The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988) Movie Script
Pull it back!
- Winch it back?
- It's too dense. Bring it back!
Don't move!
'Griffin!
'Griffin! Griffin!'
Griffin, here! Wake up!
What did I do?
We called you and splashed you,
and still you didn't wake.
Griffin!
That's the fourth time this week!
- Will you get out of the water?
- A cathedral...
...people...
- ...digging in the earth.
- Aw, Griffin!
No, it's true!
It's true, it's true, it's true!
Our Griffin gets out of bed
with angels in his head! Ha-ha!
No, no. It were the omens first.
Where did they start?
I'm talking about the peddler
who was here on Monday last.
"Find a lump under your arm at breakfast
and you're dead by noon," he said.
It's Connor I'm worried about.
If something is abroad,
why isn't he back yet?
It's been too long.
I'll find him.
Tomorrow I'll go.
The thought of him out there...
not knowing.
Griffin... the sun's on the west wall.
You're going to be late!
Dreamers will be clothed in rags, Griffin.
Oh, leave the bairn alone.
Wasn't the one you had up there
big enough?
There's been enough ill fortune come
down on this house for ten families.
If sickness gets this far,
we'll need something to protect us.
You're lagging!
Come on, bog food!
You be bellwether boy, Griffin.
Go on, hurry,
we'll catch you up.
Go on, off you go now, boy!
It's come out of the east,
killing people, drawing closer.
Do you remember the peddler
who brought the faggots?
"By the hundreds," he said.
"They were falling dead without warning."
Aye, I don't like it.
Chrissie!
Come on, Griffin. If Connor arrives,
Old Chrissie will let you know.
Count on it, Griffin.
Connor's sharp,
he knows the ways of the world.
He'll be fine.
Are you right there, lad?
Down you go.
Down to hell.
For the mining of it.
So, how many days has he gone now?
Thirty-six.
Well, bear up, lad,
it's work that drives away worry.
And with witches' spikes on our roofs,
we'll all be protected.
There's talk of places
that Death just skips right over.
An offering to God would make us safe.
An offering would mean a journey,
wouldn't it, Searle?
We'd take an offering to the big cities.
- You?
- They'd draw back the curtain.
They'd show us the holy relics.
Saint Augustine's finger bone...
...and the feathers
from Archangel Gabriel.
Ulf, you've never been outside
of the village before.
But none of us have.
And I wouldn't want to, neither.
Look at Connor, God spare him.
He's still not back.
I tell you fair,
I wouldn't want to be in his shoes.
Griffin! It's Connor!
- Go on.
- It's Connor!
- Connor!
- Connor's come!
Connor... Connor!
Wait! Wait, Chrissie!
Hold it, we're coming up.
Easy! Hold on, Griffin.
Connor!
- Hold on.
- Easy!
Connor!
Come on, Chrissie! Faster!
Back again, is he,
your wandering brother?
Oh, come on, Chrissie!
- Griffin!
- Connor!
Connor, you're back! It's a miracle!
Look at them,
you'd think they were married.
Tomorrow I was going to go out
and find you.
How would you have done that?
Flown like a bird,
I'd have borrowed Black Jacob's horse!
You would, eh?
You won't go away like that
no more, Con, will you?
No, never. Never.
Look.
It is a new method
for counting your devotions.
They make them of oak for great lords,
rosewood for liege ladies.
This one's made from hawthorn, Griffin.
It's a scraggy tree, small and tough.
Reminded me of someone.
It's the same tree
they make axes from, Griffin.
Axlewood.
If I am a big wheel on the move,
still it's you at my heart.
You and Linnet.
- Connor!
- Look, here she comes.
Connor!
If you had not come back...
I can feel it growing, Connor.
It's over eight month gone now.
God, I don't know what
I would've done if you'd not...
Oh, the dog's nose started to bleed
and wouldn't stop.
We took it for a bad sign.
I thought for sure you were lost.
Con!
Searle! Martin!
Connor! Oh, you're back!
So strange to see people smiling.
What's happening out there, Con?
We've heard the stories.
We've got to do something, yes?
We could meet tonight.
Alright, alright, alright!
There's a powerful evil on the move.
Connor has seen it.
A pestilence which hops forward
on the full moon, he says.
Do we panic it or do we plan?
Tell them, Arno!
A week back, I ferried a monk
across the lake.
He spoke of a great church
being built in the West.
He says it's highest in Christendom.
There's pilgrims come from everywhere
with timber for its construction.
You make an offering,
you stop Death.
No, the church is too far!
It's beyond further reaches
of Earth, I heard.
Across mountains, across seas,
past horrors there aren't even
names for.
We've got to go, Searle,
there's pilgrims on every road.
With Connor to lead the party,
we'd do it.
Yes, we can do it.
He knows the outside world
better than anyone of us.
- What do you say, Connor?
- Aye, Connor?
I've seen pilgrims, Martin.
I've seen so many bodies, there weren't
enough living to bury the dead.
I've seen mobs chasing monks
from their abbeys
for refusing last rites to dying.
It's these same monks that head West
as pilgrims might.
They're people no more than animals.
You can trust no one.
Children...
...begged me for food.
I didn't dare go near them.
They had black boils
under their armpits ready to burst,
and they denied plague
was upon them.
All the churches are empty.
And still not satisfied, the evil keeps
striding forward with each full moon.
We've got a month, maybe two,
with a scrap of God's grace.
We could do it.
Reach the church and raise
a spike of Cumbrian copper.
- Aye!
- With you or Searle to lead our party.
Aye, 'tis our best chance.
Show the faith.
Here's to taking it!
To our journey!
Then Searle must do it.
Connor must do it!
I am sick of all the death.
Looters on the lake!
Con! Come on!
I never thought I'd see the day
when you'd stay put.
You're amongst friends now, Connor.
Looters!
From across the cliffs!
The Stonecutters' village!
On the lake! Pillagers!
It's the far village!
- Are they armed?
- Aye, look!
- Not pillagers.
- No, there's women and children onboard.
Refugees from the East.
They're scared, scared of the Death.
Somebody fetch spears.
We'd best keep guard ourselves.
I heard a story once,
about them old pits up behind the mine.
They reckon there's a hole up there
so deep...
...if you'd dropped a stone down it,
sooner or later it'd fall out
the far side of the Earth.
The copper... an offering.
We've got to take the offering, Con!
To the great church,
to the far side of the Earth.
