Sant'Elena, piccola isola (1943) - full transcript
After the defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon was sent into exile on the small island of Saint Helena. Surrounded by the few who were faithful to him, he spent his last years between an unyielding pride and the discourageme...
ST HELENA, SMALL ISLAND
The words uttered by Napoleon having
a military and political significance
were scrupulously transcribed from
various memorials from St Helena,
that is,
they are historically correct.
Napoleon, when he was a student
in the School of Auxonne,
summarized in
a notebook his lessons
from the Abbot Lacroix,
Professor of Geography.
Those notes were cut off
in the middle of the page
and end with these words,
"St Helena, Small Island.'
After that, he wrote
nothing more in those pages.
"Geography Notebook
of Napoleon Bonaparte."
"St Helena, small island."
October 15, 1815
Napoleon is in Saint Helena,
defeated, a prisoner.
Sir, who would've imagined it?
- Ah, yes, I brought him here.
However you say
that on the Longwood flat?
there's a house which could serve
as residence for him and his people?
An old building but there isn't
anything better in Saint Helena.
Unless you want to host Napoleon
in the East Indian Company's villa.
Ah, no, no.
Too close to the sea. No!
Longwood! Longwood!
In the mountains, among the rocks.
We shall restore the house.
- But that will take time.
I must land him tonight,
as soon as it gets dark.
Is there a hotel in Jamestown?
Potius House which rents rooms.
Requisition the Potius House.
- Alright.
A poor habitation.
- It's temporary.
I placed trust in the protection
of your country's laws?
but when I saw from the sea?
this nightmare
of an island rise up?
my last illusion about your
generosity towards me has vanished.
I judge your words
to be absolutely unseemly!
Admiral, don't forget that
kings have fought for the honor
to be admitted to the table of
the man you're speaking to.
You're right, Ma'am.
Forgive me, General Bonaparte.
The last time I heard anyone
say "General Bonaparte?"
was at the Battle of the Pyramids.
Let them call me
whatever they want.
They won't stop me
from being who I am.
You shall choose the part of
the island most convenient
to your wishes.
Longwood was pointed out.
When you want,
we shall visit it together.
As soon as possible, Admiral.
Tomorrow?
At 10:00.
- At 10:00.
Tomorrow at 10:00, Marshal.
Good night, gentlemen.
Doctor, come with me.
Dr O'Meara,
Remember that you are
an officer in the British Navy.
And that his Majesty's government
has given you permission to stay
as the prisoner's special doctor?
because it is counting on you.
Does it count on me
because it considers me inept?
Or, at least,
capable of pretending to be?
Doctor,
I am a soldier and a gentleman.
The fondness which the prisoner
has shown for you on board?
must be of great use to us.
And it's up to you
to give me all the information
on what the prisoner does.
Admiral,
I am a soldier and a gentleman.
Above all else, be a soldier.
And I am also a man
who loves pleasant conversation.
Admiral, I shall often
take the pleasure?
of coming to talk with you.
Very good, Doctor.
How many rooms are there?
Can we see?
Is there one for me
and my children?
A moment's patience,
we're all not here.
The house management is under me.
I'd gladly give it to you but
the Emperor just inflicted me with it.
The Grand Marshal is
only responsible for protocol.
Protocol here?
The Emperor wants
the Grand Marshal.
Am I to have no role here?
You're asking me?
If you still have these ambitions,
plead with Count Las Cases,
who is the Emperor's favorite.
I aspire only to serve him.
We are camped in a real tavern.
Injustice is now added to outrage.
But why didn't they
rid themselves of me?
It would've been a crime
but yet a sign of strength.
Marshal, I cannot complain
without lowering myself.
You must protest.
However you can,
with all your energy. Always!
You insisted too much for
the Emperor to surrender to England.
Why didn't you propose
something better?
What could we do against the authority
of the Grand Marshal, Countess Bertrand,
and General Gourgaud?
General Gourgaud may
have been wrong?
but he followed the Emperor
not because he had to like some.
Whom do you allude to?
- Certainly not Count Las Cases.
He came here to write a book
with the Emperor's words.
You are alluding to me. Oh, yes.
When I heard
they were sending him here,
I begged my husband not to go.
And you tried to throw yourself
into Bellerophon's Sea.
If I hadn't grabbed
you by the leg?
I've thanked you, Countess.
Want me to thank you again?
I saved the Emperor's life
and I didn't ask for thanks.
We know.
You've told us many times.
In Brienne, you killed a Cossack?
- ?about to hit him with a spear.
You are a sublime man,
General Gourgaud.
Impetuous but sublime.
I'm?
I'm a man worse off
than anybody here.
Marshal Bertrand
and General Montholon
are here with
their wives and children?
and Count Las Cases is
here with his boy.
But I am alone.
I left my old mother in France,
poorer than me.
Nobody here has the right
to be more unhappy.
We all love the Emperor equally.
- But I adore him!
The Emperor is very sad.
I've never seen him so sad.
This is the place
of our deportation.
An unbearable humidity,
and surrounding it?
the desert.
But better here
than near the city.
Any place is good for me,
if it's far from vulgar curiosity.
I'm delighted that
you are pleased with Longwood.
Why not?
Longwood is worthy
of the hospitality you offer me.
A tree! I will finally have
a friend on this island.
Ah, if I could stay here today.
Ah, finally some shade.
The first I've seen.
The villa of a merchant, Mr Balcombe.
- Do you want to visit it?
I'd like to live there.
It sickens me
to return to Jamestown.
Maybe it's possible.
I'm going to talk to the owner.
Marshal, would you come with me?
Flowers must not be stolen!
Is this villa yours?
- Yes.
I envy you.
- Don't you have any villas?
I had many.
Now, I have none.
Do you come from afar?
Yes.
My name is Betsy, Sir.
- And I'm Jenny.
What is your name?
Napoleon.
Your wish may be fulfilled.
There's a pavilion
at the end of the garden,
which the Balcombe family
will place at your disposal.
Welcome to my home.
If you want to live there,
we shall be happy
to make it available.
Until they make your home
at Longwood ready.
Thank you.
Yours is a great courtesy.
I'm very happy to have
been able to please you.
You can give
Marshal Bertrand an order
to bring whatever you need here.
You can roam freely in the garden
and even outside, if you like,
as long as the captain knows
and can follow you from afar.
You don't need to see him.
He just needs to see you.
His Majesty?
- At the Bramble House.
He orders Count Las Cases and
his son and Marchand, his servant
to join him immediately
to stay with him.
I shudder to think
we have Napoleon in our home.
I couldn't sleep all night.
It's such a bore.
The whole house is upside down.
Mama and Papa want to invite him
but they don't know where to begin.
The servants are busy getting ready
and I had to cook my own omelet.
I advise you to do the same.
- Give me some of yours.
It's not fair
to give you my omelet
just because
Napoleon lost the war.
We already made a big mistake
yesterday by running away from him.
Let's show him that if he was Emperor,
we are two pretty girls.
The less I see him,
the happier I am.
Why?
Everyone's talking about him.
It'll be fun to talk to him.
He's too serious. Too melancholy.
He'll have to get over his melancholy
else it'll become his deathbed.
I'll go to him and say,
"Dear Emperor?"
General.
- "Dear General,
what's past is past.
You can't be emperor anymore.
Put your heart at ease
and be happy."
I'll tell him that right away.
Papa wants to invite him? I'll do it.
- And if papa gets angry?
That's it, you see?
Papa scares me.
But if I become friends with Napoleon,
he'll help me make war on Papa.
He knows war.
Mine was much better.
General?
General?
Don't call me general.
It's highly forbidden
to call you anything else.
The admiral told us clearly.
We must call you?
The admiral is
a very coarse gentleman.
But I used to give
you a worse title.
Which title, Miss Betsy?
I called you "the ogre."
You hated me without knowing me.
I've always been afraid of you.
Not so much though.
I'm not afraid of anyone.
You must let me call you general.
We don't know how
to speak to emperors.
You're the first
to come to St Helena.
Mama is very worried too.
That's why I took it upon myself
to ask if you want to come tonight?
to keep us company,
without overawing us.
Thank you, I'll come.
- But come alone.
Without the other generals.
It'll make us too ill at ease.
Alright, I'll come alone.
- Thank you.
I'll run to take
the load off mama's mind.
Oh, welcome!
And who are those gentlemen?
Miss Betsy Balcombe, our hostess.
Count Las Cases, my chamberlain.
And his son Emanuele.
- Is he a chamberlain too?
No. Not yet.
Cipriani!
Lead the count to his room.
Which is his room?
Up there.
It's lucky that
the chamberlain is not?
is not so tall.
Else, they couldn't even
stand up in there.
How nasty that boy is.
As pale as wax.
The young Las Cases is a pearl.
If you're good,
I'll have him marry you.
I have better things to do.
He'll come down later. Look him
over well. - I prefer to leave!
See you tonight!
Can you play whist?
Not much.
- You'll be in trouble with papa!
With your Majesty's permission,
may I put the room in order?
Since my entire palace is
reduced to this room,
I'll have to go in the garden.
All right, Marchand.
How did you sleep,
Count, in your attic?
I would've slept well
if it weren't for the rats.
They say the rats are
the plague of Saint Helena.
The rats and the admiral.
How are we going to pass the time?
in this forgotten corner
of the world?
Sire, we shall live in the past.
It'll be so beautiful to read
the lives of Alexander and Caesar.
But we'll go one better:
you shall read your life.
Yes.
We shall write
the history of my campaigns.
Good morning, gentlemen.
You look very irritated,
General Gourgaud.
Sire,
I was stopped from coming because
I didn't have a sergeant's escort.
I had to bend over backwards
to ask for this escort.
Marshal, not even
my generals can freely reach me.
You must protest, I repeat.
Irritating the admiral won't help.
You may get more with negotiating.
You are naive, Marshal.
Your Majesty is wrong
not to listen to my advice.
At the Tuileries,
you wouldn't have spoken
to me like that.
Everything I did then was perfect!
You've angered His Majesty.
