France is torn apart by the Wars of Religion.
Catholics and Protestants have been fighting for years.
King Charles IX always let his mother, Catherine de Medici, rule.
But today the Protestant leader, Admiral Coligny, has the King's trust:
the entire country might switch over to the new religion.
To quench the hatred, Catherine sets up an alliance for peace:
she marries her daughter Margot
to Henri of Navarre, her Protestant cousin.
A political scheme that everybody sees through.
But Coligny wants war with Catholic Spain. He must be stopped.
August 18. A heat wave has fallen over Paris.
Thousands of Protestants
have come for the wedding.
They are invading the inns and the streets.
Their dark clothes and looks
provoke the Parisians, already on the verge of rebellion.
Margot's wedding, a symbol of peace and reconciliation,
will be used to set off the greatest massacre in the history of France.
It's up there.
Ten coins for the room
and two for the horse.
Ten coins for that!
Find someplace else.
Paris is full. With the wedding,
the Protestants fell on us like the plague.
Who's that!
Who are you?
I'll kill him! Let me kill him!
Who are you?
- He just wants to sleep. Put it away. - To sleep?
- Well? - With me?
You'd rather sleep in the street
with your Protestant friends?
What? He's Protestant?
The dust bothers you?
You bother me. I don't sleep with my brethren,
even less a Catholic!
There's more of us than you.
Get used to it!
There we go! Everybody in the same bed!
We're all friends now!
Unity is what they want, so set the example!
- You came for the wedding? - No.
That Margot is an evil whore.
The wedding shames us all.
Henri, King of Navarre, do you
take Marguerite de Valois as your wife?
I do.
Marguerite de Valois,
do you take Henri de Bourbon as your husband?
Marguerite,
do you take...
In the name of God, of the Son,
and his Holy Church,
I join you in holy matrimony.
By giving you my sister, I give my heart to your faith.
Welcome to the family.
It's a peculiar one, but not that bad.
- Why not tonight? - On his wedding night?
Precisely!
- He's a smelly goat. - A wild boar!
I know it's a bad day for you, but look:
My Catholics and my Protestants,
together in God's house!
Look, this wedding will fix everything.
A wedding and a war!
That'll fix the French.
War?
Who talks of war today?
Look at him!
Coligny wants war. Look!
The King's against the war.
What do you know?
The King is Coligny's puppet.
Your power is finished!
Do not hate me yet.
They all hate me:
Your brothers, Guise...
Your mother dislikes me.
Yours hated me.
Yours killed mine.
There was no proof.
- Go on, talk, but you're as scared as me. - Scared of what?
Who hates you, loves me.
Then why make you marry me?
For peace!
I don't have to sleep with you!
Do not come to my room tonight.
Charlotte!
I got you some red blush. A gift!
Who is he?
Armagnac.
He is 26. I heard he's a real fanatic.
A bit dark and skinny. Nice smile!
And this one?
Du Bartas. He came with Henri.
He's 19.
He lives with his sister!
Promising.
Nice eyes... But short legs.
Short legs?
Toss him away!
Condé. Royal prince. Which one is he?
That one.
He's a pervert.
He despises me.
- And him? - Henri?
What is he doing?
Still drinking? Laughing? What?
They're lining up to see him.
We'll have a haven in Navarre, freedom of faith in the south,
the right to bear arms...
What can the King guarantee when Catherine rules?
She doesn't rule any more. I do.
In three days you lead the army,
with me.
Will I still be alive in three days?
How could you marry that scarecrow?
It'll never work!
You did it with Protestants?
Oh, no!
You will, though!
I'll stick to Catholics.
Look!
The tall one's Armagnac.
The short one, Du Bartas.
- I'll go. - Go on!
Where were you?
They'll make you convert.
No!
They will! She will!
Margot will convert you!
Who is she?
Charlotte de Sauves.
A baroness. She's after you.
Baroness?
