Daughters of Destiny (1954) - full transcript

Daughters of Destiny

In the episode "Elizabeth"

In the episode "Jeanne"

In the episode "Lysistrata"

Good evening.

Let me introduce myself.

I'm Destiny - your fate, as you call me.

Most of you think of me as all powerful,

a God who twists your lives at my whim.

On the contrary!

It is I who lies helpless in your hands.

You lead your lives good or bad,

and I only watch and keep the tally.

I'm going to prove it to you

in the three films that follow...

Centuries of time

and vast distances of space

separate our stories and our heroines,

but one thing their destinies

held in common, they all faced war:

ELIZABETH, who was scarred by a war...

JOAN, who waged a war...

LYSISTRATA, who tried to stop a war...

While we all pray for men

to put an end to war forever,

we can be quite sure that women

will always remain women...

Elisabeth.

"All men's reasoning

are not worth the sentiment

of a woman..." Voltaire.

Les voyageurs en provenance de New York

et se rendant ? Rome

trouveront le car en partance

dans la cour n?2.

Il viaggiatori provenienti da

Nova York e diretti a Roma

troveranno il pullman in partenza

nel cortile numero due.

- Can I have a car directly?

- Certainly, at the gate.

Good day.

Good day, Madame.

I isa the caretaker.

I am too a soldier in the first world war.

Beautiful here?

It's very beautiful.

Do people come to visit the cemetery?

Everyone gotta somebody.

Hisa papa and his mama,

two years ago they have come.

His wife she say she will ritorna.

Yes, we still wait.

It is six years now that we are waiting.

Many people right away after the war.

But now it is more than eight years ago,

much a time passed away.

Only da mamas coma back.

Antonio no one coma here da find.

Antonio?

Anthony, in English,

Antonio In Italian.

You coma here for him.

You are a relation Madame?

You his sister, signora.

I am his wife.

You da wife ofa Antonio.

Yes,

I have come to take him home.

A van is coming from Rome tomorrow morning.

I've finally arranged the necessary papers.

It has taken years.

It takes less time to send

a man to his death,

then to let his wife take him home.

You marry, you marry Antonio ?

Did you know him?

The others here I met.

Antonio different I know him more before.

All the passants here they know Antonio

All the people in the village knows Antonio

You're the first person I have

met who saw him before he...

after the escaped from the prisoner camp.

Where did he hide? In your house?

No but we speak a lot and I

smoke with him many times.

Oh, please go on

Antonio, we love him a lot,

we laugh much he jokes always?

You... you brought

these flowers, didn't you?

- No.

- You don't?

But they're so fresh they must

have been put there today.

Who brought them?

- Don't know.

Someone has brought him

Chi vara - how do you say...

Lot people that passa here

Antonio he had many good friends.

All them isa nice boys the war.

Isa no nica, is bad.

Please won't you tell me

where did my husband hide?

You wanta know?

At da farm of da Ascani.

- Thank you.

- Please.

Oh you've been so kind,

I wonder if you ask the driver

to pick me up there,

in about an hour?

You will go there?

Good morning.

I am the wife of an American

soldier down there.

His name was Captain Whitefield

You are Elizabeth Whitefield?

He spokes very much of you.

What's your name?

- Angela.

You must have been a child at that time.

- No, I was seventeen years.

That's what I meant.

You know I - I never understood

exactly what happened.

No one seemed to know anything.

Not even the War Department.

All they could tell me was that

Tony escaped from the prison camp,

and tried to cross the enemy lines.

- Wanta see my house?

- Oh yes thank you.

Perhaps you could tell me

something about it?

Do you remember anything?

One evening late I go out

to get the water...

The night of the tenth February

nineteen forty four,

I see a man who was hiding there.

Then I call my mother.

I say to the boy, Come.

Come, don't be afraid...

But he doesnt understand.

I say to mama he wants drink?

Mama answers,

No, he would like some wine.

and he repeate wine, and smiles,

mama smiles also,

and me take him into kitchen.

- Was he very very cold?

- Certain, because he was wounded.

The boy was tired much tired... he was...

exhausted, yes very exhausted,

and he had a longa beard.

like the very old hungry he was.

we brought him all we had he eata

everything, poor guy.

All the time he seat under tha big tree.

He wait, he could not leave.

Would you come in signora Whitefield?

- Why don't you call me Elizabeth.

All right, Elizabeth.

From the time he arrives he stays there.

Is your mother still alive ?

I've lost her last year.

Do you take care of the

farm and everything,

all by yourself?

- Who helpa me downa here?

You still live ina New York?

- Yes, I do.

East eighty second street.

You know the address...

Tony lived there when he was a boy.

It's the same place we lived in

ever since we got married.

It's almost as though

he were still alive...

Just away on a long trip somewhere...

Once in the middle

of the night I woke up...

and I saw a light coming from

under the door of his study.

The maid had forgotten to turn it off.

For a moment I thought...

- But you did not know it.

- Oh yes I know.

I'm sorry...

I'm not used to wine.

You are beautiful.

He used to say that always.

You are not marry again?

- No.

Is bad for a woman to stay alone.

I am not alone really.

Live with your parents?

No, but I have all his

books and his letters.

He used to write to me every

day until he was captured.

You see it was the first time we

were ever separated in the six years.

