Last Valley, The (1971) Movie Script
Go away, we don't want beggars here.
I'm not a beggar, I'll pay...
for food and lodging for the night.
If you want to pay,
give me seeds or new tools...
give me a horse,
raise my sons from the dead...
or stop this stinking war.
Go away or we'll drive you away.
I'll work or write letters...
or tell you about
the places I've seen, anything.
I need only a little food.
Can't you see we are starving? Go away.
Live, die. What difference does it make?
Jesus has forsaken us. Go away.
Plague.
Where are the others?
I don't know, I came here alone.
Not a soul, Captain, except this bastard.
Where are your friends?
And where are your cattle?
Wake him up.
I don't know.
I came here alone this morning after food.
I've never seen this valley before.
That won't do. Speak fast.
I lost patience 12 years ago.
Two ears are better than 40, Captain.
You can't bargain with me.
I can crush you and your village
like a bedbug.
That's what I want to talk to you about.
Break open every house.
Gather all we can use in that barn...
nothing in your own saddlebags.
We'll round up the peasants...
and fire the village at leisure.
Korski, over there. You, come with me.
I don't like secrets.
You can come, too, Korski.
Well?
There's famine all over Germany...
plague, pestilence, even now...
and winter's coming.
In 10, 20 years,
have you seen a richer valley?
I don't answer questions.
Take their grain and cattle,
and they starve this winter.
I'm tiring of you. Come to your point.
I'm there now, Captain.
Take all this food back to your army,
and down it goes into a thousand stomachs.
Why such waste?
Winter here, occupy the valley.
What?
Winter here.
Live while your army dies.
You'll never get another chance like this.
Is this scum asking us to desert?
Is that it?
A soldier has no future and no past...
and a full belly covers the present.
You talk too much, and not like a peasant.
What are you? A stinking priest?
I don't know which side you're on, Captain.
But I'll wager half your men don't care.
What of those who do care?
Get rid of them.
Good ideas are rare these days.
Very rare.
You are a priest on the run?
No, I was a teacher.
- What's your name?
- Vogel. Yours?
Captain. Where are you from?
From nowhere, everywhere, Captain.
Yes, I have almost forgotten...
where I was born, also.
You have fever?
No, it's nothing.
Didn't you say, "Get rid of them"?
Yes, but it was so sudden.
And clean.
One moment alive, one moment dead.
You philosophers are such hypocrites.
I only do what is necessary.
No more.
If to kill is necessary,
I do it without conscience.
Now, make peace
with whatever God you worship.
Peasants hate soldiers, Captain.
Soldiers hate peasants.
I'm not a soldier or a peasant.
I could speak to them
just as I can speak to you.
I can help.
You'll need help. I'll be very useful.
I'll give you two days to prove it.
No more looting, Captain?
No.
We eat the place at leisure
and drink it dry by spring.
Spring?
We'll eat while the army starves.
By the Madonna,
I'd give my life for a winter of peace...
with good food, decent women,
and maybe no killing.
Where's Korski?
Where else would Korski be, but on watch?
We found the valley, other patrols could.
Ours, or enemy.
That's right, Captain.
What about our women?
Yes, I have a wife and family back there.
What about the army and the baggage train?
Listen to Hansen...
plenty of women
where there's plenty of food?
Has it ever been different?
And isn't one as good as another?
But we've been winning all year.
How much pay we got?
Not a god-rotting pfennig.
I say we stay. It's a good valley. A miracle.
I say it stinks of Satan.
You stink of Satan.
How else could it be like this?
Perhaps we've been led
into the Promised Land, Eskesen.
Then it's agreed?
- Yes.
- No.
I've got a woman back there.
First, I want to hear what Korski says.
Korski will know what's right.
Graf, take him to join Korski.
Yes, Captain. Come on.
Move.
Remember, be careful
as you circle and hide.
This ambush must be perfect,
and no killing.
But what about that, Captain?
It stays. Untouched.
But we burn all churches on raids.
That's your rule.
Yes, but this time, we must bend the rule.
Catholic or Protestant,
it would make no difference.
This time, we need the peasants to work.
That church must be an exception.
The exception.
But it stinks of Satan.
It's the breeding place of evil.
So it will burn.
Stop him.
Get away, or you'll join Shutz and Korski.
Lord Jesus, help me to strike down
Thine enemies.
Papist scum!
The church stays.
Anti-Christ.
Devil worshipper.
Ours is the true faith, by God,
you Protestant heretic.
Blasphemer!
Death to the anti-Christ!
Make your peace with your God.
Mercy, Captain.
Our first rule...
is no religious quarrels among ourselves.
He who breaks it is a dead man.
Let him also be an exception.
The exception.
Let the church stay, but let him
and the Protestants build another church.
Yes, give him quarter.
Let one man escape that rule...
and we'll all be dead by sundown.
You all swore holy oaths to fight as a unit...
and sell your skill to the winner,
whatever their religion.
Protestants may build if they wish
without hindrance.
Vornez, Geddes, Tub...
burn him along with the others.
We want no plague here.
- Go on. Run along.
- Yes, Inge.
Go to your homes. Go.
Vornez!
I said no killing.
Who will speak for all of you?
- Here, you.
- Fetch Gruber.
It should be Gruber.
Where is he?
Captain...
let him take me to Gruber.
I'll speak to him for you, if you wish.
And then you'll come back? Like a lamb.
Within the hour,
or you'll go after him, Hansen.
You and Pirelli.
You take him to Gruber.
You can all...
You can all go to your homes.
You are safe for the moment.
Why not kill us all now and be done with it?
- Butchers!
- You're young, so you're impatient.
Be patient, puppy. Wait your turn to die.
What is your name?
Erica Torfield.
Which is your husband?
Why trust him?
I trust no one.
My name is Vogel.
I bring a message from the Captain.
I persuaded them
to let me come alone with him.
- There's about 20 of them.
- That can wait.
Do you have pains in your throat,
in your chest?
Is it hard to swallow?
He has plague?
The Captain undertakes to protect
your village from all other soldiers...
on condition that he and his men
be well-billeted for the winter.
The power of Jesus Christ
and Our Lady of the Shrine protects us.
We don't need any soldiers here.
The Captain is a reasonable man.
If you accept, nothing will be looted.
Your women won't be tampered with.
No one will be hurt.
If not, your valley will die.
Enough talk.
If the Captain will keep discipline, I agree.
What has changed that we need soldiers?
The soldiers are here, Father.
That's what has changed.
Our Lady of the Shrine will rid us of them.
In good time, Father, in good time.
Is he unclean?
I have plague?
Do you think you'd be here,
or us watching if you had?
You're sure?
You have had a palsy. You're safe now.
Drink some more, it will help you get better.
I had terrible dreams.
You talked in your sleep.
You seemed to be talking
to Holy Father, to God.
I can't remember. I dreamed that I was dead.
You would have been
if it wasn't for my mother and Erica.
They brought you here.
We've looked after you for two days.
I feel born again. Thank you.
Your clothes are filthy.
We're going to wash them.
Why are you so kind to me?
Because we think you're worth caring about.
Thank you.
And the village?
All is peaceful?
No!
We're soldiers, by God. We take what
we want, and to hell with the rest.
That's what we've always done.
The next time you oppose me, Hansen...
I will slit your tongue.
The penalty for rape...
will be public castration.
And for looting?
What is your pleasure, Father?
Blinding.
How else do we protect our homes,
if not by fear?
Very well.
For Catholics, blinding.
For the rest, 100 lashes...
all provided my men
have women of their own.
There are two or three widows
who might be prepared to be visited...
Eight.
Or perhaps two dozen
will become widows by sundown.
Four, then.
Six, and they had better be worthy...
and the place worthy.
And you, Father...
you will give them
public blessing for their penance.
I obey God's orders, not your orders.
Of course, but why not sell them...
your holy indulgence...
a total remission for past and future sins...
which you could pay for?
Six. Widowed, married, or unmarried.
You have two days.
What are you doing here?
I was treating someone
who was sick, Father.
You said to treat all without favor.
I asked her to see him, Father.
It was just Christian charity.
Good night, Erica. Thank you.
So the philosopher is risen from the dead.
He was ready to die, he should have died.
Why wasn't I told that he was here?
Perhaps they didn't want my soup poisoned.
What are you, Lutheran Protestant,
Calvin Protestant...
blasphemous Anabaptist,
heathen Satan worshipper?
That's unimportant.
I have all those among my men and worse.
I even have Catholics, Father...
which brings me to the shrine near the pass.
Our Lady of the Shrine has guarded
the valley for centuries.
Many of my men think
that shrines are blasphemous idols...
that should be torn apart
and stamped into oblivion.
Touch the shrine...
and you will burn in hellfire for all eternity...
- and your entrails will be eaten with worms.
- The pox on hellfire!
