–No more lies, William Shakespeare! –No!
Cervantes!
In a London street, whose name nobody cares to remember,
William Shakespeare was last seen drinking a pint of beer.
After emptying his mug, the young and promising author
vanished without a trace for several years.
Until today, nobody has discovered
why he disappeared so mysteriously or where he might have gone.
Nobody...?
My lady, we should return.
We must still pack our trunks.
Where is the Duke?
Follow me, my lady.
Spain...
Your Excellency...
Long live Spain!
My beloved!
Leonor, my sweet bride-to-be,
welcome to Castile.
Your Excellency?
Have you met my father?
The first Duke of Obando was a handsome man, no?
I look more like my mother.
And this is my family.
My daughters, Magdalena
and Consuelo.
My granddaughters,
Urraca and Petronilla.
Come with us.
We've organized a small welcoming party for you.
Thank you. I love parties.
Will there be music?
–What shall we do? –Be calm.
It's happened to her before.
The voice of pain! Face hidden...
God speaks through her mouth.
–Tell me. –Wielding a scimitar!
Death, death!
Muslims again. Another invasion!
Arise, Spain!
–It hurts, in here! –Poor thing.
She's calming down.
Such words should reach the King himself.
Must it be my daughter in her agony
who reveals the future of this nation?
Before we can act,
Muslim hordes will again be at the door of Castile.
Carry her to her rooms.
Come on, quickly! Lift her up!
Leonor, are you shocked?
Rest now.
You'll soon get used to this land.
My God, my God...
Are we under attack from the Arab armies?
Merely one man. A tax collector.
Let me pass! In the King's name I demand to see the Duke of Obando!
This Miguel de Cervantes has always been an incorrigible fool.
I shall make my way through!
Do you know that man?
He fought with me at Lepanto, a battle against the Turks.
I'd no idea he roamed my lands collecting taxes.
I thought he wrote comedies.
Is he good?
If he's as skillful with his pen as with his sword, yes.
Obey I say!
Drive him off. I shall not give the King an ounce of grain.
Wait! May I beg something of you?
Let him through!
I warn you, Miguel, this is the first and last time I pay.
This new levy is a mistake.
Because nobles and clergy contribute as well?
I fear, Excellency, the peasants
cannot keep an empire on their own.
You're on the wrong team, Miguel.
This tax collecting will only get you in trouble.
Devote your time to other affairs.
Sire, this job keeps us from poverty. My family and I.
That could change.
Go and freshen up, then come and meet my betrothed.
We have a proposition for you.
You scared me!
You're the one who scared me.
Stop!
Where do you think you're going?
Hold it! Don't move.
What were you doing there?
Wait!
Let him be! He is my servant.
Madam, but he was...
I asked him to retrieve my handkerchief. I dropped it.
What's going on here?
He's my servant, just arrived from England.
Sheathe your sword.
We don't want to murder my bride's servants, do we?
What did he say?
Queen Elizabeth hopes relations with Spain improve.
Great!
Give him lodging,
let him bathe, and feed him!
He must return to my father. To England.
Poor man. We owe him a small courtesy...
Escort him. He is to rest and eat.
Goodbye, Duke.
Your Excellency...
This is Miguel de Cervantes, the author.
Here he is.
This is your room.
With me.
Cow.
Not "mai-god",
"gorrino",
"go-rri-no".
Your bed.
Where is the Engl...?
Food for you.
It's good, eat.
Look how they eat in England!
This? It's roasted "gato". Good?
Would you like a little privacy to talk about your commission?
I would be grateful, sir.
Very well, you may walk three steps ahead.
He lost an arm, not a leg, dear.
He doesn't need your arm for support.
–You want me to write a play? –Yes, for my wedding.
Is one month enough time?
–I'd like to play the leading role. –Have you any experience?
–Can you act? –Were she a fool, she is the duchess.
She won't make a fool of herself, will you?
Sire, if you must speak so loud, you'd better join us.
No, I've no wish to meddle.
I'm sorry, I cannot accept your commission.
–How is that possible? –I've sworn never to write again.
Why?
I no longer know if I am a poet.
My novel, "La Galatea", and my plays
have been gloriously ignored by the public.
Success and talent are different things.
If your works are not appreciated,
they must be too refined for today's coarse mobs.
I'm not jealous, but twice now you have given him your arm
and here am I, alone and unassisted.
Please, I know you can write something great.
I'm sorry.
I assure you I haven't the strength to start a comedy now.
–Can't I persuade you? –It appears not.
