Galileo (1975) - full transcript

Tea trolley's going
if anybody wants some, girls.

We need a house light.

Cyril...

Come on, stay quiet.

Action.

In the year of
Sixteen hundred and nine

Science's light
Began to shine

At Padua City
In a modest house

Galileo Galilei

Set out to prove

- The sun is still
- The Earth is on the move



The sun is still

The Earth is on the move

The Earth is on the move

The Earth
is on the move

Where did you get that thing?

- A coachman brought it.
- Who sent it?

It said "Court of Naples."

I don't want
their stupid presents.

Illuminated manuscripts,

a statue of Hercules
the size of an elephant.

They never send money.

But isn't this an astronomical instrument,
Mr. Galilei?

Ooh, it's an antique, too.

An expensive toy.



- What's it for?
- It's a map of the sky

according to the wise men
of Ancient Greece.

We'll try and sell it
to the university.

They still teach it there.

- How's it work, sir?
- Oh, it's complicated.

I think I could understand it.

Maybe.

Let's begin at the beginning.

Description?

There are lots of metal rings.

How many?

Eight.

Correct. And?

There are words painted on them.

What words?

The names of the stars.

- Such as?
- Well, here's a band with the sun on it.

And on the inside band
is the moon.

Those metal bands represent
eight crystal spheres,

like huge glass globes,
one inside the other.

The stars are supposed to be
tacked onto them.

Spin the band
with the sun on it.

You see the fixed ball
right in the middle?

- Yes.
- That's the Earth.

For two thousand years,
man has chosen to believe

that the sun and all the host of stars
revolve about him.

The Pope, the cardinals,
the princes,

the scholars,
the merchants and the fish wives

have all pictured themselves squatting
in the middle of an affair like that.

- Locked up inside?
- Mm-hmm.

- It's like a cage.
- So you felt that, too.

But we are pulling out of
that old contraption now.

How ?

I'd like to think
the ships began it.

They used to hug the shore.

Then all of a sudden,
they left the coast

and hunched
out onto the oceans.

All sorts of things
were set in movement,

including the minds of men.

It was the opening
of a new age.

In Siena,
when I was a young man,

I saw some masons trying to lift
a block of granite.

After talking it over
for just five minutes,

they ditched a method
that had been in use for centuries...

and found a new, more efficient way
of applying the ropes.

I remember thinking then,
the millennium of faith is ended.

This is the millennium of doubt.

Everything is called in doubt
today.

Everybody at last wants to know
why's this? How's that?

That's what the books say,
but let's see for ourselves!

I predict that in our time,

astronomy will become
the talk of the marketplace

and that the sons of fishwives
will go to school.

And with any luck, they'll learn that
the Earth rolls 'round the sun

and that the Pope,
the cardinals, the princes,

the scholars, the merchants
and the fishwives,

their mothers
are rolling with it.

The stars must now positively

be regarded as spinning rocks
hurdling through darkness.

It seems clear
the star we live on

moves at
an inconceivable speed.

But are we frightened? No.

We are in favor.

What does the poet say,
Andrea?

- "Oh, early morning--"
- "Oh, early morning of beginnings,

oh, breath of winds
that cometh from new shores."

But I can see
with my own eyes

that the sun comes up
in one place in the morning

and goes down in a different
place in the evening.

It doesn't stand still.
I can see it.

You see nothing.
All you do is gawk.

Gawking is not seeing.

Now, there's the sun.

Sit down.

Where is the sun?
On your right or on your left?

- On my left.
- And how could it get to the right?

By your putting it there,
of course.

Of course.

- Now where's the sun?
- On my right.

- And did it move?
- No, I did.

Wrong, stupid.
The chair moved.

- But I was on it.
- Of course.

The chair is the Earth,
and you are sitting on it.

What are you doing with my son,
Mr. Galilei?

- Mother, you don't understand.
- And I supposed you do.

Last night,
he tried to tell me

a feather falls as fast
as a cannonball.

We seem to be on the threshold
of a new era, Mrs. Sarti.

Well, I hope we can pay the milkman
in this new era.

A young gentleman is here
to take private lessons,

and he's well-dressed, so don't
frighten him away like you did the others.

Wasting your time with Andrea.

How many times have I told you not to
wheedle free lessons out of Mr. Galilei?

He can't afford it.

Could I finish my milk
even if it isn't paid for?

Andrea, I shouldn't talk
about our ideas outside.

- Why not?
- Certain authorities won't like it.

Why not
if it's the truth?

The universe
of the new astronomers

is still not much more
than a framework of guesses.

So...

I want to be an astronomer.

This house
is like a marketplace!

Good morning, sir.
My name is Ludovico Marsili.

Hmm. Hold it.

Mm. You came by way
of Holland.

And your family owns property
in the Campagna.

Private lessons,
ten scudi a month.

That's all right,
of course, sir.

- What's your subject?
- Horses.

Oh, in that case,
15 scudi a month.

That's all right.

Andrea.

You'll have to be patient
with me, sir.

Science
makes no sense to me.

Take that tube affair
I saw in Amsterdam.

It had a green leather casing
and two pieces of glass, one at each end.

One bulged
and the other was like... was like that.

As far as I can see, one reduces,
the other enlarges.

Any normal person would expect them
to cancel each other out,

but they didn't.

Things look five times as large as life.

What sort of things
did they enlarge?

Church steeples, pigeons, boats,
anything at a distance.

- Did you look through it yourself?
- Yes, sir.

Hmm.

The tube... had two lenses.

- Was it like this?
- Yes, but--

- A recent invention?
- It must be.

They only started peddling it on the
streets a few days before I left Holland.

Hmm. Why...

Why do you bother your head
with science?

Why don't you just
breed horses?

My mother says science
is necessary nowadays.

For conversation.

Why not try Latin or theology?

I'll see you
on Tuesday afternoon.

- Thank you, sir.
- Good morning.

Don't look at me like that.

I took him, didn't I?

I caught your eye just in time.

The treasurer of the university
is here to see you.

Mr. Priuli?

- Good morning, Mr. Galilei.
- Good morning, Priuli.

Lend me a scudo.

Sarti, give this to Andrea.

Tell him to run to the spectacle maker
and bring me two lenses.

Here are the measurements.

Now, Mr. Galilei...

I have come to return your petition
for an increase in salary.

Unfortunately, I am unable
to recommend your request.

My clear sir,

how can I be expected
to make ends meet on 500 scudi ?

What about
your private students?

If all I spend my time teaching,
when am Ito learn?

My particular science

is on the threshold
of important discoveries.

Here are my findings
on the laws of falling bodies.

That should be worth
200 scudi more.

Any paper of yours is of infinite worth,
Mr. Galilei.

I was limiting it to 200.

If you want money
and leisure, go to Florence.

I have no doubt that Medici
would be glad to subsidize you.

Eventually, however,

you will be forbidden to think
in the name of the Inquisition.

Now, you-- You're happy here
in the Republic of Venice.

But you need money.
It's only human.

May I suggest a simple solution?

Our city elders
are businessmen.

Why don't you
invent something useful

uh, that will bring them in
a little profit?

Remember that chart
you made for the army?

Even General Stefano Gritti

could extract cube roots
with it.

- Now that was practical.
- Bosh!

It astounded
the chiefs of staff.

I see.

Priuli...

- I may have something for you.
- Ah.

I haven't quite got there yet.

You are a great man. A--

A discontented man,
but I've always said you were a great man.

My discontent, Priuli, is what you should
be paying me for if you had any sense.

And for the most part,
it's dissatisfaction with myself.

I'm 46 years of age, and I've achieved
nothing that satisfies me.

I won't disturb you
any further.

Thank you. Good morning.

One scudo wasn't enough.

I had to leave him my jacket
before he'd let me take them away.

How will you
get through the winter without a jacket?

We'll get it back someday.

Give them to me.

What are they for?

Oh...

Something for the Senate.

Come and look.

Whew! I can read the writing
on the bell in the Capanile.

"Gratia dei."

Get out of the way.

No one's virtue is complete

Great Galileo likes to eat

You will not resent, we hope

The truth about
His telescope

Gentlemen of the Senate,

gentlemen of
the Arsenal of Venice,

as professor of mathematics
at your University of Padova

and chief engineer
in your great arsenal,

your obedient servant
has always counted it

his privilege to offer you
such discoveries and inventions

as might prove lucrative
to the manufacturers

and merchants
of our Venetian Republic.

