All language subtitles for The.Libertine.2004.720p.BluRay.x264-.YTS.AM.ENG

Allow me to be frank
at the commencement

You will not like me.

The gentlemen will be envious
and the ladies will be repelled.

You will not like me now and you will
like me a good deal less as we go on.

Ladies,

an announcement.

I am up for it.

All the time.

That is not a boast
or an opinion.

It is bone-hard medical fact.

I put it round, you know.

And you will watch me putting
it round and sigh for it.

Don't.

It is a deal of
trouble for you

and you are better off watching and
drawing your conclusions from a distance

than you would be if I got
my tarse up your petticoats.

Gentlemen,

do not despair.

I am up for that as well.

And the same warning applies.

Still your cheesy erections
till I've had my say,

but later when you shag,
and later you will shag,

I shall expect it of you,

and I will know if
you have let me down.

I wish you to shag

with my homuncular image
rattling in your gonads.

Feel.

how it was for me,
how it is for me.

And ponder.

Was that shudder the
same shudder he sensed?

Did he know something
more profound?

Or is there some wall of wretchedness
that we all batter with our heads

at that shining
live-long moment?

That is it.

That is my prologue.

Nothing in rhyme.

No protestations of modesty. You
were not expecting that, I hope.

I am John Wilmot.

Second Earl of Rochester.

And I do not want
you to like me.

Wren's upset. The clergy approved the
most conventional design for the cathedral.

Now he feels there's no
room for artistic manoeuvre.

Put a sub-clause
in the warrant.

"Variations in the design are to be
ornamental rather than essential."

Then he can do what he wants.

Next.

There are representations for
you to be more careful in public.

Perhaps a bodyguard.

- Whose ideia is that?
- Your brother.

Ha!

No-one's going to kill me if it
means having him on the throne.

- Next.
- Danby says the army is costing too much.

It's Danby's job to
balance the books.

If he thinks it's good economics to disband
the army and be invaded by the French,

he can look for
another position.

Anything else?

You asked me to remind you
about the Earl of Rochester.

When did I banish him?

Three months ago.

- For how long?
- A year.

Bring him back. Now.

John.

Be attentive to your wife.
She's not accustomed to London.

Mother, I shall in all things
endeavour to serve her.

and you.

Serve God.

You must not fear London.

It is not London I fear.

You abducted me in a coach like this
when I was still a virgin heiress.

And did you like abduction?

Passionately.

Speak of it.

John! This is not the place.

Speak to me of abduction.

I was 18.

And worth two and a
half thousand a year.

You ambushed me,

bundled me from my coach,

and drove me away.

The King thrust you
in the tower for it.

And I dug in my heels and spurned
and shunned the other men.

I would only embrace
my dear abductor.

Dryden's new play.

Here, Chas, grab a wodge.

Dryden couldn't
write a laundry list.

Rochester!

- Johnny!
- Johnny.

We were pining for you

Even now we're pining.

When I wake in the country,
I dream of being in London,

and then when I get here,
it's full of people like you.

- Johnny.
- This reign's a shambles, do you not think?

My father risked life and limb hiding
that thing Charles up an oak tree.

Has he forgiven you?

He's forgiven me. I
shan't forgive him.

Why did he banish
you this time?

Well, it is a fine morning. I'm
walking through the galleries.

The King is walking through the
galleries. I'm splendidly alone.

The King is surrounded
by a slow-moving troop.

of Mediterraneans.

- The wife's family.
- And he must make show of me.

Behold, the Earl of
Rochester, the wit.

The poet. Pray, let us
have some of your muse.

What am I to do?

Then I recall in my pocket I have a
sketch of something rustic with nymphs.

I pull it out and deliver.

"In the isle of Britain, long since famous grown
For breeding the best cunts in Christendom..."

Rat me, thinks I, this is not
the piece of paper I had supposed.

The King's eyes are more
piercing than I can remember.

The jaws of his entourage
are decidedly earthbound.

This piece of paper is not covered merely
with the thump and slop of congress.

This poem is an attack
on the monarchy itself.

Culminating in depiction
of the royal mistress

striving to flog the flaccid royal
member into a state of excitement.

"This you'd believe had I but time to tell
you, The pains it cost to poor laborious Nelly.

Whilst she employs hands,
fingers, mouth and thighs,

Ere she can raise
the member she enjoys.

All monarchs I hate, and
the thrones they sit on,

From the hector of France
to the cully of Britain."

It's damn good,
though, Johnny.

Course it's good. That's not the point.
The point is he couldn't appreciate it.

It took me nearly an hour to
write it, just to please him.

Three months in the fucking country at the
height of the season. Missed all the good plays.

Boring old Rowley.
We love you, Johnny.

Give us a stanza and we'll
laugh in the King's place.

To Etherege, I drink a pledge.

His life has run the gamut.

He's penned naught good
since She Would If She Could.

He would if he
could but he cannot

Well, Johnny, it is a damn well said
thing, but it ain't true, do you see?

Oh, but it is true, Georgie.

You think you can still enjoy the town's
esteem for something you wrote seven years ago.

You can't be promising
for ever George

Sooner or later you
must do something

But that's what I'm saying.
I have written a new play.

Oh.

Written a new play has he?

All those afternoons he was pretending to slope
off and roger his mistress like a decent chap,

he was lurking in his rooms,

poking away at a play.

That is disgusting, George.

Disgusting and shameful.

What's it about, your play?

A satire on Dryden?

Pox o' Dryden.
It's about you.

And in your play, do you
tell the truth about me?

- Well, I've attempted to show you.
- Yes?

- Well, I enjoy your company.
- You've made me endearing.

- Well, only the public can.
- Don't smarm around, George.

You're an endearing
sort of chap.

So, you haven't
told the truth.

Good.

We don't want to go
frightening people.

Now, how about a real play?

The Duke's have the new Otway.

Oh, I have high hopes
of young Tom Otway.

Let me finish him off, sir.

