Original subtitles

(Followers of Jean Chouan ("the owl"), or peasant counter-revolutionaries in general.)

Brittany, 1769.

Count sir!

Ah! A son? - No, not yet.

It's not looking good.

Clemence...

Clemence... I will...

Have mercy.

Loïc!

Was it you nailed up this owl?

Foul beast.

It has to be done to ward off hexes

when the countess and my cow are giving birth.

They are birds of ill-omen.

You brute! Go saddle my horse!

Le Guelec!

Doctor Le Guelec!

Count?

Quick, Le Guelec! Hurry. My wife is dying.

Coming.

Amen.

Clemence...

I will be yours until the end of time.

You shouldn't have freed the owl, Count sir.

Count sir, your child is well.

Is it a boy? - Yes.

Grospierre...

is your wife still producing milk?

Jeanne?

Don't worry, the little girl won't be jealous.

I've got enough.

They'll be baptised what, those dear angels?

Aurèle and Céline.

Go on, put the straw there. Put the straw.

Céline! Aurèle!

Your dress. - Shush.

This doesn't interest you?

We need a volcano of smoke! Here we go.

That's it.

Grospierre, throw everything on.

Yes, Count.

There, my friends.

Bravo!

The balloon!

Bravo!

Get back on.

Giddy up!

Good!

I'm not displeased.

I no longer believe in God.

What?

I won't go to the seminary.

Who said you were going?

My father who is my uncle and who's a priest.

Wait, wait. - I won't wait.

Your father is a priest?

They say he's my uncle. I know that's not true.

I know it all. There's only one thing I don't know.

Oh yes? - Yes. Your name.

Ah. Savinien Marie Alexandre Evariste Yann, Count de Kerfadec.

And you are?...

Tarquin Larmor.

Tarquin Larmor.

The Bastille has fallen!

Fantastic!

What does this change?

Everything. - Don't throw your files away.

It's all over. No more signatures in the King's name!

What's this ruckus?

Ruckus? It's a Revolution!

My friends!

My friends! My friends!

The people of Paris have taken the Bastille.

Come on.

The Bastille?

What's this Bastille?

Go!

The King's prison? The Bastille

in Paris?

Yes, three days ago, July 14th.

July 14th? Weird date, it doesn't correspond to anything.

Ho!

Celine! Aurele! We've taken the Bastille!

What?

On July 14th.

It's great news. - Really?

Since he says so.

Everyone's going to celebrate at the town hall.

How's that? We'll celebrate here, at the château.

Round up all the vassals.

And you, Aurèle, listen, fetch me some game.

Hunting on a day like today!

For once you'll listen to me...

I wasn't born to obey women.

Then what are you doing here?

Be quiet!

Oh, there!

Bloody hell! Thanks! Thanks a bundle!

You should've been more careful. Aren't I allowed an aside?

Alone at last. Listen, this is serious.

Love is not a hunting expedition.

You'll tell me yes, or you'll tell me no.

About what? - Well, the two of us.

Don't the three of us work well?

Ready?

Everyone set?

Full steam ahead.

Bravo! Bravo!

Thank you! Thank you, my friends! And now, to table.

Everyone together! Rednecks and bluebloods!

We'll eat until we burst!

I know...

There are awful moments in life.

What are you gawping at? We aren't objects of curiosity.

Oh, not at all curious, alas. May the Lord forgive you.

As for the Count, I fear the worst.

Ah, I forgot.

"May I recommend to you my son, Aurèle."

The chaplain will bless your union.

Do you know what marriage is, Aurèle?

No, not entirely.

I'll tell you about it.

You get up in the morning, your wife is there.

You sit down for lunch, your wife is there.

You take her to bed at night. She is always there.

Monday, Tuesday, the whole week.

In September, in January. Summer, winter.

She is always there.

One year, two years... 10 years, 30 years.

Plus she'll have lost her hair,

her cheeks will be lined,

she'll have no more teeth,

but she'll still be most beautiful.

Irreplacable.

No. No, this is impossible.

You see, it's something demands serious thought.

A note for my friend Benjamin Franklin.

The 'Qui Qu'en Grogne' sets sail for Boston in 48 hours.

You've time to reach Nantes.

Godfather, you're sending him to America? You're separating us?

It'll put hair on his chest, baby doll.

But he'll be back.

Tarquin?

Here's a letter for the Count de Mirabeau.

Dear Honoré will get you into the salons and clubs of Paris.

I've prepared a small viaticum.

Citizens! Citizens!

Citizen-priest, read this,

before we close your cave of superstitions.

My brothers, His Majesty King Louis XVI

has been dead three days ago.

He was guillotined in Place de Révolution.

The King?

Executed?

- They've killed others, godfather. - Never...

never legally.

It's the first time in world history

a king has been killed by due process.

Almost a god.

Legally.

He betrayed the nation. - Where's the evidence?

They'll find it.

What serpent has bitten you? Eh?

Here, blow your nose.

You're not weeping? - Why? Should I?

Louis XVI left me rather cold.

Although when I remember what a keen locksmith he was,

it stirs me somewhat.

When you're gay, I'm gay.

When you're sad, I'm sad.

Then why this hurt?

It's weeping without you that hurts me.

My brothers!

Let us pray for our deceased saint, Louis.

