Samson and Delilah (1984) - full transcript
The long haired biblical strongman Samson falls in love with beautiful temptress Delilah in Philistine.
(Multicom Jingle)
(dramatic music)
- [Narrator] It is 1100 years
before the birth of Christ.
The tribes of Israel have now settled
in the hills and the
valleys by the River Jordan.
To their despair, heathen
people call Philistines,
had brought them fear and
cruelty, poverty and enslavement.
It is here then, in
the settlement of Zorah
that a son is born to a farm woman
who had been barren all her life.
He is bold, rebellious
(dog barking)
and he lives with but one thought,
(goat bleating)
one commandment from God.
To deliver his people
from the Philistines.
He's called Samson.
(horse neighing)
(suspenseful music)
(goat bleats)
(gentle music)
- Samson, are you going
to eat before we leave?
- Yes father.
- Come then.
- Good morning my son, did you sleep well?
- Yes mother, very well.
- Good, you have a long way to go.
(breaking ceramic)
(angry muttering)
(suspenseful music)
(dog barking)
(dramatic music)
- Grab him!
Get him out of here, quick!
Take him to the river, now, fast.
Come on, come on.
Faster!
- Take his clothes off.
- Faster!
(splashing)
(cheering and laughing)
- Samson of the Danites,
I now anoint thee with the oil of hyacinth
for the pleasure of your bride,
on this day of days,
and this night of your nights.
(Samson laughs)
(cheering)
(laughing)
- I can't believe it.
It took all 13 of us to
take him to the river.
- We didn't take him anywhere little Arin,
he was just letting us have some fun.
- Don't do that.
- This marriage is a
plague upon all of us,
she'll suffer.
- No, we must trust.
- Trust him.
(sheep bleating)
- We must.
- Well are we going to leave now
or have you changed your mind?
- We'll leave in a minute.
- Micah, when are you going to stop?
- When I'm dead.
(sheep bleats)
- Why take so many?
- Gifts.
Wouldn't look nice if we
came empty handed, huh?
- We'll get there as quickly as we can,
don't worry about us.
- You know, I love you both very much.
(majestic dramatic music)
(wagon rolling)
(melodious music)
- They tell me he's rich,
your father-in-law to be.
I hear he buys up land from all our people
and then he enslaves them.
- Oh is that what you heard?
- Can you tell me why in god's name
you chose a Philistine for your bride?
- I'm commanded by God, Micah.
- Oh.
- I don't know the answer.
- Oh, you mean God commanded
you to marry a Philistine.
- That's right.
- Oh well then I hope at
least that she pleases you.
(laughing)
She does please you, doesn't she?
(lion roaring)
- The leopard is dead.
- I want that lion killed
no matter what it costs.
- Why would a caravan stop here?
- Philistine soldiers from Gaza.
- We'll turn to the
north and go around them.
- No.
- Samson,
Samson!
(horses trotting)
- Open up, let me through.
- Your Excellency, why should we waste
any more of our men?
Let me use the bow and arrow.
- No.
- We'll move on.
- No!
Lady Delilah is deeply distressed
by the death of her leopard.
She offers any man who will kill the beast
a bracelet of rubies, set in gold.
(lion roars)
So, let the first man to
claim the prize step forward.
(lion roaring)
I command you, step forward!
(lion roaring)
Cowards!
(horses galloping)
- [Micah] Your excellency,
can we be of any help?
- No, you can't, move on.
- But your excellency,
(screaming)
(lion roaring)
(screaming)
(lion growling)
- You, get back.
Get back I said.
- Wait!
He has no weapon.
(laughing)
(lion growling)
(sultry Arabian music)
(lion roaring)
- Who's that?
- I don't know who he is.
He carries no weapon.
- No weapon?
- No.
(lion growling)
(lion roaring)
(lion growling)
(cheering)
(cheering)
(dramatic music)
(romantic music)
(cheering)
- You did it Samson.
- Come on, let's go.
- Alright, move!
Everybody move!
- Thanks little Arin.
Ah!
- You there, you, who is this man?
- Samson, from the tribe of Dan.
- Samson?
- A most devoted friend of mine.
- Samson, not the same man who had dared
to marry the daughter of Raul?
- This very day, your excellency.
And though he's wounded now,
I'd wager that he's still looking forward
to his wedding night.
- My lady wishes you to have this.
For killing the beast, sire.
It's yours.
- You will tell your good lady
that Samson requires far more.
- More?
- Tell her,
he requires 10 such bracelets.
- 10?
- They'll be used for food for my people.
- He refused it, my lady.
(suspenseful music)
- Do you know who she is?
- She's called Delilah.
- And she rides with the governor.
- She rides with anyone who has the purse.
(exotic beat music)
(lively Arabian music)
(clapping to the beat)
(clapping)
(gentle music)
- Varinia of Philistine of Timnah.
(clapping)
Samson, of the tribe of Dan.
(clapping)
(cheering)
We have all witnessed the sealing
of the contract by your fathers.
You will live from this forward as one.
May the gods protect you.
May you prosper.
(clapping)
(ominous beat music)
(lively Arabian music)
- Your excellency, this is an honor.
(speaking in foreign language)
I will have rooms prepared
for you immediately.
Come come.
Friends, honored guests,
I have the great pleasure
in presenting to you,
Sidka the governor of Gaza.
(clapping and cheering)
Your excellency, I
believe you have already
met my daughter.
- Yes I have.
- And uh, may I humbly
present my new son-in-law,
her husband, Samson.
- Yes, we too have met.
- Oh.
- A man of extraordinary strength.
Indeed, that's why I'm here.
I intend to commission him
as a member of my garrison.
- Well uh--
- You have other plans, huh?
- It's just that I had hoped
that he would abide with us.
That is, the men of your
garrison are not allowed,
permitted to have their wives join them.
- Well for a year he may do without her.
- Yes, certainly.
- No.
- What?
- Why, I said no.
I refuse to join the garrison.
I refuse to serve you.
- [Raul] Samson!
- Do forgive me please,
it's my country manners.
I know I should well be dazzled
by your godlike appearance
and yet I hear that all true gods
carry thunderbolts upon them,
especially when they make demands
of ordinary human beings.
You do carry thunderbolts, don't you?
Oh, here I offend you once again.
Sometime I give offense
without meaning to.
I told my new father here
how our people breed men
to do his work for him,
and he too for some reason took offense.
I won't deny it.
You Philistines can pay for the land,
you can buy it up, all of it,
but then, you never made the land
or the sea or the sky, did you?
(laughing)
Unless I'm wrong, unless I fail
to recognize a true god.
Can it be?
I still see no thunderbolts,
(Varinia laughs)
not even one small thunderbolt?
- Samson, stop it at once!
- Oh alright, I'm sorry, I'm sorry,
I'm sorry, I'm sorry your excellency.
Welcome.
At least here tonight
you shall dine like a god
upon silver plates with
enough food for ten garrisons.
Accept generosity, I have a rich wife.
- Please your excellency,
you must forgive him, the wine,
he meant no harm.
The music, music!
Come your excellency, anything you wish.
I am your servant.
(lively Arabian music)
I will make sure your
men are made comfortable.
Now come lieutenant,
your excellency, please sit down.
Come come.
- Do you feel better now Samson?
You may think that it's courageous
to make fools of these people,
to risk your life.
Do you know how difficult
you're making it for the rest of us?
- Sit please,
your excellency and
lieutenants, come sit down.
(clapping)
Wine.
(flame bursts)
(clapping)
I do hope you understand, your excellency,
Since my wife died, Varinia
has become my very life.
I'd do anything for her.
- Indeed, and I'm witness to that.
- I couldn't stop her.
- May then god help you, Raul.
I mean of course, our god.
(clapping)
- Sidka never takes his eyes from you.
Please, can't we leave now?
- Now so early?
Would you insult the governor of Gaza?
- Stop it, you know why.
(laughs)
- Master.
Kind people, your indulgence
in a game of wits.
I will give you a riddle of the ages,
from the lands beyond the desert.
Listen carefully.
What is it that flies forever
and rests never?
What?
Is there no answer?
- What do you offer in return, magician?
- I offer you the worship of
your wisdom, your excellency.
- Oh,
then I will give you the answer.
It is the wind.
(clapping)
- Sire I would that I had
a purse to reward you.
- I will help you, magician.
- Samson.
- Master, you have a better purse?
- I have a better riddle.
If I may ask your excellency,
how many men did you bring
with you here tonight?
- You call that a riddle?
- I will give you a garment to wear
for each and every soldier.
- Oh.
- We are here with 30.
- 30 garments, your excellency,
if you can answer my riddle.
- Well?
- Out of the ether came forth meat.
Out of the strong,
came something sweet.
- That's no riddle, that's a
rhyme without reason, a trick.
- You wish to forfeit
your garments so quickly?
Think about it.
I will give you the
evening to find an answer.