That shrine is pointing at the village
like a finger.
Touch one stone...
and God will smite you.
But before that, we will rise up.
We will rise up...
and stamp you to oblivion.
How have you survived so long?
For almost six months of the year,
from the first snows...
the road is blocked, we are safe.
These mountains are cruel,
the country stripped bare.
Few come this way.
How he got in, only God knows.
So, where could the shrine be moved to?
Stay here. Vogel.
Here, beside the rock.
Good. Very good.
We keep our lookout up there.
A lookout is enough if your plan is to hide.
We fight for our valley.
Captain...
don't move the shrine. It saved the valley.
A shrine is still a shrine 30 paces off.
Other villages had mountains
and false trails and clever leaders...
but that didn't save them.
Other villages had shrines.
Hurry.
In your name...
Holy Mother, in your name.
I'm sick of this pig-swill.
By the blood of Christ, Korski'd never let
these stink-pest scum run over him.
Korski'd be king.
Not a weak-gutted lackey.
Korski's dead.
Yes, I'm sorry I let him die.
Sorry I sided with the Captain.
- I'm as good a soldier as him.
- You're wrong.
Korski was a turd.
Be patient.
This Captain's clever and strong.
The best I ever served with...
and we get the women tomorrow.
We'll get bags. The pox on this place.
There's good women in the camp, wine,
dice and good times, and loot to be had.
I've a kid back there. Who'll look after him?
He'll be there next spring.
If not, you can make another.
You know, they say that
the plague's taken 10,000 men already.
We're blessed with luck to be here.
I'm for staying a week.
Take what we want and the hell with it.
- Sorry, Father, I'm late.
- Next time you're late, no food.
Yes, Father.
Good.
They say you can read and write.
I studied at the university in Heidelberg.
Then I taught there. The town was sacked.
Your family were
burghers there? Shopkeepers?
No, at Magdeburg.
I envy you, seeing so many places
and knowing so much.
You needn't.
Before I was your age, I had seen two
brothers murdered, and one dead of plague.
Sit down.
It's years since I've seen bread so rich.
The harvest was good.
Our Lady is pleased for us to share it.
How do you earn your daily bread?
Work. Any form of work except soldiering.
I can paint a little...
I can teach writing, history, mathematics.
I can speak Spanish, Italian, French.
Father Sebastian teaches here.
The Holy Word.
We've no need for writing
or the other nonsense.
Works of the devil.
Why did you lead the soldiers here?
I didn't.
I was trying to get away...
from all soldiers.
Some men are good luck, some bad.
You are bad luck.
- Your soldiers will kill our valley.
- No. Not if everyone works.
Peasants, landowners, and soldiers.
You are a fool as well as bad luck.
Tonight, you are alive
enjoying the fat of the land.
Bless your luck.
Our Lady protects us, not luck.
Here, Vogel, eat.
Then tell us about the Holy City.
Father, Vogel was there when he was young.
Once, he saw a real pope
and the whole city's gold and the cathedral.
Your pardon, Meister Hoffman.
But, is it true about Inge?
Yes. Come, sit down.
Eat with us, share our joy.
Vogel is going to tell us about the Holy City.
But, it was always planned
that we would be married some day.
Eternal salvation is better
than earthly happiness, boy.
Sit down.
Salvation?
I'm to be one of the women for the soldiers.
If you were going to be a nun, to serve God,
then I could understand.
But this, it's not right.
It's whoring.
Has Satan put a spell on you?
You heard what Father Sebastian said:
"Their suffering would save the village
just as Christ's suffering saved the world."
Yes, I heard him.
But that doesn't make him right.
He's not right!
Get out of my house!
You offered her?
They are to get a holy indulgence.
Gruber is paying for it.
If he pays the church in land,
of course it is right.
What father would not want
eternal salvation for his daughter?
Captain, can I speak to you?
It's about Inge, Hoffman's daughter.
Refuse her, accept another in her place.
- You want to take away her salvation?
- No.
Gruber has agreed
that the shrine should be moved.
- What is your counsel?
- Don't touch it.
The priest doesn't agree.
Gruber is our only guarantee
of peace with the peasants.
They are all frightened of him,
all in debt to him.
What Gruber says must be done, is done.
No one can control this valley as he can.
No one is rich enough or shrewd enough...
or has his courage.
It is not wise to make an enemy of Gruber.
Or you.
Or Graf, Hansen, Hoffman,
the list is endless.
Gruber was right.
We need the counsel of clever men.
From tomorrow, you are appointed judge...
between soldier and peasant for all cases.
I'm the last person to do that.
I've no authority over anyone.
Gruber agrees
that you are the perfect political choice.
We will both back you.
I'll be hated by everybody
and blamed by both sides.
A few days ago, life was impossible.
Now you want it to be easy.
I want a rest. Time.
You're on borrowed time now, Judge.
So is the village, the whole valley.
It's all doomed.
And the girl?
She is trouble.
So are you.
The Captain wants you.
You'll protect me?
I could kill him easily.
But that would destroy our world.
Only he keeps them
from falling on us like wolves.
Then kill them all while they sleep.
We haven't the weapons.
There's too many, they're too clever.
Some patrol while others sleep.
Then put hemlock in their food.
Perhaps.
But not yet, not until the snows.
Why?
They found us, so others can.
We need them to protect us.
Open the door.
Open it.
She will not be one of the women
for the soldiers.
Of course. The others are for my men.
It is a pity that you are involved with her.
However, you are involved.
How do we decide this?
Dice. Fetch them, Erica.
If I win, you'll leave her alone
and protect her from your men.
- Agreed.
- Three throws.
Highest score.
If equal,
one more throw until there is a loser.
If you lose...
you accept that she is mine?
Agreed.
Seven.
Seven and nine are sixteen.
Ten and three are thirteen.
Sixteen and six make twenty-two.
What do the dice read, Erica?
Six and five.
Bar the door.
Father! Quickly!
What happened to your face?
There were some feathers flying last night,
little bird.
We get the women at sunset.
That'll put an end to the violence.
- Who's that?
- Pirelli.
He truly thinks
he's got the voice of an angel.
Father, the Captain's
moving the shrine! Quickly.
The Captain's moving the shrine.
That priest.
This way leads out of the valley.
No one is to leave.
I'm going to the shrine.
You're going back to the village,
black beetle.
Leave it.
Stop, in God's name.
Run.
Stop him.
The next time,
your head leaves your shoulders.
- I'll get them.
- Leave them. They're only fools.
Take this man to the Captain.
Martyrdom is not as useful
as you think, Father.
Christ saved the world by suffering.
And was it necessary?
You blaspheme.
No. The politicians put him to death.
How many men do you think
should die for the shrine?
We're not concerned for the shrine,
for its own sake...
but because it's a symbol of faith.
Beg God's forgiveness.
Does 30 paces make such a difference
to a whole faith?
Yes. And you were warned.
We have not harmed the shrine.
It is exact, stone by stone.
You were warned. Confess your sins.
Prepare for hellfire and God's wrath.
And the devil's.
Any shrine in this world
is a shrine to the devil.
Priests are better on their knees,
in the god-poxed holy dirt.
Idol worshipper.
He's a priest. So he worships nothing.
Can I slit his throat now?
Captain, quick.
They're moving the shrine.
Better cut around them. Too many to stop.
We'll talk. We did what was necessary,
and peasants understand necessity.
Get ready.
Kill Pirelli, Hansen, and Vornez first...
and watch out for that devil's whelp, Julio.
We can cut around and get the horses.
No time. We have the advantage.
You talk. I'll see that he doesn't.
No.
Father...
you will talk on my behalf...
or make your peace with your God
for you and them.
There will be no quarter,
not for man, woman, nor child.
And you will be castrated
before I hack off your feet.
Did they touch the shrine, Father?
Don't be afraid, Father. We are soldiers
of Christ. We will protect you.
Did they touch the shrine?
Yes!
Our Lady has been taken to another place.
You're all going to die...
and Satan walks the earth.
The shrine has not been harmed.
Listen, give thanks to Our Lady.
She protected us again.
Our Lady has protected
our valley for centuries.
We all know that.
But that didn't prevent you
from digging up the track...
nor planting forests,
nor visiting her shrine by a hundred paths...
nor hiding when soldiers came...
nor concealing your fowl,
and cattle, and horses...
nor keeping lookouts at the pass.
I am a Catholic, too.
I had a dream last night.
I dreamed...
that I was near the shrine...
and a regiment of soldiers
came riding up under a full moon.
There was a sprinkling of snow
on the ground.
They were huge and evil...
and they looked towards the shrine.
But as they looked...
the shrine vanished.
So the soldiers went their way
back to Rheinfelden...
and never came back.
By hiding herself,
Our Lady had hidden the village.
I am glad the Captain has moved
Our Lady of the Shrine.
