sincere.

How is it to be decided?

His Holiness has required

that before he receives her, she be examined.

Examined?

A ritual cleansing.

I could better use a bath.

It's for the good of your soul.

My soul has survived abdication, conversion

and a thousand miles of jogging in square-wheeled carriages.

I shall not make the rest of the journey on my knees.

But..

I've already poured out my soul

in letters to His Holiness.

(Dominic) 'But you won't be examined by him.'

- Who, then? - Another.

An ancient cleric hiding behind his curtain muttering

"Yes, my daughter.

- No, my daughter." - Please, madam.

I shall not expose my soul to some faceless creature.

(Azzolino) 'Do it eye to eye then.'

I expected the pope to take me in his arms.

I did not expect to be held outside his doorstep.

I quite understand.

I insist on seeing the pope at once.

I'm sorry.

I am the queen.

Ex-queen, if you'll forgive the distinction.

'Where are your maidservants?'

I prefer the company of men.

What is he saying?

That we should go back to Sweden.

Dominic, show him the queen's apartments.

Yes, Your Eminence.

[instrumental music]

[music continues]

[music continues]

[music continues]

Your Eminence.

- Yes, Dominic? - I can't understand it.

He won't accept any of the rooms I offer him.

- How many has he seen? - Twelve.

You've shown him 12 rooms

and none of them are satisfactory?

They are satisfactory, but not sufficient.

- How many do you require? - Twenty.

- For your attendants? - For myself.

We'll do our best to accommodate you.

[whispering] I thought the fellow was mad.

He gets it from his mistress.

- We can't possibly-- - Give her the entire tower.

The entire..

Naturally, we will wait until you are less tired.

I'm never tired.

I thought that you might like to, uh..

I always look like this. Rest does not improve me.

Tell me, cardinal..

- You are a cardinal? - I am a cardinal.

This, uh, formality before I can see the pope

is that usual Vatican procedure?

Frequent Vatican procedure.

- Do you never make exceptions? - Sometimes.

- Then, surely I can be one. - I'm afraid not.

- Why? - There are doubts.

'About what?'

The sincerity of your conversion.

I gave up a crown to become a convert.

'So it would seem.'

No one in the history of the world

ever made such a sacrifice.

So anxious were you to become a Catholic?

So anxious.

And yet it took you a year

to make the journey from Stockholm to Rome.

The roads were muddy.

And were the ballrooms of Hamburg

Antwerp and Brussels muddy too?

I was enjoying myself for the first time in my life.

Then what made you suddenly decide to cut short

the merrymaking and descend on the Vatican?

I insist on seeing the pope.

I'm sorry, but that's not possible.

The pope led me to believe he would welcome me

as a daughter the moment I arrived.

'And so he had hoped.'

Then why am I still standing here?

Because of this.

"The Pleasures And Depravities Of Christina, Queen Of Sweden."

Have you read it?

I haven't time to waste on scandal.

You refute the book?

I laugh at it, and so should you.

Or can't the church be expected to appreciate a little humor?

The church loves humor, Christina

if that's what it is, but there are reasons for us

not being amused by it.

- And what are those? - Letters.

From priests and bishops all along your route.

Tales are told of you in every dining hall

and tavern in Europe.

Your escapades single-handedly

are keeping an army of gossips alive.

Then why didn't you stop me coming?

We wished to judge for ourselves.

Why did you let the choice fall to Azzolino?

He could turn this to his own advantage.

Not at all. I think he'll find himself in a trap.

As we all know, Azzolino is not the world's best judge of women.

No. Let him have the honor.

I refuse to submit to this!

You cannot escape your life by hiding in the Vatican.

I came here for a haven and a refuge.

You came here because of god-knows-what

political intrigues, debauchery, lechery

and expected the pope to welcome you.

You insult me to suggest I came all this way

to rebel against the Holy Father?

I must have evidence that if you are to be

a guest of the Vatican, you will abide by its rules.

What do you think I would do? Break your china?

