KINGDOM Of HEAVEN (2005)
script written by William Monahan
TITLE CARD: It is almost a hundred years since Christian
armies from Europe seized Jerusalem.
Europe suffers in the grip of repression and
poverty. Peasant and lord alike flee to the Holy
Land in search of fortune or salvation.
One Knight returns home in search of his son.
France 1184
EXT. A CROSSROADS. DAY.
We see a corpse wrapped with white cloth.
A priest tears the cross from the neck of the body.
GRAVEDIGGER: Clusaders.
SQUIRE:
Clear the road, if you will.
GODFREY:
SQUARE:
:
Squire!
Hyah!
Wait.
PRIEST:
She was a suicide.
(to Gravedigger) Cut off her head.
And return the ax.
EXT. A BLACKSMITH. DAY.
The Hospitaler approaches the village where Balian lives.
HOSPITALER: You know this place, my lord?
GODFREY:
Know it? I know all of it.
Children are chattering.
WOMAN:
Comon, Thomas!
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I told you to stop that now!
VOICE:
Out of the way of the horses.
MAN :
That is the man. That is the man.
The crusaders stop at a blacksmith.
HOSPITALER: We need all these horses shod.
We need food, and we'll pay.
BALIAN.
(looking at his apprentice)
He says yes.
HOSPITALER: The blacksmith is the man you seek.
His name is Balian. But know that he mourns.
The burial we passed at the crossroads was for
his wife. Their child died. She was overcime
with grief and killed herself.
GODFREY: Do you still advise what you advised upon
the road?
HOSPITALER: I do, my lord.
SQUIRE:
(speaks to Balian) What does that say?
BALIAN:
What man is a man who does not make the world
better?"
GODFREY: I am sorry you lost your wife and child.
I also have lost.
Some say Jerusalem is the very center of the
world for asking forgiveness. But myself, I
call it here.
Now. (pauses) I knew your mother.
To be courteous, I should say that it was
against her objections. But I did not force
her. I loved her in my fashion.
Balian, I'm your father. I have forgiveness
to ask of you.
(bows to BALIAN)
BALIAN leaves and returns to his work.
GODFREY: I am Godfrey, the baron of Ibelin. I have a
hundred men at arms in Jerusalem. If you will
come with me, you will have a living... and...
you will have my thanks -- there it is.
BALIAN:
Whoever you are, my lord, my place is here.
GODFREY: What made it your place is now dead.
You will never see me again. If you want
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anything of me, take it now.
BALIAN:
I want nothing.
GODFREY: I am sorry for your troubles.
God protect you. (leaves)
GODFREY mounts his horse.
GODFREY: Jerusalem is easy to find. You come to where
the men speak Italian. And continue until they
speak something else. We go by Messina.
Good-bye.
INT. BALIAN'S WORKSHOP. DAY.
PRIEST:
They would have taken you to Jerusalem...
away from all this. I'm your priest, Balian.
I tell you, God has abandoned you.
I swear to you, you will have no peace so long
as you stay here.
No man ever needed a new world more. The
village does not want you.
PRIEST (CONT'D): If you take the Crusade, you may relieve
your wife's position in hell. I put it
delicately. She was a suicide. She is in
hell. Though what she does there without
a head...
Balian stabbs the priest with the sword he has been
tempering. The priest falls onto the fire and the flames
catches the workshop. Balian mounts his horse.
EXT. FOREST. DAY.
GODFREY:
Wait here.
Balian catches up with Godfrey's group after killing the
village priest.
GODFREY: Have you come to kill me? Even these days,
it is not easy. Well?
MALIAN:
GODFREY:
I have done... murder.
Haven't we all?
BALIAN:
Is it true... that in Jerusalem I can
erase my sins... and those of my wife?
Is it true?
GODFREY:
We can find out together. Show me
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your hand.
EXT. FOREST. DAWN.
GODFREY: Hey! Pick it up. Let's see what you're
made of.
HOSPITALER: His hand is hurt, my lord.
GODFREY: I once fought two days with an arrow through
my testicle.
HOSPITALER: Ah, yes.
GODFREY strikes at BALIAN with his sword.
GODFREY: Never use a low guard. You fight well.
Let's work on your skills. Take a high guard,
like this. The Italians call it 'la poste di
falcone' - the guard of the hawk. Strike from
high, like this.
Do it. Sword straighter. Come on. Leg back.
Bend your knees. Sword straighter.
Defend yourself.
The blade isn't the only part of a sword.
Attack.
Balian drops his sword.
SQUIRE:
I have your leave?
(to Balian) Pay attention.
The Squire takes the place of Godfrey.
Several men approaches riding on horseback.
GODFREY:
What's this?
SHERIFF: You have with you a man, Balian, who killed
a priest. I'm charged by the lord bishop to
bring him back.
BALIAN:
What he says is true. They have the right
to take me.
SQUIRE:
I say he is innocent of the charge. If you
say he's guilty, then we'll fight. God will
decide the truth of it.
HOSPITALER: My German friend is a close student of the law.
SHERIFF: Just give him to me. I'll fight you for
something else. ... He's a murderer.
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GODFREY: So am I.
Whoever dies here today, you will certainly
be among them.
SHERIFF: You're a lord. I must give you the road.
(turns back) Hyah! Hyah!
Suddenly Godfrey's group are attacked.
VOICE:
Heinrich! (shouts in foreign language)
VOICE:
(being shot) Aah!
(Horses Whinnying)
GODFREY:
To the flanks!
:
Aah!
:
Hyah!
:
Aah!
:
Hyah!
:
Come on!
:
Hyah!
A mounted man spares Balian's life.
GODFREY:
Thank the bishop for his love!
INI. TENT. NIGHT.
The Hospitaler is treating Godfrey's wound.
HOSPITALER: Ah. Well, you broke the arrow.
If the ribs are broken, the marrow may enter
the blood, in which case you will develop fever
and die. Or a cyst will form, and you'll live.