- Gentlemen,
here, more than ever,
we must remember who he is.
Good morning!
- Good morning.
Move over and let me pass!
Respect those who carry burdens.
- But he's a slave.
What is your name?
Where were you born?
He was taken in the sea,
brought here and sold.
A man torn from his homeland,
he has become a thing to be sold.
Can you imagine
a greater unhappiness?
Poor Tobias.
Yes, poor Tobias.
Poor Tobias, here in St Helena,
is not the only example
of the cruelty of fate.
But my misfortune will
also give me glory.
If I had died
in the splendors of power,
I would've remained perhaps
an unsolved enigma to many.
And now,
everyone can understand me.
Even you, Betsy.
Yes.
Yes, I understand you, Sire.
Why didn't the Empress
come with you?
I didn't want it.
Why didn't you want
your son to come?
What is your son's name?
The King of Rome.
London 1816
Then we are in agreement,
Sir Hudson Lowe:
Next week you shall depart
for St Helena?
to become Napoleon's guardian.
Are you afraid of words?
I don't think so, Minister Sir.
What impression does the word?
"jailer" make on you?
Many would like nothing better than
the post I've entrusted to you.
And remember, that I chose you.
Sir Henry Bells,
I shall know how to be
worthy of your trust.
We're leaving.
The Longwood house is finished.
Why don't you stay
at the Brambles?
It's forbidden, Betsy, forbidden.
Europe doesn't trust the Brambles.
I'd like to say goodbye
to Mr and Mrs Balcombe.
My father's in town
and my mother's ill in bed.
Oh, poor lady.
Take me to her.
Mama, the general.
If I had known, I would've risen.
Don't fret, Mrs Balcombe.
We're old friends.
I came to take my leave.
Thank you for all courtesies.
How many times in your home,
have I forgotten my exile?
I'm very pleased.
Salute Mr Balcombe for me.
For Betsy,
a keepsake from Napoleon.
Oh, is Miss Betsy angry?
Thank you.
Madame, I must leave. Goodbye.
Do not forget the Bramble House.
We shall always remember you.
I'm further off, my little friend?
but I remain in St Helena.
Tell your father to come
and bring you to Longwood.
Will you come and see me?
- Yes.
Goodbye.
Thus,
to the Brambles and Longwood,
has my old camp bed followed
me from Marengo and Austerlitz.
The sentries will surround the area
granted to Gen Bonaparte.
No one must leave there,
unless accompanied
by an officer or a picket.
At sunset, when the first shot
of the cannon is fired,
the sentries will advance
to the edge of the garden.
At nightfall, at the second shot,
they will surround the house.
This heat!
How can we get
54 people inside here?
General,
have you found a few walls
for you and the countess?
Two rooms, Sire.
- Adjacent to your apartment.
Then you shall be
my neighbor, Countess.
Not without timidity, Sire.
You and Countess Bertrand shall
be the grace of our exile.
But Countess Bertrand
will not live here.
The Grand Marshal has rented
a villa, a few 100 meters away.
Countess Bertrand prefers
to have a house?
of her own, separate from us.
Fine.
Marchand!
A gala dinner tonight.
Everyone must attend.
Even the marshal
and the marshaless.
See you later, Sir and Madame.
There'll be a storm!
I'm truly glad that
the Countess Bertrand?
is not living with us.
Our first day in Longwood is over.
The days will be long here.
82 million men obeyed me.
It only took one day
to destroy everything.
The defeat did not
lower the vanquished,
nor did victory raise the victor.
We'll also write the history of
the Battle of Waterloo. - Yes, Sire.
We shall write
the history of all your battles.
And it will be
as beautiful as "The Iliad".
I see Achilles?
but I don't see Homer.
Countess, you have
a graceful voice. Sing.
Cimarosa? Pa?r? Paisiello?
Paisiello.
In my heart, I no more feel
the sparkle of youth.
The cause of my torment,
oh Love, it is your fault.
What is this thing in me?
How many times have I heard
these notes at The Tuileries.
They were delightful concerts.
What life, what elegance!
Never was there a court
as splendid as yours, Sire.
?which makes me despair.
Thank you, Countess.
And this is the music
of St Helena: the rain.
Will you read me
what I dictated yesterday?
Sire, allow my son to read.
But this boy is very pale.
He needs to be treated.
Are your eyes tired, Count?
My eyes are full of shadow.
I see less and less.
And why didn't you tell me?
- Oh, Sire, when I see you no more?
My good friend.
Here is the governor.
Go and receive him too.
Are you General Bertrand?
Countess Bertrand.
Countess Montholon.
General Montholon.
General Gourgaud.
Count Las Cases, Chamberlain.
Admiral Malcolm,
who succeeds Admiral Cockburn?
of the command of
the naval forces of St Helena.
Colonel Reed.
Major Gorky.
Noverase, announce
to His Majesty, the Emperor,
His Excellency,
the Governor of St Helena.
I have come, Sir,
to pay my respect.
How many years of
service do you have?
28.
I have 40 years of service.
Therefore,
I'm an older soldier than you.
History will speak
of our services?
in a very different way.
I cannot say I was satisfied
with your predecessor.
He treated me with a familiarity
that closely
resembled impertinence.
He imposed an English escort,
he forced me to give up
my horseback riding.
So, for lack of exercise,
my health deteriorates daily.
He had me watched over
like a ferocious beast,
under the ridiculous pretext
of providing for my safety.
And he refused to send my letters
if he hadn't read them first.
The admiral obeyed
his superiors' instructions.
It's well you should know that I too,
under my government's orders,
will strictly obey and even
more than Admiral Cockburn did.
Have you anything else to say?
Nothing else, General.
- Neither do I.
He is odious!
Gentlemen, I have the honor
and pleasure to communicate
that everybody in General Bonaparte's
train, including the servants,
must leave the island at once,
if they don't sign
this declaration.
"The undersigned declare that
they wish to stay in St Helena
agreeing to the restrictions
which will be necessary for
General Bonaparte to endure."
I will sign on one condition:
The words "General Bonaparte,"
be replaced with
"Emperor Napoleon."
I agree.
- Me too.
I won't sign.
- Fine.
Then you shall
all leave right away.
Only a cook and a few servants
will remain with Gen Bonaparte.
We mustn't sign a document
that offends the Emperor.
And above all, we mustn't sign
our freedom away.
And must we leave the Emperor
alone in this prison?
Oh, no.
We can't abandon him.
We would be more
cruel than the governor.
Whatever it costs, I'll sign.
We shall all sign.
Everyone signed,
even the servants.
The general must've forced
the servants to sign.
I suspected it too. I had them
come here to be questioned.
I shall question them myself.
You, come here.
Did you read
the paper you signed?
Yes, Excellency.
Can you read?
No, Excellency.
But it doesn't matter.
Do you know what
these signatures pledge you to?
Do you know?
- Maybe to stay here forever.
They intimidated you?
Paid you to sign?
No. They told me
I can go if I want to.
But I won't.
- And you?
I don't want to, Excellency.
Do you all want to stay here?
Isn't there anyone who wants to see
their country, their family again?
No!
It's doesn't suffice
that you want to stay here.
I must allow it.
There are too many of you.
Therefore, some of you must leave.
You.
You.
You.
And you. What's the matter?
Nothing.
Get out!
A bit of coolness.
But it won't last.
Here, there's either a bitter wind
which lacerates my soul
and brings fog and rain,
or a sun that burns
through my brain.
Marchand, give me your arm.
Today, I feel some pains
in my left side?
and I am sad.
Oh, good Cipriani!
What do you want, Cipriani?
Yes?
- You must?
keep an eye on Santini, Sire.
He wants to kill the governor.
Marchand, get Santini immediately.
Killing him would be
a joy for me too,
if it weren't for being hanged.
But afterwards,
they would revenge
themselves on you, Sire.
Ah, Cipriani!
How beautiful our Corsica was!
Everything all green.
And what wine!
What oil!
What fruit!
After so many years,
I can still smell
the scent of our island.
I could recognize it
with my eyes closed,
for that perfume
which is all its own.
You shall see it again.
But not I.
Santini! Brigand!
You wanted to kill the governor?
He's separating me from you.
I have a two-shot rifle:
one for him and the other for me.
You want it said that
I incite assassinations?
I forbid you to commit crimes!
There is a better way
for you to prove your loyalty.
You'll be given a complaint.
If you reach London,
you will have it published.
Go, Santini.
Before leaving, come to say goodbye.
And leave the guns alone.
Doctor, you haven't been
around for some days.
I always want to know
what General Bonaparte is doing.
He lives. And that is much.
And in what terms
does he speak of me?
With every possible malediction.
What does he say?
Let it go, Excellency.
I shall make him feel
the full weight of my power.
Tell me about
his state of health.
Very bad.
Let me remind you that liver
diseases are raging in St Helena.
Gen Bonaparte has a bad liver.
It's a slanderous invention.
Excellency, allow me
to say that I am a doctor.
And I'm your superior.
I don't want this myth of
an unhealthy climate spreading,
making all Europe believe that
he was brought here to die quickly.
I forbid you to affiliate yourself
with the statements of a prisoner,
who in the end,
is nothing but a usurper.
A usurper?
who at 25 years old
was the first man in the world.
You're too warm.
This warmth is suspicious.
I will report it
to the government.
Sire, this jacket is too worn.
You can no longer wear it.
I'll get a new one.
There's no green
cloth in Jamestown.
I'll wear another.
Let's go choose one.
There isn't much to choose from.
I can't wear the uniform
of the First Consul
or the Marengo cloak.
When I was a lieutenant,
I had my clothes sent back.
I shall finish as I started.
Turn the green jacket inside out.
A letter from Calgados.
His Excellency writes
that in America, in France,
plots are organized everywhere
to break Bonaparte free.
My responsibility is tremendous!
We must tighten the circle.
- You're right.
If the 2,500 soldiers
surrounding Longwood,
the 90 cannons, the 20 mortars,
the ships circling
the island are not enough,
then we'll bring more ships,
soldiers, cannons and weapons!