Thus, I tender you this,
my optical tube, or telescope,

manufactured
in your great arsenal

and constructed on the most scientific
and Christian principles.

The product of
17 years' patient research.

A waste of time, Sagredo.

You'll be able to pay the butcher,
old friend.

Yes. They'll make money
out of it.

Gentlemen, our republic
can congratulate itself.

Not only because this new acquisition will
be another feather in the cap of Venice...

not only because our own Mr. Galilei
has so generously handed over

this fresh product of his teeming brain
entirely to you

so that you can manufacture

as many of these highly salable articles
as you please...

but gentlemen,
has it also occurred to you

that with the help of this remarkable
new instrument,

the enemy fleet
will be visible to us

a full two hours
before we are visible to them.

Ancl now, gentlemen, Mr. Galilei
entreats you to accept the instrument

from the hands of his charming daughter,
Virginia.

I don't know that I can
go through with this farce.

You do realize it's more
than a money-making gadget.

I turned it
on the moon last night.

Astronomy has been held back
for three generations

for lack of a thing like this.

Mr. Galilei.

It-- It's extraordinary. I--

I could see the fortifications
of Santa Rosita.

What about the moon?

For one thing,

it doesn't give off
any light of its own.

Good heavens!

I shall have to tell my wife
to stop bathing on the roof.

A thing like this
is worth ten scudi apiece.

Father, here's Ludovico
to congratulate you.

Congratulations, sir.

I improved it.

Yes, sir,
I see you had it covered in red.

Do you know what
the Milky Way is made of?

- No.
- I do.

Congratulations,
Mr. Galilei.

Your extra 500 scudi a year
are secure.

Oh. Of course,
the 500 scudi.

Isn't it a pity
a great republic

always has to find a pretext
to reward its great men.

Oh, what incentive
would great men have otherwise?

- Mr. Galilei.
- Congratulations, Mr. Galilei.

Well clone.
Well done, sir.

Just marvelous.

Did 1 do it all right?

Seemed all right to me.

I think they're pleased
with Father.

I think I'm beginning
to understand something about science.

January 10, 1610

Galileo Galilei

Abolishes

Heaven

The edge of the crescent
is jagged.

All along the dark part,

near the shiny crescent.

Bright particles of light
keep appearing, one after the other,

and growing larger,

and finally, merge
with the bright crescent.

How do you explain
those spots of light, my friend?

- It can't be true.
- It is true.

They're high mountains,
Sagredo.

- On the moon?
- Yes.

Gigantic mountains.

The spots of light are peaks
catching the rising sun.

The slopes of the mountains
are still dark.

If you look again,
you can see the sunlight moving down

from the peaks
into the valleys.

But this gives the lie

to all the astronomy that's been taught
for the last 2,000 years.

Yes,
what you are seeing now

has been seen by no other man
beside myself.

But the moon can't be an earth with
mountains and valleys like our own

any more than the Earth
can be a planet.

The moon is an earth
with mountains and valleys.

Ancl the Earth is a planet.

Simply another heavenly body,
one among thousands.

As the moon appears to us,
so we appear to the moon.

From the moon, the Earth looks
sometimes like a crescent,

sometimes like a half-globe,
sometimes a full globe,

and sometimes
it's not visible at all.

Galileo,
this is frightening.

I have discovered
something else.

Something even more astonishing.

There it is.

Your miraculous optical tube.

Do you know this product
of 17 years of patient research

will be on sale tomorrow
for two scudi apiece?

The telescope.

Down at the harbor
at this very moment,

a ship from Holland
is unloading a full cargo of them.

What have you to say?

When I think of
the poor gentlemen of Venice

who thought they were getting
exclusive rights.

Why, when they took their first look
through the glass,

it was only by the merest chance they
didn't see a peddler seven times enlarged

selling tubes exactly like it
on the street corner.

Mr. Priuli,

with the help of this
instrument,

Mr. Galilei has made discoveries
that will revolutionize

our conception of the universe.

Mr. Galilei has provided the town
with a first-rate water pump.

The irrigation works you designed
function splendidly.

How was I to expect this?

Not so fast, Priuli.

I may be on the track
of a sensational gadget.

Certain of the stars
appear to have regular movements.

If there were
a clock in the sky,

it could be seen
from anywhere.

That might be useful
to your shipowners. Hm?

No. I won't listen to you.

I listened to you before,

and as a reward for my friendship,
you made me

the laughingstock
of the town.

Oh, yes, you can laugh.
You got your money.

But let me tell you this:

You have destroyed my faith
in a lot of things, Mr. Galilei.

This world makes me sick!

He's almost human
when he's angry.

Did you hear?

A world where you can't
do business makes him sick.

Did you know about
these Dutch instruments?

I'd heard about them.

But the one I made
for the arsenal

was twice as good
as any Dutchman's.

Besides, I needed the money.

How can I work with a tax collector
on the doorstep?

And my poor daughter will never acquire
a husband unless she has a dowry.

Besides, I like books.
All kinds of books.

And you know I don't think well
unless I eat well.

I get my best ideas
over a good meal and a bottle of wine.

If only I could have five years
to do nothing but research.

What about
Copernicus' theory...

that the Earth...

rotates around the sun?

I noticed something
through the telescope on Tuesday

which might prove a step
towards even that.

There are four lesser stars
near Jupiter.

I happened on them
on Monday,

but didn't take
any particular note of their position.

On Tuesday, I looked again.

I could've sworn they'd moved.

I've recorded their positions.

Now...

they've changed again.

Tell me what you see.

I see three.

Where is the fourth?

Here are the charts.
Let's get down to work.

The fourth must have moved 'round
behind Jupiter where we can't see it.

That means there's a small star
revolving 'round a big star.

Jupiter can't be fixed
to anything.

If there's another star
revolving round it--

Where are the crystal spheres now,

that the stars are supposed to
be fixed to?

Nowhere.
There's no scaffolding in the sky.

There's nothing
holding the universe up.

Don't stand there
like a stockfish,

as if you are afraid
it isn't true.

I'm not standing
like a stockfish.

I'm trembling because I'm afraid
it is true.

Why?

What do you think
is going to happen to you

when you say
that there's another sun

with other earths
revolving 'round it?

That this earth is a planet

and not the center
of the universe?

Ancl that there's nothing
but stars.

No difference
between Earth and heaven.

No heaven at all.

Where's God, then?

What do you mean?

God. Where is God?

Not out there,
any more than he'd be down here

if somebody out there
came down to look for him.

Where is he, then?

I'm a mathematician,
not a theologian.

You're a human being.

Where is God
in your system of the universe?

Inside us.
Or nowhere.

Ten years ago, a man was burned
at the stake for saying that.

Giordano Bruno
spoke too soon.

He'd never have been burned if he could
have backed up what he said with proof.

Do you really believe
that proof makes any difference?

All the difference
in the world.

I believe in man,

and that means
I believe in reason.

Without that belief,

I wouldn't have the strength
to get out of bed in the morning.

How can you mistake
man's contemptible cunning... for reason?

I know they call a donkey a horse
when they want to sell it,

and a horse a donkey
when they want to buy it.

Is that the whole story?

If I were to drop a stone
and tell people it didn't fall,

do you think they'd accept it?

No.

The seduction of proof
is still strong.

In the long run,
no one can resist it.

Good morning, father.

Up So early?

I'm going to matins
with Mrs. Sarti.

Lud0vico's coming, too.

- How was the night, Father?
- Clear.

- May I look through the tube?
- What for? It isn't a toy.

I know that,
Father.

What did you find?

Some little specks
by the side of a big star.

I must find a way
of drawing attention to them.

Perhaps I'll call them the Medician Stars
to please the Duke of Florence.

By the way,
we may move to Florence.

I've written to His Highness,

asking if he can use me
as court mathematician.

- Shall we live at court, father?
- Galileo.

My dear Sagredo,
I must have time to work out my proof.

And I need my comforts.

My only worry is the Duke
may not take me.

Oh, surely he'll take you, Father.

But those new stars--

I'm not used to writing letters
to important people.

Do you think this will do?

"With this, I commend myself as one of
your most faithful and devoted servants

whose chief desire is to bask in
the presence of Your Highness,

the rising sun
of our great age."

The Duke of Florence
is a boy of nine.

I know.

Oh, I see.

You think my letter
is too servile.

