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The Devils of Loudun
I will find a way somehow to you.
I shall come to you. You will enfold me in your sacred arms.
The blood that will flow between us will make us one.
My innocence is yours.
My God, why have You forsaken me?
I dedicate myself humbly to Your service,
who in Your infinite wisdom have given me this visible burden on my back
to remind me day by day of what I must carry.
O my dear God, I find it difficult to turn in my bed,
and so in the small and desperate hours after midnight I am reminded
of Your burden, the Cross, on the long road.
Please, my dearest God, take away this hump from me,
so that I can lie on my back,
without lolling my head.
I will find a way somehow.
Yes, there is a way to you.
I will find the way.
May the light of Your eternal love...
Amen.
This letter has just been handed in at the gate.
- He has not accepted! - Father Grandier?
"My dear Sister! It is with great regret,
that I must refuse your invitation to become Director of your House,
the pressing duties I have in the town..."
Thank you, Sister.
What is this, this divine mystery?
Let me see! Let me see!
I very nearly addressed myself to God on this.
No, not God: man.
Grandier.
What was that that you did?
Stretching out in order to clutch the falling bedclothes.
Could it have been to hide nakedness?
Is there still modesty there?
How young both of you look.
The girl is so heavy in your arms.
She just yawned. And you have taken up the shudder of her body.
You tremble in spite of yourself.
Look! The sun is breaking up the mists on the fields.
You are going to be engulfed by the day.
Take what you can. Let both of you take what you can.
Now! Now!
Meat on the butcher's slab.
Where are you, beloved? Love oh, where are you?
Now? Now. Now.
O, my God.
Is that it? Is that it?
- Shall we go together, Adam? - Yes, let's.
Don't catch my sleeve, please!
So small a town is lucky to have such a caretaker of souls.
Did I say that as if I meant it?
He always speaks as if he were God Himself.
- Grandier? - Yes.
- There have been rumours... - There she comes now!
Have you heard about what's going on?
You mean...? Oh yes, I've heard stories.
One look is enough to confirm them.
- I've attended her. Medically. - Oh, really?
That content look, that walk... They don't derive from widowhood.
- That's what his visits achieve. - Right.
- Hoo, he dangles! - What kind of an idiot's this?
They put him up last night.
- What a compelling sight! - Come to dinner.
Tell me, what makes you come to me?
Asked in your salon - a wise question, but considering where we are now...
There's certainly no lack of pretty girls in town.
Yes, but unlike you, they did not need consoling for the loss,
the sudden loss of a rich husband.
That was the reason for my first visit.
I saw you, when you came that day, simply as a man. D'you want to be more?
Of course. Or less than that.
- But you can't hope to be a man of God - My dearest child, you ask questions
- without being a man first? - that are far beyond your time
and far, far beyond your experience.
Your mouth...
You possess me.
Go to sleep now. Today you've been a good little animal.
Be happy.
This human head fills me with anticipation, my dear Adam.
But it's a common enough object.
Every one wears one on his shoulders.
But just think, friend: This is the residence of reason.
- Oh, looks who's there! Pretend indifference. - Pretend indifference.
Good evening, Mister Surgeon and Mister Chemist!
- Lovely evening! - Good evening, Monsieur!
- What a fine day it's been. - Very fine. - Indeed.
- What have you in that container? - The head of a man.
- Of a friend? - Of a criminal.
- The body was cut down... -... the gallows last night.
I hope, sir, in the interest of science and progress,
that they did not overcharge you.
- Just nine pence. - A bargain, not bad at all.
Let me see it. Poor rotting pickle.
Mannoury had just observed: It is there that we find reason situated.
How true!
Goodbye, Mister Surgeon and Mister Chemist!
Goodbye.
- The smell of that widow he's been with. Filthy! - Filthy!
Not surprising. Spent the whole afternoon there.
After tickling himself in the confessional with the sins of young girls...
He consumates himself in the widow's bed this afternoon...
- And then comes and yawns in our faces! - And then, this evening...
Pick up the head and come with me!
O my dear Father, it is the wish of Your humble servant
to come to your grace.
Show me a way. Or let a way be made.
O God! O my God, my God!
Release me! Free me! Free me!
King of tremendous majesty, who saves those-to-be-saved free,
save me! Save me, font of piety.
Do not touch my back!
- Claire? - Yes.