This fellow is my servant. He has just
filched two shillings from my coat pocket.

A thief and a rogue.

My lord you express i

Haven't quite got the hang
of the reign yet, have you?

- I will not employ a thief.
- Then I will.

- How much was your master paying you?
- Six shillings a week, sir.

Who talks of thieving?

George, give him £5.

Buy a brown livery and report
to me at the Duke's Theatre.

He will steal your gold.

I hope so.

If he turned honest after coming into my orbit,
then I am not the malicious planet I had hoped.

Now begone, sir.

- And er how will your lordship be paying?
- Credit.

I only use coin vulgarised with the
monarch's head for transactions with servants.

I am ever your humble servant.

No, Sr. Ratcliffe, you are
the very prince of drapery.

The prince is always happy
to see the King's head.

But not to carry i
around in his pocket

Credit then.

Billy.

Join us.

Johnny.

This is Billy Downs

Billy this is the
Earl of Rochester

How old are you, Sr. Downs?

18, my lord.

Young man, you will
die of this company.

Do not laugh. I'm serious.

Sr. Ratcliffe, this
hangs very well.

My lord, I saw you just
now with the gent's servant.

Did you think I dispensed
wisely in the matter?

If the fool run off with the gold, then
you prove a point, but at your loss.

If he return in your livery, then you've
gained a servant who is a known cheat.

So you prove a different point,
but again at your own expense.

You summarise well, Sr. Downs.

And in such a manner, I
deduce you were trained

at one of the "count the angels
on a pinhead" Cambridge colleges.

King's, was it not?

It was, my lord.

King's, yes.

And yet you do not draw
the moral of the incident.

Which is?

That any experiment of interest in life will be
carried out at your own expense. Mark it well.

My lord!

My Lord Rochester.

You've come back.

In your livery, my lord.

Then you are turned honest.
I cannot support that.

I regret the deed's honesty.

My lord.

But I considered that if I performed
it and fell into your service,

I would have
more enjoyment of life.

You see, this fellow has
the hang of the reign.

I like this fellow
exceedingly. What is your name?

Alcock.

Like master, like servant.

Well, Alcock,

you shall drink and shag more than
any serving man in the kingdom.

Go at once and spend the rest of the
money on a whore, a large, greasy one.

Then when you are
done, return here to me.

Now begone.

Rochester! Disgrace!

Rochester!

Rochester! Missed
you Lord Rochester!

He is risen!

My lord!

My lord!

Impertinent bastard!

Johnny!

My Lord Rochester!

Rochester, you
are a cunt, sir!

I smell a rotten odour

I'll suck it for you Johnny
if you promise not to marry me!

Johnny said
"cunt" to the King!

I'm going to brazen
my arse at them.

They've all seen it.

Well, they can bloody
well put up with it again.

Johnny said
"cunt" to the King!

Johnny said
"cunt" to the King.

Johnny said
"cunt" to the King!

My lord.

Dear Jane.

Give you your first
London spurt of the summer.

- I brought the wife with me.
- Bit of a waste.

Shooting good
jism up the lawful.

Ladies and gallants all,

the King!

Oh, freeze my piss, if the
royal finger ain't beckoning me.

How exciting.

Did you miss me?

I missed the money.

Good.

Don't like a whore
with sentiment.

I could have ignored your poem, Johnny,
but I made a fuss about it for a reason.

I won't hide
anything from you.

The country's on the brink. People are
still reeling from the fire, the plague.

The Catholics are plotting the
Dutch are a bunch of bastards

and the French are ten times
worse and there's no money

I can only get funds by crawling to
Parliament or plotting against them.

And I don't want to lock antlers with
them head on in the way my father did.

"Head on?" That's quite good.

When you first came to court
Johnny you were a boy of 18

A certain flippancy a
whiff of impertinence

This was acceptable

But we're ten years down the
road and the view is different

The tone has to change.

I have to look
responsible, sober.

I want you with me.

That's why I brought you back.

I want you to
take on a new role.

Here? In the playhouse?

No, the House of Lords.

Your father spirited me out of
England when my life was at stake,

so I looked after
him and after you.

- You put me in the Tower.
- And I let you out

The time has come for
you to pay your dues.

People listen to you, Johnny.

If you took your seat in the
Lords, you could make great speeches

that would influence events.

Anyone can oppose.

It's fun to be against things.

But there comes a time when you have
to start being for things as well.

Your Majesty.

Sr. Etherege.

Take a nibble?

I've had my dinner,
thank you, madam.

George!

Is this thy plighted faith?

Is this thy truth?

Oh too unkind!

False and unconstant youth!

- Madam, believe not but my
brother's just. ROCHESTER: Who's she?

She's Lizzie Barry.

And she just won't do.

You wrong his honour
by this mean distrust.

Well.

That does alleviate my griefs and give
my wearied soul a soft and kind reprieve.

Which ever to forget would be as
hard and as impossible as to reward.

Serving you my
happiness secures.

Since equally with yours
my hopes are crossed.

Of all but sorry
and sad despair.

Lizzie. Lizzie!

On stage.

You must take your
bow for the public.

Why do you persist in doing the
opposite of what you are told?

If girls like you do not do what they are told,
then it is all up with our sex on the stage.

You cannot ignore the
advice of them that know!

Now, acknowledge
your audience.

They can kiss my arse.

She's a good fuck,
but she costs.

She gives a nice gobble, but she
won't do the full wibbly-wobbly.

- She does it with me.
- She does not!

Mary, if I may say so.

a statuesque performance.

Bursting with Grecian promise.

Sra. Barry, the work we did
beforehand, did it mean nothing to you?

That is correct, Sr. Harris.

Molly, I cannot teach those who
will not be disposed to learn.

- Sr. Etherege, how do you do, sir?
- Well, Sr. Harris.

- Was not my Lord Rochester in wih you?
- Darted off

Did you care for the play?

The play was well enough.

Most of the acting, too.

Sra. Barry.

She has been dismissed.