You're in the hands of God.
GODFREY:
Will yoy get me some more wine.
Godfrey beckons Balian nearer.
GODFREY: It was not that they had no right to take you.
It was the way they asked.
BALIAN:
GODFREY:
They had the right to take me.
So do I.
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EXT. PILGRIM CAMP - ROAD TO MESSINA. DAY.
Godfrey's group are making a journey to Messina, Italy.
VOICE:
To kill an infidel is not murder.
It is the path to heaven.
PRIEST:
To kill an infidel is not murder.
It is the path to heaven.
(Bleating) (Bell Ringing)
The Hospitaler tends to Godfrey's wounds.
Guy de Lusihnan comes to Godfrey.
GUY:
(pointing at Balian) Who is this?
GODFREY:
GUY:
My son.
Would I had fought you when you were still
capable of making bastards.
(laughs)
GODFREY:
I knew your mother when she was making hers.
Fortunately, you're too old to be one of mine.
GUY:
(continues chuckling) All will be settled.
EXT. MESSINA - PORT TO THE HOLY LAND. DAY.
Godfrey is being carried on a palanquin.
INT. MESSINA. DAY.
Godfrey is lying on the bed, attened by Balian.
GODFREY:
Do you know what lies in the Holy Land?
A new world. A man who in France had not
a house... is, in the Holy Land, the master
of a city. He who was the master of a city
begs in the gutter. There, at the end of
the world, you are not what you were born,
but what you have within yourself to be.
BALIAN:
I have to find forgiveness. That's all
I know.
GODFREY:
(in a feeble voice)
Whatever your position, you are of my house.
And that means you will serve the king of
Jerusalem.
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BALIAN:
What could a king ask of a man like me?
GODFREY:
A better world than has ever been seen.
A kingdom of conscience. A kingdom of heaven.
There is peace between Christian and Muslim.
We live together. Or between Saladin and the
king, we try. Did you think that lay at the
end of a crusade?
Balian shakes his head.
GODFREY:
It does. My son, you are all that survives
me. Do not disappoint me.
EXT. MESSINA. DAY.
ENGLISH SERGEANT is walking along the waterfront at
Messina.
BALIAN:
Who are those men?
SERGEANT:
Muslims. Saracens.
Chanting continues.
BALIAN:
And they're allowed their prayers?
SERGEANT: If they pay the tax. "Subhena Rabi Alladin."
(turns to Balian)
"Praise be to God. It is proper to praise him."
BALIAN:
Sounds like our prayers.
EXT. MESSINA. DAY.
Balian and Sergeant are eating outside.
SERGEANT:
GUY:
It's good.
When the king is dead, Jerusalem will be no
place for friends of Muslims, or traitors to
Christendom... like your father.
I am Guy de Lusignan. Remember that name.
And me.
Guy pokes Balian in the cheek with a stick. Balian
snatches the stick.
GUY:
Keep it.
BALIAN:
My lord.
How will you ride if you have no stick to
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beat the horse?
(throws the stick back at Guy)
SERGEANT:
He will be king in Jerusalem one day.
INT. MESSINA. NIGHT.
Balian is praying. The Sergeant comes in search of Balian.
SERGEANT: Balian. ... Hurry.
(stops at the part of the room curtained off)
I can go no further.
GODFREY: Get on your knees.
(rises to his feet with difficulty)
GODFREY: (Wheezing) Be without fear in the face of
your enemies. Be brave and upright that God
may love thee. Speak the truth always, even
if it leads to your death. Safeguard the
helpless and do no wrong. That is your oath.
GODFREY: (cuffs Balian with the back of his hand)
And that's so you remember it.
Godfrey bestows his sword on Balian.
HOSPITALER: Arise a knight and Baron of Ibelin.
GODFREY: Defend the king. If the king is no more...
protect the people.
HOSPITALER: It is time now, my lord, to confess to holy
God, not your son.
Are you sorry for all your sins?
GODFREY: (looking at Balian) For all but one.
(dies)
EXT. MESSINA. DAY.
HOSPITALER: You sail now for Jerusalem, as your father
wished. I'll follow within the week. This
journes can be perilous. If God has purpose
for you there, he'll keep you safe in His hands.
(pauses)
If not... God bless you.
EXT. AT SEA. NIGHT.
Balian suffers shipwreck.
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EXT. SEASHORE. DAY.
Balian drifts ashore. He manages to get out of the
wrecked ship, but his horse runs away.
Wandering around in a desert, Balian finds an oasis,
where his horse comes to drink water.
Two local men come on horseback.
(horses whinnying)
IMAD:
(to Balian) He says that is his horse.
BALIAN:
IMAD:
Why would it be his horse?
Because it is on his land!
BALIAN:
MAN:
I took this horse from the sea.
(speak a foreign language)
IMAD:
He says you are a great liar... and he will
fight you because you are a liar.
BLIAN:
I have no desire to fight.
IMAD:
Then you must give him the horse.
BALIAN draws his sword.
BALIAN:
No.
One of the two Arabs hurls kis spear at Balian.
BALIAN:
Fight me fairly!
MAN:
(Arabic) Why? Why should he?
IMAD:
He is a knight.
BALIAN:
IMAD:
And I am the baron of Ibelin.
He says the baron of Ibelin is old.
He knew him at Damascus.
BALIAN:
I am the new one.
The man dismounts from his horse and fight Balian.
IMAD:
Stop!
Ibelin, that's enough!
(Arabic) Stop! Stop!
Ibelin, that's enough!
Ibelin! Stop!
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At last Balian kills the Arab.
BALIAN:
You have taken it very well that I have
killed your master.
IMAD:
It was the end of his time.
All is as God wills it.
Now finish this.
BALIAN:
(sighs) Take me to Jerusalem.
EXT. JERUSALEM. DAY.
IMAD:
Very good horse.
BALIAN:
IMAD:
Take the horse and be about your business.