They say I have beautiful eyes. Is it true?
- Yes, Mother. - So lovely, it seems, that I may not close them at all.
Not even at night, to sleep.
Go with the others.
You brought meaning to my life by my appointment to this Ursuline house.
I will try to guide my sisters and do my duty as I see it.
O God! O God! I find it so hard to pray.
I confess to the almighty God, to blessed Mary ever ***
to blessed Michael the archangel, to blessed John the baptist,
to the holy apostles Peter and Paul, to all saints,
that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed:
Through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.
- We must... - We must draw up some document about it...
-... in which we show up Grandier. - An accusation against Grandier.
- Exactly. - Exactly.
- We know all about his debauchery. - About his profanity.
And about his impiety.
- Will that suffice? - Suffice it must and will.
You are absolved. Anything else?
Come now, others are waiting!
- I confess I have had unclean thoughts. - Of what kind?
- About a man. - My child...
In the early hours of the morning. My bedroom is suffocatingly hot...
My thoughts fester... And yet they are so tender...
My body... Father, my body!
I wish to be touched.
Have you tried to suppress these thoughts?
- No. - Are they an indulgence? - No.
- I have prayed for help. - Do you wish to be saved from this, then?
- Answer me, child! - No.
I want, I want him to take me...
No - possess me. No - destroy me.
I love you! I love you!
Come, child. I will help you.
I am here as His Majesty's Special Commissioner,
but I am not here for an argument.
- I have simply brought a message. - An order:
- Pull down the fortifications. - What answer may I take back?
- That I refuse. - You have been influenced in this decision.
The decision is entirely mine. As governor of the town.
- Do you know Father Grandier? - I have heard of him.
Ah, Father! Can't you bring your influence to bear on the Governor?
As a man of peace I'm sure you want the walls demolished.
- Don't you? - As a man of peace I do.
As a man of principle I'd prefer
the city walls to remain standing.
They will destroy you, Grandier!
Richelieu whispers in the King's ear: "Demolish the fortifications!
They give the Protestants the chance for an uprising."
Then let me help you with all the passion of my weakness,
my failure.
At half past 5 on Tuesday he left the widow's house.
The widow - ha, ha, ha.
The man is a machine, my dear Adam.
Can the *** responses be conditioned by the clock?
At half past 7 he was observed conversing with D'Armagnac in public.
The subject is in doubt, but I'm told Grandier twice sniggered.
That evening he dined alone, later than usual.
- Until after 1 2 candles were burning in his room. - Adam!
- You are really witty. - Really?
- Thank you. - But these are habits of every man.
- I need more time, my friend. - We'll never catch him on evidence like that.
- The time will come for sure. Just wait. - The time will come for sure. Just wait.
We are all so happy, Father Mignon, that you have been able to accept.
We have all kinds of problems in such a house like this.
That's why I'll need advice from you.
At your disposal.
Of late, I've suffered from terrible visions straight from the devil himself.
Living close to God as we do, we are a natural prey to the devil.
By day it does not seem so bad. But in the night...
My dear Sister, we all know that the spirit is weakest in the small hours.
- But the visitation... - Visitation?
Your predecessor Canon Moussaut came to me at night.
- He stood at the foot of my bed. - What did he say?
He said the most disgusting filth.
- Nothing but disgusting, immoral, and contemptuous obscenities. - Sister...
- He was not in his own person. - What do you mean, my dear sister?
He came to me as a different man.
- Did you recognise this man? - Yes. - Who was it?
Grandier. Father Grandier.
My dear Sister, do you realise the seriousness of this charge?
Yes. Help me, Father.
I could not get more out of the Prioress, not a thing.
I myself can prove nothing. So I sent a message to Father Barré in Chinon.
He is our local expert in such evil matters.
I'll gladly give you any help I can, Father, medically speaking.
- She says her belly is already beginning to swell. - Fascinating.
Nothing unusual. Simply false pregnancy symptoms.
Nothing to do with the devil. Wind.
- Wind? - Wind?
- Someone at the door? - There can't be.
- Seems that there is. - Shop's no longer open. Shut.
My name is Jean de Martin, Baron de Laubardemont.
I am on His Majesty's service to collect information.
- Is there some way I can help? - I hope so.
I am visiting this town on a certain discreet kind of investigation.
- We are known as men of honour. - We are known as men of honour.
