The Juniper Tree (1990) - full transcript

MARGIT: Where did she go?

MOTHER: She became ashes

and left with the wind.

MARGIT: And her soul?

MOTHER: Her soul was tied

to the heart of a bird.

MARGIT: And the thread
will hold forever?

MOTHER:
Until the bird's heart breaks.

[ Birds chirping ]

[ Wind blowing ]

[ Distant Singing ]



[ Flies buzzing ]

Out from here, out from there.

Out to take you anywhere.

Into iron, into stone

out from here away, begone.

[ Buzzing stops ]

[ Wind blowing ]

I want to show you something.

KATLA: They've stoned her
and left her for the ravens.

MARGIT: Who was she?

KATLA: I don't know,

but we haven't come
far enough away from home.

MARGIT: Did they stone
our mother?

KATLA: Before they burned her.



[ Crows cawing ]

[ Music playing ]

KATLA: We will go
where no one knows us

and find a place to stay.

MARGIT: Who will take us?

KATLA: I shall make a spell
to find a husband.

He'll hear my voice

and never leave me.

I'll sew my footprints
into his coat,

and he'll follow me forever.

I'll ride three times around him

and bind his heart to mine.

But no one must ever know.

We must never tell.

And we won't burn.

Not like the others.

Because no one will know us.

[ Music playing ]

MARGIT: Did you sew
your footstep into his coat?

KATLA: No.

MARGIT: Did you sprinkle
your blood in his tea?

KATLA: No.

MARGIT: And we shall go with him
and stay with him?

KATLA: Yes. We shall go with him
and stay with him.

MARGIT: And we won't have
to leave?

KATLA: Not until you want to.

MARGIT:
And we shall be safe there?

KATLA: We shall be safe.

[ Laughter ]

[ Grunts ]

[ Crickets chirping ]

[ Music playing ]

KATLA: What do you see?

I don't know.

Look hard.

What do you see?

MARGIT: It's so far away.

KATLA: What is it?

[ Crickets chirping ]

[ Wind blowing ]

Have the cows all run away?

And the hens swum down
the river?

Well, I've brought someone
to make sure they don't.

And you have a new little aunt
to keep you warm at night.

[ Wind blowing ]

[ Horse snorts ]

[ Music playing ]

MARGIT: Our Father
who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread

and forgive us our trespasses

as we forgive those

who trespass against us.

Lead us not into temptation,

and deliver us from evil.

Amen.

[ Birds chirping ]

KATLA: Hair holds.

Fire frees.

Braid binds.

Ash unwinds.

[ Cow mooing ]

MARGIT:
Raven with his sack, sack.

Up upon his back, back.

Who will hear his call, call?

All the children small, small.

Awk! Awk!

In the sack, in the sack,

never to come back, back.

What are you doing?

This is my real mother.

Do you mean she's buried here?

My father and I buried her here.

I don't know
where my mother's buried.

Weren't you there?

[ Birds squawking ]

I come here every day,
so she'll remember me.

And if you didn't come,
then she'd forget?

My mother wouldn't forget me,

even if I don't know
where she's buried.

She still remembers.

KATLA: Margit!

Don't let her see!

KATLA: Margit!

Margit!

MARGIT: I'd better go.

[ Thunder rumbling ]

KATLA: Have you seen Jonas?

MARGIT: No.

JONAS:
Why did you bring her here?

JOHANN: Don't you like her?

JONAS: She doesn't do things
like we do.

JOHANN: You don't like
her cooking?

JONAS: No.

But she's different than we are.

JOHANN: She's got two legs
and a nose.

She's not a goat.

What do you mean
she's different?

JONAS: She's just different.

JOHANN: I didn't bring her here
to suit you.

JONAS: I already have a mother.

JOHANN: You had a mother and now,

you have another one.

They're different
from each other

and the one who's here now
is staying.

JONAS: Do you like her better?

JOHANN: That's not a question
to ask.

I like her and she's my wife.

Or maybe I should think again.

I won't go.

My mother will make you go.

[ Birds chirping ]

[ Music playing ]

[ Humming ]

[ Groaning ]

Jonas, look.

[ Rooster crowing ]

[ Dog barking ]

[ Wings fluttering ]

[ Bird squawks ]

[ Wings fluttering ]

[ Bird squawks ]

[ Wings fluttering ]

[ Bird squawks ]

[ Gasps ]

KATLA: Johann?

Johann?

JOHANN: Why are you here?

You don't belong here.

Are you all right?

She was better than you.

That's something to remember.

We'll all know it was a mistake

when her goodness turns to dust.

Whose goodness?

Yours.

No.

She came to tell me.

But I'm here to be good to you.

I won't go away.

Get away from me.

Good.

Now stay there.