Isn't that what the dream said to do?
You wouldn't defy a dream, would you?
You're lying.
He never had a dream.
Go to the shrine. See for yourselves.
Is he telling the truth, Father,
about the dream?
I don't know.
Do we go to the shrine?
Do we go to the shrine, Father?
Where is there to go?
Pirelli, lead the way.
You are not to be one of the women
for my men.
- She's the one I want.
- You can't have her.
You wanted to see me?
Did you really dream that dream?
What's real, and what isn't?
Once, I thought I knew.
Now I know I don't.
The true church is real.
God is real, and Satan is real.
That we're all going to die soon
and face judgment is real.
Before God, did you tell the truth?
Before God, what is the truth?
That millions are dead and more will die...
because the Pope wars
on the Catholic Emperor...
who wars on the Catholic King of France,
who wars on the Catholic King of Spain...
who wars on Catholic Germany...
all helped by Protestants.
Helped by a hundred other princes,
kings, and bishops...
all for their own rotten purposes.
Nothing is simple.
Nothing except faith in God.
You ask questions only God can answer.
God is an excuse that's used too often.
You blaspheme.
Life exists because of a divine pattern.
You must have faith and believe...
or you will cast your immortal soul
into the pit.
Look at your own soul, priest.
I do. And I look to those in the valley.
All of them.
I am the shepherd of this flock.
Since you came here,
Satan has walked aboard.
I feel it.
But soon, Our Lady will give me a sign...
and then I will know what to do.
Very pretty.
That's mine.
This valley is so peaceful.
It would be easy to become possessed by it.
Does it make you feel
in the presence of God, Captain?
Don't talk to me of God.
We killed God at Magdeburg.
We laid that city flat...
butchered men, women, and children...
20,000, 30,000.
And then we burned the lot.
- Why?
- Vengeance.
You know,
that was vengeance for one of our cities...
which was vengeance
for one of their towns...
for one of our villages,
for one of their hamlets...
which was probably destroyed
in the first place...
to give some fat little princeling...
a better view of the Rhine.
Magdeburg is that simple.
My family were there.
My father, mother...
my wife, and my son.
Then they have been dead for 12 long years.
We all have things we would like to forget.
Magdeburg is mine.
What is yours, Vogel?
Gruber.
Good.
He'll wish he stayed in the mountains.
Captain, the shrine is settled.
The women, well, that's settled.
Leave the valley in peace for a while.
If I do that, he'll gain the initiative.
Does that matter?
It matters very much,
because then he will kill us.
Captain, I've been to the road.
There are fresh tracks, many horses.
I know.
Tomorrow, we search
the village very thoroughly...
for secret hoards of food.
Soldiers. They do nothing but loot,
and are never satisfied.
Gold, silver, and jewelry, you keep.
But the food we put in a common store
and guard it.
If the food is to be in one store,
better the soldiers are, too.
- I'll find a big enough house.
- Better leave them where they are.
Then any trouble will be small.
Yes, very wise.
So.
No!
Please not here! Please, Hansen.
The next time I see you, Vogel,
I'll tear out your eyes.
Captain?
It's me, Hansen.
There's trouble.
Vogel's got the Hoffman girl
up at the shrine. He's raped her.
Graf told me to fetch you.
Don't.
Who is with you, Hansen?
No one, Captain.
Hurry!
Claus, come on!
Captain, are you all right?
Captain, are you all right? It's Graf.
- It was Hansen. Who was with him?
- They were too far off. I don't know.
Get them. Alive if you can.
Geddes, Tub, Czeraki, go with him.
There's nothing to say, is there?
Yes, you're safe.
You are safe, and you're not hurt, Inge.
You'll marry Andreas and live in peace.
No, I won't do that.
Thank you.
You must go home now.
How do I know that is the truth?
She's told you,
and I've told you a dozen times.
- Father, it wasn't Vogel.
- Shut up!
She wouldn't lie.
She's never told a lie in her whole life.
She may be protecting him now.
It would not be the first time a girl did that.
Maybe he's put a spell on her.
You are a sorcerer.
That explains everything.
No. But you are a bigot
and a god-cursed witch-hunter.
Satan.
But you do conjure up dreams.
- Why did you follow her? Why?
- Satan.
We caught him just outside the village.
He attacked Inge.
- I heard.
- It's witchcraft.
- He led the soldiers here, and now...
- Be silent.
Before God, did this man attack you?
No, Father.
- Before God, has he lain with you?
- No, Father.
- Swear by Our Lady.
- I swear by Our Lady.
May I burn in hellfire forever. It was Hansen.
Vogel stopped him.
She tells the truth.
It was Hansen.
This matter is ended.
"Bear not false witness
against thy neighbor."
I did not, Father. I was mistaken, I'm sorry.
As a penance,
you will eat no meat for three months.
And you will give a generous gift
to Our Lady.
You will sweep out the church daily,
and you will feed Vogel as one of your own.
Beg God's forgiveness.
Only the guilty need fear His wrath.
What are you doing?
Playing a game.
You're not his real father, are you?
We lost them, Captain.
We followed them for miles
down into the valley.
Then we lost their trail.
How many will Hansen tell?
About us and the valley?
Enough for an effective attack.
If he tells too many...
he'll have his throat cut
and the valley stolen from him.
How many?
There are 17 of us.
He'll bring 30. Experts.
What's your plan?
This battle is very simple.
To win, Hansen must kill me.
Then my men will join him.
For us to win, we must stamp them out.
All of them.
So, I am the bait for the trap.
Good. Get it covered and hidden.
Yes, Captain.
Get it covered.
Come on, hurry up.
Satan, lord of light, kill Hansen.
Kill him as I destroy his likeness.
Kill him and the others
before they tell about our valley.
Tell me...
what do you think of witchcraft?
Both religions burn witches, Captain.
Catholics, Protestants.
Luther was violent against them.
Calvin equally.
Why?
Can witches cast spells?
My sister was accused of witchcraft,
by whom we never knew.
She confessed that the devil was her lover
and came to her bed every night.
She was 6 years old.
Her trial was legal.
The unspeakable things they did
to her, before and after she confessed...
legal.
Her burning...
legal.
Of course witches cast spells.
I have to believe it.
How else could a man remain sane?
If they can't, then 10,000 to 20,000
innocent men, women, and children...
are falsely accused,
brutally tortured till they confess.
Then murdered, each year,
in Germany alone.
All in the name of God.
Nations are murdered in the name of God.
You are so naive.
You want to look under the plate
they put the food on.
There's no need for that.
Nothing's hidden.
Why did you marry?
It was Gruber's way of protecting me.
Who from?
The harpies of the village,
and other men, and the priest.
Him, too!
If popes and bishops
can have families, why not priests?
They're all men.
It's foolish to pretend otherwise.
He's not a bad man.
He takes care of his woman and children
better than most.
Why haven't you had children?
Some women are barren.
They say that spells
can sometimes make a woman barren.
Yes.
Was there ever a witch in the village?
Old Martha Vorfeld confessed to being one.
I don't want to talk about it.
There's no need to be frightened.
Witchcraft is nonsense.
It's just a legend.
You shouldn't say such things.
They could denounce you, burn you.
- Everyone would turn against you.
- Don't worry.
The valley and all it contains
will burn before I do...
or you do.
Captain!
There are soldiers on the Rheinfelden road.
- How many?
- Andreas says 32.
Stoffel, sound assembly.
Hoffman, tell Gruber.
Hurry up with these animals.
Faster! Faster!
Who is guarding the church?
You are, Father.
Vogel, down to the mill.
Pirelli, come with me.
Remember, once we've killed him,
the valley is ours.
Rethman, flank right.
Claus, go ahead, I'll flank left.
There they are. Follow me.
The poor, weak bastard.
He's left the fighting to his men,
and put himself right in a trap.
Get under cover!
Get back to the mill! Get out! Out!
Come on!
Here they come!
Pirelli.
Quick! Run!
Come back!
Julio!
Vogel!
Give me a knife.
Quick!
Don't leave me alive. Please, Vogel.
Father, help me. I'm Catholic.
Please.
God.
He's the devil incarnate!
Graf.
I prayed for you.
Prayer, you know, is an illusion.
None escaped.
You're safe now, that's all that matters.
It's about time
you and Andreas were married.
I don't want to marry yet, Father.
Daughter, it's time I had grandchildren.
You are old enough.
It has been agreed long enough, Andreas?
I want to marry Inge, yes.
But not until she's ready.
When will that be?
In the spring, perhaps.
When in the spring?
Is the food ready yet?
I'll think of a lucky day.
I'm hungry.
That looks good.
There's no need to patrol now, Captain.
We're locked in for the winter.
Habits die hard.
You'll eat with me tonight,
to celebrate the birth of our Lord?
Thank you, and afterwards...