Have many photographs of him?

No. I don?t need photographs.

The old man at the cemetery said,

that only the mothers come

back to visit the graves,

not the wives.

But has he ever stopped to think

what it means to a wife to...

...to come and stand over the grave

of the man who has her whole life?

How could she forget?

Let him die a second time?

Poor thing...

Oh Angela, I shouldn't

impose on you like this.

No. You bother not.

Is always like this signora,

we all have many troubles.

You... You're a nice girl.

Madame, there is someone here.

Pardon me signora,

I will come back right away.

Please sita dawn.

I coma back right away.

I come for the Madame.

I'm going to look for her.

Angela, I want to ask you a great favour.

Would you let me stay here

with you over night?

But I don't know what to...

I'm afraid here is no good place

Your house is lovely.

You couldn?t get used to it.

Hotel be for you better, there's hotel

in passe. The city. I will take you.

Oh, please if you let me,

I had loved to stay.

The bed is hard, there?s no water or light.

No it is not for you at all signora.

Tony lived here, didn't he.

Oh please please Angela tell the

driver to come back tomorrow.

Thank you, I know you would understand.

Me isa forget, me musta go to the village.

Please you go also,

it is not very far you know.

If you don't mind, I, I had

rather wait for you here.

As you wish.

What are you doing here?

I was told to wait here quietly.

What are you doing here?

Mama told me to stay here,

and close the door.

- Mamma?

- Yes.

But...

Mamma Angela?

- Yes.

These two are dead.

- Dead?

- Yes, they're soldiers.

What is your name?

I'm Antonio.

Oh, don't play like that,

you mustn't play like that.

You mustn't play like that,

oh war is bad, bad!

Why are you crying? What have I done now?

Nothing, Nothing.

Mama.

Don't say anything to mama

that you were here.

No, I won't say anything

- Have you been good?

- Yes.

Hug mama.

You've been playing with your soldiers.

Don't make noise,

because there is a lady here.

Look what mama brought you.

It's good.

You have been waiting much,

you know why I needa something,

and they say did not have it.

So I ask the storekeeper to please

look everywhere till he finds what I ask.

It's tea, you will be pleased?

He liked the tea too.

And a... also the wine.

In America he never touched wine.

Here he began like it.

Are you not tired signora?

Yes I am tired.

I am going down early

to the cemetery tomorrow,

I have to be there early.

- Why?

I have come to take my husband back home

I will wake you early.

Don't worry.

Come, madame.

Is not comfort I told you.

- Oh everything is fine.

It's the room of my parents in here.

- Don't you want the lamp?

- Is no matter I have a candle.

Good night.

- Good night.

Mama, who is that lady?

Why do you always want to know

everything. Go to sleep... Good night.

I was thirsty, I was going

to get a glass of water.

Is raining out,

I will bring it to you upstairs.

Thank you.

You better sleep now, signora,

am going to sleep too.

Angela, don't go,

sit here.

Isn't there something more you

want to tell me about Tony?

Did he ever learn to speak Italian?

Si, he can speak a little,

signora Elisabetha.

Isa bad to...

I shouldn't what?

Is a bad to be sad too much,

isa bad to think of old stories.

Don't you think I have a right to know?

Mama, mama.

Good, good, dear Antonio,

have no fear, mama is here...

Maman is here.

No, put him down there.

Go to sleep now, Antonio, go to sleep.

Don't cry Antonio.

His name is Antonio, him too.

Go to sleep now, Antonio, go to sleep.

Why did you try to hide him from me,

if I had gone inside the barn,

I might never have seen him?

I no wanted you to know it.

- But why, what were you afraid of?

- I no want you to be hurt.

All these years, I...

I was afraid to come here...

It's... it's almost...

...as if I had known.

There was the war.

Was it the war that made

you fall in love with him?

I no lova Antonio.

You don't have to lie to no now,

he was here with you

three months, wasn't he?

I no love him,

you maybe think I'm bad, but in the war,

everyone gets crazy, you don't how

it was, but at the time it was the war.

The night of the tenth of March,

the nazis raided

the house that night, Antonio no

tried to get across the lines...

What?

No impossible he be stay because

he was a wounded very bad.

and when he decided,

than it was too late.

That night... I will never forget it...

My mother and I,

we were waiting for it...

Since months on knew that the

Americans were going to attack,

and drive the Germans back.

The Germans know they could find

horses and food in the farms.

They took everything with them.

They were also going to come to us...

and when searching the house,

they were going to find Antonio...

I only had one idea...

Antonio had to get away.

When I got upstairs...

I understood immediately

that Antonio did not have

the force to escape.

Nein, hier ist niemand. Weiter.

Hier im Stallen, da ist ein Kuh...

Hier, mitnehmen.

Alles hierher! Zeit.

Keine Zeit verlieren!

Wir mussen weiter.

At that moment... at that moment

only... Antonio looked at me...

He had never looked at me

like that... It was the first time...

Antonio was killed on the 12th

of May by a stray bullet.

Voil? Elizabeth.

You wanted to know.

He was an unlucky man, that's all.

Like father, like son.

Take your husband.

It is right, his place is no here.

Because...

- What?

Antonio only loved you.

Whenever there is a storm, the boy

becomes agitated like that night.

The guardian of the cemetery

says he is a war child.