Tell me, citizen-priest, have you sworn an oath to the Constitution?

I'm answerable only to the bishop.

And he's answerable only to the Pope!

You're a refractory.

You know what fate has in store for them?

Jail! We'll meet again!

I doubt it. You'll chirp no more, bird of ill-omen.

You know what we do to them, birds of ill-omen?

I see. We'll use the tangent.

We'll reduce the median fixation to 2,

2 inches, yes,

and that'll work, you'll see.

That's the ideal angle of attack.

You're going to tell me that again you didn't sleep.

You have some pills? - A letter from Tarquin.

He's been appointed Commissioner of the Republic.

Oh, this is good news.

Agent in the provinces, with full powers.

He's becoming an important man. - Yes, but it's me he writes to.

Come and help me, instead of your foolish chatter.

Come on. We can fix the struts.

Got it? - Yes.

Gently. - Careful.

Got it? Go on.

I've received a letter from America.

Aurèle? And you didn't tell me?

You're never here.

By post from Nantes, a letter from Boston.

Can I see it?

Yes, if I can find it.

Wait, I rolled it up here with the others.

Ah, here it is.

Here it is. He says in it

that he'll return in the spring, with the geese.

Really?

Listen to what he told me:

"Tonight, the banks of the Potomac are red, covered

with musical birds all singing to me that I miss Céline."

That's what he said.

You can read without glasses?

Well... my eyesight is improving. These things come and go.

Aurèle's probably found an Indian woman.

I hope he's found ten.

Plus he'll have smoked a tomahawk. - You don't smoke a tomahawk.

A tomahawk is a hatchet.

Oh, you drive me up the wall!

You, stop here!

There, it's set.

Lift it up. One, two, there

Grospierre, look out.

I'm done? - Yes.

There we go.

Decidedly, everything's upside-down.

Godfather,

look who's coming.

Tarquin, my boy!

You should have warned us, we'd have got together the choir.

Should I still call you Count?

It's easiest. - You never change!

What do you mean, "never change"? I'm lighter than air.

Beautiful, eh? - I'm filthy.

Let me get changed.

Grospierre, we're going to take the machine to the seaside.

There'll be more wind there.

Yes, Count sir. - Oh, my boy!

The execution of the King has united Europe against France.

The King of Hungary and Bohemia, the King of Prussia,

the King of England and the Stadtholder of Holland.

In the Vendée, bands of brigands have taken Machecoul,

barefooters led by feathered hats.

I can't go for a walk in the woods without taking my sword-cane.

Things are starting up here?

They closed the church. That was excessive.

I agree. I'm waiting for a priest from Rennes.

Meantime, couldn't our chaplain say a mass?

Yes. He's taken the oath.

These priests must be kept on a leash.

I remind you

that I went there on Sunday, there wasn't a cat.

The statues were draped in black

and the exit blocked by cabbages.

You still reek of them.

This isn't going to be easy.

They're taking that mare? What gives?

The war requires us to raise 300,000 soldiers.

My task is find 3000.

Indeed, that won't be easy, spring is coming

and after that, there's the harvest.

But how can think of the harvest when the nation is in danger?

We need a national army, a popular army.

The people are invincible because they fight for their ideas.

Yes, a holy war.

No, the soul of the nation in one body.

As a lad, you consumed all the books in my library,

but were these ideas you espouse today

found in Diderot, in Voltaire or in that cold-hearted Rousseau?

Tarquin...

you're readying a bloodbath for us.

Previously, we had charming wars,

on horseback,

outwitting foreign brutes, Pomeraniens, Swiss, Moldavians...

You went to war?

Me, never. I'd better things to do.

Here I am.

Count!

Everything's ready! We can go.

Everything'll be fine.

Go on, Yvon, to horse.

Let's go, Yvon!

Come on, Sirius! Altaïr!

Yes! Yes!

Awesome! It's beautiful up there!

Godfather! - It's beautiful!

Nothing broken? - No.

It was amazing.

The mare's in heat.

We almost had a catastrophe because of some bullshit about ass.

Excuse me, Céline.

Bravo. I'm going to town, I've an important meeting.

Off you go, Tarquin.

Can I come with you? - If you like, yes.

By the way, how old are you? - 17, sir.

You will need to report for conscription.

Why? - Haven't you read the posters?

He can't read.

It's amazing!

Citizens, in the very near future,

every man will be equal,

regardless of his birth or the colour of his skin.

Everyone will be a citizen of the world

and peace will reign on earth, but...

if you want peace, prepare for war,

to fight back in the one they impose on us.

Citizens!

I am charged with recruiting thousands of men

so they can defend France

assailed by tyrants who quiver before our republic.

Long live the Republic!

Excellent, citizen. - Long live the Republic!

I can't see what's going on. - Everyone should be able to see.

Our soldiers will defend France,

land of equality and freedom.

And we will spread the premium idea of republicans,

happiness.

Happiness is a new idea in Europe,

one we will unleash thanks to you.

To arms, citizens!

You've made progress again.

Happiness, happiness... who'll gather the harvest?

Can't you see further than the end of your nose, dad?

That may be true, but he has a point.

What about our cows? - Let the Prussians come.

We'll make mincemeat of them.

Friends, friends, calm down.

Each new recruit will get a new pair of boots.