Ride my horse through your crypts?

You cannot become a Catholic for your own convenience.

For whose then?

If you have done these things

and are repentant, you will be accepted.

If I have done these things and am not repentant?

Then you will not.

And what if I have not done these things?

That is why I want to hear your story.

And what if I don't choose to tell?

Then you are free to go.

Go? Where?

Well..

...where should a lady go who has given up

a Protestant throne to become a Catholic?

'Who has arrived to spend the rest of her life in Rome'

and the pope refuses to let her in?

Who would care to entertain a lady

who has neither God nor country?

I am a convert.

Then go where other converts go.

- 'Where do they go?' - Anywhere.

But there's no anywhere

for the former queen of Sweden, is there?

'So you must be greeted and accepted by the pope.'

(Christina) 'Well then, inquisitor..'

...are your instruments of torture ready?

[indistinct chatter]

[instrumental music]

[music continues]

[music continues]

[music continues]

[rooster crowing]

[church bell tolling]

[sighs]

What's your name, cardinal?

Azzolino.

How long have you been a cardinal, Azzolino?

Long enough.

Have you ever examined a queen?

No.

Does the prospect disconcert you?

I assume you're mortal.

Come, Azzolino, let's start the day

with some good French wine

and I will tell you the story of my life.

I want to hear the story of your life without French wine.

Not even a little sacramental sip?

What do you want from me?

Seriousness and obedience.

Seriousness. Obedience.

Have I come all this way once more

to play their doll queen?

(Oxenstierna) 'Good girl, Your Majesty.'

'Now smile. Oh, come on, smile.'

Chin up. High.

Hmm, that's better.

(Christina) I became Queen when I was very young.

All I had to do was smile

and obey my prime minister.

[instrumental music]

Lower your left knee.

Bow your head.

Yes, Oxenstierna.

Yes, Oxenstierna.

'I was the best-behaved child you could ever wish to meet.'

That's not what they say about you here.

They say that you were brought up as a boy.

(Oxenstierna) 'Oh, come on. Once more, Your Majesty.'

'Chin up. Yes. High.'

[instrumental music]

Now...smile.

(Azzolino) Which of these creatures are you?

None of them.

Both of them.

Neither.

[instrumental music]

Let's play the truth game!

I don't want to play the truth game.

'Your entire future's at stake, and you call it a game?'

[chuckles]

I was thinking of something I used to play

when I was a child. A truth game.

I was rather good at it.

I used to play it with my dear friend, Ebba..

...and that most handsome of all young gentlemen

Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie.

And my cousin Charles.

(Azzolino) Is this Charles the present king of Sweden?

- 'Yes.' - And you abdicated to him?

Does that surprise you?

It seems to be an advantage for a king

to have no character.

[instrumental music]

[all laughing]

Anyone who lies has to forfeit a kiss.

[laughing]

What's the biggest lie you've ever told?

About my age.

I always say I'm two years older.

I lied about where I was last Christmas Eve.

- Where were you? - Behind the stables.

- What were you doing there? - Wouldn't you like to know?

[laughing]

My biggest lie was in Mathematics.

Once I cheated.

Charles!

What about you, Christina?

I never lie.

(Azzolino) Was that the truth?

(Christina) Was and is. Absolutely.

In this, you are the harlot of the Northern Hemisphere.

How picturesque.

In this, you are a man in disguise.

Unlikely, but possible.

Why did you give up the crown?

It was too heavy.

Why did you never marry?

I'm allergic to gold rings.

Why did you become a Catholic?

To come to a better climate.

In the year since you gave up the throne

you roamed the streets carousing every night.

You commanded for your pleasure

'entertainments of the most disreputable nature.'

'Some say you even took part in them. Is it true?'

Oh, yes, it's true. Everything's true.

What do they accuse me of? Murder? Rape?

'The seven deadly sins? Whatever you like.'

The pope will have to assign someone else to this task.

I do not take the church and what it has to offer lightly.

Nor do I, Azzolino.