But for now, I beg to
leave your godlike company
and take the pleasures
offered an ordinary man.
(crowd gasps)
(lively Arabian music)
(clapping)
(laughing)
- I must have the answer.
- But your excellency--
- I must know.
You will give me the answer by morning
and you will not fail.
- Get out, out!
Get out!
Listen, you see how he
insulted the governor?
- Father it was only--
- No!
No one can make an enemy of Sidka.
He has the power of the
Philistine league behind him,
he can destroy us.
- We shall keep them
apart until Sidka leaves.
- It's too late, the mischief's been done.
He's obsessed with my finding
the answer to that riddle.
(sighs)
- What difference does it make?
- If we could have any
peace from this day forward,
you must find the answer.
- No I can't.
- You must.
You will!
- Would you have me betray my husband?
- Yes.
I must have the answer by morning.
You must do this.
For me?
(lively Arabian music)
(gentle romantic music)
- I'm frightened.
- About me?
- Of what I don't know about you.
The things that I don't understand.
- God has led me to your door.
I love you.
I've always loved you.
You're part of my life.
(moaning)
- Can your god protect us
from a man like Sidka?
Samson, why did you
have to talk to him so,
foolish games that have no meaning?
- Everything I've ever said
to Sidka has a meaning.
- Really?
Then tell me what possible
meaning it could have.
Show me Samson.
(romantic music)
- As always, your excellency,
it's been an honor and
pleasure to have you come
and stay with us.
As to the marriage of
my daughter to a Danite,
well he's an agreeable lad
and they're very much in love.
Of course I'd much rather
she'd married a Philistine.
- [Samson] Good morning.
- Ah Samson.
I trust now that the
wine has lost its hold.
You've come to bid the
governor a safe journey?
- Well if he has nothing
further to say to me,
I offer him my condolence.
- I have little time for games.
And riddles that even
a child could answer.
Oh Maluck, this rustic
lout from the wilderness
is still looking for his answer,
shall we indulge him?
Do we have time?
- No sir.
- Oh too bad.
- Anything you wish.
- Tell him.
- Out of the mouth.
- No, out of the ether, came forth meat.
The lion, of course, we
were witness to its death.
And then out of the strong,
came something sweet.
His carcass, I presume,
a cage of bones for the wild bees to hive.
What a great pity.
That his words cannot match his strength.
But then perhaps, you
can harness the lout,
and put him to work on
a plow in your fields.
Thank you very much for
your wonderful hospitality.
- You will deliver the
30 garments as promised,
to the garrison in Gaza by this evening.
- Samson?
Samson!
(splashing)
- Tell me more, I want to
know everything about him.
- Who?
- That man.
- I'm profoundly disinterested Delilah.
- You can't deny it
Sidka, he had no weapon,
against a lion, which had killed how many,
three of your men?
- If it pleases you, I
will concede his strength.
- Yes, it pleases me.
- He's a country boy Delilah.
I think you would tire of him very soon.
- You don't know me.
I have a very simple nature.
- I know, a very simple nature.
With expensive tastes.
- Does he ever come to Gaza?
- Who?
- Does he ever come to Gaza?
- I have no idea.
At the moment, he owes me
30 garments on a wager.
If he arrives without them,
I will find great
pleasure in arresting him.
- [laughs) You really think
your men can hold him?
- More readily, I'm afraid,
than I'm able to hold you.
(laughing)
- Ah-ha!
The man of riddles has arrived.
Have you brought payment of the wager?
- The payment is here.
- Indeed, unless I'm
suddenly struck blind,
I fail to see it.
(laughing)
- The garments are here.
- All 30 of them?
- Take 30, no more, no less.
Give them to the governor.
- Samson, we're tired of your games.
- Tell your men to remove their garments,
30 of them.
Give them directly to the governor
and inform him that his
debt, won by deceit.
Is now paid.
- Samson look, look.
Look out there.
What you see is buried, two meters deep.
It holds the stoutest of our prisoners,
with their head bound to the ground
and flogged, until the blood
is drained from their bodies.
Jackals can be heard howling in the night
and in the morning, they're
removed the prisoner
without a trace.
So I ask you again,
have you brought payment
of the wager?
- The payment is here.
(whipping)
(laughing)
- Is that your answer?
(dramatic music)
(swords clanking)
(swords clanking)
(yelling)
(yelling)
- Now, you'll take their
garments to the governor,
30, no more, no less.
(suspenseful music)
(dramatic music)
(gentle flute music)
- You know what you've done Samson?
You've not set them in
deadly hate against you.
- So be it.
- Well there's your reward
for marrying a Philistine.
- Micah, my old friend,
don't you ever let up?
- If I were you, I'd give her up.
Divorce the woman, come back to us.
- Micah.
- What?
- Leave him alone.
- Don't tell me.
(woman screaming)
(crying)
- People from the village of Naru.
Last night the Philistines
burnt it to the ground.
Look at that.
(women wailing)
Come back to us.
- We've been friends ever
since we were children, Micah.
And I treasure our friendship.
And you were right, partly.
Tomorrow I will go to the House of Raul
and claim my wife.
I shall return with her to my village.
- You won't go alone.
We will give you escort
and warrant your safety.
- Move it!
Pick it up!
Do it now!
- Maluck, Lieutenant Maluck,
- Move it!
- Tell me where did it happen?
- Who told you?
- No one in Gaza hasn't heard by now.
- Bury it!
- Where did it happen Maluck?
Hmm, tell me?
- Here.
- Where?
- In the barracks.
- He came without a weapon, didn't he?
(laughing)
They told me 21 men were hurt.
(laughing)
- No.
- How many?
- 11.
- And he had no weapon?
(horse neighing)
- I'll tell the governor you're here.
- I didn't come to see the governor.
(horse whinnying)
- Your excellency, your excellency.
- What did she want?
- Nothing, excellency.
- What did she want?
- She wanted to know where, that is,
she wanted to know the place
where Samson and the soldiers fought.
She wanted to know how many were wounded?
(metal clanking)
- Where is he now?
- I'm told he was last seen
returning to the house of Raul.
- I want every soldier in the garrison
to stand ready.
- Now?
- Now!
We leave before nightfall
and when we are through
with this night's work,
there will be nothing left of Samson
but his charred bones.
(screaming)
- What of the others with him?
- What others?
- Raul and his daughter.
- We don't spare those who would
take a marriage to Danites.
No matter.
Where is his strength now?
(screaming)
- [Soldier] Archers use your bow!
Let no one escape.
(melancholy music)
(melancholy music)
(dramatic music)
- Come with us, stay with us.
(horse galloping)
- Did you see how he looked?
God help the Philistines now.
- God help us all.
- To the mark.
- And there.
- And there.
And there.
(clapping)
Ha, I win.
- Well done.
(metal clinking)
- Hmm, you surprise me.
- Why?
- I've never known you
to take defeat so well.
In fact, all evening, such good cheer.
- Why shouldn't I be?
- I think the loss of 21 men--
- It wasn't 21.
- By just one man, that
wouldn't be easily forgotten.
- I don't concern myself with problems
that no longer exist Delilah.
- Problems or threats?
- Ah, what does it matter, Samson is dead.
He lies in the smoking
ashes in the House of Raul,
a tragic conflagration.
So there you have it, no more Samson.
I trust we won't have
to talk about him again.
(crashing goblets)
Delilah!
(dramatic music)
Peace, you call that peace,
when my own good soldiers are attacked
in the very barracks of my own house.
- An isolated incident.
- I tell you, your worship,
that these people of the wilderness,
these Hebrews, are the heart
and core of our resistance.
Your worship,
- [High Priest] The governor of Ashdod.
- [Governor] If we should set
out to destroy these people,
who would do our work?
- And who is to pay
for this policy of war?
- This man Samson the Danite,
he's been killed, hasn't he?
- I've told you before,
and I'll say it again
they must all be killed
or driven into the sea.
- And indeed they will be Sidka,
we are pledged to that,
but not at this time.
No, for the moment, we
will keep them in bondage.
- Your worship, your
excellency, forgive me,
but we've just received
word that the port of Gilead
is in flames.
- What?
- Every structure
- Lies burned to the ground.
- You tell us we have peace?
- How did this happen?
What started the fire?
- Well sir, they tell me,
I know it's going to be hard to believe,
but they say foxes.
- Foxes?
- Foxes?
- They were seen dragging
burning ropes behind them
to the field.
- Who told you this?
- Several people saw it,
before they reached the port.
One of the merchants
swears he saw someone else
running with the foxes.
His hair was blowing in the wind
and he was howling like a wild animal.
- Did he recognize the man?
- Yes.
He said he was of the same family
of Danites that bartered
grain for goats milk.
- What man?
- He must've been mistaken.
- What man?
- Samson.
(gentle music)
(laughs)
- They told me the House of Raul
burned to the ground.
They told me you were dead.