Not everyone will have to go, there will be a lottery.

White slip, you stay to harvest the corn,

black slip, you go to harvest the enemy.

Your son will set the example.

My son is a municipal officer.

He'll take his chances, like everyone else.

Yeah! Yeah!

I bow to you!

Name? - Bouchard, Louis.

Draw.

Bring two days' worth of supplies, boots,

shirts and a sash.

Report tomorrow evening, at Nantes' barracks.

Name? - Groupier, Yvon.

Draw.

Exempt, next. - I want to go, I do!

I want to see the world!

Take it, here's 4 louis. Swap your slips.

You'll be a hero.

As for you, Sonny Jim, watch over this brave lad's farm.

Eh?

If we can pull this off, it will usher in a golden age.

Can only cannonfire accomplish this?

Not with the people, but it is for their tyrants!

You alarm me.

It's scary, I feel I like this.

You...

You've any news of Aurele? - No.

I think about him occasionally, but not in the last hour.

I can't believe you were gone four years.

The Bastille had just fallen.

Four years!

I remember the Paris stagecoach, the schooner from Boston,

that beautiful August morning.

"Thermidor". We now say Thermidor.

I know, Tarquin.

Thermidor, Fructidor, Vendémiaire, Brumaire...

I know them off by heart. They're such beautiful words.

What if you taught them?

I have an idea, you can help.

What brings you here? - Education, citizen.

Kings have kept the people in ignorance.

Darkness is the fertiliser of tyranny.

The Republic must offer light, understanding.

Bravo.

Stop!

This is the ideal breeze.

Come on, come over here.

To each his own.

You're about to see something else.

Sirius! Altaïr!

Did you see that?

She flies!

She flies!

[Singing smutty marching song]

Got a chill?

Put your boots on.

I'm keeping them for the canals.

Are they frozen? - So's the sea.

Shush. Quiet.

Long live the Republic!

Long live death, more like.

Aren't you Grospierre's son?

What age are they taking now?

Come on, come with us! We're having a whale of a time.

Here.

It's foul.

Well, it's crow! Here, have a drink!

But I want to be a soldier.

Oh, I don't understand you. You're alive, aren't you?

She's not happy, little Yvonne?

Well, let me show you how this works.

Julie!

Sodomite!

Sodomite!

What? - On your knees, all of you!

Repeat after me.

I fear God's wrath.

"I fear God's wrath."

I will do only His will.

"I will do only His will."

I will follow it unto death. - "I will follow it unto death."

Tomorrow morning, at dawn, a stagecoach will pass by at 8am.

We'll attack it at the sunken road.

Why? - I have my reasons.

There'll be something for everyone. Now sleep.

Whoa!

Let go of her!

Stop!

Clear off, travelers! Clear off! Travelers, you can go!

Where are you going?

To the parish where I've been summoned by Commissioner Tarquin.

But that's my parish.

Who ordained you a priest? - Monsignor Mignard.

Mignard? Mignard? He wasn't appointed by the Pope.

Therefore you are not a priest.

But I've baptised babies, absolved the dying.

And what became of them?

What became of them?

You who are nothing, you've sent them to hell.

But I who am I true priest,

I will not send you to join those wretches,

those damned by your error.

I'm going to absolve you and open the gates of heaven for you.

God's mercy is infinite. On your knees.

Go on!

[Praying in Latin]

Amen.

Kill him.

Kill him!

What have I done?

The will of God.

Ouch, ouch, ouch.

This is impossible, he must invent something better for me.

"Soap boats looted at Quai du Louvre."

"The King's garden re-named the Natural History Museum."

"Conspirators in Brittany, 12 sentenced to death".

"They played skittles with the heads of soldiers of the Republic."

Problems everywhere...

I'll wash it this evening.

Okay, okay! Get to your school now!

Go run around town.

Ask Jeanne or Vivianne.

Vivianne was up at 4am to make hay!

It's a good excuse.

Why have you abandoned the flying machine?

Because it's just me and I can't do everything!

What about the abbot?

The abbot belongs to a contemplative order.

Come on kids, chow time.

These bairns ought to be in school with me.

Yes, too true.

If they hadn't taken Yvon...

Yvon is fighting for the nation, happily.

You don't realise, he's a hero.

A thousand pardons, duchess!

Hey! He still won't talk?

In his place, I wouldn't talk either.

You know why?

I'm like him, I don't have a stash.

Run for it! The devils!

Oh! You want to give me your waistcoat?

Get down!

Come on, get up, form a line!

-1, 2, 3, 4. Step forward.

1, 2, 3, 4. You as well.

I said "shot"!

They might be deserters. - It doesn't matter.

Scum like them deserve the ultimate punishment.

We can't kill them all. We need soldiers.

You'll send them to Rennes, they'll be enrolled in the army.

The two picked at random will be shot as an example.

This won't win hearts and minds. - Whose? Yours?

You doubt my resolve?

Yes.

We're not here to be popular.

Our work is for future generations.

They'll understand, one day, and sing our praises.

And who are you?

I am a free man, born to hate kings...

to love only my equals, serve my nation,

to live by my labour,

adore slavery.

No, abhor.

Abhor slavery and respect the law.

Be seated.

Let's move on to vocabulary.

Certain words are banned. For example...

Place Royale has become?... - La place de la Révolution.

