Original subtitles

What is this barrier? It's new.

Passage must be granted by the princess or the young baron.

The old one is dead?

That's a pity.

Are the horses yours? You need a permit.

A permit? I've passed this way twenty times without a permit.

You won't pass without a permit.

You need a permit, or you can go back where you came from.

I'm taking them to the fair.

I'll let you have them for thirty.

I've already lowered my price.

I bought them for twenty pounds only a month ago.

He can't pass. He has no permit.

So you'll make use of this story of a permit?

Then leave us something - the horses, the two glossy black ones.

He'll get them back when he gets a permit.

My horses? That's ridiculous. I have to sell them.

Agreed. Leave the black ones.

César, look after the horses until I return.

Where are the horses?

The two black ones that were there.

Kohlhaas.

Governor.

Magnificent.

He's superb.

He is truly exceptional. I don't know how you do it.

Any other merchant would have kept him for himself, but you...

You're going to drive me a hard bargain, aren't you?

What are you doing there?

Who gave you permission to take them out?

Thief.

Release the dogs.

Isn't that the Bible?

You don't read aloud?

Is it the Bible. But not in Latin.

Would you like to read?

Through... a... glass... darkly

Through a glass, darkly.

It's an image.

A way of seeing the world.

Darkly.

Something that you see, but don't recognise.

An enemy.

Or a friend.

Or oneself.

I have something for you.

I don't dare look.

You know what I thought, the first time I saw you?

If only I could touch that man...

... just once.

He is so handsome...

...I would drink his tenderness from a pig's trough.

You're blushing.

Are you going to make love?

Mother says I'm not allowed to pretend to be asleep when I hear you.

I heard you.

Who did this?

Where is my manservant?

He left.

We looked after the horses ourselves. We worked them to pay for their keep.

What happened to him?

He ran off with the horses. That's what happened.

So we caught the horses, but he got away.

I don't believe you.

Well, there it is. Believe what you like.

I'm here for my horses, my lord.

Two sable black horses

that were left with you as a guarantee.

They're in the stable.

He just saw them.

He's making a big fuss because they're dirty and we made them work.

Those are not my horses.

I left you two magnificent animals

well-fed and in good health.

I want my horses as they were.

My lord! The princess no longer grants toll privileges.

You mocked me.

Now I want my horses.

I will go to the court, my lord.

Why exactly are you giving me this money?

Show him.

I want you to bring a suit before the tribunal.

Demand reparation for the damages suffered by myself and César.

The right of toll collection no longer exists.

The chancellery confirmed it.

César has always been in my service.

They set the dogs on him.

I leave it to you to estimate the cost of the damages.

And say that I want my horses as they were.

Well-fed and in perfect health.

It's a colt.

It's your horse.

Watch.

He's going to stand up.

I've returned from the tribunal.

Your suit was rejected.

This is the third time. There won't be another.

The baron who wronged you...

He's the relative of a gentleman of the court.

I counsel you to go and retrieve your horses.

Why do you not dismount?

I can't stay.

I must be off again.

Will you not have something to eat?

Please...

Don't press me.

So it ends here?

Kohlhaas...

Is your business so fragile that it can't stand the loss of two horses?

Why do you not answer?

Go and get your horses -

Which horses?

Those half dead beasts

that I left there three months ago?

I would prefer that you leave me out of this.

Mother, come see.

We acknowledge the suit brought by the horse merchant, Michael Kohlhaas, against his lord.

We judge that said lord, to whom he left his horses, is in no way detaining them

and he may send to retrieve them or else designate a place where the lord may deliver them.

We further deem Michael Kohlhaas a vexatious litigant and instruct him to trouble the chancellery no further with such complaints

on pain of imprisonment.

You're selling land?

If you buy right now, I won't haggle over the price.

How much will you give me for all of it?

All of what?

Everything.

The land. The house.

Is it true what César said?

That you want to take your suit to the princess?

That you're selling the house?

Are you getting rid of us?

Judith.

God gave me a wife...

children...

whom I love more than anything.

You want me to regret that for the first time in my life?

What should I do?

Offer my excuses to the baron?

Give me the suit.

Let me go.

Judith...

There is an entourage around the princess.

Which you plan to infiltrate how?

With a sword?

The entourage around the princess is a court.

If you really want your grievance to be heard...

My love...

Let me go.

Go back on foot with the mare.

I'll go faster without you.

Lord...

Lord of lords

You who knows the thoughts of humankind

Creator of thunder, of lightning, of fog

of the wind, the snow, and the rain

You who creates impermanent beings, who maintains them and nourrishes them

Receive the soul of Judith.

Receive the soul of Judith.

Sprinkle her with the dew of Thy Grace.

Sprinkle her with the dew of Thy Grace.

Beneath the shade of Thy wings.

Beneath the shade of Thy wings.

Lord, there is much sorrow for Judith.

Lord...

Let her dwell with You.

Amen.

I can stay here in the house.

Lisbeth.

When it's all over, I'll come back for you.

I promise you.

Giddyup.