- They were wrong.
I came to collect the payment
of your gratitude,
10 gold bracelets.
- 10?
Is that all?
- Enough to feed my
people for a few weeks.
- I see.
You expect me to keep them alive.
- Yes.
- Why?
- Because you have no other choice.
(yells)
- Ah!
Oh!
(yelling)
- Get away from me!
Get away from me!
(yelling)
Are you going to kill me?
- I could never deprive the world
of one so pleasing to look upon.
- Maybe your god wouldn't approve.
Of course he must approve a thief.
- Against the Philistines?
Perhaps.
- Ah, it's so easy to blame
everything on the Philistines.
Do you blame your floods
and your droughts on us too?
- If they could be purchased,
you would pay for them.
- I?
- The richest among them.
- Yes well I have many gods, you see,
and they all take very good care of me.
- Or do you simply just
take good care of yourself.
(splashing)
- You have my gold, do you like my wine?
(suspenseful music)
- How much protection do you need?
- None, I need no one.
I didn't send for them.
- Yes but they heard nonetheless.
- Follow me quickly.
Hurry!
- Do some of your other
guests leave this way too?
- All of them.
- Discreet.
- Very.
(suspenseful music)
- Where is this man?
- Through the garden.
- Now today, all of us together,
we must join forces and destroy him,
before he destroys us.
- You have knowledge of his whereabouts?
- The tribe of Dan, he's
gone back to the wilderness.
I want 50 men from each of your garrisons.
- You intend to follow
him into the wilderness?
- An act of invasion,
it's liable to bring every
tribe they have against us.
- I want Samson.
- Then bring him here.
- How?
Do you think he'll come
of his own free will?
- [High Priest] No, let
his own people bring him.
- They would never betray him.
- True, but they do have a frontier force
maintained by us to keep the peace.
If any one of them breaks the law,
it is their duty to arrest them,
so I say, let the frontier
force bring him here.
- They'll refuse.
They won't touch him, if they
know we intend to kill him.
- Never a mention of a
killing will they hear.
This council merely wishes
to question, set a fine.
But he will never reach this chamber,
because you Sidka, will meet him
at the outskirts of the city.
- So be it.
(metal clanking)
- There's still time.
- And still claim my freedom?
I can still forsake my god?
- Is it God's will that
you throw your life away?
- If I'm brought them, then
they'll have to listen.
My words will be recorded.
And I will go tell them, the Philistines.
- They won't listen to you.
I beg you go to Calpa.
Go anywhere beyond the desert,
just stay there for awhile.
I'll tell them that I couldn't find you,
that you escaped.
I'll tell them that you left the country.
- Micah, you have your orders,
carry them out.
- I'll protect you as long as I can,
as best I can.
- I know you will.
(dramatic drumming music)
(splashing)
- He's coming, your excellency.
They have him in chains.
- Spread your line, swords drawn.
- Draw swords!
(dramatic drumming music)
(horses galloping)
- I order your men Captain,
to return to the wilderness.
Leave the prisoner with us.
- My orders are signed by all 10 governors
on the council.
I will deliver the prisoner to them.
- I command you now to leave the prisoner
and move on.
- They want to kill you.
- Now they won't.
- Believe me, I know
they're gonna kill you.
- Do as I tell you.
- As my orders are signed by the council,
they cannot be countermanded.
- You hold your commission well, Captain.
You serve the frontier force
with dedication and loyalty.
I commend you.
- Thank you, your excellency.
Now if you'll
(horses nickering)
- Micah!
- Lieutenant, I commission
you now as captain
of the frontier force.
Do you wish to return with your men,
or do you perhaps prefer
to join your predecessor?
(thundering)
(metal clanking)
(laughing)
(lightning and thunder)
(dramatic music)
- Get him!
(lightning)
(horses whinnying)
(lightning and thunder)
- Hold ranks!
(thunder)
(thunder)
(soft groaning)
(gentle music)
- Will you need anything else?
- I need nothing, you've
brought me nothing.
There's no one here, you understand?
- Yes, my lady.
- Elon, you understand?
- There's no one here.
(dramatic music)
(birds singing)
(fountain burbling)
- Sampson.
Is it true what they told me?
- I don't know what they told you.
- That you defeated an entire army.
(laughs)
- If that was true, I
wouldn't be here now.
I'd be the head of my council table,
and my people would be
ruling this country.
- Sidka's troops tried to kill you--
- Oh yes, they seemed intent
upon taking my life once again.
- You denied them once again?
- Well I thought it best,
under the circumstances.
- Why did you come back, more bracelets?
- No.
- Then why?
Samson, why?
- Silver.
- Ha!
- I need silver.
20 talents of silver.
- More food?
- For weapons.
- I see now, I'm expected to buy weapons
for your people.
- And the will of god.
- Not my god.
- I know that.
- You really think the
tribe will follow you?
- They must.
- I wager you another 20 talents
they haven't the courage to follow anyone,
not for any amount.
- You'll see.
When my people arrive at
the gates of the city,
you'll know there.
- Mmm, how certain you are.
And arrogant and insolent.
(laughs)
- Yes, perhaps.
But then you're little pets
here grow fat and heavy,
when there are children who are starving.
- That's the way of the world Samson.
You're born into it,
you can't change that.
- I can.
And shall.
- You're arrogant.
- Yes.
- And you're insolent.
- Yes.
- And certain.
- Right.
- I too am certain of one thing.
You'll be back.
- Samson is coming!
Samson is coming!
Samson is coming!
Samson!
(shutters slam shut)
Samson!
(goats bleating)
Samson is here!
Samson is here!
Samson is coming!
- Samson.
Samson.
- I must speak with the elders.
- They don't want you here Samson,
they won't talk to you.
- Why?
- They're frightened about you.
- Me?
- They heard what happened to you at Gaza.
They're afraid you'll bring
the Philistines against us.
- We want peace!
- Then you shall have it.
And you'll slave for the
Philistines the rest of your life.
And you will starve and
let your children starve.
Is that the kind of peace you want?
Chains and slavery?
I tell you their chains are weak,
they can be broken.
- They have armies.
- Oh and god willing, we
shall have armies too.
And we shall have weapons
and every tribe along the
Jordan shall march together
and we shall claim our land once again.
- No!
We are too few!
- Have you forgotten Gideon?
Who led 300 men against thousands?
I telling you, with God's purpose,
we cannot fail.
- You are not God.
You will bring us death and destruction.
- I bring you only one thing.
The right to live unchained
and a servant only to God.
- Be patient Samson, we can't--
- Patience?
We've had 20 year of patience.
20 years of poverty and enslavement.
- You can't expect us to
believe that God just--
- Oh dear god, if only I
had the voice of a prophet
or a king.
How can I ever help you people
if you refuse to hear my voice?
- We wish to live!
- Then you shall surely die.
I think you are lost.
- We still have faith in God.
- God will forsake you, all of you.
You are doomed.
(dramatic music)
- Samson, Samson, where will you go?
- To someone who knows my people
better than I.
(soft crying)
(sultry Arabian music)
(laughing)
- Leave, go on, go.
Go (claps) leave go.
(romantic music)
- Did your God send you back to me?
Mmm, did he?
- What do you know of God?
- I know of God.
I know,
I know Isis.
I know the teachings of Moses
and the book of the dead.
I do.
But I'd really like to meet a living god.
- What, virtuous or evil?
(laughing)
- Does it matter?
- No I suppose it doesn't.
For you?
(romantic music)
- Why wouldn't they follow you?
Why did your people
reject your call to arms?
- They reject everything
but their own shadows.
They hold to nothing, but their own lies.
- What are you going to do?
- I don't know.
- If only they knew how gentle you can be.
(romantic crescendo)
Forget your people.
Forget them, it's just the two of us.
(romantic music)
- Well?
- I spoke to five of the governors.
They refuse to send any
troops at this time.
Sidka,
Sidka!
We'll send forces against
them in the spring
and rid ourselves of the troublemakers,
but now, he's only one man.
- One man with the strength of a demon.
- We don't want to aggravate matters,
but if he has the strength you speak of,
we must somehow, find
the path to his weakness.
Mustn't we?
(chariot rolling)
(crows squawking)
(horses galloping)
- Ah Delilah, how kind of
you to accept my invitation
on such a short notice.
- I accepted nothing.
Your soldiers came to my
house and brought me here.
- Ah really?
We have been hunting, as you can see.
I thought you might enjoy the wild game.
- Whatever your game is Sidka,
I don't enjoy a command appearance.
- Get out out out out!
I'm told you haven't
received any of your admirers
for many weeks now.
Those who've been so generous to you.
- Can't bear the tedium of listening
to rich men any longer.
- Oh I see.
Well tell me then,
how do you replace those of great wealth?
With someone of great strength, perhaps?
(laughs)
We know of his whereabouts of course.
Well I have no intention
of turning your charming
estate into a battleground.