We can persuade him to stay for dinner.
A poet never refuses a hot meal.
–What's this? A poem? –Give it to me, it's mine.
It's in English.
Look. Your betrothed hides it in her sleeve.
Please, give it to me, it's mine.
I mean, I wrote it myself.
We didn't know you were a poet.
Your talents know no limits, my dear.
Read it to us.
I'll recite it in English, as I composed it in English.
Give me a harp.
You're impossible.
You must know that this sonnet speaks of love,
that it is a fever that steals our reason from us.
Do not eye her cleavage so.
Sire...
Leonor, you were magnificent.
We are all bewitched.
This jewel has belonged to the Dukes of Obando for generations.
My mother wore it at her wedding
and I want you to wear it
on our wedding day.
Do not catch cold, my dear.
What say you of my bride-to-be? You will not deny she is beautiful.
Beautiful, sensitive
and with an intelligence well primed for ideas.
–That's what worries me. –Why?
If I had to choose to marry a fool or a scholar,
I'd always take the fool.
Intelligence in a woman is a source of temptations.
In this castle she's in no danger of falling into any.
You're right.
It's not a problem here.
Come, see for yourself.
She has not even taken off my cape yet.
Do you think she'll come to love me?
Madam...
Stay there a while, then go by the bed
and blow out the candles.
I know, I'm misbehaving,
but it's for a good cause, I swear.
I was doing so well in London, almost accustomed to the English.
William...
She's a disgusting sow.
–Because of her cleavage? –Because she's a Jew.
She tarnishes the faith of Christ.
Why is father marrying her if her blood is not pure?
For money. He's practically sold the dukedom.
Father made a deal with her father.
If a male child is born to them. he'll inherit the title.
–Perhaps they'll be childless. –Don't be silly.
She's got childbearing hips.
Before we know it, we'll have a dozen little brothers.
What's to be done? Life is a river of tears.
Then let her cry!
We can't let them marry.
What will you do?
I'll help you,
as long as it's not a sin.
We shall watch. She must have something to hide.
–She is far too beautiful. –So what?
All beautiful women are whores.
Or nuns.
Juana?
Willy, Willy... what are you up to with your lady?
Madam.
–You scared me! –Forgive me.
I have decided to stay and write that play.
What do you think?
I don't know. I thought you didn't want to write.
Muses leave, and they return.
I've the perfect subject: infidelity.
–Infidelity? –Listen.
More than betrayal, it's about jealousy,
the pain of knowing that it's impossible to fully possess
–the one you love. –Is she guilty?
Only the jealous spouse is guilty, not the lady.
–How would she be portrayed? –Clean, innocent,
–beautiful... –I love it.
Tell me more.
Imagine a Basque, a veteran of a thousand battles.
A lady of incomparable beauty...
Yours are not a servant's hands, nor is your gaze.
Now both shall write for me.
I should be delighted, but it's a mess.
I doubt they'd collaborate. Authors are so proud.
You must tell the Englishman to leave.
Right away. He's dangerous.
I know you, you like this William.
This is not London.
You can't get your own way here.
Very well.
Find him and bring him to my chamber.
I'm pleased that you become more pious every day.
Pray for us, I'm sure your prayers are more readily heard.
"Panza" is the belly.
Panza Sancho, Sancho Panza.
The old Englishwoman.
English my foot!
In case you hadn't noticed, I'm from Valladolid.
–Is he doing it with her too? –I don't know.
From a red-haired man, ride away while you can.
Go away!
Can't you see that you'll scare my mistress?
She's resting.
Are you her guard dog?
Yes. And when I'm angry, I bite.
Leonor, what did you promise me?
–Take away this relic. –The doctor said...
A few hairs, however holy, will not return my youth to me.
Miguel.
Take care of and watch over my betrothed
for a couple of days. I've been summoned to Court.
Excellency, why not take Leonor with you?
She would be pleased.
My dear Miguel:
I shall tell you of the moral stature of our Court.
Prince Charles, of whom God or his father
has seen fit to rid us, used to beat his chambermaids,
moaning and calling them Isabel, the name of the king's spouse.
Would I offer to the lustful eyes of the nobility
the delicacy that is my fiancée?
I'm not crazy.
What's the matter?
Let's run away. I'm suffocating in this castle.
Madam, the Duke...
'Tis but a short escape, I shan't leave forever.
Come.
My lady.
My lady!
–Do you know what love is? –Who doesn't, my lady?
Those on whom it has been imposed.