I wonder
if it's servile enough.

The only way a man like me can land
a decent job is by crawling on his belly.

Run along to matins, now.

- Galileo, don't go to Florence.
- Why not?

It's ruled by monks.

There are scholars, too.

- Lackeys.
- I'll take them by the scruff of the neck

and make them look
through my tube.

Even monks can be seduced
by proof.

Galileo, you're setting out
on the road to disaster.

You're suspicious
and skeptical in science.

But in politics, you're as naive
as your daughter.

How can those in power leave a man
at large who tells the truth?

Even about
the remotest stars.

Can you see the Pope
calmly writing down in his diary

"Tenth of January, 1610.

Heaven abolished."

A while ago, when you were
at your telescope...

I saw you
tied to the stake.

And when you said
you believed in proof,

I smelled burning flesh.

If they'll have me,
I'll go.

Your Highness.

Shall we begin
with an observation

of the satellites
of Jupiter,

the Medician Stars.

- Sit down here, please.
- Thank you, my boy.

No, I'm afraid
it's not as simple as that.

Before we use your celebrated instrument,
Mr. Galilei,

we beg the favor
of a disputation.

Subject: Can these moons exist?

A formal disputation.

Why don't you just look through
the telescope and see for yourselves?

- Here, please.
- Yes, yes.

You are aware
that your proposition-

that there are stars revolving around
some center other than the Earth,

that there's nothing
holding the universe up--

is in contradiction
to the wisdom of the ages?

- Yes.
- Apart from my mathematical friends'

reservations as to whether
these moons are possible,

I, as a philosopher ask you,
are they necessary?

Aristotleis divini--

Shall we speak
in everyday language?

My colleague Mr. Federzoni
doesn't understand Latin.

- Does that matter?
- Yes.

The debate will be less brilliant,
but it's your house.

The cosmos
of the divine Aristotle,

with its crystal spheres
and their mystical music

is an edifice of
incomparable order and beauty.

Why should we go out of our way
to look for things

which can only strike a discord
in that inevitable harmony?

Your Highness,
would you care to observe

these unnecessary and impossible stars
through the telescope?

Mr. Galilei, nobody doubts
that your brainchild--

or shall we say your adopted brainchild--
is brilliantly contrived.

But one is tempted to observe
that if your tube

shows something
that cannot exist,

it must be
a rather unreliable tube.

- How's that?
- With the utmost deference, Mr. Galilei,

I suggest that what one sees
in your eyeglass...

and what is in the heavens,
might be two entirely different things.

Admirably put.

Great restraint.

They think we painted
the Medician Stars on the lens.

Huh-- Are you
accusing me of fraud?

We wouldn't dream of it
in the presence of His Highness.

Is there something wrong
with my stars?

Your Highness' stars are fine.

The gentlemen are only wondering
whether they really exist.

Can you see the claws
on the Great Bear?

Yes. And everything on the bull.

Are you gentlemen
going to look or not?

Certainly.

- What is the matter with you?
- They're stupid.

Deplorable child.

Your Highness...

I have just received
an important message.

- I think we should go at once.
- Gentlemen.

The sum of our knowledge
is pitiful.

It has been my singular good fortune
to get hold of a new instrument

that brings a small patch
of the universe a little bit closer.

It's at your disposal.
Make use of it.

Your Highness, ladies and gentlemen,
where is all this leading?

Are we, as scholars,

concerned with where
the truth might lead us?

Mr. Galilei, the truth
might lead us anywhere.

Your Highness,
these nights,

all over Italy, telescopes have been
turned on the sky.

The moons of Jupiter have never
been seen before, and yet, they exist.

The man in the street may conclude
that a good many other things may exist

if only he opens his eyes.

Gentlemen,

we oughtn't to be defending
shaky doctrines.

You are teachers.

You ought to be
doing the shaking.

I wish your man
would keep out

of what is supposed to be
a scientific debate.

Your Highness...

Looks as if we have to go
to the shipyards nowadays

to find the high curiosity
that was the glory of Greece.

Well, I'm sure Mr. Galilei
will find admirers in the shipyards.

Your Highness, I find this
highly informative discussion

has exceeded the time
we allowed for it.

It is imperative
that we leave at once.

One of my cakes,
your Highness.

But you need only to look
through the telescope.

His Highness will, of course,
seek the opinion

of the greatest
living authority...

Christopher Clavius,

Astronomer-in-Chief
at the papal college in Rome.

Things take indeed
A wondrous turn

When learned men
Do stoop to learn

Clavius
We are pleased to say

Upheld Galileo

Hopeless,
hopeless, hopeless!

Is there anything in the world
that people won't believe?

Yes, Monsignor,
that you don't like your belly!

Oh, they'd believe that.

They only won't believe
what's good for them.

They doubt the devil, but fill them up
with a lot of fiddledeedee

about the Earth rolling
in the gutter like a marble,

and they swallow it
hook, line and sinker.

Sancta simplicitas!

Ooh! Ooh! The Earth
is going around too quickly!

Ooh! Ooh! I'm dizzy!

May I hold onto you, Professor?

Old Mother Earth's
been at the bottle again.

Venus is listening badly.
I can only see half of her behind!

Help! Hope we don't get
thrown onto the moon!

All those nasty,
sharp mountain peaks.

Don't look down!

Every child and half-skinny
piglet in Holy Rome.

What does the Bible say?

"Sun, stand thou still
upon Gabanon

and thou moon
in the valley of Ajalon."

Can the sun come to a standstill
if it doesn't ever move?

Does the Bible lie?

How did Christopher Clavius,
the greatest astronomer alive,

get mixed up in an investigation
of this kind?

He's in there, with his eyes glued
to that diabolical instrument.

Mr. Galilei...

I think something
just fell down.

Are you sure, Monsignor,
that it didn't fall up?

Insolence.

Aren't they out yet?

Can't they reach a decision
on this paltry matter?

Christopher Clavius ought to know
his astronomy after all these years.

I hear this Mr. Galilei
transfers mankind

from the center of the universe
to somewhere in the outskirts.

This Mr. Galilei is therefore
an enemy to mankind

and must be dealt with as such.

Is it conceivable
that God would trust

the most precious fruit of his labor
to some mere flip-it-tich-i-bit of a star?

Would he have sent his son
to such a place?

How can men be so perverse
as to listen to something

that's told them by some slave
of the multiplication table.

The gentleman
is over there.

So you're the man.

Yeah, and our eyes are not
what they were, but...

I can-- I can see you bear a striking
resemblance to the man we burned.

He-- What was his name?

Your Eminence, the doctor said
you mustn't excite yourself.

So you have degraded the Earth
in spite of the fact

that you live by it and receive everything
from her.

Well, I won't have it!

I won't be a nobody
on some nondescript star,

twirling briefly,
hither and dither.

I tread the Earth and the Earth is firm
beneath my feet!

It stands still and is the center
of the universe,

and I am in the center,
and the eye of the Creator is upon me.

About me,
fixed to the crystal spheres

revolve the lesser lights
of the stars

and the great light
of the sun,

created to illumine me,
that God might see me.

Man, the supreme work of God...

a central figure in--
in His own image

created him immortal
and-- and--

Your Eminence,
you have overtaxed yourself.

Your Eminences,
Father Clavius.

He's right.

Father Clavius says

it's up to the theologians now
to set the heavens right again.

You've won.

Who is this man?

His Eminence,
the Cardinal Inquisitor.

When Galileo was

In Rome

A cardinal asked him
To his home

And dined and wined him
As his guest

He only made

One small request

I won't dance
with anyone but you, Ludovico.

- You're showing some lace.
- Oh.

- Father, feel my heart.
- Oh! It's thumping.

- Oh, I want to look beautiful.
- You'd better.

If you don't, they'll start saying
all over again

that the Earth
doesn't turn.

It doesn't turn, sir.

I was to wait here
for Cardinal Bellarmine.

His Eminence will be with you
in a few minutes.

Oh, Mr. Galilei.

This is an honor,
sefior Galileo.

- Congratulations.
- Thank you.

Run along,
and enjoy yourselves.

Rome.

- Big party?
- 250 guests, Mr. Galilei.

The first carnival after the years
of the plague.

All the great families of Italy
are represented here this evening.

The Orsinis, the Granatis,
the Pescis.

- The Cesarinis.
- The Guidis, the Lastricardis.

Ah, their Eminencies,
Cardinals Bellarmine and Barberini.