- Why not?
You can lose your men there as easily
as anywhere else.
- Is that what fascinates
you so, mmm, his strength?
Do you consider yourself strong enough
to hold him even for a moment?
- Yes.
- But if you should
lose everything Delilah,
all that you own,
would Samson then be enough?
- Yes.
Yes.
- I will put half of
my estates in your name
this very day,
all that I own, from Gaza to the straits,
yours and mine.
You don't believe me?
I will execute the contract,
place it before the council,
when you become my wife.
Well?
- What do you want?
- Samson.
- No.
- I'm only asking you for
the secrets of his strength.
And how it may be broken.
- (laughs) That's all, mmm?
- Yes.
- I'd own your lands and become your wife,
by betraying Samson.
- Would you rather betray your own people?
Think carefully, Delilah.
In spite of your passion for him,
you might indeed be very
sorry for a long time.
- You keep sorrow for yourself,
if you try and take him from me.
Elon!
Nicky!
- I will see that your bath
be made ready, my lady.
- Yes, see that my bath
be made ready Nicky.
Where's Samson?
- He's gone, he's left,
he's gone my lady.
It's true, my lady.
- When will he be back?
Answer me Elon.
- I don't kow.
- What did he say?
- He said,
tell the harlot that I love her
and that I will not soon forget her.
(suspenseful music)
(gentle music)
- [Samson] Hear me,
oh God hear me.
I am lost.
Lost.
(fire crackling)
I beg you.
Give me a voice
and my people will follow.
Oh God in heaven,
speak to me!
I am yours to command.
Speak.
(fire crackling)
(fountain burbling)
- My lady.
My lady.
(suspenseful music)
- How dark you are.
You've been living in the sun.
- In the desert of Sinai.
- You have the look of a wild animal.
- I've lived like one.
- Why?
- I was searching for something.
- What?
- I've always heard that
when God spoke again,
he would speak in the desert.
- You still hold your faith in him?
- Yes.
And in my people.
I'm going back to them.
- But you came here.
- I came to say goodbye.
For when I leave you this time,
we shall never see each other again.
(romantic music)
- We'll have this night together.
We'll have that if nothing else.
- I thought you had forgotten me?
- How could I?
- So you have changed your mind perhaps.
- Perhaps.
I'll give you what you want.
- Ah-ha.
So what do you want in return?
- No land or estates.
I want Samson.
With his strength of God,
he's no longer a threat to you
there's no need for you to kill him,
unless of course, you
want to make him a martyr.
- So you want him alive, huh?
- I want him.
- He would have to be placed under arrest
and formally charged.
- Alright, and then released.
He's no longer a threat to you.
And he'll be of no use to his people.
- He can give you nothing
but poverty, Delilah.
Very well.
I shall be at your house tomorrow morning.
Where you will have
Samson bound in chains.
And we will then discover,
if he has lost his strength.
(gentle music)
- If I'd been born to live as others,
then I would take you now to Nanzilla,
to the west, to the highest
of hills looking down
on the great city and
there we would live there,
for the rest of our lives.
(fire crackling)
- Take me there now,
I'll give up everything I have.
- And what must I give up?
My God?
- He's given you nothing.
He's given you nothing on this earth.
Nothing but this strength.
- I will never forsake it.
- What more can I give you?
Anything you ask.
- I ask for nothing
and I will take nothing
from you ever again.
For I have nothing to give you in return.
- But you do, you could
give me your trust.
- You have that now.
- That's not true.
I've yet to know everything about you.
- I have no secrets.
- You have this great strength.
- For one purpose only,
the deliverance of Israel.
- Will you always have it?
(suspenseful music)
- Until the day of my death.
Unless.
- Unless what?
- [Samson] Well it would never happen.
- What?
You still don't trust me.
- A blade.
- But an army of soldiers
put their swords against you.
- No not my body.
No age of blade or sword
has got even a strand of my hair.
No blade ever shall.
No cutting edge will ever
be allowed to sever it.
- That's the source of your strength?
- Yes.
- Come, we've talked enough.
(romantic music)
(suspenseful music)
(enchanting music)
- I need no wine this evening.
(romantic music)
(romantic music)
(suspenseful music)
- Get him, take him.
- Ah!
- Watch him.
- Samson of the tribe of Dan.
I arrest you for acts of sedition
against the league of Philistine cities.
You will come with us, now!
- Ah!
- So you did keep your promise.
You can be sure I'll keep mine.
You still believe in your worthless God?
He has betrayed you Samson.
Your people have betrayed you.
And what a fool of you,
for have ever trusted Delilah.
Forsake them Samson,
as they have forsaken you.
Tell me that you no longer have a God.
Tell me.
(screaming)
- Deborah Deborah, what's the matter?
What is it?
- We'll attack them in
force from every city.
Each and every tribe west of the Jordan.
We'll still have the number and
complete slaves of the rest.
- They're not a threat to you.
- As long as they exist, they're a threat.
- When do you release Samson?
- The council has requested he appear
at the Temple of Dagon for the testing.
- Why?
- So our people may see what happens
to those who would try
to oppose us, that's all.
- He won't be hurt there.
- No, they'll simply make
sport of him at the festival.
Is it so lonely for you Delilah.
- I want to see him.
- I doubt if he wants to see you.
- What do you mean?
- I mean that visiting the prisoner
won't be that easy to arrange.
- Arrange it.
- You won't try to reward him.
- Arrange it.
- Surely you can wait until--
- Tomorrow.
(creaking wheel)
(suspenseful music)
- You wanted him Delilah,
so you shall have him.
(romantic music)
- Samson?
- No.
- I love you.
- No!
- I love you Samson.
I didn't know they'd do this to you.
- I trusted you.
- Please!
- Guard, guard.
- I didn't know,
- I love you, I love you.
(yelling)
- [Delilah] I love you,
I love you, Samson,
I love you, I love you.
(rattling bars)
(yelling)
Oh God, what have I done?
(rattling bars)
(yelling)
- [Crowd] Sidka, Sidka, Sidka
Sidka, Sidka.
(rhythmic clapping)
Sidka, Sidka, Sidka,
Sidka, Sidka, Sidka,
Sidka, Sidka, Sidka, Sidka,
Sidka, Sidka, Sidka,
Sidka, Sidka.
- Sidka, Sidka,
(cheering)
- Dagon!
- [Crowd] Dagon!
- Dagon!
- [Crowd] Dagon!
- [Sidka] Dagon!
- [Crowd] Dagon!
- [Sidka] Dagon!
- [Crowd] Dagon!
- Dagon!
- [Crowd] Dagon!
- All praise to Dagon!
(cheering)
(rhythmic drumming)
(cheering)
(cheering)
(march drumming)
(cheering)
- Look before you,
our great god Dagon has
delivered our enemies.
(cheering)
Those who would destroy us now
stand in this sacred temple,
chained and powerless.
(cheering)
Where is his strength now?
Look carefully and see him,
for he cannot see you.
Let all enemies of the state
behold the mighty Samson.
(cheering)
All praise to the great god Dagon.
- [Crowd] Dagon.
- All praise to Dagon.
- [Crowd] Dagon.
- Dagon!
- [Crowd] Dagon!
(booing)
(dramatic music)
(cheering)
(cheering)
- The lady in jewels.
(cheering)
- What are you doing here?
- I've come to claim him.
- Not here!
- Oh yes here and now.
- When we are finished here.
- I want to talk to him.
- No.
Delilah!
(cheering)
- Delilah.
- Samson, they're planning to kill you.
Come with me now.
I'm going to claim you before it happens.
I love you.
- Take my arm and lead me
to pillars of the temple.
- There's not time.
- Take me or leave at once.
Take me, take me.
- What is she doing?
- Just one of her little games.
- Why are you stopping?
- There's a step here.
- Don't leave me.
- Get away from me,
take your hands off me.
- Get her in there,
Get her in.
- Let me go!
No!
- We have her under guard.
- Let her watch if she cares to.
(cheering)
(booing)
(metal clanking)
- God, give me strength
just once more.
(rumbling)
- Maluck.
(rumbling)
(lightning)
(lightning and thunder)
- Samson!
(lightning and thunder)
(yelling)
(screaming)
(lightning and thunder)
(fire crackling)
(melancholy music)
- Come my lady,
- Call the servants, Elon.
- It's too late to find your people.
- We need something to carry him with.
We're taking him back to the wilderness.
- My lady, it's too dangerous.
The people in the streets are mad.
- Let them see him.
Let them know what he's done and remember.
And they can remember me too,
I'm the one that betrayed him.
(romantic music)
Will you come with me?
- I will my lady.
- We've a long way to go.
(dramatic music)
(dramatic music)
- [Narrator] And so it came to pass,
that in his death, a man
born to deliver his people
from slavery and persecution,
was able to unite them and lead them
against the Philistines.