Then I give you one more chance to tell the truth.

I have nothing to tell.

In that case, I'm wasting my time.

These documents stand.

You allowed her time to visit her horse

and you know the condition of the pope.

I know that if I hurry her, she'll sense it.

I already understand the lady well enough

to know that would be fatal.

If the pope dies before you have made a recommendation

it will make no difference.

Altieri will be our next pope.

He will make peace with the Turks.

He'll encourage the war between France and Spain.

I know what's at stake.

How long will it take for her to be examined?

I don't know.

She's given up so much, and I don't yet know why.

Perhaps giving up power is something

you are not capable of understanding.

[instrumental music]

[dramatic music]

[music continues]

[music continues]

[music continues]

Mama!

[breathing heavily]

What's the matter? Can't you sleep?

Sleep is the refuge of idiots.

Why do you sleep in 20 beds?

It's more restful.

- You afraid of the dark? - That was long ago.

Why did you become a Catholic?

To cure me of insomnia.

We can assure you of beds, but not of sleep.

I thought this was the House of Miracles.

For some, it is.

Then it will have to be for me.

Why can't you sleep, Christina?

[instrumental music]

(Christina) Mama! Mama!

[music continues]

[music continues]

Why do all my babies die?

'My babies.'

[music continues]

All my babies!

[clattering]

Don't be afraid. Dwarfs bring you luck.

Always have one when you're with child, Christina

or you will give birth to a monster.

[dramatic music]

(Christina) 'Go away!'

Go away.

She was superstitious, weak, hysterical.

I hated everything about her.

Why do you keep a dwarf?

- 'For luck?' - No.

'Why, then?'

To remind me of my inner self.

And you see yourself like that?

How do you see yourself?

[instrumental music]

[splashing]

Thank God I have no daughter.

I couldn't bear anyone to feel about me..

...as I felt about my mother.

- She made you hate women. - Hate women?

Surely you know the worst thing I'm accused of

isn't hating women.

Have you ever found a woman of such grace

that she was, in every form, every gesture

exactly what a woman should be?

I'm afraid not.

But as a prince of the church, of course, I try to imagine

the Blessed Virgin in a form like that.

The Blessed Virgin?

I'll match my Ebba to her any day.

[instrumental music]

Ebba!

[music continues]

[horse neighing]

[music continues]

[chuckles]

Come on!

[instrumental music]

[music continues]

[horse neighing]

[crackling]

I'll never be like you, Ebba.

Oxenstierna said that when I fell in love

I would feel beautiful.

How very precious you are to me, Ebba.

I love you, Ebba.

I love you, Ebba.

(Azzolino) 'So the accusations of unnatural love are true?'

- I didn't say.. - You said--

I tell you of beauty, and you call it--

What you were describing was--

Love. I was describing love.

I loved that woman more than I ever loved a man.

Did you never find a man you could love as I loved Ebba?

My sins are mine, Christina. We're discussing yours.

Love is so rare.

Must we deny it when we find it?

'I don't regret my life, Azzolino'

except the last few days of it.

I've had enough of waiting around here

denied the courtesies granted to an ordinary kitchen maid!

Am I pure enough to be let in?

I refuse to answer.

But you'll see how the world will laugh

when they find out I walked out on the pope.

[dramatic music]

Birgito!

Birgito!

Birgito!

Birgito!

Birgito!

Where have you been?

What have you been doing? Tell me!

Well, cardinal..

The queen of Sweden has decided to leave.

Then the allegations were true?

I didn't say that. I said she's decided to leave.

We should like to know what you have decided, cardinal.

Not to restrain her.

That is a very momentous negative.

(Carranza) 'There is no true Catholic in the whole of Europe'

that is not waiting to hear how Rome receives Christina

and Christina receives Rome.

And you decided to let her go, like that?

- Yes. - Well, I think that someone--

Carranza!

It is the cardinal's responsibility.

It would be wrong of any of us to interfere.

Azzolino..

'...people are beginning to gather in the square.'