Then I would ask you to tell me all that you know.
Of a man of this town called Grandier, Vicar of St. Peter's church.
- Father Grandier? - Father Grandier? - My dear friend Mannoury.
At last! At last!
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
He who sweated blood for us in the garden.
Please, God, make me a good girl.
Take care of my dear father and mother, and look after my dog.
My dog Captain, who loved me and did not understand
why I had to leave him behind.
O God, God!
I would like to make the formal prayers to You, the way I should.
But I can only do that out of a book in the chapel.
Give me love.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,
- now, and in the hour of our death. Amen. - Give me love.
Let me deal with this matter, please.
Good morning, Sister! Are you well?
Yes. Thank you, Father. I'm very well.
Excellent. Will you kneel down, please?
Are you there? Are you there?
They never answer at once afraid of committing themselves.
Come! Declare yourself! In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Always does the trick. - Here we are and here we stay!
- A question. - Pooh! - Don't be impudent. A question:
How did you gain entry in the body of this nun?
- Good offices of a friend. - His name was?
- Asmodeus. - That is your own name.
- What is the real name of your friend? - Urbanus.
- What's his profession? - A priest.
- Of what church? - Saint Peter.
- Grandier! Grandier! - Grandier!
Grandier, Grandier, Grandier.
I cast you out, unclean spirit, along with every Satanic power of the enemy,
every spectre from hell in the name of our Lord Jesus.
Begone and stay far from this creature of God.
Hearken, therefore, and tremble in fear, Satan, you enemy of the faith,
- you foe of the human race, - begetter of death, - robber of life,
- corrupter of justice, - root of all evil and vice,
- fomentor of discord, - seducer of men, - betrayer of the nations,
- instigator of envy, - font of avarice,
author of pain and sorrow.
Begone then, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Give place to the Holy Spirit by this sign of the Holy Cross of our Lord Jesus,
who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
- Amen. - Lord, hear my prayer.
And let my cry be heard by You.
God of heaven. God of the angels.
God of the prophets and apostles.
God of the martyrs, God of the virgins.
Begone!
Repel, o Lord, the devil's power, break asunder his snares and traps.
Put the unholy tempter to flight. With the help of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Your Son, who lives and reigns with you,
God for ever and ever.
Give me the relic!
I adjure you, ancient serpent, by the judge of the living and the dead,
by your Creator, by the Creator of the whole universe,
by Him, who has the power to consign you to hell:
Depart from this servant of God, who seeks refuge in the fold of the church.
Depart forthwith in fear, along with your savage minions.
I adjure you again.
Yield, therefore, yield not to my own person but to the minister of Christ.
May the trembling of this human, this image of God, descend on you.
- God himself commands you, - The majestic Christ commands you,
- God the Father commands you, - God the Son commands you,
- God the Holy Spirit commands you, - the mystery of the cross commands you,
- the blood of the martyrs commands you, - the blood of the martyrs commands you,
the devout prayers of all holy men and women command you,
the saving mysteries of our Christian faith command you.
Depart then, transgressor...
- Excuse me! - Depart, seducer!
I'm sorry to interrupt you.
- Well, what do you want? - I cannot understand.
- I am a heathen devil. - But we always exorcise
- Latin is a foreign language to me. - in Latin, the language of learning.
Let us speak about the *** activities of priests.
- No, we shall not! - Is it true that they...
O, gentle God! Release this thing from me!
Quiet, woman. You're interrupting a theological discussion.
- Father, help me! - My dearest child, I'm doing all I can.
It seems that he's lodged at the present deep in the lower bowel.
- Are Adam and Mannoury there? - They're waiting.
Tell them to prepare themselves, and consecrate the water!
Sister, only the most extreme measures will help us now.
What measures, Father?
The evil fiend must be forced out of your body.
Is there another way, apart from exorcism?
Oh yes, my child, there is another way.
Do you hear me, Asmodeus?
- Have mercy! Have mercy! - Nonsense!
- The Church must move with the times. - The Church must move...
Come, my dear Sister. There lies your salvation.
- Help me, Rangier! - No, no, I didn't mean what I said.
- Come! - Too late, Asmodeus!
Father! Father Barré!
- It is I speaking to you, Sister Jane. - You speak with many voices.
- Asmodeus! - But it is I, really Father. Mother of this convent...
- Silence, beast! - Silence!