- Angela... Give him to me.

- Give him to you?

Let me take him too.

I will do what is necessary.

I will raise him well.

I will send him to the best schools.

He will be happy,

he will want for nothing.

Tell me that I can have him.

I am his mother, and you

cannot take him from me.

Bonjour Madame.

You were right, they were all good men,

Tony was good,

only the war is evil,

when the car arrives from

Rome, will you tell the men

Captain Whitefield will remain

here with his friends...

and with his son.

Bien Madame.

There! You see?

For too many years,

Elizabeth bemoaned what she

thought was her destiny.

But you don't think I had

anything to do with it, do you?

As a matter of fact, I was so

busy with personal matters,

at the time I didn't even

know she was alive...

Joan.

What women want, god wants it.

After the rescue of Orl?ans...

After the coronation of

Charles VII at Reims...

After three months of

unbroken victories...

Joan met with a grave

disaster near Paris.

Abandoned by her king,

without army, almost alone,

Joan decided to continue her mission:

Throw the enemy out of France.

Now there's the case of Joan...

Look, Joan!

It's those killers from Paris again.

Poor souls!

Because they were my friends...

how many churches

are there in Paris, Pasquerel?

- Eighty.

- That many!

And in all those churches,

they are praying God against me.

I'd much rather not

have Paris against me.

Too many churches.

I've had enough! Enough!

I can't go on, do you hear? I'm fed up!

It was bound to happen!

Yes, I should have gone on foot,

but I was too tired!

We're all entitled to be!

I refuse to go on, I'm starving!

You worry too much about yourself!

And you don't worry enough other people!

They're all fed up, all of them.

Since I'm your brother,

I can afford to tell you the truth:

I'm fed up completely!

I can hear you Pierre. Why do you shout?

- Because I'm fed up, I tell you!

Well, go back then. We'll go

to Compiegne without you.

Yes, you can go to, Compiegne without me.

The King will be pleased to see you again.

- The King! Ha!

The way you defied him,

he's more likely to hang me!

But he's made a noble-man of you.

He wouldn't hang you.

He'd chop your head off.

I'd be hanged though,

if I ever went back, but I'm going on.

Do as you like.

As for you, Joan, this is the last

time I'm telling you:

I'm going home.

You'll be forgiven, if you come.

I'm warning you, it's your last chance.

Pierre, for the last time I tell you, no.

All right, then, I'm going!

I'm sorry, but it seems to me the horses

are for those who are going to need them...

Where shall I go on foot?

Oh, that's your concern.

Take this one, if you like,

he's no use to us anymore.

What if I'm attacked?

You'll defend yourself.

Look Pasquerel, my sword is broken!

You can't leave me without a horse.

What if I come across the English?

What can I do without a horse?

- Well, you'll just run away!

Now listen, Pasquerel,

you can't let me go off all on my own!

Joan, please!

Saint Catherine, Saint

Margaret, Saint Michael,

what shall I do?

Is it right for me to go to Compiegne?

Saint Catherine, Saint Margaret,

why do you speak to me no longer?

Are you angry with me?

Is it because I'm going to Compiegne?

You haven't the right to be silent

when you've always spoken to me!

Today, I no longer know what to do.

My voices: My voices!

If you want me to stop, then

at least you must tell me.

You know I'll go on

unless you tell me not to.

If you don't want to answer

me, just let me know.

I won't call on you anymore. But I beg

you, please, come and say good bye.

Joan, look out!

My Lord, let why will be done!

Joan! My beauty!

Stop, you fools! It's the Maid!

Noiroufle!

Noiroufle!

What are you doing here?

Well, we saw some horses,

but we didn't know they were yours.

- Still a thief!

Oh no! They're not for me!

They're for the captain!

- Which Captain?

- Still the same one: Baretta!

Baretta! Is he here?

That's a piece of good news!

D'Aulon, Baretta's here.

Good news, you churchgoers!

The Maid's on her way here!

Get out of here!

The Maid has come!

What! Which Maid?

Joan, The Maid of Orleans.

Thunder and lightning!

Here? Outside!

Yes, she says she has word for us.

Are we leaving again?

May be, not you.

She's not too fond of you

and your kind, my sweet

But what's going to happen to me?

Dress and pack my things for me.

Be quick about it!

She may decide to leave immediately,

you never know with her.

Anyway a man has to get

down to work sometimes.

He's burnt down our monastery

and he's leaving us to die

of hunger, help us.

You must tell Baretta to be

generous, he will listen to you.

Yes Joan, help us. Tell him to give us more

food at least! Don't be afraid anymore!

I'm here now! I'll take care of you.

Eat it up!

Well, at last! I can't tell you

how glad I am to see you again.

Thieves, out-throats, food-pads,

and you who once led the king's own army!

I've so much to do, I take what I find.

Tell me, have you found

yourself a man yet?

How dare you speak that way to my sister?

Oh, I forgot! She hears voices,

she speaks to God.

I forbid you to speak that way of God!

Oh, so your God is too good

for me and my kind, is that it?

I forbid you to speak that way

of God, do you hear?

Pay no attention, Joan! You need a

lesson in manners, you! There you are!

And if you like, I'll take all these

ladies, and toss them in the river.

I'd do anything for you!

She's right! There's got to be

a little discipline in an army!

