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Kingdom of Heaven (film)

2005 film by Ridley Scott
For general notions of a "Kingdom of Heaven" see Kingdom of God

Kingdom of Heaven is a 2005 film, set immediately following the Second Crusade, about a French village blacksmith who goes to the aid of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in its defense against the Ayyubid Muslim Sultan, Saladin, who is fighting to reclaim the city from the Christians. The screenplay is a heavily fictionalised portrayal of the life of Balian of Ibelin (c. 1143–93).

Directed by Ridley Scott. Written by William Monahan.
Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Safeguard the helpless, and do no wrong.

Godfrey of Ibelin

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  • You are not what you were born, but what you have it in yourself to be.
  • I once fought two days with an arrow through my testicle.
  • Whoever dies here today, you will certainly be among them.
  • Let's work on your skills. Take a high guard, like this. The Italians call it 'la posta del falcone - the guard of the hawk. Strike from high. Like this.
  • If you have come to kill me, even these days, it is not easy.
  • A new world. A better world. A kingdom of conscience...a kingdom of heaven.
  • 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. [Slaps Balian] And that is so you remember it. Rise a knight, and Baron of Ibelin.
  • Jerusalem is easy to find, go to where the men speak Italian, then continue until they speak something else.
  • No matter your position, you are of my house, and we support the king.
  • Defend the King.... If the King is no more save the people..... You are all that survives me... Do not let me down.

Balian of Ibelin

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  • What man is a man who does not make the world better?
    • From the Latin Inscription: Nemo vir est qui mundum non reddat meliorem
  • A queen never walks. And yet you are walking.
  • How can you be in hell, when you are in my heart?
  • 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.
  • They are here.
    • When a single horseman is seen in the distance on top of a hill.
  • Is this why you came to the Holy Land? Come on!
    • To a Teutonic knight trying to kill him as they prepare to fight one another.
  • 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!
    • Rallying the defenders of Jerusalem for what is likely their last stand.
  • If this is the Kingdom of Heaven, let God do with it as he will.
  • [To Sybilla, after surrendering Jerusalem] Your brother's kingdom is here - (points to the mind) - and here - (points to the heart) - and that kingdom can never be surrendered.

Hospitaller

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  • If the ribs are broken, the marrow will enter the blood and you will develop fever and die or a cyst will form and you will live. You're in the hands of God.
  • You sail now for Jerusalem as your father wished. I'll follow within the week. Now the voyage is perilous. If God has purpose for you there, he'll keep you safe in his hands. [pauses] If not, God bless.
  • I put no stock in religion. By the word religion I have seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the will of God. I've seen too much religion in the eyes of too many murderers. 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] and by what you decide to do every day you will be a good man...or not.

King Baldwin IV

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  • When I was sixteen I won a great victory. I felt in that moment that I should live to be one hundred, now I know I shall not see thirty. None of us know our end really, or what hand will guide us there. A King may move a man, a father may claim a son. That man can also move himself. And only then does that man truly begin his own game. Remember that howsoever you are played, or by whom, your soul is in your keeping alone. Even though those who presume to play you be kings or men of power. 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 and King Baldwin IV]
  • 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. And 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.
  • 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. Do you play? The whole world is in chess. Any move can be the death of you. Do anything except remain where you started and you can't be sure of your end.
  • On your knees... lower. I am... Jerusalem. And you, Reynald, will give me the kiss of peace. [Takes off glove]
  • [To Sibylla] My beautiful sister. So beautiful. I'm sorry if I've caused you any pain. Remember me as I was.

Sybilla

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  • There'll be a day when you will wish you had done a little evil to do a greater good.
  • Jerusalem is dead Tiberias. No kingdom is worth my son alive in hell. I shall go to hell instead.
  • [To Tiberias] How long before he wears a mask? Will you have one made for him? How did my boy deserve it?

