The Emperor's New Clothes Page #3

with the maximum concentration

of population...

and the minimum supply of fruit.

Regarding the first...

we can mark the most

frequently used access routes.

As regards the second, at dawn

children will scout the terrain.

Remember...

we conquer or perish!

Yes!

We should all sleep here tonight

for an early start...

if that's all right

with you, Pumpkin.

You've had quite an effect on them.

It was nothing. Merely filling

my time, keeping my spirits up.

An army's strength depends less...

Less upon its numbers

than upon its spirit. Yes, I know.

My husband was also

a great lover of talk.

- You think talk is cheap.

- No.

In my experience,

talk has been very expensive.

There they are!

Yes, there they are!

There he is.

Tell them. Tell them

you are not the emperor.

Tell them who you really are.

Captain Nicholls,

I must apologize.

I had hoped to keep this from you.

It seems the isolation here has

proven too much for some of us...

particularly those

of weaker character.

I fear the general has become

a danger to himself and others.

Will you get off!

You will pay for this,

you traitor, fraud!

In you go.

- Unhand me!

- Come along. There you go.

It is too horrible.

The emperor is waiting.

All France is waiting.

That man is no more Napoleon

than I am!

They'll all have to wait

a bit longer.

What?

That man has been emperor

for 18 years.

Eighteen years...

while I was scrubbing

the decks of his ships.

Now it's my turn.

- Remarkable recovery.

- What?

Your ankle. I don't think I've

ever seen anything quite like it.

Entirely due

to your care, Doctor.

More a matter of will,

I suspect.

You have an interesting scar

I noticed, just above the heel.

It's similar to the one our

emperor bears. Did you know that?

The one time

he was injured in battle.

Austerlitz, I believe.

Are you two gonna

be standing there all night?

- I'm afraid I will fail you.

- Let me be the judge of that.

I'd like to get a piano

over there by the window.

Oh, you play?

I could learn.

I can afford to take lessons.

Yes, you could.

Of course you could.

I'm getting carried away.

There's still a lot to do.

A piano would be wonderful.

Come with me.

Here. Can you make it up?

I've never felt alone up here.

I always knew that

in each of those houses...

someone else is waiting

for their husband to come home...

or their son.

I met Truchaut in Holland.

He brought me to Paris.

He left for Egypt

the day after we were married.

You were in Egypt too?

Yes.

I hardly saw him

for 15 years.

He went all around the world

following his emperor.

Then after Waterloo,

we started this business.

He didn't have a head for it.

His mind was still elsewhere.

What about you?

You spoke of a son.

Yes.

I haven't seen him

for six years.

That must be hard.

Especially at that age.

Every second that passes

is so precious.

Left! Left!

Left, right, left!

We better slow down.

We'll have to get

some more jugs in a minute.

Quickly.

Hold this.

Go on.

Come here.

Come under here.

- What's that you've got?

- For Gerard.

You put the pictures in,

then magnify them against the wall.

It tells the stories

of famous men.

Oh, my God!

He's chopped off their heads.

That's Bluebeard's castle.

They're all his wives.

You can't show him that one.

He'll have nightmares.

No, he'll love it.

Children love

all that blood and gore.

I've bought something too.

It's magnificent.

I bought it from a lawyer

who went bankrupt.

Well, that's something.

I didn't know

that was possible.

Go on. Try it out.

Go on.

Yes, I see what you mean.

Very comfortable.

Go on.

Try it properly.

I want you to be happy here.

I must speak to you.

Certainly, Doctor.

Somewhat early

for spring cleaning.

I've not forgotten him, Doctor,

but life has to go on.

My sincere affection for Truchaut...

You were not married

to dear Truchaut.

Nevertheless, I am compelled

to view the way...

in which he is being replaced

as head of this household...

as unbecomingly hasty, indecent...

and it pains me to say this,

Pumpkin, a betrayal.

For the first time in my life,

I don't feel alone.

Now I have you, an old and valued

friend, speak to me like this...

with such spite.

I am moved to say these things

only because...

I had presumed

that after a decent interval...

that you and I might...

in due course...

I'm sorry.

What was it

you wish to tell me?

Nothing.

Nothing. L...

It seems I've been offered

a position.

A facility outside the city.

The time seems right for me.

I'll be leaving right away.

Doctor.

This man is not what he seems.

I'm telling you this

as a friend.

As a friend,

that is all I can tell you.

He did leave in a hurry,

didn't he?

All that talk about a new position

is sheer nonsense.

- Why do you say that?

- You know why he left.

He said you were not

to be trusted.

He thinks you're hiding something.

What do you think?

I think you've been in prison.

Does that scare you?

I'm not scared.

Josephine.

My Josephine.

A perfect plum plucked

from the tree of heaven.

She was to be my torment.

My soul was seared by her lips.

My guts are troubling me of late.

Perhaps Your Majesty

wouldn't suffer such pains...

if he did not sit around

on his fat arse all day...

stuffing his face like a pig.

- I wish to consult a doctor.

- Do you?

An Italian doctor.

No, German.

The best there is!

You'll have your doctor when

you've done your duty, not before.

And stop stuffing

your damn face!

Let us try and understand

one another.

Either this is Napoleon...

in which case we've all

nobly performed our duties...

and may look forward to a

deserved retirement in England...

at the expense

of the British crown.

Or this is an impostor,

and you men have colluded...

in the most heinous fraud

of our time...

the suitable punishment

for which I can only guess at.

While l...

I have allowed the monster of Europe

to slip through my fingers...

and escape from this island

on my watch.

On my watch!

Gentlemen, what we have here

is a dead emperor.

History shall record that

General Napoleon Bonaparte...

died in exile

on the island of St. Helena...

at 5:
49

on the fifth of May...

Oh, you're too old for that.

You're too heavy, anyway.

I've never needed spectacles. I

don't know why I have to start now.

You enjoy reading.

- I like you reading to me better.

- Don't be a baby.

What are you doing?

Has everyone lost their wits?

Newspapers.

They've got newspapers.

What is it?

Haven't you heard?

The emperor's dead.

Eugene!

Pumpkin, did you ever

see the emperor?

No, never.

But I did see Josephine once.

My father took me

to the coronation.

I saw a golden coach go by with her

sitting in it, just for a moment.

The crowd loved her.

Her kindness won many hearts.

She wore ruby earrings.

Beautiful, blood red.

Her neck was long

and slender like a swan's.

Yes, she liked her jewels.

Who knows?

A man of his spirit, maybe he's

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes