The Miniaturist (2017): Season 1, Episode 2 - Episode #1.2 - full transcript

This is the Seigneur's new wife.

What did Brandt get
you for a wedding gift?

"Dear Sir, I have a house of nine
rooms on a miniature scale."

"Thank you for the items
I requested."

"However, I made no
request for a cradle."

You look wonderful.

The feast. Was it his idea?

We agreed it was appropriate
you should attend.

Go to bed.

I'm... not tired.

I think you'd better leave,
before one of us



says something we both regret.
No, Johannes, I know...

Go, get out!

What made you like this?

Nothing made me.

It was in my soul
from the beginning.

Do you know what we saw?

How your husband takes his vile
pleasures... with a boy.

You have to go.
You have to leave now.

What is it? Marin...

No. Aaarh!

My God, Marin. What have you done?

What were you thinking, Marin?

A girl in Assendelft died
trying to lose a baby with poison.

How far gone are you?



Six, seven months.

Perhaps more.

How did you hide it?

I let out my skirts
and bound my breasts.

Soaked my rags in animal blood so
Cornelia wouldn't suspect.

Tell me. Is it Frans's?

He was just angry about
the sugar, Marin.

He loves you. Tell him about this.

Once he knows,
he will not harm Johannes

because he knows it will
endanger his child.

You don't understand.

If he survives,
this child will be... stained.

With his mother's sin,
with his father's sin.

It's a baby. Not a devil.

Animal blood on her rags to fool us.
She always was clever.

The crib...

Did you know?

No, of course not.

Then why is the doll of Madame Marin
carrying a child?

What are you talking about?

How could you betray us like this?
You know how rumour spreads.

I didn't order it. It just came.

Then who is it that is spying on us?

I don't think she's a spy. She?

She sees our lives.

I think she's trying to help us,
trying to warn us...

How has she helped us?
The Seigneur is gone. Otto, too,

and now Marin carries the shame
of the man who wishes to destroy us.

Look.

This was white when it arrived.

This is witchcraft.

She's not a witch.

How dare she send you
things like this?

What else does she know?

Open up!

It's the Militia.

Marin, they cannot see
you like this.

Especially Frans. Cornelia!

Open up!

We've come for Johannes Brandt.

He is not here, Seigneur.
He's travelling.

Don't lie. We know he's here.

You don't want to make
a fuss on your doorstep.

Good day.

Frans, tell them.

It's out of my hands.

We're here under the jurisdiction
of Schout Slabbaert.

A young man has been
attacked on the Eastern Islands

and there are witnesses
to back it up.

Now go and fetch your master.
I said, good day.

I told you. He's not here!

Frans, all of you.
You are better than this.

Go and catch your thieves,
your murderers.

My husband has helped make this
republic great.

What he is, is a sodomite.

And all the money in Amsterdam
won't save him.

Now get out of my way.
Search the house.

Frans. Search every room!

Frans.

Frans, please.

Listen to me!

Sir! Sir! They found him!

They found him! Where?

On a ship by the docks,
about to set sail.

They're taking him to the
Stadhuis now!

To the Stadhuis.

Madame, Madame, you cannot!

Let go of me, Cornelia!

No, I really... I will not hear
of... You need to stay.

You can't go, Madame, please!

Cornelia's right.

If you follow them,
you'll be arrested as well.

Where is your heart, Marin?
I would never abandon my brother.

To fight them in the open is to
invite certain defeat.

Then I will find another way.

How do I look?

Like a serving girl on an errand.

You really think a disguise
is necessary?

If the Burgomasters find out
his wife is trying to deal in sugar,

who knows what they will do?

I still don't think you should
go to the Eastern Islands alone.

Johannes is in a cell.

And you need to stay
here with Marin.

We may be able to bribe Jack to
change his story.

I will visit Johannes afterwards,
if they let me in.

Is there a message you
would like me to send?

There's nothing I can say.

Marin...

Hope is dangerous.

Hope is all we have.

Hope and sugar.

Bribing officials?

We need all the friends we can get.

Thank you. They seem to think
food is an option here.

What have they done to you?

It's nothing.

Tell me, was it love?

I don't know.

By telling me lies,
he made me see the truth.

The way sometimes a painting is more
beautiful than the thing itself.

It was a painting of love.

But I couldn't tell the difference,
nor did I care to.

You can fight this, Johannes.

You're powerful, rich.

You said it yourself,
the Burgomasters cannot touch you.

They have a name for it.
"The unmentionable sin."