I bring word from
Sr. Betterton.

- I've had such already.
- This is quite another.

You have obtained
a reprieve for me.

Yes, madam, but
there is a price.

This is your first season
on the London stage.

It is, my lord.

Sra. Barry,

you must acquire the trick of
ignoring those who do not like you.

In my experience, those who do not like you fall
into two categories, the stupid and the envious.

The stupid will like you in five
years' time, the envious never.

With my training you
will become the best

the most fascinating
actress on the London stage

I shall come to the
theatre tomorrow.

What are you up to,
Johnny? She can't act.

She has neither the cadence
of the heroic nor the posture.

I will wager you 20 guineas she will
become the finest actress on our stage.

This is the prick
talking, not the head.

Knob her and have done.

Is it a wager?

My dear friend, you
do not have 20 guineas.

Is it a wager?

We've missed the fuck.
Can we get a drink?

There's a new toping house
hard by called Deaf Marion's.

The Cambridge boy knows
his books by heart.

Lead on, King's.

Alcock.

My lord.

Something rotten
has got into my guts.

I trust it's not me, my lord.

No, Alcock, it
is not. Not yet.

We should mark the front lawn
at Adderbury for pall-mall.

I had always thought
it a foolish game.

Depends on who you play with.

The King plays with a common
prostitute, not his wife.

The Portuguese have little
flair for outdoor pursuits.

Except navigating, of course.

I mean that the etiquette
of it is singular.

I know what you mean.

You must always be ace,
king and jack, my dear.

But heaven has not
disposed your cards so.

Johnny!
It's your shot!

I'm not playing!

Oh, but you are, John.

You are if I say you are.

The most advanced scientific
instrument in western Europe.

It costs 60000 pounds It tells the
time in every corner of the globe

Understand?

That is achievement.

The man who did that was not continually
pissed for the last three years.

What do you want from me?

Writing something profound that will
stand as a monument to my reign.

You're my literary giant.

Dryden? Plodder.

But look what he's achieved.

Elizabeth had her Shakespeare.

You can be mine.

Give me a major work of literature
and I'll give you 500 guineas.

When would you
like it? Friday?

Don't fuck it up, John.

I love you.

Sra. Barry!

I cannot let you have long.
I must prepare Tamburlaine.

There's a great
deal of setting up

Sra. Barry.

and a deal of taking down.

My Lord Rochester.

I'm come as I said I would.

Will you have
me lift my skirt?

Or do you have a mind to raise
it by your own endeavours?

I'm come to train
you in your acting.

So you said when we first met,

but your reputation being what it is,
I thought you meant something different.

I have, I hope,
many reputations.

I am come, I say,
to train you.

in your stage acting

Never in my life have I heard
you spoken of as an actor.

That does not deter me from
spreading my insights to others

- I thought it would not.
- Then we shall begin

You are familiar with
the plays of Sr. Etherege?

- There are but two my lord
- Not for long, I fear.

The Comical Revenge
or Love In A Tub

Have you seen Senhora.
Betterton playing Graciana?

Yes, I'm her understudy.

Indeed.

Act Two, Scene Two.

I shall play Beaufort.

Graciana, why do you
condemn your love?

Your beauty without that, alas,
would prove but my destruction.

An unlucky star prognosticating
ruin and despair.

You mistake.

'Tis not my love I
blame, but my discretion.

Here the active flame should yet
a longer time have been concealed.

Too soon too soon I
fear i was revealed

Our weaker sex
glories in surprise.

We boast the sudden
conquests of our eyes.

But men esteem a foe
that dares contend

One that with noble courage
does defend a wounded heart.

The victories they gain, they prize
by their own hazard and their pain.

That was not Elizabeth Barry.
That was Sra. Betterton.

An understudy must
imiate not create

- Yesterday you created
- Yesterday I was dismissed.

- But you played truthfully
- It costs too much to play the truth.

I do not think you have
considered this speech at all

Well, how would
you have me do it?

Let us consider now.

What does it mean, that speech
that Sra. Betterton mangled so?

Graciana means that she has given away
the secrets of her heart too freely.

Something that a gentlewoman
must not do to a gentleman.

- Why not?
- Because men will take love for granted

and then not prize it.

And is our author right?
Do you believe that?

I believe men are hurdles
that must be negotiated.

Is that all? Do you
never feel passion for us?

I've counterfeited passion in
gentlemen's beds if that is your meaning.

Counterfeit will not
serve you on the stage

Yesterday I was jeered and
taunted by 400 ruffians.

I know that will not serve me.

And so you will take their word against both
of ours and traffic in falsehood from now on?

I don't know

Then let us gain knowledge.
To the speech again.

You played it sweetly

Graciana is not innocent or
she would not have such insight

If you had ever loved a man

you would say that
speech with regret

Because you would
fear the loss of him.

And supposing I have loved?

Then show me in the speech.

Sir, you mistake.

'Tis not my love I blame.

But my discretion.

Here the active flame should yet
a longer time have been concealed.

Too soon, too soon I
fear it was revealed.

Our weaker sex glories in surprise. We
boast the sudden conquests of our eyes.

But men esteem a foe
that dares contend.

One that with noble courage
does defend a wounded heart.

The victories they gain, they prize
by their own hazard and their pain.

Well?

Was there improvement?

Did you think so?

I wish to know your thoughts.

It was better.

But now you're too angry.

Of course I'm fucking angry! You walk
into this theatre in your 30-shilling boots

telling me how I should set about
my work! I warn you, I have a temper.

And I have been known to strike
out with the first object at hand.

If that be a property blade, some have
sharper edges than is needful, so have a care.

Ah.

To die onstage at the
hands of a beautiful woman.

I am no such!

I think I can make you an actress
of truth, not a creature of artifice.

I can do this.

But I cannot train you unless
you give a little towards me.

It's not in my nature to give.

I have my talent and
I'm jealous of it.

