Samson and Delilah Page #8

You think he punishes you?

I know it.

Then how do you make amends?

I pray for the courage to repent.

I will speak to the jailer.

I will see to it that

you are treated better.

Will you speak to them

of the other prisoners also?

That I cannot do.

Then neither must you

speak to them of me.

You are stubborn.

And proud, yes.

But no longer vain.

Why did you come?

To see you.

To learn.

And to tell you that tomorrow...

... I will lead our army

against your Israelites...

... and I will win.

I will surely win.

Yes, I know.

You know?

How do you know?

I see it...

... as I see into your heart.

I am the first general

of the Philistines...

... your enemy, Samson,

and I have no heart.

You are not my enemy.

At last I understand...

... how I have filled that role myself.

Thousands of them.

Cavalry, chariots.

Old Tariq's commanding them.

The Israelites are for it now.

They won't stand a chance.

You! Get away from there!

Get down! Get down!

Go on. Get away from there,

all of you. Get back!

The Philistines!

Strike fear, O God, in their hearts!

Scatter them!

What is this place?

We are above a valley.

At this end is our Philistine army...

... and at the other...

- The Israelites.

- Yes.

- With weapons of bronze...

... and foolish generals

and empty certainties.

A soldier of mine who spoke those words

would lose his head as a traitor.

The truth betrays no one.

Was this really necessary?

Does it not amuse you, general?

No.

I thought you were a man

of wit and humor.

I thought you were a prince

of dignity.

The only pity is that he cannot see

his people meet their destiny with death.

The Israelites are coming forward now.

They advance.

In moments, our own army

will step out to meet them.

Soon now.

- Soon.

- The Philistines hold their position?

Yes.

General Tariq,

give the order to attack.

Scatter them!

There. A signal has been fired. Now.

What? Tell me.

The Philistine foot soldiers

in the center...

... they are retreating.

- Retreating?

- General, forbid your men from retreating.

- They obey my orders.

- What kind of soldiers are they?

- Skilled in the tactics of war.

- They are pulling back.

No.

No, they are leading

the Israelite lambs...

... to my slaughterhouse.

I hate an incompetent enemy.

They make me less.

Less?

They turn a general into a butcher.

- Charge!

- Charge!

Our foot soldiers

have stopped retreating.

The cavalry detachments

on each flank are advancing.

The bowmen are ready.

The trap is sprung.

They stumble into it.

Amram.

Tell him.

Now the chariots swing round.

They ride them down.

Their lines are broken.

They are broken.

- Where are you going?

- The battle's over.

God, forgive my people.

- Don't you want to watch?

- No, Your Highness.

Like watching the ocean tide

come in...

... it is inevitable, but dull.

Magnificent, general.

This is your victory.

A tide is a tide, Your Highness...

... even when it's measured in blood.

Samson.

- Samson.

- Jehiel? Jehiel.

Samson. No!

Bravely done, Your Highness.

Bravely done.

It pleases the people.

But did it please our gods?

It was a great victory, my old friend.

Yes, Majesty. A great victory.

Go on!

Get up!

When his eyes were taken...

... your beauty was taken from him too.

Now you're the same to him

as any other woman.

And thus, in his suffering...

... did the faith of Samson

begin to grow.

How could God's design be fulfilled...

... by a powerless blind man

chained to a wheel?

The mystery of God's plan

could be seen by no one.

Except, perhaps...

... the one man who could see

nothing else.

Even as the Philistines rejoiced...

... there was still one who knew

that the shadow of doubt...

... can darken man 's brightest day.

In all of Gaza,

the one who had doubted...

... began to wonder if he too

was part of the instrument...

... of God's unknowable design.

Quickly, now.

Quickly!

Go on.

Samson.

Yoram?

Yoram?

It's not much, but the lamb is good.

- How did you get... ?

- I found work here.

Drink.

God is good.

A beard.

You're a man, Yoram.

No longer the child I used to know.

And one day I'll be old. Drink. Eat.

- My mother?

- Living.

- And Naomi?

- Here, in Gaza.

She's here?

She's mad. The danger.

Ira is dead.

His sons, killed in the battle.

He lived a few weeks,

and died with God's name on his lips.

Ira.

He kept showing me the way,

and I kept looking elsewhere.

All right. Finish now. Come on.

- Eat and remember what he taught us:

- Up. Up.

God's hand writes straight

even when the lines are crooked.

Come on. Come on. Come on, up!

God is my strength. God is my strength.

God is my...

Your Highness?

- What do you want?

- Someone wishes to see you.

A woman.

An Israelite woman.

- How much did she bribe you?

- Your Highness.

Fetch her.

Leave us.

Who are you?

Just a woman.

Well...

... what do you want?

I want you to help me

to see someone.

You do, do you?

And who might that be?

Samson.

Just a woman.

This will be a feast to remember,

my faithful friends.

Majesty, to make the celebrations

complete, could you not order Samson...

... be brought down and displayed?

- You are cruel, Delilah.

The savior of Israel, Samson,

brought here in chains?

- What do you think, my old friend?

- Well, surely...

... if Delilah wishes, Majesty.

The weakness of beautiful women...

... is that they become soft

because men can deny them nothing.

Surely, Delilah, above all...

... deserves to be rewarded.

Rewarded, yes.

And consoled, eh?

So it shall be.

God is my strength.

God is my strength.

God is my strength.

Why did you ask for Samson

to be brought here?

- To entertain his captors.

- Has he not suffered enough?

All the world's a wheel, commander.

- You taught me that once.

- I did?

And when was that?

Before I knew the pain of feeling.

You did not want him here

just for display.

No.

Then what?

Because even though I sold him,

he's still mine.

Is he?

Samson.

I have sinned against him.

Every law, every commandment.

How can he forgive me?

The mercy of God is infinite.

And his punishment severe.

You've looked all your life, Samson,

for a sign.

And never knew that

the need to search...

... was itself the sign.

But now?

Now everything is dark.

And within the darkness...

... I see the Lord.

The only world I see now

belongs to God.

Oh, Samson.

Yes.

On your feet, Israelite. Boy, help him.

Out of the way there.

Come on. Get back.

Move. Move for the savior of Israel.

The savior of Israel.

The savior of Israel.

- Are you his woman?

- I thought you were.

No.

I'm the woman he trusted.

When he looked into my eyes,

I was the last he saw.

You hated him so much?

They paid me well.

You hated him so much?

He'd become too dangerous.

You hated him...

... so much.

No. I loved him too well.

Yet still you brought him down.

Yes.

That's enough.

This is not love.

And you?

Do you love him?

Since I first knew him.

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