What do we call the royal prerogative? - The power of the executive.

Good.

And in the hives?

What?

How should the queen be called?

Well, you should say... the egg-layer bee.

Read it.

"Whoever aids...

brigands, deserters,

refractory priests

or emigrants,

all enemies of the Republic shall suffer..."

All enemies of the Republic shall suffer the same fate!

Sergeant.

Ready.

Aim.

Fire!

Yvon!

You murder Yvon, Grospierre's son?

A deserter who pillaged, raped and terrorised the region

and stabbed the Republic in the back.

Should I have pardoned him because we once played

Blindman's Bluff?

Strange form of Blindman's Bluff.

I well know that you can no longer love me.

On your knees.

On your knees, everyone.

We will say a mass for the eternal rest of the soul

of our son Yvon,

that he might give us the strength to combat evil.

Amen. - AMEN.

No, enough amens.

We're not going to carry on hearing mass in the woods like animals.

We're not going to bury our dead on the sly.

We're not going to see our children sent to the ends of the Earth

to die for a banner or a flag drenched in blood.

To defend what?

We no longer have a country, since we no longer have a king.

The king is dead, long live the king.

His son lives.

He's locked up in the Temple prison, with the queen.

Where is this prison?

In Paris.

I'm going there. - I'm going there too.

To Paris!

TO PARIS!

Long live Louis XVII!

My brothers,

you have become soldiers of the Catholic and Royalist army!

Distribute our emblem, the sacred heart of Christ.

The rest of you, tomorrow morning at cock's crow, you will be

on the road to Nantes.

Up and at them!

Follow me!

Fire at will!

Dogs! Attack!

Retreat! Everyone!

Fall back!

Hey there, dogs! Whoa! Heel!

Good boys.

Heel.

So, war has been declared?

Yes, marquise.

Who commands you?

No woman will lead us.

I didn't mean me. You'll find a commander among your lords.

We aren't fighting for lords.

The nobility have gone to ground.

Not all of them. The baron of Tiffauges has returned from the Vendée.

An ugly sort.

True enough, but he has brought migrants from England.

So what? - They've guns, ammunition.

Where? When?

At the Happy Sow Inn, at the port of Loctudy.

We're on our way. - Okay.

Come.

It's good to be back home.

That great smell of slime.

Keep your voice down. I don't want to be nabbed.

Bye now. Thanks and good luck.

"Aurèle, may I help you?" "No, please." "Let me."

Don't close up, I'm coming!

What's he up to, making that racket?

Hey! You all asleep inside?

Oh, it's Mr. Aurèle!

Shush.

I've come from America, via England.

Find me a carriage.

The woods are full of brigands.

I don't want to tarry here.

I don't trust those people.

Ah, you're not with them?

Them? They didn't leave their cabins after Falmouth.

The St James' branch will supply the boats.

You've come back simply so I can teach you a lesson?

Tiffauges, dear neighbour! As cheerful as always.

Come on, let's go.

Open, in the name of the law!

Here I am, citizens. Coming.

Watch out!

Arrest that maggot!

Grospierre, knock him out.

At once, marquise.

Ah, Grospierre! - Mr Aurèle!

He's even more handsome.

Come on everyone! To the convent!

Olympe, this is the last time you gain refuge here.

You'll get us arrested.

You know who I've brought?

A gang of looters who say they act for God and King.

And this one? Is he a brigand?

Sweet Jesus, my nephew! Always unexpected.

You haven't changed, eh?

Neither have you, auntie.

The bullets aren't the same calibre! Morons!

Well done, gentlemen!

I'm looking in vain for a bit of meat.

This isn't how I remember your refectory.

The Revolution took everything from us, land, people, priests.

We lack nutrition, but our souls have risen.

Not just souls...

The Chevalier de Charette marches on Nantes.

Cathelineau holds the Vendee bocage, La Roche St André advances.

The whole of Brittany will rise up

and join the Catholic army against the slut.

"The slut"?

He means the Republic, my love.

We're going to wipe it out.

She loves the people because she can't stifle them.

The people suffer.

They concern you, the people, my dear Olympe?

Not greatly. What about you, baron?

I hate the people.

We need him and the people need leaders,

big names to stir them.

I need you, Aurèle.

You have a plan? - Pardon?

You've returned. You have a plan?

Yes, obviously. - Praise the Lord.

I've come to find my wife.

I'm yours.

No. I mean Céline. - Céline?

What? Has she left? Has she left my father?

She's married?

Worse. - Explain!

She's a Republican. Ask your father.

How weak the flesh is, my Lord. Poor human nature.

I've sinned three times tonight. - With who, my son?

You're too nosy.

Grant me absolution, that's all.

Count sir, I wanted to suggest

fish pie for supper.

There's something in the air today,

I don't know what, I don't feel like working, Vivianne.

You tell me this every morning.

You go to confession, you let the bed go cold,

but you don't believe in God.

What about the regime?

Without ceremonies and without a regime, my little Vivianne,

what would become of us?

Beasts!

Excuse me, but your sister Mary of the Assumption is here.

Adelaïde, how splendid! Come in!

Savinien! Savinien!

I've something important to impart to you. Come and see.

Ah, my son! Ah, you're here at last!

Tell me about it. You look great!

Tell me about all your exploits!