Do you always stare?
I fancy you, milord!
Can you prove it?
You must do the proving.
Whenever you want.
Choose me over tonight's pleasure.
Tonight?
What pleasure awaits me? A knife?
Poison? Or a slap,
if God's kind!
My room is above yours.
So it's tonight, or never!
Tonight, as usual...
Anjou won!
And in April, Coligny,
how many men did you lose?
It's not a war!
How many Protestants fought?
But it's not a war.
What is it, then? Answer me. 4,000?
This is a crusade, not a war! They were ready to die!
But not to fight!
Spain crushed them!
Won't you help Flanders?
Maybe not!
We are willing to help, but...
But what?
It's Spain!
We would be fighting the King of Spain!
And we're just not ready!
Not to fight Europe's greatest army!
Attack Spain, and France takes sides with the Protestant countries!
But if Spain wins Flanders, we'll be besieged.
You mean besieged by Catholics!
Nurse!
How long to prepare?
We're ready!
Why did we accept this wedding,
if not to bring peace?
- Peace? You liar! - We want peace inside France,
so Catholics and Protestants may fight together outside!
Never!
You've 6,000 men here.
And they want to fight. They're hungry! Beware!
Beware they do not start a revolt that mo ome can stop!
I want this war!
The King wants it too.
We'll be ready.
Come feed the dog, Coligny.
White meat is better.
Hand me the vegetables.
You dominate me.
You influence me too much.
You always cut me off.
You noticed?
He's a good eater.
They all say so.
my family,
and all the others.
But what I see is that
you freed me from myself.
Yes, Coligny,
freed me of my mother.
She's Queen no more. I'm King!
Good dog, eat!
I'm King, now that you're my father.
I never trusted anyone before you.
Only my nurse!
She's a Protestant too.
So, go over our battle plans.
I'll see you in the morning.
At ten, as usual.
So it's war?
Yes.
Who is he?
René, Catherine's perfume-maker.
And her poison-maker!
That's good to know.
- No perfume! - You prefer poison?
I like you Protestants!
You've not lost faith in God like we have.
Oh, I like you Catholics too.
Are you really 2,000 here?
Go on, count them! They're my wedding guests.
They say it's good for France,
but for me... your wedding day
is a day of mourning!
I feel shame!
You had my mother killed,
and now I marry your whore.
In Orléans, three years ago,
Guise paid you to kill Coligny.
Was it 10,000?
15,000?
20,000.
I know.
A man saved him. One of his old captains,
who took the bullet.
What was his name?
De la Môle.
Leyrac de la Môle.
You were in his service?
You were a son to him.
He gave you room and board.
You called him Father!
He was a father to you!
And you shot him in the back...
They want your head.
Shall I give it?
Sell it...
Or else, use me.
Tomorrow, at ten, a man will walk down
St Germain Street,
to the Louvre.
How do I spot him?
He'll have a red portfolio.
Like this one.
You still have Guise's pistol?
I'm better with a musket.
Maurevel!
I'd rather you use Guise's pistol.
I waited last night. You promised
to say goodbye.
Why say goodbye? I love you, and I'm still here!
You belong to him now.
He'll never be my husband. And you'll always be my brothers!
Wake up!
He's here.
He's waiting.
Out! Out!
The King told me that
he isn't the cuckold any more!
I never gave you my virginity,
so take my wedding night!
Who took your virginity?
Who?
Your brothers? Which one?
Take me tonight!
You've got a dagger?
Isn't he coming? The wild boar...
Do I look like a bride?
You look uncertain,
unpredictable...
Tonight, love me like never before.
I want to discover your body,
your smell.
I want an endless night.
I want to see the image of my death amidst my pleasure.
I want my wedding night,
but with you!
Your husband's coming. He just
left his room.
Don't go!
You knew he'd come!
No! Don't go!
You knew it!
I'll make him leave!
After...
We'll have our longest night.