How could you let her go?

What will she do?

I'm gambling.

I think she will get to the gate and then turn back.

[singing in foreign language]

[intense music]

[music continues]

Azzolino!

Is it true the pope is ill?

Is it true?

Yes.

How long has he been ill?

Some months now.

Is it serious?

It is in God's hands.

Come all this way and find him dying.

No matter what happens to the Holy Father

the church remains.

If he dies, who will succeed him?

Go and pack, Birgito.

It is obvious we came to Rome at the wrong time.

So you have ambitions?

Ambition is an evil demon, cardinal.

You should guard against it.

Do you think I don't know what's happening here?

You are using me now.

- You are mistaken. - 'Am I?'

You forget I've played these power games myself.

Is that what you think?

Very well.

If you want to go, go.

The gates are unlocked.

You're free.

You can begin your life in Rome.

My life in Rome?

Concerts.

Fiestas.

Entertainment.

Banquets.

Music, laughter.

Music, laughter, yes.

You would have lost your chance forever.

My chance?

To find out why you really came.

'Stay and talk to me, Christina.'

'I think you need us very much.'

[instrumental music]

[bell ringing]

Father..

...if you only..

[whispers] What is it?

It seems so strange to call somebody father.

Don't you remember your father?

Oh, yes.

I do.

[wind howling]

[drum roll]

[trumpet music]

[music continues]

[drum roll]

[wind howling]

[bells chiming]

(Azzolino) 'I lost my father too when I was very young.'

[chuckles] Strange.

I never thought of cardinals having fathers.

We do. And brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts.

But no sons?

No sons.

What a shame. Then holiness could be inherited.

Like royalty?

Like royalty.

'You sigh when I mention it.'

'Was it all so difficult?'

You ask that only because you haven't yet had power yourself.

I have a little.

It makes me wonder why you gave it up.

'Why I gave it up?'

The crown, it is so little.

[instrumental music]

You know, Azzolino..

...I once gave up the sun.

[music continues]

How beautiful it is, Magnus.

I wanted to bring something worthy of you.

So there was only one thing to bring...the sun.

Tell me all about the court of France.

[chuckles]

It's said that Louis has three mistresses.

Tell me what they wear.

Well, the women have a new style.

What new style?

They wear tight laces..

...that pull their waists in

very small, down here..

...and push the rest way out in front

up here, like this.

What's the matter?

Nothing.

I was only trying to show you.

- Do you mind? - No.

It's just that I'm queen. I have to be, I have to--

I understand perfectly.

I want you to know that--

Don't even think about it.

I understand.

[instrumental music]

[laughing]

I have a surprise for you.

I'm going to make him my husband.

- De la Gardie? - Hasn't he a beautiful name?

I love to say it.

De la Gardie. De la Gardie.

- Christina. - I'm announcing it tonight.

That's quite impossible.

You'll have to consult the council.

I've consulted my heart.

I need no other counsel.

Christina, that's not like you.

I know.

[instrumental music]

Magnus!

Magnus!

'Magnus!'

Magnus!

[music continues]

(Christina) I came here to forget.

I thought you came here to understand.

No, I won't go on.

What tricks are you using to make me say these things?

Things I've never spoken to a soul before.

Words I never thought of saying come pouring out.

[instrumental music]

Azzolino, the crowds in the square grow every minute.

Do they?

Since she has remained, I think it is time we had your decision.

I see.

You want to throw her to the populace

with the full papal seal. Saint or sinner.

What I want is a decision. We cannot wait much longer.

You'll wait as long as it takes.

This woman has spent her entire life

on display to the public.

Now, for a few hours, she's alone with herself.

And she's no longer a queen or a freak or a heathen

or a candidate for canonization.

She's a human being.

And a very troubled human being.

(Altieri) 'I'm sure'

'but I am thinking about the welfare of the church.'

Perhaps it's time you thought about hers.

It hardly seems necessary when your own concern

is so intimately pastoral.