I'm dying to hear about them!

Oh, oh! Come and see. Oh, come and see.

I've discovered the reason why

my flying machine doesn't fly as well as it should.

The air accumulates here

and when at speed, creates a depression

which... which...

Oh yes, of course, you don't care about my machine.

So, so? Sit down. How was America?

Tell me all about it! You've told me nothing.

You look splendid. So what's been going on?

Nothing so grand.

I've made a fortune, crossed the Mississipi,

killed some Indians.

We ate some of them. It wasn't bad.

Oh, what? Human flesh?

What a strange land.

Mr. Aurèle?

Oh, oh! Little Vivianne!

You'd be good to eat too... - That's enough.

No kiss for your old tutor?

Abbot!

Skin's still like a baby's. - I had a herring head for lunch.

We'll throw a party. A huge party, kiddos!

Vivianne, fetch us a pigeon.

You haven't married

a red-skin, by any chance? - Yes, from time to time.

Is this why you didn't write to Céline?

I've something to confess.

I tried to forget her,

but the more distance I put between us, the more she was in here.

Yes, I recognise the phenomenon.

Space, time,

it's all the same thing. - Where is she?

In town. Don't worry, she's waited for you.

What you weren't telling her, I made up.

Aren't you going to ask

about Tarquin? - Is he here?

He left then came back, like you.

Both of your lives are here. You can't escape me for long.

I'm difficult to forget.

The most innocent hand will water the tree of liberty.

Floréale.

# Liberty, sweet friend #

# For you we take up arms

# Our knives to make amend #

# Will protect your charms #

# Other lands comprehend #

# The force of our firearms. #

Aurèle? Aurèle?

Oh, you're here!

I was wounded, but by the flat of a sabre.

Okay. Get to the point.

A great deviless emerged out of the mist.

Who was she? - She was masked.

So were the others.

There was one with his face uncovered. He was laughing.

Who knows why? It was no laughing matter for us.

Citizen-commissioner,

here's the ordinance for the benches in the public garden.

The benches? What benches? - For the elderly.

Oh yes. Have them made of granite and put them under the willows.

He couldn't stop laughing,

you said? - Yes. You have some idea?

I believe so, yes.

You've only come back to jump my bones?

Among other things.

You roll in, snap your fingers and bingo.

I've crossed the Atlantic, weathered two storms,

was attacked when I landed, and you play hard-to-get?

Fine. Look at this...

I'm rich.

I'm rich.

You want to buy me?

Call it what you like.

For a 1000 years they've been buying wives in your family, not me.

What's come over you?

You leave for ages, and you ask me nothing.

What I've done doesn't interest you.

We never talked about big issues. We spent all our time laughing.

That's not so bad. - Have you understood nothing?

No.

No, I don't understand any of it.

I have a name, I powder myself, I dance, I hunt,

I despise gold, but have boxes of it,

I fuck, but I don't understand any of it.

The time for laughter is over.

"Laughter is over"?

Who's been giving you these ideas? What moron?

I'll have a word or two with him.

Extraordinary things have happened here,

here, in France, by extraordinary men.

Tarquin, for example.

You see a great deal of him?

Yes.

I'll tell my son to drop in to see you this afternoon.

I've been ordered to bring him back to town.

Ah, Aurèle!

It's Pierrot, the blacksmith's son, he wants to see you.

Hi, Pierrot!

Are you indeed Aurèle de Kerfadec?

Have you forgotten me?

No, Mr Aurèle, but I'm on official business.

There's a warrant in your name.

"You must justify being abroad for the last 4 years,

if you have conspired with emigrants and how you returned to France."

I've nothing needing justifying. - You can explain it to the tribunal.

Didn't you marry the Robic girl?

She was quite comely.

Not the one you had a tumble with, not the pretty one.

I married the cross-eyed one for a quiet life.

Ah, that Jeannette! Jeannette...

We never have a quiet life, Pierrot.

You must introduce me to her.

She's had two kids and is expecting a third.

Good.

Come on.

What's that? - An owl.

So? - It's not an owl, in the daytime.

What is it? - The Chouans.

Catch the horses!

Well?

Take their arms and ammunition.

Now do you understand?

You're mad. Mad!

Those poor guys!

They were taking you to the scaffold.

You're accused of joining the insurgents.

You're one of us.

No, I'm not with anyone.

Except Céline. You've come back for her, I know.

You're a cuckold.

She's seen everywhere with the commissioner,

that nice Tarquin, your buddy. You're a cuckold.

Cuckolded by a Republican,

a scribbler of laws.

Ludovic, your pistol.

Gentlemen, mount up. The chevalier is going to need us.

Where are you going?

To see Tarquin. - A summons?

Is he up here? - Yes.

You wanted to see me?

No need to send guards, here I am.

I've obtained your release.

Bravo, the incorruptible.

The first whore to cross your path gets a free pass.

Get out!

And now, between men.

What do you want?

I've been back two days, I've seen nothing but devastation.

Whose fault is that?

Priests and aristocrats ferment revolt. A royalist conspiracy.

There's no conspiracy, the people are desperate.

The peasants are looking for leadership and go back to their lords.

The people have rejected you.

I could raise my hat and the whole country would follow me.

I'm not going to humour you.

I know, there's no more time for laughter,

it's time for solemn discourse.