I'm glad to see you Joan.

Now, important thing first: are you hungry?

- No!

- What do you moan, 'no'?

He's right! Ah, ah! It sounds hollow... Ah!

Give them anything they want.

- How many men have you got?

- More than fifty horsemen, my girl!

Thirty-eight crossbowmen sixty archers,

two trumpeters and lot of arms.

Are you interested?

Perhaps.

Get up! Get up! I don't want

anyone kneeling for me.

- So, that's the girl. Ha! Ha!

- You know Kennedy, my Scotsman?

Isn't it you they call:

"He'll come for a sou"?

For a penny - it's worth more than a sou!

And what are you doing here?

That's just it! Come on! Out of here!

- Where are we going to?

- To Compiegne.

And why Compiegne?

Because the English want to take Compiegne,

and I don't want the English

to take Compiegne.

All right, I am with you.

Compi?gne.

With her? Anywhere!

When could you leave?

When you'll be rested.

I'm not in the least tired.

Well, as soon as we've loaded up,

and come to an agreement.

Of course!

You remember my price Joan?

You've soon my men?

Quite an army.

It's, yours, if you'll pay

four pieces of gold,

four sacks of flour, a cow, barrel

of wine, each week in advance.

Your price is a little higher

than last year, Baretta.

We had a very bad winter.

But then, it's not really important,

I haven't any money...

But it doesn't matter,

you'll be paid at Compiegne!

Compiegne... Compiegne...

We're a long way from Compiegne.

All payments must be made in advance.

I see why they call you

"He'll come for a sou".

I'll come for a sou,

if it's paid in advance.

And besides, why did the King

let you go without money?

I no longer have the King's support.

Well... Well, well... well!

So the King doesn't know you're

on your way to fight the English!

No, the King is resting.

Well! It's not a bad thing to rest a while.

That's the way to keep fit.

It never does any harm. After all,

there's no hurry to start fighting.

There's a terrible hurry for me, Baretta!

I have no time to waste.

God has called me!

Baretta! Kennedy!

Can't you understand I have no time!

Can't you understand I mustn't stop now!

One day peace will come to our land,

and when it does,

you too will leaves us.

The soil of my country was not made

for the marching feet of soldiers.

It cries out for hands

to till it, to sow it,

to reap the harvests...

for life, for peace, for God!

That's all very well,

but what'll happen to us?

You'll fight against the Turks!

It's too for!

Well then, come to Compiegne!

No Joan, find somebody else!

You don't believe in me anymore, Baretta,

after all we've been through together!

But in the old days,

you just sprinkled the enemy

with holy water,

and they ran as fast as they could.

- I never done that.

Keep your secrets.

I have no secrets.

And the voices? You did hear voices,

if I remember right?

- Yes, I still hear them.

- Are you quite sure?

If you no longer believe in me,

it can only mean one thing:

it's that you're with the enemy

and against God!

Listen Joan,

I may be able to overlook the payment

in advance

but at least let me hear your voices for

a moment,

just to encourage me. Right here, in this

room.

I'm a good Christian too.

Ask them to say something,

one word, no more... and I'll go!

I don't want you anymore.

Don't get upset Joan.

For a price, you'd sell

yourself to the Devil!

If God's no longer on your side,

you ought to be thankful

for the help of the Devil...

That's your affair.

There must be money at Compiegne.

With a little luck we might

manage to reach Compiegne...

Her luck has left her, you fool!

And that's too bad.

We're leaving!

She's leaving!

No, no. She mustn't!

Where are we going now?

Everyone goes his own way.

All right! I've not changed

my mind. I'm going home.

Well then, go home! Your future is set.

Now that you're a nobleman,

you'll get married.

And maybe I'll also get

married and have children.

Don't say that, Joan.

Why shouldn't I?

There's no need for the Maid of Orleans

anymore. Nobody has use for me now.

But they have, Joan.

No, they don't believe in me.

Don't be angry with me, Joan.

After all, business is business.

What is it you want?

I would like you to come and

pray with us. My child is dead.

He's not buried yet,

he'll give us all the plague.

You are the plague!

Leave her alone.

The priest doesn't want to

bury him in holy ground.

Naturally! The child wasn't baptized!

Throw him in a hole,

and let's be done with it!

If the child wasn't baptized...

I know they say he can't go to Heaven,

but that can't be right.

He never did anything bad.

Oh, please, ask God

to take him just the same.

He'll listen to you. You talk to him

often, just as I am talking to you.

I know you can - if only you

would.

No.

Then go away!

My prayers are no better than yours.

They are.

No.

Then why did you come here? Go away!

You wait here, I'll go with her.

If your prayers are not answered,

it won't matter.

We'll have done all we could...

but God answers all your prayers!

I know very well he doesn't.

Why is it always these people who believe

in me? Why is it never those I need?

Because these are the people who need you.

Saint Catherine, Saint Margaret,

and you, Saint

Michael, you have abandoned me,

but hear my prayers once more!

I beg you, help this little

child to go to Heaven!

You must pray too, all of you.

I'm not praying for victory,

nor for my king,

nor for the Kingdom of France.

I'm not praying for fame,

nor for glory in arms

but only for the soul

of this little child.

If you answer my prayers,

nobody will even know.

You see, I'm not thinking of myself.