- Do you expect mercy? - All is ready.
You know your name is constantly being mentioned in this affair?
- Yes. - Wouldn't it be a good idea to take steps to clear yourself?
Have you offended this woman in some way?
I don't know how that's possible, I've never seen her.
Then why has she chosen you as the devilish perpetrator?
You are in danger, Grandier.
My beloved Sister in Jesu seems to have fixed her mind on me.
Something found in the desert of body and mind
caused by continual prayer can bring hope.
And with hope comes love.
And, as we all know, with love comes hate.
So I possess this woman.
God help her in her terror and unhappiness.
God help her.
Dearest Sister in Christ, I must question you further.
Yes, Father.
Do you recall when for the first time these evil things
took possession of your mind?
- Yes, I do. - Then tell us.
- Speak! Speak! - It was night. Day's done.
- Yes? - He came to me.
- Tell us his name! - Grandier!
Grandier! The beautiful and golden lion came into my room that night.
- He was smiling. - Was he alone?
No. Six of his creatures came with him.
And then?
He took me gently in his arms and carried me to the chapel.
His creatures each took one of my beloved Sisters.
- Go on! Go on! - And what happened?
The chapel was full of laughter and music. There was food:
Spiced meat and wine. Heavy, like the fruit from the East.
This is an innocent vision of hell.
- Go on! - I forgot:
We were magnificently dressed!
Later, when I was naked, I fell among thorns.
There were thorns thrown on the floor. I fell among them.
Come here!
She says, she and her Sisters were first compelled
to form their bodies into a kind of obscene altar,
and that then a black mess was celebrated on their backs.
Here, Father.
She says,
that demons attended Grandier in all his actions,
and that her beloved Sisters incited and encouraged her.
Gentlemen! You will understand what I mean.
And so we vanquished God from His house.
Free of Him, we celebrated His departure again and again.
To one who has been through this, what I have,
God is dead.
God is dead! I have found peace at last.
Take care of her, Lord.
This was an innocent woman.
That was no devil. She spoke with her own voice.
- Please, God. - The voice of an unhappy woman.
But the degraded imagination and filthy language!
- Our Lord - She is a pupil.
- Grandier's pupil? - Yes. - Jesus Christ.
I adjure you, unclean spirit, spectre from hell:
Begone, now! Begone, seducer!
Your place is in solitude.
- He casts you out. - From whose sight nothing is hidden.
- He repels you, he expels you. - To whose might all things are subject.
- He is coming to judge the living, the dead - Who has prepared and everlasting
- and the world by fire. - hellfire for you and your angels.
But he swears he has never been in the convent.
Not in his own person.
Three of the Sisters made statements saying
that they have undergone copulations with demons and have been deflowered.
Mannoury examined them. And it is true that none of them is intact.
My dear Father, we all know about the sentimental attachments
that go on between the young women in these places.
- You don't wish to be convinced? - Oh, but I do!
I shall thoroughly investigate the case.
In the meantime I must order you to put an immediate stop to the exorcisms.
I am in your debt, de Cerisay.
It is my job to keep some sort of order in the place.
I have a letter here from Paris.
By supporting me in this matter of the fortifications
you have made two excellent enemies.
Richelieu and his - well, call him what you will - Pater Joseph.
So far the King is standing with me against the Cardinal.
But should the King fail or falter, this city will come down,
and you are deeply implicated.
O my God! My God!
- All things fail me. - Afraid, Grandier?
Yes. Forsaken.
What's the matter? Come with me into the church!
No. It is not necessary to go into the church
in order to say what I have to tell you.
I am pregnant.
- So thus it ends. - I am afraid.
How can I possibly own to the child?
- I am terribly frightened. - And there was such bravery in love, remember?
- All through the summer nights... - Help me!
And we were to have been each other's salvation.
Did I believe that it could be true?
- Has love then vanished? - And thus it ends but only in your eyes.
Go to your father. Tell him what happened.
- Let him find a good man for you. - Help me!
They exist.
- How can I help you? - Help me!
Take my hand, child. There.
Just like touching a dead hand, isn't it?
Goodbye, Philippe.
I was prevented from entering the convent this very night.
- By armed soldiers. - My God! - My God! - What has happened?
The Archbishop issued an ordinance in which further exorcisms are forbidden.
- No! - It was done at the request of de Cerisay and D'Armagnac.