- Your Eminence.
- Mr. Galilei, Cardinal Barberini.

Your Eminence.

"The sun also ariseth,
and the sun goeth down

and hasteth to his place
where he arose."

Thus says Solomon.
What says Galilei?

Your Eminence...

When I was so high,
I remember standing on a ship.

And when it pulled off, I shouted,
"The shore is moving away!"

But I know now it was the ship
that was moving away from the shore.

You can't catch you.

Unfortunately for me, I glanced at
a few papers on astronomy once,

and it's harder to get rid of
than the itch.

We must move with the times, Barberini.

If it makes navigation easier
to use new charts

based upon a new hypothesis,
let's use them.

We need only scotch doctrines
that contradict Holy Writ.

Holy Writ.

"He that withholdeth corn,
the people shall curse him."

Proverbs.

"A prudent man
concealeth knowledge."

- Proverbs.
- "Where no oxen are, the crib is clean.

But much increase is by
the strength of the ox."

"He that ruleth his spirit
is better than he that taketh a city."

"The broken spirit
drieth the bones."

"Doth not wisdom cry?"

"Can one go upon hot coals
and his feet not be burned?"

Welcome to Rome,
friend Galilei.

You will recall the story
of the founding of the city.

Two little boys found shelter
and sustenance with a she-wolf.

And from that day, we've paid the price
for the she-wolf's milk.

But the place is not bad.

And we have everything
for your pleasure,

from a scholarly debate
with my friend Bellarmine

to ladies of, uh,
international repute.

Would you like to meet one?

No?

He prefers a serious discussion.

Very well.

Are you sure, friend Galilei,
that you astronomers

aren't just trying
to make astronomy easier for yourselves?

You speak in terms of circles, ellipsis
and uniform velocities,

simple movements
that the human mind can grasp.

Very convenient.

But suppose Almighty God
had taken it into his head

to make the stars
move like that.

What will become
of your calculations then?

Your Eminence, if God had
created the world like this,

he would've made our minds
like this, too,

so that we could grasp it.

I believe in reason.

I consider reason inadequate.

He's too polite to tell me
he considers mine inadequate.

But what is one to do
with him?

Butter wouldn't melt
in his mouth.

All he wants to prove
is that God made a few mistakes.

In astronomy, God didn't work hard enough
before he composed Holy Writ.

My clear friend...

Don't put anything down. This is
a scientific discussion among friends.

Don't you think it likely
the Creator knows more

about his work than the created?

Man may misread
not only the heavenly bodies,

but the Bible as well.

The interpretation
of the Bible

is a matter for the ministers
of God.

You don't answer?

Tonight,
the Holy Office has decided

that the theory of Copernicus,

according to which,
the Earth moves around the sun,

is false, absurd and heretical.

I am charged,
Mr. Galilei,

to admonish you
to relinquish this opinion.

Would you repeat that?

His Eminence Cardinal Bellarmine
to the aforesaid Galileo Galilei,

"The Holy Office has decided
that the theory of Copernicus,

according to which,
the Earth goes around the sun,

is foolish,
absurd and heretical.

I am charged, Mr. Galilei, to admonish you
to relinquish this opinion."

What does this mean?

The Collegium Romanum
confirmed my observations.

Yes, they were
most complimentary to you.

But...
the satellites of Jupiter.

The phases of Venus.

The Holy Office
formulated its decree

without taking these particulars
into account.

In other words...

the future of all scientific
research is completely-

Completely assured,
Mr. Galilei.

It is not given to man
to know the truth,

but it is granted him
to seek after the truth.

Science is the legitimate
and beloved daughter of the church.

She must have confidence
in the church.

Be realistic, friend Galilei...

and so shall we.

We need you
more than you need us.

Barberini,
it's time we introduced

Italy's most discussed scientist
to our guests.

Let's put on our masks.

Our poor Galilei
hasn't got one.

Did you get
his last sentence?

Yes. Have you got what he said
about believing in reason?

Did the interview
take place?

Well, my daughter...

may I congratulate you
on your betrothal.

Your young man comes
from a distinguished family.

Will you be staying on
in Rome?

Not now, Your Eminence.
I must return home for the wedding.

Ah, so you're
accompanying your father back to Florence.

That should please him.

Mathematics
is a cold housewife.

Your youth and warmth
will keep him down to Earth.

Oh, it's easy
to get lost up there.

He doesn't talk to me
about the stars, Your Eminence.

No.

They don't eat fish
in the fisherman's house.

Though I can tell you
something about astronomy.

It seems, my child, that God
has blessed

our modern
astronomers with imagination.

Oh, it's getting quite alarming.

Compared to their picture
of the world,

our old picture
is like a mere miniature,

such as might hang 'round the neck
of a charming young lady.

The gentlemen of the Holy Office
are worried

that a prelate or even a cardinal
might get lost in such enormous spaces.

The Almighty might even
lose sight of the Pope himself.

Yes, it's all most amusing.

Even so, my child,
I'm glad to know

that you will be staying
with your eminent father,

whom we all hold
in highest esteem.

I wonder, do I know
your father confessor?

Father Jacamo

of Saint Ursula's in Florence,
Your Eminence.

Hm.

My dear child,
your father will need you.

Not so much now, perhaps, but...

one of these days.

You are pure.

And there is strength in purity.

Greatness is sometimes,
indeed often,

too heavy a burden for those
to whom God has granted it.

What man is so great...

he has no place in a prayer?

But I'm keeping you.

Your fiancé
is going to be jealous.

And I'm afraid that your father
will never forgive me

for holding forth to you
about astronomy.

And remember me
to Father Jacamo.

Galileo, feeling grim

A young monk
Came to visit him

The monk was born
Of common folk

It was of science
That they spoke

Mr. Galilei?

My name is Fulganzio.

I'm student of physics.

For three nights,
I have been unable to sleep.

I can't reconcile the decree
of the Holy Office which I've read

with the satellites of Jupiter,
which I've seen.

So this morning I decided to perform math
and then come to see you.

To tell me Jupiter has no moons.

No.

The decree has shocked me
into realizing

that unrestricted research
is dangerous.

I've decided
to give up astronomy.

But first, I felt
I had to tell you my reasons.

Such reasons are familiar to me.

You mean, of course...

certain pressures
exerted by the church.

But there is something else.

I'd like to talk to you
about my family.

I don't come from
the great city.

My parents are peasants
in the Campagna.

They know about growing olives,
but not much about anything else.

Often these days, as I observe
the phases of Venus,

I can see my mother
and father and sister

sitting by the stove at home,

under rafters blackened
by the smoke of centuries.

I can see the spoons
in their roughen hands.

They're very poor.

But underlying their poverty,

there is a sort of order,
routine, rhythm.

My father's back
wasn't bowed all at once,

but little by little
each year.

Regularly, year after year, childbearing
made my mother more and more sexless.

What gives them the strength to sweat
with loaded baskets up the stony paths...

to bear children...

even to eat...

is the sense of stability...

of necessity,
which they get

from the sight of the trees
turning green every year...

from the sight of the soil...

and the little church.

They've been told
the eye of God is on them.

And that the whole pageant of the world
was written around them

that they might be saved.

Well, what would they say
if I told them

that they're living
on a little chunk of stone

spinning in empty space
around a second-rate star?

What would be the use
of their patience, then?

Of the acquiescence
in their misery?

What comfort would there be
in holy scripture

which demonstrates the necessity
of their submission?

And their sweat.

If holy scripture
is shown to be full of error...

now they'd feel
they'd been cheated.

I can see their eyes waiver.

I can see them put down
their spoons on the table.

Hunger is just
going without food,

not a test of strength,
they'd say.

Effort is just bending and carrying,
not a virtue.

So can you wonder if I see
in the decree of the Holy Office

a noble and motherly compassion.

A great magnanimity.

Hmm. Well...

At least you found out
that the crux of the matter

is not the satellites
of Jupiter,

but the peasants
of the Campagna.

And don't talk to me

about the beauty that radiates
from suffering.

Do you know how a pearl
develops in an oyster?

A jagged grain of sand gets inside
the oyster shell

and makes its life unbearable.

The oyster exudes slime
to cover the grain of sand.

And that eventually hardens
into a pearl.

The oyster nearly dies
in the process.

To hell with the pearl.
Give me the healthy oyster.

Virtues are not
the monopoly of poverty.