But this isn't adultery. It's washing. But if it were adultery... which it isn't... the Commandments are not for people like us. They are for the others.

Reynald

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  • [After raiding a peaceful caravan] I am what I am. Someone has to be.
  • [To Guy] If the war's to be now or later, I would have it now.

Tiberias

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  • [To Balian] You're your father's son. He was my friend. I'm yours.
  • [To Balian] May God be with you, he's no longer with me.

Bishop

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  • [On the practice of posthumously mutilating suicide victims] The law can go too far... I ask myself, would Jesus do it thusly? There is so much done in Christendom of which Christ would be incapable.

Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani

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  • Your quality will be known among your enemies before ever you meet them.
  • [To Balian as he departs Jerusalem] If God does not love you, how could you have done all the things you have done?

Dialogue

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Gravedigger: She's denied the cross for suicide... and buried at the center of a crossroads. Huh. Show me the logic. Father?
Village Sheriff: What?
Gravedigger: The devil is a practical man. If she were a witch, she was a poor return on his investment.
Village Sheriff: What would you know of logic?
Graveigger: Oh, I have ears, Father. Although one is notched [tugs ear lobe] because I love justice.
Village Sheriff: You love thieving. Shut up. You dig.
Gravedigger: [A parade of crusading knights appear] Crusaders. Clear the road, if you will.
English Sergeant: [Throws money bag] This is for the burial from my lord... and a Mass... for her soul.
Village Sheriff: [Starts walking and turns] Wait. Have you forgotten?
Gravedigger: She was your brother's wife.
Village Sheriff: She was a suicide. Cut off her head. And return the ax.
Gravedigger: You know this place, my lord?
Godfrey of Ibelin: Know it? I know all of it. Your brother? You have spoken to him?
Gravedigger: On what matter, my lord? He is still arrested.
Godfrey of Ibelin: Your brother is as responsible for his wife's sin as I am.
Graveigger: Opinions differ, my lord. The burial was... Yes.
Godfrey of Ibelin: And you did not mutilate the person?
Graveigger: No.
Godfrey of Ibelin: Good. The law can go too far. It can too far. I ask myself...
Town priest: [To Balian working on sharpening swords in the town blacksmith forge] The village does not want you. When the old lord is dead, they will drive you out. When the bishop is dead, it is certain.
Balian:And you take my property.
Town priest: The Church.
Balian:You.
Town priest: They would have taken you to Jerusalem... away from... all this. I arranged it. I swear to you... you will have no peace so long as you stay here. No man ever needed a new world more. Imagine your sin and pain erased. All. [Balian takes out a sword and starts malleablizing it] 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 notices priest's cross necklace, holds it up and impales him with sword throwing him onto fire, Balian takes the necklace with priest leaping out igniting the forge]
Godfrey of Ibelin: Have you come to kill me? Even these days, it is not easy. Well?
Balian: I have done... murder.
Godfrey of Ibelin: Haven't we all?
Godfrey of Ibelin: God has made us man. We must suffer all. I also have lost. Some say Jerusalem is the very center of the world for asking forgiveness. For myself, I call it here. Now. I knew your namesake. I knew your mother. To be courteous, I should say that it was against her objections. But I was the lord's brother and she had no choice. But I did not force her. I have forgiveness to ask of you. I am Godfrey, the Baron of Ibelin. I have one hundred men at arms in Jerusalem. If you come with me, you will have a living... and... you will have my thanks. There it is.
Balian of Ibelin: Whoever you are, my lord... my place is here.
