The Borgia Apocalypse: The Screenplay
Page 4
CESARE
And tell you I am sorry, for the wound I caused you.
MICHELETTO
It is forgotten.
As Cesare cleans the wound on his neck...
MICHELETTO (CONT’D)
Should we not be bound for Naples?
CESARE
You know how slowly armies march. I have sent our forces ahead of us. We can join them, for the siege. Take the shorter route.
MICHELETTO
There will be a siege?
CESARE
King Louis loves a siege.
Cesare takes a knife.
CESARE (CONT’D)
There is some grit in this wound. It could fester.
Micheletto grimaces.
CESARE (CONT’D)
And there is the matter of my sister. Her whereabouts.
Cesare turns the knife. Micheletto grimaces further.
MICHELETTO
She swore me to secrecy, my Lord.
CESARE
So you know. Where she is.
MICHELETTO
Yes. I could not lie to you. I know where she is. But I can never tell you. No matter how you worry that wound.
Cesare extracts the blade. There is a piece of metal on it.
CESARE
There’s the culprit.
He dips the blade in water.
CESARE (CONT’D)
But you can swear to me that she is safe.
MICHELETTO
She is safe, my Lord. I swear it.
EXT. COUNTRYSIDE. MT. VESUVIUS. DAY.
Cesare, riding through a blasted landscape, on the foothills of Vesuvius. He is with Micheletto and a platoon of soldiers. He comes upon fields of dead cattle, by a yellow brackish river.
A peasant there, tending the last living calf. Cesare stops his horse.
CESARE
What sickness is this?
PEASANT
Bad luck. The gasses from Vesuvius infect the river. The cattle drink. They die.
CESARE
So that yellow river is infected?
PEASANT
Poisoned. Find a fresh well to drink from.
EXT. WALLS OF NAPLES. EVENING.
Cesare rides, with Micheletto, through the encamped French army outside the gates of Naples.
INT. FRENCH KING’S TENT. NIGHT.
Cesare, Micheletto, the French King and his generals.
CESARE
You are patient, you French.
KING LOUIS
We value our troops.
CESARE
Too highly, perhaps.
KING LOUIS
We can be patient. We French are masters of the long siege. Starve them into weakness. Then attack.
CESARE
When? In winter?
KING LOUIS
A depleted populace is always easier to conquer. And it takes time.
CESARE
What if I could deplete the populace in a week or less?
KING LOUIS
And how would you achieve that?
CESARE
I have my ways.
KING LOUIS
Some necromancy? Some alchemy?
CESARE
Perhaps.
KING LOUIS
So. You are a wizard, Cesare Borgia.
CESARE
A warlock, maybe.
He looks at Micheletto.
CESARE (CONT’D)
I have reason to hate Naples. And everything inside it. It humiliated my sister. Her child.
He stands.
CESARE (CONT’D)
So, if I could sap the will, the lifeblood, the life, perhaps, of that city, in a week, would you thank me for it?
KING LOUIS
We would be grateful. But skeptical.
CESARE
I will live with gratitude.
He stands.
CESARE (CONT’D)
Come, Micheletto. Gian Carlo Baglioni. Orsini. We have work to do.
EXT. COUNTRYSIDE. MT VESUVIUS. DAY.
By the yellow river, with the dead cows. Cesare with the Wild Bunch, Micheletto, and a platoon of troops.
He has a map spread out, on a convenient rock.
CESARE
This water is poisoned.
BAGLIONI
Poisoned with what?
CESARE
I don’t care. With some effluent from Vesuvius. But if it can kill a bull, it can kill a man. The question is, how do we get the water from this river - to the city of Naples.
Micheletto looks at the map.
MICHELETTO
By any and every means.
A MONTAGE –
Of barrel after barrel being filled from the yellow river.
Of an improvised wooden aqueduct, flowing with yellow water...
Of the wooden aqueduct, flowing with yellow water, pouring into a pristine river. . .
Of barrel after barrel being poured into pristine wells... Of a fountain in Naples, the mouth of a Neptune statue pouring forth yellow water.
INT. FRENCH KING’S TENT. DAWN.
A general enters the French tent, as he is dressing in his armor.
GENERAL
Sire, you must see this...
EXT. NAPLES. DAWN.
The King emerges from his tent to see –
The bodies of soldiers lie slumped on the battlements. The last one standing clutches his throat in agony, and falls, in slow motion, towards the ground below.
INT. CESARE’S TENT. DAWN.
Cesare asleep. The French King strides in.
KING LOUIS
What have you done?
CESARE
I have slept. The sleep of angels.
KING LOUIS
What have you done to Naples?
CESARE
Ah. Naples. I poisoned their water supply. Or tried to. Has it worked?
EXT. GATES OF NAPLES. DAY.
A series of explosion blast the gates from their hinges - to reveal - King Louis, Cesare Borgia, et al. An enormous army behind them.