But please, take this child to you,

so that its mother and

all those good people

may find it again in Paradise,

when their time comes!

So be it!

You see: her baby wasn't dead!

Yes, he was dead I I tell you, he was!

The child was dead!

No was black all over!

He was dead I tell you.

Yes, it's true. I know my baby was dead!

He wasn't, he wasn't, he wasn't!

You weren't dead, were you?

He's hungry!

Baptize him! Quickly!

Water! Quick, quick! Water!

Water! Quickly! Water!

Water! Water! Quickly!

She's brought it back to life!

Water! Water! Quickly!

Water! Water!

She's going to baptize it!

She's brought it back

to life! It's a miracle!

It's a miracle! I saw it, I tell you!

A miracle!

Joan... What name do you give him?

- Charles, as my King!

Charles...

In the name of the Father, the Son, and

the Holy Ghost, I baptize thee.

Ah...

Don't weep! He's in Heaven.

Did my hands do that?

It was God, through your hands.

Joan, my own Joan! You with God,

and me with my men,

we'll be together always.

And what if I said: no?

Ah, ah, you are too eager to

go to Compiegne to say no!

Joan!

You've come back!

Yes, it's me Catherine.

Why did you stop speaking to me?

Were you angry with me?

We were always with you, Joan.

Yes, it's me, Margaret!

Even when you didn't speak to me,

were you still there?

Always Joan.

How well I can hear you. Speak to me again.

Be strong Joan.

Oh I'm very strong now!

I'm not afraid anymore!

Go into battle, Joan. It's your last one!

My last one?

Will the English leave afterwards?

No, Joan. There will be

many more battles,

but for you,

it will be the last one.

Because I'm going to die?

No, Joan,

because you will be captured before long.

When will it be? I'd like to know.

Can't you tell me?

You will know neither the day nor the hour.

At Compiegne?

A least, if I'm captured,

let me not go to prison.

I'd rather be killed straight away.

We're ready, Joan.

Baretta, give me a sword, a strong one,

so that we can really

give them a good fight!

That's my good old Joan!

Here, take mine.

Sound the trumpets!

Sound the trumpets!

Sound the trumpets!

I'm telling you: I'll fight!

I'll fight again

and again,

because I prefer to die rather

than fall into their hands!

Move over, I'm coming with you!

I don't need you, I'll got

all I want at Compiegne.

May the devil burn you

inside out, you and that girl!

Obviously Joan chose her own destiny,

heroic and sublime.

At this late date I wish I could claim

some small credit for her history,

but confidentially

all my sympathies

were with her enemies at the time..

As for Lysistrata, I wash

my hands of the whole affair!

And I shudder to think what

would happen to the world

if women used their secret weapon as

effectively

in times of peace as these wives of

ancient Greece did

in war...

"Of all the violent passions,

the one that becomes a woman best

is love."

La Rochefoucauld.

Silence, Athenians.

Let the honourable Cratides Speak.

What for? He lies...

and when he speaks, the sun darkens.

Careful about your imprudent

words

Lying is un-Athenian.

The lie is the secret weapon of Sparta.

Let's have less talking around...

...and tell us what happened

to General Callias.

Has he attacked? Does he go back?

Does he advance? We have no news.

No news is good news.

What do you know about him?

He is the most valiant of our general

and the most experienced...

the most careful...

and it is treason to the Republic

to doubt the triumph of this great chief.

Undoubtedly, at this moment,

the General pursues the enemy...

and Greece will owe him its

salvation...

Long live Callias! Long live the war!

Pallas protects Athens.

Pallas is with us. Pallas is with us.

Pallas is with us...

For sixty years we have

been fighting Sparta...

For sixty years we have

been defending freedom...

against those who want to enslave others.

No doubt, that's why

we have been defeated...

at Tanagra, Dallion...

Mantinea, Syracuse and in Egypt.

Fool.

The defeats you mention are only

disguised victories, victories in delay...

premeditated defeats by our strategists

to confuse the enemy.

Don't try to penetrate the

secrets of our great chiefs.

You think that they retreat,

that they fan out...that hey abandon.

No. They are taking positions which

have been prepared beforehand.

Military science is full of contradictions.

The deceiving ways of defeat

very often lead to final victory.

Fool.

Callias!

Speak Callias.

What are you... bringing us.

Victory.

Valiant Callias, tell us about our victory.

My victory is complete.

I chased the enemy

behind the Corinthian canal.

Those who couldn't flee, perished...

and those who defiled our sacred soil...

are dead.

Your are the winner. But, but but

do the losers know that they lost?

Their dead bodies testify to their defeat.

Undoubtedly Sparta will send an ambassador.

- What for?

- To sign the peace.

What peace? What an idea.

We won a battle, but not a war.

Peace, peace. Right away the big words.

Callias had the floor.

I came here only to

tell you about victory...

and to receive the orders

of the Athenian people...

which, whatever they are, I shall execute.

Spoken like a chief.

If we really want peace, we must fight...

until the last Spartan is dead.

No more enemy. No more war.

Help... Help..

guards...help me.

What's going on?

What a job!

What is going on, valiant Gorgias?

There is no more law and order.

The streets is in the hand of the mob...

fortunately I fled.

How can there be a riot,

when the people are at the front?

I heard them , I heard...

Down with Gorgias, down with the police.