Look.
There is no time
for your journey, Martin. It's plague.
And if they have the Death,
then it's too late.
It'll have hopped 20 mile on
from Gosford by morning.
Its full moon bears contagion for it
like a sack.
At sunrise, she lets it fall... on us.
Help!
Griffin! Griffin! What is it?
- Are you alright?
- Griffin! What's wrong?
- Wake up, Griffin!
- Griffin, wake up!
Griffin! What's wrong, Griffin?
The seam, the pit...
In my dream, we were tunneling
through to the farthest part of the Earth.
Your head in the clouds again, Griffin?
Leave him. There's signs within dreams.
He's been right before.
The blight on last year's corn.
The vein of copper at the pit.
Have you forgotten?
Do we make the journey,
then, Linnet?
Right. I'm with you, then.
It's our only chance.
- Con!
- And Griffin comes too.
So I carry the cross, eh?
Why's it always me
has to carry the weight?
Connor, Connor...
Where's Ulf? Ulf?
There's a church
at the far reaches of the Earth, Mother.
It's the greatest in the world.
The pilgrims take gifts there.
And that's the place for the little Virgin.
And God willing, I'll put it there myself
for you, Mother.
Ulf?
- Ulf!
- I'm coming, Searle!
Don't go! Don't go without me!
Wait! Wait!
Hey, keep the fires burning!
We'll be back soon!
Ulf, come on, hurry up.
Always too far in front
and too far behind.
What is it?
It's what I told you before.
We're tunneling through the Earth.
All of us.
We're using an engine.
The engine's got a shaft
for breaking the rock and dirt.
It's the engine, you see,
that makes us go fast enough
to be there
before the moon turns full.
The moon's struck you daft.
No, it's true. I saw it in the dream.
And I keep seeing it.
And I'm sure that big black hole
is there too.
Over here! Come on!
Hurry!
What the hell?
I think you've got us
all sleepwalking, son.
But I've... never been down here
before. You know that, Con.
So... it's just like in your dream.
To the other side of the world.
We follow the torch.
It's blown by the wind which comes
from the other side of the Earth.
We use the machine to tunnel.
Let it go!
Here, take it! Take it, quick!
Right, back up! Back up!
It's too dense. Back up!
Keep it going! Keep it going!
- Now wind her back up!
- Wait...
She bucks! Bloody rocks!
Dig! Drill! We must keep moving!
Faster than the moon!
It's not yet risen on the underside.
But hurry! We can't slacken!
We've got to get there or we're lost!
The village is lost!
But, Griffin, you'd fall straight
through to the other side of the earth
after just two days digging.
Into the sky...
Why, you'd have to cling like a tick.
'Twas further than we'd thought.
Three times the length
of your rope, Arno.
No, all of six times that length.
Before we struck the last hard rock
between us
and the far side of the world.
Come on now! Come on!
- Heave it up!
- Fire!
Go, Arno!
Go again!
Oh, look!
- Something dead.
- What's that smell? That stench?
It's tunnels.
Tunnels for the night soil.
Only great cities have them.
Underground sewers where
every household can empty its bucket.
My God, it's huge.
Whatever city's up there
must be... vast.
- I'll go!
- Hold your horses.
Not, it's alright.
I'll be able to tell where we are.
Connor, put the rope to him,
just to be safe.
I mean, you never know...
About falling off, I mean.
Your air bladder, Griffin, till we find out
if the air is poisonous or full of contagion.
Godspeed.
Griffin? Griffin!
Griffin!
Griffin... Griffin!
Griffin!
I can see sky! Stars!
All the stars at once!
We're here!
We're there... We're there!
We're here!
Come on, let's go up.
Searle, Searle...
Searle, I'm afraid.
I'm afraid.
It's alright, good brother. Come on.
It's like it's on fire.
A hundred thousand fires.
Torches.
Think how much tallow you'd need
for all that.
That's the city.
The one I've been seeing in my dreams.
Lights, water, trees, grasses.
Something sticks it all to earth.
God's goodness!
It makes sense.
Anything flat's got two sides,
and if the evil was our side, then surely
God's goodness is on this one.
Oh, it'll be God's city, alright.
Can you see his great church?
- No.
- No? What do you mean, no?
I can't see it.
But nothing's higher than a church spire.
Surely you'd see it.
Searle, in big cities battlements are
higher than a man can see over.
But the boy surely must know
where it is.
Come on, Searle. Let's go.
Just remember, Con,
there's a run of ill fortune
struck our family these past years.
Me and Ulf, we have to take care.
But... it must be God's city.
There's so much light.
Where is Ulf? Ulf!
I'm over here.
Don't leave me behind.
I've always had to stay at home.
So I'm glad to get the chance
to journey out a bit.
You see, I've got something special.
- A lady in wood.
- She was my secret!
The little Virgin our mother gave us
before she passed on.
I'll put her in the cathedral
for her myself.
Can you see me placing her
as an offering for my mother, then?
I'm sure I keep remembering things
as we go along, you know.
Searle, come on.
Let's just get on with it.
So pretty.
So pretty.
- Ulf!
- Ulf!
You get back across here, by God!
Get back across here!
Ulf!
Don't go anywhere!
I'm coming, brother, I'm coming!
I'm coming!
- Come on, brother!
- I can't!
Come on, Ulf!
Give me your hand, man!
Get in here, by Christ!
I've lost the little Virgin! I've lost her!
- Griffin, do we cross that?
- I don't remember.
- We go as crow flies. Griffin?
- Yes.
Come on, then. Everyone together,
then we're strong. Are you ready?
Searle?
The little Virgin.
Halt!
Go!
Wait, wait, wait!
Look out! Keep going!
Back, Searle!
Go, go!
Come on, go, go!
Hurry!
Run!
Ulf!
- Santa Maria!
- Ulf? Where is Ulf?
- Ulf!
- You're supposed to come with us!
By Jesus, Ulf, listen to me!
There's nothing on your side!
You get to the middle,
I'll take you from there!
I'll kill the bastards
if they try to stop me. I'm going!
- Get him up!
- Get him back first. Come on.
- Searle...
- It's alright, Ulf. Stay right back!
Con...
Godspeed, Griffin.
We separate here.
I'm going to go on to the cathedral.
We'll never have time to rig the spire
if we stay together.
I'll travel faster if I'm alone. I can have
rigging done by the time you arrive.
- We'll not leave my brother.