Godfrey of Ibelin: What made it your place is now dead. You will never see me again. If you want anything of me, take it now.
Balian of Ibelin: I want nothing.
Godfrey of Ibelin: I am sorry for your troubles. God protect you.
Balian of Ibelin: What could a king ask of a man like me?
Godfrey of Ibelin: A new world. A better world than has ever been seen. There, you are not what you are born but what you have it in yourself to be. A kingdom of conscience, of peace instead of war, love instead of hate. That is what lies in the end of a crusade. A kingdom of heaven.
Guy de Lusignan: If I had fought you when you were still capable of making bastards...
Godfrey of Ibelin: I knew your mother when she was making hers. Fortunately you're too old to be one of mine.
Balian of Ibelin: [Sees Saracens praying on the shores of Messina] Who are those men?
English Sergeant: Muslims [Looks at Balian] Saracens.
Balian of Ibelin: And they are allowed their prayers?
English Sergeant: If they pay the tax. Subhaana-rabbialadhim. Praise be to God. It is proper to praise Him.
Balian of Ibelin: Sounds like our prayers.
Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani: [To Balian] You there, he says that is his horse.
Balian of Ibelin: Why would it be his horse?
Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani: Because it is on his land.
Balian of Ibelin: I took this horse from the sea.
Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani: [Says to the Cavalier in Arabic] Wajdi al-hisānu min-bahr ("he found the horse from sea").
Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani: [Saracen Cavalier speak to him in Arabic and Imad interpretes for Balian] He says you are a great liar, and he will fight you because you are a liar.
Balian of Ibelin: I have no desire to fight.
Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani: Then you must give him the horse!
Balian of Ibelin: No.
Balian of Ibelin: [Saracen Cavalier starts fighting him, but on horseback] Fight me fairly!
Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani: [Saracen Cavalier says in Arabic why he should] Why? Why should he? He is a Knight.
Balian of Ibelin: And I am the Baron of Ibelin.
Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani: [Says to the Cavalier in Arabic] Inna-hū hakīmu [pauses] iblin ("he is Baron of Ibelin").
Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani: [Saracen Cavalier speaks in Arabic and Imad interpretes for Balian] He says that the Baron of Ibelin is old. He knew him, in Damascus.
Balian of Ibelin: I am the new one.
Tiberias: Guy de Lusignan and Reynald de Chatillon, with the Templars... have attacked a Saracen caravan.
Crusaders: Liar!
Tiberias: Silence!
Bishop, Patriarch of Jerusalem: It was no caravan. It was an army headed for Bethlehem to desecrate the birthplace of our Lord!
Tiberias: Reynald, with the Templars, have broken the king's pledge of peace. Saladin will come into this kingdom...
Guy de Lusignan: Tiberias knows more than a Christian should about Saladin's intentions.
Tiberias: [Walks up to him] That I would rather live among men than kill them, is certainly why YOU are still alive.
Guy de Lusignan: [Chuckles] That sort of Christianity has its uses, I suppose...
Tiberias: We must not go to war with Saladin! We do not want it, and we may not win it.
Bishop, Patriarch of Jerusalem: Blasphemy! [All crusaders burst repeating in unison] An army of Jesus Christ, which bears his holy cross, cannot be beaten!
Hospitaller: Does the count of Tiberias suggest that it could be?
Bishop, Patriarch of Jerusalem: There must be war. God wills it! [All crusaders burst repeating in unison and King Baldwin IV raises a hand for silence]
Tiberias: Silence!
King Baldwin IV: Saladin has crossed the Jordan with 200,000 men.
Tiberias: He will make first for Kerak and Reynald de Chatillon. [Walks up to King Baldwin IV] My lord...
King Baldwin IV: We must meet him before he reaches Kerak. I will lead the army.
Tiberias: My lord, if you travel, you'll die.
King Baldwin IV: Send word to Balian to protect the villagers. Assemble the army! [Crusaders excitedly roar]
Sybilla: What becomes of us?