This is your prize of battle.
I am your prisoner... your slave, should
you wish it.
BALIAN:
I have been a slave, or very near to one.
I will never keep one, nor suffer any to
be kept. Go.
IMAD:
The man you killed was a very great cavalier
among the Muslims. His name was Mummad al Fais.
BALIAN:
IMAD:
I will pray for him.
Your quality will be known among your enemies
before ever you meet them, my friend.
(bows to BALIAN, and leaves)
Balian roams through the city of Jerusarem.
BALIAN:
Old man, where is it that Christ was crucified?
The old man points the direction. And Balian goes up
the hill.
MUSLIM:
Salaam alaikum.
BALIAN:
(praying) God, what is it you want of me?
Balian buries the cross of his wife in the ground.
BALIAN:
(praying to his wife) How can you be in hell,
when you're in my heart?
EXT. JERUSALEM. DAY.
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Balian is followed by several men.
ALMARIC:
(looking at Balian's sword) You must have
known him.
BALIAN:
What?
ALMARIC: Since you carry Godfrey's sword, you must have
known him.
BALIAN:
ALMARIC:
BALIAN:
ALMARIC:
BALIAN:
ALMARIC:
I did.
A man my size?
Yes.
And green eyes.
(hesitates for a moment) Blue.
Come with us. My lord.
Almaric and his men bow to Balian.
INT. MANSION. MORNING.
Balian wakes up in a big house. Servants bow and greet
him in Arabic.
(Whinnying)
BALIAN:
Stop. You're hurting him.
(touching the horse) Whoa. Whoa.
A lady came into the court riding on a horse.
LADY:
BALIAN:
LADY:
Where's your master?
I have none.
Give me some water.
Balian scoops water out of the barrel with a dipper
for her.
LADY:
Thank you for the drink.
If you happen to see Balian, the son of Godfrey,
tell him that Sibylla called.
(leaves)
The Hospitaler arrives.
HOSPITALER: So how find you Jerusalem?
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BALIAN:
God does not speak to me.
Not even on the hill where Christ died.
I am outside God's grace.
HOSPITALER: I have not heard that.
BALIAN:
At any rate, it seems... I have lost my religion.
HOSPITALER: I put no stock in religion. By the word
"religion," I've seen the lunacy of fanatics
of every denomination be called the "will of God."
Holiness is in right action and courage on behalf
of those who cannot defend themselves.
And goodness - what God desires - is here...
(points to Balian's head) and here. (points
to Balian's heart) What you decide to do every
day, you will be a good man - or not. Come.
EXT. OFFICE OF THE MARSHALL OF JERUSALEM. DAY.
(Bell Ringing)
The Hospitaler is watching the public execution of some
Templars in Jerusalem.
HOSPITALER: The king has made a peace with Saladin these
past six years. He holds Jerusalem as a place
for prayer for all faiths as the Muslims did
before we came. These men are Templars.
They killed Arabs.
BALIAN:
So they are dying for what the Pope would
command them to do.
HOSPITALER: Yes, but not Christ, I think. Nor this king.
INT. OFFICE OF THE MARSHALL OF JERUSALEM. DAY
REYNALD:
Who says I raid?
TIBERIAS: That witness... all of Jerusalem. Holy God!
... and me.
REYNALD: That "witness," if you call him that, is a
Saracen. He lies.
TIBERIAS: There will come a day, Reynald de Chatillon,
when you are not protected by your title.
REYNALD: Oh? When will that be? Alert me, Tiberias,
when men are equal and the kingdom of heaven
has arrived.
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TIBERIAS: Those Templars have been hung for a raid that
I know you commanded!
REYNALD:
Prove it. I will wait at Kerak until you do.
TIBERIAS: The king will take your castle of Kerak,
Reynald.
REYNALD:
Try to take it, Tiberias. I'll be there.
Reynald walks out with a dirty look at the Saracen
witness.
The Hospitaler and Balian come in.
HOSPITALER: (to a guard) My lord, Tiberias.
Tiberias appears.
HOSPITALER: My lord.
TIBERIAS: (looking at Balian) It's true.
You're your father's son. He was my friend.
I am yours. Godfrey dead. It could have come
at a better time. Come.
It was shouted in the streets that you killed
a great lord of Syria. Saladin himself sent
word that your fight did not breach the peace,
that you had cause. What know you of Saladin?
BALIAN:
That he is king of the Saracens... and that
he surrounds this kingdom.
TIBERIAS: He has 200,000 men in Damascus alone.
He could win a war if he goes to war. And he's
daily given cause for war by fanatics newly from
Europe... by Templar bastards like Reynald de
Chatillon. Here, from this room, I keep the
peace, so far as it can be kept. But Saladin
and the king between them... would make a better
world.
HOSPITALER: If it lives only for a while, Tiberias, it
still has lived.
TIBERIAS: What did your father tell you of your...
obligations?
BALIAN:
That I was to be a good knight.
TIBERIAS: I pray the world and Jerusalem can accommodate
such a rarity... as a perfect knight.
Have you dined?
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INT. DINNER AT THE COURT. NIGHT.
OFFICER: The Princess Sibylla of Jerusalem and her husband,
Guy de Lusignan.
TIBERIAS:
GUY:
Fifty.
TIBERIAS:
GUY:
They've sworn allegiance to the king?
Of course, Tiberias. Obviously.
(to Balian) You sit at my table?
BALIAN:
GUY:
So, how many knights did you find in France?
Is it not the king's table?
Is it? I have not seen a king at it for
some years. I cannot eat. I... I am finicky
about company. In France this could not inherit.
But here, there are no civilized rules.
(Tiberias stands up)
I have business in the East.
GUY (Cont'd): My wife does not lament my absences.
That is either the best of wives, or the
very, very worst.
TIBERIAS:
GUY:
Do you go to meet Reynald?
No, my lord. He is in disfavor.
