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...