To me, they said that.

Ah Callias, you are here.

You came at the right moment.

Well... we must act and fast.

General Callias, have this mob

dispersed and quickly.

Where are they?

They are coming...

...this mob of cursed rioters

is marching on the assembly.

Who leads them?

Lysistrata.

Peace with Sparta!

Our men back home!

Our men back home! Our men back home!

Our men back home! Our men

back home! Our men back home!

Our men back home! Our men back home!

Our men back home!

We want Peace, we want Peace.

Peace with Sparta! Peace with Sparta!

Circulate.

Go!

Stop!

Zeus... my husband.

Lyzi...

Lyzi...

Stop...Lyzi ,be reasonable...

little monster.

Oh Callias.

Are you mad?

My love, alive...you are alive.

Let us be grateful for that.

Ah...I'll remember this welcome.

How could I have known that it was you...

I thought you were far away.

But I did recognize your horse.

Both of you are here.

How wonderful!

Then it is true... You...

You are provoking these riots?

When did you return?

I am so happy to have you next to me.

My love. Do I still please you?

Oh, my flower...am I still your honeybee.

By Ceres...Will you answer me.

What are you doing here.

A by Apollo...will you close

these lips with a kiss?

By Hermes.

Silly.

Again..

Silly...go on.

Now I can breathe again.

Tell me...about the war...

The Spartans?

Beaten.

Ah, my sweet darling. I knew from

the oracle that it would end thusly...

that Athens would be submerged

under their superior number.

No...What an idea...

I have beaten the Spartans.

I Callias, I.

Why didn't you say so right away.

No... you beat them... you... You...

Ah... that's real nice.

Then... if you won...

The war is finished...

No... it goes on...

Then... you didn't win?

Oh... Ah... Yes...

but they want me to go on...

Where to?

I don't know...

But wherever it is I shall have to go.

And if I didn't let you leave?

That's out of the question.

The wife of a general, must as he does

submit to the exigencies of the State.

Ah, then you don't love me anymore.

But I love you more than myself.

More than war?

More than Fame.

Your image , Lysistrata, sustains

me in the tumult of the battle.

Die for Athens...

but live for Lysistrata...

that is my motto.

Within ten or fifteen years

the war will be finished...

And I my sweet will to

10 or 15 years older...

But no!

What does it matter.

I shall love you as I did the first day.

I love you...

You'll come to see me sometimes...

every two, three years...

as today...between two victories.

And you'll leave soon after.

What a charming life we'll lead.

We'll have the recollections of absences...

No, no, my sweet...

Let me dream on your shoulder...

It feels so good to rest there.

I could spend the rest of my life this way.

When are you leaving?

Unquestionably tomorrow... at dawn.

Really...We shall have a

whole long night together.

Yes...tonight the victor of Sparta

will be your prisoner.

You are my prisoner, my sweet.

What does this mean... Will you free

me at once, where are you taking me...

I'll come back for you as soon

as Peace has broken out...

By Demeter...I'll punish for your perfidy

and your body will remember it.

Be good and don't go too far.

Lysistrata.

With Sparta destroyed and

taken, we'll turn to Macedonia...

an easy conquest for Athena

And for the gods which protect us.

As they are Athenians, they say...

Down with war, brutes

What, what does this mean?

We want peace.

A conspiracy. A conspiracy.

Archers...where are you going.

Stay here.

Do your duty...arrest them.

Ah... you are here.

These women are like tigers.

This is inadmissible...

Are we the masters, yes or no?

Who is commanding here?

My wife...

Get out of here.

Come here...out with you.

Who commands here?

Get home. I said, get home.

It's a conspiracy.

Might will be with the law.

I am the law.

One more word and I kill you

and serve you to the dogs.

Back, you brutes...two legged beasts.

I... I... do protest emphatically.

Be quiet, ulcer.

Silence.

Silence.

Silence.

Silence.

Though I am a woman,

my tongue is not as idly agile...

as that of the professional orators, who

generally orate unendingly in this place,

for the great misfortune of our city.

Woman...vain and superficial creature...

do not insult your country.

What do you want?

I want Peace...idiot.

I speak in the name of

the women of Athens...

We are tired of this stupid war...

tired of these defeats

and alternating victories.

We are sick of heroes and cadavers:

enough glory, enough historical events...

We want to live in happiness,

and love peacefully...

we want to have time... to see our

husbands and lovers grow old gracefully.

We want to bear children and

see them grow up and get old

we don't want young cadavers

That's what me want,

not from the gods, but from men...

who could be Gods

if they only wanted to.

We have beaten the enemy. We want

an immediate cessation of hostilities.

Down with war. Hurray for life.

Shame on you. you snake.

Shame on you... vile person.

Shame on you... madwoman.

Shame on you... you... woman.

Shame on me...

or perhaps because of shame...

if you don't give us peace, we'll take it.

With what force?

Poor woman, go on.

Poor man...

we have a secret weapon, more powerful and

more efficient than any in your arsenals,

...an irresistible weapon...

which, incidentally won't

cost the city anything.

That doesn't exist.

The men of Athens won't be intimidated

by your your foolish threats...

Are you willing to make peace...

of your own free will?

Never.

Hurray for war.

Well, the die is cast.

Women of Athens, listen carefully.