Our Lord said that the good shepherd

would care more for one lost sheep than 99 of the flock.

We await your decision, good shepherd.

If you delay much longer

you may find the flock has gone on without you.

[instrumental music]

[exhales]

[choral singing]

Christina, I can't.

[whispering] I want to know what it's like.

Find out for yourself.

Then it'll be too late.

I'll be quiet.

I'll hide in a corner in the dark.

Magnus will never know.

Please.

Please.

[instrumental music]

[music continues]

[Ebba moaning]

[intense music]

[both moaning]

[music continues]

[moaning continues]

[chickens clucking]

(Magnus) 'You were there last night, weren't you?'

'If you want to know what it's like, why don't you ask?'

Poor Christina.

Come on. I'll show you.

[horse snorts]

Why not?

It's what you want, isn't it?

Hmm?

[grunts]

When I touch you, you feel nothing, do you?

Nothing cries out to be surrendered, to be taken!

You will never be a woman.

For all your kingdom or your wealth!

'No one will ever love you.'

You don't know how to love.

(Azzolino) 'Go on.'

I dismissed De la Gardie from his post.

- Do you think I did right? - 'It was your prerogative.'

I didn't ask what was my prerogative.

I asked if I did right.

I was wrong.

(Oxenstierna) 'Were you, Christina?'

I will reinstate him.

I didn't know what I was doing.

I let my emotions carry me away.

For the sake of the country, Christina

you must begin to think about an heir.

"Make sons, make daughters. Make sons, make daughters."

Make joy.

Make joy for all the people if you take a husband.

Would I?

And, um, what joy would I bring to myself?

[door opens]

Charles admires you deeply.

He has never mentioned it.

You know that he cannot ask for your hand.

I know.

But I will tell you a secret, Oxenstierna.

If he did, I would gladly give it to him.

You would?

I would have it cut off at the wrist

and sent to him in a velvet box.

As for giving him one more inch of my body

I will never do it.

[seagulls squawking]

Have you noticed that all our friends are married?

Are they?

They all seem very happy.

Oh? They do?

With all of them married

doesn't it make you want anything?

It makes me want to make new friends.

- Christina-- - Don't touch me.

I've not given you leave to touch me.

Forgive me.

What permission do I have?

To speak.

What do you want me to say?

I want you to describe it.

What?

Our wedding night.

Why don't you speak?

I order you to speak!

Tell me what you'll do to me!

You can't expect a man to describe--

What do you know about these things?

Such questions are resolved for you.

You escaped from it the day you took your vow of celibacy.

Even celibacy involves a decision.

Do you think young priests put on a cassock one day

and all their earthly longings vanish in the air?

Then how do they bear it?

They devote themselves to good works and cold baths.

You're mocking me.

Yes, a little.

I'm sorry.

How old were you when you decided to become a priest?

Fifteen.

'Seems such a waste somehow.'

A man of your strength, your capacity of life.

For such a man to choose, to become a priest.

Don't you think I have a talent for it?

An almost frightening talent.

(Oxenstierna) 'Christina, you must marry Charles.'

'It is your duty.'

I am queen of Sweden.

By reason of my exalted rank and privilege

I'm allowed anything I want.

I'm allowed to marry a man I do not love.

I'm allowed by night to submit to god-knows-what

idiotic fumblings and horrors

and by day to rule the fumbler and the entire world.

'If there is one thing you have taught me'

since I could hear, it is the specialness of me.

Kings rule and indulge between the sheets

in every sort of pleasure.

Then they go off to battle and joyfully await news

of the arrival of their sons.

Find me a man who will bear my children.

Christina--

Find me a battalion of men

who will each let me have my way with them

and then will watch me ride out of their lives

forever at the dawn.

Find me a chance encounter at the hill where I pursue

and he takes the consequences.

'Christina, you realize you are asking the impossible?'

I am queen.

I can have anything I want..

...and I tell you I will not submit

my body and my mind to what is asked of me.

(Azzolino) 'Charles was no match for you.'