I am a member of this court. Why should I make
league with that... troublemaker? (leaves)
TIBERIAS:
To the very best of wives.
SIBYLLA:
(in Arabic) God bless Jerusalem.
MAN:
(Whispers to Tiberias) My lord, the king will
see him now.
TIBERIAS:
(to Sibylla) The king would see Godfrey's son.
SIBYLLA:
I'll take him.
BALIAN:
This morning I spoke without knowing who
you were.
SIBYLLA: I knew who you were. It's unmistakable.
I loved your father... and I shall love you.
Do you fear being with me?
BALIAN:
No.
(stops) And yes.
SIBYLLA: (laughs) A woman in my place has two faces;
one for the world, and one which she wears
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in private. With you I'll be only Sibylla.
SIBYLLA hears a noise and turns her head. A servant
hides behind a wall.
SIBYLLA: (Whispers) Tiberias thinks me unpredictable.
I am unpredictable.
No. There. (points at a room)
BALDWIN: Come forward. I am glad to meet Godfrey's son.
He was one of my greatest teachers. He was
there when, playing with the other boys, my
arm was cut. It was he, not my father's
physicians, who noticed that I felt no pain.
He wept when he gave my father the news... that
I am a leper. (raises his veil)
The Saracens say that this disease is God's
vengeance against the vanity of our kingdom.
As wretched as I am, these Arabs believe that
the chastisement that awaits me in hell... is
far more severe and lasting. If that's true,
I call it unfair.
Come. Sit.
They sit down on opposite sides of a chessboard.
BALDWIN: When I was sixteen, I won a great victory.
I felt in that moment, I would live to be a
hundred. Now I know I shall not see thirty.
You see, none of us choose our end, really.
A king may move a man. A father may claim a
son, but remember that, even when those who move
you be kings or men of power, your soul is in
your keeping alone. When you stand before God,
you cannot say, "But I was told by others to do
thus,"or that virtue "was not convenient at the
time." This will not suffice. Remember that.
BALIAN:
I will.
BALDWIN: Then go to your father's house at Ibelin. And
from there, protect the pilgrim road. Protect
the helpless. And then, perhaps one day when I
am helpless, you will come and protect me.
BALIAN:
(nods)
EXT. IBELIN. DAY
Balian and his men have arrived at Ibelin.
ALMARIC:
There, my lord. Ibelin.
A servant bows towards Balian.
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SERVANT: (speaking Arabic leads Balian to the terrace)
ALMARIC: Your father was important.
His lands were not.
BALIAN:
That will suit me.
ALMARIC: My lord, you have a thousand acres...
a hundred families.
You have Christians, Jews, Muslims.
You have fifty pairs of oxen.
BALIAN:
What we do not have is water.
(scratches the ground with his foot)
Balian plans to dig a well.
BALIAN:
(to the man in the well) Right.
Stone the walls.
Sibylla arrives on horseback.
SIBYLLA: I'm on my way to Cana.
Where Jesus changed water to wine.
But a better trick would be to change you to
a nobleman.
BALIAN: That should be easy. In France, a few yards of
silk can make a nobleman.
SIBYLLA:
(chuckles) I expect your hospitality.
BALIAN:
It is given. (to his servant) Latif.
INT. GODFREY'S HOUSE AT IBELIN. DAY.
Through the latice window Sibylla watches Balian working.
SIBYLLA:
What?
BALIAN:
It seems years since I've seen a woman eat.
SIBYLLA: Truly?
I was watching you today.
You've been given a patch of dirt, and it
seems you will build a new Jerusalem here.
BALIAN:
It is my land.
Who would I be if I did not try to make it
better?
Outside Arabs are praying on their knees.
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SIBYLLA: They try to be one... one heart, one morality.
Their prophet says, "Submit." Jesus says,
"Decide."
BALIAN:
Did you decide on Guy?
SIBYLLA: Guy was chosen by my mother.
I was fifteen at the time.
INT. GODFREY'S HOUSE AT IBELIN. NIGHT.
SIBYLLA:
Why do you think I'm here?
BALIAN:
I know that Ibelin is not on the way to Cana.
SIBYLLA:
What else do you know, my lord?
BALIAN:
I know that you are a princess... and I am
no lord.
SIBYLLA:
You're a knight.
BALIAN:
Neither earned nor proved.
SIBYLLA: I'm not here with you because I'm bored...
or wicked. I'm here because... because in the
East, between one person and another, there is
only light. (puffs out the candle)
EXT. DESERT. DAY.
The Templars are approaching a Muslim caravan.
TEMPLAR MASTER:
GUY:
This caravan is armed, Reynald.
REYNALD:
GUY:
Good. No sport otherwise.
They've seen us. Go after them. The rider
is getting away.
REYNALD:
GUY:
Halt!
Nothing'll come of it, nothing.
I'd prefer not to be hanged before my wife
is queen.
REYNALD: Don't worry. "Who but Raynald?" they'll say.
It's always me. They'll believe it in Jerusalem,
I assure you. You were at Nazareth, praying.
GUY:
You're a dangerous man, Raynald.
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REYNALD: If the war's to be now or later, I would have
it now. How long can the leper last?
TEMPLAR MASTER:
God wills it. God wills it!
TEMPLARS:
(All shouting) God wills it!
REYNALD:
Jerusalem!
They all charge towards the Moslim caravan.
REYNALD:
Charge!
REYNALD:
(brings his sword down) It's you! Ha!
INT. THE MARSHALL OF JERUSALEM. DAY.
TIBERIAS: Guy de Lusignan and Raynald de Chatillon,
with the Templars... have attacked a Saracen
caravan.
VOICES:
GUY:
(Angry Shouting) Liar!
Silence!
REYNALD: It was no caravan. It was an army headed for
Bethlehem to desecrate our lord's birthplace.
GUY:
Reynald, with the Templars, have broken the
king's pledge of peace. Saladin will come
into this kingdom...
Tiberias knows more than a Christian should
about Saladin' s intentions.