When your husbands

or your lovers or both...

return to enjoy the pleasure of

a short-lived lightning peace...

request they ask, or very often

they don't even ask...

for what you can give them,

and only you can give it:

the best of you...

the best and the worst...

The next day, tired, but satisfied

they leave

for a war from which

they might never return...

and you find yourself in your

lonely home, all deserted.

Well, don't lend yourself any more

to the enjoyment of the warriors.

Refuse them. Resist their entreaties...

and refuse them the gift of yourself.

By Aphrodite who listens, by Eros

who sleeps with one eye open...

let us swear solemnly to stay chaste...

until Peace is declared.

By Aphrodite and by Eros...

We swear it.

Five hours, all alone

...it was full of red ants...

It took me three hours to get free...

two hours of acrobatic effort

to get out over the roofs.

Why didn't you wait for me.

You're always in a hurry.

I still would be there...

I yelled and shouted, but nobody

heard me... that's the result...

how will I give my orders tomorrow...

One two..hmm...forward march.

Without voice...

a chief loses his authority.

What's this. Pigeons are supposed to fly...

No ,it's a Spartan pigeon...

Let it die.

I am sleepy.

Tell me,

this story... about the... love strike...

it's a joke, isn't it?

When do you leave?

Tomorrow at dawn.

These words, they say, you said...

you are going to belie them by acts, right?

No...Take off your tunic.

Ah... I knew... it wasn't true .

I'll rub your body with sweet olive

oil...

Oh...you smell of leather...

Onion stew...

Horse and massacre...

The odour of war,

Well, I smell like a general,

it's an heroic odour. You tickle me.

Ah your weak spot. If Sparta knew it...

Why... are you laughing?

I am thinking of all these fools who

believed that you would deprive us of love.

And that's our government!

What times!

Do you love your general?

My general...I didn't marry a general...

I married a good looking fellow...

In the home...I do

not give in to a general...

And they would notice that of the two of us

the general is not necessarily

the best strategist...

...here I am in command...

In general...

until you fall asleep,

exhausted and defeated.

Defeated, don't mention

that word in front of me.

I hate it.

No defeat, only victory...

or death,

Poor girl...

If I died...I wouldn't be

here to comfort you...

Oh, don't worry. I will be

courageous, facing your death...

Your tomb will be the handsomest

in all of Greece...

...I'll see to it that mourners

and musicians...

...make of your burial

an unforgettable event...

Stretch out.

Stretch out.

I'll perfume your body...

I'll see to it that your widow will be

the best dressed inconsolable woman...

I'll tell my grandchildren

all your famous battles...

What grandchildren?

The children of my eldest son.

What eldest son?

The general...

The one I will have

with my second husband...

I too will perform to the end the duties

of childbearing Athenians citizen.

Enough nonsense...

let's think about more serious things...

and more important to boot, my love.

Ah Callias...

you are here?

You can see that. What do you want?

I looked for you everywhere... all

over Athens... And I didn't find you...

Incredible...what a day.

I'll remember... this victory.

We feared you were abducted by Spartans.

You are here...alive... I am saved...

Come with me...

Nicephore is waiting for us...

Nicephore, Nicephore...I just left him,

I saw him at the Prytaneum...

Everybody was there...

Go away... I have more urgent

business to attend to...

But listen to me.

I want you to leave...

Peace... I want to be left in peace.

Peace!

Just like your wife.

Lyzi

Lyzi

Lyzi

Lyzi

Lyzi

Little monster,

you just wait...

Chloe. If I went with you...

perhaps I could more easily

persuade the women of Sparta.

You are mad. Don't you

know that an Athenian

taken on the soil of Sparta risks death?

But I risk nothing... I am a Spartan...

and all the Spartan women think like we do.

When will you go there?

At the new, just for

the people's assembly...

What means...Pericles will be there

soon thereafter, if you are successful.

I'll send him there soon.

Don't stop on the trip...

good bye Pericles...

see you soon... Pericles...

You don't know what it means

to live for 34 long nights

... and days without you...

Aphrode...

answer me...say something to me.

Why this bronze curtain between us?

You are not a plebeian...

This war doesn't concern you...

why are you complaining?

If my munitions factory closes who is

going to offer you bracelets, necklaces,

which embellish your body so much, Ahrode?

My doe eyed beauty...

let 's make an exchange,

what I can I give you for you.

earrings...a necklace?

which.

Peace, my sweet.

What happened to your foot.

Nothing. A door slammed on it.

Who did it?

Nobody. The wind.

Yes, I see, the weather is quite

stormy lately... And cloudy.

You too Gorgias?

Yes I too.

Another week like this

and I go stark raving mad...

Unless one of lend me

his hand to sustain me.

Gorgias, you are losing your dignity...

You might as well suggest

that we go to the Courtesans

to change our gloomy ideas.

To the Courtesans?

No, never.

Whatever wrongs my wife has committed...

I'll not break the sacred vows of

marriage... in such infamous places.

The courtesans.

No no, Lysistrata. The nights

are too long, life is too short...

and our youth is evanescing fast...

I beseech you, in the name of all

of us, deliver us of our oath.

We can't spend the rest

of our life this way...

My body may be of marble,

but the flesh is weak,

and desire pulsates in my veins.

You see Lysistrata, I resisted as well

as I could. I thought I was strong.