I will let you win at chess.
You'll always play to win.
And so will you, Gruber.
- Andreas, patrol ahead.
- Yes, Captain.
Your new life suits you.
Thank you.
This was always the time we liked the best,
wasn't it?
When we're all safe from outside evil.
Yes.
The snows have come, Erica.
I won't help you.
Have I asked you to help me?
Please, let there be peace in the valley.
How can there be peace?
We're a conquered people,
we live at their whim.
Don't we always live at someone's whim,
all of us?
This is the best time of the year.
Yes, it is.
But tomorrow the New Year begins...
soon the thaw will come...
and then...
Join the dance.
Welcome, Mathias. What news?
It's been a terrible winter, Master Gruber.
Worst I've ever seen.
There isn't a farm or village...
within 50 days' march
that hasn't been looted and raped.
I heard in Freiburg
many have turned cannibal.
When I came up the pass,
I wondered if you'd still be here.
Our Lady has protected us.
It's a miracle, yes.
I brought you almost 10 pounds of rock salt.
The best quality, very expensive,
very hard to get.
So is our bacon and pickled beef.
What news of the war?
Which side did you serve, Captain?
That's unimportant. The truth.
It's not often
a man wants the truth nowadays.
Very well, the truth.
The news is all bad, but nearby it's worse.
The lmperialists under General Werth...
are on the north of the Rhine, here.
The Protestants
under Prince Bernard of Saxe-Weimar...
are to the south, here.
We're about here.
If Bernard's got to get
the French subsidies...
as promised by Cardinal Richelieu...
he must cross the Rhine, and quickly.
His troops are starving,
and no pay all winter.
The Prince told you all this personally?
What I hear, I sift.
What I say will happen, happens.
He will cross at this bridge.
The bridge is at Rheinfelden.
I speak frankly, and Bernard is on the move.
I was at his camp.
Then history has caught up with us.
Our neutrality is over.
God and the serpent have joined hands...
and we are all kicked out of Eden.
We are hidden as we've always been.
Nothing's changed.
You will defend the village?
It has never been my policy
to defend the village.
Only myself.
We will join Prince Bernard.
Help him cross the bridge.
Why join the enemy?
You fought for the Emperor,
you fought a just war.
You dare to speak to me
of enemies and just war?
There is no just war.
You know it, everyone knows it.
The truth is your leaders are bigots...
your generals are bandits...
you employ any mercenary you can get,
and the Pope plays politics.
The truth is
your war is filth, greed, and hypocrisy.
And the other side is just as rotten.
I will tell you.
All sides are rotten,
except for people like you.
Religious fanatics who incite murder...
for the sake of a God
they have never known.
The world is, as it is, a fallen world.
Men are what they are, sinners.
And your mind is sick.
It will lead you straight to hell.
There is no hell, don't you understand?
Because there is no God.
There never was, don't you understand?
There is no God.
It's a legend!
Vogel, is it true what they say?
That there may be fighting here?
There won't be trouble here.
The valley will be safe.
Are you going with the soldiers?
I'm leaving the valley, yes.
Take me with you.
I couldn't protect you.
You'd be brutally dead within the week.
Then stay in the valley.
By the Madonna, if you'll stay,
I swear I'll stay happily forever.
You could work for my father.
I'll talk to him, I'll talk to Gruber.
Gruber will have my head
the moment the Captain's gone.
Then take me with you.
I love you.
I can't live in the valley without you.
I love you.
Please take me with you.
My poor Inge.
They tore the heart out of me
before you were born.
Marry Andreas, he's a good man.
Stay in the valley.
Please, I love you.
You must stay here.
That's all the chance you have.
You will take me with you?
It's better that you stay here.
I'm dead here.
There are tens of thousands of families
with every army.
In the camps, or on the march.
Even at battles.
Please.
The outside world is no place for you.
I'll be no trouble to you.
I'll look after you, forage for you,
I'll kill for you. Anything.
And all the time, I'll love you
as no man has ever been loved before.
This, you know I can do.
Please.
I love you, but I cannot take you with me.
I am what I am: A killer beast.
I was born in war.
I have no country, no friends, no people.
War is all the wealth I have.
Then share a little of your wealth with me.
No.
Don't sack the village.
Will you never learn?
It is not necessary.
Very well, but you will stay
as part of the bargain.
I'll give you Pirelli, Geddes,
and some weapons...
and you will be in command until I return.
No.
Gruber would eat me up.
If you want a safe place to retreat to,
leave Graf and 10 men.
- No, I need Graf.
- Why don't you stay?
You've all the time in the world.
What's so important about one rotten battle
in an unjust war?
It exists, Vogel.
Why should I let Gruber murder me?
You cannot run away from life forever.
You cannot always
pass the responsibility of it on to others.
Refuse, and I will obliterate this village.
Gruber works to policy.
I'm no value to Gruber.
Then become one!
And watch over Erica.
Why not take her with you?
She'd be safe with you.
No one is safe with me, Vogel.
My wife wasn't, nor my child.
No one is safe with me.
Kill the priest.
Quickly, he is the real danger.
Have you no solution to anything but kill?
Is your answer better?
Run?
Papa!
- Good luck to you, Czeraki.
- Goodbye, Pirelli.
Good luck, Graf.
I have left soldiers with Vogel.
He will look after you.
Why not come back?
I have considered it.
I'll pray for you.
Gruber won't harm you.
I know him.
I leave Vogel in charge until I return.
Mount!
You're not a fool, Vogel.
You'll understand
we don't really need a judge anymore.
Yes, I understand very well.
So we don't really need you here at all.
Or any soldiers.
Food is short.
You could make this valley
safe from any soldiers if you wanted to.
How?
By becoming soldiers yourselves.
Every man in the valley.
Geddes and Pirelli could teach them.
Your brain's become addled.
You know the Captain, Graf,
the other soldiers.
You've lived in their pockets
for weeks, so you know all their tricks.
- We haven't the weapons.
- Buy them.
You create food, therefore wealth.
You're a dreamer.
Our old ways are proven,
they've kept us safe.
The truth is, you always protect
your own neck by risking others...
and risking the valley.
But I am alive.
And while I am, the valley will survive.
No.
Too many people know about it now.
Where will you hide, all of you,
the next time soldiers come riding in?
And you?
Where do you fit into your plan?
Nowhere.
You don't need me.
And the Captain?
When he returns? If he returns?
If you made peace with one another,
you'd have the best of both worlds.
Why do you think
I agreed to the Captain in the first place?
Because he existed.
Why did we help him against Hansen?
To survive.
Why didn't we destroy him and his men
after the first snow?
To learn.
You always see too little and too much.
The Captain was a good teacher.
But now he is a mad dog.
Satan, lord of truth, prince of light...
protect him from harm
and let him return safe.
I beg you, Satan.
Protect him and I will worship you...
forever and...
But you have taken
the Holy Sacrament all your life.
I took nothing more...
than a piece of bread and a sip of wine.
God have mercy on you.
There is nothing I can do.
Why did you torture her? She confessed.
The Devil had to be driven out of her.
Her soul had to be saved.
Through God's mercy she is saved.
She is truly saved.
Poor child.
Tie her to the ladder.
I'll do it.
Geddes, help me.
I can't let her be burnt alive.
Hypocrite. Liar.
Help me!
Fire!
Captain!
I told you to stay away from him.
- Get into the house.
- Father, listen...
Leave her alone.
Don't hit her again, Meister Hoffman.
You're not safe here anymore, Vogel.
You must go away.
I am waiting for the Captain.
There's an ambush waiting for him.
I know you lied about the dream.
The others don't know, but I know.
That's one thing I'm not ashamed of.
So I'm to run and be ambushed, too?
You could escape Gruber, perhaps,
but the Captain won't.
And Inge's yours now.
I brought food.
I've got to warn the Captain.
You'll be in the way.
Please. Andreas helped me.
He told me where the ambush is.
I know a shortcut to the road.
This way is the shortcut.
Wait there, Captain.
You're surrounded, and we're well-armed.
Captain...
Andreas.
And the others?
The one who doesn't like killing.
So, you made yourself useful to Gruber.
The ambush is for you and me.
Where's Erica?
Did Prince Bernard win?
He won, Vogel.
But we lost.
How we lost.
Graf is dead.
Czeraki, Vornez, dead.
All dead.
How I missed you.
I wanted to see you...
just once more.
I would take you with me now...
if I could turn back time.
But I'm glad I left you safe.
I adore you.
Leave me now.
Go back to the valley.
Please.
Listen, Vogel.
It was a beautiful valley.
You were right.
I was wrong.
You know, without you...
I would never have done it.
If you ever find God...
tell him...
we created...
- Inge, go back to the village.
- No.
I'm leaving with Vogel.
Where are you going?
Just going.
But you'll be safe here now, I swear it.