And, what's more: The Archbishop's physician, that rationalist fool,
examined the women,
- and decided, - Examined the women.
- that it could not be called a case of genuine possession. - What now?
- What are we to do now? - Then all our hopes are done for?
- All up. - It seems so, yes.
- Pity! - Pity! - Let us pray, then.
- What for? - Let us pray. - What for?
Let us pray that the Archbishop has a ghastly, diabolical vision...
- I'll return to my parish and flock. - of particularly horrible nature.
- There I'll find plenty of work to do. - He is an old man, too.
- Perhaps we'll frighten him to death. - Be quiet, Mignon!
- Are you mad? - Do you have to go?
- I must, I must, I must... - We shall miss you.
My dear friend, it needs but a whisper from hell, and I'll be back again.
- Mother... - Yes, child.
Why has the Archbishop forbidden Father Barré to see us anymore?
Someone has told him we are deluded and foolish women.
- What are we to do, Mother? - Do?
- The people are taking their children away. - And there's no one to help us.
- Who can blame them? - We have to do all housework ourselves. - It is tiring.
But why don't you ask the devils to lend a hand?
- Mother, have we been wicked? - By that, which we have done?
Have we been wicked?
- Yes. - Have mocked God?
D'Armagnac, is it you? What are those papers?
The King has gone back on his word. Richelieu has won.
The town fortifications are to come down.
It is to be a little place.
I shall have no more power than a tradesman. Is that the priest?
Grandier!
- What's the matter? - The Cardinal has moved against us.
- The King has lost his nerve. - All this is to come down.
- You are mentioned. - We shan't stand here much longer.
You are named for your resistance.
- You are in danger. - Thank God.
What do you say? I can't hear you. Are you mad?
Is he mad? Let's go down.
Heavenly Father, You have restored strength to my enemies
and hope to Your sinful child.
I give myself into the hands of the world
secure in the faith of Your mysterious ways.
You have made the way possible. I understand, and I accept.
But You work beyond a curtain of majesty.
I am afraid to raise my eyes and see. Reveal yourself!
Show my Your face. Let Your voice sound in my ears.
They say you were not truly possessed by the devil,
- but that you only played parts. - The Archbishop's doctor said so.
Only hysteria, the cry from the womb.
Assure me that it is true that you are possessed by the devil.
- It is true. - It is true.
- We are possessed by the devil! - Possessed by the devil!
- The instigator? - Grandier!
The silence of the devil condemns you.
My Sisters, this stillness presages your eternal damnation.
I implore you all, consider your position.
Father, we are afraid, desert us not!
What can I do? I will pray for you.
May I put in a word?
God be praised! What is your name?
- Leviathan! - Leviathan! - Where are you lodged, unholy thing?
- In the forehead of this lady. - Isacaaron speaking.
I'm lodged in the stomach. My name is Beherit.
- I am here! - And so am I!
Excellent! Now we shall have to act quickly.
Barré must be fetched, he must come back from Chinon,
- and begin with the exorcisms without delay. - This time it shall be public!
I must go to Paris today.
A representative of the court will attend.
- You'll look after things here. - Open the doors!
As shades at morning flee away, and night before the star of day;
so each transgression of the night
- be purged by Thee, celestial light! - Celestial light!
Hallelujah.
Peace, Sisters! Ye that fear the Lord, believe him.
In the name of the Father and the Son and...
The King's representative's here. Prince Henri de Condé.
One of the blood. Excellent!
Constables!
Mignon! Water, a missal, the stoles, the ciborium.
The fingernail of the Saint and the wooden splinter of the true cross.
- See that all of them are brought here! - Our Lord's weapons. Here they are.
- With your gracious permission I will begin my task. - Begin when you wish.
- Leviathan! - Go away! - Arouse yourself!
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Don't keep bringing that impostor's name into our conversation.
I am going to speak a name to you now: Grandier!
Ah! That is a very pleasant noise. Let's hear it again.
- Grandier! - Yes. - I like that name.
- We serve him, he's our Lord. - Yes.
- Grandier! - Ah! Ah!
- We serve him! - Oh, my love, my darling, hold me, take, oh take!
- Would you permit me to question these things? - But surely, if you wish.
Beherit, tell me this: What's your opinion of His Majesty
the King of France, and his adviser, the great Cardinal?
- Can't hear you. - You can hear very well.