And though I give you credit that you and
you alone in all the town have seen it,

I am not so dazzled by the lord and
master in you that I cannot resent you.

Yes.

You are right.

I am intent on doing something
that no other has yet done.

And I lost my purpose
yesterday with fear of the pit.

But I will conquer them.

And it shall not be said when
I have my fame and my £2 a week

that Lord Rochester took to me and touched
me with the shining wing of his genius

and so turned me into a little
corner of his greatness. No!

I shall be valued for me and for what
I knew I could do upon this stage!

And for what l, Lizzie Barry how I I
took the heat of my own soul and moulded it

and turned it into a wondrous
thing and so triumphed.

If I can help you
to that triumph,

I'm not so devoted to the trumpeting of my
own works that I would wish to take credit.

So you say now.

But in the ale house, when the play is
done, and the talk is of my Cleopatra,

will you not glide towards your cronies
with a "l taught her that piece of business"

or "She could not be heard in the gallery
until I instructed her in a trick or two"?

Madam I offer my services

If you see no advantage in them,
they can as easy be withdrawn.

You could buy my slit
for a pound a night, sir.

I would not mind that.

But I think you
would not have it so.

What I think you want is power
over me, which I do bridle at.

For it is only I who can
do what you say I can do.

If you wish to play a part in
this I would strongly know why

Ask yourself what you
want from the theatre.

I want the passionate
love of my audience

I want when I make a sweep of my
arm to carry their hearts away.

And for when I die, for them to
sigh for never seeing me again.

Till the next afternoon.

There is your answer.

I want to be one
of that multitude.

I wish to be moved.

I cannot feel in life.

I must have others do it
for me here in the theatre.

You are spoken of as a man
with a stomach for life.

I am the cynic
of our golden age.

This bounteous dish, which our
great Charles and our great God

have, more or less in equal measure, placed
before us, sets my teeth permanently on edge.

Life has no purpose. It is
everywhere undone by arbitrariness.

I do this and it matters not
a jot if I do the opposite.

But in a playhouse,

every action, good or
bad, has its consequences.

Drop a handkerchief and it
will return to smother you.

The theatre is my drug.

And my illness is so far advanced that
my physic must be of the highest quality.

Oh, my lord,

on those conditions, I
endeavour to do what you want.

What I want is that we meet again
tomorrow to consider Ophelia.

Ophelia?

Sr. Betterton will revive Hamlet
next month and you will play Ophelia.

Ophelia then if you wish.

But let us not neglect the
lesson in Sr. Etherege's speech.

And what is that?

That women should ever
view men with suspicion.

I shall be happy to
return and address our work

with that instruction written
on the inside of my skull.

Do me now. JANE: How?

Mouth.

Trembling,

confused,

despairing, limber,

dry,

A wishing, weak,

unmoving lump I lie.

This.

dart of love,

whose piercing
point, oft tried,

With virgin blood 1
0,000 maids have dyed,

Now languid lies in
this unhappy hour.

Shrunk up.

and sapless,

like a withered flower.

I have a feeling
this is going nowhere

I have that feeling too.

I've met this woman.

Lizzie Barry

That new actress?

- She ain't no looker
- There is spirit in her.

When a gent sees the spirit
and not the eyes or the tits,

then a gent is in trouble

Would you call
me a cynic, Jane?

I'd call you a man who pretends
to like life more than he does.

Is that a cynic?

I'm just a moll-sack,
I don't do questions

If I am a cynic,

how have I fallen in love with a
plain woman, whom I do not know?

You saw her on stage.

All the colours and
them poems they say.

Gives them a glow

- You've seen her out of the theatre?
- No.

Well, then it's not
her. It's the theatre.

That or

Or what?

They say men fall three times.

First is calf love.

Second is the one you marry.

And third?

Third

Third is your deathbed bride.

You sniff her, you
sniff your own shroud.

Ah.

How you have cheered me.

Go home and sleep.

- I don't want to sleep.
- Then go home and think.

- I don't ever want to think again.
- John.

Don't make me care for you.

I'd rather you came your fetch over
my face than leave me with that,

a lump of caring.

Now go home and forget.

Much wine had passed
wih grave discourse

Of who fucks who
and who does worse

When I who still take care to see
Drunkenness relieved by lechery

Went out into St James' Park To
cool my head and fire my heart

But though St James has the honour
on 'Tis consecrate to prick and cunt

There by a most incestuous birth Strange
woods spring from the teeming earth

And nightly now beneath their shade
Are buggeries rapes and incests made

Sr. Huysmans.

Perhaps a bottle and a glass would be
handsome adornments to your composition?

They are not appropriate objects
in a family portrait, my lord.

Sr. Huysmans, here
is another thought.

You see that monkey yonder
dancing to the fiddle?

Can't help but notice how
human these creatures are

I would sit that monkey on
a pile of solemn volumes,

and place in her hand a scrap of paper as if
it were a poem she'd just written, do you see?

And while she is offering the poem to
me, I am crowning her with the bays.

I find Lady Rochester a more
elegant and interesting subject.

You are wide of
the point, sir.

Elegance, interest, all
very well in their way.

But what do they illuminate?

Am I not then an apt
partner for you to sit with?

You are apt, Elizabeth.
You are very apt.

But you would rather be
painted with a monkey?

It is of a muchness.

You are both apt in
your different ways.

In this portrait I am no better than a
monkey who knows the names of his ancestors.

And I?

A gaudy female monkey, gloating
over the opulence of your cage.

I love London.

Everyone catches its
generous spirit so quickly.

Indeed.

I do not mean to upset people,
Alcock, but I have to speak my mind,

because what is in my mind
is always more interesting

than what is happening in
the world outside my mind.

Makes you impossible to live
with, though, do you see?

Did I once praise you
for your blunt manner?

It was your reason
for employing me.

It could as easy be your
grounds for dismissal.

Now, get me the monkey.

John.

John, I could bear our marriage more
easily if there were no pretence.

If I were merely a housekeeper
and a conduit for the noble line.

