Manderlay

It was in the year of 1933,

and Grace and her father were

heading southward

with their army of gangsters.

After leaving Dogville,

they had returned to Denver

only to find that the mice

had been well and truly playing

while the cat was away,

and new forces had taken over

their former possessions.

The result was a particularly

unappealing retreat that had brought them

through the state of Alabama

this spring

in search of new hunting grounds.

Now, they will not admit it,

but it's a fact.

Deep down inside,

there isn't a woman alive

who doesn't nurture

these fantasies...

whether they involve harems,

being hunted through the jungle

by torch-bearing natives.

However much they go on and on

about civilization and democracy,

sexy it ain't.

Grace and her father

had resumed their legendary discord

even as they pulled out of Dogville,

and although Grace

had been employing the technique

of letting things go in

one ear and out the other

for a pretty long time now,

she was, to be frank, somewhat weary

of her unbearably overweening daddy

who still believed any nagging woman

could be pacified

with a good old

bouquet of carnations.

I bet you wouldn't have had

the guts to talk like that

if Mother had been alive.

No. You're right, my girl.

I would not.

We're goins', boss.

Miss? Lady?

Can I talk to you?

Can I talk to you?

Miss?

They gonna whip him.

I knew they would.

It just ain't true;

he ain't stole nothin'

They put that Rhenish wine

from Mam's bedside table in his cabin

just to give 'em

something to whip him for.

That's the law...

one bottle and it's a whippin'

That's Mam's law.

What are you talking about?

Who? Who are they gonna whip?

Timothy.

Why?

That's how they do us slaves.

- Slaves?

- Yes, ma'am.

Surely you heard of slaves.

It's what we is at Manderlay.

This godforsaken place.

That's how I got out.

When a whippin's in the offin',

they take out a section of the fence.

Listen, Grace,

it's a local matter.

It's not for us to poke our noses in.

Why should we not

poke our noses in

- just because it's a local matter?

- It's certainly not our responsibility.

You think the Negroes

wanted to leave their homes in Africa?

Wasn't it us who brought them

to America?

We have done them

a great wrong.

It's our abuse that has

made them what they are.

Untie him.

Stop!

'Fraid not, lady.

Slavery was abolished

70 years ago.

If you won't obey that law

of your own accord,

we will compel you to do so.

Help me get her inside.

Get water for Mam.

Act quickly, Rose.

Spare me your hypocrisy.

You dumb old slave.

Get out!

Leave us alone.

If you're looking for sympathy,

don't expect any from me.

Listen...

I'm very old...

...unfortunately dying.

I should like to ask you

for a favor.

If it involves allowing you to go on

exploiting these people like slaves,

I'm sorry, I'll just have to say no,

no matter how dying you are.

Slavery's over now.

I can see that.

It had to come one day.

All right.

I'll probably refuse you,

but you might as well ask.

There's a book

under my mattress.

I should like you to retrieve it...

...and burn it for me.

- It would be best for everyone.

- I'm sure you think so.

But it's my view that anything,

no matter what,

is best served by being

brought out into the open.

I beg you,

one woman to another.

Woman to woman...

makes no difference to me.

The sins of the past are sins

I cannot and do not wish to help you erase.

Now I must leave you.

I believe my father's men

have unlocked the gates.

Now everybody can come

and go as they please.

Please let everyone else know

on the plantation

that from now on, they can

all enjoy the same freedoms

as any other citizen

of this country.

The Constitution can be found

at any courthouse.

And here's a tip

for when you sue the family.

There's a weighty written evidence

concealed in this very room.

She's dead.

The old devil.

Oh, I'm sorry.

I didn't mean it, Missy.

No, no, if any of us

deserves an apology, it's not me.

I'm afraid.

There's nothing to be afraid of.

We've taken

all the family's weapons.

No.

I'm afraid of what will happen now.

I fear we ain't ready...

...for a completely new way of life.

At Manderlay,

we slaves took supper at 7:00.

When do people take supper

when they're free?

We don't know these things.

Free men eat when they're hungry.

Free women as well.

Considering the times

and the situation,

Grace's words

in the dead woman's room

on mealtimes for free citizens

might have seemed a trifle over-spirited.

We should not believe

that there lay any content in these words

for the wretched

and starving people of America.

Grace rejoined the gangsters

who had indeed

concluded their disarmament

of the plantation's

powers that had been,

though their findings

were meager...

the shotgun

and an old toy pistol.

All right, we can go.

Let's just wait a moment.

What are you waiting for?

For them to come and thank you?

Or for them to burn

the whole place down

and dance some tribal dance

on the ruins by the glow of the torchlight?

You are a bigot, Daddy,

and you always have been.

We owe these people.

We brought them here,

we abused them,

- we made them what they are.

- I admit I don't do deals with the Japs.

Can't trust 'em

when there's big money at stake.

But a bigot?

Well... why don't they come out?

That's exactly

what you said last time.

Last time?

Remember when you were six?

You thought it was so sad

that your beloved Tweety

was all shut up in a cage,

and nobody could persuade you

not to let him out.

Tweety was a proud little bird.

Well, his dignified exit

didn't do Tweety a hell of a lot of good.

We found him the next morning

underneath your window,

- frozen to death.

- I know!

He'd been bred as an indoor bird.

He really didn't have a chance.

And what do you think

those Negroes in there are?

How many generations do you think

those families made their homes

behind that fence?

I bet you most of them

have taken up employment

in their former jobs

with the family, contracts and all.

Of course, now they'll get

a few dollars for their efforts,

but they'll soon drink that up,

and maybe they'll borrow a bit more

from their employers,

who have, no doubt,

opened a little store

full of colorful wares just for them.

And of course, they'll never

be able to pay back the money,

and they'll be trapped yet again.

What you did was all very noble,

my girl, but...

...when push comes to shove,

you've just made everything far worse,

just as you did with Tweety.

So all we can do...

...is hope there's no frost.

What you said about

contracts and loans...

- that's fraud.

- Fraud.

See, I've read...

...that...

- Yes?

...freed slaves are given

a mule and a plot of land

so that they can

establish themselves.

Yep, that's true.

But when it came down to it,

the fella who owned the mule and the land

had rather keep it all

for himself,

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