I guess I avoided Catherine's spies.
They think I'm with...
the Italian...
The pretty baroness.
Go on!
Go see her!
God ordered me
to talk to you,
and only you. I have to...
convince you!
Protestants always mention God!
God...
or instinct.
Whose?
The peasant's!
As your mother calls me.
If I live, I'll be King.
My brother is King!
The other two will succeed him.
And then their children.
Your chances are slim.
Yours are too.
They won't protect you.
You're nothing to them.
You're a hostage for your brothers.
My brothers love me!
They'd sell you out,
- and Catherine... - Mother loves me!
She'd sell you for nothing!
Mother cherishes me!
She hates you!
And your lover, de Guise...
- He uses you... - Stop!
For power, and to seduce women.
Why?
Stop it.
Did your God ask you to insult me?
No, Margot, I came to strike a deal.
Will our marriage save me for a month? Days?
Help me, and tomorrow
I'll give you everything.
You agreed not to come tonight, or any other night.
That's true...
It was agreed.
But give me your hand. Teach me!
Lead me!
I'm blind here! These halls lead to an invisible trap.
- They'll kill me. - No!
Your brothers will, and you'll be a useless widow.
You can rule over them.
You can be Queen, Margot!
Let go of me!
We were forced to marry.
Let's outplay them.
Quiet!
Be my ally! Let's strike a deal! Don't be my enemy!
Be quiet...
I'm not your enemy.
My friend, then?
My ally?
Will you be my ally?
Maybe.
Now leave.
Leave.
Is it a brother?
A lover?
Both?
I'd love to know.
I also had a coat.
I don't love him...
But I won't betray him.
Stay.
It's your wedding night, not mine.
Henriette!
I need a man tonight.
Let's go out.
Let go of that!
Protestant bastard!
That's mine!
Give it back!
This must be yours.
You're from the country?
You lost everything?
My horse...
Some clothes.
All my money!
It'll be free for you, then.
Not on the mouth!
My father left me this hunting book.
I heard René le Florentin might be interested.
It's for sale?
Yes, I've been robbed.
It's for sale.
It's a hunting book.
About hunting, and falconry.
Leyrac de la Môle.
Is that you?
My father.
From Roussillon?
From Languedoc.
Remarkable.
Exquisite.
100 coins?
You came for the wedding?
I came to see Admiral Coligny.
Coligny?
A friend of my father's.
Don't you know?
He's dead.
Someone shot him, just a few minutes ago.
Look out!
On a Friday. Like our Lord!
Make way!
Is that the Admiral?
- Is he...? - A miracle! He'll live.
Murderers!
You murderers!
You want us all dead!
Let them through!
God will punish you.
Is that your peace?
Make way for the King!
Justice will be done!
Our brethren
will come from all over to avenge us!
Speak to them!
Don't cry for revenge. Thank God who looks over you.
Coligny will live! It's only a light wound.
I'll prove my loyalty.
A ship awaits, to take you to England.
With Coligny gone, you're dead!
But he lives!
I know what they can do...
- What we can do! - Don't listen!
She's a Catholic!
She's a spy!
Get her out of here!
We're 1,000!
Let's gather and fight!
Listen... She's warning us!
She hates us.
Get her out!
- She's one of them! - She's Guise's mistress!
Whose side would Jesus take if he were here?
Jesus would tell your King to risk drowning at sea...
- She mocks us! - But not to wait
to die in a disaster.
I'm telling you to flee tonight!
First they killed your mother!
Today they attacked Coligny.
You're next.
You'd come with me?
But... She's one of them!
It's true,
I'm one of them.
You can't be saved.
You'll deserve your fate.
They'll seek revenge.
They're getting ready in the peasant's room.
I feel it. I want to know who did it.
Didn't you see their hatred? How they cursed us?
The Louvre will fall.
They'll kill you, your brother and sister.
They'll kill us all!
