The Masque of the Red Death

Grandmother.

Come closer.

Take this

to your village...

and tell the people...

the day of their deliverance

is at hand.

Make way for

Prince Prospero!

Get back there!

According to my custom...

I have come here

personally...

to thank you for

the year's harvest...

To make sure we'll starve

on what is left.

And to invite you

to a feast...

to be held

in a fortnight...

when annually

I gather about me...

the nobles of

the countryside.

When you'll throw us

the scraps from your table...

as if we were dogs.

Exactly.

But these dogs

have a loud bark...

and show their teeth.

Why?

An old woman met

a holy man on the hill.

He made a prophecy.

He said the day of our

deliverance was at hand.

From your tyranny.

Well, then, shouldn't you be

on your knees to give thanks?

Garotte them.

No! I beg of you.

Mercy! Mercy!

Mercy in the name of...

The girl was addressing me.

What is your name?

Francesca.

What do you want

of me, Francesca?

Forgive them!

Forgive them!

That is not possible.

They have defied me.

If my hound

bites my hand...

after I have fed

and caressed him...

should I allow him

to go undisciplined?

Forgive them.

I beg of you.

How innocent you are.

However, I am disposed

to temper justice with mercy.

So I will leave it

up to you, Francesca.

One must die.

Which one?

One is my father.

The other,

the man I love.

You promised me

entertainment...

but I never

hoped for this.

Can such eyes ever

have known sin?

They will, Alfredo.

They will.

However, this is not

for your entertainment.

Even so, Francesca,

you must choose.

One will live,

one will die,

or both will die.

Silence that.

Well, choose, Francesca.

Which will die?

Choose.

Must I take care

of everything myself?

Well, what is it?

Look, sir. Look.

The Red Death.

That old woman

was told the prophecy?

- Yes.

- Did you touch her?

- No.

- Or you or you?

Take them

to the castle.

- I'll take the girl.

- No!

They may provide us...

with some

entertainment after all.

To your horses, friends.

Burn the village

to the ground.

Why do you burn

their homes?

Winter comes.

This is your day

of deliverance...

remember?

Come on, there.

Come on, hurry up.

Come on, quick.

Come on.

Over there.

Come on, then.

Come on.

Get moving, there.

Quickly, get along.

Come on.

Hurry up!

Couriers,

you are to go to

my intended guests...

to the Duke of Verga,

to Verona, Florence...

tell them that they

are to come here...

to my castle

without delay...

And if they wish

admittance...

to avoid the village

of Catania...

but to come at once.

You will wash.

In my own time.

The prince says

now is the time.

I will do nothing until I know

about Gino and my father.

Modesty,

but no humility.

Gino and my father,

where are they?

Why do you

hide yourself?

It's not right that

you should look at me.

You may go.

That cross you wear

around your neck...

is it only a decoration...

or are you a true

Christian believer?

Yes, I believe.

Truly.

Then I want you

to remove it at once...

and never to wear it

within this castle again.

This peasant girl,

is she always to be

bathed in my bedroom?

We'll find you

another room, Juliana.

Meanwhile, you will dress

the Lady Francesca

in one of your

finest gowns.

I don't...

Later,

you can instruct her...

in the ways

of the court.

Please, my father...

Oh, yes. Your father.

Your father

and your lover...

are being quartered...

in a warm

and safe place.

Now I must

join my guests.

You may think that...

you've impressed

the Prince Prospero,

but you can count on

little help from me.

You will do

as he told you.

Yes, as we all must do.

I will do what I must

to save my men.

But if they are killed...

I will die and so

will Prince Prospero.

Let me speak to you about

the anatomy of terror.

Terror?

What would you know

of terror, Alfredo?

Your senses

are much too blunt.

What is terror?

Come.

Silence.

Listen.

Is it to awaken and hear

the passing of time...

or is it the failing beat

of your own heart?

Or the footsteps of someone

who just a moment before...

was in your room?

But let us not

dwell on terror.

The knowledge of terror

is vouchsafed...

only to the precious few.

And now may I present

for your entertainment...

the dancers Esmeralda

and Hop Toad.

Wherever

did you find her?

Pretty toy, isn't she?

Delightful.

I wonder...

I'm sure you do,

Alfredo.

I'm sure you wonder

about every female...

in my household...

every one with the appearance

of innocence.

You seem to take

great pleasure...

in corrupting it.

I'm not corrupting

Alfredo, no.

Instructing.

If the wench were full-size,

she'd drown us all in wine.

Well, my first novelty

seems to have failed.

However, on the Sabbath

at midnight...

for your amusement...

there will be

a masquerade.

The wardrobes

of the castle...

are yours to use.

But I beg of you,

even for the humor of it,

do not wear red.

You go too far.

I am not without

influence and power.

Against the Red Death?

Yes.

Yes, it came

to the village.

Even now, it lays waste

to the countryside.

So you can count

yourselves fortunate...

that you are here

in this castle...

under the protection

of Prince Prospero.

May I present

the Lady Francesca?

Meanwhile, continue

with your merrymaking.

Act according

to your natures.

Senor Veronese...

you do little

but eat and swill...

and dream of other things.

How like a pig you are.

Be one.

You, Senor Lampredi...

you laugh at

this poor pig...

while you are small

and insignificant...

no more than a worm.

Can you be a worm,

Lampredi?

Senorita Escobar...

do you hear

how she laughs?

It is like nothing so much

as a braying jackass.

Be one.

You, Senor Rimini,

ride that jackass to market.

Giddyap!

As for the rest of you,

use your imaginations.

Show me the lives

and loves of the animals.

See if we cannot

make something...

more exotic of her

that will appeal to me.

Francesca?

My father imprisoned

a friend of his...

in this room for 3 years.

When he was released...

he could never again

bear to look at the sun...

or even a daffodil.

How cruel.

Cruel?

It was simply a test...

to prove how easily

a man's mind...

can be controlled

and twisted.

My family have always

been interested...

in such things.

Somewhere in

the human mind...

my dear Francesca...

is the key

to our existence.

My ancestors

tried to find it...

to open the door

that separates us...

from our creator.

You need no doors

to find God.

If you believe...

Believe?

If you believe,

my dear Francesca,

you are gullible.

Can you look

around this world...

and believe in the goodness

of a god who rules it?

Famine, pestilence,

war, disease, and death...

they rule this world.

There is also love

and life and hope.

Very little hope,

I assure you.

No.

If a god of love and light

ever did exist...

he is long since dead.

Someone...

something...

rules in his place.

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