If you, Beherit, should praise the King and the Cardinal,
you condone, and imply that their policy is hellish.
If you, Sister Jane, should dispraise them,
you run the risk of treason against powerful men.
I sympathise with your dilemma. Father Barré!
I have here a relic powerful enough to drive out the worst demons.
It is a phial with some true blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In the name of our heavenly Father, I conjure you, most terrible beings,
by this most sacred and holy substance to depart!
Therefore, I adjure you, profligate dragon, in the name of the spotless Lamb,
who has trodden down the asp and basilisk, overcame lion and dragon,
to depart from this woman, to depart from the Church of God!
Tremble and flee!
I am free! I am free!
Almighty God, we beg you to keep the evil spirit
- I am very pleased, - from further molesting this servant of yours, Jane.
- that I've been able to be of assistance. - Keep him far away, never to return!
- You see, Monsieur? - You see, Father?
Ah, Monsieur, what a cruel trick to play on a poor cleric!
But Reverend Father, you have been playing tricks on us, I fear.
Fooled once again!
Make way!
We are besieged! Clear the place! At once!
By the Creator of the universe, who has the power to consign you to hell,
I adjure you to depart from this servant of God, who seeks refuge in the Church.
Depart forthwith in fear, along with your savage minions!
- I was never any good at prayer. - Neither was I. - Neither was I.
- I am afraid. - Quiet, my child.
Do you know what this will cost you?
The damnation of your immortal soul
in an infinite desert of eternal ***.
- In the town my picture's being sold. - We are famous throughout the land.
- Are you no longer worried about being damned? - No.
Not now, not since your lovely legs have been so greatly admired.
Claire, darling, what have you been thinking of in the chapel in the last days?
- Oh, this and that, of new ways and so on. - Of new ways to amuse?
- Yes. - Come on!
I am afraid. Nonsense, we'll support you in all that you do.
- You may not enter this place! - Why not?
You are an impious and lascivious priest. You may not enter.
This is my church! My beloved church.
No more. You are under arrest. You are my prisoner!
I wish to be pure. There's no such thing. O God, my God.
Yes, there is. There is.
No, there is not. Just think, my dear,
and remember those night time visions. He came and...
Oh, that thing! And you agape. No, no, my darling,
not purity, not even dignity. What are you thinking of?
Not only all impure, but all absurd! You remember, don't you!
- Did you sleep well, sir? - No, the noise. The crowd there.
- I wonder if they slept? - No less than 30.000 have come to town,
- and now they're all just waiting. - What for?
- For the execution. - I've not even been tried as yet.
All right, have it your way. They're waiting for the trial.
- My body will be filled, - Please, stay here!
filled with pain that kills God. My fear
- drives him out already. - It is three o'clock now.
- Shall I be able to bear such pain? - I am old, and I need my sleep.
Mother, Mother, remember my terrible fear.
- I am afraid to be left all alone with him. - O, most heavenly Father,
- though I struggle in Your arms like a fretful - You mean your persecutor?
- and terrified child... - Grandier? - Yes. - He's under close guard.
No, he is here. In me, like a child.
I tell you, he's within me. He's lying beneath my heart, but he is still.
- He lives through my breath and my blood. - Let me look into the void.
- And he frightens me. - Let me look inward, inside myself.
I am possessed.
It is now, in the small hours of the night, that Satan sends forth
- his secret agents. - I don't know. - Is there nothing at all,
either in the past or the present,
- which makes for a purpose? - They come, whispering messages of doubt.
- I don't know. - Nothing.
- All of you speak with so many voices. - Nothing.
And I am so tired, Father.
- Who is there? - My name is Ambrose.
- I know you. - I've been told of your trouble, my son.
- The night can be so long. - Stay with me!
- I thought we might pray together, if you wish. - No, help me!
They are destroying my faith. By fear and loneliness now.
- Later by pain. - Do not go, Father! I am afraid.
- Have you greatly sinned? - Yes.
They have been women, ***, and power, ambition, worldliness and mockery.
Remember: God is here. He hears your words.
I tremble when I think of the pain before me.
- And the humiliation. - Did you tremble to think of the ecstasy of love? - No.
- Or of its humiliation? - I only gloried in love.
I have always lived by the senses.
Then die by them, too!
- Hullo! - Hullo! - So you have also been sent for? - Yes.