They've been mustering for weeks.
I've got weapons!
I've got men!
They're thousands.
They've got power,
and will use it!
Coligny's my father.
Stop calling him that!
If your father were alive, he'd know what to do!
He knew that a real King does both good deeds
and bad ones!
Guise knows how to attack first!
- Me? - They found your pistol.
Fine! That's a crime
I'd have loved to commit.
Nobody's blaming you,
but why miss!
They blame me for Coligny?
So what!
Go on, open an inquiry for Coligny!
Listen to Guise! Be a useless King seeking justice!
You'll bring ruin to France,
when I'm working to make it strong!
Since your father died, it's me who's been doing all the dirty work!
- It was you? - I'd die to save my children!
You had him shot?
Me, only me...
He should have died!
We have to go all the way now.
We must kill the leaders. Tonight!
Condé, of course, and D'Aubigné.
Teligny, Beauvoix, Mornay, Du Bartas...
- La Rochefoucauld... - Crussol...
And Navarre!
No! Not Navarre!
Coligny!
You want Coligny dead?
I do too!
So, all the others in France must die too!
There must be no survivors!
No one left to blame me for this.
- How many must we kill? - Eleven.
Fourteen.
All of them!
- How many are we? - Enough.
Name?
Coconnas... Hannibal.
You know what you're volunteering for?
I do.
What about those who help them?
May God help those who help them.
- And the witnesses? - The Catholics won't talk.
Make sure the others can't!
A lot of people!
The King said all of them!
It has started.
Get the weapons!
Over there!
Let him go!
Move!
Armagnac! Du Bartas!
Henri!
Margot!
Fight back!
Go get De Nançay!
Go to your room!
Lock yourself in!
- There's one upstairs. - Quick.
This La Môle's a Protestant.
- Why are you telling me that? - Go on!
Son of a bitch!
Get him!
Over there!
Come here!
- You're a Protestant? - Yes.
Of course he is!
He must convert!
You heard her. Say the Credo.
Say it.
Credo im umum Deum, Patrem ommipotemtem... Say it!
Say it!
Look out!
Coligny's up there.
Kick in the door!
There he is!
Mine! He's mine!
It's done!
I curse you!
There he is!
I am the Queen of Navarre!
He is with me!
It's God's justice, he must die.
God doesn't want him dead! Kill me first!
Why save him?
He'll die in my arms, not in yours!
You won't get this one!
How many did you kill?
Only those I had to.
On Judgement Day you'll be glad to have spared one life
for Our Lord. And that day
may be close by.
What will you say to God?
That you finished off the wounded?
And killed a Catholic woman to do so?
I've six Catholics with me!
And I'll stab you in the heart!
So get out now!
Let's go!
He's back...
It's a bad wound.
Take me away. I'm ready.
I knew you would be beautiful... So luminous!
I'm ready!
Take me away!
Open up!
They're going to kill Henri! She wants him dead!
What?
They said they want him dead.
He didn't come to see me tonight.
Where is he?
In the King's room.
Let me through! Is Navarre here?
He has to convert!
He's in my room.
With them.
He won't convert.
It isn't my doing.
I didn't order this.
You believe me?
Why?
She did it.
I swear she's to blame!
You gave them Henri?
No! I brought him here to protect him. They all came later.
Come with me.
No!
Come on...
Come on.
I'm scared!
Calm down...
- I don't want to go! - It's all right...
Hush...
Where were you?
And Armagnac? Did they kill him too?
What do we do with him?
Not Henri!
Don't touch him!
We'll all be damned!
We said all the leaders.
Don't touch him!
You should've killed him before.
It's too late now. You wed us before God...
He's my husband, your brother.
He won't convert.
Let him be!
You still won't?
- Why? - Don't insist...
It's over now.
No Protestants in the family!
- Stop! - You understand?
Let Margot deal with him.
Now I know what hate is!
Well, learn about hypocrisy too.
