The Life of Emile Zola Page #9

Suicide.

Good morning, Mr. Zola.

Oh, it's you. Good morning.

Where's your papa? Will he come back

from the village with my newspapers?

- He'll be along presently.

- Presently?! Presently!

The whole world is seething,

nations are crashing to their doom...

...and he'll be along presently.

Oh, you cold-blooded English.

You'll be the death of me.

Emile! It's happened.

It's happened! Look.

Listen. The Times:

"Colonel Henry confesses

Dreyfus forgery, then kills himself."

The Daily Telegraph:

"Chief of general staff resigns.

Colonel Dort expelled from army.

Esterhazy in flight."

The Manchester Guardian:

"Zola's fight for truth

vindicated at last."

And Dreyfus?

"Dreyfus case revision inevitable."

Truth is on the march...

...and nothing will stop it.

"The criminal code of cessation has entered

a request for revision of your court-martial.

You hereby cease to be subject

to penal regime."

The Cruelesfax will carry you back

to France. Sentries, dismissed.

- Whatever induced Esterhazy to confess?

- The money the newspaper paid him.

After that, no one could deny you

the right to come home.

What a triumph. Don't you feel...?

I feel neither the desire

nor the need for triumph.

My reward?

I have it. Every time I think we saved

an innocent man from a living death.

The thought of seeing him free...

...of pressing his hands in mine

for the first time...

...that will be reward enough.

But our fight is only half won.

We must work, my friends, work.

By speech, by pen, by action.

We of France, who gave the world

the boon of liberty...

...shall we not now give it justice?

Listen. The very wheels are crying:

"Justice, justice, justice, justice."

Please, Emile. It's past midnight, dear.

You've done enough.

What's become of my military dictionary?

You know, the big green one.

Why, Emile...

...isn't this it?

Why, so it is.

Must you drive yourself like this

day and night?

I must. I must, Alexandrine. I must.

There's so much to do

and so little time to do it.

I see it all clearly now:

The cause and the effect.

The roots and the tree.

- But, darling...

- Wait. Wait a minute.

The cause and the effect.

The roots and the tree.

I can use that.

What were you saying, my dear?

I said, I can't understand

all this frantic hurry.

- There's always tomorrow.

- Always? I wonder.

I wonder if in the middle

of my most important work...

...there will always be a tomorrow.

Darling, you're tired.

What matters the individual

if the idea survives?

Now, you must get some rest.

You have to be up early

for the Dreyfus ceremony.

Yes, Dreyfus. Yes, tomorrow

he will be restored to the army.

You know, it's a queer thing,

this Dreyfus affair.

Before it, I thought my work was done.

I could sit back and dream a little.

Cezanne was right.

I was getting smug and complacent.

Then suddenly came the Dreyfus explosion,

and I'm alive again...

...my head bursting with ideas!

This new book is bigger than anything

I've ever dared before.

The world about to hurl itself

to destruction...

...the will of nations for peace,

a powerful break, stopping it on the brink.

You don't believe it? Wait.

"To save Dreyfus, we had to challenge

the might of those who dominate the world.

It is not the swaggering militarists.

They're but puppets that dance

as the strings are pulled.

It is those others,

those who would ruthlessly plunge us...

...into the bloody abyss of war

to protect their power."

Think of it, thousands of children

sleeping peacefully tonight...

...under the roofs of Paris, Berlin,

London, all the world...

...doomed to die horribly

under some titanic battlefield...

...unless it can be prevented.

And it can be prevented!

The world must be conquered...

...but not by force of arms,

but by ideas that liberate.

Then can we build it anew.

Build for the humble and the wretched.

That's good.

I must remember that.

- Good night, my darling.

- Good night, dear.

There...

- but by ideas that liberate.

Then can we build.

Build for the humble...

...and the wretched.

"The court of revision,

having unanimously agreed...

...that Alfred Dreyfus was and is

innocent of the charges against him...

...have, in acquitting him, reversed

the verdict of the former court.

The French government has ordered

a proclamation of his innocence...

...to be posted in every French town,

in every village, in every colony.

And he is hereby reinstated,

promoted to the rank of commandant...

...and confirmed in all honors previously

held by him in the army of France."

Commandant Dreyfus,

in behalf of the president...

...the people of the republic,

and by virtue of the powers vested in me...

...I knight you a member

of the Legion of Honor.

Close the ceremony.

- Long live Dreyfus!

- Long live Dreyfus!

Long live Dreyfus!

- Congratulations, commandant.

- General Picquart, thank you.

- This is a proud day for France.

- My deepest congratulations.

Didn't Zola come?

Zola found dead!

Zola found dead!

Zola found dead!

"Zola dead.

Carbon monoxide gas

kills famous writer."

Let us not mourn him.

Let us rather salute that bright spirit of his,

which will live forever.

And, like a torch, enlighten a younger

generation inspired to follow him.

You who are enjoying

today's freedom...

...take to your hearts

the words of Zola.

Do not forget those who fought

the battles for you...

...and bought your liberty

with their genius and their blood.

Do not forget them and applaud

the lies of fanatical intolerance.

Be human.

For no man

in all the breadth of our land...

...more fervently loved humanity

than Zola.

He had the simplicity of a great soul.

He was enjoying the fruits

of his labor...

...fame, wealth, security...

...when suddenly,

out of his own free will...

...he tore himself from

all the peaceful pleasures of his life...

...from the work he loved so much...

...because he knew that there is

no serenity save in justice...

...no repose save in truth.

At the sound of his brave words,

France awakened from her sleep.

How admirable is the genius

of our country.

How beautiful the soul of France...

...which for centuries taught right

and justice to Europe and the world.

France is once again today

the land of reason and benevolence...

...because one of her sons, through

an immense work and a great action...

...gave rise to a new order of things

based on justice...

...and the rights common to all men.

Let us not pity him

because he suffered and endured.

Let us envy him.

Let us envy him because his great heart

won him the proudest of destinies.

He was a moment

of the conscience of man.

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