But when you're away you write so
beguilingly of how you love me and.

I do not think you
mean to torture me,

but it is a torture to be
informed of passion from a distance

and then in the flesh
to be so reviled.

You know I always mean to
be well when we are together,

but after a few weeks, I
find I have no gift for it.

In my mind I am
somewhere else.

Then cut me out of your heart
completely and have done.

Do not command me to do
something beyond my power.

Is the fault mine? If
I were a better wife.

would you not need the
whorehouse and the inn?

Every man needs the
whorehouse and the inn.

But it's not the inn or a whore that I
see in your eyes. It's some other creature.

The playhouse.

An actress.

And when your eyes shone the other
day, they were shining for her.

They were.

I see I am more of an obstacle to
your London life than I supposed.

I'll be gone by the morning.

My lord.

How is Ophelia in this scene?

Well, she's mad.
She's out of her wits.

There are many ways
to be out of your wits.

Yes.

Well, there's grief.

And drink.

And love.

So I hear.

These different states,
how would you show them?

Show them?

Their physical manifestation.

Close your eyes.

Close your eyes.

Oh, what a noble mind
is here o'erthrown

The courtier's, soldier's,
scholar's eye, tongue, sword and I

Again

Oh, what a noble mind
is here o'erthrown.

- The courtier's, soldier's.
- Again.

Oh, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown.
The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's, eye.

Again

- Eye tongue sword
- Again!

- Oh, what a noble mind is here
o'erthrown. is here o'erthrown

The courtier's,
soldier's, scholar's.

- Again.
- What was wrong?

You know what
was wrong. Again.

She has done this speech
20 times this afternoon.

And she will do it 20 more.

No-one has worked like this
in the history of the theatre

- Exactly.
- Oh, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown

The courtier's, soldier's,
scholar's, eye, tongue, sword.

and I

of ladies most
deject and wretched

that sucked the honey
of his music vows

O, what a noble mind
is here o'erthrown.

The courtier's,

soldier's, scholar's,

eye, tongue,

sword,

and I,

of ladies most
deject and wretched

that sucked the honey
of his music vows

O, woe is me.

To see what I have seen.

O, see what I see.

And there's some fennel
for you and columbine.

And there's rue for you.

And here's some for me.

We may call it herb
of grace o' Sundays.

O, you must wear your
rue with a difference.

He is gone

He is gone

And we.

cast away, moan.

God have mercy on his soul

And of all ye Christian souls

No-one likes a
clever bastard.

I pray God

God be wi' ye

Well, Lizzie, my
congratulations.

Thank you, Sr. Harris.

Will you take the air with me?

I was thinking.

a drink.

Lord Rochester left
at the curtain.

Then I shall take
the air alone.

Good night.

Go on!

My lord.

Hurry!

Argh!

John

Madam, this
driveway will not do.

Good afternoon, my lord.

You sent no warning
of your arrival.

The road is not functional
and the grounds are a swamp.

If you were here more often, you'd know
that Oxfordshire is not a dry county.

It is a good thing that John devote himself to
the House. I will not hear him reproved for it.

lunderstood that he was devoting
himself to an engagement in the theatre.

That would not be appropriate
for a man of breeding.

Anyone can drink.

Only a few can match
my determination.

We who are nobility rise
above the calls of the flesh.

It is true.

We have our strength
of will, do we not?

I hope we do.

But supposing we are perverse,

and use our will to bad ends?

Then we search deep
inside ourselves,

and we tear out the evil.

Tear deeper, Mother.

Lizzie Barry!

Lizzie Barry!

Lizzie Barry!

I ran away from your love
and now I run towards it

Test my love in
any way you see fit!

Test me!

I will not fail!

15.

Get back some of the money I
lost on Lizzie "Horseface" Barry.

Yes, how is that little
caper going, Johnny?

I hear she charges
by the minute.

Come on, Johnny. All
gentlemen together.

You're not a
gentleman, George.

You were trained as a lawyer.
And you write plays for money.

Oh, yes. And what about your commission
from the King? Does that not count?

That is quite different.

"Different"? Of course.

May one enquire how the
great work progresses?

Written the first line yet?

I, at least, do not plagiarise the wit
of my friends and pass it off as my own.

Come on, Johnny, be fair.

Sit!

What was the wager?

The wager was 15 guineas.

My Lord, the actress
Elizabeth Barry's outside.

She will wait.

She's very insistent.

She is a whore
and she will wait!

It's a made hand!

I was not good in the
play this afternoon.

I craved reassurance.

All I could think
about was you.

You see, that is where there
is still imbalance between us.

Because you demand so much of
me and so little of yourself.

You took my small gift and
polished it until it shone.

Yet your own great gift
you just throw away.

There.

You see? I went too far.

A trait which in you is
fascinating, but in me is a fault.

"And wit was his
vain, frivolous pretence,

of pleasing others
at his own expense."

Lizzie Barry.

Read me some more.

KING CHARLES II: I keep
coming back to the French

- There they are, the envy of Europe.
- They keep a nice class of brothel.

Of course. They're a bunch of
cunts. That's not the point.

I need money and they can provide it, and I
won't hide it from you, Johnny, things are bad.

I can't get money out of Louis
unless I dissolve Parliament

and I can't get money out of
Parliament unless I fight Louis.

Well, choose.

Ineed money from both of them.

You spoke of a big challenge.

Louis's sent in a new
ambassador. Cultivated type.

Here's my plan.

Your great work, we stage
it to welcome him to London.

Big gesture of friendship.

And we show we're
better than they are.

A spectacle with some
really profound writing.

You're the man for it.

Will you do it for me?

At Betterton's next spring
when the season's finished.

You're desperate.

What we need to
celebrate is life itself.

Well, I'm obviously
the man for that.

Good. I'll send Chiffinch to
talk to you about the money.

Costumes, settings,
something really splendid.

Splendid, yes.

And unusual.

There, John.

Fruit.

Fruit from South
America growing here.