Two men together, an act which
only God has power to forgive.

To do nothing
would be to condone it.

Then we make Frans Meermans
change his mind.

I have let his anger stew,

and now he is determined to
take his revenge. Jack, then.

Nella...

I'll pay him off. Nella!

It won't make any difference.

What if we had a child?

To prove the lie.

And where are we going to get one
of those in a couple of weeks?

I'm glad you came, Nella.

I don't deserve you.

I wish I'd been enough.

You have been a miracle.

Rezecki.

I take her everywhere I go.

The red's gone. From the wound.

I don't understand.

Must have worn it off.

What on earth...?

Madame Marin ordered it.
It came in a big crate today.

It's the same as the one
the Miniaturist sent me.

I know.

Marin, what were you thinking?

If any of the neighbours saw this
arrive, what would they think?

The same as you.

I know you want
this child for yourself.

Marin, that's not true.

But it would be convenient, no?

Well...

So what if we did pretend
the child was mine?

Would that be so awful?

It would prove that Johannes has
the same desires as other men.

Don't you want him to live?

This child will be
far from convenient.

But no one will take it
away from me. No one.

It's kicking me.

We'll need a midwife soon.

Do you know the law?

A midwife must write down
the name of the father.

If we don't tell her
she'll report that, too.

Talk to Frans, Marin.

Tell him about his child.

You speak of things
of which you know nothing.

Do you want to know the truth?

Johannes stopped my marriage.

But it wasn't his decision.

It was mine. I told him to.

You?

By the time I was a woman,
I ran this household,

and with Johannes away,
I was the head of it.

Was I supposed to give
up my freedom for a man?

I thought it a kindness to let Frans
believe I was forbidden

than to know I didn't love him
enough to sacrifice my liberty.

I never meant it to twist this way.

It is his child you're
carrying, though.

Isn't it?

I have taken things from my brother
I was not meant to take.

Don't let sweet weapons stray.

Hannah!

Hannah!

I hadn't expected there
to be so much.

Imagine it transformed
into guilders.

Some of it is rotten.

Very little, Madame.
A few were refined in Surinam.

But the rest were all refined here,
in the city.

How much for the Amsterdam stock?

There are 750 loaves from the city.

At 40 guilders each...

30,000 guilders.

Impossible.

We are bakers of cakes,
not sellers of sugar.

Its quality alone will
guarantee it sells.

The craving for sugar
shows no sign of abating.

The more the Burgomasters forbid it,
the more people will yearn for it.

The prices will rise.

100 Amsterdam loaves
for 900 guilders.

If it makes a profit,
we'll be back for more.

3,500.

1,100.

2,000.

I have other buyers coming
this afternoon.

1,500.

Done.

Madame, Johannes is to appear today!

Look. There's Agnes.

What's she fiddling with?

The sugar, Madame.

We've already promised half
the loaves we took this morning.

Arnoud wants to send some
to The Hague, where he has family.

I'm sure it won't be long before
we come to you for more.

Seigneur, Seigneur.

Good people of Amsterdam.

We have made success for our city.

But we have remained righteous.

We have not wasted ourselves
in the surfeit of our fortune.

But here before you is a man
who took another path.

He considered that he was
above the family, above the city,

above the Church,

above the State.

Above God himself.

You accuse me, Sir.

But the truth of the accusation
is yet to be tested.

You deny the charge?

If I am to defend myself
I am entitled to know

the specifics of the accusation.

On Sunday the 4th of January,

Jack Philips says that you
attacked and sodomized him...

and left him so badly beaten
that he could barely walk.

And then
you tried to buy his silence.

Is that specific enough for you?

If any such thing happened,
it was not me.

My conscience is clear.

Ha!

We have witnesses that are ready to

swear on the Holy Bible that they
saw you.

Then they are lying.

You are married?

I am.

And what sort of a husband are you?

Well, I'm still in one piece.

Are you a good or a bad husband?

My wife is wealthy and secure.

To be wealthy does not mean
to be content.

That is a rich man's answer.
Try telling that to a poor man.

You have no children. Why not?

I have been married but four months.

How often do you lie with your wife?

That is between me and her.

You are late to marry.

She was worth the wait.

You have, over the years,
employed many apprentices.

A preponderance of young men...

Are not all apprentices young men?

More than any other
senior member of the Company.

I have the figures here.

I have more money
and more business than most of them.

But isn't that why I'm really here?

Who will take my business
if I drown?

Will it be you, Schout Slabbaert?
Dividing it up?