Who on God's Earth would be a match for me?

It would have to be a man quite rare.

To allow oneself to be possessed

when one has been born to rule.

And then, I have never felt..

What?

I don't know.

Then would you swear now what you swore then?

'That I'll never give myself to a man?'

Yes. I still swear it.

I swear I shall never give myself to a man..

...unless it be to you.

[choral singing]

[church bells tolling]

[tolling continues]

I'll tell her you are present to record my questions

and her answers.

But, Your Eminence, I don't write quickly.

Then sit and scribble..

...but stay.

Where is your mistress?

Hmm?

(Christina) 'I've come to continue my examination.'

Are you aware that the entire Vatican

is talking about our sessions together?

Yes.

Christina and the cardinal alone together, day after day.

Doesn't the gossip disturb you?

Not at all.

How completely self-possessed you are, cardinal.

It goes with the hat.

I thought you might feel

you were being compromised.

No.

Then why haven't you

thanked me for my gift?

If I were choosing a gift for the Vatican

I don't think I would pick The Rape Of The Sabine Women.

But, Azzolino, they were all converts.

In my experience, conversions are done

less strenuously these days, and the converts wear clothes.

I'll have them painted on.

Bring the goblet to my apartments tonight.

- What are you doing, Christina? - Courting you.

- I'm serious. - So am I...quite.

Why did you never marry?

The inquisition continues.

Why did you never marry?

Why didn't you?

Christina.

Most people take marriage for granted.

What was there about you and me that we didn't?

You and I are..

Is marriage a natural state..

...or the most unnatural?

Marriage is the natural state.

Not to me.

It's God's way of renewing the generations.

My pig renewed the generations yesterday

and as far as I know she was never a bride.

[Magnus chuckles]

Christina, your refusal to marry

is making the entire country uneasy.

Why?

Because they are deprived of their vicarious enjoyment

of my wedding night?

They're anxious about the succession.

They want you to have children.

Do they?

Then I have good news for them.

My friends, I want you to be the first to know..

...I'm going to have a son.

God in heaven. What are you saying?

Next Tuesday.

I am going to present the country with my heir.

Here he is.

'Congratulate me.'

I will be the first woman in history to have a son

two years older than herself.

I want to have a son with you.

Our son.

Someone to love us and live on after us.

How many times do I have to repeat

I have no intention of marrying or bearing children?

But why?

The subject is closed!

You ought to marry.

Why won't you marry?

I'm dedicating my maidenhead to God.

[laughs] It was the only thing I could say

to stop them pestering me.

They're Protestants, you see.

To them, virginity has no value.

It never occurred to them

I'd find a place where it's celebrated.

So you used the church?

Oh, no. The church used me.

The only thing I had to do was whisper

and it sent emissaries to tempt me

into the one true faith.

They sent me priests.

I met with them in secret.

I never saw their faces.

We talked of God.

[indistinct chatter]

[indistinct singing]

[singing continues]

Tell me of redemption.

By Christ's death on the cross

He made satisfaction to God for all our sins.

Tell me of penance.

'Penance is the sacrament by which sins are forgiven.'

'To be valid, you must confess your sins'

'to an ordained priest'

and have the firm intention of sinning no more.

[indistinct chatter]

[laughing]

Tell me of sanctifying grace.

'Sanctifying grace is the new life'

'given to the soul by the sacraments'

making it the adopted child of God.

Tell me of the peace to be found in Christ.

[laughing]

Tell me of the visions of the saints.

Tell me of love, joy, God!

[laughing continues]

Tell me of ecstasy!

[indistinct chatter]

I do want to convert!

I'm in love with God!

I accept the body and the blood of Christ.

'I accept the body and the blood!'

I accept the body and the blood!

'The body and the blood of Christ.'

I accept the body and the blood of Christ.

I accept the body and the blood.

I accept the body and the blood of Christ.

I accept the body and the..

[dramatic music]

[operatic singing]

(Magnus) 'You must keep your mind'

'on the matters we are discussing.'