No.
You will stay here.
I'm not a beggar, I'll pay...
for food and lodging for the night.
If you want to pay,
give me seeds or new tools...
give me a horse,
raise my sons from the dead...
or stop this stinking war.
Go away or we'll drive you away.
I'll work or write letters...
or tell you about
the places I've seen, anything.
I need only a little food.
Can't you see we are starving? Go away.
Live, die. What difference does it make?
Jesus has forsaken us. Go away.
Plague.
Where are the others?
I don't know, I came here alone.
Not a soul, Captain, except this bastard.
Where are your friends?
And where are your cattle?
Wake him up.
I don't know.
I came here alone this morning after food.
I've never seen this valley before.
That won't do. Speak fast.
I lost patience 12 years ago.
Two ears are better than 40, Captain.
You can't bargain with me.
I can crush you and your village
like a bedbug.
That's what I want to talk to you about.
Break open every house.
Gather all we can use in that barn...
nothing in your own saddlebags.
We'll round up the peasants...
and fire the village at leisure.
Korski, over there. You, come with me.
I don't like secrets.
You can come, too, Korski.
Well?
There's famine all over Germany...
plague, pestilence, even now...
and winter's coming.
In 10, 20 years,
have you seen a richer valley?
I don't answer questions.
Take their grain and cattle,
and they starve this winter.
I'm tiring of you. Come to your point.
I'm there now, Captain.
Take all this food back to your army,
and down it goes into a thousand stomachs.
Why such waste?
Winter here, occupy the valley.
What?
Winter here.
Live while your army dies.
You'll never get another chance like this.
Is this scum asking us to desert?
Is that it?
A soldier has no future and no past...
and a full belly covers the present.
You talk too much, and not like a peasant.
What are you? A stinking priest?
I don't know which side you're on, Captain.
But I'll wager half your men don't care.
What of those who do care?
Get rid of them.
Good ideas are rare these days.
Very rare.
You are a priest on the run?
No, I was a teacher.
- What's your name?
- Vogel. Yours?
Captain. Where are you from?
From nowhere, everywhere, Captain.
Yes, I have almost forgotten...
where I was born, also.
You have fever?
No, it's nothing.
Didn't you say, "Get rid of them"?
Yes, but it was so sudden.
And clean.
One moment alive, one moment dead.
You philosophers are such hypocrites.
I only do what is necessary.
No more.
If to kill is necessary,
I do it without conscience.
Now, make peace
with whatever God you worship.
Peasants hate soldiers, Captain.
Soldiers hate peasants.
I'm not a soldier or a peasant.
I could speak to them
just as I can speak to you.
I can help.
You'll need help. I'll be very useful.
I'll give you two days to prove it.
No more looting, Captain?
No.
We eat the place at leisure
and drink it dry by spring.
Spring?
We'll eat while the army starves.
By the Madonna,
I'd give my life for a winter of peace...
with good food, decent women,
and maybe no killing.
Where's Korski?
Where else would Korski be, but on watch?
We found the valley, other patrols could.
Ours, or enemy.
That's right, Captain.
What about our women?
Yes, I have a wife and family back there.
What about the army and the baggage train?
Listen to Hansen...
plenty of women
where there's plenty of food?
Has it ever been different?
And isn't one as good as another?
But we've been winning all year.
How much pay we got?
Not a god-rotting pfennig.
I say we stay. It's a good valley. A miracle.
I say it stinks of Satan.
You stink of Satan.
How else could it be like this?
Perhaps we've been led
into the Promised Land, Eskesen.
Then it's agreed?
- Yes.
- No.
I've got a woman back there.
First, I want to hear what Korski says.
Korski will know what's right.
Graf, take him to join Korski.
Yes, Captain. Come on.
Move.
Remember, be careful
as you circle and hide.
This ambush must be perfect,
and no killing.
But what about that, Captain?
It stays. Untouched.
But we burn all churches on raids.
That's your rule.
Yes, but this time, we must bend the rule.
Catholic or Protestant,
it would make no difference.
This time, we need the peasants to work.
That church must be an exception.
The exception.
But it stinks of Satan.
It's the breeding place of evil.
So it will burn.
Stop him.
Get away, or you'll join Shutz and Korski.
Lord Jesus, help me to strike down
Thine enemies.
Papist scum!
The church stays.
Anti-Christ.
Devil worshipper.
Ours is the true faith, by God,
you Protestant heretic.
Blasphemer!
Death to the anti-Christ!
Make your peace with your God.
Mercy, Captain.
Our first rule...
is no religious quarrels among ourselves.
He who breaks it is a dead man.
Let him also be an exception.
The exception.
Let the church stay, but let him
and the Protestants build another church.
Yes, give him quarter.
Let one man escape that rule...
and we'll all be dead by sundown.
You all swore holy oaths to fight as a unit...
and sell your skill to the winner,
whatever their religion.
Protestants may build if they wish
without hindrance.
Vornez, Geddes, Tub...
burn him along with the others.
We want no plague here.
- Go on. Run along.
- Yes, Inge.
Go to your homes. Go.
Vornez!
I said no killing.
Who will speak for all of you?
- Here, you.
- Fetch Gruber.
It should be Gruber.
Where is he?
Captain...
let him take me to Gruber.
I'll speak to him for you, if you wish.
And then you'll come back? Like a lamb.
Within the hour,
or you'll go after him, Hansen.
You and Pirelli.
You take him to Gruber.
You can all...
You can all go to your homes.
You are safe for the moment.
Why not kill us all now and be done with it?
- Butchers!
- You're young, so you're impatient.
Be patient, puppy. Wait your turn to die.
What is your name?
Erica Torfield.
Which is your husband?
Why trust him?
I trust no one.
My name is Vogel.
I bring a message from the Captain.
I persuaded them
to let me come alone with him.
- There's about 20 of them.
- That can wait.
Do you have pains in your throat,
in your chest?
Is it hard to swallow?
He has plague?
The Captain undertakes to protect
your village from all other soldiers...
on condition that he and his men
be well-billeted for the winter.
The power of Jesus Christ
and Our Lady of the Shrine protects us.
We don't need any soldiers here.
The Captain is a reasonable man.
If you accept, nothing will be looted.
Your women won't be tampered with.
No one will be hurt.
If not, your valley will die.
Enough talk.
If the Captain will keep discipline, I agree.
What has changed that we need soldiers?
The soldiers are here, Father.
That's what has changed.
Our Lady of the Shrine will rid us of them.
In good time, Father, in good time.
Is he unclean?
I have plague?
Do you think you'd be here,
or us watching if you had?
You're sure?
You have had a palsy. You're safe now.
Drink some more, it will help you get better.
I had terrible dreams.
You talked in your sleep.
You seemed to be talking
to Holy Father, to God.
I can't remember. I dreamed that I was dead.
You would have been
if it wasn't for my mother and Erica.
They brought you here.
We've looked after you for two days.
I feel born again. Thank you.
Your clothes are filthy.
We're going to wash them.
Why are you so kind to me?
Because we think you're worth caring about.
Thank you.
And the village?
All is peaceful?
No!
We're soldiers, by God. We take what
we want, and to hell with the rest.
That's what we've always done.
The next time you oppose me, Hansen...
I will slit your tongue.
The penalty for rape...
will be public castration.
And for looting?
What is your pleasure, Father?
Blinding.
How else do we protect our homes,
if not by fear?
Very well.
For Catholics, blinding.
For the rest, 100 lashes...
all provided my men
have women of their own.
There are two or three widows
who might be prepared to be visited...
Eight.
Or perhaps two dozen
will become widows by sundown.
Four, then.
Six, and they had better be worthy...
and the place worthy.
And you, Father...
you will give them
public blessing for their penance.
I obey God's orders, not your orders.
Of course, but why not sell them...
your holy indulgence...
a total remission for past and future sins...
which you could pay for?
Six. Widowed, married, or unmarried.
You have two days.
What are you doing here?
I was treating someone
who was sick, Father.
You said to treat all without favor.
I asked her to see him, Father.
It was just Christian charity.
Good night, Erica. Thank you.
So the philosopher is risen from the dead.
He was ready to die, he should have died.
Why wasn't I told that he was here?
Perhaps they didn't want my soup poisoned.
What are you, Lutheran Protestant,
Calvin Protestant...
blasphemous Anabaptist,
heathen Satan worshipper?
That's unimportant.
I have all those among my men and worse.
I even have Catholics, Father...
which brings me to the shrine near the pass.
Our Lady of the Shrine has guarded
the valley for centuries.
Many of my men think
that shrines are blasphemous idols...
that should be torn apart
and stamped into oblivion.
Touch the shrine...
and you will burn in hellfire for all eternity...
- and your entrails will be eaten with worms.
- The pox on hellfire!
That shrine is pointing at the village
like a finger.