No one expects you to love the Duke.
No one expects me to love.
Sancho,
–Where Leonor? –She left, with the one-armed man.
Cervantes?
I saw them leave, heading for the windmill.
A what?
I see.
You know, Miguel? I think I'd be happier
among these rocks than trapped in the role of a duchess.
My lady, please come down.
Lean on me.
What happened to your hand?
An arquebus in Lepanto disabled it.
Does it hurt?
The wounds of war aren't the most painful.
Unfortunately.
My lady.
Thank God you're here!
We have problems with the Church.
May God insure we do not all end up dead!
Sancho.
Sir?
Enough games.
You're no servant. What is your occupation?
And yours?
–Hurry! Hide! –What is it?
Do you know Francisco de Iniesta? An Inquisitor.
Unfortunately. He's prosecuted me twice.
He's come to arrest you.
It's time to clarify what he has against me.
He'll put you in jail. With any luck, he won't kill you.
Trust me, I can deal with this.
Go.
I'm sorry to keep you waiting. I was at mass.
Duty to God always comes first, Your Excellency.
I'm told you wish to take Cervantes.
The Holy Court requests it.
Impossible.
Something terrible has happened. Follow me, you'll understand.
Excessive reading has dried out his brain and upset his mind.
He stabs walls and claims to have killed
four giants, tall as towers.
What is he doing?
Pouring water over himself and drinking it.
He says water is a precious draft,
a gift to him from Alquife the Wise, a magician.
–Poor Cervantes! –May we go inside?
Very well, you may enter.
But should anything happen...
It is senseless to enter now.
Our voices irritate him even more.
Let us leave.
Voices in my head!
As you have seen, he is unfit to go anywhere.
I have seen that he means enough to you
to challenge our intelligence
and our patience.
He is under the protection of my betrothed, the Duke of Obando.
–I speak in his name, not my own. –I see.
The jewel pinned to your dress bears his initials, does it not?
Yes.
It is very beautiful.
The wolves of Obando.
Made of rubies and pearls.
It is very valuable.
Of equal value is my sense of duty.
Thank you, Leonor. If the Duke learns that the Inquisition is after me...
He'll never know, I swear.
Madam, you have restored my freedom,
the most precious gift ever bestowed upon man.
Othello.
Othello?
Kneel before me, then.
Mine is the talent, the work.
–William! –Tell him.
What is going on, Leonor?
She is a liar,
the greatest in the world.
How does she pay for your talent?
–Shut up, you bastard! –No, Miguel.
He speaks the truth. Shakespeare is my lover
and he wrote the play, not I.
–Miguel... –Leave me, madam.
I should have guessed. You are an actress,
and the profession of impostor embraces all conditions.
Doesn't this justify all the deceits?
Art is not above the truth.
Besides, don't try to fool me. Don't say your relationship
with that man is all for
love of the theatre.
Are you reproaching me that we are lovers?
–I remind you I'm not married. –Excellent!
But you must say it with more conviction!
All day rehearsing!
Have you ever met a player with more zeal than my betrothed?
I have returned early.
You wanted to meet the Court? I have brought it to you.
Change your attire, tonight we shall celebrate.
I don't know where she went, or with whom or what she did.
Didn't I ask you to keep an eye on her?
Urraca! Don't eat so much, you'll make yourself sick.
I don't know if it's important but she did something odd.
She gave father's jewel to a man.
What is it? Did they get you?
Isn't it horrible?
No, it's wonderful.
Tell me more.
Lovely girl,
are you as virtuous as beautiful?
Consuelo, hurry up!
Get thee to a nunnery.
You are leaving like a thief,
in the night.
I don't like tragedies.
The ending is yours to finish.
What is it?
–It's a great party. –What can you see?
Nothing, I just know it.
You will be queen of the party. I have never seen you so pretty,
so Castilian, so pale.
–The brooch! –Forget it.
Let's go.
–The brooch! –Let's go.
Come here!
What is the matter? Where are your guests?
Your life is in danger.
What?
I'm considering whether to hang you in the courtyard
or from the battlement.
My daughters accuse you of having a lover.
You do know that honour is only made clean with blood?
Confess!
You gave him the brooch in payment for his favours!
The brooch?
If it is not so, where is it?
Sire, your daughters hate me.
How may I prove my innocence?
Here we have a witness.
She was left in your care.
What happened in my absence?
Have you nothing to say?
–Nothing she cannot say herself. –My friend,
too much diplomacy gives you away.
Did you buy your lover's favours with the jewel?