A man who was betrayed and loved
by a woman of Gaza,
a woman who was known as Delilah.
(dramatic music)
(dramatic music)
- [Narrator] It is 1100 years
before the birth of Christ.
The tribes of Israel have now settled
in the hills and the
valleys by the River Jordan.
To their despair, heathen
people call Philistines,
had brought them fear and
cruelty, poverty and enslavement.
It is here then, in
the settlement of Zorah
that a son is born to a farm woman
who had been barren all her life.
He is bold, rebellious
(dog barking)
and he lives with but one thought,
(goat bleating)
one commandment from God.
To deliver his people
from the Philistines.
He's called Samson.
(horse neighing)
(suspenseful music)
(goat bleats)
(gentle music)
- Samson, are you going
to eat before we leave?
- Yes father.
- Come then.
- Good morning my son, did you sleep well?
- Yes mother, very well.
- Good, you have a long way to go.
(breaking ceramic)
(angry muttering)
(suspenseful music)
(dog barking)
(dramatic music)
- Grab him!
Get him out of here, quick!
Take him to the river, now, fast.
Come on, come on.
Faster!
- Take his clothes off.
- Faster!
(splashing)
(cheering and laughing)
- Samson of the Danites,
I now anoint thee with the oil of hyacinth
for the pleasure of your bride,
on this day of days,
and this night of your nights.
(Samson laughs)
(cheering)
(laughing)
- I can't believe it.
It took all 13 of us to
take him to the river.
- We didn't take him anywhere little Arin,
he was just letting us have some fun.
- Don't do that.
- This marriage is a
plague upon all of us,
she'll suffer.
- No, we must trust.
- Trust him.
(sheep bleating)
- We must.
- Well are we going to leave now
or have you changed your mind?
- We'll leave in a minute.
- Micah, when are you going to stop?
- When I'm dead.
(sheep bleats)
- Why take so many?
- Gifts.
Wouldn't look nice if we
came empty handed, huh?
- We'll get there as quickly as we can,
don't worry about us.
- You know, I love you both very much.
(majestic dramatic music)
(wagon rolling)
(melodious music)
- They tell me he's rich,
your father-in-law to be.
I hear he buys up land from all our people
and then he enslaves them.
- Oh is that what you heard?
- Can you tell me why in god's name
you chose a Philistine for your bride?
- I'm commanded by God, Micah.
- Oh.
- I don't know the answer.
- Oh, you mean God commanded
you to marry a Philistine.
- That's right.
- Oh well then I hope at
least that she pleases you.
(laughing)
She does please you, doesn't she?
(lion roaring)
- The leopard is dead.
- I want that lion killed
no matter what it costs.
- Why would a caravan stop here?
- Philistine soldiers from Gaza.
- We'll turn to the
north and go around them.
- No.
- Samson,
Samson!
(horses trotting)
- Open up, let me through.
- Your Excellency, why should we waste
any more of our men?
Let me use the bow and arrow.
- No.
- We'll move on.
- No!
Lady Delilah is deeply distressed
by the death of her leopard.
She offers any man who will kill the beast
a bracelet of rubies, set in gold.
(lion roars)
So, let the first man to
claim the prize step forward.
(lion roaring)
I command you, step forward!
(lion roaring)
Cowards!
(horses galloping)
- [Micah] Your excellency,
can we be of any help?
- No, you can't, move on.
- But your excellency,
(screaming)
(lion roaring)
(screaming)
(lion growling)
- You, get back.
Get back I said.
- Wait!
He has no weapon.
(laughing)
(lion growling)
(sultry Arabian music)
(lion roaring)
- Who's that?
- I don't know who he is.
He carries no weapon.
- No weapon?
- No.
(lion growling)
(lion roaring)
(lion growling)
(cheering)
(cheering)
(dramatic music)
(romantic music)
(cheering)
- You did it Samson.
- Come on, let's go.
- Alright, move!
Everybody move!
- Thanks little Arin.
Ah!
- You there, you, who is this man?
- Samson, from the tribe of Dan.
- Samson?
- A most devoted friend of mine.
- Samson, not the same man who had dared
to marry the daughter of Raul?
- This very day, your excellency.
And though he's wounded now,
I'd wager that he's still looking forward
to his wedding night.
- My lady wishes you to have this.
For killing the beast, sire.
It's yours.
- You will tell your good lady
that Samson requires far more.
- More?
- Tell her,
he requires 10 such bracelets.
- 10?
- They'll be used for food for my people.
- He refused it, my lady.
(suspenseful music)
- Do you know who she is?
- She's called Delilah.
- And she rides with the governor.
- She rides with anyone who has the purse.
(exotic beat music)
(lively Arabian music)
(clapping to the beat)
(clapping)
(gentle music)
- Varinia of Philistine of Timnah.
(clapping)
Samson, of the tribe of Dan.
(clapping)
(cheering)
We have all witnessed the sealing
of the contract by your fathers.
You will live from this forward as one.
May the gods protect you.
May you prosper.
(clapping)
(ominous beat music)
(lively Arabian music)
- Your excellency, this is an honor.
(speaking in foreign language)
I will have rooms prepared
for you immediately.
Come come.
Friends, honored guests,
I have the great pleasure
in presenting to you,
Sidka the governor of Gaza.
(clapping and cheering)
Your excellency, I
believe you have already
met my daughter.
- Yes I have.
- And uh, may I humbly
present my new son-in-law,
her husband, Samson.
- Yes, we too have met.
- Oh.
- A man of extraordinary strength.
Indeed, that's why I'm here.
I intend to commission him
as a member of my garrison.
- Well uh--
- You have other plans, huh?
- It's just that I had hoped
that he would abide with us.
That is, the men of your
garrison are not allowed,
permitted to have their wives join them.
- Well for a year he may do without her.
- Yes, certainly.
- No.
- What?
- Why, I said no.
I refuse to join the garrison.
I refuse to serve you.
- [Raul] Samson!
- Do forgive me please,
it's my country manners.
I know I should well be dazzled
by your godlike appearance
and yet I hear that all true gods
carry thunderbolts upon them,
especially when they make demands
of ordinary human beings.
You do carry thunderbolts, don't you?
Oh, here I offend you once again.
Sometime I give offense
without meaning to.
I told my new father here
how our people breed men
to do his work for him,
and he too for some reason took offense.
I won't deny it.
You Philistines can pay for the land,
you can buy it up, all of it,
but then, you never made the land
or the sea or the sky, did you?
(laughing)
Unless I'm wrong, unless I fail
to recognize a true god.
Can it be?
I still see no thunderbolts,
(Varinia laughs)
not even one small thunderbolt?
- Samson, stop it at once!
- Oh alright, I'm sorry, I'm sorry,
I'm sorry, I'm sorry your excellency.
Welcome.
At least here tonight
you shall dine like a god
upon silver plates with
enough food for ten garrisons.
Accept generosity, I have a rich wife.
- Please your excellency,
you must forgive him, the wine,
he meant no harm.
The music, music!
Come your excellency, anything you wish.
I am your servant.
(lively Arabian music)
I will make sure your
men are made comfortable.
Now come lieutenant,
your excellency, please sit down.
Come come.
- Do you feel better now Samson?
You may think that it's courageous
to make fools of these people,
to risk your life.
Do you know how difficult
you're making it for the rest of us?
- Sit please,
your excellency and
lieutenants, come sit down.
(clapping)
Wine.
(flame bursts)
(clapping)
I do hope you understand, your excellency,
Since my wife died, Varinia
has become my very life.
I'd do anything for her.
- Indeed, and I'm witness to that.
- I couldn't stop her.
- May then god help you, Raul.
I mean of course, our god.
(clapping)
- Sidka never takes his eyes from you.
Please, can't we leave now?
- Now so early?
Would you insult the governor of Gaza?
- Stop it, you know why.
(laughs)
- Master.
Kind people, your indulgence
in a game of wits.
I will give you a riddle of the ages,
from the lands beyond the desert.
Listen carefully.
What is it that flies forever
and rests never?
What?
Is there no answer?
- What do you offer in return, magician?
- I offer you the worship of
your wisdom, your excellency.
- Oh,
then I will give you the answer.
It is the wind.
(clapping)
- Sire I would that I had
a purse to reward you.
- I will help you, magician.
- Samson.
- Master, you have a better purse?
- I have a better riddle.
If I may ask your excellency,
how many men did you bring
with you here tonight?
- You call that a riddle?
- I will give you a garment to wear
for each and every soldier.
- Oh.
- We are here with 30.
- 30 garments, your excellency,
if you can answer my riddle.
- Well?
- Out of the ether came forth meat.
Out of the strong,
came something sweet.
- That's no riddle, that's a
rhyme without reason, a trick.
- You wish to forfeit
your garments so quickly?
Think about it.
I will give you the
evening to find an answer.
But for now, I beg to
leave your godlike company
and take the pleasures
offered an ordinary man.