But Colonel, this is not living.
This is anguish, this is fear.
Just think, he could he even be
escaping at this very moment!
Sire?
Sire?
I was dreaming?
of Maria Luisa.
She was holding
my son by the hand.
She was beautiful
and smiling like?
that day in Compi?gne,
when I saw her for the first time.
I was about to hold
her in my arms,
but I felt her slipping away.
And I woke up.
Sire, your face was so frantic
that it was I who awoke you.
Ah, wretch!
It was you who took away the joy
of staying a little longer
with my wife and son.
Forgive me. Forgive me, Sire.
If I could, I'd bring the Empress
and King of Rome to your arms.
No?
It's better my wife and my son?
cannot see my wretchedness.
Did I mistreat you, poor Marchand?
I know you are
the most faithful of them all.
It shall be you
who will close my eyes.
This closed air is bad for you.
But the light is bad for you.
Why did I bring you here?
You didn't sleep last night.
Neither did you either.
Do you really want to give this letter
to that mulatto who's leaving?
Yes, he promised
to deliver it for ?4.
Lady Clavering is the only friend
I have who is trying to help us
without the governor
reading what I wrote.
But won't it be imprudent?
If he betrays us?
If they search him?
Then the governor will
send us away.
You very much need
healthy air and care, Emanuele.
To see Europe again
before going blind?
But it will be a great sadness
to leave the Emperor.
I'm examining the papers
we seized from you after your arrest.
Ah, amusing, eh?
I am a monster, without
morals and without feelings.
I'm an outlaw leader.
One can feel the joy
with which you wrote
your master's injurious words.
Excellency, you can take revenge.
Me? Oh, no!
I don't want it said
that on my own initiative,
I deprived Gen Bonaparte
of the only Frenchman
who speaks English.
It shall be my government
that will punish you.
And pending its orders,
I return you to Longwood.
Of course well guarded
and forbidden to leave.
I don't want
to go back to Longwood.
You deny your name?
The Emperor saw me treated
like a thief, dragged away.
It was a cruel offense
to his dignity.
If I returned to his presence,
I would revive that cruel memory.
Send me back to Europe with
my son as soon as you can.
Alright.
But you must state in writing?
that this is your will.
I want to send
this letter to Count Las Cases.
"My dear count,
my heart shares in your pain.
Your company was necessary
but I urge you,
and where necessary order you,
to ask the governor
to send you to the mainland.
Boast of the loyalty you've shown
and the affection I bear for you."
And us?
It's like Las Cases's leaving
has cast you into deep despair
and that we are less than zero.
Schemers are always lucky!
What are you trying to say?
That Count Las Cases
was betraying me?
I'm prepared for everything.
Men should be villains
to be worse than
the disdain I have of them.
A fine and noble letter, Sire.
When I'm speaking to His Majesty,
I beg the lady not to interrupt.
Mrs Montholon?
- Mrs Montholon?
is my particular enemy.
- Oh, be quiet.
And you be quiet too.
Noverase, a pen.
"Receive my embrace and my
attestation of esteem and friendship.
Napoleon."
I have the accounts here.
There.
Of my own free will,
contrary to the orders received,
I can increase the annual cost
from 8 to 12,000 pounds.
But you spend even more.
It means that the bare essentials
for 45 people costs more.
It means that you like
to live like grand seigneurs.
I won't prevent it,
as long as Bonaparte agrees
to contribute to the expenses.
I'm sure the Emperor is
willing to take on the expenses,
but let me get the necessary means
by means of unopened letters.
He doesn't want to expose his friends
to the persecutions of your government.
Unopened letters
inside unopened letters.
Never!
Then, I've nothing more to say.
But Gen Bonaparte
must supply this money.
I'll come to Longwood myself
tomorrow and ask it from him.
I want to speak to Gen Bonaparte.
Impossible, Excellency.
He doesn't grant unexpected audiences.
Not grant audiences?
- These are his orders.
He'll grant me an audience!
Come, Admiral.
Gen Bertrand's inflexibility
forces me to talk to you directly
about your home's expenses.
Marshal Bertrand has
commanded armies.
This one treats
him like a corporal.
And he treats us like deserters.
I know from experience that
governments use two kinds of people:
those whom they esteem
and those whom they despise.
He is one of those
who are despised.
You don't know me.
- And where would I know him?
On a battlefield,
where no one has ever seen him?
I think I owe your dislike to my
unfavorable, unpleasant appearance.
I don't reproach him
for having that face,
but he is as ugly morally
as he is on the outside.
General, it is the Governor
of St Helena you speak to!
That title is the same
for you as hangman!
I have received precise instructions.
I am only an instrument.
An infamous instrument:
the rack!
You've come to ask me for money.
I don't have any but
I could get some from my friends.
But you prevent me
from addressing them.
Your insistence is,
therefore, a waste of time.
If I'm hungry,
I'll report to
your officers' mess.
They will not repel
the oldest soldier in Europe.
And your rulers and you will
go down in history as tyrants.
History will say that Bonaparte,
a prisoner in St Helena,
has suffered the just punishment
for his political faults.
A vile lie!
History will never say that!
Well, Napoleon won't justify
himself before a man like you.
Ah, you are so odious to me?
I would even give up my freedom,
if you were the one to offer it!
General, you make me laugh.
What? I make you laugh?
The day shall come?
when your country will disown you.
The whole world shall
execrate you.
Remember then the curse?
of the Emperor Napoleon.
The false opinion
you have of my character
and the audacity of your manners
inspire me with pity.
I salute you.
- I must salute you as well.
Ah! I don't want to see
the governor ever again!
The sight of him takes
away my self control,
makes me forget my dignity.
Marshal,
to have the money for our bread
which England demands?
you shall dismantle
and sell my silverware.
January 1, 1818
The Emperor!
Sire, we offer our devoted
wishes for the new year.
The third we are spending here.
Thank you, gentlemen
and I return your good wishes.
Countess,
it took the New Year
for you to come and visit me.
Countess, you are even
more beautiful than usual.
And how are the children?
- Well, Sire.
And yours?
- They send you 1000 wishes, Majesty.
I offer you these violets of Parma
in the name of the King of Rome.
At this moment the King
of Rome is thinking of me,
as he is thinking of you.
And even your thoughts
today are far from here.
But do not abandon me.
You are like my children.
You will not remain here long
because I shall die soon.
Returning to Europe,
you shall be honored
for your loyalty.
You'll be rich because what I own,
I shall divide amongst you.
Happy New Year.
Happy New Year.
- Happy New Year, Countess.
Did you hear that?
The Emperor will divide
between us what he has.
Yeah, if the Montholons won't
give it all away first.
Albina is a very cunning coquette.
I detest her!
I'm sure her insinuations
and husband's slanders
robbed me of
His Majesty's affection.
You must be patient.
The Emperor is selfish
but is just after all.
If Montholon continues
his intrigues,
I'll provoke him and fight him.
The Emperor would detest you.
- Have you seen Albina's last child?
He doesn't look like his father.
- You mean he looks like His Majesty?
Oh, no?
I'm just saying that the nights
at St Helena are very long.
"The Russian troops
marched onto Warsaw?
and a corp of the French army
was sent to great days
to the northwest."
Marchand!
Go wake up General Gourgaud.
Blessed are you who can sleep.
- Excuse me, Sire.
Well, it's 3 am,
you're right to be tired.
But I must also keep busy
my sleepless nights.
Go and rest.
See you tomorrow, General.
Gen Gourgaud will be
here presently.
You too, my boy,
find it hard
to keep your eyes open.
Go on to bed.
Did you not like having
your sleep interrupted?
I don't like being
Gen Montholon's substitute.
You're jealous of everything.
You're angry because
the Montholons love me.
I also know you make malicious
allusions against Mrs Montholon.
And if I liked her,
what business is it of yours?
I'm an honest man,
I say what I think.
Yours are the virtue of a savage.
Coming here you thought
you were my comrade.
I'm nobody's comrade.
I know.
But I was wrong to say
this to Your Majesty.
It is Mr Montholon
I must speak to!
If you threaten Montholon,
you're a brigand and a murderer!
Your Majesty calls me a murderer
but I haven't murdered anyone.
On the contrary,
I saved your Majesty's life.
When?
- In Brienne!
I don't remember.
But really, what do you want?
A brigand can't want anything.
That is, yes:
I want to free you
from my hateful presence.
So be it. We shall separate.
Go among happier people,
since you don't know
how to share my misfortune.
Let us embrace.
On this earth,
we shall never meet again.
We'll say you've asked
for leave due to health reasons.
Bertrand will give you
?500 for travel expenses.
I refuse it.
That is too much for my needs?
and not enough for my honor.
What new complaints
are you bringing me?
I ask you to let me
return to Europe.
Until I depart, put me wherever
you want but away from Longwood.
I can no longer stay there?
without dishonoring myself.
Dear General,
I've always been amazed
how a warrior like you?
could resign himself
to be treated so badly.
Will you do me the honor
of dining with us tonight?
Procure for Gen Gourgaud?
the best apartment
you can find in town.
General,
I look forward
to seeing you for lunch.
That madman sent me a challenge.
I replied that a duel between us
would make
the Emperor's enemies happy.
And soon we'll be rid
of that nuisance too.
But he will see Europe again.
Paris?
To see Paris once again?
When do you leave
for London, Ma'am?
I'm waiting for my brother to return
and then we'll leave together.
If you had come to us first,
you would've made us very happy.
And maybe you wouldn't
have been bored.
Oh, no, Ma'am.
Explain to me why Gen Bonaparte
has so many horrible
prejudices against us.
Bad people around him, Ma'am.
I wouldn't say that: Countess Bertrand
and Countess Montholon are so pretty.
General, what would
they say at Longwood
when they find out you've dined
at the enemy's camp?
They can say what they want!
I will not say one word
against the Emperor,
even though he wronged me.
They wouldn't dare attack me!
- Don't be choleric, General.
Given the state of your health?
- I'm fine!