Dazzles the mind.

Do you see what can be done
with knowledge and application?

"I eat to swive and
swive to eat again."

Ink! Ink!

Bring me ink!

Not "drink", lump. Ink!

Alcock, did I not leave
you in the country?

I walked back, my lord.

Back again?

Back again.

Sceptres bear. Fear.

I'm worried. This French business
couldn't be more important.

What's he doing?

He's writing.

- For the first time since I've known him
- But what?

Sublime thoughts.

Philosophy in verse.

I believe he is on
the verge of greatness.

You've read some?

He shares everything with me.

You should wear
more jewellery.

LIZZIE: I cannot
provide for i on my wages

CHARLES II: Does
not the Earl provide?

The Earl is not one
of life's providers.

But the King is.

If you want the best, you
may receive it from me.

I shall be everything
you wish me to be.

I wish you to be my eyes
and ears on his earlship.

I am his lover.

But I am your true subject.

Then you'll serve
me in this matter?

Yes, I will.

And we shall both profit.

Does the writing of the
play go well, my lord?

Alcock, try not to be a cunt.

We will do this until
you get it right.

My lord, Alice
Twooney has sent word.

Her child is sick
and she shan't come.

What was to be her role?

- She was playing little Clytoris.
- Of course

Alcock!

- This is your moment. You will stand in for her.
- No, my lord.

- I beg your pardon.
- I'm Alcock.

Little Clytoris
is beyond my range.

Molly.

I am not a visible person.

Do not cross me.

Madam, your dildos are not to
compare with what I've seen.

Indeed, they're paltry ware.

Short dildos leave the
pleasure half undone.

I'm sorry, my lord,
I do have a question.

Are you sure this entertainment will be
fitting for both the occasion and the company?

Molly, the entire piece has been
devised with the French in mind.

In Paris, fornication in the streets
with total strangers is compulsory.

Oh, beg pardon, my lord, my
most southerly venture is Epsom.

HARRIS: My lord!

I asked for no interruptions.

My suit is one of
the utmost urgency.

The stage direction at the
end of this scene requires,

in my opinion, some
authorial exposition.

It seems
straightforward enough.

Yes. Um.

"Then dance six
naked men and women,

the men doing obedience
to the women's cunts,

kissing and
touching them often.

The women in like manner
to the men's pricks,

kissing and
dandling their cods,

and then fall to fucking,

after which the women sigh and the
men look simple, and so sneak off."

The end of the second act

A strong scene.

An eminently playable scene, and,
though I say it myself, a climactic one.

And will the kind of equipment
that young lady has in her hand

be available to
gentlemen for.

strapping around the middle
for the execution of this scene?

I had not envisaged
you to be so encumbered.

I feel the scene should
be given in the flesh.

And will we give two
performances on the day?

No, Sr. Harris.

Oh, I am glad to hear
that from the author.

With the dress rehearsal, the court performance
and the public showing, I envisage three.

Right. I don't know if you've met
my regular understudy, Sr. Lightman.

He's a most dependable fellow.

Sir, you have the honour
of playing my understudy.

Well, I shall take this opportunity
to withdraw from the engagement.

You are one of
life's understudies!

If tonight goes wrong, we'll
be at war within a week.

Have faith.

Whatever else may go wrong, your
words will command admiration.

They always do.

Lizzie. You're looking pale.

Molly, work the magic
of your art on Sra. Barry.

There's the French ambassador.

No. Makes me weepy.

* All you ladies of Merrie England who
have been to kiss the duchess's hand

* Pray did you lately
observe in the show

* A noble Italian
called Signor Dildo?

I weep, but from
a different end.

* Who helped to conduct
her over the Main

* But now she cries out,
"To the Duke I will go"

* "I have no more
need for Signor Dildo!"

* The good Lady Southesk
broke into a laugh

Very good, this
Italian workmanship.

People pay more for quality.

* The fops were undone,
did their graces but know

* The discretion and
vigour of Signor Dildo

I'd like to meet the
man who wrote this.

* Then away with these
nasty devices and show

* How you rate the just
merits of Signor Dildo

* Ooh, aah, Signor Dildo

* Ooh, aah, Signor Dildo

Thus in the zenith
of my lust I reign.

I eat to swive and
swive to eat again.

Let other monarchs who their sceptres bear
to keep their subjects less in love than fear

be slaves to crowns

My nation shall be free. My
pintle only shall my sceptre be.

My laws shall act more
pleasure than command

and with my prick, I'll
govern all the land.

Chas, tell me this
ain't happening.

He's gonna get his prick out any
second. I can feel it in my water.

It's very amusing, because in
France he would be executed for this.

The King commands all men
from humid cunt to humane arsonist

Buggery we choose and
buggery we'll allow

I do proclaim the manly arse so
firm shall be the sole recipient

of sperm!

CHARLES II: Lord Rochester,
this portrayal of yours.

would it be based on
a particular monarch?

No, Your Highness.

My character is far too fantastic a
creation ever to have drawn breath.

Now resume your seat.
You're intruding on my stage.

No, you're intruding on mine.

I hand you a chance to show your shining
talent and what do you give me in return?

A pornographic representation of a royal
court where the men deal only in buggery

and the women's sole object
of interest is the dildo!

A monument to your reign.

Johnny!

Disappear? People
don't disappear.

Monsieur Barrillon.

Your Majesty, it is with regret that I
must make my return to France tout de suite.

I hate racing.

The sport of kings?
The sport of peasants!

Come on, Georgie. You
like it when you win.

I must have seen the
backside of £60 today.

I could have bought a horse.

Vanishing Spark. Why did you let me
bet on a horse called Vanishing Spark?

What the fuck?

Johnny?

Gents

spare a drink for
a couple of chums?

Where've you been?

Our show was such a
success in the capital,

we had to undertake an
extensive tour of the provinces.

Now, where's the
fucking drink?

Come on, Charlie,
get out your winnings.

CHARLIE: This is i gentlemen!