If your parents
were prosperous and happy,

they could develop the virtues
of happiness and prosperity.

Do you want me to lie
to your people?

We must be silent
from the highest of motives...

the inward peace
of less fortunate souls.

If I condoned this decree,

and left your parents
undisturbed,

my motives might not
be entirely disinterested.

Easy life, no persecution,
and so on.

Would you like to see
a Cellini timepiece

that Cardinal Bellarmine's
coachman delivered here this morning?

And as a reward for leaving
your mother and father's peace untroubled,

the government offers me the wine
they produce by the sweat of their brow.

The brow, which, as you know,
was made in God's image.

Mr. Galilei, I am a priest.

You're also a physicist.

And you can see
that Venus has phases.

How can new machinery
be evolved to control rivers

if physicists
are forbidden to study

the greatest machinery of all,
the mechanism of the stars?

Can I reconcile my findings
on the paths of falling bodies

with the tracks of witches
riding on broomsticks?

You don't think the truth,
if it is truth,

would make its way
without us?

No.

Truth prevails only as far
as we make it prevail.

You speak about
the Campagna peasants

as if there were moss
on their huts.

If they don't rouse themselves
and learn to think,

the best irrigation systems
in the world can't help them.

I can see
their divine patience.

But where
is their divine wrath?

They're tired.

Are you a physicist?

Here is what draws the ocean
when it ebbs and flows.

Let it lie there.

Thou shalt not read.

Already.

You are a physicist.

An apple of the tree
of knowledge.

He can't wait.
He wolfs it down.

He'll rot in hell for all eternity,
and yet, look at him.

Where are his manners?

Sometimes I think...

I would willingly
be imprisoned in a dungeon

fathoms under the earth
if in exchange

I could find out one thing.

What is... light?

And the worst of it is...

when I find something out...

I have to tell others about it.

Like a lover.

Like a drunkard.

Like a traitor.

I don't understand
this sentence.

I'll explain it to you,
Fulganzio.

I'll explain it to you.

For eight long years

With tongue in cheek

Of what he knew

He did not speak

Then temptation
Grew too great

But Galileo challenged fate

Uh, Thursday.

Floating bodies.
Again.

So ice, bowl of water,
scales, iron needle.

Aristotle.

Ludovico likes entertaining.

This is for
the long dining table.

It's got to be perfect.
His mother notices every stitch.

She's not too happy about Father's books
any more than Father Jacamo.

Oh, he hasn't written a book
for years.

In Rome, a long time ago,

a very important ecclesiastic
told me things about astronomy.

Virginia, I want to talk to you
about your marriage.

You're such a young thing.

You have no mother.

And your father just puts
pieces of ice on water.

A marriage is too serious
a business.

I wouldn't ask your father
questions about your marriage.

He always says
such dreadful things.

And always at meal times
when the young men are there.

He hasn't half a scud0's worth
of shame in him.

Never has had.

I'm thinking of what
the future has in store.

I think you should go
to see a real astronomer at the university

and have him cast your horoscope
so you'll know where you stand.

What are you laughing at?

Because I've been already.

- Tell me.
- Well, I've got to be very careful

for the next three months
because the sun is in Aries.

But after that, I get a very favorable
ascendant, and the clouds will part.

And as long as I don't lose sight
of Jupiter,

I may go on any journey I please
because I'm an Aries.

- And Ludovico?
- He's a Leo.

That means sensual,
I think.

I know that step.
It's Mr. Gaffone, the rector.

- Miss Galilei.
- Mr. Gaffone.

Just thought I'd bring you a book
that might interest your father.

It's about the great issue
of the moment.

Oh, for heaven's sake,
don't disturb Mr. Galilei.

I can't help feeling that every minute
taken from that great man

is a minute stolen
from Italy.

I'll just put the book
into your little hands

and disappear on tiptoe.

Afternoon.

Thank you.

What's that about?

I don't know.

- "De maculis in sole--"
- Ah, it's on the sunspots.

A new one.

Listen to the dedication:

"To the greatest living
authority on physics,

Galileo Galilei."

I read Fabricius' paper
the other day.

He thinks the spots are clusters of
planets between us and the sun.

Isn't that doubtful,
Mr. Galilei?

In Paris and Prague,
they think they're vapors from the sun.

- Mm.
- Federzoni has his doubts.

Oh, leave me out.

I said, "Mm."
That's all.

How can I doubt anything?

I'm lens grinder.

I grind lenses,
you use them.

You observe the heavens,
and what you see

is not sunspots,
but a "maculis."

Don't discuss these new things
in front of me.

I can't read the books.
It's Latin!

There is happiness in doubting.
I wonder why?

Are we going to
take this up, sir?

Every sunny day for the last fortnight,
I've gone up to the attic.

A thin beam of light comes down
through a crack in the tiles.

With

With it, you can catch
a reverse image of the sun

on a piece of paper.

On the image, I could see
a little blurred spot that moved.

Why don't we investigate
those spots, Mr. Galilei?

At the moment, we are investigating
floating bodies.

Mother has whole baskets
full of letters.

All of Europe
wants your opinion.

With the reputation you've built up,
you can't be silent.

Rome has allowed me to build up
a reputation because I've been silent.

Well, I don't see how you can
afford to be silent any longer.

I can't afford to be roasted
on a wood fire like a ham.

Ah.

You think the sunspots may have something
to do with that again.

All right, we'll stick
to filling a bowl with bits of ice.

- That can't hurt you.
- Exactly.

Our proposition.

All things that are lighter
than water float.

All things that are heavier
sink.

What does Aristotle say?

"Discus latus plates--

Translate, Fulganzio.

"A broad, flat disc of ice
floats in water,

whereas an iron needle sinks."

Why then, according to Aristotle,
doesn't ice sink?

"Because being broad and flat,
it cannot divide the water."

Very well.

I press the ice firmly,

down to the bottom of the bowl.

Now I remove the pressure
of my hand.

What happened?

It rises to the surface.

Correct.

In rising, it seems to be able
to divide the water, Fulganzio.

But then why does it float at all?

Ice is heavier than water
because it is compressed water.

What if it
were expanded water?

It must be lighter than water
or it wouldn't float.

Mm-hmm.

Just as an iron needle
can't float.

All things that are
lighter than water float.

All things that are heavier sink.
Q.E.D.

Andrea, you must learn
to think carefully.

Give me that iron needle.

A sheet of paper.

- Is iron heavier than water?
- Yes.

What happened?

It floats.

Holy Aristotle!

They never
checked up on him.

Every time I hear them
laugh like that...

I feel afraid.

Well!

Ludovico!

Oh.

Oh, why didn't you let us know
you were coming?

I was merely here inspecting
our vineyards at Buccioli.

I couldn't keep away.

- Who is that?
- Ludovico.

- Oh.
- Good clay, sir.

Can't you see him?

Let's celebrate.

Sarti, bring us a jug
of that old Sicilian wine.

- How are the horses?
- The horses are fine, sir.

Fine. Let's sit down.

Sit down, Ludovico.

You're looking pale.

Country life
will do you good.

Oh, Mother's planning
on September.

I suppose I oughtn't to.

Wait a moment,
I have something to show you.

I hear as many as
a thousand students

come to hear you lecture
at the university, sir.

What are you working on
these days?

Routine stuff.

- Did you come through Rome?
- Yes.

Oh, before I forget, Mother sends her
congratulations on your restraint

about the fuss in Holland
of the sunspots.

Very kind of her.

Christopher Clavius
had all Rome by the ears.

He said he was afraid this
Earth 'round the sun business

might crop up again
because of these spots.

Clavius is on
the same track.

Yes.

What news from the Holy City other than
the hope of new aberrations of my part?

Pope is on his deathbed.

Hadn't you heard?

Oh.

Who do they say is going to be
his successor?

They say Barberini.

Barberini.

Mr. Galilei knows Barberini.

Cardinal Barberini
is a mathematician.

A scientist in the chair of Saint Peter.

We might live to see the clay, Federzoni,

when we don't have to
look over our shoulders like criminals

every time we say
two and two are four.

Mmm. I like this wine.

What do you think of it, Ludovico?

I like it.

I know the hill
where it's grown.

The slope
is steep and stony.

The grape almost blue.

- I'm fond of this wine.
- Yes, sir.

Yes. There are
little shadows in it.

It's almost sweet.

Just stops
short there. Hm?