I've better things to do than argue with a man...

of your blood.

What's wrong with my blood?

It stinks?

Well, let's see how it flows, my blood,

right now!

I refuse.

Duels are out-of-date.

And if I slap your face, would that be out-of-date?

He's injured you? - It's nothing.

You two are beyond help.

Tarquin, you'll find the bodies of your guards

at the crossroads of Calvary.

Stop him!

What's up?

Excuse me, baron.

Long live the Marquis!

Long live the Marquis! - Ah, the good folk.

You haven't forgotten anything? My eau de Cologne, my sword?

I have everything. - What about my sponges?

I want my sponges.

We aren't bringing your husband?

He won't get in the way. He wants to be part of this war.

But really... - I can't refuse him this.

You've forgotten my sponges. - Oh no, no.

Come on, brace yourself, marquis.

Oh! My snuff is missing

Do you have any? - It's not Sunday.

- What's that got to do with it? - I only use it on Sunday after service.

However in these times...

It peps you up, as the saying goes.

Gentlemen, we're raising camp!

There's a price on Aurèle's head.

I'm to blame.

Indeed.

If my wife had run around with a Tarquin,

France would have been bled white.

When I get my hands on that scoundrel,

I'll enjoy plucking out his eyes one by one, for starters.

No, not his eyes. He must see what follows.

You can't even stand to see a rabbit shot.

Rabbit! How delicious.

Abbot, leave us.

Go to bed, Vivianne.

I shouldn't have believed what he wrote.

What, for instance?

"Tell Céline that here nature is vast,

with but one echo..."

Céline...

Céline.

The most beautiful echo, indeed."

You know it by heart?

Find his letters for me. Find all of them for me.

Okay.

Yes, I'll dig them out for you.

Riders approaching!

It's your son.

Oh, it's you? Is the Count there?

The insurrection against the Republic has been declared.

The countryside is in revolt.

They want you as commander.

I say no to war.

Father, everyone wants you. - One doesn't improvise a war.

The Vendée is in flames.

L'Ille-et-Vilaine, Morbihan will follow.

3 departments against 89.

Our poor Brittany against all France.

History is full of spontaneous uprisings.

Even your taking of the Bastille. - What do you mean, "my taking"?

That was on the right side of history!

Your cause is doomed.

Nobody's going to fight anymore to defend privilege.

Where are their privileges?

This is the first time you've ever cared about my rednecks!

Go play rooster with your Olympe!

You wouldn't be jealous?

Of her?

I don't think so.

Then of who, pray tell?

You know very well.

I will be your captain.

Long live General de Kerfadec!

General?

Why not?

Long live the general!

Long live General de Kerfadec!

Come in, you'll spend the whole night coughing again.

I was going to tell you...

Aurèle's letters...

I know.

You wrote them.

Not on the landing.

For God and for the King!

The Chouans?

Yes. They have blockaded the town.

They seize our food, no more flour, no more vegetables.

They have to starve the towns too?

Oh, just some brigandage, citizen-commissioner.

And end up like the Vendée!

I won't tolerate any sedition, not in my district!

Paris bombards me with dispatches, Paris blames me,

and Paris is right.

Right, I'm going to Rennes to get the army.

An escort, commissioner?

I'll go alone.

I picked some mushrooms this morning.

Ceps and chanterelles, Céline's favourites,

with a hint of garlic.

Typically French, tables of laws become the laws of the table.

I need a horse.

Did you hear me? - Yes, yes.

I've brushed the spiders off my machine,

I've repaired the left wing that I broke,

I've adjusted the rear tread.

Céline was right.

How could I have known my horses would be taken?

This is why I said I need a horse.

The horses I requisitioned were taken by your son.

He's raised the countryside against me, thanks to your name.

Order could yet be restored.

And quickly. And down to you.

You've always given me good advice.

I'll hear you out.

Open the church, let them hear mass undisturbed.

A mass has never hurt anyone.

Look at me, every time I went to church

I dozed off contentedly.

And there and then, Tarquin, the dreams came.

It was there that I found the principle of the angels, flight!

I'll admit that.

Order a pause in recruitment.

Postpone it until October.

The earth needs men, but living men,

instead of being fattened by the casualties of war.

You sound like Céline.

Céline has her feet on the ground. - Oh yes, I know.

She'll make me nice mushroom dishes.

She'll bring my armchair, read me 'Cyrano de Bergerac'.

A great man.

On Sunday, we'll bring you cakes with the children.

I couldn't ask for more.

You taught me life must progress!

Doubt the mundane, break the hum-drum, rise up!

Fly above the others.

You would make me insipid

when I should be the salt of the earth.

You want me to go to sleep,

you, Count!

You picked the wrong guy.

The war for liberty must be fought with rage!

You want terror? - I want strength and I'll have it!

You want

to rule over sheep! Why?

Your so-called equality, your vision of happiness,

is to see us hanging next to each other

from butchers' hooks!

And you claim to have a monopoly over the grand emotions.

Ah, poor Revolution, cover your face,

Mr. Tarquin shows us his true nature!

How dare you!

Your true nature!

Go on then.

Death is my friend.

Well, sir...

we are not alike.

Go get your army.

It'll be here tomorrow.

It's a tragedy.

Smell.

Lovely. - You love it?