- It's Ulf or the village, Searle!
You take charge here, find a foundry,
get that spike cast
and get it to the cathedral.
Come on, let's everybody
just do what they have to do.
Connor, no!
Take charge? Find a foundry?
In this place?
All you have to do is use your nose.
Even in big cities
you can smell a foundry.
Gauge the wind, steer a course.
But you take care of the boy, Searle.
Connor!
You promised.
- You swore you'd never leave.
- Stay away from me.
Connor's gone.
He could be lost.
The city is so big, Martin, so queer.
Don't fret, Griffin. He only wants
what's right for all of us.
And however big the city,
there's only one church.
He... hit me.
Ulf!
Wait for me!
I'll come back for you, I swear it.
Do you hear me, Ulf?
We'll come by on the way back!
Don't leave me.
Griffin, if there are things
in your dream that can help us,
keep us out of danger, you've got
to make sure we know about them.
If we could've kept Ulf
from walking into that...
I didn't know!
I can't know what everything means!
Well, if you do know something,
make bloody certain you warn us!
Hey!
Oh, Christ! Bloody Eric!
Bastard never even stopped.
Hey...
What's all this, then?
Hare bloody Krishna?
Well, they look like they've been
in the bush for a while.
Kid's alright.
Smell it out.
Gauge the wind.
- What the hell?
- Connor, I've got one.
Foundry.
Griffin...
Griffin, come here.
- Hurt?
- Foundry.
Ah, nothing broken.
Don't worry, lad. You're only the last
in a long series of accidents.
Hey, Tom?
Come on, we'll dress this
in the shop.
Blacksmiths.
We brought copper.
- Fresh off the boat, are you, boy?
- Copper. Cast it. Now.
Connor said you'd cast the spike.
You've got to help us
or the village is lost.
- Ah, shh, there.
- Please, cast it.
Shh, shh!
Can you understand these buggers?
Copper?
Aye, aye, copper.
You must cast it for us.
- I'll grind this.
- Careful. There's no pedal!
Faster, faster.
Quick, put that polish on the end.
Hey, hey!
Smithy, you've got to help us.
Please, Smithy.
Cast this spike.
If it's a casting you're after...
Sorry, son,
we're being closed down.
For the church.
Hang on. Over here.
The church wanted us
to cast a pinnacle.
Put the scaffold up.
We had this bed
lying around here for months,
waiting for them to scratch around,
getting some money.
No money.
The church is poor?
Yes. Well, like any other business, hey?
- When they don't want what you're selling.
- Selling?
Hell...
Pour the copper for us, please.
Pour the copper.
The church sent you... Did it?
Just who in hell are you?
Cast metal... now.
Jesus!
I thought you were
the bloody wreckers!
- Good copper.
- Aye, Cumbrian copper.
Smithy...
We're a foundry, aren't we?
We cast things?
Aye.
A furnace without bellows,
Searle!
Now we water-bath the spike.
- No. Just let it cool till tomorrow.
- No!
Before the dawn,
we got to raise it up by then.
Raise it? Tonight?
You want to raise this tonight?
Aye, our man Connor's on his way
to prepare the spire.
- Have a beer.
- Who are you guys?
Ale.
Let's help 'em out.
It's our last night, Smithy.
Give it a bash!
There's no money in this,
no one will pay you.
But the copper is a tribute.
And surely people have come
as we did with gifts?
- Gifts?
- From across the world.
Well, put it this way...
you'd probably be the first.
Please, Smithy, you must!
Any other night, son,
and I wouldn't do it.
Hey, hey!
Right, another hour we'll water-bath it.
Then we'll sling some scaffolding
on the back of the wagon.
Martin... you stay with the blacksmiths.
- We'll move on as the crow flies.
- Aye.
Not unless you can swim. The cathedral's
on the far side of the harbor.
That's right. We cross water.
Quick, Arno. Hurry!
Bloody horse! Come here.
Back off!
- Searle, it's stealing.
- Come here!
Push, Griffin, we need it.
Just hold still, will you?
Just hold still.
This bloody horse is just going
to hold us up. And it's thieving!
Arno, we need it
to winch up the spike.
Look, you know what happened to me
last time.
And I only borrowed the bloody thing!
Look, you won't get a horse that big
into a boat this small!
Oh, it's in.
Cor!
The devil's work was always
easy to do, eh, Searle?
Ew! Don't give me worms.
Bring back my bloody horse!
Bloody horse?
Doesn't matter to you if I lose
my other hand for thieving, does it?
Hey, you! Bring it back!
- You bastards!
- Oh, no!
Look, if they take a hand for a horse,
what the hell are they going to take
for a horse on a boat?
Shh! Something...
We'll never get there.
We're too slow.
This boat's too slow.
Arno, take oars!
Griffin... if there's something
out there, will you tell us?
I don't like this.
- I thought I told you to row!
- Alright, row.
There's nothing there,
is there, Searle?
What the hell is that?
You never tell us anything!
Jesus!
What is it?
Evil? An omen?
- You never bloody tell us!
- I didn't see it!
How could I have seen that?
It's coming to get us!
We... we're sorry...
for stealing the horse!
Oh! It can't hurt us, can it?
We're miners from Cumbria,
we've got a right of expedition!
We'll kill it!
Look out!
Don't let the whale eat us!
God's teeth! We're sinking!
Bail! Bail!
Oh, God! Sweet Mary Mother of Christ,
not the ocean deep! I can't swim!
Anything we don't need,
throw it over!
I can't swim!
- Where's your damn church, Griffin?
- I don't know!
Is it the last church in hell
you're taking us to, boy?
Queenfish...
Don't move!
- I remember the queenfish dive.
- Griffin...
- Above it, the church spire.
- Griffin!
One of us will fall.
One of us... dead!
One of us will die at the cathedral!
Who? Who dies at cathedral?
I don't know.
No?
It's not Arno.
Two hands, with hand over hand
before he fell.
It's me, ain't it?
The end for me.
I've watched them all picked away.
My wife in childbirth.
The child she died for.
Picked away.
My mother. Picked away.
Picked away!
And Ulf.
Picked away and picked away!
- Searle...
- No, Arno!
He holds our fate in his hands.
Oblivion, Griffin.
I'm last.
I die and my blood dies.
Connor. Connor!
Oh, he'll be safe.
Luck's always been with Connor.
For the love of God, Griffin, tell us.