Andrea...

- bring in your contraption.
- Really?

He's starting on the sunspots.

The pope's convinced
the Earth stands still.

Or so the Bible proves.

He tries to take it
by the ears...

Ancl yet, and yet, it moves!

We might find
that the sun turns, too.

How would you like that,
Mr. Marsili?

What's all the excitement?

You're not going to start
those hellish goings on again, Galileo.

Correct me if I'm wrong...

Barberini is in the ascendant.

Your mother's uneasy.

And you have been sent
to investigate.

Clavius is right.

These sunspots...
do interest me.

How do you like my wine,
Ludovico?

I told you
I liked it, sir.

- Do you really like it?
- I like it.

What has my astronomy
to do with my daughter?

The phases of Venus don't affect
Virginia's rear end.

That isn't funny,
just vulgar.

- I'll get Virginia.
- Mrs. Sarti...

Marriage in families like mine
is not decided

by sexual considerations alone.

Oh, was it the family
that kept you

from marrying my daughter
for eight years.

My future wife
will have to take her place

in our village church.

If a bad man's daughter
sat in the family pew,

it might stop your peasants
from paying their rent.

In a way.

The reflector
and the screen...

will throw the image of the sun on it
to save our eyes.

Andrea, your method--

My mother was positively assured
that you'd undertaken

not to get mixed up in this
Earth 'round the sun business again, sir.

We had
a reactionary pope, then.

Had? His Holiness
isn't dead yet.

- Pretty nearly.
- Pretty nearly?

Fifty times, this man will weigh
a chip of ice.

But when it comes to something
that suits him, he believes it blindly.

If His Holiness dies, the new pope,
whoever he turns out to be,

will respect the convictions held
by the country's leading families.

God made the physical world.

God made the human brain.

God will allow physics.

Galileo,
let me tell you something.

I've watched my son
fall into sin

for the sake
of these experiments

and theories and observations.

And I haven't been able
to do anything about it.

You set yourself
against the authorities

and they gave you a warning.

The greatest cardinal spoke to you
the way you speak to a sick horse.

But it worked.
For a while.

But two months ago, I caught you
sneaking back to your observations.

I didn't say anything.

But I knew.

And I lit a candle
to St. Joseph.

It's more than I can bear.

When we're alone,
you share some sense.

You say you've got to behave
because it's dangerous not to.

But two clays
of these experiments

and you're as bad as ever.

If I lose my eternal salvation because
I stand by a heretic, that's my business.

But you've no right to trample your
daughter's happiness with your big feet.

Uncover the telescope.

Giuseppe, put the luggage
back in the coach.

Shefilnever
get over this.

You can tell her
yourself.

Mr. Galilei, if we Marsilis
were to countenance teaching

frowned on by the church,
it could unsettle our peasants.

Don't forget these poor wretches
would get everything mixed up.

- They're nothing but animals.
- Really?

I've seen the day
when my poor mother

has had to have a dog whipped
in front of them

to remind them to
keep their place.

Oh.

You may have occasionally
seen the corn

waving from the window
of your comfortable coach.

You've no doubt nibbled our olives or
absentmindedly eaten our cheese.

But you can have no idea how much
responsibility that sort of thing is.

What makes you think
I ever eat my cheese absentmindedly?

- Are we ready?
- Yes, sir.

It isn't only dogs
you whip

to keep discipline,
is it, Marsili?

Mr. Galilei,
you have a wonderful brain.

It's a pity.

- He's threatening you.
- Yes.

I might unsettle his peasants
and his housekeeper and his agent.

It's all right.
None of them speak Latin.

A might write in the vernacular
for the many,

instead of in Latin
for the few.

What we need
for our new ideas

is people who work
with their hands.

Who else wants to know
the causes of everything?

People who never see bread
except on their tables

don't want to know
how it's baked.

The bastards would rather
thank God than the baker.

You've made your decision.

You'll always be a slave
to your passions.

Excuse me to Virginia.

I think it's as well
if I don't see her now.

The dowry's at your disposal
at any time.

Good day.

And our regards to the Marsilis,

who order the Earth
to stand still

so that their castles
won't fall off.

- And the Guidos and the Orsinis.
- And the Rosellis.

- And the Cesarinis.
- And the Gianottis.

Who'll only kiss
the pope's foot

as long as he tramples
on the people with it.

The new pope will be
an enlightened man.

Hm.

No, let's start observing
these sunspots at our own risk.

Not counting too much on the protection
of the problematical new pope.

But fully confident
of dispelling

that Fabricius' star shadows
and the solar vapors of Paris and Prague

and of proving
that the sun rotates.

Andrea.

Reasonably confident of proving
that the sun rotates.

My intention is not to prove
that I was right,

but to find out whether
I was right.

Turn it on the sun.

I thought
you'd been working at it.

Do you know
when I guessed it?

When you didn't recognize
Mr. Marsili.

You sent him away!

I've got to know.

When the Almighty
Made the universe

He made the Earth
And next he made the sun

Then 'round the Earth,
He bade the sun to turn

That's in the Bible,
Genesis One

And since that time,
AH beings here below

Were in obedient circles
Meant to go

Around the Pope,
The cardinals

Around the cardinals,
The bishops

Around the bishops,
The ministers

- Oh-ho!
- Around the ministers

The aldermen

Around the alderman,
The craftsmen

Around the craftsmen,
The servants

Around the servants, the dogs,
The chickens and the beggars

Up stood the learned Galileo

Glanced briefly at the sun

And said Almighty God
Was wrong

In Genesis Chapter One

And that is bold, my friends

This is no matter small

For heresies could spread at once
Like bad diseases

Change Holy Writ, forsooth?

What would be left at all?

Why each of us
Would say and do

Just as he pleases

As he pleases

together}
As he pleases

Good people,
What will come to pass

If Galileo's teachings
Spread?

No altar boy
Will serve the mass

No servant girl
Will make the beds

Now that is grave,
My friends

This is no matter small

An independent spirit
Spreads like bad diseases

For life is sweet
And man is weak

And after all

How good it is
Just for a change

To do just as one pleases

As one pleases

As one pleases

The carpenters take wood
And build

Their houses,
Not the church's pews

The members
Of the cobbler's guild

Now boldly walk the streets
In shoes

The tenant kicks
The noble lord

Right off his land
Like that

The milk the wife
Once fed the priest

Now makes at last
Her children fat

Now that is grave
My friends

This is no matter small

An independent spirit
Spreads like bad diseases

For life is sweet
And man is weak

And after all

How good it is
Just for a change

To do just as one pleases

As one pleases

As one pleases

The duchess washes
Her chimneys

The emperor has to
Fetch his beer

His troops make love
Behind the trees

Commands they do not hear

Now that I think of it

I feel that I could
Also use a change

You know for me
You have appeal

Maybe tonight
We could arrange

No, no, no,
No, no, no, StOP

Galileo, stop

An independent spirit spreads
As do diseases

People must keep their place

Some down and some on top

Still it feels good
Just for a change

To do just as one pleases

As one pleases

As one pleases

Good creatures

Who have trouble here below

In serving cruel lords

And gentle Jesus

Who bids you

Turn the other cheek
Just so

While they get set

To strike the second blow

together}
Obedience

Will never cure your woe

Let each of us get wise
And do for once

Just as he pleases

As he pleases

Hurry, hurry, hurry!

Presenting Galileo's phenomenon,

the Earth rounding
around the sun!

A procession.

The depths are hot

The heights are chill

The streets are loud

The court is still

The Grand Duke's
been keeping us waiting a long time.

Yes.

Will he say
your book is heretical?

You hang around
church too much.

Getting up at dawn and scurrying to mass
is ruining your complexion.

You pray for me,
don't you?

I've been worried.

It's that man
over there, again.

The one who's always hanging
'round the house.

Here's Mr. Vanni,
the iron founder.

The one you designed
the furnace for.

Don't forget to thank him
for the quail he sent us.

How were the quail,
Mr. Galilei?

Excellent.

Again, many thanks.

They were talking
about you upstairs.

They're saying you're
responsible for the new crop

of pamphlets
against the Bible.

I know nothing
about pamphlets.

Homer and the Bible
are my favorite reading.

It doesn't bother me.

I'm glad of this chance
to tell you

that we, the manufacturers,
are on your side.

I don't know much
about the motions of the stars,

but you're fighting for the freedom
to teach new knowledge.