Marshal Bertrand informed us?
that you wanted to go home
because you're afflicted
with an awful liver illness.
I repeat that I'm fine.
- But Dr O'Meara said?
Dr O'Meara says
whatever he told?
by Gen Bonaparte.
Then it's not true that
Gen Bonaparte is very ill?
It's false!
- That's good news!
I wish him a 1000 years of
good health and detention.
He shall stay as long as he wants.
Leave whenever he wants!
That means then?
- Escape whenever he wants!
Let's not talk of the absent.
Let's just worry about
our nice Gen Gourgaud,
who shall soon
see his family again.
I have only my mother.
- Let's drink to her health.
Yes, after.
General.
Ladies. Gentlemen officers.
To the king!
- The king!
To Gen Gourgaud's dear mother.
Thank you.
Please, Countess, Ma'am,
Cipriani is ill.
Cipriani?
A violent heart attack.
Excellency,
allow me to withdraw.
Say "until we meet again."
I hope you'll honor me with a visit.
I know you're a hunter. Would you
like to shoot pheasants tomorrow?
You can roam the island freely
now that we know you're a friend.
Let us embrace.
On this earth,
we shall never meet again.
How is Cipriani?
I'm going to see him.
- Your Majesty,
if he saw you he would attempt
to rise up as a show of respect?
and would die.
Return to him?
and tell him that?
And thus Cipriani leaves us?
without my saying goodbye to him?
with the words of our Corsica.
Marchand,
my Cipriani?
There's too much silence.
Marchand,
go call Marshal Bertrand.
Even?
with my eyes closed,
I'd recognize my Corsica.
It has a perfume?
which is all its own.
Albina, go and see
how Cipriani is doing.
I'm going.
Let us hope.
You here too, Countess?
You did well to come. Thank you.
I know that you've been indisposed
and yet you came.
Sire, let me disclose to you
that I shall be a mother again.
My son shall be the first
stranger to enter the island
without the governor's permission.
How is he?
He is near death.
Does he know how to die?
Here is another
who has left St Helena?
without the governor's permission.
I sent for you because
I found out from Gen Gourgaud?
that Bonaparte is very well.
So you've always lied to me.
Starting today,
I order you to tell the truth!
Gen Bonaparte is ill.
He had an attack just yesterday.
- That's not true.
Has the general left
the house recently?
No.
- What has he been doing?
I don't know.
You do know and you must tell me.
Even if I did,
I wouldn't tell you.
You didn't think like that before.
Your way of treating me
changed my mind.
And I will also
change your country!
Go tell your patient
that you're no longer his doctor.
And if he really wants to be sick,
I'll send him one who'll tell me all.
He won't receive him.
- He will!
He won't.
Get out!
Get out!
And don't appear before me again!
In a few days,
you shall embark for Europe.
I may embark?
but Napoleon will never receive
an English doctor.
Then farewell, Sir Doctor.
When you are in Europe,
try to see my lady mother?
and tell her of my sufferings.
Go and see my good Maria Luisa
and assure her of my affection.
And if you see my son,
embrace him for me.
"What came from the earth?
will soon return to the earth."
And thus, the British shall no
longer fear a two-cornered hat.
Rome 1819
Abbot Bonavita, Abbot Vignali
and Dr Antommarchi.
Come in.
Have a seat, Reverend.
When do you leave for St Helena?
Hopefully soon.
We've been in Rome a few weeks
and the permission never arrives.
My son has been waiting more than
a year for medical assistance.
The British government authorized
the Emperor's family
to choose and send a priest
and doctor to His Majesty.
Why so many delays?
I don't think the obstacles
come from the Holy Father.
His Holiness, when he met
my carriage at the Pincio,
he got down and
came to greet me and asked,
"How is the poor Emperor?"
"I don't know?
how he is."
Reverend Father,
when you are near my son,
tell him that if I get permission
from the authorities to join him,
I shall be happy to go
and die by his side.
The Grand Marshal and
Gen Montholon beg an audience.
I have news:
Tonight, I slept for 4 hours.
What do you have to tell me?
Gen Montholon asks?
- He doesn't know how to speak?
My wife wastes away everyday?
and the children are growing up
uneducated and sickly.
The general would like
to take the countess to Europe.
No, General. You cannot leave!
The countess may leave,
if you like.
Oh, we'll talk about
this another day.
The Newcastle will sail in 3 days.
Then we'll need to ask
the governor's permission
for Countess Montholon to depart.
Already granted, Sire.
All done?
Do you have some similar
message like that to tell me?
No, Sire.
Oh, I'm expecting it.
Marchand,
I don't want to see
anyone more today.
It is really true? You're leaving?
I'm very sick?
but I'll be back.
One doesn't return to St Helena.
If anything, you stay
there forever, like me.
It's no longer needed.
I want to give you my portrait.
And thank you?
for having smiled
even at Longwood.
The wind?
it comes to take you up?
and steal you away.
Will your husband
accompany you to the port?
Yes.
Don't worry,
he won't remain here long.
Farewell, Albina.
This weeping does me ill.
His Majesty's dinner is served.
Marchand, resume reading "Zaire,"
from where we left off last night.
Lusignan:
"Sire,
I knew the court of
France in all its glory.
When Philip conquered at Bouvines,
I fought with Montmorency,
Melum, d?Estaing,
with Nesle and Coucy,
but to see Paris again,
Fate has me forbid.
My time has passed?
and my tomb approaches nigh."
What's the matter?
Nothing.
- That's not true.
You shall see 2 priests and a doctor
sent by the Emperor's family.
One, a very worthy,
but infirm and paralytic abbot,
another, an insignificant abbot,
and a doctor who has done nothing
but dissect corpses in hospitals.
The old one must leave
or he'll die here.
And must we be decrepit
and infirm to get away?
We can't abandon him.
Montholon is staying and
I'll be no less faithful than he.
For all the good it does you.
He's like ice to you.
He's always been my enemy,
during the voyage and here.
He knows you didn't want me to come
and that you want me to leave.
Call back Albina.
She was his favorite.
What does it matter
whether I stay or go?
He made it clear
that he doesn't like my visits.
And that's why I haven't
been there for months.
It's painful, dear.
He has long since taken away
his confidence and I suffer for it.
But I'll never leave him. Never.
If you want to leave
with the children?
Without you? No, my dear.
Not without you.
Miss Balcombe asks to be received.
Betsy?
The Balcombes are leaving St Helena.
They're going to England.
Even Betsy?
Everyone is going.
Have her enter.
So you're going too, little Betsy?
And so the ogre will
remain alone in his lair.
I have much hope
I'll see you again in Europe.
It would be nice?
if they let me live in a small town,
like an old gentleman.
Betsy, you would bring
your beloved to me,
And you would say,
"Make this good girl happy."
If I have a beloved,
I'll bring him here.
But I won't be able
to tell him anything.
Because I shall have
finished speaking.
No, that's not true.
I don't want that.
Goodbye,
little Betsy.
Are you sending me away
because I cried?
I won't cry again.
I'm tired.
Give me your arm.
I want to show you to the door.
You know my tree.
Break off a branch
and take it away as a souvenir.
Go now.
Have a good trip.
I cannot overcome?
this tiredness.
The bed has become to me?
a place of delight.
How exhausted I feel.
This medicine must be taken.
Oh, you take it!
It will do you better than me.
It has been no help to me.
Listen to the doctor, Sire.
Listen to the doctor.
I don't understand
what you are saying.
I can't hear you.
I can't?
It's very serious.
- Can't you say anything else?
I decline any responsibility.
I request a consultation.
With an English doctor?
The Emperor won't allow it.
He'll reproach me, curse me
but I'm going to get a doctor.
We have a duty to try everything.
When you're in London,
you may report to your cousin,
his Excellency,
the Prime Minister?
that Gen Bonaparte is
well guarded.
Is it true that Napoleon is
seriously ill? - No, it's not.
They want to fool Europe and me,
hoping we'll relax our vigilance.
Longwood is a hotbed of gossip,
that unfortunately, flies everywhere.
Tell me the truth, Doctor.
I'm an old soldier
who loves frankness.
Am I done for?
In my opinion,
it's a stomach inflammation.
Nothing to worry about.
I'm sorry, Doctor,
that I abused you earlier.
I assure you that my presence
here is no longer necessary.
If anything, if you like,
I shall return.
Now I must go into town to be
introduced to Sir Thomas Ricketts,
cousin of the Prime Minister,
coming from India and going to London.
Cousin to the Prime Minister?
You must see him,
you must speak to him.
He must tell them in England?
that there's now no more
need for these tortures.
Marshal, write to him at once.
Tell him I beg him
to come to Longwood.
It's suffocating!
Do you need anything, Sire?
It's suffocating!
That's why they were thinking
of moving the bed into the salon.
You'll have more air there.
Take me wherever you want.
I should have died in Austerlitz,
at the zenith of my victory?
or at Moscow or Waterloo.
Go to your home, Marshal.
Send me Montholon.
Sire,
permit me to assist you tonight.
No, I'm used to Montholon's care.
Why are you so sad, Bertrand?
Does it hurt you so much
for me to send you away?
You have desired
so much to leave me.
Come closer.
How is the countess?
I haven't seen her
for a long time.
Tell her to come to salute me.
Stay here with me tonight,
Bertrand.
We'll let Montholon rest.
Take a chair.
Marchand!
Open the window, my son.
Let me breathe?
the air that God has made.
Bertrand.
Go and pick me a rose.
How refreshing!
The air!
Write this down:
"I leave my son?
my house in Ajaccio
with the garden.
My son must not think of
avenging my death.
If he reigns,
he mustn't try
to imitate his father.
One cannot do?
the same thing twice
in one century.
May he be?
the man of his time."
I must?
compensate?
those who has served me.
My poor soldiers!
Maybe they don't have bread!
Get "The Iliad."
Homer describes so well?
the war councils that I held?
before my battles.
His Majesty calls for
the Abbot Vignali.
He's very bad.
I have no more hope.
We should inform the governor
that His Majesty is dying.
I shall go.