Or will you lock it
up in the Stadhuis coffers?

Silence.

You insult the city of Amsterdam!

Bring in the plaintiff!

Are you Jack Philips, by trade
a delivery boy and a stower?

I am. But by trade an actor.

The others, by necessity.

Hand him the Bible.

Do you swear to tell
the truth for us today?

I swear.

And do you recognise this man?

Look at him, boy!

Do you recognise him?

I do.

And what charges do you
bring against him?

That he sodomized me against my
will, stabbed me in the chest

when I resisted, and offered
me money for my silence afterwards.

His attack produced the wound
you that bear now?

He only just missed my heart.

And how did he behave
before he... seized you?

He was in a frenzy, Sir.
I pushed him away.

I told him to leave me alone.

But he took me by my coat sleeves
and he pushed me

up against the walls
of his warehouse.

And then?

He...

He... used me.

He sodomized you.

Lies, lies. This is all lies.

You said he wouldn't speak to me!

Silence, Brandt.
You'll get your chance.

Now, lad, you are entirely sure,
and you swear before God,

that the man who assaulted you
was Johannes Brandt?

Answer me, boy!

Tell them the truth, Jack.

Tell them.

Enough. Take him away.

Wait! Wait! Show us the wound.

What?

He says this attack
happened on the 4th of January.

What difference does it make?

Six days ago.
What is your point, Brandt?

If he is telling the truth
it will still be fresh.

But if he received it in a different
place, at a different time,

a fortnight ago or more, say,
it will have begun to heal.

So, show us, Jack.

Show us the wound.

Show us!

Enough! Guards, get him out,
take him away!

He cannot show us because he knows
that it would prove he is lying.

Silence, Brandt!

You saw the boy.
He's in no condition.

Court is adjourned till tomorrow,
seven o'clock.

Go to Marin,
make sure she's all right.

I have to talk to the Meermans.

So that's what you were
playing with.

Seigneur! Please wait.

Johannes has sold your sugar.

Not all of it,
but a substantial amount.

Where did you get that?
Just put it away!

It's me, isn't it?

Did Agnes commission
a cabinet of your home?

A cannonball would do less damage
to my marriage

than those cursed miniatures.

What else did
the Miniaturist send you?

Evil hints and vile mockery.

"It's the truth", Agnes kept saying.
"It's the truth."

So, I had her cabinet burned,

and went to the Kalverstraat
to have the Miniaturist arrested.

The spying little villain had fled.

1,000 guilders?

You think you can buy my silence
with 1,000 guilders,

when hundreds of thousands could
have been made?

Well, my future's been ruined
because of your husband's neglect!

If he is released, he can sell more.

There are ready buyers...
I need money. Not promises.

Seigneur, it is time
for this to end.

We both know it's not about the
money, or about the English boy.

You think Johannes ruined your life.

I know about you and Marin.

I understand your wife might be
jealous but...

Be quiet, woman! You keep your
vicious imagination to yourself!

It wasn't him. It wasn't his idea.

What do you mean?

It was not Johannes who refused you.

It was Marin's decision.

But she did not want to hurt you
and so he agreed to take the blame.

You lie. You lie to save his neck!

If you don't believe me, ask her.

Feel it. It's beating so fast.

Her waters. It's starting.

We have to fetch a midwife.
No, no.

Marin, we can buy her silence.

We don't even have money
for firewood.

We have enough.

I just need you and Cornelia.

I saw my brother and sister born.
I think I know what we need.

Clean cloths, hot water,
fresh sheets.

And a knife for the cord.

Marin.

Marin, when the pain was bad,
my mother used to pace.

Now, please, I need you to stand.

It's coming!

Marin?

Cornelia!

No!

No...

I can see it.

Marin, it's time to push.

I can't, I can't.

Marin, please, one more try.

You're almost there.

Marin, look.

You did it!

A little girl. It's a little girl.

You did it. You did it, Marin.

What's wrong with it?

What's, what's wrong with...

Thea. Her name is Thea.

Eight. Eight bells.

Johannes's trial started at seven.
I have to go.

You can't leave me, Madame.
I don't know what to do.

And Marin...

Find Smit's List.

Bring a midwife, a wetnurse,

someone who understands
what's happening here.

But, Madame, the child...

Give the woman whatever it
takes to keep her quiet.

If there isn't enough in
Johannes's chest, sell the silver.

Did Agnes Meermans testify?

About seven o'clock, Madame.
Trembling and strange, she was.