(crowd gasps)
(lively Arabian music)
(clapping)
(laughing)
- I must have the answer.
- But your excellency--
- I must know.
You will give me the answer by morning
and you will not fail.
- Get out, out!
Get out!
Listen, you see how he
insulted the governor?
- Father it was only--
- No!
No one can make an enemy of Sidka.
He has the power of the
Philistine league behind him,
he can destroy us.
- We shall keep them
apart until Sidka leaves.
- It's too late, the mischief's been done.
He's obsessed with my finding
the answer to that riddle.
(sighs)
- What difference does it make?
- If we could have any
peace from this day forward,
you must find the answer.
- No I can't.
- You must.
You will!
- Would you have me betray my husband?
- Yes.
I must have the answer by morning.
You must do this.
For me?
(lively Arabian music)
(gentle romantic music)
- I'm frightened.
- About me?
- Of what I don't know about you.
The things that I don't understand.
- God has led me to your door.
I love you.
I've always loved you.
You're part of my life.
(moaning)
- Can your god protect us
from a man like Sidka?
Samson, why did you
have to talk to him so,
foolish games that have no meaning?
- Everything I've ever said
to Sidka has a meaning.
- Really?
Then tell me what possible
meaning it could have.
Show me Samson.
(romantic music)
- As always, your excellency,
it's been an honor and
pleasure to have you come
and stay with us.
As to the marriage of
my daughter to a Danite,
well he's an agreeable lad
and they're very much in love.
Of course I'd much rather
she'd married a Philistine.
- [Samson] Good morning.
- Ah Samson.
I trust now that the
wine has lost its hold.
You've come to bid the
governor a safe journey?
- Well if he has nothing
further to say to me,
I offer him my condolence.
- I have little time for games.
And riddles that even
a child could answer.
Oh Maluck, this rustic
lout from the wilderness
is still looking for his answer,
shall we indulge him?
Do we have time?
- No sir.
- Oh too bad.
- Anything you wish.
- Tell him.
- Out of the mouth.
- No, out of the ether, came forth meat.
The lion, of course, we
were witness to its death.
And then out of the strong,
came something sweet.
His carcass, I presume,
a cage of bones for the wild bees to hive.
What a great pity.
That his words cannot match his strength.
But then perhaps, you
can harness the lout,
and put him to work on
a plow in your fields.
Thank you very much for
your wonderful hospitality.
- You will deliver the
30 garments as promised,
to the garrison in Gaza by this evening.
- Samson?
Samson!
(splashing)
- Tell me more, I want to
know everything about him.
- Who?
- That man.
- I'm profoundly disinterested Delilah.
- You can't deny it
Sidka, he had no weapon,
against a lion, which had killed how many,
three of your men?
- If it pleases you, I
will concede his strength.
- Yes, it pleases me.
- He's a country boy Delilah.
I think you would tire of him very soon.
- You don't know me.
I have a very simple nature.
- I know, a very simple nature.
With expensive tastes.
- Does he ever come to Gaza?
- Who?
- Does he ever come to Gaza?
- I have no idea.
At the moment, he owes me
30 garments on a wager.
If he arrives without them,
I will find great
pleasure in arresting him.
- [laughs) You really think
your men can hold him?
- More readily, I'm afraid,
than I'm able to hold you.
(laughing)
- Ah-ha!
The man of riddles has arrived.
Have you brought payment of the wager?
- The payment is here.
- Indeed, unless I'm
suddenly struck blind,
I fail to see it.
(laughing)
- The garments are here.
- All 30 of them?
- Take 30, no more, no less.
Give them to the governor.
- Samson, we're tired of your games.
- Tell your men to remove their garments,
30 of them.
Give them directly to the governor
and inform him that his
debt, won by deceit.
Is now paid.
- Samson look, look.
Look out there.
What you see is buried, two meters deep.
It holds the stoutest of our prisoners,
with their head bound to the ground
and flogged, until the blood
is drained from their bodies.
Jackals can be heard howling in the night
and in the morning, they're
removed the prisoner
without a trace.
So I ask you again,
have you brought payment
of the wager?
- The payment is here.
(whipping)
(laughing)
- Is that your answer?
(dramatic music)
(swords clanking)
(swords clanking)
(yelling)
(yelling)
- Now, you'll take their
garments to the governor,
30, no more, no less.
(suspenseful music)
(dramatic music)
(gentle flute music)
- You know what you've done Samson?
You've not set them in
deadly hate against you.
- So be it.
- Well there's your reward
for marrying a Philistine.
- Micah, my old friend,
don't you ever let up?
- If I were you, I'd give her up.
Divorce the woman, come back to us.
- Micah.
- What?
- Leave him alone.
- Don't tell me.
(woman screaming)
(crying)
- People from the village of Naru.
Last night the Philistines
burnt it to the ground.
Look at that.
(women wailing)
Come back to us.
- We've been friends ever
since we were children, Micah.
And I treasure our friendship.
And you were right, partly.
Tomorrow I will go to the House of Raul
and claim my wife.
I shall return with her to my village.
- You won't go alone.
We will give you escort
and warrant your safety.
- Move it!
Pick it up!
Do it now!
- Maluck, Lieutenant Maluck,
- Move it!
- Tell me where did it happen?
- Who told you?
- No one in Gaza hasn't heard by now.
- Bury it!
- Where did it happen Maluck?
Hmm, tell me?
- Here.
- Where?
- In the barracks.
- He came without a weapon, didn't he?
(laughing)
They told me 21 men were hurt.
(laughing)
- No.
- How many?
- 11.
- And he had no weapon?
(horse neighing)
- I'll tell the governor you're here.
- I didn't come to see the governor.
(horse whinnying)
- Your excellency, your excellency.
- What did she want?
- Nothing, excellency.
- What did she want?
- She wanted to know where, that is,
she wanted to know the place
where Samson and the soldiers fought.
She wanted to know how many were wounded?
(metal clanking)
- Where is he now?
- I'm told he was last seen
returning to the house of Raul.
- I want every soldier in the garrison
to stand ready.
- Now?
- Now!
We leave before nightfall
and when we are through
with this night's work,
there will be nothing left of Samson
but his charred bones.
(screaming)
- What of the others with him?
- What others?
- Raul and his daughter.
- We don't spare those who would
take a marriage to Danites.
No matter.
Where is his strength now?
(screaming)
- [Soldier] Archers use your bow!
Let no one escape.
(melancholy music)
(melancholy music)
(dramatic music)
- Come with us, stay with us.
(horse galloping)
- Did you see how he looked?
God help the Philistines now.
- God help us all.
- To the mark.
- And there.
- And there.
And there.
(clapping)
Ha, I win.
- Well done.
(metal clinking)
- Hmm, you surprise me.
- Why?
- I've never known you
to take defeat so well.
In fact, all evening, such good cheer.
- Why shouldn't I be?
- I think the loss of 21 men--
- It wasn't 21.
- By just one man, that
wouldn't be easily forgotten.
- I don't concern myself with problems
that no longer exist Delilah.
- Problems or threats?
- Ah, what does it matter, Samson is dead.
He lies in the smoking
ashes in the House of Raul,
a tragic conflagration.
So there you have it, no more Samson.
I trust we won't have
to talk about him again.
(crashing goblets)
Delilah!
(dramatic music)
Peace, you call that peace,
when my own good soldiers are attacked
in the very barracks of my own house.
- An isolated incident.
- I tell you, your worship,
that these people of the wilderness,
these Hebrews, are the heart
and core of our resistance.
Your worship,
- [High Priest] The governor of Ashdod.
- [Governor] If we should set
out to destroy these people,
who would do our work?
- And who is to pay
for this policy of war?
- This man Samson the Danite,
he's been killed, hasn't he?
- I've told you before,
and I'll say it again
they must all be killed
or driven into the sea.
- And indeed they will be Sidka,
we are pledged to that,
but not at this time.
No, for the moment, we
will keep them in bondage.
- Your worship, your
excellency, forgive me,
but we've just received
word that the port of Gilead
is in flames.
- What?
- Every structure
- Lies burned to the ground.
- You tell us we have peace?
- How did this happen?
What started the fire?
- Well sir, they tell me,
I know it's going to be hard to believe,
but they say foxes.
- Foxes?
- Foxes?
- They were seen dragging
burning ropes behind them
to the field.
- Who told you this?
- Several people saw it,
before they reached the port.
One of the merchants
swears he saw someone else
running with the foxes.
His hair was blowing in the wind
and he was howling like a wild animal.
- Did he recognize the man?
- Yes.
He said he was of the same family
of Danites that bartered
grain for goats milk.
- What man?
- He must've been mistaken.
- What man?
- Samson.
(gentle music)
(laughs)
- They told me the House of Raul
burned to the ground.
They told me you were dead.
- They were wrong.
I came to collect the payment
of your gratitude,
10 gold bracelets.