The King stares, appalled. Cesare motions his horse inside.
CESARE
Enter, my liege. The city is yours.
INT. GATES OF NAPLES. DAY.
Dead bodies, everywhere. It is like an Iraqi village, after one of Saddam’s gas attacks. Cesare rides past them, says to himself.
CESARE
Ours. . .
He stills his horse, and waits for the French King to join him.
KING LOUIS
But this is monstrous.
CESARE
But war is monstrous.
KING LOUIS
This is beyond all the rules of war. All of the laws of God.
CESARE
You valued your troops, you told me. Not one of them has harmed a hair on his head.
He leads his horse on.
CESARE (CONT’D)
And Naples was and always will be, a garden of weeds...
EXT. STREET. NAPLES. DAY.
Cesare turns his horse into another street, full of bodies. The Wild Bunch stand there, surveying the horrible scene. Baglioni is vomiting into the gutter.
CESARE
You surprise me Baglioni. I thought you had a stomach for warfare.
BAGLIONI
Warfare I can deal with, my lord.
CESARE
But bodies in the street discomfit you. And you are right.
He looks at the ashen faces of his condiottore.
CESARE (CONT’D)
Disease will follow, as night follows day. Have them cleared. Burn them in a lime pit.
PAULO ORSINI
Is there a lime pit big enough?
CESARE
Then dig one.
He turns his horse. Micheletto follows him.
CESARE (CONT’D)
Every problem has its solution.
As he rides back, with Micheletto, he whispers to him.
CESARE (CONT’D)
You saw their faces?
Yes. I saw.
CESARE
What did you read there?
MICHELETTO
I saw fear.
CESARE
And I saw betrayal. Don’t let them out of your sight.
INT. VATICAN PALACE. NIGHT.
The Pope and Della Rovere.
DELLA ROVERE
I have been asked by my Lord King Louis of France to convey his extreme abhorrence of your son’s actions in Naples.
ALEXANDER
But Naples has been conquered. As King Louis desired.
DELLA ROVERE
In a manner against all laws of war. And all laws of God.
ALEXANDER
So, the King’s war on Naples was a just war?
DELLA ROVERE
It was given sanction by your Holiness himself.
ALEXANDER
On the contrary. He announced his intentions. And made it clear that our reservations were of little consequence.
DELLA ROVERE
You supported him in spirit, and your son –
ALEXANDER
Our son, we believe, afforded his entry to the city without the loss of one French life.
DELLA ROVERE
He poisoned half the population...
ALEXANDER
It is war, ambassador. Neither just nor godly. A war King Louis chose. A war you, no doubt, advised him to choose.
He eyes Della Rovere with contempt.
ALEXANDER (CONT’D)
So if Naples is to lie on anyone’s conscience, cardinal, let it lie on yours.
EXT. STREET. NAPLES. NIGHT.
The bodies are being loaded onto wagons, and dusted with lime.
Baglioni, the Orsini brothers and Vitelli are supervising.
PAULO ORSINI
Is there any end to his ambition?
VITELLI
No. No end to his savagery, either.
BAGLIONI
Our estates will be next.
VITELLI
So, we are no longer his allies?
BAGLIONI
Why should he stop here? Umbria, the Marches, the whole of the Romagna.
VITELLI
We were never his allies.
BAGLIONI
We are and always have been, his pawns.
PAULO ORSINI
I have an aunt, you know, in a nunnery south of Rome. Under Orsini patronage. She told me of an aristocratic charge that joined them.
VITELLI
Who?
PAULO ORSINI
Lucrezia Borgia.
VITELLI
His sister, a nun?
PAULO ORSINI
She is in hiding. She fears him too. And she is the only thing he cares for. In this world.
BAGLIONI
And if we could –
PAULO ORSINI
I am ahead of you, my friend. I have a band of the Orsini waiting to be given the word. To snatch her.
She may be well be our only protection –
And as the soldiers grab another body to throw onto the wagons, we see a lime-covered figure roll to the base of the pile.
It is Micheletto.
He rolls into the shadow of a doorway and slips off.
INT. BEDROOM. NAPLES. NIGHT.
Cesare, asleep. A lime-covered figure appears on his balcony. It is Micheletto.
MICHELETTO
My Lord –
EXT. ROADWAY. NIGHT.
Micheletto and a party of soldiers ride through the night.
EXT. NUNNERY GARDENS. NIGHT.
Micheletto and the party of soldiers walks quietly through the nunnery gardens.
MICHELETTO
Have the horses tied and hobbled. Surround the place. Don’t make a sound.
INT. NUNNERY. NIGHT.
A window opens and Micheletto enters. He drops to the floor and walks silently through the sleeping nunnery.
INT. CORRIDOR. NIGHT.
Micheletto walks down the corridor. Glances in every cell window. Comes to one that stops him.