The Bible tells us to forgive our enemies.

I pray to God... that He never grant us such forgiveness

as we will give our dog of a lord.

Get dressed.

Put it down.

Take this.

The baron is on foot. He can't have gone far.

They want to follow us.

What do you say?

So I've come, Sir Kohlhaas

and I give you my respects.

A single man and his horse against the entire world.

That's very strong!

I've also...

I've also broken the law.

Listen, listen! I've also broken the law.

Sometimes. Like all men.

I want to say... if there is a just God...

I'm not sure what will happen.

If I weigh on one side of the scales

what I did

and on the other side

what was done to me...

Look, look!

Look, we've reached Sir Kohlhaas.

It's for you.

You'll have to wait a little, but he'll fatten up.

How much did you pay?

No, no, no. Nothing. It's a gift.

Kohlhaas doesn't accept gifts.

We'll pay you.

Who here knows how to fight?

And who has gone to war before?

Do you know what the lord does to peasants who revolt?

They cut off your fingers.

They put out your eyes.

They torture you slowly.

It lasts a day.

The death of a peasant is a joke.

I was a soldier.

I know what I'm talking about.

You, the big one, you'll come with me.

The rest of you, go home.

Er, I...

I... I can fight.

Show me.

I want to learn.

I have to see Sir Kohlhaas.

It's important.

You brought the pig. I haven't forgotten.

The baron...

The baron...

I know where he is.

When I was a child, a rebellion broke out

in a neighbouring province a little distance away.

And one day, a beggar who had passed through that province

brought into my father's house a rebel's manifesto.

It was a feast day.

There were guests in every room.

The priest read out the first article

and everyone started to laugh.

My father tore up the manifesto

and chased off the beggar, beating him with a stick.

Why?

The peasants complained, in those twelve articles

that they counted as less than our dogs.

I was twelve years old.

The great peasant rebellion took place a month later.

My father lost his life.

Three of our family's manors were burned and demolished.

Tell the governor that this was the most discreet thing I could find.

Hurry, and speak to no one.

What are you waiting for? Hurry up.

Flowers are blooming on Judith's grave.

Thank you.

The neighbour doesn't want the house anymore.

He's looking after it for you.

You can buy back the land when you want to.

You know I can't stay with you.

I know.

What do you want me to do?

Go home.

What are you going to do with her?

She's my daughter.

Any news from home?

No one is judging you.

There's not one word against you.

And you?

How do you judge me?

The baron has just left the abbey.

Is it for mother that you're going to war?

No.

For the horses?

No.

César!

Two squads.

Eighteen men.

My men.

We do not take.

We buy.

We pay

the one who owns.

And we accept no donations.

People give because they're afraid.

War does not give us the right.

Demanding tolls...

Stealing...

That is what the lord does.

That is not what we do.

Come forward.

Your house was pillaged.

Show me the one responsible.

Do you have anything to say?

That's your idea of justice?

Hanging your own men?

That's why you burn and massacre?

It seem as though you are preparing to ravage an entire town.

All these people you're leading to war...

Do they know what awaits them?

What did you tell them?

That Kohlhaas was the victim of a great injustice?

You're a merchant.

You're business is prosperous.

For you, life is easy.

What effort did you make to obtain justice?

Me, I see that your heart is corrupted.

That you are leading all these people

into a war that doesn't concern them.

I see that the sword that you wield is not the sword of justice.

That you are not a soldier of God.

God... has been largely forgotten

throughout this entire story.

Kohlhaas...

What awaits you on earth is the gallows.

And all of you? You know very well what awaits you.

It's an honour to meet you.

You know me?

I read your Bible

and I read it to my children.

If everyone acted as you do

there would be no order, no justice.

And you...

What would you do if, among your own troops

each one wanted to be independent, to take justice into his own hands

and seek vengeance for himself?

You would say that it is a higher power that must judge.

That no one may be the judge of his own cause.

God would help you

if you knew how to suffer as He asks of you.

If you learned to endure and to bear injustice.

Do you not know that it does not befit a Christian to fight with the sword and the arquebus

but with the cross and with patience?

That his triumph is neither domination nor power

but submission and humility?

I've spent my life convincing the Church and the princes

that they had no reason to fear us.

That all we asked was to be allowed to live and prosper alongside them.

Your rebellion

has only set back our cause.

The woman...

that I loved

who carried my children

went to the palace of the princess

to beg

that I be given the justice that was my right.

Lay down your arms.

If the baron looks after my horses —

In the name of your faith, and that of your children!

— with his own hands.

— of all children raised by our principles!

If he returns my horses to me in good health

I will lay down my arms.

And if not?

You say that you grieve the loss of your wife.

That you are inconsolable.

Don't you know that there are ways to defeat death?

Every living species has them.

From an ant to a man.

You...

You have the most simple.

Do not kill.

Death is a choice.

He who does not kill, does not die.

What you must consider today

is not your strength, which is great.

It is not the wrong of your adversary, which is undeniable.