We can't move until you tell us!
It could be Martin! Or you!
Could be me!
I want Connor, I want my brother back!
Oh, God.
Connor!
By God...
What is it? What's wrong?
None of us is wearing gauntlets.
No...
No!
Godspeed, Griffin.
It's Connor! He's the one who falls!
Connor's going to fall!
Arno, talk to him.
Make sure he doesn't try swimming.
As soon as we reach the beach,
we'll run like the wind, boy.
No! It's not fast enough.
I've got to take the horse.
- The horse stays with me!
- Get off!
Then I'll ride the huge sows,
like Connor.
You stay away from those things.
They're not God's work.
But, Searle, I've got to beat him
to the church or he'll fall.
You'll not leave us now, will you?
Without you, we're blind.
It's Connor.
And the tallest spire in Christendom.
How the hell
did he get up there?
When we reach shore,
remember, no one travels alone, Griffin.
You're our eyes, you stay with us.
Griffin!
Now what?
Griffin! Don't leave us!
I'll fetch him.
- No, Searle, you can't!
- Go on, get over.
You'll swamp us!
You can't get that horse off...
Searle, come back!
Come on! Come on!
Hey, Searle!
Hurry!
Searle!
Come back here, boy!
What am I supposed to do
with this boat?
Catch him or we're lost!
What about me?
Where do I go? Which way?
It's alright for you,
you've got the horse!
Wait!
Griffin!
Griffin!
Wait for me!
'The fact is, you still have
an alliance with America.
'This is the real world, 1988.
'You can isolate one little pocket
of the world and say "nuclear-free".
'Oh, you can try,
but then, there is no refuge.
'No pocket,
no escape from the real world.'
Where's the cathedral?
- No!
- Devils in everywindow!
- Get back, boy.
- No!
- '...over 50,000 men...'
- Griffin, come here!
- '...now carry the AIDS virus.'
- Come here, Griffin.
'In three years,
nearly 2,000 of us will be dead.'
It's secure. Grab the rope!
We'll need to guide it.
The spike! It's on its way up!
The cathedral, Griffin!
The refuge... Make us safe!
Lost.
I can't see the spire anymore.
Connor...
Connor's going to fall.
I don't recognize any of it.
We'll find him.
We'll find him.
Hey, give a man a chance
for a puff of air!
Clear the rope!
Clear!
It won't move!
The rope's stuck in the pulley!
Aye! Let's slacken off!
Steady now! Be careful!
We've still got some time left!
Okay, she's moving!
Get someone to ring bell, Martin!
Signal the others. The city's vast.
I'm still lost, it's like...
I see too much.
Which way, boy? Show us!
- A signal!
- Where, Griffin?
Where?
Which way, boy?
Spike's on its way up!
Searle! Searle!
Black my eyes. Quick, blindfold me!
Hurry! Hurry!
It's this way! It's this way up here.
No! This way.
Wait!
Okay!
Slacken off a little!
Ah! Just keep it riding there.
Con, careful!
- Griffin...
- What's wrong?
Don't move!
This way!
Oi, it's not safe!
No, no, it's all right.
The winch is strong.
The blacksmiths give good instructions.
Griffin's dream!
In the dream Connor fell!
Keep the tension on!
Beware the winch!
Aargh!
- Con!
- Hang on!
Secure the rope! Grab it!
- The horse. Tie it to it!
- Right. Make it fast!
Get back, Griffin!
Griffin, don't go!
My God!
Griffin, watch out!
Griffin, stay back.
Con, it's not safe for you.
It's safe for no one. Moon's set.
We've got to get spike raised
before dawn breaks.
Lift me.
Can you do it?
Griffin, your hand. Here...
Godspeed.
Easy, lad. Good grip.
Easy!
Go on, son, get up there!
Easy, Griffin!
Come on, Griffin!
We'll hear the bells loud and clear
at dawn, if they're still well at village.
And dawn's coming, for good or ill.
There's no time!
There's no time, Griffin!
Come on, boy!
Sink it, boy.
Yeah!
Hey!
You made it, boy! You made it!
The bells!
- The bells!
- The bells!
They're safe!
Do you hear that?
'Twas me that fell.
Connor! Griffin!
Are you there, then?
The Death has skipped us by,
I'm sure of it!
Listen, it's Linnet.
Hello!
Con! Griffin!
There's no one sick!
Do you hear that?
Griffin, it could be we've done it!
They're well!
It's a sign.
A dream.
You had a wonderful dream, Griffin.
A wonderful story.
It was like a window opened.
So... everyone reached
the great church but me.
I got stuck at the black high road.
You didn't get stuck, Ulf.
You went under it.
'We were long gone, by then.
But you went forward.'
'You showed the little Virgin
the celestial city.'
Eh, Ulf.
Mother would be proud of you.
The little Virgin.
Could we place her in the great church?
Well, perhaps do you think it was enough
to have shown her the great city?
That's enough.
I did that.
I did that much.
Just a dream, Griffin.
Aye, but what a dream.
A vision of hell.
Connor.
You're safe!
They're back!
- Grigor.
- Searle.
- Fine to see you.
- God's spared us all.
Moon's already down
and no one's fallen ill. No one!
Is that right?
Whoo!
The village is saved!
The dream...
Could it be?
The Death.
Con, you're back!
It's a miracle!
You won't go away
like that no more, Con, will you?
No, never!
Stay away from me!
Connor, no!
The Death...
Connor.
Griffin!
You knew!
You were sick all along.
You knew!
Griffin, I...
- The Death!
- The Death!
The Death! The Death!
How could you have come back?
Griffin, I swear I didn't know plague
was upon me, not till we were into pit.
And then I kept my distance.
From all of you. I swear it.
And I was afraid.
There was nothing else I could do,
you understand?
There was nowhere else for me to go.
And I came to believe
the unfolding of your storywas...
I came to believe it was my salvation.
The salvation of us all!
But the dream made you all safe!
It's true, isn't it?
It's true.
Plague's left me. I'm mended.
Just a scar is all that remains.
Are we lost?
Do we all die, then?
No, it can't be.
But if the infection's loose...
No, because in dream one died.
Only one.
Aye, it won't break loose!
I shall not return to the village.
I want them to know the threat is gone.
Village safe.
Con, you'll tell them!
You'll bring them round!
Make them believe my story!
They must!
You'll tell them, won't you, Con?
That's when they'll believe it!
Godspeed.