Touch one stone...
and God will smite you.
But before that, we will rise up.
We will rise up...
and stamp you to oblivion.
How have you survived so long?
For almost six months of the year,
from the first snows...
the road is blocked, we are safe.
These mountains are cruel,
the country stripped bare.
Few come this way.
How he got in, only God knows.
So, where could the shrine be moved to?
Stay here. Vogel.
Here, beside the rock.
Good. Very good.
We keep our lookout up there.
A lookout is enough if your plan is to hide.
We fight for our valley.
Captain...
don't move the shrine. It saved the valley.
A shrine is still a shrine 30 paces off.
Other villages had mountains
and false trails and clever leaders...
but that didn't save them.
Other villages had shrines.
Hurry.
In your name...
Holy Mother, in your name.
I'm sick of this pig-swill.
By the blood of Christ, Korski'd never let
these stink-pest scum run over him.
Korski'd be king.
Not a weak-gutted lackey.
Korski's dead.
Yes, I'm sorry I let him die.
Sorry I sided with the Captain.
- I'm as good a soldier as him.
- You're wrong.
Korski was a turd.
Be patient.
This Captain's clever and strong.
The best I ever served with...
and we get the women tomorrow.
We'll get bags. The pox on this place.
There's good women in the camp, wine,
dice and good times, and loot to be had.
I've a kid back there. Who'll look after him?
He'll be there next spring.
If not, you can make another.
You know, they say that
the plague's taken 10,000 men already.
We're blessed with luck to be here.
I'm for staying a week.
Take what we want and the hell with it.
- Sorry, Father, I'm late.
- Next time you're late, no food.
Yes, Father.
Good.
They say you can read and write.
I studied at the university in Heidelberg.
Then I taught there. The town was sacked.
Your family were
burghers there? Shopkeepers?
No, at Magdeburg.
I envy you, seeing so many places
and knowing so much.
You needn't.
Before I was your age, I had seen two
brothers murdered, and one dead of plague.
Sit down.
It's years since I've seen bread so rich.
The harvest was good.
Our Lady is pleased for us to share it.
How do you earn your daily bread?
Work. Any form of work except soldiering.
I can paint a little...
I can teach writing, history, mathematics.
I can speak Spanish, Italian, French.
Father Sebastian teaches here.
The Holy Word.
We've no need for writing
or the other nonsense.
Works of the devil.
Why did you lead the soldiers here?
I didn't.
I was trying to get away...
from all soldiers.
Some men are good luck, some bad.
You are bad luck.
- Your soldiers will kill our valley.
- No. Not if everyone works.
Peasants, landowners, and soldiers.
You are a fool as well as bad luck.
Tonight, you are alive
enjoying the fat of the land.
Bless your luck.
Our Lady protects us, not luck.
Here, Vogel, eat.
Then tell us about the Holy City.
Father, Vogel was there when he was young.
Once, he saw a real pope
and the whole city's gold and the cathedral.
Your pardon, Meister Hoffman.
But, is it true about Inge?
Yes. Come, sit down.
Eat with us, share our joy.
Vogel is going to tell us about the Holy City.
But, it was always planned
that we would be married some day.
Eternal salvation is better
than earthly happiness, boy.
Sit down.
Salvation?
I'm to be one of the women for the soldiers.
If you were going to be a nun, to serve God,
then I could understand.
But this, it's not right.
It's whoring.
Has Satan put a spell on you?
You heard what Father Sebastian said:
"Their suffering would save the village
just as Christ's suffering saved the world."
Yes, I heard him.
But that doesn't make him right.
He's not right!
Get out of my house!
You offered her?
They are to get a holy indulgence.
Gruber is paying for it.
If he pays the church in land,
of course it is right.
What father would not want
eternal salvation for his daughter?
Captain, can I speak to you?
It's about Inge, Hoffman's daughter.
Refuse her, accept another in her place.
- You want to take away her salvation?
- No.
Gruber has agreed
that the shrine should be moved.
- What is your counsel?
- Don't touch it.
The priest doesn't agree.
Gruber is our only guarantee
of peace with the peasants.
They are all frightened of him,
all in debt to him.
What Gruber says must be done, is done.
No one can control this valley as he can.
No one is rich enough or shrewd enough...
or has his courage.
It is not wise to make an enemy of Gruber.
Or you.
Or Graf, Hansen, Hoffman,
the list is endless.
Gruber was right.
We need the counsel of clever men.
From tomorrow, you are appointed judge...
between soldier and peasant for all cases.
I'm the last person to do that.
I've no authority over anyone.
Gruber agrees
that you are the perfect political choice.
We will both back you.
I'll be hated by everybody
and blamed by both sides.
A few days ago, life was impossible.
Now you want it to be easy.
I want a rest. Time.
You're on borrowed time now, Judge.
So is the village, the whole valley.
It's all doomed.
And the girl?
She is trouble.
So are you.
The Captain wants you.
You'll protect me?
I could kill him easily.
But that would destroy our world.
Only he keeps them
from falling on us like wolves.
Then kill them all while they sleep.
We haven't the weapons.
There's too many, they're too clever.
Some patrol while others sleep.
Then put hemlock in their food.
Perhaps.
But not yet, not until the snows.
Why?
They found us, so others can.
We need them to protect us.
Open the door.
Open it.
She will not be one of the women
for the soldiers.
Of course. The others are for my men.
It is a pity that you are involved with her.
However, you are involved.
How do we decide this?
Dice. Fetch them, Erica.
If I win, you'll leave her alone
and protect her from your men.
- Agreed.
- Three throws.
Highest score.
If equal,
one more throw until there is a loser.
If you lose...
you accept that she is mine?
Agreed.
Seven.
Seven and nine are sixteen.
Ten and three are thirteen.
Sixteen and six make twenty-two.
What do the dice read, Erica?
Six and five.
Bar the door.
Father! Quickly!
What happened to your face?
There were some feathers flying last night,
little bird.
We get the women at sunset.
That'll put an end to the violence.
- Who's that?
- Pirelli.
He truly thinks
he's got the voice of an angel.
Father, the Captain's
moving the shrine! Quickly.
The Captain's moving the shrine.
That priest.
This way leads out of the valley.
No one is to leave.
I'm going to the shrine.
You're going back to the village,
black beetle.
Leave it.
Stop, in God's name.
Run.
Stop him.
The next time,
your head leaves your shoulders.
- I'll get them.
- Leave them. They're only fools.
Take this man to the Captain.
Martyrdom is not as useful
as you think, Father.
Christ saved the world by suffering.
And was it necessary?
You blaspheme.
No. The politicians put him to death.
How many men do you think
should die for the shrine?
We're not concerned for the shrine,
for its own sake...
but because it's a symbol of faith.
Beg God's forgiveness.
Does 30 paces make such a difference
to a whole faith?
Yes. And you were warned.
We have not harmed the shrine.
It is exact, stone by stone.
You were warned. Confess your sins.
Prepare for hellfire and God's wrath.
And the devil's.
Any shrine in this world
is a shrine to the devil.
Priests are better on their knees,
in the god-poxed holy dirt.
Idol worshipper.
He's a priest. So he worships nothing.
Can I slit his throat now?
Captain, quick.
They're moving the shrine.
Better cut around them. Too many to stop.
We'll talk. We did what was necessary,
and peasants understand necessity.
Get ready.
Kill Pirelli, Hansen, and Vornez first...
and watch out for that devil's whelp, Julio.
We can cut around and get the horses.
No time. We have the advantage.
You talk. I'll see that he doesn't.
No.
Father...
you will talk on my behalf...
or make your peace with your God
for you and them.
There will be no quarter,
not for man, woman, nor child.
And you will be castrated
before I hack off your feet.
Did they touch the shrine, Father?
Don't be afraid, Father. We are soldiers
of Christ. We will protect you.
Did they touch the shrine?
Yes!
Our Lady has been taken to another place.
You're all going to die...
and Satan walks the earth.
The shrine has not been harmed.
Listen, give thanks to Our Lady.
She protected us again.
Our Lady has protected
our valley for centuries.
We all know that.
But that didn't prevent you
from digging up the track...
nor planting forests,
nor visiting her shrine by a hundred paths...
nor hiding when soldiers came...
nor concealing your fowl,
and cattle, and horses...
nor keeping lookouts at the pass.
I am a Catholic, too.
I had a dream last night.
I dreamed...
that I was near the shrine...
and a regiment of soldiers
came riding up under a full moon.
There was a sprinkling of snow
on the ground.
They were huge and evil...
and they looked towards the shrine.
But as they looked...
the shrine vanished.
So the soldiers went their way
back to Rheinfelden...
and never came back.
By hiding herself,
Our Lady had hidden the village.
I am glad the Captain has moved
Our Lady of the Shrine.
Isn't that what the dream said to do?