The Schout grew angry when she would
not tell him what he wanted.

Seigneur Meermans,

your wife's reluctance to enter
into details is understandable.

But I must ask you to
be more forthright.

Now, you have known Johannes Brandt
for many years, is that correct?

We worked together as young men.

What kind of a man did
you find him to be?

Astute enough.

But always too prone to
admire his own philosophies

and disdain those of other men.

He was engaged in selling
your stock of sugar.

Were you satisfied
with his conduct of the business?

Yes, I was.

So, there's no reason for you
to bear any animosity towards him?

None whatsoever.

So, you would say that, up till now,
he has been a good merchant

and a good man.

You are under oath.

A good merchant, perhaps.

Johannes Brandt has always
pursued his will with -

or I'd say his desires, -
with unbending insistence.

But I did not realise
the depth of his defiance,

the merchants he bribed,
the debts he grew...

Who are these men? Show them to me!

You know full well who they are,
Johannes.

It's for your soul I'm here today.

God has spoken to me.

He has told me my silence
is no longer enough.

Seigneur Meermans,
tell us what you witnessed

when you came to check your sugar.

As we walked towards the warehouse
doors, we heard voices.

When we went around to the back,
Seigneur Brandt had pushed

a young man against the side
of the building.

The boy's face was
up against the brickwork.

Both their breeches were round their
ankles, their hats knocked off.

Is that young man in court now?

I could, erm...

I could see the lust
in Brandt's eyes.

He, erm...

He scooped up his breeches
as we approached and...

He beat him, didn't he?

Frans. You don't have to do this.

Rapidly. And ferociously.

Frans.

And he stabbed him, deep,
close to the heart.

Just as the victim testified.
Didn't he?

Didn't he?

Yes.

The witness has testified to the
truth of the accusation.

The Schepenbank will now
consider its verdict.

Surely I have a right
to speak in my own defence?

Come now, Brandt.
What is there you could say?

Very well, then.

Am I the only sinner in this room?

Am I?

You put on that costume
in the morning, Pieter Slabbaert,

as do you, Frans Meermans,
and hope we will be

so dazzled by your robes
we will overlook your own sins.

I will not apologise for who
or what I am.

But the allegations
against me are false.

Lies concocted out of envy,
jealousy, bitterness.

Citizens of Amsterdam,
we are better than this.

I have worked for this city
from the moment I was old enough.

I've sailed to lands I never knew
existed, not even in my dreams.

I've fought for,
and seen men die for this republic

on hot beaches and high seas,

risking our lives for the glory
of the land that gave us birth.

Striving, building,
never once resting in complacency.

I rescued a slave boy from traders.

I took in an orphan girl.

I sponsored apprentice
after apprentice,

but exploited no man's need.

I never perjured myself,
or corrupted another with bribes.

I took a wife, and I tried to make
her happy, as she made me.

And my reward... is this.

Well... enough.

The purpose of a trial is to
discover the truth,

and you deserve no less.

So I will give it to you, in full.

Yes, I know Jack Philips.

Perhaps I even loved him.

But I never hurt him,
or offered any insult to his body.

Frans Meermans I once
considered a friend.

But long ago I
caused him great pain,

and he, perhaps rightly,
has never forgiven.

If the story he has told here
is his manner of revenge,

it does not make it true.

Nor does it prevent me
from forgiving him.

Now that you have heard me...

you may do with me what you will.

The court must retire to further
consider its verdict.

Cornelia! Marin!
They couldn't agree a verdict.

If we can get Frans to recant...

What is it?

Marin?

No. It's not possible.

There was nothing I could do.
I'm Lysbeth Timmers.

Your maid found me in Smit's List.

You told me to, Madame.

She's a wetnurse, not a midwife.

I birthed four children of my own.

She shouldn't be swaddled like this.

Dear God, what is this?

I didn't agree to this.

You will be amply
rewarded for your help.

A guilder a day.

Four.

Two.

Three. Given the circumstances,
I'm sure you'll agree.

We are going to keep Thea,
aren't we?

We're already bribing new
people to keep our latest secret.

Where will it ever stop?

I'll die before I let anything
happen to that child.

Did you know? About Otto and Marin?

I wanted it to be Meerman's.

Why?

She looks peaceful, doesn't she?

A map.

For her travels.

I have come to report a death.

We have yet to announce a verdict.

Not Johannes. His sister, Marin.

Yesterday afternoon.

A godly woman,
despite her brother.

How did it happen?

A fever.
She'd been ill for some time.