Travel well, boy.
- Winch it back?
- It's too dense. Bring it back!
Don't move!
'Griffin!
'Griffin! Griffin!'
Griffin, here! Wake up!
What did I do?
We called you and splashed you,
and still you didn't wake.
Griffin!
That's the fourth time this week!
- Will you get out of the water?
- A cathedral...
...people...
- ...digging in the earth.
- Aw, Griffin!
No, it's true!
It's true, it's true, it's true!
Our Griffin gets out of bed
with angels in his head! Ha-ha!
No, no. It were the omens first.
Where did they start?
I'm talking about the peddler
who was here on Monday last.
"Find a lump under your arm at breakfast
and you're dead by noon," he said.
It's Connor I'm worried about.
If something is abroad,
why isn't he back yet?
It's been too long.
I'll find him.
Tomorrow I'll go.
The thought of him out there...
not knowing.
Griffin... the sun's on the west wall.
You're going to be late!
Dreamers will be clothed in rags, Griffin.
Oh, leave the bairn alone.
Wasn't the one you had up there
big enough?
There's been enough ill fortune come
down on this house for ten families.
If sickness gets this far,
we'll need something to protect us.
You're lagging!
Come on, bog food!
You be bellwether boy, Griffin.
Go on, hurry,
we'll catch you up.
Go on, off you go now, boy!
It's come out of the east,
killing people, drawing closer.
Do you remember the peddler
who brought the faggots?
"By the hundreds," he said.
"They were falling dead without warning."
Aye, I don't like it.
Chrissie!
Come on, Griffin. If Connor arrives,
Old Chrissie will let you know.
Count on it, Griffin.
Connor's sharp,
he knows the ways of the world.
He'll be fine.
Are you right there, lad?
Down you go.
Down to hell.
For the mining of it.
So, how many days has he gone now?
Thirty-six.
Well, bear up, lad,
it's work that drives away worry.
And with witches' spikes on our roofs,
we'll all be protected.
There's talk of places
that Death just skips right over.
An offering to God would make us safe.
An offering would mean a journey,
wouldn't it, Searle?
We'd take an offering to the big cities.
- You?
- They'd draw back the curtain.
They'd show us the holy relics.
Saint Augustine's finger bone...
...and the feathers
from Archangel Gabriel.
Ulf, you've never been outside
of the village before.
But none of us have.
And I wouldn't want to, neither.
Look at Connor, God spare him.
He's still not back.
I tell you fair,
I wouldn't want to be in his shoes.
Griffin! It's Connor!
- Go on.
- It's Connor!
- Connor!
- Connor's come!
Connor... Connor!
Wait! Wait, Chrissie!
Hold it, we're coming up.
Easy! Hold on, Griffin.
Connor!
- Hold on.
- Easy!
Connor!
Come on, Chrissie! Faster!
Back again, is he,
your wandering brother?
Oh, come on, Chrissie!
- Griffin!
- Connor!
Connor, you're back! It's a miracle!
Look at them,
you'd think they were married.
Tomorrow I was going to go out
and find you.
How would you have done that?
Flown like a bird,
I'd have borrowed Black Jacob's horse!
You would, eh?
You won't go away like that
no more, Con, will you?
No, never. Never.
Look.
It is a new method
for counting your devotions.
They make them of oak for great lords,
rosewood for liege ladies.
This one's made from hawthorn, Griffin.
It's a scraggy tree, small and tough.
Reminded me of someone.
It's the same tree
they make axes from, Griffin.
Axlewood.
If I am a big wheel on the move,
still it's you at my heart.
You and Linnet.
- Connor!
- Look, here she comes.
Connor!
If you had not come back...
I can feel it growing, Connor.
It's over eight month gone now.
God, I don't know what
I would've done if you'd not...
Oh, the dog's nose started to bleed
and wouldn't stop.
We took it for a bad sign.
I thought for sure you were lost.
Con!
Searle! Martin!
Connor! Oh, you're back!
So strange to see people smiling.
What's happening out there, Con?
We've heard the stories.
We've got to do something, yes?
We could meet tonight.
Alright, alright, alright!
There's a powerful evil on the move.
Connor has seen it.
A pestilence which hops forward
on the full moon, he says.
Do we panic it or do we plan?
Tell them, Arno!
A week back, I ferried a monk
across the lake.
He spoke of a great church
being built in the West.
He says it's highest in Christendom.
There's pilgrims come from everywhere
with timber for its construction.
You make an offering,
you stop Death.
No, the church is too far!
It's beyond further reaches
of Earth, I heard.
Across mountains, across seas,
past horrors there aren't even
names for.
We've got to go, Searle,
there's pilgrims on every road.
With Connor to lead the party,
we'd do it.
Yes, we can do it.
He knows the outside world
better than anyone of us.
- What do you say, Connor?
- Aye, Connor?
I've seen pilgrims, Martin.
I've seen so many bodies, there weren't
enough living to bury the dead.
I've seen mobs chasing monks
from their abbeys
for refusing last rites to dying.
It's these same monks that head West
as pilgrims might.
They're people no more than animals.
You can trust no one.
Children...
...begged me for food.
I didn't dare go near them.
They had black boils
under their armpits ready to burst,
and they denied plague
was upon them.
All the churches are empty.
And still not satisfied, the evil keeps
striding forward with each full moon.
We've got a month, maybe two,
with a scrap of God's grace.
We could do it.
Reach the church and raise
a spike of Cumbrian copper.
- Aye!
- With you or Searle to lead our party.
Aye, 'tis our best chance.
Show the faith.
Here's to taking it!
To our journey!
Then Searle must do it.
Connor must do it!
I am sick of all the death.
Looters on the lake!
Con! Come on!
I never thought I'd see the day
when you'd stay put.
You're amongst friends now, Connor.
Looters!
From across the cliffs!
The Stonecutters' village!
On the lake! Pillagers!
It's the far village!
- Are they armed?
- Aye, look!
- Not pillagers.
- No, there's women and children onboard.
Refugees from the East.
They're scared, scared of the Death.
Somebody fetch spears.
We'd best keep guard ourselves.
I heard a story once,
about them old pits up behind the mine.
They reckon there's a hole up there
so deep...
...if you'd dropped a stone down it,
sooner or later it'd fall out
the far side of the Earth.
The copper... an offering.
We've got to take the offering, Con!
To the great church,
to the far side of the Earth.
Look.