You must convert.
Don't go!
What do you want?
You'll never find him.
This one?
We must forget tonight's faces.
Take them away!
"I wish to return to the Catholic Church...
the Roman Catholic Church..."
"I wish to return to the Catholic Church...
the Roman Catholic Church..."
"I renounce all
Lutheran and Calvinist heresy..."
"And I beg you in the name of God...
of his son Jesus, and the Holy Virgin...
the most Holy Virgin Mary, his mother..."
"And I beg you in the name of God...
To pardon my sins
among these sects...
and greet me in the community...
obedient to the Pope."
I thought you were dead. They let you live!
I too converted.
Don't be ashamed. We're alive!
Bells? No one's left to kill!
Wrong!
Your friend Condé got away.
One more, one less! Who cares?
You are now a proud Catholic King!
You can be proud!
Proud to rule over a country full of dead bodies!
Paris is a cemetery!
Your subjects are either dead
or covered in shame!
You always worry about your sons.
Well, don't any more - because they're damned!
And I am too!
Why?
They were my wedding guests!
And you used me as bait
for the massacre!
Not in public!
Your family doesn't need bait to start a massacre.
How many killers did you take along?
I finished what the King started.
No! The King
saved us! Don't insult him!
How many did it take
for Coligny?
Stop it!
Take a message to Condé.
I'm a prisoner too!
Come on!
I wanted peace, Margot!
Peace for the kingdom, for my children!
You are no longer to leave the Louvre.
That way you'll be with your Protestant friends.
What's wrong, Margot?
Your husband's Catholic now. Don't become Protestant!
Something happened last night?
Something else?
I'll find out.
Every night he cries out,
vowing to find his enemy...
I'm the one he seeks.
I can't escape this man.
God put him on my road.
He's always hounding me.
And if he doesn't find me, I'll go after him.
Stay put!
I must see her!
They say you're a faceless devil...
People fear you because you're the executioner.
Yet you saved my life.
You can't even walk.
They say she can't love...
That murderous blood runs in her...
Yet she saved my life!
I must see her!
No one can get near her.
Or near her husband.
They can't even move around the Louvre freely.
It's better like that.
God chose me
to save her.
I'll set her free.
Look.
Here in Amsterdam there are 2,000 waiting to leave.
They'd rather face hunger, cold, and the unknown,
than pray in the cellar,
or pretend to go to Mass.
I could leave too...
No! We must fight!
I was in London, Germany... We are gaining ground.
The Catholics feel our threat!
They fear us!
I saw La Rochelle,
I got in by the sea.
Guise has doubled his men, but our people die rather than convert!
Guise fuels my hate!
Hope shall rise among our people if we free Navarre.
How many men will you need?
Monsieur Mendès is back. You'll get your money.
Only 300. Secrecy counts more than numbers.
Last year, Monsieur Mendès' family had to flee Spain.
I'm Jewish.
My wife's a Christian.
My family converted a long time ago. That changed nothing.
The law forbids us to marry Catholics.
They want to keep the blood pure!
I'll give you the money
to save the King of Navarre.
Even if we are of different faiths.
So he converted! She made him?
No, she saved him!
And they are both prisoners?
I don't believe it!
Look!
I count seven lumps.
Anjou will live?
He'll be King?
He'll rule 14 years.
Anjou will rule after Charles.
And Alençon?
He'll rule after that?
Alençon will not live to be 30.
But his son? One of my sons will have a son, right?
The liver is to the left:
Three deaths followed by decay.
Death?
My three sons!
Decay?
Henri of Navarre...
will rule in their place.
I thought that horrid night had changed it all!
We killed 6,000 of them...
But he's still alive!
The red is so beautiful, so pure.
There!
The blue is Venice Cream.
Let me see.
It's beautiful!
You're gorgeous. Look.
They can even cry!
Why should they cry?
Charlotte, I have a present for you.