[ Birds chirping ]

[ Rooster crows ]

[ Wood creaking ]

[ Footsteps ]

Jonas?

You must have loved
your mother very much.

You can't hurt her.

Why do you think
I'm trying to hurt her?

I'm not, you know.

What do you want?

I don't want anything.

You want my mother gone.

I want to live here in peace.

♪ Charms she chose ♪

♪ Hung on your heart ♪

- ♪ Break their... ♪
- Don't!

Don't what?

Don't do your work on me.

- What work?
- What you do.

What do I do?

- You know.
- No, I don't.

Why didn't you tell me, Jonas?

Is it like what your mother did?

Let's get going.

Nothing's getting done
while you're standing here.

What were you talking about?

Nothing much.

Remember he's my son.

[ Water gushing ]

[ Birds chirping ]

[ Humming ]

What are you doing?

I didn't know it was you.

Who did you think I was?

I don't know.

One of your visions?

I don't know if I have any.

You always say I do,

but I never remember anything.

You look like our mother did
when she saw.

Your eyes look the same.

She could tell everything
by what she saw.

But I can't see.

I don't want to see--

even if I could.

I know you can.

And I need you to.

I don't want us to have
to go away from here.

She was burned
because she saw.

Can you see?

I don't know.

Try.

Try.

KATLA:
Mary and Martha met at the tree.

Lost a son,
saved a son,

send a son to me.

You took two.

I just knocked it with my hand.

You have to take a shell first.

Where are you
and your sister from?

It's not there anymore.

It disappeared?

No.

There aren't any people
there anymore,

They're all gone.

Will you ever go back?

Katla says we'll stay here.

That we're from here now.

But you can't change
where you're from.

But what if where you're from
isn't there anymore?

Then you can be from here,
but your sister can't be.

MARGIT: Why not?

Because I'm from here
and I don't want her to be.

But she's my sister,

and she has to be
from the same place as I am.

But I don't want her to be!

But she has to be!

No, she can't be!

I don't want her to be!

No, she can't be!

I don't want her to be!
She can't be!

- I don't want her to be!
- MARGIT: ♪ Daughter fair♪

♪ Of king of England ♪

♪ Took her maidens off to pray ♪

♪ All the way
to fair Jerusalem ♪

♪ Her hair was black,
her skin was white ♪

♪ The King of Huns ♪

♪ He saw her passage ♪

♪ Sent his men to follow her ♪

♪ To bid her to his castle ♪

JONAS: Margit?

Does it hurt?

MARGIT: No, you didn't mean it.

[ Waves crashing ]

KATLA: This way.

I saw something last night.

The same as before?

I don't know.

I just know I saw something.

I can feel it afterwards.

How?

I feel like I want to rest.

But not just sleep.

It's as if I could rest forever.

She wants us to go away.

Who?

Jonas's mother.

I don't want to go away.

I won't leave Johann.

What's it like, being married?

Do you--
do you have someone in mind?

No. I just wanted to know.

Are you sure
you aren't thinking of someone?

When you know,

then you'll know
why I won't leave Johann.

And you'll know
when you find out.

You'll find out soon enough.

Come on.

[ Music playing ]

Tell me what you see.

Tell me.

It's gone.

[ Waves crashing ]

JOHANN: But he himself

went a day’s journey
into the wilderness

and came and sat down

under a juniper tree.

And he asked
that he might die, saying,

"It is enough now, oh, Lord,

take away my life,

for I am no better
than my fathers."

And he lay down and slept
under a juniper tree.

And behold
an angel touched him

and said to him,

"Arise and eat."

And he looked and, behold,

there was at his head a cake
baked on hot stones

and a jar of water.

And he ate and drank

and went in the strength
of that food

forty days and forty nights

to Horeb, the mount of God.

MARGIT: Jonas?

Jonas?

I want my father.

What's wrong?

Are you sick?

I want my father.

[ Cow mooing ]

No, where's my father?

I'm here, right here.

Make her go away.

It's all right.

No, she wants me to be sick.

No. She doesn't.

Close your eyes.

- Stop it!
- JOHANN: Get out!

He's got to stop this!

Leave him alone.

It's all right.

She's gone.

Just be quiet.

Will you stay with me?

Until you feel better.

But you should sleep.

My mother always sang to me.

JOHANN:
♪ In the days of Jesus Christ ♪

♪ There lived a woman
pure of heart ♪

♪ Her sickness she did suffer ♪

♪ Until she came unto the Lord ♪

♪ He turned to her ♪

♪ And bade her
touch his garment ♪

♪ She knelt by him
and bowed... ♪

He'll pay.

- Don't.
- I'll see to it he pays.

Don't.

You don't understand anything,
do you?

And you're never going to.

I do understand.