There is no time
for your journey, Martin. It's plague.
And if they have the Death,
then it's too late.
It'll have hopped 20 mile on
from Gosford by morning.
Its full moon bears contagion for it
like a sack.
At sunrise, she lets it fall... on us.
Help!
Griffin! Griffin! What is it?
- Are you alright?
- Griffin! What's wrong?
- Wake up, Griffin!
- Griffin, wake up!
Griffin! What's wrong, Griffin?
The seam, the pit...
In my dream, we were tunneling
through to the farthest part of the Earth.
Your head in the clouds again, Griffin?
Leave him. There's signs within dreams.
He's been right before.
The blight on last year's corn.
The vein of copper at the pit.
Have you forgotten?
Do we make the journey,
then, Linnet?
Right. I'm with you, then.
It's our only chance.
- Con!
- And Griffin comes too.
So I carry the cross, eh?
Why's it always me
has to carry the weight?
Connor, Connor...
Where's Ulf? Ulf?
There's a church
at the far reaches of the Earth, Mother.
It's the greatest in the world.
The pilgrims take gifts there.
And that's the place for the little Virgin.
And God willing, I'll put it there myself
for you, Mother.
Ulf?
- Ulf!
- I'm coming, Searle!
Don't go! Don't go without me!
Wait! Wait!
Hey, keep the fires burning!
We'll be back soon!
Ulf, come on, hurry up.
Always too far in front
and too far behind.
What is it?
It's what I told you before.
We're tunneling through the Earth.
All of us.
We're using an engine.
The engine's got a shaft
for breaking the rock and dirt.
It's the engine, you see,
that makes us go fast enough
to be there
before the moon turns full.
The moon's struck you daft.
No, it's true. I saw it in the dream.
And I keep seeing it.
And I'm sure that big black hole
is there too.
Over here! Come on!
Hurry!
What the hell?
I think you've got us
all sleepwalking, son.
But I've... never been down here
before. You know that, Con.
So... it's just like in your dream.
To the other side of the world.
We follow the torch.
It's blown by the wind which comes
from the other side of the Earth.
We use the machine to tunnel.
Let it go!
Here, take it! Take it, quick!
Right, back up! Back up!
It's too dense. Back up!
Keep it going! Keep it going!
- Now wind her back up!
- Wait...
She bucks! Bloody rocks!
Dig! Drill! We must keep moving!
Faster than the moon!
It's not yet risen on the underside.
But hurry! We can't slacken!
We've got to get there or we're lost!
The village is lost!
But, Griffin, you'd fall straight
through to the other side of the earth
after just two days digging.
Into the sky...
Why, you'd have to cling like a tick.
'Twas further than we'd thought.
Three times the length
of your rope, Arno.
No, all of six times that length.
Before we struck the last hard rock
between us
and the far side of the world.
Come on now! Come on!
- Heave it up!
- Fire!
Go, Arno!
Go again!
Oh, look!
- Something dead.
- What's that smell? That stench?
It's tunnels.
Tunnels for the night soil.
Only great cities have them.
Underground sewers where
every household can empty its bucket.
My God, it's huge.
Whatever city's up there
must be... vast.
- I'll go!
- Hold your horses.
Not, it's alright.
I'll be able to tell where we are.
Connor, put the rope to him,
just to be safe.
I mean, you never know...
About falling off, I mean.
Your air bladder, Griffin, till we find out
if the air is poisonous or full of contagion.
Godspeed.
Griffin? Griffin!
Griffin!
Griffin... Griffin!
Griffin!
I can see sky! Stars!
All the stars at once!
We're here!
We're there... We're there!
We're here!
Come on, let's go up.
Searle, Searle...
Searle, I'm afraid.
I'm afraid.
It's alright, good brother. Come on.
It's like it's on fire.
A hundred thousand fires.
Torches.
Think how much tallow you'd need
for all that.
That's the city.
The one I've been seeing in my dreams.
Lights, water, trees, grasses.
Something sticks it all to earth.
God's goodness!
It makes sense.
Anything flat's got two sides,
and if the evil was our side, then surely
God's goodness is on this one.
Oh, it'll be God's city, alright.
Can you see his great church?
- No.
- No? What do you mean, no?
I can't see it.
But nothing's higher than a church spire.
Surely you'd see it.
Searle, in big cities battlements are
higher than a man can see over.
But the boy surely must know
where it is.
Come on, Searle. Let's go.
Just remember, Con,
there's a run of ill fortune
struck our family these past years.
Me and Ulf, we have to take care.
But... it must be God's city.
There's so much light.
Where is Ulf? Ulf!
I'm over here.
Don't leave me behind.
I've always had to stay at home.
So I'm glad to get the chance
to journey out a bit.
You see, I've got something special.
- A lady in wood.
- She was my secret!
The little Virgin our mother gave us
before she passed on.
I'll put her in the cathedral
for her myself.
Can you see me placing her
as an offering for my mother, then?
I'm sure I keep remembering things
as we go along, you know.
Searle, come on.
Let's just get on with it.
So pretty.
So pretty.
- Ulf!
- Ulf!
You get back across here, by God!
Get back across here!
Ulf!
Don't go anywhere!
I'm coming, brother, I'm coming!
I'm coming!
- Come on, brother!
- I can't!
Come on, Ulf!
Give me your hand, man!
Get in here, by Christ!
I've lost the little Virgin! I've lost her!
- Griffin, do we cross that?
- I don't remember.
- We go as crow flies. Griffin?
- Yes.
Come on, then. Everyone together,
then we're strong. Are you ready?
Searle?
The little Virgin.
Halt!
Go!
Wait, wait, wait!
Look out! Keep going!
Back, Searle!
Go, go!
Come on, go, go!
Hurry!
Run!
Ulf!
- Santa Maria!
- Ulf? Where is Ulf?
- Ulf!
- You're supposed to come with us!
By Jesus, Ulf, listen to me!
There's nothing on your side!
You get to the middle,
I'll take you from there!
I'll kill the bastards
if they try to stop me. I'm going!
- Get him up!
- Get him back first. Come on.
- Searle...
- It's alright, Ulf. Stay right back!
Con...
Godspeed, Griffin.
We separate here.
I'm going to go on to the cathedral.
We'll never have time to rig the spire
if we stay together.
I'll travel faster if I'm alone. I can have
rigging done by the time you arrive.
- We'll not leave my brother.