You wouldn't defy a dream, would you?
You're lying.
He never had a dream.
Go to the shrine. See for yourselves.
Is he telling the truth, Father,
about the dream?
I don't know.
Do we go to the shrine?
Do we go to the shrine, Father?
Where is there to go?
Pirelli, lead the way.
You are not to be one of the women
for my men.
- She's the one I want.
- You can't have her.
You wanted to see me?
Did you really dream that dream?
What's real, and what isn't?
Once, I thought I knew.
Now I know I don't.
The true church is real.
God is real, and Satan is real.
That we're all going to die soon
and face judgment is real.
Before God, did you tell the truth?
Before God, what is the truth?
That millions are dead and more will die...
because the Pope wars
on the Catholic Emperor...
who wars on the Catholic King of France,
who wars on the Catholic King of Spain...
who wars on Catholic Germany...
all helped by Protestants.
Helped by a hundred other princes,
kings, and bishops...
all for their own rotten purposes.
Nothing is simple.
Nothing except faith in God.
You ask questions only God can answer.
God is an excuse that's used too often.
You blaspheme.
Life exists because of a divine pattern.
You must have faith and believe...
or you will cast your immortal soul
into the pit.
Look at your own soul, priest.
I do. And I look to those in the valley.
All of them.
I am the shepherd of this flock.
Since you came here,
Satan has walked aboard.
I feel it.
But soon, Our Lady will give me a sign...
and then I will know what to do.
Very pretty.
That's mine.
This valley is so peaceful.
It would be easy to become possessed by it.
Does it make you feel
in the presence of God, Captain?
Don't talk to me of God.
We killed God at Magdeburg.
We laid that city flat...
butchered men, women, and children...
20,000, 30,000.
And then we burned the lot.
- Why?
- Vengeance.
You know,
that was vengeance for one of our cities...
which was vengeance
for one of their towns...
for one of our villages,
for one of their hamlets...
which was probably destroyed
in the first place...
to give some fat little princeling...
a better view of the Rhine.
Magdeburg is that simple.
My family were there.
My father, mother...
my wife, and my son.
Then they have been dead for 12 long years.
We all have things we would like to forget.
Magdeburg is mine.
What is yours, Vogel?
Gruber.
Good.
He'll wish he stayed in the mountains.
Captain, the shrine is settled.
The women, well, that's settled.
Leave the valley in peace for a while.
If I do that, he'll gain the initiative.
Does that matter?
It matters very much,
because then he will kill us.
Captain, I've been to the road.
There are fresh tracks, many horses.
I know.
Tomorrow, we search
the village very thoroughly...
for secret hoards of food.
Soldiers. They do nothing but loot,
and are never satisfied.
Gold, silver, and jewelry, you keep.
But the food we put in a common store
and guard it.
If the food is to be in one store,
better the soldiers are, too.
- I'll find a big enough house.
- Better leave them where they are.
Then any trouble will be small.
Yes, very wise.
So.
No!
Please not here! Please, Hansen.
The next time I see you, Vogel,
I'll tear out your eyes.
Captain?
It's me, Hansen.
There's trouble.
Vogel's got the Hoffman girl
up at the shrine. He's raped her.
Graf told me to fetch you.
Don't.
Who is with you, Hansen?
No one, Captain.
Hurry!
Claus, come on!
Captain, are you all right?
Captain, are you all right? It's Graf.
- It was Hansen. Who was with him?
- They were too far off. I don't know.
Get them. Alive if you can.
Geddes, Tub, Czeraki, go with him.
There's nothing to say, is there?
Yes, you're safe.
You are safe, and you're not hurt, Inge.
You'll marry Andreas and live in peace.
No, I won't do that.
Thank you.
You must go home now.
How do I know that is the truth?
She's told you,
and I've told you a dozen times.
- Father, it wasn't Vogel.
- Shut up!
She wouldn't lie.
She's never told a lie in her whole life.
She may be protecting him now.
It would not be the first time a girl did that.
Maybe he's put a spell on her.
You are a sorcerer.
That explains everything.
No. But you are a bigot
and a god-cursed witch-hunter.
Satan.
But you do conjure up dreams.
- Why did you follow her? Why?
- Satan.
We caught him just outside the village.
He attacked Inge.
- I heard.
- It's witchcraft.
- He led the soldiers here, and now...
- Be silent.
Before God, did this man attack you?
No, Father.
- Before God, has he lain with you?
- No, Father.
- Swear by Our Lady.
- I swear by Our Lady.
May I burn in hellfire forever. It was Hansen.
Vogel stopped him.
She tells the truth.
It was Hansen.
This matter is ended.
"Bear not false witness
against thy neighbor."
I did not, Father. I was mistaken, I'm sorry.
As a penance,
you will eat no meat for three months.
And you will give a generous gift
to Our Lady.
You will sweep out the church daily,
and you will feed Vogel as one of your own.
Beg God's forgiveness.
Only the guilty need fear His wrath.
What are you doing?
Playing a game.
You're not his real father, are you?
We lost them, Captain.
We followed them for miles
down into the valley.
Then we lost their trail.
How many will Hansen tell?
About us and the valley?
Enough for an effective attack.
If he tells too many...
he'll have his throat cut
and the valley stolen from him.
How many?
There are 17 of us.
He'll bring 30. Experts.
What's your plan?
This battle is very simple.
To win, Hansen must kill me.
Then my men will join him.
For us to win, we must stamp them out.
All of them.
So, I am the bait for the trap.
Good. Get it covered and hidden.
Yes, Captain.
Get it covered.
Come on, hurry up.
Satan, lord of light, kill Hansen.
Kill him as I destroy his likeness.
Kill him and the others
before they tell about our valley.
Tell me...
what do you think of witchcraft?
Both religions burn witches, Captain.
Catholics, Protestants.
Luther was violent against them.
Calvin equally.
Why?
Can witches cast spells?
My sister was accused of witchcraft,
by whom we never knew.
She confessed that the devil was her lover
and came to her bed every night.
She was 6 years old.
Her trial was legal.
The unspeakable things they did
to her, before and after she confessed...
legal.
Her burning...
legal.
Of course witches cast spells.
I have to believe it.
How else could a man remain sane?
If they can't, then 10,000 to 20,000
innocent men, women, and children...
are falsely accused,
brutally tortured till they confess.
Then murdered, each year,
in Germany alone.
All in the name of God.
Nations are murdered in the name of God.
You are so naive.
You want to look under the plate
they put the food on.
There's no need for that.
Nothing's hidden.
Why did you marry?
It was Gruber's way of protecting me.
Who from?
The harpies of the village,
and other men, and the priest.
Him, too!
If popes and bishops
can have families, why not priests?
They're all men.
It's foolish to pretend otherwise.
He's not a bad man.
He takes care of his woman and children
better than most.
Why haven't you had children?
Some women are barren.
They say that spells
can sometimes make a woman barren.
Yes.
Was there ever a witch in the village?
Old Martha Vorfeld confessed to being one.
I don't want to talk about it.
There's no need to be frightened.
Witchcraft is nonsense.
It's just a legend.
You shouldn't say such things.
They could denounce you, burn you.
- Everyone would turn against you.
- Don't worry.
The valley and all it contains
will burn before I do...
or you do.
Captain!
There are soldiers on the Rheinfelden road.
- How many?
- Andreas says 32.
Stoffel, sound assembly.
Hoffman, tell Gruber.
Hurry up with these animals.
Faster! Faster!
Who is guarding the church?
You are, Father.
Vogel, down to the mill.
Pirelli, come with me.
Remember, once we've killed him,
the valley is ours.
Rethman, flank right.
Claus, go ahead, I'll flank left.
There they are. Follow me.
The poor, weak bastard.
He's left the fighting to his men,
and put himself right in a trap.
Get under cover!
Get back to the mill! Get out! Out!
Come on!
Here they come!
Pirelli.
Quick! Run!
Come back!
Julio!
Vogel!
Give me a knife.
Quick!
Don't leave me alive. Please, Vogel.
Father, help me. I'm Catholic.
Please.
God.
He's the devil incarnate!
Graf.
I prayed for you.
Prayer, you know, is an illusion.
None escaped.
You're safe now, that's all that matters.
It's about time
you and Andreas were married.
I don't want to marry yet, Father.
Daughter, it's time I had grandchildren.
You are old enough.
It has been agreed long enough, Andreas?
I want to marry Inge, yes.
But not until she's ready.
When will that be?
In the spring, perhaps.
When in the spring?
Is the food ready yet?
I'll think of a lucky day.
I'm hungry.
That looks good.
There's no need to patrol now, Captain.
We're locked in for the winter.
Habits die hard.
You'll eat with me tonight,
to celebrate the birth of our Lord?
Thank you, and afterwards...
I will let you win at chess.