It's the putrid odour of a world that's finished.

I want no more talk of mushrooms!

No more talk of cuddles, of self-indulgence,

of women who want me and think of someone else

in the same instant.

I fight from higher motives.

Aurèle de Kerfadec is the brigands' leader.

I must cut him out like a gangrene that eats away at the people,

and not like a bed rival.

"A bed rival"?

How you despise love, how you belittle it.

I'm going to obliterate your Kerfadec, and as you won't look at me again,

I prefer to say goodbye now.

You won't see me again.

This can't be.

You could have made a less strange man happy.

Who can pierce his heart?

I will dance with the victor all night.

I didn't learn that from the redskins, Kerfadec.

Give me your other hand, marquise.

Your first defeat, general.

Olympe is yours... baron.

I take your orders, not your gifts.

Well then, tonight, I will be faithful to my husband.

Your bronchial tubes again. - It was my reflection coughing.

With this cold water!

I've always washed naked and it's never done me any harm.

I bet he's still chasing after my wife, the bastard.

He doesn't get that it's me she loves.

How can one deceive a man of our age?

Indeed.

Hold the candle for me.

Whoa!

My brothers, I promised you a mass

for our young king suffering in prison.

This will not be a regular mass.

His Excellency, monseigneur de Guérande, Charles,

our only archbishop.

Please, monsignor.

First company to stand guard.

The canteen at the base of the fountain.

Serve hot soup to all the men.

General, the commissioner of the Republic is asking for you.

4 days.

Monsignor de Guérande?

At the ruins of Strevaz? And they're all there?

All of them. Those of Kercambre, of Mariaquer, of Orgastel and of Armor.

Why should I believe you, you lackey of St Gildas?

For 40 years he's ignored my wife, he doesn't recognise my daughters,

I've emptied his chamber pots. I can't take it any more!

What a night.

I could do with a drop of schnaps, citizen-commissioner.

The Chouans are 4 leagues away.

Fuck. - Let's attack them before noon.

Throw everything at them, general. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

We'll squelch them like rats.

Come on!

Don't be reckless, Céline. I'm answerable for the whole town.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, amen.

Anytime you want, citizen-commissioner.

Attention!

Oh no!

Oh no!

No! No!

Another one who won't mock us to our faces.

The Blues! The Blues are here!

The Chouans, they're all there in town.

They've murdered? Raped? Pillaged? - They're saying mass in church.

But how did they do this? We take one step, and they know it.

News flies faster than the wind.

The wind?

The windmills, the windmills!

They send messages via the windmills, these scum.

It's how they signal, like in the Vendée.

These windmills must be destroyed.

We need a cannon.

I'll get one from Rennes. - No, immediately.

Fire!

You have to push, father.

Yes, baron. We have the kidneys for it.

There they are! No more than 30 men.

Le Guélec, take your men and go down there.

Don't fire until I order!

Okay. We'll uncouple the cannon, there's room before the cliff

Don't just stand there. Go and get it, damn it!

Come on!

Open fire!

Tiffauges!

Bastard! What about my orders?

I don't give a damn!

I'd like to put a bullet in you.

If you have the time, General!

You know what Lavoisier wrote in his submission to the Academy?

"Man is nothing but a mass of solidified gas".

What about the soul?

A feather or of lead. It depends.

Tonight, mine's lead.

Answer that, Vivianne.

It's Mr. Aurèle.

What do you want?

To greet mother.

War is putrid.

I admire you, father.

You're above it all.

Above sentiment, caresses, blows.

What are you gibbering about?

You've found the solution.

You live with a portrait.

The most exquisite of wives.

No danger she'll cheat on you.

And she's always 20.

Sometimes she bothers me.

She changes.

She's not always the same.

She's not always the Countess?

What shall we call her today?

You, Vivianne.

But sometimes she's Antoinette or Rose.

Or Céline.

What's Céline done to you?

She sleeps with someone else.

You had the good fortune to meet your woman in your cradle,

and you let her slip away.

Why didn't you keep her?

Have you seen me?

I'm an old carcass.

I don't find you so.

You too, Vivianne, you'll find a man

and you'll escape me.

All my loves escape me.

I wanted Céline to know only one love.

Too late for that.

Go and fight in the name of God, or the people, or the king,

or liberty, or the Lord knows what.

I don't care.

I'm fighting because of her.

Then tell her that!

How?

Write to her, this once!

Come on! Write!

There!

"Céline..."

Comma.

"The great movements in history have been driven by...

a mad love...

for a particular creature."

Full stop.

"Empires have been conquered

for a woman, for an ephebe.

To each his own.

People have written, painted, sculpted, played the violin

to win a heart or gain revenge.

People have been sacrificed

for a single creature..."

Underline it there.

"....sometimes even just for their memory"

You take it from there...

I don't have the constancy of those great conquerors.

I renounce this war

that doesn't seem amusing to me, all of a sudden.

All I want is the sun,

women's smiles, horse-racing,

to jump in the sea, to play tennis,

and to fall asleep exhausted.

Just to be a feather in the wind, Céline.

And then suddenly, I was made a general.

I accepted, I must admit.

I discovered power and hot blood on my hands.

I hate blood.

My father was right,

despite our recent victories, our cause is hopeless.

The future, however it works out, is on your side.