Tell the countess
to come immediately.
Gentlemen, the Emperor is dying.
The army?
My armies!
English subtitles
by sineintegral@KG
The words uttered by Napoleon having
a military and political significance
were scrupulously transcribed from
various memorials from St Helena,
that is,
they are historically correct.
Napoleon, when he was a student
in the School of Auxonne,
summarized in
a notebook his lessons
from the Abbot Lacroix,
Professor of Geography.
Those notes were cut off
in the middle of the page
and end with these words,
"St Helena, Small Island.'
After that, he wrote
nothing more in those pages.
"Geography Notebook
of Napoleon Bonaparte."
"St Helena, small island."
October 15, 1815
Napoleon is in Saint Helena,
defeated, a prisoner.
Sir, who would've imagined it?
- Ah, yes, I brought him here.
However you say
that on the Longwood flat?
there's a house which could serve
as residence for him and his people?
An old building but there isn't
anything better in Saint Helena.
Unless you want to host Napoleon
in the East Indian Company's villa.
Ah, no, no.
Too close to the sea. No!
Longwood! Longwood!
In the mountains, among the rocks.
We shall restore the house.
- But that will take time.
I must land him tonight,
as soon as it gets dark.
Is there a hotel in Jamestown?
Potius House which rents rooms.
Requisition the Potius House.
- Alright.
A poor habitation.
- It's temporary.
I placed trust in the protection
of your country's laws?
but when I saw from the sea?
this nightmare
of an island rise up?
my last illusion about your
generosity towards me has vanished.
I judge your words
to be absolutely unseemly!
Admiral, don't forget that
kings have fought for the honor
to be admitted to the table of
the man you're speaking to.
You're right, Ma'am.
Forgive me, General Bonaparte.
The last time I heard anyone
say "General Bonaparte?"
was at the Battle of the Pyramids.
Let them call me
whatever they want.
They won't stop me
from being who I am.
You shall choose the part of
the island most convenient
to your wishes.
Longwood was pointed out.
When you want,
we shall visit it together.
As soon as possible, Admiral.
Tomorrow?
At 10:00.
- At 10:00.
Tomorrow at 10:00, Marshal.
Good night, gentlemen.
Doctor, come with me.
Dr O'Meara,
Remember that you are
an officer in the British Navy.
And that his Majesty's government
has given you permission to stay
as the prisoner's special doctor?
because it is counting on you.
Does it count on me
because it considers me inept?
Or, at least,
capable of pretending to be?
Doctor,
I am a soldier and a gentleman.
The fondness which the prisoner
has shown for you on board?
must be of great use to us.
And it's up to you
to give me all the information
on what the prisoner does.
Admiral,
I am a soldier and a gentleman.
Above all else, be a soldier.
And I am also a man
who loves pleasant conversation.
Admiral, I shall often
take the pleasure?
of coming to talk with you.
Very good, Doctor.
How many rooms are there?
Can we see?
Is there one for me
and my children?
A moment's patience,
we're all not here.
The house management is under me.
I'd gladly give it to you but
the Emperor just inflicted me with it.
The Grand Marshal is
only responsible for protocol.
Protocol here?
The Emperor wants
the Grand Marshal.
Am I to have no role here?
You're asking me?
If you still have these ambitions,
plead with Count Las Cases,
who is the Emperor's favorite.
I aspire only to serve him.
We are camped in a real tavern.
Injustice is now added to outrage.
But why didn't they
rid themselves of me?
It would've been a crime
but yet a sign of strength.
Marshal, I cannot complain
without lowering myself.
You must protest.
However you can,
with all your energy. Always!
You insisted too much for
the Emperor to surrender to England.
Why didn't you propose
something better?
What could we do against the authority
of the Grand Marshal, Countess Bertrand,
and General Gourgaud?
General Gourgaud may
have been wrong?
but he followed the Emperor
not because he had to like some.
Whom do you allude to?
- Certainly not Count Las Cases.
He came here to write a book
with the Emperor's words.
You are alluding to me. Oh, yes.
When I heard
they were sending him here,
I begged my husband not to go.
And you tried to throw yourself
into Bellerophon's Sea.
If I hadn't grabbed
you by the leg?
I've thanked you, Countess.
Want me to thank you again?
I saved the Emperor's life
and I didn't ask for thanks.
We know.
You've told us many times.
In Brienne, you killed a Cossack?
- ?about to hit him with a spear.
You are a sublime man,
General Gourgaud.
Impetuous but sublime.
I'm?
I'm a man worse off
than anybody here.
Marshal Bertrand
and General Montholon
are here with
their wives and children?
and Count Las Cases is
here with his boy.
But I am alone.
I left my old mother in France,
poorer than me.
Nobody here has the right
to be more unhappy.
We all love the Emperor equally.
- But I adore him!
The Emperor is very sad.
I've never seen him so sad.
This is the place
of our deportation.
An unbearable humidity,
and surrounding it?
the desert.
But better here
than near the city.
Any place is good for me,
if it's far from vulgar curiosity.
I'm delighted that
you are pleased with Longwood.
Why not?
Longwood is worthy
of the hospitality you offer me.
A tree! I will finally have
a friend on this island.
Ah, if I could stay here today.
Ah, finally some shade.
The first I've seen.
The villa of a merchant, Mr Balcombe.
- Do you want to visit it?
I'd like to live there.
It sickens me
to return to Jamestown.
Maybe it's possible.
I'm going to talk to the owner.
Marshal, would you come with me?
Flowers must not be stolen!
Is this villa yours?
- Yes.
I envy you.
- Don't you have any villas?
I had many.
Now, I have none.
Do you come from afar?
Yes.
My name is Betsy, Sir.
- And I'm Jenny.
What is your name?
Napoleon.
Your wish may be fulfilled.
There's a pavilion
at the end of the garden,
which the Balcombe family
will place at your disposal.
Welcome to my home.
If you want to live there,
we shall be happy
to make it available.
Until they make your home
at Longwood ready.
Thank you.
Yours is a great courtesy.
I'm very happy to have
been able to please you.
You can give
Marshal Bertrand an order
to bring whatever you need here.
You can roam freely in the garden
and even outside, if you like,
as long as the captain knows
and can follow you from afar.
You don't need to see him.
He just needs to see you.
His Majesty?
- At the Bramble House.
He orders Count Las Cases and
his son and Marchand, his servant
to join him immediately
to stay with him.
I shudder to think
we have Napoleon in our home.
I couldn't sleep all night.
It's such a bore.
The whole house is upside down.
Mama and Papa want to invite him
but they don't know where to begin.
The servants are busy getting ready
and I had to cook my own omelet.
I advise you to do the same.
- Give me some of yours.
It's not fair
to give you my omelet
just because
Napoleon lost the war.
We already made a big mistake
yesterday by running away from him.
Let's show him that if he was Emperor,
we are two pretty girls.
The less I see him,
the happier I am.
Why?
Everyone's talking about him.
It'll be fun to talk to him.
He's too serious. Too melancholy.
He'll have to get over his melancholy
else it'll become his deathbed.
I'll go to him and say,
"Dear Emperor?"
General.
- "Dear General,
what's past is past.
You can't be emperor anymore.
Put your heart at ease
and be happy."
I'll tell him that right away.
Papa wants to invite him? I'll do it.
- And if papa gets angry?
That's it, you see?
Papa scares me.
But if I become friends with Napoleon,
he'll help me make war on Papa.
He knows war.
Mine was much better.
General?
General?
Don't call me general.
It's highly forbidden
to call you anything else.
The admiral told us clearly.
We must call you?
The admiral is
a very coarse gentleman.
But I used to give
you a worse title.
Which title, Miss Betsy?
I called you "the ogre."
You hated me without knowing me.
I've always been afraid of you.
Not so much though.
I'm not afraid of anyone.
You must let me call you general.
We don't know how
to speak to emperors.
You're the first
to come to St Helena.
Mama is very worried too.
That's why I took it upon myself
to ask if you want to come tonight?
to keep us company,
without overawing us.
Thank you, I'll come.
- But come alone.
Without the other generals.
It'll make us too ill at ease.
Alright, I'll come alone.
- Thank you.
I'll run to take
the load off mama's mind.
Oh, welcome!
And who are those gentlemen?
Miss Betsy Balcombe, our hostess.
Count Las Cases, my chamberlain.
And his son Emanuele.
- Is he a chamberlain too?
No. Not yet.
Cipriani!
Lead the count to his room.
Which is his room?
Up there.
It's lucky that
the chamberlain is not?
is not so tall.
Else, they couldn't even
stand up in there.
How nasty that boy is.
As pale as wax.
The young Las Cases is a pearl.
If you're good,
I'll have him marry you.
I have better things to do.
He'll come down later. Look him
over well. - I prefer to leave!
See you tonight!
Can you play whist?
Not much.
- You'll be in trouble with papa!
With your Majesty's permission,
may I put the room in order?
Since my entire palace is
reduced to this room,
I'll have to go in the garden.
All right, Marchand.
How did you sleep,
Count, in your attic?
I would've slept well
if it weren't for the rats.
They say the rats are
the plague of Saint Helena.
The rats and the admiral.
How are we going to pass the time?
in this forgotten corner
of the world?
Sire, we shall live in the past.
It'll be so beautiful to read
the lives of Alexander and Caesar.
But we'll go one better:
you shall read your life.
Yes.
We shall write
the history of my campaigns.
Good morning, gentlemen.
You look very irritated,
General Gourgaud.
Sire,
I was stopped from coming because
I didn't have a sergeant's escort.
I had to bend over backwards
to ask for this escort.
Marshal, not even
my generals can freely reach me.
You must protest, I repeat.
Irritating the admiral won't help.
You may get more with negotiating.
You are naive, Marshal.
Your Majesty is wrong
not to listen to my advice.
At the Tuileries,
you wouldn't have spoken
to me like that.
Everything I did then was perfect!
You've angered His Majesty.
- Gentlemen,
here, more than ever,
we must remember who he is.
Good morning!
- Good morning.
