The Devils Page #7

the virtuous people

are in the greatest of danger.

For it is against these

that Satan rages most violently.

I had never set eyes

on Sister Jeanne of the Angels

until the day of my arrest.

But the Devil has spoken!

And to doubt his word

is sacrilege.

You have totally perverted

Christ's own teaching.

This new doctrine,

Laubardemont's new doctrine,

Barre's new doctrine,

especially invented for this occasion,

is the work of men who are not concerned

with fact or with law or with theology

but a political experiment

to show how the will of one man

can be pushed into destroying

not only one man or one city

but one nation!

This is not a political trial.

Remove the prisoner.

The court will retire

to consider its verdict.

Good morning, Mr Surgeon.

Good morning to you.

Good morning, Mr Chemist.

What have you got there?.

It's a razor.

- Must it be this way?.

- Yes, order of the court.

Well, Mr Surgeon,

have all your studies and training

brought you only this,

to be a barber?.

You're in no position to judge others.

Get on with it.

The court is waiting to pass sentence.

Just a minute.

- Have you got a mirror?.

- No, of course not.

Wait.

There's this.

Harken all good people to me

For I've a tale of devils free

The first was in the soul of a priest

For he did bear the mark of a beast

The next was in the heart of a nun

And she was doomed as she begun

The third kept in a love they wear

Inside of a maid so young and fair

O harken all good people to me...

Silence in court.

Urbain Grandier,

you have been found guilty

of commerce with the Devil.

And that you used this unholy alliance

to possess, seduce and debauch

certain Sisters of the Holy Order

of St Ursula.

You have also been found guilty of

obscenity, blasphemy and sacrilege.

It is ordered that you proceed and kneel

at the doors of St Peter's

and Saint Ursula's

and there, with a rope round your neck

and a two-pound taper in your hand,

ask pardon of God, the King and justice.

Next, it is ordered that you be taken

to the marketplace,

tied to a stake and burned alive,

after which your ashes

will be scattered to the four winds.

It has been decided

that a commemorative plaque

shall be set up

in the Ursulines' chapel.

The cost of this, yet to be ascertained,

will be chargeable to your

confiscated estate.

Lastly, before sentence is carried out,

you will be subjected to the question,

both ordinary and extraordinary.

Pronounced at Loudun,

the 18th of August, 1634,

and executed the same day.

Have you anything to say?.

My lords, I am innocent of the charges.

And I am afraid.

But I have the hope in my heart

that before this day ends,

Almighty God will

glance aside and let my suffering atone

for my vain and disordered life.

Amen.

Amen.

Come. Confess your guilt.

Tell us the names of your accomplices!

Then perhaps my lords

the judges will show mercy.

I have no accomplices.

These crimes are not my crimes.

Please stop this foolishness.

We both know why

I have been brought to trial.

And we both know why

I have been found guilty.

Devil! Witch! Heretic!

Ignore him!

What you see is not dignity

but pride, unrepentant pride.

His calm is nothing

but the brazen insolence of Hell!

Clear the court.

We humbly beg of thee, Almighty God,

in thy goodness,

bless these instruments

which thou has created

and given to us for our sacred use.

Devils in pieces of wood now, Barre?.

If they are not driven out,

your devils might,

by their infernal arts,

prevent the torture

from being as excruciating

as it should be.

Then you would never confess

and your soul would be

damned for eternity.

Are you ready to confess?.

I have been a man.

I have loved women.

I have enjoyed power.

That's not what we want.

You've been a magician.

You've had commerce with devils.

I exorcise thee and command spirits,

In the name of Almighty God,

to depart from this man.

Confess. Confess!

Do you believe in your conscience

that a man should confess to crimes

that he has not committed

simply to ease his pain?.

Hit!

Tremble not to think

human weakness is miserable.

Oh, God!

More wedges.

Please, God, don't let this pain

make me forget you.

Any confession?.

He called on God to give him strength.

His god is the Devil and its own.

Made him insensible to pain.

Pay no attention to these tears.

- They are the Devil's tears.

- Confess?.

There are 6,000 Christian souls

waiting for you in the marketplace.

Tell me,

do you love the Church?.

Not today.

Do you want

to see it grow more powerful?.

More benevolent, until it embraces

every human soul on this earth?.

Then help us to achieve

this great purpose.

Go to the marketplace a penitent man.

Confess.

And by confessing,

proclaim to those thousands

that you have returned

to the Church's arms.

By going to the stake unrepentant,

you do God a disservice.

You give hope to unbelievers.

Such an act can mine

the very foundations of the Church.

You are no longer important.

Well, think.

Are you any longer important?.

I was never

important.

Then make a last supreme gesture

for the Catholic faith.

Go away, Laubardemont.

You are becoming tedious.

Do you know that the King has gone back

on his word because of your crimes?.

The walls will come down,

the city will be destroyed. We have won.

- You have lost!

- Won!

Sign it!

You will sign.

Get up.

What is this place?.

The convent of St Ursula.

The place you have defiled.

Do what must be done.

Ask forgiveness of Sister Jeanne

and these good women you have wronged.

I have done no such thing.

I could only ask.

God will forgive them.

He always spoke of your beauty.

Now I see it with my own eyes

and know it's true.

Look at this thing that I am

and learn the meaning of love.

Devil.

Devil!

Devil!

Devil!

Forgive us, O God, who condemned

thee and Judas Iscariot, the traitor.

For he presses on thee

with perpetual flame,

who shall see the end of time to the

wicked, cursed into everlasting fire,

which is prepared for the Devil

and his angels.

For thee, this one and the angels are

prepared worms which never die.

Thou art the chief of accursed murder,

thou are the author of incest,

the head of sacrilege,

the master of the worst actions,

the teacher of heretics.

I must ask your forgiveness, priest,

for what I must do.

But you can make a speech if you like.

And before the fire is lit,

I shall strangle you.

It will be quick, I promise you.

I exorcise thee, creatures...

Confess! Confess! Beg forgiveness.

Forgive me for defending your city

so badly!

Confess! Confess!

See how he flinches,

see how he denies his Redeemer.

Confess!

I have finished confessing.

Give me the kiss of peace

and let me die.

Kiss the Devil?. Kiss the evil fiend?.

The Antichrist,

the sink of all iniquity, all evil?.

Never!

Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!

Kiss!

The impious one and thy angels

has prepared the unquenchable fire.

Kiss him.

Because thou,

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