TIBERIAS: That I would rather live with men than kill
them... is certainly why you are alive.
GUY:
That sort of Christianity has its uses, I
suppose.
(Scattered Laughing)
TIBERIAS: We must not go to war with Saladin!
We do not want it, and we may not win it.
TEMPLAR MASTER: Blasphemy!
All: (Shouting) Blasphemy!
TEMPLAR MASTER: An army of Jesus Christ, which bears
his holy cross, cannot be beaten.
Does the count of Tiberias suggest that it
could be? There must be war. God wills it!
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TEMPLAR:
GUY:
All:
God wills it!
God wills it!
(Shouting) God wills it!
God wills it!
A Templar hands a paper to the King. Reading it, the King
raises his hand.
TIBERIAS:
Silence!
BALDWIN: Saladin has crossed the Jordan with two hundred
thousand men.
TIBERIAS: He will make first for Kerak and Reynald de
Chatillon.
(tries to help the King stand up) My lord...
BALDWIN: (rejects the help and stands up himself)
We must meet him before he reaches Kerak.
I will lead the army.
TIBERIAS:
My lord, if you travel, you'll die.
BALDWIN: Send word to Balian to protect the villagers.
Assemble the army.
The Templars cheer.
EXT. IBELIN. DAY
SIBYLLA:
What becomes of us?
BALIAN:
The world will decide. The world always
decides.
One of Barian's men arrives.
ALMARIC:
My lord! The king is marching on Kerak.
EXT. KERAK CASTLE - STRONGHOLD OF REYNALD. DAY.
ALMARIC: (to Balian) Saracen cavalry. They're coming
to close Reynald in. These people are not safe
outside the walls. Saladin will certainly come
behind him.
BALIAN:
(to Sibylla) Go into the fortress now.
SIBYLLA:
(Speaks Arabic) Hyah! Hah!
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Saracen cavalty are flooding into Kerak.
BALIAN:
(dashes) Hyah! Hyah!
ALMARIC:
MEN:
Hyah!
Hyah! Hyah!
REUNALD:
(looking at Balian's force) Visitors!
OFFICER: My lord Balian! My lord Balian!
My lord Reynald prays you bring your force
into Kerak.
BALIAN:
Thank you, but no. If we do, these people
will die.
OFFICER: We'll hold the Saracen cavalry until the king
arrives.
BALIAN:
So be it. Hyah!
ALMARIC:
We cannot attack that and live.
INT. ON THE WALL OF KERAK. DAY.
TEMPLAR:
GUY:
SIBYLLA:
(bows) My lady.
(Coughing) What do you look at?
A knight. His men.
EXT. ON THE PLAINS OF KERAK. DAY.
BALIAN:
(to Almaric) Are you with me?
Almaric nods.
BALIAN:
Forward!
BALIAN:
Divide!
Balian and his men crash into Saracen cavalry.
A bloody battle begins.
EXT. ON THE PLAINS OF KERAK. DAY.
Balian and his men are defeated by superior numbers.
He is carried to the captain of Saracen cavalry.
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IMAD:
Your quality will be known among your enemies
before ever you meet them, my friend.
BALIAN:
IMAD:
You were not that man's servant.
No. He was my servant.
BALIAN:
What becomes of us?
IMAD:
As you deserve.
You reap what you sow. You have heard of
this, no? ... Get up.
You may go into Kerak, but you will die there.
My master is here.
IMAD:
(to his man) Tell my lord Saladin that Jerusalem
has come.
SIBYLLA:
(on the wall whispers) Saladin.
Baldwin meets Saladin.
SALADIN: (rises his right hand) I pray you pull back
your cavalry and leave this matter to me.
BALDWIN: I pray you retire unharmed to Damascus.
Reynald of Chatillon will be punished. I swear
it. Withdraw, or we will all die here.
Do we have terms?
SALADIN: We have terms.
I will send you my physicians.
BALDWIN:
SALADIN:
Salaam alaikum.
(raising his right hand) Alaikum salaam.
EXT. KERAK. DAY.
REYNALD:
I am Reynald of Chatillon!
BALDWIN: On your knees... lower. I am... Jerusalem.
And you, Raynald, will give me the kiss of
peace. (takes off glove)
Baldwin slaps Reynald hard, and staggers.
TIBERIAS: Guard.
REYNALD:
What are you looking at?
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TIBERIAS: A dead man.
Raynald de Chatillon, you are arrested and
and condemned.
Baldwin is lying on the palanquin.
BALDWIN: (to Balian) Come. If you continue like this,
I shall have to find a use for you. If God can
spare you, that is.
BALIAN:
BALDWIN:
TIBERIAS:
God does not know me.
Yes, but I do.
I'll be, then.
They begin to carry the palanquin.
TIBERIAS:
(mounting his horse) I need you in Jerusalem.
EXT. SALADIN'S TENT. DAY.
The mullah pays a visit to Saladin in his tent after the
battle at Kerak.
MULLAH:
Salaam alaikum.
SALADIN:
Alaikum salaam.
MULLAH:
Why did you retire? Why? God did not favor
him. God, alone, determines the results of
battles.
SALADIN: The results of battles are determined by God,
but also by preparation, numbers, the absence
of disease and the availability of water. One
cannot maintain a siege with the enemy behind.
How many battles did God win for the Muslims
before I came? That is, before God determined
that I should come.
MULLAH:
Few enough. That's because we were sinful.
SALADIN:
It is because you were unprepared.
MULLAH:
If you think that way, you shall not be king
for long.
SALADIN: (rises to his feet) When I'm not king, I quake
for Islam. Thank you for your visit.
The mullah does not budge; Saladin takes a step forward and
extends his hand.
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SALADIN:
Thank you for your visit.
The mullah takes his meaning and grasps the offered hand.
MULLAH:
You promised. You promised to return Jerusalem.
Don't forget. (leaves)
EXT. KERAK. DAY.