I wondered why I hadn't seen her
the last few weeks.

However, if you
have come to bury her here,

I'm afraid that is impossible.

Why? A godly woman,
you said so yourself.

You know why.

Johannes is innocent.
But even if he were not...

The men at Sint Athonis
will help you. I have no room.

I will not have her
buried beyond the city walls.

She was a woman of Amsterdam.
She worshipped here.

You have a duty to bury her.

Not for myself, you understand.

There is a small space in the
east corner of the church.

Room for a modest slab, no more.

And the finest elm for the coffin.

On the slab,
do you wish for an epitaph?

"Things can change."

Johannes Brandt,
you are charged on three counts.

On the first, that of assault
on the boy Jack Philips,

I, Pieter Slabbaert,
Schout of Amsterdam

and these four members of the city
Schepenbank, find you...

not guilty.

And on the second count, attempted
bribery, we find you...

not guilty.

And finally,
on the charge of sodomy,

the court finds you

guilty as charged.

Your punishment shall be to be
weighted down at the neck

and to be drowned in the sea,
this Sunday.

And may God have
mercy on your sinning soul.

I mean you no harm,
I just need to know.

I am done with you, do you hear?

I have had enough!

Are you saying
I shouldn't marry him?

My husband threatens to stop this,
but then I cannot bear to live...

How did you know?
I feel a madness creeping in...

Peebo!

He came in through the window.

I thought you were a ghost.

Or a sorceress.

You were angry with me.

I heard you downstairs.

Please. You have the answers.
I know you do.

I have to save my husband.

How?

How do I save him from this?

I'll pay you. Whatever it takes.

This... is why I hide.

I don't understand.

Nobody does.

Everyone thinks I am the one
who can tell them what to do.

That I have a third eye.

I am just a maker of small things.

No. Marin's baby. You knew.

I knew because I have eyes.

The woman, I saw how she walked.

How she bound her breasts.

The sugar in Agnes's hand.

It went black,
just like the Meermans'.

Because it was real sugar.

The cradle.

There's no way you could have known
what Marin would order.

Neither did she.

She saw what I had made,

and she liked it enough that
she ordered a copy.

Rezecki, the dog. The wound.

There's no way you could have known.

There's no way anybody
could have known.

Sometimes... things come
into my head.

It's like a voice you hear carried
on the wind that you can't make out.

It's just a word, here or there.

It's things,

people,

sometimes dogs.

Everyone wants answers.
But I have none.

Sorry.

I know it is not what you
want to hear.

You should take him back.

He would not like the
journey to Bruges.

You're leaving?

Tonight. With my father.

You wrote me notes.

So many of them.

Please.

You have to help me.

My father tried to teach me
to make clocks.

But the ones I made
would never keep time.

They would either tick too slow
or too fast.

I would take them to him,
and he would make them perfect.

Eventually I said to him,
"Please, I beg you,"

"teach me what you do to make
the clocks keep time."

He laughed and said, "I haven't
done anything for months now."

"Your clocks keep better
time than mine."

You had learned how to do it
without even knowing it.

Things can change, yes.

But they have already changed
because of things you've done.

Nella.

It's so good to see you.

But you wore your own clothes...

I am not ashamed to be here.

Nor can they make me ashamed of you.

Tell me, how are you? How's Marin?

You know...

Too many herring dinners?

Tell her not to come.

I don't think I could bear it.

Come now.

Don't drench me with your tears.

Did you bring my best clothes?

Nella.

I mean it.

Don't be sad.

The secret in life, as in business,
is not to care too much.

Always be prepared to lose.

How much did you give him this time?

Five guilders.

To stay until dawn.

The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.

He maketh me
to lie down in green pastures.

He leadeth me
beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul.

He leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for His name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for thou art with me,

thy rod and thy staff,
they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table in front of
me in the presence of mine enemies,

thou anointest my head with oil.
My cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy will
follow me all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the
house of the Lord for ever.

He was one of our best merchants.

We're fools.

This will bring
the Burgomasters no friends.

Otto!

He's gone.

He's really gone.

Let's go home.

Cornelia, I...
I was going to write a...

Cornelia, bring her down.

Sugar corn...

What's it called?

Her name is Thea.

Marin said it would be a boy.

Where is she?

Where is Marin?

I'm sorry, Otto.

Truly, I'm so sorry.

She worsened so quickly,
there was nothing we could do.

But you saved the child.

She gave her life for this one.

That's why I had to come back,
because I had to see what he...

what she would be.

You can do this.