Move over and let me pass!
Respect those who carry burdens.
- But he's a slave.
What is your name?
Where were you born?
He was taken in the sea,
brought here and sold.
A man torn from his homeland,
he has become a thing to be sold.
Can you imagine
a greater unhappiness?
Poor Tobias.
Yes, poor Tobias.
Poor Tobias, here in St Helena,
is not the only example
of the cruelty of fate.
But my misfortune will
also give me glory.
If I had died
in the splendors of power,
I would've remained perhaps
an unsolved enigma to many.
And now,
everyone can understand me.
Even you, Betsy.
Yes.
Yes, I understand you, Sire.
Why didn't the Empress
come with you?
I didn't want it.
Why didn't you want
your son to come?
What is your son's name?
The King of Rome.
London 1816
Then we are in agreement,
Sir Hudson Lowe:
Next week you shall depart
for St Helena?
to become Napoleon's guardian.
Are you afraid of words?
I don't think so, Minister Sir.
What impression does the word?
"jailer" make on you?
Many would like nothing better than
the post I've entrusted to you.
And remember, that I chose you.
Sir Henry Bells,
I shall know how to be
worthy of your trust.
We're leaving.
The Longwood house is finished.
Why don't you stay
at the Brambles?
It's forbidden, Betsy, forbidden.
Europe doesn't trust the Brambles.
I'd like to say goodbye
to Mr and Mrs Balcombe.
My father's in town
and my mother's ill in bed.
Oh, poor lady.
Take me to her.
Mama, the general.
If I had known, I would've risen.
Don't fret, Mrs Balcombe.
We're old friends.
I came to take my leave.
Thank you for all courtesies.
How many times in your home,
have I forgotten my exile?
I'm very pleased.
Salute Mr Balcombe for me.
For Betsy,
a keepsake from Napoleon.
Oh, is Miss Betsy angry?
Thank you.
Madame, I must leave. Goodbye.
Do not forget the Bramble House.
We shall always remember you.
I'm further off, my little friend?
but I remain in St Helena.
Tell your father to come
and bring you to Longwood.
Will you come and see me?
- Yes.
Goodbye.
Thus,
to the Brambles and Longwood,
has my old camp bed followed
me from Marengo and Austerlitz.
The sentries will surround the area
granted to Gen Bonaparte.
No one must leave there,
unless accompanied
by an officer or a picket.
At sunset, when the first shot
of the cannon is fired,
the sentries will advance
to the edge of the garden.
At nightfall, at the second shot,
they will surround the house.
This heat!
How can we get
54 people inside here?
General,
have you found a few walls
for you and the countess?
Two rooms, Sire.
- Adjacent to your apartment.
Then you shall be
my neighbor, Countess.
Not without timidity, Sire.
You and Countess Bertrand shall
be the grace of our exile.
But Countess Bertrand
will not live here.
The Grand Marshal has rented
a villa, a few 100 meters away.
Countess Bertrand prefers
to have a house?
of her own, separate from us.
Fine.
Marchand!
A gala dinner tonight.
Everyone must attend.
Even the marshal
and the marshaless.
See you later, Sir and Madame.
There'll be a storm!
I'm truly glad that
the Countess Bertrand?
is not living with us.
Our first day in Longwood is over.
The days will be long here.
82 million men obeyed me.
It only took one day
to destroy everything.
The defeat did not
lower the vanquished,
nor did victory raise the victor.
We'll also write the history of
the Battle of Waterloo. - Yes, Sire.
We shall write
the history of all your battles.
And it will be
as beautiful as "The Iliad".
I see Achilles?
but I don't see Homer.
Countess, you have
a graceful voice. Sing.
Cimarosa? Pa?r? Paisiello?
Paisiello.
In my heart, I no more feel
the sparkle of youth.
The cause of my torment,
oh Love, it is your fault.
What is this thing in me?
How many times have I heard
these notes at The Tuileries.
They were delightful concerts.
What life, what elegance!
Never was there a court
as splendid as yours, Sire.
?which makes me despair.
Thank you, Countess.
And this is the music
of St Helena: the rain.
Will you read me
what I dictated yesterday?
Sire, allow my son to read.
But this boy is very pale.
He needs to be treated.
Are your eyes tired, Count?
My eyes are full of shadow.
I see less and less.
And why didn't you tell me?
- Oh, Sire, when I see you no more?
My good friend.
Here is the governor.
Go and receive him too.
Are you General Bertrand?
Countess Bertrand.
Countess Montholon.
General Montholon.
General Gourgaud.
Count Las Cases, Chamberlain.
Admiral Malcolm,
who succeeds Admiral Cockburn?
of the command of
the naval forces of St Helena.
Colonel Reed.
Major Gorky.
Noverase, announce
to His Majesty, the Emperor,
His Excellency,
the Governor of St Helena.
I have come, Sir,
to pay my respect.
How many years of
service do you have?
28.
I have 40 years of service.
Therefore,
I'm an older soldier than you.
History will speak
of our services?
in a very different way.
I cannot say I was satisfied
with your predecessor.
He treated me with a familiarity
that closely
resembled impertinence.
He imposed an English escort,
he forced me to give up
my horseback riding.
So, for lack of exercise,
my health deteriorates daily.
He had me watched over
like a ferocious beast,
under the ridiculous pretext
of providing for my safety.
And he refused to send my letters
if he hadn't read them first.
The admiral obeyed
his superiors' instructions.
It's well you should know that I too,
under my government's orders,
will strictly obey and even
more than Admiral Cockburn did.
Have you anything else to say?
Nothing else, General.
- Neither do I.
He is odious!
Gentlemen, I have the honor
and pleasure to communicate
that everybody in General Bonaparte's
train, including the servants,
must leave the island at once,
if they don't sign
this declaration.
"The undersigned declare that
they wish to stay in St Helena
agreeing to the restrictions
which will be necessary for
General Bonaparte to endure."
I will sign on one condition:
The words "General Bonaparte,"
be replaced with
"Emperor Napoleon."
I agree.
- Me too.
I won't sign.
- Fine.
Then you shall
all leave right away.
Only a cook and a few servants
will remain with Gen Bonaparte.
We mustn't sign a document
that offends the Emperor.
And above all, we mustn't sign
our freedom away.
And must we leave the Emperor
alone in this prison?
Oh, no.
We can't abandon him.
We would be more
cruel than the governor.
Whatever it costs, I'll sign.
We shall all sign.
Everyone signed,
even the servants.
The general must've forced
the servants to sign.
I suspected it too. I had them
come here to be questioned.
I shall question them myself.
You, come here.
Did you read
the paper you signed?
Yes, Excellency.
Can you read?
No, Excellency.
But it doesn't matter.
Do you know what
these signatures pledge you to?
Do you know?
- Maybe to stay here forever.
They intimidated you?
Paid you to sign?
No. They told me
I can go if I want to.
But I won't.
- And you?
I don't want to, Excellency.
Do you all want to stay here?
Isn't there anyone who wants to see
their country, their family again?
No!
It's doesn't suffice
that you want to stay here.
I must allow it.
There are too many of you.
Therefore, some of you must leave.
You.
You.
You.
And you. What's the matter?
Nothing.
Get out!
A bit of coolness.
But it won't last.
Here, there's either a bitter wind
which lacerates my soul
and brings fog and rain,
or a sun that burns
through my brain.
Marchand, give me your arm.
Today, I feel some pains
in my left side?
and I am sad.
Oh, good Cipriani!
What do you want, Cipriani?
Yes?
- You must?
keep an eye on Santini, Sire.
He wants to kill the governor.
Marchand, get Santini immediately.
Killing him would be
a joy for me too,
if it weren't for being hanged.
But afterwards,
they would revenge
themselves on you, Sire.
Ah, Cipriani!
How beautiful our Corsica was!
Everything all green.
And what wine!
What oil!
What fruit!
After so many years,
I can still smell
the scent of our island.
I could recognize it
with my eyes closed,
for that perfume
which is all its own.
You shall see it again.
But not I.
Santini! Brigand!
You wanted to kill the governor?
He's separating me from you.
I have a two-shot rifle:
one for him and the other for me.
You want it said that
I incite assassinations?
I forbid you to commit crimes!
There is a better way
for you to prove your loyalty.
You'll be given a complaint.
If you reach London,
you will have it published.
Go, Santini.
Before leaving, come to say goodbye.
And leave the guns alone.
Doctor, you haven't been
around for some days.
I always want to know
what General Bonaparte is doing.
He lives. And that is much.
And in what terms
does he speak of me?
With every possible malediction.
What does he say?
Let it go, Excellency.
I shall make him feel
the full weight of my power.
Tell me about
his state of health.
Very bad.
Let me remind you that liver
diseases are raging in St Helena.
Gen Bonaparte has a bad liver.
It's a slanderous invention.
Excellency, allow me
to say that I am a doctor.
And I'm your superior.
I don't want this myth of
an unhealthy climate spreading,
making all Europe believe that
he was brought here to die quickly.
I forbid you to affiliate yourself
with the statements of a prisoner,
who in the end,
is nothing but a usurper.
A usurper?
who at 25 years old
was the first man in the world.
You're too warm.
This warmth is suspicious.
I will report it
to the government.
Sire, this jacket is too worn.
You can no longer wear it.
I'll get a new one.
There's no green
cloth in Jamestown.
I'll wear another.
Let's go choose one.
There isn't much to choose from.
I can't wear the uniform
of the First Consul
or the Marengo cloak.
When I was a lieutenant,
I had my clothes sent back.
I shall finish as I started.
Turn the green jacket inside out.
A letter from Calgados.
His Excellency writes
that in America, in France,
plots are organized everywhere
to break Bonaparte free.
My responsibility is tremendous!
We must tighten the circle.
- You're right.
If the 2,500 soldiers
surrounding Longwood,
the 90 cannons, the 20 mortars,
the ships circling
the island are not enough,
then we'll bring more ships,
soldiers, cannons and weapons!
But Colonel, this is not living.
This is anguish, this is fear.