Take that mechanical cultivator
in German you told me about.

I can tell you it'll
never be used in this country.

Your opinion carries weight,
Vanni.

Well, I hope so.

Did you know they have money markets
in Amsterdam and London?

Here, we're not even free
to make money.

We sink or swim with men like you,
Mr. Galilei.

If they ever try anything,
Mr. Galilei,

remember you have friends
in every branch of industry.

The cities of Northern Italy
are behind you.

As far as I know,
nobody's thinking of harming me.

No?

No.

In my opinion,
you'd be better off in Venice.

You could put up a fight
from there.

I have a coach and horses.

I don't see myself as a refugee.

I like my comfort.

Yes, but from what I hear,
there's an element of time involved.

I got the impression
they'd be relieved

if you were
out of Florence just now.

Nonsense.

The Duke is my pupil.

Not to mention the fact
that

if anybody tries anything
in Rome,

the Pope himself
will tell him where to get off.

You don't seem to know your
friends from your enemies, Mr. Galilei.

I know who's in power.

Well.

Good luck to you.

What is the Cardinal Inquisitor
doing in Florence?

I don't know.

He was not disrespectful.

The Lord Chamberlain.

His Highness had hoped
to find time for you, Mr. Galilei.

Unfortunately, he has leave immediately
to judge the parade at the riding academy.

On what business did you wish
to see His Highness?

Um, I wanted
to present my book.

How are your eyes today?

So-so.

With His Highness' permission,
I'm dedicate--

Your eyes are a matter
of great concern to His Highness.

Could it be that you had been
looking too long and too often

through your marvelous tube?

Father, I'm afraid.

Don't show your feelings.

We're not going home.

We're going
to the glass cutters.

I've arranged with him to have a cart
ready to take us away at any time.

- Mr. Galilei?
- Don't look 'round.

Mr. Galilei.

His Highness has just charged me
to inform you

that the Florentine Court
can no longer oppose the request

of the Holy Inquisition
to interrogate you in Rome.

The carriage
of the Holy Inquisition is waiting.

The Pope

No, no, no.

Oh, the shuffling feet.

Doctors of all the faculties,

representatives of all the religious
orders of the entire clergy...

who have come believing
with childlike faith in the word of God

as set forth
in the Scriptures,

who have come to hear
Your Holiness confirm their faith.

Ancl Your Holiness
is really going to tell them

that the Bible can no longer be regarded
as the alphabet truth.

I will not set myself up
against the multiplication table, no.

It is what these people say,

that it is only
the multiplication table.

Their cry is,
"Figures compel us."

But where do the figures
come from?

Plainly, they come from doubt.

These people doubt everything.

Can society stand on doubt
instead of on faith?

"You are my master.

Ancl I doubt whether
that is a good arrangement.

This is your house, your wife,

but I doubt whether
they shouldn't be mine."

After the plague,

after the new war,

and after the unparalleled
disaster of the Reformation,

your dwindling flock
is looking to its shepherd.

And now these worms
of mathematicians

choose this moment
to turn their tubes upon the sky

and announce that Your Holiness has not
the best advice about the heavens either.

This man is the greatest physicist
of our time.

He is the life of Italy,
not just some crank.

Would we have had
to arrest him otherwise?

Aristotle...

whom these renegades otherwise
regard as a dead dog, said...

"If the shuttle were to weave
by itself,

masters would no longer
need apprentices

nor lords servants.

Well, they believe
this time has come.

Ancl this evil man
knows what he's doing.

And he writes his books
not in Latin,

but in the language of
iron founders and fishwives.

Well, it's certainly
not in the best of taste.

I'll mention it to him.

The seaports
of Northern Italy keep insisting

they must have Galileo's star charts.

Well, we shall have to give in.

There are material interests
involved.

But the star charts are based
on his heretical teachings.

We cannot damn the teachings
and still use the star charts.

No, you cannot
do otherwise.

All those shuffling feet
make me nervous.

May they be more telling
than my words, Your Holiness.

Shall all these go from you
with doubt in their hearts?

But this man has friends.

What about France?

What about the Viennese court?

They will call the church
a cesspool of defunct ideas.

Keep your hands off him.

Well, actually, we shouldn't
have to go very far.

He's a man of the flesh.

Oh, he'd cave in very quickly.

Well, he likes eating,

drinking and thinking
more than any man I ever knew.

He gets pleasure
out of everything.

Even his thinking is central.

He indulges in thinking bouts.

He could never say no
to an old wine or a new idea.

I don't want
any condemnation of physical facts.

I don't want to hear
any battle cries of

"Church, church, church,
reason, reason, reason."

I gave him leave to write his book
on condition it ended by saying

the last word is not with science
but with faith.

- He has complied.
- But how?

His book shows a simpleton propounding
the opinions of Aristotle

and an intelligent man
expressing Galileo's own views.

And who makes the concluding remark,
Your Holiness?

But who states our opinion?

Not the intelligent one.

Oh, these shuffling feet
are intolerable.

Has the whole world
come to me?

At the very most,
he may be shown the instruments.

That will be enough,
Your Holiness.

Mr. Galilei
understands machinery.

June 22, 1633

A momentous day

For you and me

Of all the days

That was the one

The Age of Reason
Could have begun

23 days.

And the Pope hasn't even
granted him an audience.

No more
scientific discussions.

The Discorsi...

the sum of his findings
will never be finished.

They'll kill him.

Do you really think so?

He'll never recant.

You know how when
you lie awake at night...

your mind will fasten
onto one thing?

Last night I kept thinking,
if only they'd let him

take his little stone
in with him.

The appeal to reason pebble
he always carries in his pocket.

In the room they'll be taking him to,
people don't wear pockets.

They won't dare.

And if they do,
he'll never recant.

How can they beat the truth out of a man

who gave his sight
to see?

Maybe they can't.

She is praying
that he will recant.

Leave her alone.

She doesn't know whether she's on her head
or her heels since they talked to her.

They brought her confessor
from Florence.

Mr. Galilei will be here soon.

You may need a bed.

Has he been released?

Mr. Galilei is expected
to recant at five o'clock.

As soon as he recants,
the big bell of Santa Maria will be rung,

and the complete text
of his recantation publicly announced.

I don't believe it.

Mr. Galilei will be brought here
to the back of the embassy

to avoid the crowds
collecting in the street.

The moon is an earth
and has no light of its own.

Venus has no light
of its own, either.

Like the Earth,
it moves 'round the sun.

Four moons
revolve around Jupiter,

which is as far away
as the fixed stars

and not fixed
to any crystal sphere.

The sun is the center of the universe
and immovable.

The Earth is not the center
and is not immovable!

And he was the man
who proved it.

A man can't unsee
what he has seen.

Well, it's five o'clock.

Damned for telling the truth.

No bell.

No bell.

It's after the hour.

He hasn't!

He hasn't!

He held firm.

It's all right.

It's all right.

He didn't recant.

Oh, no!

So...

force isn't everything.

Stupidity isn't invincible.

Man is steadfast
in the face of death!

June the 22nd, 1633,

the dawn
of the Age of Reason.

I wouldn't have wanted to go on living
if he'd recanted.

I didn't say anything,
but I was in agony.

Oh, ye of little faith!

I was sure.
I was sure.

It would've been as if the clay
had turned back to night again.

As if the mountain said, "I am water."

Oh, thank God!

That God and humanity
can lift its head,

for one man has stood up
and said, "No!"

The great bell
of Santa Maria.

He is not damned!

"I, Galileo Galilei,

teacher of mathematics
and physics,

at the University of Florence,

do hereby publicly
renounce my teaching

that the sun is the center
of the universe and motionless

and the Earth is not the center
and not motionless.

I forswear this teaching
with a sincere heart and unfaded faith,

and I abjure,
condemn and execrate

this and all other errors
and heresies

contrary to the teaching
of Holy Church.

So...

the mountain turned to water.

I can't look at him.

- Tell him to go away!
- Steady.

He saved his big gut!

Get him a drink.

I can walk, I can...

If you just
help me a little...

Unhappy is the land...

that has no heroes.

Incorrect.

Unhappy is the land...

that needs a hero.

Sixteen hundred thirty three

To 1642

Galileo

Galilei

Is a prisoner

Of the Inquisition

Until his death

I was told to deliver this.

I didn't order
a goose.

I was told to say it was from
someone who was passing through.

Someone who was passing through
sent you this.