POV - THROUGH CELL BARS –
Pia, in one bed, with her shorn hair. Lucrezia in the other, with her golden locks.
Micheletto opens the door.
INT. CELL. NIGHT.
Micheletto enters. Bends down towards Lucrezia. When she wakes, he places his hand over her mouth.
MICHELETTO
Hush, my lady. And forgive my presence.
As she stares at him he keeps his hand on her mouth.
MICHELETTO (CONT’D)
You were betrayed. Is there an Orsini nun here?
Lucrezia nods.
MICHELETTO (CONT’D)
Where?
She takes his hand away. And whispers.
LUCREZIA
She does the night watch.
And she points to the barred window.
Micheletto stands. He puts his fingers to his lips. And waits.
INT. CORRIDOR. NIGHT.
Harsh old sister Benvenuta Orsini walks the corridor, checking each barred window.
INT. CELL. NIGHT.
The barred window. Micheletto’s face, to one side, against the wall. When the sister’s face appears at the bars, he whips open the door, pulls her inside.
Pia wakes and gasps. Lucrezia puts a hand over her mouth. Micheletto has sister Benvenuta against the wall, with a knife against her throat.
MICHELETTO
I have just one question, sister. When do they strike?
SISTER BENVENUTA
Who?
MICHELETTO
Your brothers. Your half brothers. Your cousins. Your second cousins, once-removed.
When she says nothing, he brings the knife close to her eyeball.
MICHELETTO (CONT’D)
And don’t lie. I know all about it –
SISTER BENVENUTA
At matins –
MICHELETTO
Matins. When the sisters sing. And who affords them entry?
SISTER BENVENUTA
Me.
MICHELETTO
And you shall still do so.
EXT. NUNNERY. DAWN.
A group of shadowy figures slip through the dawn mists towards the nunnery. There is the sound of beautiful singing.
INT. NUNNERY. DAWN.
A lock is opened and the Orsini assassins file through. On Sister Benvenuta’s face, as the scarred faces of the Orsini assassins pass her by. The singing grows louder.
INT. CHAPEL. NUNNERY. DAWN.
On the nuns singing matins. Lucrezia among them, Pia next to her.
Behind them, doors open. The singing falters. The leader of the Orsini speaks out.
GIAMBATTISTA ORSINI
Finish your matins, sisters. We just want one among you who is no sister –
And the singing resumes, then falters. He bellows.
GIAMBATTISTA ORSINI (CONT’D)
I said keep up the plain chant. While we search out the Borgia amongst you –
As the camera cranes over the terrified, singing nuns, we find the back row is filled with men in black habits. Micheletto, the band of soldiers.
As the Orsini reach them, they turn, whip them off and the fun begins.
It is no fair contest. Almost a massacre, as the terrified nuns keep up their singing...
INT. NAPLES PALACE. MORNING.
The Wild Bunch at breakfast. Cesare Borgia enters.
CESARE
I want to thank you, my condiotorre, for all of your help -
Some of them stand nervously, while still eating.
CESARE (CONT’D)
No, sit. Sit. This conquest would not have been possible without it. Without Gian Carlo Baglioni.
Roberto and Paulo Orsini. Vitelezzo Vitelli. Your families. Your arms.
He joins them at table.
CESARE (CONT’D)
We shall leave the French to enjoy the spoils of Naples. Eh, Gian Carlo?
BAGLIONI
What remains of it.
Oh, Naples will flourish again. The city was too crowded, anyway.
He looks at them for a moment. Paulo Orsini laughs nervously. Then Cesare laughs. And they all laugh in turn.
CESARE (CONT’D)
And I realize you have been itching for your share of booty. Wondering when it will come. What will be your reward. And I swear you shall have it.
VITELLI
When, my Lord?
CESARE
Where is more the question.
He drinks.
CESARE (CONT’D)
In central Italy. The Romagna. It is almost ours, at present. I shall create a kingdom there, and each of you will rule a vastly expanded principality. Tyrants will fall, one by one. And one by one you shall replace them. We shall ride back to Rome. Plan our last campaign. And each of you shall return from it a prince.
Paulo Orsini looks to Vitelli, Baglioni. Can this be for real? Orsini slowly raises his glass.
PAULO ORSINI
I’ll drink to that.
And one by one their glasses are raised.
CESARE
Each of us a prince!
ALL
Il Principe!!
INT. CHAPEL. NUNNERY. DAY.
Bodies, strewn over the chapel floor. Blood, streaming in rivulets over the once immaculate floor.
Nuns are fleeing the scene in terror.
Little Pia gasps in shock, hyperventilating, trying the catch her breath. Lucrezia wraps her arms around her.
PIA
What is this? This horror?
LUCREZIA
It is my family.
Micheletto pulls his knife from one last assailant, and turns to them, covered in blood.