I will not allow this, Sire!
Such behaviour insults your intelligence and condition.
Very well. If she is innocent, where is the brooch?
I sent it to be repaired, some stones fell out.
Lies!
It is true, Sire.
The jeweller from Saville, a friend of my sister-in-law's cousin,
–a man completely... –Silence!
Very well.
I shall give you one last chance.
–Father, no! –Silence!
I want to see that brooch on your bosom the day of the performance.
If not, the gallows will be our marriage bed.
Take her away!
Get up. You must help me find the Englishman.
God! I'm still dreaming and this is a diabolic nightmare.
Miguel! Remember me?
Where are you going?
Didn't you write the play we're to perform at the castle?
Start rehearsing!
–We shall return shortly. –But Miguel!
What do we rehearse?
Let nothing in this world stop you.
Girls!
You like them? I've never met a girl with such a sweet tooth.
The battered lover.
A great English poet,
newly arrived in Castile.
Braver than Roland he is,
and more gallant than Mathias.
In a village of La Mancha
whose name he prefers to forget,
into love's net
he fell prey,
spun by a fair duchess.
–Give me the jewel. –Jewel?
What jewel?
I don't understand.
Do you understand this?
–Yes. –Come on.
–I've no quarrel with you. –Stop, you coward!
God! There will be butchery here today.
–No more lies, William Shakespeare! –No! Cervantes!
Give me the brooch.
The brooch? I haven't got it.
He hasn't got the brooch.
Juana saw it all, the Inquisitor has it. He's innocent.
The Englishman, not the Inquisitor!
The Inquisitor is guilty! Don't kill him.
Believe me! I bear witness! I'll do whatever is necessary.
Are you...?
Blood!
Better?
You, Sancho, good Panza,
good friend, good judgement.
At this rate he'll end up governor.
You think so? Nothing would please me more.
Return to the castle and give Leonor "esperanzas".
–What is "esperanzas"? –"Esperanzas"?
–To ask her to hope. –Ask her to hope?
Cervantes fights an army to rescue the jewel,
and convince the Duke not to hang my lady.
–Hang? Where? –The courtyard.
Here with honour we are kind of mules.
–Yes, "burro". –"Burro", yes.
–Where are you going? –Thanks.
Miguel, we're together in this!
Don't leave me here!
Calm down, Inés.
You will fall. My lady!
My lady!
–This is madness! –Be quiet.
Go away! Away!
Go away!
My dear.
Your father has arrived.
She's always been a bit crazy.
Horse tired?
Listen. I have a plan, but I need your help.
I don't help,
if you don't apologize. I'm no thief.
Fine, I was wrong, sorry.
–Am I honourable? –Yes.
Am I a better poet than you?
Go to hell, William Shakespeare!
I'm only kidding.
I'll help. What's the plan?
Let him go, he's drunk.
What do you want?
–Speak in Spanish. –Beer, two mugs. And brandy.
On me.
You have a handsome body. What arms,
what chest, what a...
You are disarming me.
Spank me. I'm naughty,
very naughty. Spank me.
Spank me again...
Where shall I shove it, sir?
Don't kill me? Take my purse. Take my golden cross.
Where's the Duke's jewel?
I sold it this morning.
My purse holds the money.
There isn't much.
Mercy! It's all I got from a servant of the lady
–who owns the jewel. –Magdalena.
Bread, bread for everybody.
Don't come any closer. There is enough.
Bread, bread.
–Give me the doll. –No, you have yours.
Listen...
If the scales of our existence
do not have
a little reason
to balance it with
–sensuality... –Sensuality.
Nothing, I can't find it.
–What is it? What do you want? –Do you have any sweet buns?
Give it to me!
They haven't got any.
–My lady! –You're here!
Do you have the brooch?
–Not yet. But we have a plan. –Sort of a plan.
–It's good. –Very good.
–What's the plan? –We've written a new play.
–If you will read it. –Yes.
My lady shouldn't go onstage without the jewel.
Excuse me Miguel,
I'm sorry but we cannot act this,
we don't know the lines.
Fine, we'll do it ourselves.
Daughters, the Spanish lady, and you the nun.
I am Othello! Give me charcoal. I mustn't be recognized.
You're going to be black? But your daughters aren't.
If anyone notices, it means the play doesn't work.
Long live the Duke of Obando!
–Are you alright, Sire? –He is.
And the lady?"
Calm down.
This battle won't be won with weapons,
but with arts.
Turn around.
Father, how did you fare in the war?