- 10?
Is that all?
- Enough to feed my
people for a few weeks.
- I see.
You expect me to keep them alive.
- Yes.
- Why?
- Because you have no other choice.
(yells)
- Ah!
Oh!
(yelling)
- Get away from me!
Get away from me!
(yelling)
Are you going to kill me?
- I could never deprive the world
of one so pleasing to look upon.
- Maybe your god wouldn't approve.
Of course he must approve a thief.
- Against the Philistines?
Perhaps.
- Ah, it's so easy to blame
everything on the Philistines.
Do you blame your floods
and your droughts on us too?
- If they could be purchased,
you would pay for them.
- I?
- The richest among them.
- Yes well I have many gods, you see,
and they all take very good care of me.
- Or do you simply just
take good care of yourself.
(splashing)
- You have my gold, do you like my wine?
(suspenseful music)
- How much protection do you need?
- None, I need no one.
I didn't send for them.
- Yes but they heard nonetheless.
- Follow me quickly.
Hurry!
- Do some of your other
guests leave this way too?
- All of them.
- Discreet.
- Very.
(suspenseful music)
- Where is this man?
- Through the garden.
- Now today, all of us together,
we must join forces and destroy him,
before he destroys us.
- You have knowledge of his whereabouts?
- The tribe of Dan, he's
gone back to the wilderness.
I want 50 men from each of your garrisons.
- You intend to follow
him into the wilderness?
- An act of invasion,
it's liable to bring every
tribe they have against us.
- I want Samson.
- Then bring him here.
- How?
Do you think he'll come
of his own free will?
- [High Priest] No, let
his own people bring him.
- They would never betray him.
- True, but they do have a frontier force
maintained by us to keep the peace.
If any one of them breaks the law,
it is their duty to arrest them,
so I say, let the frontier
force bring him here.
- They'll refuse.
They won't touch him, if they
know we intend to kill him.
- Never a mention of a
killing will they hear.
This council merely wishes
to question, set a fine.
But he will never reach this chamber,
because you Sidka, will meet him
at the outskirts of the city.
- So be it.
(metal clanking)
- There's still time.
- And still claim my freedom?
I can still forsake my god?
- Is it God's will that
you throw your life away?
- If I'm brought them, then
they'll have to listen.
My words will be recorded.
And I will go tell them, the Philistines.
- They won't listen to you.
I beg you go to Calpa.
Go anywhere beyond the desert,
just stay there for awhile.
I'll tell them that I couldn't find you,
that you escaped.
I'll tell them that you left the country.
- Micah, you have your orders,
carry them out.
- I'll protect you as long as I can,
as best I can.
- I know you will.
(dramatic drumming music)
(splashing)
- He's coming, your excellency.
They have him in chains.
- Spread your line, swords drawn.
- Draw swords!
(dramatic drumming music)
(horses galloping)
- I order your men Captain,
to return to the wilderness.
Leave the prisoner with us.
- My orders are signed by all 10 governors
on the council.
I will deliver the prisoner to them.
- I command you now to leave the prisoner
and move on.
- They want to kill you.
- Now they won't.
- Believe me, I know
they're gonna kill you.
- Do as I tell you.
- As my orders are signed by the council,
they cannot be countermanded.
- You hold your commission well, Captain.
You serve the frontier force
with dedication and loyalty.
I commend you.
- Thank you, your excellency.
Now if you'll
(horses nickering)
- Micah!
- Lieutenant, I commission
you now as captain
of the frontier force.
Do you wish to return with your men,
or do you perhaps prefer
to join your predecessor?
(thundering)
(metal clanking)
(laughing)
(lightning and thunder)
(dramatic music)
- Get him!
(lightning)
(horses whinnying)
(lightning and thunder)
- Hold ranks!
(thunder)
(thunder)
(soft groaning)
(gentle music)
- Will you need anything else?
- I need nothing, you've
brought me nothing.
There's no one here, you understand?
- Yes, my lady.
- Elon, you understand?
- There's no one here.
(dramatic music)
(birds singing)
(fountain burbling)
- Sampson.
Is it true what they told me?
- I don't know what they told you.
- That you defeated an entire army.
(laughs)
- If that was true, I
wouldn't be here now.
I'd be the head of my council table,
and my people would be
ruling this country.
- Sidka's troops tried to kill you--
- Oh yes, they seemed intent
upon taking my life once again.
- You denied them once again?
- Well I thought it best,
under the circumstances.
- Why did you come back, more bracelets?
- No.
- Then why?
Samson, why?
- Silver.
- Ha!
- I need silver.
20 talents of silver.
- More food?
- For weapons.
- I see now, I'm expected to buy weapons
for your people.
- And the will of god.
- Not my god.
- I know that.
- You really think the
tribe will follow you?
- They must.
- I wager you another 20 talents
they haven't the courage to follow anyone,
not for any amount.
- You'll see.
When my people arrive at
the gates of the city,
you'll know there.
- Mmm, how certain you are.
And arrogant and insolent.
(laughs)
- Yes, perhaps.
But then you're little pets
here grow fat and heavy,
when there are children who are starving.
- That's the way of the world Samson.
You're born into it,
you can't change that.
- I can.
And shall.
- You're arrogant.
- Yes.
- And you're insolent.
- Yes.
- And certain.
- Right.
- I too am certain of one thing.
You'll be back.
- Samson is coming!
Samson is coming!
Samson is coming!
Samson!
(shutters slam shut)
Samson!
(goats bleating)
Samson is here!
Samson is here!
Samson is coming!
- Samson.
Samson.
- I must speak with the elders.
- They don't want you here Samson,
they won't talk to you.
- Why?
- They're frightened about you.
- Me?
- They heard what happened to you at Gaza.
They're afraid you'll bring
the Philistines against us.
- We want peace!
- Then you shall have it.
And you'll slave for the
Philistines the rest of your life.
And you will starve and
let your children starve.
Is that the kind of peace you want?
Chains and slavery?
I tell you their chains are weak,
they can be broken.
- They have armies.
- Oh and god willing, we
shall have armies too.
And we shall have weapons
and every tribe along the
Jordan shall march together
and we shall claim our land once again.
- No!
We are too few!
- Have you forgotten Gideon?
Who led 300 men against thousands?
I telling you, with God's purpose,
we cannot fail.
- You are not God.
You will bring us death and destruction.
- I bring you only one thing.
The right to live unchained
and a servant only to God.
- Be patient Samson, we can't--
- Patience?
We've had 20 year of patience.
20 years of poverty and enslavement.
- You can't expect us to
believe that God just--
- Oh dear god, if only I
had the voice of a prophet
or a king.
How can I ever help you people
if you refuse to hear my voice?
- We wish to live!
- Then you shall surely die.
I think you are lost.
- We still have faith in God.
- God will forsake you, all of you.
You are doomed.
(dramatic music)
- Samson, Samson, where will you go?
- To someone who knows my people
better than I.
(soft crying)
(sultry Arabian music)
(laughing)
- Leave, go on, go.
Go (claps) leave go.
(romantic music)
- Did your God send you back to me?
Mmm, did he?
- What do you know of God?
- I know of God.
I know,
I know Isis.
I know the teachings of Moses
and the book of the dead.
I do.
But I'd really like to meet a living god.
- What, virtuous or evil?
(laughing)
- Does it matter?
- No I suppose it doesn't.
For you?
(romantic music)
- Why wouldn't they follow you?
Why did your people
reject your call to arms?
- They reject everything
but their own shadows.
They hold to nothing, but their own lies.
- What are you going to do?
- I don't know.
- If only they knew how gentle you can be.
(romantic crescendo)
Forget your people.
Forget them, it's just the two of us.
(romantic music)
- Well?
- I spoke to five of the governors.
They refuse to send any
troops at this time.
Sidka,
Sidka!
We'll send forces against
them in the spring
and rid ourselves of the troublemakers,
but now, he's only one man.
- One man with the strength of a demon.
- We don't want to aggravate matters,
but if he has the strength you speak of,
we must somehow, find
the path to his weakness.
Mustn't we?
(chariot rolling)
(crows squawking)
(horses galloping)
- Ah Delilah, how kind of
you to accept my invitation
on such a short notice.
- I accepted nothing.
Your soldiers came to my
house and brought me here.
- Ah really?
We have been hunting, as you can see.
I thought you might enjoy the wild game.
- Whatever your game is Sidka,
I don't enjoy a command appearance.
- Get out out out out!
I'm told you haven't
received any of your admirers
for many weeks now.
Those who've been so generous to you.
- Can't bear the tedium of listening
to rich men any longer.
- Oh I see.
Well tell me then,
how do you replace those of great wealth?
With someone of great strength, perhaps?
(laughs)
We know of his whereabouts of course.
Well I have no intention
of turning your charming
estate into a battleground.
- Why not?
You can lose your men there as easily
as anywhere else.