Just think, he could he even be
escaping at this very moment!
Sire?
Sire?
I was dreaming?
of Maria Luisa.
She was holding
my son by the hand.
She was beautiful
and smiling like?
that day in Compi?gne,
when I saw her for the first time.
I was about to hold
her in my arms,
but I felt her slipping away.
And I woke up.
Sire, your face was so frantic
that it was I who awoke you.
Ah, wretch!
It was you who took away the joy
of staying a little longer
with my wife and son.
Forgive me. Forgive me, Sire.
If I could, I'd bring the Empress
and King of Rome to your arms.
No?
It's better my wife and my son?
cannot see my wretchedness.
Did I mistreat you, poor Marchand?
I know you are
the most faithful of them all.
It shall be you
who will close my eyes.
This closed air is bad for you.
But the light is bad for you.
Why did I bring you here?
You didn't sleep last night.
Neither did you either.
Do you really want to give this letter
to that mulatto who's leaving?
Yes, he promised
to deliver it for ?4.
Lady Clavering is the only friend
I have who is trying to help us
without the governor
reading what I wrote.
But won't it be imprudent?
If he betrays us?
If they search him?
Then the governor will
send us away.
You very much need
healthy air and care, Emanuele.
To see Europe again
before going blind?
But it will be a great sadness
to leave the Emperor.
I'm examining the papers
we seized from you after your arrest.
Ah, amusing, eh?
I am a monster, without
morals and without feelings.
I'm an outlaw leader.
One can feel the joy
with which you wrote
your master's injurious words.
Excellency, you can take revenge.
Me? Oh, no!
I don't want it said
that on my own initiative,
I deprived Gen Bonaparte
of the only Frenchman
who speaks English.
It shall be my government
that will punish you.
And pending its orders,
I return you to Longwood.
Of course well guarded
and forbidden to leave.
I don't want
to go back to Longwood.
You deny your name?
The Emperor saw me treated
like a thief, dragged away.
It was a cruel offense
to his dignity.
If I returned to his presence,
I would revive that cruel memory.
Send me back to Europe with
my son as soon as you can.
Alright.
But you must state in writing?
that this is your will.
I want to send
this letter to Count Las Cases.
"My dear count,
my heart shares in your pain.
Your company was necessary
but I urge you,
and where necessary order you,
to ask the governor
to send you to the mainland.
Boast of the loyalty you've shown
and the affection I bear for you."
And us?
It's like Las Cases's leaving
has cast you into deep despair
and that we are less than zero.
Schemers are always lucky!
What are you trying to say?
That Count Las Cases
was betraying me?
I'm prepared for everything.
Men should be villains
to be worse than
the disdain I have of them.
A fine and noble letter, Sire.
When I'm speaking to His Majesty,
I beg the lady not to interrupt.
Mrs Montholon?
- Mrs Montholon?
is my particular enemy.
- Oh, be quiet.
And you be quiet too.
Noverase, a pen.
"Receive my embrace and my
attestation of esteem and friendship.
Napoleon."
I have the accounts here.
There.
Of my own free will,
contrary to the orders received,
I can increase the annual cost
from 8 to 12,000 pounds.
But you spend even more.
It means that the bare essentials
for 45 people costs more.
It means that you like
to live like grand seigneurs.
I won't prevent it,
as long as Bonaparte agrees
to contribute to the expenses.
I'm sure the Emperor is
willing to take on the expenses,
but let me get the necessary means
by means of unopened letters.
He doesn't want to expose his friends
to the persecutions of your government.
Unopened letters
inside unopened letters.
Never!
Then, I've nothing more to say.
But Gen Bonaparte
must supply this money.
I'll come to Longwood myself
tomorrow and ask it from him.
I want to speak to Gen Bonaparte.
Impossible, Excellency.
He doesn't grant unexpected audiences.
Not grant audiences?
- These are his orders.
He'll grant me an audience!
Come, Admiral.
Gen Bertrand's inflexibility
forces me to talk to you directly
about your home's expenses.
Marshal Bertrand has
commanded armies.
This one treats
him like a corporal.
And he treats us like deserters.
I know from experience that
governments use two kinds of people:
those whom they esteem
and those whom they despise.
He is one of those
who are despised.
You don't know me.
- And where would I know him?
On a battlefield,
where no one has ever seen him?
I think I owe your dislike to my
unfavorable, unpleasant appearance.
I don't reproach him
for having that face,
but he is as ugly morally
as he is on the outside.
General, it is the Governor
of St Helena you speak to!
That title is the same
for you as hangman!
I have received precise instructions.
I am only an instrument.
An infamous instrument:
the rack!
You've come to ask me for money.
I don't have any but
I could get some from my friends.
But you prevent me
from addressing them.
Your insistence is,
therefore, a waste of time.
If I'm hungry,
I'll report to
your officers' mess.
They will not repel
the oldest soldier in Europe.
And your rulers and you will
go down in history as tyrants.
History will say that Bonaparte,
a prisoner in St Helena,
has suffered the just punishment
for his political faults.
A vile lie!
History will never say that!
Well, Napoleon won't justify
himself before a man like you.
Ah, you are so odious to me?
I would even give up my freedom,
if you were the one to offer it!
General, you make me laugh.
What? I make you laugh?
The day shall come?
when your country will disown you.
The whole world shall
execrate you.
Remember then the curse?
of the Emperor Napoleon.
The false opinion
you have of my character
and the audacity of your manners
inspire me with pity.
I salute you.
- I must salute you as well.
Ah! I don't want to see
the governor ever again!
The sight of him takes
away my self control,
makes me forget my dignity.
Marshal,
to have the money for our bread
which England demands?
you shall dismantle
and sell my silverware.
January 1, 1818
The Emperor!
Sire, we offer our devoted
wishes for the new year.
The third we are spending here.
Thank you, gentlemen
and I return your good wishes.
Countess,
it took the New Year
for you to come and visit me.
Countess, you are even
more beautiful than usual.
And how are the children?
- Well, Sire.
And yours?
- They send you 1000 wishes, Majesty.
I offer you these violets of Parma
in the name of the King of Rome.
At this moment the King
of Rome is thinking of me,
as he is thinking of you.
And even your thoughts
today are far from here.
But do not abandon me.
You are like my children.
You will not remain here long
because I shall die soon.
Returning to Europe,
you shall be honored
for your loyalty.
You'll be rich because what I own,
I shall divide amongst you.
Happy New Year.
Happy New Year.
- Happy New Year, Countess.
Did you hear that?
The Emperor will divide
between us what he has.
Yeah, if the Montholons won't
give it all away first.
Albina is a very cunning coquette.
I detest her!
I'm sure her insinuations
and husband's slanders
robbed me of
His Majesty's affection.
You must be patient.
The Emperor is selfish
but is just after all.
If Montholon continues
his intrigues,
I'll provoke him and fight him.
The Emperor would detest you.
- Have you seen Albina's last child?
He doesn't look like his father.
- You mean he looks like His Majesty?
Oh, no?
I'm just saying that the nights
at St Helena are very long.
"The Russian troops
marched onto Warsaw?
and a corp of the French army
was sent to great days
to the northwest."
Marchand!
Go wake up General Gourgaud.
Blessed are you who can sleep.
- Excuse me, Sire.
Well, it's 3 am,
you're right to be tired.
But I must also keep busy
my sleepless nights.
Go and rest.
See you tomorrow, General.
Gen Gourgaud will be
here presently.
You too, my boy,
find it hard
to keep your eyes open.
Go on to bed.
Did you not like having
your sleep interrupted?
I don't like being
Gen Montholon's substitute.
You're jealous of everything.
You're angry because
the Montholons love me.
I also know you make malicious
allusions against Mrs Montholon.
And if I liked her,
what business is it of yours?
I'm an honest man,
I say what I think.
Yours are the virtue of a savage.
Coming here you thought
you were my comrade.
I'm nobody's comrade.
I know.
But I was wrong to say
this to Your Majesty.
It is Mr Montholon
I must speak to!
If you threaten Montholon,
you're a brigand and a murderer!
Your Majesty calls me a murderer
but I haven't murdered anyone.
On the contrary,
I saved your Majesty's life.
When?
- In Brienne!
I don't remember.
But really, what do you want?
A brigand can't want anything.
That is, yes:
I want to free you
from my hateful presence.
So be it. We shall separate.
Go among happier people,
since you don't know
how to share my misfortune.
Let us embrace.
On this earth,
we shall never meet again.
We'll say you've asked
for leave due to health reasons.
Bertrand will give you
?500 for travel expenses.
I refuse it.
That is too much for my needs?
and not enough for my honor.
What new complaints
are you bringing me?
I ask you to let me
return to Europe.
Until I depart, put me wherever
you want but away from Longwood.
I can no longer stay there?
without dishonoring myself.
Dear General,
I've always been amazed
how a warrior like you?
could resign himself
to be treated so badly.
Will you do me the honor
of dining with us tonight?
Procure for Gen Gourgaud?
the best apartment
you can find in town.
General,
I look forward
to seeing you for lunch.
That madman sent me a challenge.
I replied that a duel between us
would make
the Emperor's enemies happy.
And soon we'll be rid
of that nuisance too.
But he will see Europe again.
Paris?
To see Paris once again?
When do you leave
for London, Ma'am?
I'm waiting for my brother to return
and then we'll leave together.
If you had come to us first,
you would've made us very happy.
And maybe you wouldn't
have been bored.
Oh, no, Ma'am.
Explain to me why Gen Bonaparte
has so many horrible
prejudices against us.
Bad people around him, Ma'am.
I wouldn't say that: Countess Bertrand
and Countess Montholon are so pretty.
General, what would
they say at Longwood
when they find out you've dined
at the enemy's camp?
They can say what they want!
I will not say one word
against the Emperor,
even though he wronged me.
They wouldn't dare attack me!
- Don't be choleric, General.
Given the state of your health?
- I'm fine!
Marshal Bertrand informed us?
that you wanted to go home
because you're afflicted
with an awful liver illness.
I repeat that I'm fine.