This is the residence of the whore
personally recommended by Sr. Dryden himself,

who glories in the
name of Molly Noakes

Well, what are we waiting for?

- Open up, keepers of the gate!
- Molly!

Molly!

- Molly.
- Molly!

- Gentlemen?
Where's Molly?

We want Molly
and we want her fast.

Young man, you are
pissing on my top boots.

Yes, fellow. But you are
a whorehouse doorstep man

and we are the
cream of the country.

I am Constable of the Watch.

Dryden can't even
write a shag map.

You, sir, are a
rogue and a liar.

Murder!

Help!

Now, then, gentlemen.

I do believe there's been
a small species of error.

We are Johnny! Johnny!

Johnny!

No!

Argh!

Argh!

My eyes!

Johnny, please.

Johnny!

I told you.

CHARLES II: It's
been six months

Where the fuck is he?

Find him

Your Majesty.

I find myself at
the gates of death

almost blind and utterly lame

Scarce wih the reasonable
hope of ever seeing you again

With my sickness it seems the
world has turned hateful of me

But I will rise again to right this
injustice and take back your heart

The mercury cures the pox,
but it scrambles the mind.

Poses a problem for
a gent, does it not?

The prick or the brain?

Shh. Johnny, shush.

He's been seen in Cheapside,
accompanied by a serving man and a whore.

If he's very drunk,
he'll be no problem.

If he's a bit
drunk, be careful.

What if he's sober?

You've got the wrong man.

Ladies and gents!

Gather near!

Listen well.

For I got a doctor's
cure to sell.

Mouth, stomach,
knees and toes.

All be cured by Dr. Bendo.

Little chicken.

Questurino!

Mayo.

In honestus.

Gulpo.

Poofay.

In flatuo. In flatuo.

The French, Parliament,
his syphilitic earlship.

I'm being pissed on from half
a dozen directions at once,

and it don't accord
with my majestic dignity.

We have three confirmed sightings.
Our sources are impeccable.

Take me to them. Now.

I've shut up shop for the day.

I had to turn 40 people away.

I think it mean work cozening
citizens of their money.

We made £80 today.

We are here for
our recreation.

We're here cos we
can't show our faces.

Do you ever think on
our Lord Jesus Christ?

He was cast like me
into the wilderness.

He was scorned and reviled.

He was betrayed
by his followers.

I believe that in most respects, his life
was of a different character from yours.

He would have brought
Billy Downs back from death.

Ach, these are
wandering thoughts.

Leave me.

Go!

Johnny!

Johnny!

Argh! Johnny!

Leave him alone!

On your knees.

I'm not impressed.

It has taken you six
months to find me.

You think in six months I've given
you more than five minutes' thought?

Those Parliament bastards
are trying to shaft me again

wih the new bill to
exclude my successors

Subtle.

Instead of chopping kings' heads off,
you pick and choose the ones you want.

That's my civil war. Not you.

Sr. Etherege is packing out the Dorset Gardens
with you as the greatest spark on Earth.

The East End is throwing down its
purse for you to be a quack doctor.

And the town has you branded as a coward
who leaves his friend to die in a brawl.

All men would be cowards.

if they only had the courage.

The boy died and you ran off.

I have to go too
far, do you see?

I must always exceed or I
do not feel like I'm alive.

And that's why the great epic about my reign
became a squalid little play about knobbing.

And that's why Downs died.

I thought about putting
you in the Tower.

I even considered putting
your head on a spike.

But I've decided
on something worse.

I'm going to ignore you

I will no longer encourage
any hope in my breast for you.

I am condemning you to be you,

for the rest of your days

How I hate the country.

Drink.

Drink!

The shelves are
empty, my lord.

Go to the cellars, cunt!

I said, find me
a fucking drink.

Are you unable to discharge
your duties as housekeeper?

I fear this
is the last my lord

Elizabeth, why has the
cellar not been replenished?

Leave us.

Leave us!

My lady.

I am ever your last resort. When your
mistress has kicked you into the street

and the last whore in Covent
Garden refuses to attend to you,

then and only then
do you come to me!

I think you will never be a contented
woman until you are a much-respected widow.

And I am hard at work on doing
you that last good service.

I don't want you to die! I want
you to live, and live differently!

- Ow!
- Stop it!

Elizabeth!

Why? If it's good for you,
is it not good for me, too?

- It is not good for me.
- Why then do you pursue that path?

When were you
last a sober man?

Three years.

No, four.

Four years ago.

Five. Five.

And are you not,
John, a rational man?

Has not your intellect
been widely praised?

It has.

So, this man of intellect,

this rational man,

knowing that five years of constant drinking
have rendered his body feeble and his spirit low,

what would this
man of intellect do?

- You seek to trap me like a cunning lawyer!
- What would he do?

He would desist! Cunt!

Yes, he would desist.
And those he loved,

would they not show their love
by beseeching him to desist?

It is not so
simple, my darling.

I've heard men say that
the devil is in you.

If that be so, I know
how he made his entrance.

He has suffered much both in
sickness and in reputation.

You're a man of God.

Bring my son to him.

My son,

God has seen fit to visit
these terrible diseases on you.

But it torments me less as a mother to
see you die in agony in the arms of God.

than live an atheist.

Mother.

If God wants men
to have faith,

why does he not make us
more disposed to believe?

Most men are so disposed.

But not me.

Because you set your
reason against religion.

I despised reason.

You clung to reason.

You laughed in the face of
God with the aid of reason.

Speak me that speech again.

Those words from Isaiah.

"And he is despised
and rejected of men.

A man of sorrows.

and acquainted with grief."

And we hid our faces from him.

God, raise me from this bed

to do what I must do

We've taken soundings. It's very
close. We may be 15 votes short.

The House cannot give way
to the King on this matter!

Then get me 15 votes.

And I believe it will not!

Hear, hear!

The Earl of Rochester.

Coward!