On horseback Reynald is being taken to the prison.
INT. JERUSALEM. DAY.
BALDWIN: So, my friend, the time has come to conclude
my affairs. We have decided that you shall take
command of the army of Jerusalem. If I leave
the army with Guy, he will take power through
my sister and make war on the Muslims.
BALIAN:
Whatever you ask, I will serve.
BALDWIN: No. Hear it all before you answer.
Would you marry my sister, Sibylla, were she
free of Guy de Lusignan?
BALIAN:
And Guy?
TIBERIAS: He will be executed... along with his knights
who do not swear your allegiance.
BALIAN:
I cannot be the cause of that.
TIBERIAS:
"Whatever you ask. I will serve."
BALIAN:
A king may move a man, you said... but the
soul belongs to the man."
BALDWIN:
BALIAN:
BALDWIN:
Yes, I did.
You have my love... and my answer.
So be it.
TIBERIAS: (to Balian) Why do you protect Guy, hmm?
He's a man who insults you, who hates you.
He'd kill you himself if he had the chance.
Fulfill the salvation of this kingdom, would
it be so hard to marry Sibylla? Jerusalem
has no need of a perfect knight.
BALIAN:
No. It is a kingdom of conscience... or
nothing. (leaves)
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Balian rides his horse to where Sibylla is.
BALIAN:
Sibylla.
SIBYLLA: (kisses Balian) Who are you to refuse a king?
I am what I am. I offer you that... and the
world.
You say no.
BALIAN: Do you think I'm like Guy?
That I would sell my soul?
SIBYLLA: There'll be a day when you will wish you had
done a little evil... to do a greater good.
(leaves)
INT. JERUSALEM. NIGHT.
With some food Guy goes to meet Reynald in prison.
GUARD:
(to Balian) My lord.
REYNALD: (devouring) Do you really think the king
wants you head of the army once he's gone?
Hmm? Think your wife does?
GUY:
I have a problem.
REYNALD: Ah, yes. Balian. I saw him at Kerak.
Celebrated.
(leans in close to Guy) Kill him.
INT. JERUSALEM. NIGHT.
Baldwin is lying on the bed.
BALDWIN: Oh. Hello.
I was dreaming... I was back in that summer...
when I defeated Saladin.
Do you remember it? I was only sixteen.
SIBULLA:
BALDWIN:
SIBULLA:
You were a beautiful boy.
Yes.
You have always been beautiful in every way.
BALDWIN: My beautiful sister. So beautiful.
I'm sorry if I've caused you any pain.
Remember me as I was.
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SIBYLLA:
GUY:
I will. (kisses him and leaves)
Sibylla.
SIBYLLA:
If I have your knights, you have your wife.
INT. CATHEDRAL. DAY.
Sibylla takes off the mask from Baldwin.
PATRICRCH: Behold your rightful king and heir to
the throne of the kingdom of Jerusalem.
(Chanting) Hail! Hail! Hail!
SIBYLLA: I, Sibylla, by the grace of the holy spirit,
choose as king, Guy de Lusignan, the man who
has been my husband. With the help of God,
he will rule his people well.
PATRIARCH: Long live the king in prosperity.
(With Crowd)
Long live the king. Long live the king.
Long live the king.
EXT. IBELIN. DAY.
Several Temolars are sent to kill Balian.
BALIAN:
Is this why you came to the Holy Land?
Come on!
Balian narrowly escapes death.
INT. PRISON. NIGHT.
GUY:
(to the guard) Leave us.
REYNALD:
GUY:
Yes.
REYNALD:
GUY:
The king is in heaven?
Have the Templars killed Balian?
Yes.
Raynald... give me a war.
REYNALD:
That is what I do.
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EXT. A VILLAGE. DAY.
Reynald and his men are raiding a peaceful village.
REYNALD:
I am what I am. Someone has to be.
They find a woman crouching on the grass.
MAN::
Saladin's sister.
REYNALD:
I know.
WOMAN:
Saladin achki.
REYNALD:
I know.
Abruptly Reynald strips her of her veil.
INT. JERUSALEM. DAY.
GUY:
Salaam alaikum.
MESSENGER: Alaikum salaam.
GUY:
Speak.
MESSENGER: The sultan demands the return of his sister's
body, the heads of those responsible and the
surrender of Jerusalem.
(Grunts)
GUY:
Does he?
MESSENGER: What answer do you return to Saladin?
GUY:
This. (decapitates the messenger)
(Shouting In Arabic)
GUY:
Take the head to Damascus.
I am Jerusalem.
Assemble the army! Yea!
(All Cheering)
EXT. OUTSIDE OF JERUSALEM. DAY.
Balian is riding to Jerusalem.
GUY:
Now this assembly of barons and all Jerusalem
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is complete. There are those among you who may
disagree with our succession, but it is war.
SOLDIERS:
GUY:
Aye!
And I am... (sees Balian) ... the king.
We march at once. What say this council?
ALL:
Aye!
BALIAN:
No. If you must have war, this army cannot
move away from water. You have a chance to
hold the city... but if you move out against
Saladin, this army will be destroyed and the
city left defenseless.
GUY:
When I wish a blacksmith to advise me in war,
I will tell him.
BALIAN:
Saladin wants you to come out. He is waiting
for you to make that mistake. He knows his
man.
TEMPLAR MASTER: We should meet the enemies of God.
TEMPLARS:
GUY:
And so we shall.
TIBERIAS:
GUY:
Aye!
Then you do so without my knights.
Then I will have the glory, Tiberias.
You had yours years and years ago. It's time
for mine.
OFFICER:
Forward!
Forward!
BALIAN:
Tiberias.
When Saladin has finished with Guy, he will
come. We must look to the defenses.
TIBERIAS: The king's dead... and Jerusalem along
with him.
BALIAN:
(to the Hospitaler) You go with the army?
HOSPITALER: My order is with the army.
BALIAN:
You go to certain death.