Balian of Ibelin: The world will decide. The world always decides.
Hospitaller: Are you sorry for your sins?
Godfrey of Ibelin: [Looking at Balian, his illegitimate son] For all but one.
Hospitaller: So, how find you Jerusalem?
Balian of Ibelin: God does not speak to me. Not even on the hill where Christ died. I am outside God's grace.
Hospitaller: I have not heard that.
Balian of Ibelin: At any rate, it seems I have lost my religion.
Hospitaller: 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". I've seen too much religion in the eyes of too many murderers. Holiness is in right action and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves. And goodness - what God desires - [pointing at his head then heart] is here and here. And what you decide to do every day, you will be a good man, [smiles] or not.
Sybilla: [Walking] Do you fear being with me?
Balian of Ibelin: No. [Stops] And yes.
Sybilla: [Laughs] A woman in my place has two faces, one for the world and one which she wears in private. With you I'll be only Sybilla [Hears a noise and turns her head. A servant hides behind a wall] Tiberias thinks me unpredictable. I am unpredictable.
[Sybilla approaches Balian holding a light]
Sybilla: Why do you think I'm here?
Balian of Ibelin: I know that Ibelin is not on the way to Cana.
Sybilla: What else do you know, my lord?
Balian of Ibelin: I know you are a princess. And I am no lord.
Sybilla: You're a knight.
Balian of Ibelin: Neither earned nor proved.
Sybilla: I am not here with you because I'm bored or wicked. I am here because, because in the East between one person and another... there is only light.
[Then Sybilla blows out the light and...]
[After the Saracen army withdraws from its attack on Kerak]]
Imam: Why did you retire? Why? God did not favour 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 I should come.
Imam: Few enough. That's because we were sinful
Saladin: [Scoffs] It is because you were unprepared.
Imam: If you think that way, you shall not be king for long.
Saladin: When I'm not king, I quake for Islam.
Reynald: [Guy goes to see Reynald in Prison, Reynald is dancing] The King is in heaven?
Guy de Lusignan: Yes.
Reynald: You had the Templars kill Balian?
Guy de Lusignan: Yes, and now, give me a war.
Reynald: That is what I do.
Balian of Ibelin: You go to certain death.
Hospitaller: All death is certain. I will tell your father what I have seen you become.
Bishop, Patriarch of Jerusalem: My lord, how are we to defend Jerusalem without knights?! We have no knights!
Balian of Ibelin: Truly? [Addresses a servant boy in the crowd] You, what is your condition?
Servant boy: I am servant to the Patriarch.
Bishop, Patriarch of Jerusalem: He's one of my servants.
Balian of Ibelin: Is he? You were born a servant? [The boy nods] Kneel. Every man at arms, or capable of bearing them...Kneel! On your knees! [The crowd of soldiers kneels] Be without fear in the face of your enemies. 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. [Balian strikes the servant boy] And that is so you remember it. Rise a knight. Rise a knight!
Bishop, Patriarch of Jerusalem: Who do you think you are? Will you alter the World? Does making a man a knight make him a better fighter?
Balian of Ibelin: pPause, turn slowly to face Bishop] Yes.
Sybilla: What becomes of us?
Balian of Ibelin: The world will decide. The world always decides.
Saladin: I pray you'll pull back your cavalry and leave this matter to me.
King Baldwin IV: I pray you retire unharmed to Damascus. Raynald of Châtillon will be punished, I swear it. Withdraw or we will all die here. [Pause] Do we have terms?
Saladin: We have terms. [Pause] I will send you my physicians.
King Baldwin IV: [Nodding] Salaamualaikum.
Saladin: [Waves and says] Wa-`alaykumu s-salaam (Islamic greeting "peace be with you") .
Bishop, Patriarch of Jerusalem: Convert to Islam, repent later.
Balian of Ibelin: You have taught me a lot about religion, Your Eminence.
Balian of Ibelin: This army will be destroyed, and the city left defenseless.
Guy de Lusignan: When I wish a blacksmith to advise me in war, I will tell him.