- Is that what fascinates
you so, mmm, his strength?
Do you consider yourself strong enough
to hold him even for a moment?
- Yes.
- But if you should
lose everything Delilah,
all that you own,
would Samson then be enough?
- Yes.
Yes.
- I will put half of
my estates in your name
this very day,
all that I own, from Gaza to the straits,
yours and mine.
You don't believe me?
I will execute the contract,
place it before the council,
when you become my wife.
Well?
- What do you want?
- Samson.
- No.
- I'm only asking you for
the secrets of his strength.
And how it may be broken.
- (laughs) That's all, mmm?
- Yes.
- I'd own your lands and become your wife,
by betraying Samson.
- Would you rather betray your own people?
Think carefully, Delilah.
In spite of your passion for him,
you might indeed be very
sorry for a long time.
- You keep sorrow for yourself,
if you try and take him from me.
Elon!
Nicky!
- I will see that your bath
be made ready, my lady.
- Yes, see that my bath
be made ready Nicky.
Where's Samson?
- He's gone, he's left,
he's gone my lady.
It's true, my lady.
- When will he be back?
Answer me Elon.
- I don't kow.
- What did he say?
- He said,
tell the harlot that I love her
and that I will not soon forget her.
(suspenseful music)
(gentle music)
- [Samson] Hear me,
oh God hear me.
I am lost.
Lost.
(fire crackling)
I beg you.
Give me a voice
and my people will follow.
Oh God in heaven,
speak to me!
I am yours to command.
Speak.
(fire crackling)
(fountain burbling)
- My lady.
My lady.
(suspenseful music)
- How dark you are.
You've been living in the sun.
- In the desert of Sinai.
- You have the look of a wild animal.
- I've lived like one.
- Why?
- I was searching for something.
- What?
- I've always heard that
when God spoke again,
he would speak in the desert.
- You still hold your faith in him?
- Yes.
And in my people.
I'm going back to them.
- But you came here.
- I came to say goodbye.
For when I leave you this time,
we shall never see each other again.
(romantic music)
- We'll have this night together.
We'll have that if nothing else.
- I thought you had forgotten me?
- How could I?
- So you have changed your mind perhaps.
- Perhaps.
I'll give you what you want.
- Ah-ha.
So what do you want in return?
- No land or estates.
I want Samson.
With his strength of God,
he's no longer a threat to you
there's no need for you to kill him,
unless of course, you
want to make him a martyr.
- So you want him alive, huh?
- I want him.
- He would have to be placed under arrest
and formally charged.
- Alright, and then released.
He's no longer a threat to you.
And he'll be of no use to his people.
- He can give you nothing
but poverty, Delilah.
Very well.
I shall be at your house tomorrow morning.
Where you will have
Samson bound in chains.
And we will then discover,
if he has lost his strength.
(gentle music)
- If I'd been born to live as others,
then I would take you now to Nanzilla,
to the west, to the highest
of hills looking down
on the great city and
there we would live there,
for the rest of our lives.
(fire crackling)
- Take me there now,
I'll give up everything I have.
- And what must I give up?
My God?
- He's given you nothing.
He's given you nothing on this earth.
Nothing but this strength.
- I will never forsake it.
- What more can I give you?
Anything you ask.
- I ask for nothing
and I will take nothing
from you ever again.
For I have nothing to give you in return.
- But you do, you could
give me your trust.
- You have that now.
- That's not true.
I've yet to know everything about you.
- I have no secrets.
- You have this great strength.
- For one purpose only,
the deliverance of Israel.
- Will you always have it?
(suspenseful music)
- Until the day of my death.
Unless.
- Unless what?
- [Samson] Well it would never happen.
- What?
You still don't trust me.
- A blade.
- But an army of soldiers
put their swords against you.
- No not my body.
No age of blade or sword
has got even a strand of my hair.
No blade ever shall.
No cutting edge will ever
be allowed to sever it.
- That's the source of your strength?
- Yes.
- Come, we've talked enough.
(romantic music)
(suspenseful music)
(enchanting music)
- I need no wine this evening.
(romantic music)
(romantic music)
(suspenseful music)
- Get him, take him.
- Ah!
- Watch him.
- Samson of the tribe of Dan.
I arrest you for acts of sedition
against the league of Philistine cities.
You will come with us, now!
- Ah!
- So you did keep your promise.
You can be sure I'll keep mine.
You still believe in your worthless God?
He has betrayed you Samson.
Your people have betrayed you.
And what a fool of you,
for have ever trusted Delilah.
Forsake them Samson,
as they have forsaken you.
Tell me that you no longer have a God.
Tell me.
(screaming)
- Deborah Deborah, what's the matter?
What is it?
- We'll attack them in
force from every city.
Each and every tribe west of the Jordan.
We'll still have the number and
complete slaves of the rest.
- They're not a threat to you.
- As long as they exist, they're a threat.
- When do you release Samson?
- The council has requested he appear
at the Temple of Dagon for the testing.
- Why?
- So our people may see what happens
to those who would try
to oppose us, that's all.
- He won't be hurt there.
- No, they'll simply make
sport of him at the festival.
Is it so lonely for you Delilah.
- I want to see him.
- I doubt if he wants to see you.
- What do you mean?
- I mean that visiting the prisoner
won't be that easy to arrange.
- Arrange it.
- You won't try to reward him.
- Arrange it.
- Surely you can wait until--
- Tomorrow.
(creaking wheel)
(suspenseful music)
- You wanted him Delilah,
so you shall have him.
(romantic music)
- Samson?
- No.
- I love you.
- No!
- I love you Samson.
I didn't know they'd do this to you.
- I trusted you.
- Please!
- Guard, guard.
- I didn't know,
- I love you, I love you.
(yelling)
- [Delilah] I love you,
I love you, Samson,
I love you, I love you.
(rattling bars)
(yelling)
Oh God, what have I done?
(rattling bars)
(yelling)
- [Crowd] Sidka, Sidka, Sidka
Sidka, Sidka.
(rhythmic clapping)
Sidka, Sidka, Sidka,
Sidka, Sidka, Sidka,
Sidka, Sidka, Sidka, Sidka,
Sidka, Sidka, Sidka,
Sidka, Sidka.
- Sidka, Sidka,
(cheering)
- Dagon!
- [Crowd] Dagon!
- Dagon!
- [Crowd] Dagon!
- [Sidka] Dagon!
- [Crowd] Dagon!
- [Sidka] Dagon!
- [Crowd] Dagon!
- Dagon!
- [Crowd] Dagon!
- All praise to Dagon!
(cheering)
(rhythmic drumming)
(cheering)
(cheering)
(march drumming)
(cheering)
- Look before you,
our great god Dagon has
delivered our enemies.
(cheering)
Those who would destroy us now
stand in this sacred temple,
chained and powerless.
(cheering)
Where is his strength now?
Look carefully and see him,
for he cannot see you.
Let all enemies of the state
behold the mighty Samson.
(cheering)
All praise to the great god Dagon.
- [Crowd] Dagon.
- All praise to Dagon.
- [Crowd] Dagon.
- Dagon!
- [Crowd] Dagon!
(booing)
(dramatic music)
(cheering)
(cheering)
- The lady in jewels.
(cheering)
- What are you doing here?
- I've come to claim him.
- Not here!
- Oh yes here and now.
- When we are finished here.
- I want to talk to him.
- No.
Delilah!
(cheering)
- Delilah.
- Samson, they're planning to kill you.
Come with me now.
I'm going to claim you before it happens.
I love you.
- Take my arm and lead me
to pillars of the temple.
- There's not time.
- Take me or leave at once.
Take me, take me.
- What is she doing?
- Just one of her little games.
- Why are you stopping?
- There's a step here.
- Don't leave me.
- Get away from me,
take your hands off me.
- Get her in there,
Get her in.
- Let me go!
No!
- We have her under guard.
- Let her watch if she cares to.
(cheering)
(booing)
(metal clanking)
- God, give me strength
just once more.
(rumbling)
- Maluck.
(rumbling)
(lightning)
(lightning and thunder)
- Samson!
(lightning and thunder)
(yelling)
(screaming)
(lightning and thunder)
(fire crackling)
(melancholy music)
- Come my lady,
- Call the servants, Elon.
- It's too late to find your people.
- We need something to carry him with.
We're taking him back to the wilderness.
- My lady, it's too dangerous.
The people in the streets are mad.
- Let them see him.
Let them know what he's done and remember.
And they can remember me too,
I'm the one that betrayed him.
(romantic music)
Will you come with me?
- I will my lady.
- We've a long way to go.
(dramatic music)
(dramatic music)
- [Narrator] And so it came to pass,
that in his death, a man
born to deliver his people
from slavery and persecution,
was able to unite them and lead them
against the Philistines.
A man who was betrayed and loved
by a woman of Gaza,
a woman who was known as Delilah.
(dramatic music)