HOSPITALER: All death is certain. I shall tell your
father what I've seen you become.
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INT. JERUSALEM. NIGHT.
SIBYLLA: When Saladin comes, we're not defensible.
Save the people from what I have done.
BALIAN:
I will.
EXT. TO HATTIN. DAY.
In the sun the Crusaders are trudging along, while
the Muslims are very vigorous.
SALADIN:
(in Arabic) Forward!
OFFICER:
Forward!
IMAD:
God wills it.
EXT. JERUSALEM. EVENING.
BALIAN:
Can you sense it?
TIBERIAS:
There has been no messenger.
EXT. HATTIN. DAY.
We see the field after the battle -- the defeat of the
Crusaders.
Saladin hands a cup to Guy, who gives it to Reynald.
REYNALD:
I drink water for what it is.
SALADIN:
I did not give the cup to you.
REYNALD:
No, my lord.
Saladin slashes Reynald's throat with a dagger.
SALADIN: (to GUY) A king does not kill a king.
Were you not close enough to a great king...
to learn by his example?
Tiberias and Balian come to the battlefield.
TIBERIAS: I've given Jerusalem my whole life.
Everything. First I thought we... were fighting
for God. Then I realized we were fighting for
wealth and land. I was ashamed.
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BALIAN:
Tiberias.
TIBERIAS: There is no more Jerusalem.
I shall go to Cyprus. Will you come with me?
BALIAN:
No.
TIBERIAS: (nodding) You are your father's son.
Saladin must move his army from water to water.
That gives you four days, maybe five.
God be with you. He's no longer with me.
EXT. JERUSALEM. DAY.
BALIAN:
Mark 400.
ALMARIC:
Four hundred!
A single horsemen is seen in the distance standing on top
of a hill.
MAN:
(raising a flag) Four hundred!
BALIAN:
ALMARIC:
BALIAN:
They're here.
It is only one man.
No. They're here.
The camera zooms out and makes the whole Saracen army
visible behind the hill.
BALIAN:
This is the only section of the wall that they
can attack once they begin to bombard the walls.
They will stop only to avoid hitting their own
siege towers as they come in. We take the
bombardment. When they cease firing, we fire.
PATRIARCH: We must leave the city.
BALIAN:
How exactly, my lord bishop?
PATRIARCH: The fastest horses from a lesser gate.
BALIAN:
And the people?
PATRIARCH: It is unfortunate about the people, but it
is God's will.
EXT. TOWER IN JERUSALEM. DAY.
MAN #1:
Silence!
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MAN #2:
Silence!
IBELIN:
It has fallen to us... to defend Jerusalem...
and we have made our preparations as well as
they can be made. None of us took this city
from Muslims. No Muslim of the great army now
coming against us was born... when this city
was lost. We fight over an offense we did
not give... against those who were not alive
to be offended. What is Jerusalem? Your
holy places lie over the Jewish temple that
the Romans pulled down. The Muslim places of
worship lie over yours. Which is more holy?
(pause)
BALIAN:
... The wall? The mosque? The sepulcher?
Who has claim? No one has claim.
(raises his voice)
All have claim!
PATRIARCH: That is blasphemy.
ALMARIC:
(to PARRIARCH) Be quiet.
BALIAN:
We defend this city... not to protect these
stones... but the people living within these
walls.
PATRIARCH: My lord. My lord, my lord.
How are we to defend Jerusalem without
knights? We have no knights!
BALIAN:
Truly?
(looks around, and then to a citizen)
What is your condition?
YOUNG MAN: I'm servant to the patriarch.
PATRIARCH: He's, uh, one of my servants.
BALIAN:
Is he? You were born a servant?
Kneel. Every man at arms... or capable of
bearing them, kneel! On your knees!
(to the young man) Be without fear in the face
of your enemies.
(to all) Be brave and upright that God may
love thee. Speak the truth even if it leads
to your death. Safeguard the helpless.
That is your oath.
(slaps the young man across the face)
And that is so you remember it.
Rise a knight.
Rise a knight!
PATRIARCH: Who do you think you are? Will you alter
the world? Does making a man a knight make
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him a better fighter?
BALIAN:
Yes.
PATRIARCH: (sighs)
EXT. JERUSALEM. NIGHT.
A mounted man comes and speaks Arabic, "There can be no
victory except through God."
ALMARIC:
BALIAN:
My lord?
No.
(voice in Arabic, "May God be with us!")
ALMARIC:
BALIAN:
When will it begin?
Soon.
Suddenly flaming balls come flying one after another.
MAN #1:
Ballista!
BALIAN:
Get them to the walls!
MAN #2:
Water! Bring water!
BALIAN:
Get the machines to the walls. ... Push!
MAN #3:
Run!
ALMARIC:
IMAD:
SALADIN:
Push!
Why do they not fire back?
They wait.
(man shouts in Arabic)
INT. JERUSALEM. NIGHT.
BALIAN:
That was only the first day. There may be
a hundred more.
ALMARIC:
BALIAN:
Saladin will show no mercy.
We must hold out... force him to offer terms.
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ALMARIC:
What terms?
BALIAN:
We fight for the people... their safety and
freedom.
EXT. OUTSIDE OF JERUSALEM. DAY.
IMAD:
Mercy.
SALADIN:
No. I cannot.
Balian is surprised at many huge siege towers.
But then they begin to fire back.
MAN #1:
Four hundred!
MAN #2:
Four hundred!
BALIAN:
Fire!
ALMARIC:
Fire!
BALIAN:
Three hundred!
MAN #1:
Three hundred!
ALMARIC:
Fire!
MAN #2:
Fire!
MAN #3:
Fire!
BALIAN:
One-fifty!
MAN #4:
One-fifty!
ALMARIC:
Line up! Fire!
MAN #5:
Hold your fire!
MAN #6:
Hold!
A movable siege tower built by Muslims approaches.
BALIAN:
:
Fire!