You'll always play to win.
And so will you, Gruber.
- Andreas, patrol ahead.
- Yes, Captain.
Your new life suits you.
Thank you.
This was always the time we liked the best,
wasn't it?
When we're all safe from outside evil.
Yes.
The snows have come, Erica.
I won't help you.
Have I asked you to help me?
Please, let there be peace in the valley.
How can there be peace?
We're a conquered people,
we live at their whim.
Don't we always live at someone's whim,
all of us?
This is the best time of the year.
Yes, it is.
But tomorrow the New Year begins...
soon the thaw will come...
and then...
Join the dance.
Welcome, Mathias. What news?
It's been a terrible winter, Master Gruber.
Worst I've ever seen.
There isn't a farm or village...
within 50 days' march
that hasn't been looted and raped.
I heard in Freiburg
many have turned cannibal.
When I came up the pass,
I wondered if you'd still be here.
Our Lady has protected us.
It's a miracle, yes.
I brought you almost 10 pounds of rock salt.
The best quality, very expensive,
very hard to get.
So is our bacon and pickled beef.
What news of the war?
Which side did you serve, Captain?
That's unimportant. The truth.
It's not often
a man wants the truth nowadays.
Very well, the truth.
The news is all bad, but nearby it's worse.
The lmperialists under General Werth...
are on the north of the Rhine, here.
The Protestants
under Prince Bernard of Saxe-Weimar...
are to the south, here.
We're about here.
If Bernard's got to get
the French subsidies...
as promised by Cardinal Richelieu...
he must cross the Rhine, and quickly.
His troops are starving,
and no pay all winter.
The Prince told you all this personally?
What I hear, I sift.
What I say will happen, happens.
He will cross at this bridge.
The bridge is at Rheinfelden.
I speak frankly, and Bernard is on the move.
I was at his camp.
Then history has caught up with us.
Our neutrality is over.
God and the serpent have joined hands...
and we are all kicked out of Eden.
We are hidden as we've always been.
Nothing's changed.
You will defend the village?
It has never been my policy
to defend the village.
Only myself.
We will join Prince Bernard.
Help him cross the bridge.
Why join the enemy?
You fought for the Emperor,
you fought a just war.
You dare to speak to me
of enemies and just war?
There is no just war.
You know it, everyone knows it.
The truth is your leaders are bigots...
your generals are bandits...
you employ any mercenary you can get,
and the Pope plays politics.
The truth is
your war is filth, greed, and hypocrisy.
And the other side is just as rotten.
I will tell you.
All sides are rotten,
except for people like you.
Religious fanatics who incite murder...
for the sake of a God
they have never known.
The world is, as it is, a fallen world.
Men are what they are, sinners.
And your mind is sick.
It will lead you straight to hell.
There is no hell, don't you understand?
Because there is no God.
There never was, don't you understand?
There is no God.
It's a legend!
Vogel, is it true what they say?
That there may be fighting here?
There won't be trouble here.
The valley will be safe.
Are you going with the soldiers?
I'm leaving the valley, yes.
Take me with you.
I couldn't protect you.
You'd be brutally dead within the week.
Then stay in the valley.
By the Madonna, if you'll stay,
I swear I'll stay happily forever.
You could work for my father.
I'll talk to him, I'll talk to Gruber.
Gruber will have my head
the moment the Captain's gone.
Then take me with you.
I love you.
I can't live in the valley without you.
I love you.
Please take me with you.
My poor Inge.
They tore the heart out of me
before you were born.
Marry Andreas, he's a good man.
Stay in the valley.
Please, I love you.
You must stay here.
That's all the chance you have.
You will take me with you?
It's better that you stay here.
I'm dead here.
There are tens of thousands of families
with every army.
In the camps, or on the march.
Even at battles.
Please.
The outside world is no place for you.
I'll be no trouble to you.
I'll look after you, forage for you,
I'll kill for you. Anything.
And all the time, I'll love you
as no man has ever been loved before.
This, you know I can do.
Please.
I love you, but I cannot take you with me.
I am what I am: A killer beast.
I was born in war.
I have no country, no friends, no people.
War is all the wealth I have.
Then share a little of your wealth with me.
No.
Don't sack the village.
Will you never learn?
It is not necessary.
Very well, but you will stay
as part of the bargain.
I'll give you Pirelli, Geddes,
and some weapons...
and you will be in command until I return.
No.
Gruber would eat me up.
If you want a safe place to retreat to,
leave Graf and 10 men.
- No, I need Graf.
- Why don't you stay?
You've all the time in the world.
What's so important about one rotten battle
in an unjust war?
It exists, Vogel.
Why should I let Gruber murder me?
You cannot run away from life forever.
You cannot always
pass the responsibility of it on to others.
Refuse, and I will obliterate this village.
Gruber works to policy.
I'm no value to Gruber.
Then become one!
And watch over Erica.
Why not take her with you?
She'd be safe with you.
No one is safe with me, Vogel.
My wife wasn't, nor my child.
No one is safe with me.
Kill the priest.
Quickly, he is the real danger.
Have you no solution to anything but kill?
Is your answer better?
Run?
Papa!
- Good luck to you, Czeraki.
- Goodbye, Pirelli.
Good luck, Graf.
I have left soldiers with Vogel.
He will look after you.
Why not come back?
I have considered it.
I'll pray for you.
Gruber won't harm you.
I know him.
I leave Vogel in charge until I return.
Mount!
You're not a fool, Vogel.
You'll understand
we don't really need a judge anymore.
Yes, I understand very well.
So we don't really need you here at all.
Or any soldiers.
Food is short.
You could make this valley
safe from any soldiers if you wanted to.
How?
By becoming soldiers yourselves.
Every man in the valley.
Geddes and Pirelli could teach them.
Your brain's become addled.
You know the Captain, Graf,
the other soldiers.
You've lived in their pockets
for weeks, so you know all their tricks.
- We haven't the weapons.
- Buy them.
You create food, therefore wealth.
You're a dreamer.
Our old ways are proven,
they've kept us safe.
The truth is, you always protect
your own neck by risking others...
and risking the valley.
But I am alive.
And while I am, the valley will survive.
No.
Too many people know about it now.
Where will you hide, all of you,
the next time soldiers come riding in?
And you?
Where do you fit into your plan?
Nowhere.
You don't need me.
And the Captain?
When he returns? If he returns?
If you made peace with one another,
you'd have the best of both worlds.
Why do you think
I agreed to the Captain in the first place?
Because he existed.
Why did we help him against Hansen?
To survive.
Why didn't we destroy him and his men
after the first snow?
To learn.
You always see too little and too much.
The Captain was a good teacher.
But now he is a mad dog.
Satan, lord of truth, prince of light...
protect him from harm
and let him return safe.
I beg you, Satan.
Protect him and I will worship you...
forever and...
But you have taken
the Holy Sacrament all your life.
I took nothing more...
than a piece of bread and a sip of wine.
God have mercy on you.
There is nothing I can do.
Why did you torture her? She confessed.
The Devil had to be driven out of her.
Her soul had to be saved.
Through God's mercy she is saved.
She is truly saved.
Poor child.
Tie her to the ladder.
I'll do it.
Geddes, help me.
I can't let her be burnt alive.
Hypocrite. Liar.
Help me!
Fire!
Captain!
I told you to stay away from him.
- Get into the house.
- Father, listen...
Leave her alone.
Don't hit her again, Meister Hoffman.
You're not safe here anymore, Vogel.
You must go away.
I am waiting for the Captain.
There's an ambush waiting for him.
I know you lied about the dream.
The others don't know, but I know.
That's one thing I'm not ashamed of.
So I'm to run and be ambushed, too?
You could escape Gruber, perhaps,
but the Captain won't.
And Inge's yours now.
I brought food.
I've got to warn the Captain.
You'll be in the way.
Please. Andreas helped me.
He told me where the ambush is.
I know a shortcut to the road.
This way is the shortcut.
Wait there, Captain.
You're surrounded, and we're well-armed.
Captain...
Andreas.
And the others?
The one who doesn't like killing.
So, you made yourself useful to Gruber.
The ambush is for you and me.
Where's Erica?
Did Prince Bernard win?
He won, Vogel.
But we lost.
How we lost.
Graf is dead.
Czeraki, Vornez, dead.
All dead.
How I missed you.
I wanted to see you...
just once more.
I would take you with me now...
if I could turn back time.
But I'm glad I left you safe.
I adore you.
Leave me now.
Go back to the valley.
Please.
Listen, Vogel.
It was a beautiful valley.
You were right.
I was wrong.
You know, without you...
I would never have done it.
If you ever find God...
tell him...
we created...
- Inge, go back to the village.
- No.
I'm leaving with Vogel.
Where are you going?
Just going.
But you'll be safe here now, I swear it.
No.
You will stay here.