'Christina, you have to make a decision.'

'Our troops are in Europe.'

'We cannot ignore the war'

'but we still have time to choose our allies.'

'Now, will it be France or Spain, Christina?'

France.

(Oxenstierna) 'Yes, that has been the traditional course, Christina'

'but you see, this time, we have--'

France.

They are the better lovers.

(Charles) 'Christina, this is serious.'

Then it is not to be discussed before the children.

'You may go.'

And you too.

Christina..

...what do you want?

I want to be loved.

'The people love you.'

Send them to my bedroom.

Christina, you've got to make a decision.

Do you want to hear a song, Oxenstierna?

They tell me it's very popular in all the taverns.

[guitar music]

♪ The queen of Sweden ♪

♪ Sleeps alone ♪

♪ And swears ♪

♪ She'll never marry ♪

♪ Is she a monster? ♪

♪ Dame or man? ♪

♪ Oh which sex ♪

♪ Does she carry? ♪

♪ Comport the monster ♪

♪ Dame or man ♪

♪ See which sex ♪

♪ She'll carry ♪♪

I'll tell you what sex Christina is.

She isn't any.

[screams]

[dramatic music]

Leave me alone!

[music continues]

[music continues]

[music continues]

[choral singing]

[intense music]

[music continues]

[music continues]

[seagulls squawking]

I'm going to give up the crown.

[instrumental music]

[music continues]

[door squeaks]

[choral singing]

[singing continues]

(Azzolino) 'You are here under false colors.'

You came for another kingdom.

No.

You saw yourself on a raised dais

sitting next to the pope on an equal throne.

I didn't mean to.

You did expect to be the queen of Rome.

You still expect it.

'Once the pope's door is open to you'

'you expect to reign along with him.'

The accusations, are they true or false, Christina?

All false.

All true.

What are they saying?

I gave myself to anyone..

...at any time?

I gave myself to no one.

I've never loved.

Not even God.

You have come to Him.

You have confessed to Him.

He will not turn away.

May Almighty God have mercy on you

forgive you your sins

and bring you to everlasting life.

'May the Almighty and Merciful Lord'

grant you pardon, absolution and remission of your sins.

Amen.

I've told you things these last few days.

I've never told another human being.

When they ask you..

...if Christina..

...is worthy of being received by the pope

what will you say?

I will answer yes.

But you realize that if I recommend you be admitted

it is only on one condition.

What condition?

That you never again allow yourself to display to me..

...to behave towards me as you have been doing.

'You dare propose such a bargain.'

Have you no feelings for me?

You cannot ask this of a priest.

I ask it of you! I feel for you!

You cannot love me and the church!

- But I do! - Then you must stop!

What will you do if I don't?

You'll know that if you're not accepted here

there's nowhere else for you.

I know that.

Then, in heaven's name

help me to help you.

You must promise to obey the laws of the church.

They ask too much.

If you want the church to bring you to God--

I don't need the church to bring me to God!

- I was born with God within me! - You must obey the law!

I will not!

I will love you if I choose.

I will defy the pope. I will defy the church.

I will defy heaven!

You will not be admitted...ever.

As God is my witness

you will never be received by the pope.

[dramatic music]

[music continues]

Have physicians been sent to her?

She refuses to see them.

Who's caring for her?

Only her servant.

You must refuse her audience with the pope..

...for your sake.

It's the only thing you can do to disprove the rumors.

You asked me to question her.

You could lose everything if there is scandal.

How could you let yourself?

Everyone is saying that you and she--

Is there no possible association between a man and a woman

except the sexual?

Despite centuries of learning

does it all come down to that one animal fact?

How dare they say

that we are that much or that little to each other?

[scoffs] God save me from the common mind.

[door opens]

[door closes]

[sighs]

God save me from myself.

[instrumental music]

[music continues]

[dramatic music]

Ah!

Ah!

Ah!

[moaning]

[moaning continues]

[music continues]

[moaning]

[moaning]

[instrumental music]

[door opens]

Why did you come to Rome?