My daughters,
love, which knows neither age nore condition,
has taken over my soul.
I love Desideria.
Who does that black actor remind me of?
I shall marry her.
You should not. She is deceiving you.
"Sispir"...
Doesn't he look like "Sispir"?
We are conspiring!
She doesn't have the jewel. Stop the performance.
–We are conspiring! –We are conspiring!
The people love the show.
If I stop it, there'll be a riot.
The handkerchief that our father gave Desideria.
She must've dropped it by accident.
Behold the instrument of our revenge.
A snot rag?
This handkerchief will make our father
blind and mad.
Our stepmother's shroud!
My lady.
–Sweet buns for the brooch. –I don't have it.
This is not the right doll... or is this the right twin?
Bring your sister here.
No, please.
And Leonor? Why is she not on the stage?
Father...
The handkerchief you gave your wife as a gift,
was today in the hands of my servant.
He wiped his beard with it.
–What do you have to give her? –The brooch, or no sweet buns.
Hurry, take it to her.
Thank you.
Now do I see it's true.
All my fond love
thus do I blow to heaven.
This actor speaks good Arabic, does he not?
They accuse me of infidelity,
but I think when women are unfaithful,
the fault lies with the husbands, who either do not fulfill their duties
or rage in jealousy, imposing restrictions upon us,
and beat us.
But pay heed, gentlemen!
We women also have bile.
Let husbands know that their wives possess senses such as theirs.
Have we not also affections,
desires and weaknesses like men?
So let them treat us well, or know that
the bad we do is the fruit of their teachings.
It is the cause,
it is the cause.
You are to die.
Think on thy sins!
–They are lovers I swear to you! –Silence, strumpet!
–Nay, if you strive. –But half an hour!
Long live Desideria!
Such a passionate country! I'd quite forgotten.
–Let's go. –Stay where you are.
–What shall we do? –I don't know.
It's a riot.
I've never seen an audience react like this.
Desideria must not die.
We wish not a sad end to such an entertaining evening.
The theatre is a great invention for it places before us a mirror
which reflects the deeds of humans, of life itself.
There is nothing greater
as a means of representing what we are and should be
than comedy and comedians.
This night is for celebration.
I wish to announce to all of you
my immediate marriage to Leonor.
Tomorrow at dawn, she shall be...
my wife.
From now on I'll write only tragedies.
–All comedy makes a mockery of pain. –Not so.
You've taught me that humour is a powerful weapon.
You can keep it.
Calm down, it would've been worse to have lost my life.
I don't know, perhaps...
Thank you, Miguel.
I could not bear to go on my father's arm.
My lady...
if there were any way of leaving here alive,
I'd take you with me and be the happiest man on earth.
But it is not possible.
Consuelo, everyone's in the chapel. What's wrong?
Are you ill?
Get dressed and come. We'll talk about this later.
To the nunnery with you, my dear.
Not on your life!
Brethren,
we are gathered here today to join in holy matrimony
Don Antonio de Celaya, Duke of Obando,
and Doña Leonor de Vibero.
Leonor de Vibero, do you take Antonio de Celaya
to be your husband, to love and honour till death do you part?
I do.
And you, Don Antonio de Celaya,...
You are cunning.
But though you be my wife,
I shall treat you as a whore.
That is what you are, is it not?
Excellency, do you take Leonor to be your lawful wife?
I see you still doubt me.
However,
I assure you, I am a virgin.
Good.
I love popping cherries.
But not in every sense.
All this time, William Shakespeare...
Excellency,
do you take Doña Leonor de Vibero to be your wife?
Si...
Siii..! Siiiss!!
Father!
Father?
He is dead.
The ceremony is not valid. They did not marry!
Madam,
Your father gave his consent before dying.
–We all heard him say "Sí". –No, no!
His last wish was to marry.
What God has joined may not be put asunder.
Madam,
I salute you as Duchess of Obando
and pay you obedience.
Neither I nor any member of my family will consent to this!
Duchess...
Women are impossible.
One teaches them the meaning of pleasure and...
...they learn very quickly.
You're a good teacher.
We'll always have literature.
Tell us, now that you are rich...
–And a duchess. –And free.
Which one of us will you choose?
Choose? Why should I choose?
The doors to this palace and to my heart shall always be open...
–on one condition. –Speak.
Do not betray your talent.
And I want to be the first to read whatever you write.
"God knows if Dulcinea exists in the world or not...
...or if she is imaginary or not...
...these are not the sort of things that can be fully determined"