Balian of Ibelin: Saladin wants you to come out. He is waiting for you to make that mistake.
Balian of Ibelin: [A single horsemen is seen in the distance standing on top of a hill] They are here.
Almaric: It is only one man.
Balian of Ibelin: No, they are here.
[The camera pans to reveal the whole of the Saracen army behind the hill]
Balian of Ibelin: [To the people of Jerusalem] 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 offence we did not give, against those who were not alive to be offended. What is Jerusalem? Your holy palaces lie over the Jewish temple that the Romans pulled down. The Muslim places of worship lie over yours. Which is more holy?
[Pause]
Balian of Ibelin: The wall? The Mosque? The Sepulchre? Who has claim? No-one has claim.
[Raises his voice]
Balian of Ibelin: All have claim!
Bishop, Patriarch of Jerusalem: Blasphemy!
Almaric: [To the Patriarch] Be quiet.
Balian of Ibelin: We defend this city, not to protect these stones, but the people living within these walls.
Saladin: Will you yield the city?
Balian of Ibelin: 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.
Saladin: I will grant every soul safe passage to Christian lands. Every soul. The women, the children, the old. And all your knights and soldiers. And your Queen. Your King, such as he is, I leave to you, and what God will make of him. No one will be harmed. I swear it to God.
Balian of Ibelin: The Christians butchered every Muslim within the walls when they took this city.
Saladin: [Firmly] I am not those men. I am Saladin. Sala-hu-Din.
Balian of Ibelin: What is Jerusalem worth?
Saladin: [Solemnly] Nothing. [He starts to walk away, then turns around and smiles] Everything!
Richard Coeur de Lion: We come by this road to find Balian, who was the defender of Jerusalem.
Balian of Ibelin: I am the blacksmith.
Richard Coeur de Lion: And I am the King of England.
Balian of Ibelin: pPauses] I am the blacksmith.
King Baldwin IV: Oh. Hello.
Sibylla: [Mouths hello]
King Baldwin: I was dreaming. I was back in that summer, when I defeated Saladin. Do you remember it?
Sibylla: [Nods] You were a beautiful boy.
Baldwin: Yes.
Sibylla: You've always been beautiful. In every way.
King Baldwin: My beautiful sister. I've missed you. I'm sorry if I've caused you any pain. Remember me as I was.
Sibylla: I will. (leans down to kiss the brow of his mask. He dies)
Tiberias: There is a rumour. We must condemn it immediately.
Sibylla: Call it treason. And kill those who whisper it.
Tiberias: The rumour will die, if we show the boy as active.
Sibylla: [Screams passionately and throws back the chair she sitting on onto the floor. Clearly very distressed] How long before he wears a mask? Will you have one made for him? How did my boy deserve it?
Tiberias: [Shakes head]
Sibylla: Jerusalem is dead Tiberias. No kingdom is worth my son alive in hell. I will go to hell instead.
Sibylla: [To her son] Do you remember the story of Louan?
Baldwin V: No.
Sibylla: Do you remember why?
Baldwin V: No.
Sibylla: And he was so lonely that...he called all the gods.
Baldwin V: Why?
Sibylla: Because he was desperate. As a proof of love.
Sibylla: [Singing a lullaby in what sounds like French, she uncorks a bottle and with tears in her eyes she strokes back the hair of her sleeping son to reveal his ear. She tips the liquid in the bottle into his ear, and trails off, mouthing the song. She has euthanized her son because of his affliction with his uncle's horrific disease, leprosy. We see a toy the boy was playing with being wet by the rain outside the canopy over the summerhouse, and the scene ends].
Balian: You go with the Army?
Hospitaller: My order is with the Army.
Balian: You go to certain death.
Hospitaller: All death is certain. I shall tell your father what I have seen you become.
Hospitaller: I go to pray.
Balian of Ibelin: For what?
Hospitaller: For the strength to endure what is to come.
Balian of Ibelin: And what is to come?.
Hospitaller: The reckoning is to come for what was done one hundred years before. The Muslims will never forget. [Pauses and looks back to Balian]. Nor should they.

Cast

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