BALIAN:
:
Fire!
Oil! Now!
Fire!
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INT. TENT OF SALADIN. NIGHT.
SALADIN:
IMAD:
Who defends?
Balian of Ibelin, the son of Godfrey.
SALADIN: Godfrey? Godfrey nearly killed me in the
Lebanon. Truly, I did not know he had a son.
IMAD:
SALADIN:
IMAD:
SALADIN:
IMAD:
It was his son at Kerak.
The one you let live?
Yes.
Perhaps you should not have.
Perhaps I should have had a different teacher.
EXT. OUTSIDE OF JERUSALEM. DAY.
BALIAN:
ALMARIC:
Fire!
Fire!
MAN #1:
Fire!
MAN #2:
Fire!
The people in Jerusalem manage to fell the mobile
towers.
INT. JERUSALEM. NIGHT.
Balian is being treated for a wound.
Corpses lie in piles.
PATRIARCH: When a body is burnt, it cannot be
resurrected until Judgment Day.
BALIAN:
If we do not burn these bodies, we will
all be dead of disease in three days. God
will understand, my lord. And if he doesn't,
then he is not God, and we need not worry.
EXT. OUTSIDE OF JERUSALEM. NIGHT
SALADIN:
IMAD:
Salaam alaikum.
Alaikum salaam.
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IMAD discusses how to break Jerusalem's defenses.
IMAD:
The wall, where the Christopher Gate used to
be, has been weakened.
ENGINEER: Usually when a gate is blocked in, it is weaker
than the wall round it.
MULLAH:
IMAD:
Or stronger.
It is weaker. Rashid has seen it.
This will be our door into Jerusalem.
INT. JERUSALEM. NIGHT
BALIAN: This is where we will make our stand.
We must prepare.
EXT. OUTSIDE OF JERUSALEM. DAY
Just before the final assault on Jerusalem.
MULLAH:
Brothers! Brothers!
God has sent you this day!
You will take no prisoners!
As they did, so shall it be done!
Allah hu akbar!
MUSLIM SOLDIER: Allah hu akbar!
MULLAH:
Allah hu akbar!
MUSLIM SOLDIER: Allah hu akbar!
MULLAH:
Allah hu akbar!
EXT. JERUSALEM. DAY
BALIAN:
When this wall comes down, there will
be no quarter. If you throw down your arms,
your families will die.
We can break this army here.
So I say let them come!
Let them come!
ALMARIC:
ALL:
Come on! Come on! (Cheering)
Come on! (Cheering)
Again a very bloody battle develops.
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EXT. OUTSIDE OF JERUSALEM. DAY
ALMARIC: They will ask for terms. We "must" ask
for terms.
PATRIARCH: Convert to Islam. Repent later!
BALIAN:
You've taught me a lot about religion, Your
Eminence.
Balian walks to meet with Sladin.
SALADIN:
Will you yield the city?
BALIAN:
Before I lose it, I will burn it to the ground.
Your holy places -- ours. Every last thing in
Jerusalem that drives men mad.
SALADIN: I wonder if it would not be better if you did.
You will destroy it?
BALIAN:
Every stone.
And every Christian knight you kill will take
ten Saracens with him. You will destroy your
army here and never raise another.
I swear to God that to take this city will
be the end of you.
SALADIN: Your city is full of women and children.
If my army will die, so will your city.
BALIAN:
Do you offer terms? I ask none.
SALADIN: I will give every soul safe conduct to Christian
lands. Every soul. The women, the children,
the old. And all your knights and soldiers, and
your queen. No one will be harmed. I swear to
God.
BALIAN: The Christians butchered every Muslim within
the walls when they took this city.
SALADIN: I am not those men. I am Saladin.
Salaam din.
BALIAN:
SALADIN:
Then, under these terms, I surrender Jerusalem.
Salaam alaikum.
BALIAN: And peace be with you.
(looks back) What is Jerusalem worth?
SALADIN: Nothing.
(walks way) Everything!
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Balian comes back in front of the walls.
BALIAN:
I have surrendered Jerusalem. All will be
safely escorted to the sea. If this is the
kingdom of heaven, let God do with it as He
wills.
(Cheering) Balian!
Balian!
INT. JERUSALEM. DAY
Balian goes to see Sibylla.
BALIAN:
Your brother's kingdom was here... (pointing
to his head) ... and here. (pointing to his
heart)
That kingdom can never be surrendered.
SIBYLLA: What should I do?
I'm still the queen of Acre, Ashkelon, Tripoli.
BALIAN:
Decide not to be a queen And I will come
to you. (leaves)
EXT. JERUSALEM. DAY.
IMAD:
This horse... is not a very good horse.
I will not keep it. (hands the reins to Balian)
BALIAN:
IMAD:
Thank you.
And if God does not love you, how could you
have done all the things that you have done?
Peace be upon you.
BALIAN:
Alaikum salaam.
EXT. ON THE ROAD. DAY.
Balian finds Sibylla in the procession.
BALIAN:
A queen never walks. And yet you are walking.
EXT. FRANCE. DAY.
Balian returns to his home.
He hears approaching Hoofbeats.
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MAN:
Forward! ... Halt!
KNIGHT:
We crusade to recover the kingdom of Jerusalem.
BALIAN:
You go to where the men speak Italian... and
then continue until they speak something else.
RICHARD: We come by this road to find Balian... who
was defender of Jerusalem.
IBELIN:
I am a blacksmith.
RICHARD:
And I am the king of England.
IBELIN:
(pauses) I am a blacksmith.
MAN:
Forward!
Balian looks towards Sibylla.
The King, Richard the Lionheart, went on to the Holy
Land and crusaded for three years. His struggle to
regain Jerusalem ended in an uneasy truce with Saladin.
Nearly a thousand years later, peace in the Kingdom
of Heaven remains elusive.
END
file:///C|/TEXTS/Scenario/Heaven.txt[2012/12/14 18:09:27]