I am only asking you to examine

if what you are about to do is in accordance with justice

and with your own conscience.

It's a fine thing to speak to the unfortunate with words that fly like arrows.

Does it not occur to you to think of your own end?

Of the child that you'll leave behind?

Of the reflections that will be lost to you?

Don't forget;

we die alone.

You've had this all along.

The princess is negotiating.

Not me.

I don't ask anything more than what is written there.

I would prefer that you agree with the spirit of the writing

rather than the princess' terms.

Will you hear my confession?

Get down on your knees.

Are you prepared to forgive your enemy

to go and retrieve your horses

and to bring them home to care for them?

I am prepared to forgive those who wronged me unknowingly.

But...

The baron...

Let me demand that he restore my horses with his own hands.

Pastor

Do you deny me peace?

With God, yes.

With the princess, it's in your hands.

The Princess of Angoulême, Queen of Navarre, sister of the king

accords Michael Kohlhaas right of passage

so that his case may be tried anew

on condition that he lay down his arms.

Should the tribunal dismiss his suit

Kohlhaas will submit himself to the law for having taken justice into his own hands.

On the contrary, should the tribunal find that he is in the right

he and his troops shall be pardonned

and he will be granted amnesty for the extortions of which he is guilty in the land.

I saw injustice. That is why I took up arms.

They will have my arms. I'll fight no more.

Everyone return home.

No one will die today.

And those who are already dead?

And César?

Amnesty!

Surrender your arms!

We surrender our arms!

Everyone!

Have you turned in your weapons?

I did.

Do you have children?

No.

A wife?

No.

You've kept back nothing? You're certain?

I have nothing left.

That's good.

I don't know where to go.

Do you know where Jérémie is?

Do you know where he's going?

Michael Kohlhaas?

Your Majesty.

Do you know who I am?

My father called you "majesty".

It was in my palace that your mother was injured.

Would you believe me if I told you that I am sorry?

Do you believe it is my fault?

The town that you were preparing to destroy before you surrendered your arms...

I was there.

I had not as many men as you.

You could have taken by your own power much more, so why did you surrender?

I don't want more, Majesty. Only what is owed to me.

You are a fanatic.

I have principles.

A relative of the baron's used his position to make your suit disappear.

Did you know?

Yes.

You are like me.

You live as much by the love as by the fear you inspire.

If you inspire only fear, everyone despises you.

Only love...

and it is sign of weakness.

But I doubt you are alone.

You have armies.

You have a child.

I would like you to accept a guard.

Your Majesty, I don't —

Men... for your protection.

Until the trial.

The baron may have found your horses.

In a poor state, but alive.

Go and identify them.

The tribunal will see them restored to you in their original state.

You shall have what you wanted.

You filled four?

There will be four.

Two mares and two foals.

Is that why you got everything ready? We're going to the fair?

We're waiting for the new ones. They're coming with us.

You're afraid for me.

I don't know. Those are the orders.

You know your orders.

I'll do as I please.

One of your men did not surrender his weapons.

Two nobles were killed, their property stolen

and distributed to the peasants.

But I have no more men.

That is of no concern.

The princess gave me her word.

The princess considers the terms of the amnesty broken.

Does that make me a prisoner?

Get down.

Lisbeth.

It's time to go.

Where is the house?

We're going in exactly the opposite direction.

Lisbeth!

Eat.

I'm afraid I'll have to live with my aunt.

You can't live alone, Lisbeth.

I don't even know her.

I know her.

And the house?

What about the house?

Will I go back there?

Lisbeth

that's not possible.

Apples

from your home.

The neighbour agreed.

I spoke with him.

He wrote you a letter with the details.

Here, at any moment, people will begin to pray.

The bell rings, and they kneel

all at the same time.

I had forgotten.

Only we and the Jews remain standing.

What's coming...

is hard.

It's hard for me to find...

I don't know.

One word.

The princess intervened.

I won't be tortured

or flayed

or burned.

Thank God.

Do you know anything else?

Yes.

Do you want to tell me?

No.

The worst is the certainty.

I count.

Every day, I'm getting closer to Judith.

I'm getting farther away from Lisbeth.

It isn't death.

Death, I'm used to.

I have faith.

But knowing absolutely the day, the hour, and the manner...

is the most difficult.

Kohlhaas...

In the name of Marguerite, Princess of Angoulême

Queen of Navarre

sister of the king

today, I will give you the justice that you sought.

We return to you what was taken from you by force.

Your horses.

The reparation moneys for your manservant.

César had no family.

Give this to someone who needs it.

The reparation moneys for you.

Two years in prison for what he did to you.

You have what you wanted.

The horses are for you.

Lisbeth...

I know that you're angry.

I'm not asking you to forgive me.

I was fortunate to have you.

You're very brave.

You're hurting my fingers.

I want to go.

Now.

Go with her.

Are we waiting for something?

No.

Michael Kohlhaas

Now that you rights have been restored to you

for having broken the peace, prepare yourself to restore the rights of His Majesty the King

represented here by this legal body.

I'm ready.