All that remains is for me to offer you my life.

I will be alone and unarmed at the Calvary of Blessed Souls.

You can have me arrested there, or come alone.

Aurèle.

Post Scriptum,

I will die remembering how we laughed making love.

The orders will be executed with all necessary zeal.

Anyone refusing to hand over brigands

will be considered a suspect.

All suspects will be tried within 24 hours

and if found guilty, executed immediately.

We will turn the West into a great national cemetery.

If the survival of the Republic requires the death of half of France,

we will put them to the sword.

If those were only words...

The Chouans want peace.

The Chouans?

Yes, their general.

Your hand is cold. - It's you who's burning up.

What's the matter?

I'm scared. - Scared? You?

I know I'll die young.

At the hand of those I want to save.

However, I am one of those changes the world.

Rapid action is essential,

to extirpate from the soul of the people a 1000 years of servitude.

They must be forced to hate indifference.

Happiness can only be imposed by the spilling of blood.

That blood will eventually drown you.

I have made my life a sacrifice,

even my reputation.

We won't be forgiven.

Even by you. Even you will betray me.

You doubt me?

Everyone.

Yet you're the only happiness I've ever known.

Moments so powerful that...

What? Speak up.

I want to die with you.

You are crazy.

If we died together, we'd be united forever.

Oh, Céline!

Where are you going?

I'm going to find Aurèle,

because he is life and you are death!

Be quick.

"I'll die remembering how we laughed making love."

Céline will come or she won't come, but if she comes

she'll come alone.

I'm not so sure.

Aurèle, save yourself!

Shoot him down!

Search the farm and the château. Bring me the Count de Kerfadec.

Open up!

What's this all about? - Move it!

Careful, please. - Stay there, abbot.

Where's Kerfadec? Your husband is with the Chouans.

Well then, you know more than me.

Are these your children? - Yes.

Did you see your father yesterday? - Yes, I saw him.

Do you know where he is? - No, sir.

The phrase is: "No, citizen." Do you know where he's hiding?

Where is their lair?

I know how he'd answer. - Tell me..

Long live the king! - Long live the king!

Right. Seize them! Seize them!

We'll make you talk!

Platoon!

But this is madness.

Attention!

Ready!

Aim!

Fire!

Stop!

I'll tell you where you can find my man.

He's on the Isle of Pleumeur.

Put on her best dress.

She no longer has one, Count.

Go to my wife's wardrobe.

Fetch her wedding dress,

the one that's dearest to me,

the only one that's fitting.

They killed Vivianne and my mother told them everything.

They've gone to kill them on the island.

I'm going there. - What use will that serve, eh?

It's too late. - Probably, but I must go.

In less than an hour, the causeway will be clear.

We'll get them like rats.

The 16 piece armed, 38 elevation.

The 12 piece!

The 15 piece!

The 6 piece!

Halt, who goes there!

Don't shoot!

Don't shoot, Loïc. It's me!

Take to the sea from the other side!

We're surrounded. The cannon, Patrick!

What about me? - You're going.

I'm staying with you. - No, I want to be alone!

Stay!

Stay! We'll fight back!

With just four guns? Are you insane?

Our bodies are blessed. Bullets cannot hurt us.

Forward!

Le Rouzic!

[Reciting prayer in Latin.]

Oh, the fools.

Artillerymen, ready!

Open fire!

Fall back!

A great victory, citizen-commissioner.

We can all get drunk.

You call this a victory?

What more do you want? - Their leader, Aurèle de Kerfadec.

Leader of what? Of an army of corpses?

We don't give a shit about de Kerfadec.

Not me.

Where's my son?

I don't know, but I'll find out. He's not dead, I'm certain.

Count, tell him to give himself up, otherwise...

Otherwise?

20 heads will fall every day.

Oh, it's great.

Oh, it's splendid, virtue.

I'm making war! - You liar!

The real reason you try to conceal, but I'll tell you what it is...

It's because you can't possess this woman.

I raised you like a son, but now

I pity you.

I pity you.

And I hate myself!

Come on. I want a word with you.

No.

Leave us.

I'm not abandoning you.

I will rejoin you.

Citizens!

The revolutionary tribunal sentences to death these citizens

Olympe de St Gildas,

Adélaïde de Kerfadec, abbess,

Citizens Lahire, Grandchamp,

Chézé,

Le Brez, Kerjoie,

Tallec, Brémont...

I said Brémont!

The sentence will be executed immediately.

I have something to tell citizen Tarquin.

Look at this, citizen-commissioner.

I've been waiting for you

Get back!

Count, over here!

Aurèle...

it's good that you've come.

It's good.

I knew you'd come,

my brother.

Yes, your brother.

Céline is going to be executed on Sunday.

I can do nothing for her, but you...

Where is she?

In... in Fort de la Penthièvre.

Rescue her.

Aurèle...

long live life!

Come with me, abbot.

Céline.

Abbot!

My child! There, there.

Leave it.

Go on.

Céline?

Aurèle?

Stand back.

I'm blowing the door.

Alert! Alert! Alert!

Alert! Alert!

Get on the ramparts!

They mustn't pass!

They're up there! - Open fire!

Use the back route!

No, no, the main gate! Hurry, hurry!

Get on board, godfather!

I designed this contraption for two, not for three!

They're all yours, America!