What is it?

Can't you see?

No.

A goose.

- Any name?
- No.

I'll eat the liver.

Have it cooked
with an apple and an onion.

Tell them to cook the liver
with an apple and a little onion.

We ought to get the eye doctor
for Father.

He couldn't see
what it was.

Has he started
to write again?

No. You know he's been
dictating his book to me.

I gave you
pages 131 and 132.

They were the last.

He's an old fox.

You ought to have been able
to see that goose.

- You were standing in my light--
- No, I wasn't.

You're straining your eyes
playing with that ball.

You may read me
some Horace.

We ought to get on with your weekly letter
to the archbishop.

I've been told he's very pleased
with your cooperativeness.

Where were we?

- Paragraph four.
- Read what you have.

"The position of the church in the matter
of the unrest at Genoa.

I agree with the opinion
of Cardinal Spoletti

on the matter of the unrest
amongst the Venetian bell rope makers."

Yes, yes, yes. I agree with the opinion
of Cardinal Spoletti

about the unrest among
the rope makers.

It's better
to distribute good soup

in the name of charity

than to pay more
to the bell rope makers.

Saint Paul says,
"Charity never faileth."

How is that?

- It's beautiful, Father.
- Good.

Couldn't be taken as irony?

- No.
- Good.

The archbishop will like it.
It's so practical.

Mm, I trust your judgment.

Read it over slowly.

"The position of the church
in the matter of the unrest at Genoa.

I agree with the opinion
of Cardinal Sp0letti--

"on the matter of the unrest
amongst the Venetian bell rope makers."

I'm sorry to call so late
in the afternoon.

I'm on my way
to Holland.

I was asked to see him
on my way though,

bring
the latest news of him.

May I go in?

I don't know
whether he'll see you.

You never came.

Ask.

Is that Andrea?

Yes, I'll send him away.

Bring him in.

Have you been keeping well,
Mr. Galilei?

Sit down.

What are you doing these days?

What are you working on?

I heard it was something
about hydraulics in Milan.

Fabricius in Amsterdam

asked me to visit you
and inquire about your health.

I'm very well.
I receive every attention.

I'm glad I can report
you're in good health.

Hm. And you might inform
Fabricius

that thanks to the depths
of my repentance,

I live in comparative comfort

and am allowed certain
scientific pursuits

- under clerical supervision.
- Yes.

We understand the church
is more than pleased with you.

Your complete submission
has had its effect.

Not one single paper
expounding a new thesis

has been published
in Italy since.

Hm. Unfortunately...

there are countries
not under the wing of the church.

I'm afraid the condemned theories
are being taught there.

Things are almost
at a standstill.

Are they?

Nothing from Descartes
in Paris?

Yes.

When he heard
you had recanted,

he put aside his treatise
on the nature of light.

I sometimes worry
about my assistants whom I led into error.

Have they benefited
by my example?

In order
to carry on working,

I have to go to Holland.

Yes, yes.

Federzoni is grinding lenses again.

Back in some shop.

He doesn't know Latin.

Fulganzio, our little monk,
has given up science...

- and returned to the fold.
- Mm.

The church is looking forward to my
father's complete spiritual recovery.

Virginia,
go and see to the goose.

I don't like that man.

He's harmless.

He was his pupil.

So now he's his enemy.

I can't think why you've come
to unsettle me, Sarti.

Even as it is,
I have my relapses.

I've no desire
to upset you.

What relapses?

I've been writing again.

I finished the Discorsi.

The discoveries concerning
two new branches of science.

Here.

My superiors aren't stupid.

They know ingrained vices
can't be cured overnight.

I am allowed ink and paper.

The Discorsi
in the hands of the monks.

Amsterdam, London and Prague
are starving for this book.

They locked the pages away
as I dictated them.

But I copied out each batch
at night beforehand.

I suppose it's
the height of folly...

to pass it on.

You'll find it in the globe.

My foolish vanity has prevented
me from destroying it up to now.

If you were to consider
taking it across the border,

you'd have to bear the risk.

The Discorsi.

"It is my opinion that the Earth
is very noble and admirable

by reason of so many and so different
alterations and generations

which are incessantly made
therein."

I had to do something
with my time.

This will be the start
of a new physics.

- Put it under your coat.
- And we thought you'd deserted us.

Mine has been the loudest voice
against you.

That was as it should be.

I taught you science...

and I denied the truth.

This changes everything.

- Yes?
- You hid the truth from the enemy.

Even in ethics,
you were centuries ahead of us.

- Ethics?
- We lost our heads.

With a crowd
at street corners,

we said he'll die,
but he'll never surrender.

You came back,
I surrendered.

But I'm alive.

We cried your hands
are stained.

You say,
"Better stained than empty."

Better stained than empty.

New.

Sounds realistic.

Sounds like me.

New science.

New ethics.

I, of all people,
should've understood.

I was 12 when you sold another man's
telescope to the Venetian Senate

and then saw you
put it to immortal use.

You always laughed
at heroics.

"People who suffer bore me,"
you said.

Misfortunes
are mainly miscalculations.

- I remember.
- So ...

when you agreed to abjure one popular item
of your doctrine in '33,

I should've known .

You were just withdrawing
from a hopeless political brawl

in order to further the true interests
of science.

Which are?

The study of the properties of motion,
the mother of machines,

which will make the Earth
so good to live on.

We shall have no need of heaven.

You got the leisure
to write a scientific work

which you alone could write.

Had you burned at the stake
in a blaze of glory,

the others
would have won.

They have won.

Besides...

There's no scientific work
that only one man can write.

Then why did you recant?

I recanted because...

I was afraid of physical pain.

It was not a plan.

No, it was not.

In science,
only one thing counts:

Contribution to knowledge.

And you have contributed more
than any man in a hundred years.

Have I?

Contributed for whom?

Welcome to my gutter,

brother scientist
and fellow traitor.

I sold out, you're a buyer.

The first sight of the book,
the curses are drowned.

Hallowed be our bargaining,
whitewashing,

death-fearing community.

Science is not concerned
with our personal weakness.

No? My clear Sarti...

even in my
present situation,

I may still be able to give you
a few pointers about science.

In my spare time--
and I've got plenty of that--

I've gone over my case.

The pursuit of science
calls for particular courage.

It deals in knowledge
distilled from doubt.

Our new art of doubting
delighted the people.

They tore the telescope
out of our hands

and turned it
on their tormenters.

Princes, landowners.

Priests.

These men felt
the cold eye of science

being turned
on an age-old poverty

that could clearly
be got rid of

if only they
were got rid of themselves.

So we are deluged

with threats and bribes.

But can we cut ourselves off from
the people and still remain scientists?

The battle to measure the heavens
is won by doubt.

By credulity, the Roman housewives'
battle for milk

will be lost again and again.

Science, Sarti,
is involved in both struggles.

What are you scientists
working for?

The sole aim of science,
to my mind...

is to lighten the toil
of human existence.

If... you give away
to coercion...

Your progress must be progress
away from humanity.

The gulf between you
and humanity

might grow so wide

that the response to your exaltation
at some new achievement

could be a universal howl
of horror!

As a scientist...

I had a unique opportunity.

In my clay, astronomy emerged
into the marketplace.

At that particular time,
if one man had put up a fight,

it might have had
vast repercussions.

I've come to the conclusion,
Sarti...

that“.
I was never in real danger.

For a time, I was as strong
as the authorities.

And I surrendered my knowledge
to the powers that be.

To use it, not use it,
abuse it...

just as they saw fit.

I betrayed my calling.

No man who does
what I have done

can be tolerated
in the ranks of science.

You have been received
into the ranks of the faithful, Father.

Yes.

I must eat now.

You're a teacher, you know,
yourself.

Can you afford to take
such a hand as mine?

Someone who was
passing through today sent me a goose.

I still enjoy eating.

Regarding your opinion
of the author we discussed...

I don't know the answer.

But I cannot believe that
your savage analysis is the last word.

Thank you, sir.

We don't like visitors
from the past.

They disturb him.

Any idea...

who could have sent
the goose?

Not Andrea.

No.

Perhaps not.

How is the night?

Clear.

And now, good folks
The story's clone

The great book
Has its freedom won

But we hope
You'll keep in mind

You and I are left behind

Keep the light
Of science bright

Keep the heat

And use it right

Lest it be a flame to fall

That were to consume us all

To consume us all