Coward

My lord.

the bill before us would seek to bar the
King's brother from succeeding to the throne

on the grounds that
he is a Catholic.

And for this reason
i has been said

that no good Protestant
can speak against this bill.

And yet, sir, I cannot forbear to
offer some objections against it.

But the question will arise in the
minds of some lords here present.

as to whether I am indeed.

a good Protestant.

No man here

will question, I hope,

my goodness.

in any one of the three
chief pursuits of our age,

the scribbling of verses,

the emptying of bottles,

and the filling of wenches.

There may be those with a
claim to be as good as I,

but taking these three
pursuits simultaneously.

and, sir, I
have so taken them,

and can vouch that considerable
manual dexterity is required,

I cannot be equaled,
let alone bettered.

So, let not my
goodness be questioned.

It is not so many years since
our present king's father

was killed on a kind of stage,
outside the walls of this very building.

And, in time, his murderers were
condemned and themselves executed.

But.

were they condemned
without being heard?

They were not.

In spite of the certainty of their guilt and
the horrid weight of their cowardly crime,

they were allowed the
due process of law.

But what is suggested
before this House.

is that we condemn that
murdered king's second son

with less shrift than
was given to his killers.

My lord, let us have justice.

When the time arrives for our good
and present king to be taken from us

let then his Catholic brother be
impeached in this House in the normal way.

And if he be found wanting, then let
his head be chopped off at the neck.

if the House feel
that is what he meris

For my part

I shall believe my oath of allegiance
to the throne to be a thing inviolable.

and that whatever the faith
of the successor to the throne,

his pre-eminence in the
royal lineage must hold sway

over all other considerations.

Sir,

my humble motion.

is that the monarchy.

be upheld.

and this meddlesome and fractious
bill be thrown out forever.

Hear, hear!

Kings are kings! You
can't pick and choose!

Throw it out! Throw it out!

He spoke for us all!

Johnny.

You did it.

You finally did
something for me.

I didn't do it for you.

I did it for me.

Your Majesty, we won.

By 40 votes.

There you are, Johnny.

You did it.

Molly.

I've brought in the Earl
to gawp at my triumph.

Authors have a place, senhor.
Etherege. It is in the garret.

I do not like them
cluttering up my theatre.

Lizzie won't see him. She won't
see Johnny. This is the only way.

I don't want her upset.

I could have written
a splendid play.

No, you couldn't.

The Man Of Mode.

The spirit of the age
caught for all time.

I did it.

You didn't, because
you don't have the gift.

Gentle George.

- What is he doing here?
- Don't blame me.

John, I'll see you
after. I'll be at Long's.

Very well. Lockett's?

Long's.

Long's.

I saw the first two acts.

And you didn't like me?

To the contrary.

I could bear your
brilliance no longer.

Sr. Harris, you are playing me.

The understudy has
become the actor.

My lord, I heard news of
your death six months ago

and experienced
a spasm of regret.

But your subsequent resurrection
has quite cured my grief.

I am nature, and you are art.

Let us see how we compare.

Sr. Harris has a quick change
and you will let him be.

Here we have him,
your Restoration gent.

He's not pissed
his breeches today

and he can walk in a straight line for 200
yards without falling on his face and retching.

Now,

look you upon this picture

and on this

He has not washed
He cannot walk

And he most certainly will not be able to raise
either the price of his dinner or his own pintle.

I must be got
into my nightgown.

This is what I envy
in you stage people.

You make time
seem so important.

I must change my clothes now!

I must make my entrance now!

But life is not a
succession of urgent nows.

It is a listless trickle
of Why should I's.

You're on.

Five minutes
only, Sra. Barry.

Inever wanted you for
a mistress, Lizzie.

I wanted you for my wife.

You have no
understanding, do you?

It was not being your mistress
that I was tired of, John.

I was tired of you.

I did not wish
to be your wife.

I do not wish to
be anyone's wife.

I wish to continue
being the creature I am.

London walks into
this theatre to see me.

Not George's play,
nor Sr. Betterton.

They want me, and they want
me over and over again.

I will not swap my certain
glory for your undependable love.

I wanted you to have my child.

I had your child.

A daughter.

When the theatres were
closed in the summer.

By the start of the season I was flat
enough to play Desdemona in a nightgown.

Two minutes,
Sra. Barry, please.

What is her name?

Elizabeth.

Elizabeth?

The child of our passion.

When I bred my other children, I placed
no value on human life at all, and.

now you send me away.

And I cannot go back
to where I was before.

I shall never forgive you
for teaching me to love life.

If I taught you that, then
our account is settled.

Your lesson to me
was my livelihood.

And mine to you
was life itself.

We have no need
to meet again.

Lizzie.

If you are in London,

and you have half a
crown in your pocket,

you may see me there.

For the rest,

I hope I shall always
be in your heart,

sometimes in your thoughts,

but never in your debt.

I am 33.

years old.

I am dying.

I have tried to
speak the truth.

But I have been betrayed.

Elizabeth.

speak to me of abduction.

I was 18.

And worth two and a
half thousand a year.

You ambushed me,

bundled me into your
coach and rattled me away.

The King thrust.

* If underneath
death's cold wing

* His restless soul should fly

He charmed the tenderest
virgins with delight.

And with his style did
fiercest blockheads fright.

* Beyond the grasp of fools

* T'would meet with
the bliss they deny

* So stand for him

* Kneel for him

* As he lies low
in kneaded clay

* Pray for him
who prayed too late

* That he might
shine on Judgement Day

So, there he lies at the last.

The deathbed convert.

The pious debauchee.

Could not dance half
a measure, could I?

Give me wine, I'd drain the dregs and
toss the empty bottle at the world.

Show me our Lord
Jesus in agony,

and I mount the cross and steal
his nails for my own palms.

There I go, shuffling from the
world, my dribble fresh upon a Bible.

I look upon a pinhead.
and I see angels dancing.

Well?

Do you like me now?

Do you like me now?

Do you like me now?

Do you like me now?