[ Humming ]

[ Waves crashing ]

Take me with you.

[ Wind howling ]

[ Birds chirping ]

[ Women vocalizing ]

[ Birds chirping ]

[ Music playing ]

[ Birds squawking ]

[ Music playing ]

[ Women vocalizing ]

I asked you
where you were going.

[ Bird squawking ]

Aren't you going to tell me
where you were going?

I don't know.

You know you wouldn't want
to get left out here at night.

You don't know what might come
and find you.

Better?

We might never
have seen you again.

MARGIT:
Not everything out here is bad.

JOHANN: It's not good
to be out here alone at night.

MARGIT: Someone
might have taken care of me.

JOHANN: You know about the man
who couldn't find his wife?

MARGIT: No.

JOHANN: Well,

one day a farmer came home

and his wife was nowhere
to be found.

So he called on Olaf the priest,

who went to all the trolls
of the hills,

but also couldn't find
the man's wife.

Finally he remembered
one rock,

far in the north,
where two trolls were living.

He went there
and called them out.

They came and had to admit

that they had stolen
the man's wife.

They brought her out to show,

but she was in a glass box,

asleep as if she were dead.

And there was nothing
Olaf could do to bring her back.

Although he made
the trolls promise

to go back into the rock

and never to take
anyone else again.

[ Hooves ]

Jonas.

Jonas.

What's the matter?

I've seen my mother.

Where?

By the sea,
and on the heath.

I couldn't remember before,
but now I do.

What does she look like?

She's very beautiful.

But how can she be here?

Sometimes people return.

Is she a ghost?

No,

she came to take care of me.

She's there.

She's waiting for us.

Where?

She's sitting on that rock.

I don't see anyone.

She wants us to come outside.

[ Footsteps ]

[ Door creaks and closes ]

[ Crickets chirping ]

This is Jonas.

She can't speak.

When people are dead,
they can't speak anymore.

She remembers
how everything was.

She was always
telling me stories.

Once there was a man

who lived far away
in the mountains.

MOTHER: He was lonely
because his wife was dead

and they had had no children.

One day when he was out
with the sheep,

he heard weeping
from behind a rock.

He went to look
and found a large bird

with a broken wing.

"Help me, " she said,

"and I will stay with you
until I give you a son.

But then I must leave you
and continue on my journey."

So he took her home
and nursed her.

In time, her wing healed

and she bore him
a tiny feathered son.

"You helped me
and I gave you a son.

But you can see he has feathers

and is more like me
than you.

The birds will tell him
what he needs to know."

Then she flew up and away
and her young son with her

and they disappeared forever.

[ Birds chirping ]

MOTHER: And now it's time
for you to go to sleep.

Did you see?

Jonas.

Did you see
how it used to be?

There wasn't anyone there.

You fell asleep.

I didn't see anyone.

Maybe she doesn't want you
to see her.

Maybe she only wants me
to see her.

[ Music playing ]

[ Laughing ]

[ Crow squawks ]

He's a messenger.

It means she's come back.

Like your mother?

We must make a thread
that can never be broken.

And then you must put it on
and never take it off.

My hair I give to you
for strength.

Hair will hold,

woven with wool,

strength of iron,

spun in the strands,

turned in the threads.

I break.

I tear.

To tie forever,

to bind with a bond,

not to be severed.

May Mary bless it.

She gave it to you
to protect you.

Nothing can hurt you now.

There.

You must go and show her.

[ Door closes ]

[ Birds chirping ]

[ Music playing ]

Bring it here.

Then it's easier
for me to reach.

What's so important
that your mother can't see it?

It's mine.
My real mother gave it to me.

Can you show it to me?

She must have loved you
very much

to give you something so fine
that you can't show it.

It will be a son for you.

JONAS: She's a witch.
She's a witch.

She's a witch.
She's a witch.

She's a witch.
She's a witch.

She's a witch.
She's a witch.

She's a witch.
She's a witch.

She's a witch.
She's a witch.

She's a witch.
She's a witch.

She's a witch.
She's a witch.

She's a witch.
She's a witch.

She's a witch.
She's a witch.

She's a witch.
She's a witch...

Are you wearing
your feather?

Why do you want to know?

Because your mother
gave it to you.

She didn't forget you,
just like you said.

Your sister wanted to take it.

Why?

Because she's a witch.

No, she's not.

JONAS: She is.

Maybe you're one, too.

She's not a witch!

And neither am I!

Then why do you stand up
for her?

Because she's...
she's not a witch.

Then why do you see things
that other people can't see?

I don't know.

[ Sobbing ]

Margit...

Are you all right?

MARGIT: I can't help what I see.

I know.

MARGIT: Will you come
outside with me?

[ Birds chirping ]

I knew she'd be waiting for us.