- It's Ulf or the village, Searle!
You take charge here, find a foundry,
get that spike cast
and get it to the cathedral.
Come on, let's everybody
just do what they have to do.
Connor, no!
Take charge? Find a foundry?
In this place?
All you have to do is use your nose.
Even in big cities
you can smell a foundry.
Gauge the wind, steer a course.
But you take care of the boy, Searle.
Connor!
You promised.
- You swore you'd never leave.
- Stay away from me.
Connor's gone.
He could be lost.
The city is so big, Martin, so queer.
Don't fret, Griffin. He only wants
what's right for all of us.
And however big the city,
there's only one church.
He... hit me.
Ulf!
Wait for me!
I'll come back for you, I swear it.
Do you hear me, Ulf?
We'll come by on the way back!
Don't leave me.
Griffin, if there are things
in your dream that can help us,
keep us out of danger, you've got
to make sure we know about them.
If we could've kept Ulf
from walking into that...
I didn't know!
I can't know what everything means!
Well, if you do know something,
make bloody certain you warn us!
Hey!
Oh, Christ! Bloody Eric!
Bastard never even stopped.
Hey...
What's all this, then?
Hare bloody Krishna?
Well, they look like they've been
in the bush for a while.
Kid's alright.
Smell it out.
Gauge the wind.
- What the hell?
- Connor, I've got one.
Foundry.
Griffin...
Griffin, come here.
- Hurt?
- Foundry.
Ah, nothing broken.
Don't worry, lad. You're only the last
in a long series of accidents.
Hey, Tom?
Come on, we'll dress this
in the shop.
Blacksmiths.
We brought copper.
- Fresh off the boat, are you, boy?
- Copper. Cast it. Now.
Connor said you'd cast the spike.
You've got to help us
or the village is lost.
- Ah, shh, there.
- Please, cast it.
Shh, shh!
Can you understand these buggers?
Copper?
Aye, aye, copper.
You must cast it for us.
- I'll grind this.
- Careful. There's no pedal!
Faster, faster.
Quick, put that polish on the end.
Hey, hey!
Smithy, you've got to help us.
Please, Smithy.
Cast this spike.
If it's a casting you're after...
Sorry, son,
we're being closed down.
For the church.
Hang on. Over here.
The church wanted us
to cast a pinnacle.
Put the scaffold up.
We had this bed
lying around here for months,
waiting for them to scratch around,
getting some money.
No money.
The church is poor?
Yes. Well, like any other business, hey?
- When they don't want what you're selling.
- Selling?
Hell...
Pour the copper for us, please.
Pour the copper.
The church sent you... Did it?
Just who in hell are you?
Cast metal... now.
Jesus!
I thought you were
the bloody wreckers!
- Good copper.
- Aye, Cumbrian copper.
Smithy...
We're a foundry, aren't we?
We cast things?
Aye.
A furnace without bellows,
Searle!
Now we water-bath the spike.
- No. Just let it cool till tomorrow.
- No!
Before the dawn,
we got to raise it up by then.
Raise it? Tonight?
You want to raise this tonight?
Aye, our man Connor's on his way
to prepare the spire.
- Have a beer.
- Who are you guys?
Ale.
Let's help 'em out.
It's our last night, Smithy.
Give it a bash!
There's no money in this,
no one will pay you.
But the copper is a tribute.
And surely people have come
as we did with gifts?
- Gifts?
- From across the world.
Well, put it this way...
you'd probably be the first.
Please, Smithy, you must!
Any other night, son,
and I wouldn't do it.
Hey, hey!
Right, another hour we'll water-bath it.
Then we'll sling some scaffolding
on the back of the wagon.
Martin... you stay with the blacksmiths.
- We'll move on as the crow flies.
- Aye.
Not unless you can swim. The cathedral's
on the far side of the harbor.
That's right. We cross water.
Quick, Arno. Hurry!
Bloody horse! Come here.
Back off!
- Searle, it's stealing.
- Come here!
Push, Griffin, we need it.
Just hold still, will you?
Just hold still.
This bloody horse is just going
to hold us up. And it's thieving!
Arno, we need it
to winch up the spike.
Look, you know what happened to me
last time.
And I only borrowed the bloody thing!
Look, you won't get a horse that big
into a boat this small!
Oh, it's in.
Cor!
The devil's work was always
easy to do, eh, Searle?
Ew! Don't give me worms.
Bring back my bloody horse!
Bloody horse?
Doesn't matter to you if I lose
my other hand for thieving, does it?
Hey, you! Bring it back!
- You bastards!
- Oh, no!
Look, if they take a hand for a horse,
what the hell are they going to take
for a horse on a boat?
Shh! Something...
We'll never get there.
We're too slow.
This boat's too slow.
Arno, take oars!
Griffin... if there's something
out there, will you tell us?
I don't like this.
- I thought I told you to row!
- Alright, row.
There's nothing there,
is there, Searle?
What the hell is that?
You never tell us anything!
Jesus!
What is it?
Evil? An omen?
- You never bloody tell us!
- I didn't see it!
How could I have seen that?
It's coming to get us!
We... we're sorry...
for stealing the horse!
Oh! It can't hurt us, can it?
We're miners from Cumbria,
we've got a right of expedition!
We'll kill it!
Look out!
Don't let the whale eat us!
God's teeth! We're sinking!
Bail! Bail!
Oh, God! Sweet Mary Mother of Christ,
not the ocean deep! I can't swim!
Anything we don't need,
throw it over!
I can't swim!
- Where's your damn church, Griffin?
- I don't know!
Is it the last church in hell
you're taking us to, boy?
Queenfish...
Don't move!
- I remember the queenfish dive.
- Griffin...
- Above it, the church spire.
- Griffin!
One of us will fall.
One of us... dead!
One of us will die at the cathedral!
Who? Who dies at cathedral?
I don't know.
No?
It's not Arno.
Two hands, with hand over hand
before he fell.
It's me, ain't it?
The end for me.
I've watched them all picked away.
My wife in childbirth.
The child she died for.
Picked away.
My mother. Picked away.
Picked away!
And Ulf.
Picked away and picked away!
- Searle...
- No, Arno!
He holds our fate in his hands.
Oblivion, Griffin.
I'm last.
I die and my blood dies.
Connor. Connor!
Oh, he'll be safe.
Luck's always been with Connor.
For the love of God, Griffin, tell us.
We can't move until you tell us!
