Sade Page #3

We have outdoor games.

Leapfrog and blind man's buff.

We can do better than that.

The stage is your domain.

I'm an author.

Let's put on a play. I have plenty.

They'll never allow it.

Why not? Coignard must appreciate the arts.

Perhaps a comedy of manners. The Seducer.

The Thtre Italien booked it.

We've a coquette, a male lead.

We need an ingnue.

They're being taken away!

Come quickly!

It's the lawyer Fayet.

- Who's next?

- It's the scaffold for us all.

Don't watch.

Don't go away.

You look troubled. Be yourself, my lord.

What you read is not this violence here.

Murder dictated by law revolts me.

It's an expression of abstract principles.

Once, in the Pike Section,

they tried to make me vote

for an abomination.

I left my seat.

You had powers of life and death?

The Montreuils,

my hated in-laws, were on a purge list.

One word from me and...

I said nothing.

There's my revenge.

You believe in that?

It's because...

I see in the Revolution

the underdog's revenge.

To each his chance.

Except when villains gut my chateau.

But the wheel will turn again.

The State must be mobile, like its citizens.

Let's step out.

The gate is barely guarded.

We could bribe the sentry,

or drug him.

Or even kill him.

Where would we go?

The world is vast,

but no one ever thinks of fleeing.

I long cherished the word "liberty."

And now?

I may believe in it.

But for me or for others? I can't say.

But I...

I talk to you like a philosopher,

forgetting your age and your sex.

Can you explain why?

Unhappiness has made you this way.

Ah, women and their sentimentality!

"Paul said to her:

'The rocks are covered in green.

'The birds sing at the sight of you.

All is gay,

'only you are sad.'

"And he tried to kiss her,

"but Virginie turned her face away.

"Paul failed to understand

these strange, new whims.

"Misfortunes seldom come alone."

Shall I continue?

"Misfortunes seldom come alone."

Come, we're alone.

Emilie, are you asleep?

"Each nation has its laws, culture, virtues,

"which its neighbor dares to abuse.

"We condemn your manner,

admonish your customs

"and you heap on ours

nothing but opprobrium."

You'll make progress.

- Help him.

- Not easy.

He's utterly devoted to you.

Sew, sew! We also need turbans.

We'll run out of cloth!

Cut up your old dresses.

Actor and painter... What diverse talents!

You were tempting me.

Your buttocks are as soft as lilacs.

What am I doing here?

I've cast you in a towering role.

The Grand Eunuch.

The Grand Eunuch.

His ugliness makes him

cruel and calculating,

but he wields great political influence.

Paying a visit?

The young captive would have suited you.

I couldn't.

If I dared to force you,

it would reflect my reputation.

Look at the chevalier.

His every gesture is graceful.

Don't you find him charming?

He doesn't do anything for me.

True, he couldn't do you any harm.

No one here appeals to you?

Apart from me,

I'm an old galleon about to sink.

But it's spring, everything's rising.

Don't wilt away like a nun.

You prefer Augustin's vigor. Like a horse's!

Citizen!

What did I say? Nothing but niceties.

I was worried, waiting since Tuesday.

- Hello, son.

- Hello, Father.

I brought what you wanted...

See that?

They're having a lark.

I see.

I wish you would act, too.

I've more familiar with the wings.

What's that?

Nothing.

Charles opened a window in my face.

Not your little Jacobin?

I'll crush him.

I don't see how.

Citizen Quesnet... Citizen Lancris.

Taking part in the festivities?

I'm watching.

She watches and judges.

What is all this?

Turning Picpus upside down!

This is a retreat, a rest home.

Not a side show.

- You said we could...

- I changed my mind.

It's a mere divertissement.

I can give you the text.

No Old Regime nonsense.

It's against my civic duty.

You were glad to discover pleasures

social injustice had forbidden you.

What?

We all consider you an enlightened man.

Spare me your tricks.

No plays on my property!

Slower, he can't keep up.

You'll meet Robespierre.

You'll see what my life is like.

You'll be moved.

Your friends shed a lot of blood.

We must cut deep to draw out evil.

Think of all we've done in a few months.

Here we'll have 100 little girls,

and as many boys and old men.

All singing odes. Care to hear one?

Later.

A huge Phrygian bonnet

will cover the chateau dome.

The amphitheater is being built.

You descend the steps

with a bouquet of cornflowers,

ears of corn and poppies.

Every Convention deputy should have one.

A dummy will represent Atheism.

You take the torch, set it aflame.

The Statue of Wisdom appears from below.

Then onward to the Champs de Mars.

You walk 10 feet ahead of the deputies.

Why alone? We walk together.

But you preside the Convention.

Hello, Etienne.

Maximilien...

This is my companion, Citizen Quesnet.

Citizen...

Your son?

Yes, citizen.

Your Fournier is a good republican.

He's not afraid to perform his duty.

Will you attend

the Fete of the Supreme Being?

She'll attend.

It will be a fete like no other.

A fatal blow to atheism.

Don't cry victory yet.

Atheism is a vice of the mind.

Born of the aristocracy,

it still distills its poison.

You will only carry a bouquet of flowers,

an offering to the Nation.

God wouldn't save the King.

Why save us, then?

Silence! You'll bring us bad luck.

Such talk before our child!

But the guillotine is at our windows!

I know.

They say the Parisians complain

of the smell.

Get up. You cultivate imaginary ills.

But I let you do as you please.

Enjoy it while you can.

What is this law of 22 Prairial?

They say it eliminates lawyers.

Who sees to the defense?

It's a law to punish conspirators only.

Tell us more!

The innocent are safe.

- Are we safe?

- We pay you for that!

And the Fete of the Supreme Being?

It was a farce!

With Robespierre as high priest.

Being master isn't enough.

He wants to play God, too.

I hear the Statue of Wisdom

was black with soot!

I was in your room.

My room?

Excuse the way I'm dressed.

It's this bestial heat.

What are you doing?

Trying to sort things.

Coignard authorizes our play

so long as its silent.

Gagged once again.

But we'll come up

with some tableaux vivants.

See the props?

You really won't join us?

Don't you realize our plight?

Yes, I do.

Whether heads fall here

or on Revolution Square,

the horror is just as horrible.

What is it?

Nothing.

I wanted to see you,

talk to you.

I'm not against talking.

You don't talk, you evade things.

You're angry.

What?

What is it? I don't provide

enough consolation?

I'm not ashamed of my fear.

And what can be stronger than fear? Think...

It rises from deep within us

and no one can take it away.

You're on fire.

Do you find me pretty?

Is it protection you want?

Do as I say and you'll stop being afraid.

Walk.

Go on.

Don't be stiff.

Turn.

Arch your back.

Close your eyes.

Open your mouth.

Wider, I want to see deep inside.

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