Can you see her?

[ Birds chirping ]

It's all right
if you can't see her.

She says you can hold
my hand.

Now close your eyes,

and hold my hand very tightly.

[ Birds chirping ]

[ Music playing ]

[ Margit vocalizing ]

[ Birds chirping ]

[ Birds chirping ]

I want you to help me, Jonas.

I need some herbs,
and I can't reach them anymore.

[ Birds chirping ]

[ Wind blowing ]

You should remember.

I'm carrying
your little brother.

JONAS: He won't be my brother.

Your father's the father,

so he'll be your brother.

Do you think he'd only be
your brother

if your mother had him?

JONAS: My mother
wouldn't have let you have him.

She wouldn't!
She wasn't bad like you.

KATLA: What do you mean?

How am I bad?

You're a witch, a dirty witch!

KATLA: What have I done?

You made the ram die.

How?

You spit on the grass
and your spit is poison.

Do you believe that?

You sent rats to eat the eggs.

Why would I do that?

And I saw you burning
my mother's hair.

And you can't hurt her,
and you can't hurt me,

because she won't let you.

Do you really think so?

She gave me charms
so nothing can hurt me.

Then prove it.

Can you fly down from here?

Will she protect you then?

She will.

She'll turn me into a bird.

Go on then, fly.

See what happens.

She'll save me.

Fly, little bird.

Fly.

You can't hurt me.

[ Birds squawking ]

[ Music playing ]

[ Crunching ]

[ Birds squawking ]

You will never tell of this.

Never.

[ Birds squawking ]

Far afield.

Finger will still.

Words you would speak...

from lying lips.

With needle, I knot.

With thread, I bind...

finger forever...

lips for all time.

[ Music playing ]

[ Cow mooing ]

Sow with salt,

deliver to dust,

ashes unsleeping,

in grave's cold ground.

[ Birds squawking ]

[ Birds chirping ]

He who eats...

will never know.

Eat first.

And then go out
and look for him.

I don't like him
being out there alone.

[ Metal scratching ]

You know how he is.

He probably just went further
than he realized,

and is on his way back now.

It's no good,
you're getting cold, too.

He deserves to be cold
for worrying us.

[ Wind blowing ]

After supper
will be time enough.

[ Wind blowing ]

[ Music playing ]

[ Margit sobbing ]

[ Crickets chirping ]

[ Wind blowing ]

[ Floor creaking ]

JOHANN: I didn't find him.

You can look again
in the morning.

[ Wind blowing ]

[ Water gushing ]

[ Women vocalizing ]

[ Crows cawing ]

[ Crows cawing ]

He's come back.

He's come back.

She killed him,
but he's come back.

The tree's over there
and the bird

is singing for Jonas.

She didn't mean to hurt him.

She didn't mean to.

Don't hurt her!

Let her go!

Please stay.

She didn't mean to kill him.

[ Women vocalizing ]

[ Panting ]

[ Crow cawing ]

MARGIT: Once
there was a boy

whose mother was a bird.

She loved him very much,

but she could not stay
among people.

And one day,

she returned
to the land of the birds.

The boy's father grew
used to her being gone

but her little son
wept so much

that finally she heard him
from far away

and flew back to comfort him.

"I will take you with me, "
she said,

"and teach you what I know.

But you cannot stay
among the birds

and must return to take care
of your father."

And when the boy came back
from the land of the birds,

his father did not know him.

His skin had changed
and become feathers

and his fingers had turned
into wings.

And he knew
what the birds know.

[ Wind blowing ]

[ Music playing ]

[ Creaking ]

[ Breathing heavily ]

[ Birds chirping ]

She didn't mean
to kill him, did she?

She wouldn't do something
like that.

No.

No, she wouldn't.

She was good.

And I forgot today
that he's dead and she's gone.

He's dead and she's gone,
little girl...

and we're all that's left.

We're all that's left.

[ Birds chirping ]

[ Crickets chirping ]

[ Women vocalizing ]

Good-bye.

[ Tinkling ]

KATLA: Johann, Johann...

Johann, Johann,

Johann,

Johann,

Johann,

Johann, Johann,

Johann...

[ Panting ]

[ Wind blowing ]

[ Crickets chirping ]

[ Women vocalizing ]

[ Tinkling ]

[ Music playing ]

MARGIT: Once
there were two children

whose mother was a bird.

They flew away with her
to the land of the birds,

but she sent them back
among people

to take care of their father.

But when they returned
from the land of the birds,

their father had found
a new wife

and did not know them.

She closed their father's
eyes to them

and filled his hearing
with her voice.

She sent her laughter over
the mountains

and he followed.

The children called after him,

but he did not know
their voices.

And so they stayed behind

and they knew
what the birds know.

[ Music playing ]