It could be Martin! Or you!
Could be me!
I want Connor, I want my brother back!
Oh, God.
Connor!
By God...
What is it? What's wrong?
None of us is wearing gauntlets.
No...
No!
Godspeed, Griffin.
It's Connor! He's the one who falls!
Connor's going to fall!
Arno, talk to him.
Make sure he doesn't try swimming.
As soon as we reach the beach,
we'll run like the wind, boy.
No! It's not fast enough.
I've got to take the horse.
- The horse stays with me!
- Get off!
Then I'll ride the huge sows,
like Connor.
You stay away from those things.
They're not God's work.
But, Searle, I've got to beat him
to the church or he'll fall.
You'll not leave us now, will you?
Without you, we're blind.
It's Connor.
And the tallest spire in Christendom.
How the hell
did he get up there?
When we reach shore,
remember, no one travels alone, Griffin.
You're our eyes, you stay with us.
Griffin!
Now what?
Griffin! Don't leave us!
I'll fetch him.
- No, Searle, you can't!
- Go on, get over.
You'll swamp us!
You can't get that horse off...
Searle, come back!
Come on! Come on!
Hey, Searle!
Hurry!
Searle!
Come back here, boy!
What am I supposed to do
with this boat?
Catch him or we're lost!
What about me?
Where do I go? Which way?
It's alright for you,
you've got the horse!
Wait!
Griffin!
Griffin!
Wait for me!
'The fact is, you still have
an alliance with America.
'This is the real world, 1988.
'You can isolate one little pocket
of the world and say "nuclear-free".
'Oh, you can try,
but then, there is no refuge.
'No pocket,
no escape from the real world.'
Where's the cathedral?
- No!
- Devils in everywindow!
- Get back, boy.
- No!
- '...over 50,000 men...'
- Griffin, come here!
- '...now carry the AIDS virus.'
- Come here, Griffin.
'In three years,
nearly 2,000 of us will be dead.'
It's secure. Grab the rope!
We'll need to guide it.
The spike! It's on its way up!
The cathedral, Griffin!
The refuge... Make us safe!
Lost.
I can't see the spire anymore.
Connor...
Connor's going to fall.
I don't recognize any of it.
We'll find him.
We'll find him.
Hey, give a man a chance
for a puff of air!
Clear the rope!
Clear!
It won't move!
The rope's stuck in the pulley!
Aye! Let's slacken off!
Steady now! Be careful!
We've still got some time left!
Okay, she's moving!
Get someone to ring bell, Martin!
Signal the others. The city's vast.
I'm still lost, it's like...
I see too much.
Which way, boy? Show us!
- A signal!
- Where, Griffin?
Where?
Which way, boy?
Spike's on its way up!
Searle! Searle!
Black my eyes. Quick, blindfold me!
Hurry! Hurry!
It's this way! It's this way up here.
No! This way.
Wait!
Okay!
Slacken off a little!
Ah! Just keep it riding there.
Con, careful!
- Griffin...
- What's wrong?
Don't move!
This way!
Oi, it's not safe!
No, no, it's all right.
The winch is strong.
The blacksmiths give good instructions.
Griffin's dream!
In the dream Connor fell!
Keep the tension on!
Beware the winch!
Aargh!
- Con!
- Hang on!
Secure the rope! Grab it!
- The horse. Tie it to it!
- Right. Make it fast!
Get back, Griffin!
Griffin, don't go!
My God!
Griffin, watch out!
Griffin, stay back.
Con, it's not safe for you.
It's safe for no one. Moon's set.
We've got to get spike raised
before dawn breaks.
Lift me.
Can you do it?
Griffin, your hand. Here...
Godspeed.
Easy, lad. Good grip.
Easy!
Go on, son, get up there!
Easy, Griffin!
Come on, Griffin!
We'll hear the bells loud and clear
at dawn, if they're still well at village.
And dawn's coming, for good or ill.
There's no time!
There's no time, Griffin!
Come on, boy!
Sink it, boy.
Yeah!
Hey!
You made it, boy! You made it!
The bells!
- The bells!
- The bells!
They're safe!
Do you hear that?
'Twas me that fell.
Connor! Griffin!
Are you there, then?
The Death has skipped us by,
I'm sure of it!
Listen, it's Linnet.
Hello!
Con! Griffin!
There's no one sick!
Do you hear that?
Griffin, it could be we've done it!
They're well!
It's a sign.
A dream.
You had a wonderful dream, Griffin.
A wonderful story.
It was like a window opened.
So... everyone reached
the great church but me.
I got stuck at the black high road.
You didn't get stuck, Ulf.
You went under it.
'We were long gone, by then.
But you went forward.'
'You showed the little Virgin
the celestial city.'
Eh, Ulf.
Mother would be proud of you.
The little Virgin.
Could we place her in the great church?
Well, perhaps do you think it was enough
to have shown her the great city?
That's enough.
I did that.
I did that much.
Just a dream, Griffin.
Aye, but what a dream.
A vision of hell.
Connor.
You're safe!
They're back!
- Grigor.
- Searle.
- Fine to see you.
- God's spared us all.
Moon's already down
and no one's fallen ill. No one!
Is that right?
Whoo!
The village is saved!
The dream...
Could it be?
The Death.
Con, you're back!
It's a miracle!
You won't go away
like that no more, Con, will you?
No, never!
Stay away from me!
Connor, no!
The Death...
Connor.
Griffin!
You knew!
You were sick all along.
You knew!
Griffin, I...
- The Death!
- The Death!
The Death! The Death!
How could you have come back?
Griffin, I swear I didn't know plague
was upon me, not till we were into pit.
And then I kept my distance.
From all of you. I swear it.
And I was afraid.
There was nothing else I could do,
you understand?
There was nowhere else for me to go.
And I came to believe
the unfolding of your storywas...
I came to believe it was my salvation.
The salvation of us all!
But the dream made you all safe!
It's true, isn't it?
It's true.
Plague's left me. I'm mended.
Just a scar is all that remains.
Are we lost?
Do we all die, then?
No, it can't be.
But if the infection's loose...
No, because in dream one died.
Only one.
Aye, it won't break loose!
I shall not return to the village.
I want them to know the threat is gone.
Village safe.
Con, you'll tell them!
You'll bring them round!
Make them believe my story!
They must!
You'll tell them, won't you, Con?
That's when they'll believe it!
Godspeed.
Travel well, boy.