I brought with me all the things I will be needing. I believe in being prepared.
- You too? - Yes. Have you done work like this before?
- No. - Nor have I. - Hm. - He must go now! - Rather chilly.
They told me that if you need a priest, then it must be Father Barré or Rangier.
- They told you? - Them outside there. - De Laubardemont? - Yes.
Must I go then? Does he say I must go?
Yes, Father. You're far too dangerous in your innocence.
- I don't understand. - It is just as well. Please let me kiss you.
- Where are you? Beloved - What? Tears?
- When was the last time this happened? What are the tears for? - Father!
They must be for what is lost, not for what has been found.
- Father Grandier! - For God is here.
Good morning, gentlemen! Delighted to find you here.
He is to be brought back here from the court. Should be on his way right now.
What is it that you want us to do exactly?
Get the man prepared. A decision has already been reached. Unanimous!
- Good, good. - He is condemned. - That's settled.
That man did make something of an impression.
Father Barré explained, that it was all the devil's doing.
He said, that the creature's calm was nothing but the brazen insolence of hell.
And his dignity nothing but unrepentant pride.
- Good morning, Mister Surgeon. - And good morning to you, sir.
De Laubardemont I have already seen this morning.
- You must return to the court at once. - Good.
- To hear the sentence read. - I understand.
So now it is my duty to ask you to undress.
- To undress? - You cannot go like that.
You're right there, yes.
- Mister Chemist. What have you there? - It's a razor.
- Must this be? - Yes. On the order of the court.
- Just a moment, please. Have you a glass, please? - No, certainly not.
Try this.
Good. That's it. And don't forget the eyebrows.
- That's a good job. And now the fingernails. - The what?
- The fingernails. - The fingernails?
No, I cannot do that.
Then you shall tear out his fingernails.
Urbain Grandier, you have been found guilty
of commerce with the devil.
And of using this unholy alliance
to possess, seduce and debauch
certain Sisters of the Holy Order of Saint Ursula,
who are fully named in this document.
You have also been found guilty of obscenity, blasphemy
and sacrilege.
It is ordered
that you proceed and kneel at the doors of St. Peter's and St. Ursula's,
and there, with a rope round your neck and a 2 pound taper in your hand,
ask pardon of God, the King and Justice.
Next it is ordered that you be taken to the Place Saint-Croix,
tied to a stake and burned alive.
After which your ashes shall be scattered to the four winds.
Lastly, before the sentence is carried out,
you will be subjected to the Question,
both ordinary and extraordinary.
Pronounced at Loudun, 18th August 1634, and executed the same day.
My Lords, I call God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit
together with the ***, to witness
that I have never been a sorcerer.
The only magic that I have practised is that of the Holy Scripture.
I am innocent.
But I may say that I have the hope in my heart
that as this day ends Almighty God, my beloved Father in Heaven,
will glance aside and let my suffering
atone for my vain and disordered life.
Amen.
Get them all out of here!
Confess your guilt! Tell us the names of your accomplices!
How can I name accomplices if I never had them?
This will not help you at all!
- You will only suffer for it. - I know that, and I am proud of it.
Proud, Monsieur? That word does not become you well just now.
He needs a confession.
Yes, he'll save him a lot of trouble if he signs.
Now look here, this document is nothing but a plain confession.
- Here I have a pen for you. - I am sorry, excuse me, sir. No.
Only your signature. That is all.
But my conscience will not allow me to put my name to something untrue.
- This document is most certainly true. - I am sorry. - True!
I fear for your soul, Grandier.
I have seen many men take this standing in the shadow of the Question
but they lived long enough to regret it. Grandier, consider again!
No.
You will go into the darkness before your death.
When you are stretched out in that little room,
with the pain screaming through you like a voice,
let me tell you what you will think.
First: "How can man do this to man?"
Then: "How can God allow it?"
Then: "There can be no God."
The voice of pain will grow stronger and your resolution weaker,
Despair, Grandier! You used the word yourself.
You called it the greatest sin of all. Do not reject God at this moment.
Reconcile yourself. For you have bitterly offended him.
- Confess. - No.
Does he really believe in what he says?
I ask you for the last time: Will you sign?
- Lucifer has sealed his lips - Take him away.
and hardened his heart so he'll not repent.
- Of course. That is the reason. - Shall we go now?
- Come inside, dearest Mother. - No, child.