Don't tell me that Cratides caresses

are what you crave?

Who is speaking of Cratides?

What greater proof of faithfulness

can you give to the loved one...

than to reject your husband?

My beloved arrived this morning

and goes back into battle tomorrow...

How cruel must I be

to refuse myself to him?

Egotist. A soldier without love

loses his strength as a warrior.

The day heroes will cease

to please the ladies,

peace will have made a great step forward.

Is my love stronger than my will power?

The body isn't everything,

I'd like to see your face

if you woke up someday without your body.

And you. How would you look when you

hear your beloved has been killed...

defending freedom...

against some other defender of freedom.

I love Callias as much as

you love your husbands...

but he could throw himself on

his knees and I wouldn't give in.

Peace first, love after..

Quiet.

When one talks about Sparta...

Sparta is on our side.

Chloe triumphed.

Here come the herald of our victory.

In Sparta, the men too are deprived.

See!

The pigeon gives us an example.

Pericles has made peace with Sparta too...

He started a home there...

Hurray for the birds...Hurray for Peace.

Illustrious general... courier from Athens.

At last.

Confidential...secret papers...

signed Nicephore...

The document is illegible...

Yes. just in case it would fall into

the enemy's hands, noble hero...

but I know the text by heart,

son of Apollo.

I am listening, messenger.

Hero beloved by Zeus.

- Good.

- Illustrious and indestructible Callias.

- Very good.

Athens requests immediate attack

and brilliant victory...

or glorious death for right and

freedom of Athens. Thankful country.

Me, dying in the war. Me... a general?

leave my army without a chief? Never.

Continue.

Confidential. Civilian male population

unable to hold on another 24 hours...

Morile critical...situation desperate.

They too?

What shall we do?

Win or die, indestructible immortal.

I do not fear battle, or the disorder

of attacking chariots, but how

can I conduct a battle with

an army of lovesick soldiers ?

Nicephore waits your answer.

Decide my valiant warrior.

I will take the answer to Athens myself.

You are fleeing the fight,

ferocious warrior?

On the contrary, you poor benighted idiot.

I will engage Lysistrata in hard battle.

May you win in this

dangerous encounter.

You are here...my love

My love...

Callias.

- Lyzi...

No, stay. Don't awaken me yet.

I am having such a nice dream

with all kinds of forbidden

happenings in it...

Orpheus...

My darling ,Orpheus...

My Eurydice...

I who thought I had lost you...

Dream my little one...dream...

No.

I swore.

Oh Callias...what are you doing here..

Why didn't you stay in my dream?

A general is not supposed

to be in dreams...

Before you take me by surprise tell me...

are you bringing peace with you, yes or no?

I... almost...

Yes or no?

Listen to me Lysistrata.

Peace first, love after..

Your example has demoralized

the army and the civilians...

This is a crime punishable by death.

I give you a chance to repent.

One last time, I summon you to cease

and desist without further delay this...

...resistance against the men of Athens.

- No.

I will abide by my oath.

Open or I'll break the door down.

Lyli! Lyli!

Don't stay there...if...

if... anybody saw us...

They'd see that I keep my oath.

Listen Lyzi...don't you love me anymore..

That's just it. I don't want you

to die like an idiot...by a lost arrow...

My Sweet... I don't risk anything...

Oh, my poor darling...

Did you hurt yourself? Give me your hand.

Oh, that's nothing...

The branch gave in...

Do the same...

- Never.

But... Lyzi... Where are you going?

But that's ridiculous

You see. You got here

where I wanted you to be.

You will never have a better chance to

make peace and yet be covered with glory.

History is full of general winning wars.

You'd be swallowed by their number. But

pacifist generals are few and far between.

There aren't any. The place is

empty. Occupy it. Declare peace.

Look at them. Without love and without

women, they plead now every night..

They are waiting for your first misstep

and they'll throw you overboard. Be ahead.

Time is precious. Go, quickly. Don't lose

this unique chance my foolish darling.

Silence!

Athenians... Before sacrificing

to war the elite of the city...

your general wants to take

his responsibilities...

by letting you face them courageously.

You know what these responsibilities are...

So I won't belabour the point...

Let's not play the enemy's game...

in winning a victory which serves

only to aggrandize the loser.

Believe my word.

The superior interest of the state...

oblige us to make an

unforeseen peace brutally...

with an enemy...

...fully unconscious...

and thus to demonstrate to the world that

Athens can afford to one victory less...

Yours is the choice.

Your destiny must be decided by you.

The conquerors of Marathon.

Salamina... and Prati...

are not afraid of a premature peace...

I suggest therefore that an

ambassador be sent... Callias!

and let the cowards

opposed to this , speak up.

Can't you watch where you are going, Idiot?

Are you blind? Your eyes are

stuck together with honey?

By Zeus, you are a Spartan.

What are you doing here?

Whether you like it or not,

I came to propose a peace.

Where is the assembly meeting?

Right ahead and then left.

Ah, women!

You state it very well.

And thus peace began in all of Greece...

Bringing with it, joy...

...work...

...love...

...abundance...

...fertility...

My poor darling, the war is over...

...the promise of better times to come.

You are happy?

You have it now...your peace.

But I... what will I do now?

Oh, my darling... as all ex-generals...

...you'll go into Politics.