- But Dr O'Meara said?
Dr O'Meara says
whatever he told?
by Gen Bonaparte.
Then it's not true that
Gen Bonaparte is very ill?
It's false!
- That's good news!
I wish him a 1000 years of
good health and detention.
He shall stay as long as he wants.
Leave whenever he wants!
That means then?
- Escape whenever he wants!
Let's not talk of the absent.
Let's just worry about
our nice Gen Gourgaud,
who shall soon
see his family again.
I have only my mother.
- Let's drink to her health.
Yes, after.
General.
Ladies. Gentlemen officers.
To the king!
- The king!
To Gen Gourgaud's dear mother.
Thank you.
Please, Countess, Ma'am,
Cipriani is ill.
Cipriani?
A violent heart attack.
Excellency,
allow me to withdraw.
Say "until we meet again."
I hope you'll honor me with a visit.
I know you're a hunter. Would you
like to shoot pheasants tomorrow?
You can roam the island freely
now that we know you're a friend.
Let us embrace.
On this earth,
we shall never meet again.
How is Cipriani?
I'm going to see him.
- Your Majesty,
if he saw you he would attempt
to rise up as a show of respect?
and would die.
Return to him?
and tell him that?
And thus Cipriani leaves us?
without my saying goodbye to him?
with the words of our Corsica.
Marchand,
my Cipriani?
There's too much silence.
Marchand,
go call Marshal Bertrand.
Even?
with my eyes closed,
I'd recognize my Corsica.
It has a perfume?
which is all its own.
Albina, go and see
how Cipriani is doing.
I'm going.
Let us hope.
You here too, Countess?
You did well to come. Thank you.
I know that you've been indisposed
and yet you came.
Sire, let me disclose to you
that I shall be a mother again.
My son shall be the first
stranger to enter the island
without the governor's permission.
How is he?
He is near death.
Does he know how to die?
Here is another
who has left St Helena?
without the governor's permission.
I sent for you because
I found out from Gen Gourgaud?
that Bonaparte is very well.
So you've always lied to me.
Starting today,
I order you to tell the truth!
Gen Bonaparte is ill.
He had an attack just yesterday.
- That's not true.
Has the general left
the house recently?
No.
- What has he been doing?
I don't know.
You do know and you must tell me.
Even if I did,
I wouldn't tell you.
You didn't think like that before.
Your way of treating me
changed my mind.
And I will also
change your country!
Go tell your patient
that you're no longer his doctor.
And if he really wants to be sick,
I'll send him one who'll tell me all.
He won't receive him.
- He will!
He won't.
Get out!
Get out!
And don't appear before me again!
In a few days,
you shall embark for Europe.
I may embark?
but Napoleon will never receive
an English doctor.
Then farewell, Sir Doctor.
When you are in Europe,
try to see my lady mother?
and tell her of my sufferings.
Go and see my good Maria Luisa
and assure her of my affection.
And if you see my son,
embrace him for me.
"What came from the earth?
will soon return to the earth."
And thus, the British shall no
longer fear a two-cornered hat.
Rome 1819
Abbot Bonavita, Abbot Vignali
and Dr Antommarchi.
Come in.
Have a seat, Reverend.
When do you leave for St Helena?
Hopefully soon.
We've been in Rome a few weeks
and the permission never arrives.
My son has been waiting more than
a year for medical assistance.
The British government authorized
the Emperor's family
to choose and send a priest
and doctor to His Majesty.
Why so many delays?
I don't think the obstacles
come from the Holy Father.
His Holiness, when he met
my carriage at the Pincio,
he got down and
came to greet me and asked,
"How is the poor Emperor?"
"I don't know?
how he is."
Reverend Father,
when you are near my son,
tell him that if I get permission
from the authorities to join him,
I shall be happy to go
and die by his side.
The Grand Marshal and
Gen Montholon beg an audience.
I have news:
Tonight, I slept for 4 hours.
What do you have to tell me?
Gen Montholon asks?
- He doesn't know how to speak?
My wife wastes away everyday?
and the children are growing up
uneducated and sickly.
The general would like
to take the countess to Europe.
No, General. You cannot leave!
The countess may leave,
if you like.
Oh, we'll talk about
this another day.
The Newcastle will sail in 3 days.
Then we'll need to ask
the governor's permission
for Countess Montholon to depart.
Already granted, Sire.
All done?
Do you have some similar
message like that to tell me?
No, Sire.
Oh, I'm expecting it.
Marchand,
I don't want to see
anyone more today.
It is really true? You're leaving?
I'm very sick?
but I'll be back.
One doesn't return to St Helena.
If anything, you stay
there forever, like me.
It's no longer needed.
I want to give you my portrait.
And thank you?
for having smiled
even at Longwood.
The wind?
it comes to take you up?
and steal you away.
Will your husband
accompany you to the port?
Yes.
Don't worry,
he won't remain here long.
Farewell, Albina.
This weeping does me ill.
His Majesty's dinner is served.
Marchand, resume reading "Zaire,"
from where we left off last night.
Lusignan:
"Sire,
I knew the court of
France in all its glory.
When Philip conquered at Bouvines,
I fought with Montmorency,
Melum, d?Estaing,
with Nesle and Coucy,
but to see Paris again,
Fate has me forbid.
My time has passed?
and my tomb approaches nigh."
What's the matter?
Nothing.
- That's not true.
You shall see 2 priests and a doctor
sent by the Emperor's family.
One, a very worthy,
but infirm and paralytic abbot,
another, an insignificant abbot,
and a doctor who has done nothing
but dissect corpses in hospitals.
The old one must leave
or he'll die here.
And must we be decrepit
and infirm to get away?
We can't abandon him.
Montholon is staying and
I'll be no less faithful than he.
For all the good it does you.
He's like ice to you.
He's always been my enemy,
during the voyage and here.
He knows you didn't want me to come
and that you want me to leave.
Call back Albina.
She was his favorite.
What does it matter
whether I stay or go?
He made it clear
that he doesn't like my visits.
And that's why I haven't
been there for months.
It's painful, dear.
He has long since taken away
his confidence and I suffer for it.
But I'll never leave him. Never.
If you want to leave
with the children?
Without you? No, my dear.
Not without you.
Miss Balcombe asks to be received.
Betsy?
The Balcombes are leaving St Helena.
They're going to England.
Even Betsy?
Everyone is going.
Have her enter.
So you're going too, little Betsy?
And so the ogre will
remain alone in his lair.
I have much hope
I'll see you again in Europe.
It would be nice?
if they let me live in a small town,
like an old gentleman.
Betsy, you would bring
your beloved to me,
And you would say,
"Make this good girl happy."
If I have a beloved,
I'll bring him here.
But I won't be able
to tell him anything.
Because I shall have
finished speaking.
No, that's not true.
I don't want that.
Goodbye,
little Betsy.
Are you sending me away
because I cried?
I won't cry again.
I'm tired.
Give me your arm.
I want to show you to the door.
You know my tree.
Break off a branch
and take it away as a souvenir.
Go now.
Have a good trip.
I cannot overcome?
this tiredness.
The bed has become to me?
a place of delight.
How exhausted I feel.
This medicine must be taken.
Oh, you take it!
It will do you better than me.
It has been no help to me.
Listen to the doctor, Sire.
Listen to the doctor.
I don't understand
what you are saying.
I can't hear you.
I can't?
It's very serious.
- Can't you say anything else?
I decline any responsibility.
I request a consultation.
With an English doctor?
The Emperor won't allow it.
He'll reproach me, curse me
but I'm going to get a doctor.
We have a duty to try everything.
When you're in London,
you may report to your cousin,
his Excellency,
the Prime Minister?
that Gen Bonaparte is
well guarded.
Is it true that Napoleon is
seriously ill? - No, it's not.
They want to fool Europe and me,
hoping we'll relax our vigilance.
Longwood is a hotbed of gossip,
that unfortunately, flies everywhere.
Tell me the truth, Doctor.
I'm an old soldier
who loves frankness.
Am I done for?
In my opinion,
it's a stomach inflammation.
Nothing to worry about.
I'm sorry, Doctor,
that I abused you earlier.
I assure you that my presence
here is no longer necessary.
If anything, if you like,
I shall return.
Now I must go into town to be
introduced to Sir Thomas Ricketts,
cousin of the Prime Minister,
coming from India and going to London.
Cousin to the Prime Minister?
You must see him,
you must speak to him.
He must tell them in England?
that there's now no more
need for these tortures.
Marshal, write to him at once.
Tell him I beg him
to come to Longwood.
It's suffocating!
Do you need anything, Sire?
It's suffocating!
That's why they were thinking
of moving the bed into the salon.
You'll have more air there.
Take me wherever you want.
I should have died in Austerlitz,
at the zenith of my victory?
or at Moscow or Waterloo.
Go to your home, Marshal.
Send me Montholon.
Sire,
permit me to assist you tonight.
No, I'm used to Montholon's care.
Why are you so sad, Bertrand?
Does it hurt you so much
for me to send you away?
You have desired
so much to leave me.
Come closer.
How is the countess?
I haven't seen her
for a long time.
Tell her to come to salute me.
Stay here with me tonight,
Bertrand.
We'll let Montholon rest.
Take a chair.
Marchand!
Open the window, my son.
Let me breathe?
the air that God has made.
Bertrand.
Go and pick me a rose.
How refreshing!
The air!
Write this down:
"I leave my son?
my house in Ajaccio
with the garden.
My son must not think of
avenging my death.
If he reigns,
he mustn't try
to imitate his father.
One cannot do?
the same thing twice
in one century.
May he be?
the man of his time."
I must?
compensate?
those who has served me.
My poor soldiers!
Maybe they don't have bread!
Get "The Iliad."
Homer describes so well?
the war councils that I held?
before my battles.
His Majesty calls for
the Abbot Vignali.
He's very bad.
I have no more hope.
We should inform the governor
that His Majesty is dying.
I shall go.
Tell the countess
to come immediately.
Gentlemen, the Emperor is dying.
The army?
My armies!
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