- The sun's much too hot now the rain's stopped. - It's far too hot out there.
Find me some sort of place, it need not be so high,
- somewhere where this rope can be tied fast. - No!
- Mother. - That is surely the worst sin. - Worst sin? - We're not afraid, Mother.
I have been woken up night after night by someone weeping.
I've gone about trying to find out who it is.
- We have heard no one. - No one?
Perhaps it is the devil?
- He snivels to order. - Mother, that's it:
- Father Grandier would have you go to hell with him. - The Devil? - The Devil.
That's why he sends the Devil. He comes at night and weeps
- to break your heart. - Don't let him deceive you.
- Will you confess? - Another wedge.
Just a moment, please. Essential.
The Devil has the power, you see,
to make the pain much less than it should be.
- Finished? - Yes. - Hit! Hit! Confess!
- You think, that a man - Blood of Christ, falling upon the earth in agony.
- so as to save himself pain, - Blood of Christ,
- should confess a crime, - shed profusely in the scourging.
- although he has not committed it? - Hit! Hit!
- Blood of Christ, flowing forth in the crowning with thorns. - Show me mercy,
- for the sake of St. Francis! - Blood of Christ, stream of mercy. - Confess!
- Save us! - Another! No, twice!
- I've been a man with a weakness for women. - You've been a magician.
- You've had commerce with the devil. - No, no!
Another! No, give it to me!
- Speak! Speak! Speak! - Hit!
Lord, I put my trust in you.
Save me from forgetting You in my sufferings.
- Not a thought. - Lord, hear my prayer,
- Not a feeling. - do not forsake me,
- Nothing. Is God here? - God of my salvation.
- Speak! Speak! - Hit! Confess!
Torture me as you like. Soon it will be over for ever.
- Blood of Christ, victor of the demons. - Take him out!
- Blood of Christ, victor of the demons. - It's no good.
Where are you?
Keep your eyes on me, and see if there is any pain like my pain.
- Blood of Christ, relief of the burdened. - Save us.
- Any good? - No. - No confession?
Easy to see why. The devil made him insensible to pain of all kind.
- We're wasting our time. - Insensible to pain?
- What were all those screams and shouts, then? - Derision and mockery.
The devil cannot be believed even when he tells the truth.
You may ignore these signs of tears. They come from weakness.
- Remorse? - No. - You must sign! Confess! - No.
Then make one last supreme gesture for the Catholic faith.
- This is sheer sophistry, Laubardemont. - You can laugh still? Now!
Yes. For I know more about it than you.
- When I tell you... - I'd rather you saved your illusions, Commissioner.
You'll need every one to help you to deal with others who'll come after me.
The guards!
- My son. - A nothing that's going to nothing.
- But my son, God... - Yes, that is my faith.
- But there is no way of defending it. - There is, remember the will of God.
- It is not enough. Not enough. Not now. - God is here and Christ...
You are an old man. Have you learned nothing then, but empty phrases?
I am sorry. You came in pure charity. The only one.
Go to my mother, please. Tell her...
Here you must get down.
- Why have we stopped here? - This is the Convent of St. Ursula.
A place, which you have violated. Do what must be done.
In this to me utterly strange and unknown place
I do ask God, the King and Justice for pardon.
I beg that I... My God, have mercy upon me, God!
Ask the Prioress and the Sisters for pardon.
I have done no such thing.
I can only ask God to forgive them their sins.
I have been told so many times about how beautiful you are.
Now I see it with my own eyes, and I know it is true.
Look at this thing which I am, and learn what love means.
- You who forgave Maria, - And heard the plea of the thief,
have given hope to me also.
Behold the Cross of the Lord! Be gone all evil powers!
The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has conquered!
- I adjure you, creature, in the name of our almighty God, - Speak!
in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son, our Lord, and the Holy Spirit...
- I have nothing to confess. - Sign! - Confess!
I am about to face God, who is Himself my witness that I've told the truth.
Speak!
Lord, show mercy when you judge me, your servant.
And now give me the kiss of peace and let me die.
- Judas! - Judas!
Confess!
In but a very short time
I'll have to face that same just and awful Heavenly court and Judge
before which you, too, Reverend Father, will soon have to answer.
- I exorcise you, creature of fire! - I exorcise you, creature of smoke!
Have mercy upon me, God! Forgive them, forgive my enemies.