What are you seeking?

What kind of creature are you to give up a crown

in the hope of finding more?

'What more do you want?'

Bless me, father, for I have sinned.

'Years ago, after I'd taken my vows'

I possessed a woman.

I gave myself to the pleasures of the flesh.

I am a fallen priest.

'For a priest to have a woman is not uncommon, is it?'

It's how he has her that determines the degree of sin.

The way I had a woman was to be had by her.

My love was not love.

It was a raging fire, an unconquerable obsession

a need for her beyond my need for God.

This was my experience of love.

I was debased, my mind and body enslaved.

I was possessed by living demons.

While I loved, I was no longer any use to God

the church, myself, or anyone.

To be with her..

..to be embraced by her, to be within her

I would have surrendered up my very life!

I have not finished.

I prayed to God for some deliverance.

I lived on bread and water for a thousand days.

I did not allow myself to sleep.

I scourged myself, and then after years

of self-inflicted penance I was cured, and I vowed..

...never again to let myself..

God is here.

I want to be able to serve Him.

I want to feel His call again

in innocence..

...as I did when I was a boy.

I do not want to lose myself again.

I thought that I'd made myself impervious.

I kept my vow for ten long years, and then you came

strange, tormented creature.

Confused, courageous, brilliant creature.

Azzolino.

'You told me of your greatest fault.'

Now I will tell you mine.

My fault is that despite years on my knees

despite all the teachings of the church

despite the sacred trust of this uniform

despite all these things, I do love.

And what is worse, I do not think it is a sin.

I do not even think it is a weakness.

I do love.

I do want.

I do desire.

Do you desire me?

Yes, I do.

- Tears? - No.

You, the woman I admire most for her courage.

Are we so despised by God that we are to be denied

what others take with ease?

If God has sent me this love

can it be wrong of me to feel it and express it?

I want to give myself to you.

Christina, we would be damned.

If I don't have you, I will have no one.

Once, just once.

It is never once.

Once is only the beginning.

Then let's begin and give ourselves to love.

Let's enjoy all that God has given humans to enjoy.

Let's celebrate Him.

Say yes..

...to Him, to life, to love, to everything.

I love you.

Let's say I died.

What?

Let's say I died

and they're bringing me to Rome to be buried

and while they're laying me to rest

'you and I will be setting off'

to live private lives far from Rome.

I don't want to look at you across vast public spaces

and yearn for you to tell me that you still know I'm alive.

You want us to run?

Is what I'm saying madness?

No, it is not madness.

Is there within you some..

...small temptation toward this other life?

Yes.

We could live as two free souls, you and I. We could..

[knock on door]

Your Eminence.

Yes, Dominic?

The pope is dying.

Azzolino.

[indistinct chatter]

[church bell tolling]

I'm being asked to give him up.

I can feel it.

Worlds out there that suddenly need him.

And I am asked to let him go.

Is this the purpose of my life..

...to abdicate everything?

[singing in foreign language]

[singing continues]

[singing continues]

[singing continues]

[singing continues]

[instrumental music]

[singing continues]

[music continues]

The pope has asked to see you.

'You vowed to take communion only from his hands.'

'There is still time.'

He wishes, then, to see me.

With all his heart, Christina.

'Because of what you told him of me.'

Because of what you are.

Did the pope speak to you about yourself?

Yes, he blessed me

urged me to consecrate my life anew to God.

Renouncing me for Him..

...like rival lovers.

You give me up so easily.

If you think that, you've understood nothing of me.

Then why must this happen to us?

All lovers feel that they are exceptions

that they make their own rules, create their own laws

and that they live

as we have lived in these last few days

in their own special universe.

But God's kingdom is greater..

...and in the end it must be served.

Are we not the world's strangest couple?

Saying no to each other..

...and that's the greatest gift we each can give.

[instrumental music]

[music continues]

[music continues]

[music continues]

[choral singing]

[singing continues]