AT THE END OF THE 14TH CENTURY
TURKS FROM ASIA MINOR STARTED TO CONQUER EUROPE.
THE SERBIAN MEDIEVAL STATE RESISTED THIS INVASION.
THE BATTLE OF KOSOVO
Based on the novel of Ljubomir Simovic
Prince Lazar Milos Zutic
Princess Milica Gorica Popovic
Vuk Brankovic Vojislav Brajovic
Miloc Obilic Zarko Lausevic
Big Danube fish! Sterlets! Pike perches!
Directed by Zdravko Sotra
Hey, monk!
Does this path lead to Kosovo? -Yes. And that one too
and the one from which you came. What are you wondering?
Every path leads there.
There is no other path today in Serbia then the one leading to Kosovo or from Kosovo.
In the time of prince Dusan, Serbia was reflecting in the water of 3 seas.
After his death it shrunk to 3 river alleys.
From the 3 seas we have only Pomoravje left and Murat wants that as well
It would be best, if we could tear up this Murat letter
and forget about it. -No, Spiridon.
This letter isn't our only problem.
The best thing would be if we were unanimous.
Then we wouldn't fear Murat, Murat would fear us.
If we were unanimous, the sultan wouldn't dare demand from us
that we were obedient, give him the army and pay for the haradj.
You can't demand this from a state, a country can't accept this.
Did you decline his demands? -What else would I do?
Did Murat get your answer already? -Yes.
And he's responding. The Turkish army already broke into the territory of
Vuk Brankovic and headed towards Lab in Sitnica.
To Kosovo. -To Kosovo.
The armies will clash on Kosovo at Vid's day.
Is Murat coming with a large army?
They say it's so big, you can hear it from 2 hours of walk away.
Toplica and Kosancic will inform us about the army strength.
Who do you count on Lazar?
Our son-in-law Vuk Brankovic is with us.
You're gonna fight a pack of lions with one wolf?
Where is our other son-in-law? Where is Djuradj II Balsic,
the master of Zeta and Pomoravje? Will Djuradj come?
You know that because of Trebinje, Konavlja and god knows what else,
he's in conflict with Bosnia. He attacked Bosnia together with the Turks.
How could he defend Serbia from the Turks?
Will at least king Tvrtko I. Kotromanic come?
He sent the detachment under the command of duke Vlatko Vukovic.
He's sending a duke instead of coming himself. Why did he crown himself
with the Nemanjici crown, if he doesn't have time to defend the Serbs?
Trouts, eels, big Danube fish!
Carps, pikes, sheatfish!
Trouts, sheatfish, pike perches!
Fresh Danube fish!
Kosovo, Kosovo! All you talk about is Kosovo.
They say our destiny is at stake on Kosovo.
It's Kosovo for me each day.
Why are they so afraid of the Turks?
They're not grasshoppers. - They're the cruelest army.
They steal wool, cloth, cattle. They burn down houses. They burn down clouds.
Supposedly they don't eat pork. -They rape girls and boys.
They turn churches into stables and mosques.
Do they eat fish? -They impale people alive.
Are you deaf? Do they eat fish? -What? -Do Turks eat fish?
I think so. Why do you ask? -Why do I ask?
Trouts, eels, carps, sterlets! Fresh Danube fish!
When you sent Murat the responding letter,
you surely took thought before replying. -You think I don't know what I have?
I know I'm not Emperor Dusan the Mighty.
We have nowhere to run. We must defend what we have left.
Look how divided Serbia is and what Serbian magnates are doing.
To preserve power, they would rather turn Turks
then attack them with you. Who will you gather when everything is falling to pieces?
Everyone would like to be some kind of king and crown their
empty head. Even as small as a thimble as long as it's a crown.
As small as it is, as long as it's a kingdom.
Every village is a capital, every cottage a palace.
Murat isn't coming with such an army to negotiate.
He wants more then he said. Even if he made an agreement with me,
the army would rip him to pieces
if he wanted to send it back home without a fight and prey.
I have nothing left to do then gather as much strength as I have left.
I will gather the army, you assemble the metropolitans and vladikas,
archimandrites, monks, priests and deacons
from all the churches and cloisters from all over Serbia,
so they give communion to our army before the battle.
This will be our great suffering. -I know.
We will suffer one way or the other. But we can choose.
Either we die crawling like Turkish slaves or turned Turks
or we die honorably. There is no other alternative.
You will not return alive from Kosovo. - Better to be remembered by our grandchildren
as dead then be forgotten while still alive.
Of all the black clouds above Serbia
this one is neither the first nor the blackest. -Are you returning to Zica?
There is no time. I'll go to Mojsinje since it's closer.
I'll send the messages to the monks from there.
We'll reach Kosovo in time. -Are you coming?
I also want to earn my divine grace.
May God be with you.
May God bestow us with his mercy
not only with the suffering but also with a victory in Kosovo.
God bless you.
Find me a fat carp.
Will this one do? -Hit him on the head with a mallet.
This one would be an ornament even on a princely table. -Tonight it will be an ornament on mine.
If I have to die tomorrow like a dog
I'll be at least eating today as prince.
Are you going to Kosovo too? -This calamity concerns us all.
They really must be in trouble if they're calling for you. -Oh, yeah.
Like never before. -There were wars and battles, but nothing like this.
All the blacksmith's workshops and smelteries are working. Yesterday an iron wheel
broke, today a silver one snapped. -Where? -In the mine.
Because of overweight. -They have to forge so many swords,
there won't be a spoonful of iron left.
Nobody ask themselves who pays for all those swords.
It's common knowledge. The prince. -I'm paying.
You're supplying his army? -Of course. -Tomorrow on Kosovo
we'll be paying with lives.
What kind of D is this? Even a literate person wouldn't know if it's a D or A.
Mr. Vuk Brankovic... -Am I intruding?
No. We have finished.
Until I order otherwise no one should see these dinars.
Not even for the price of a life. They won't be put in circulation for now.
Dinars with moulds are locked up in 7 iron boxes,
and those are in the chest of your treasury. The keys are...
You should shut your moth. I know where they're locked.
Get lost.
Are you coining new dinars?
The summer has only started and it's already hot at night.
Kosovo will obviously cost you dear. -More then that.
Equipping such an army with men at arm, horses and infantrymen
can nowadays reduce a country to poverty.
As always it's my concern. What concern brought you?
I have come to warn you to support Lazar
with everything you have got. -Why should I support him?
Because Serbia never was in bigger danger then today.
And with her all the Christian world, not just the Orthodox.
Lazar is the only one that can save Serbia and Christianity.
So Krusevac doesn't become the new Constantinople.
You can see Cviljan and Kaljaja from your window
and Jerusalem from his.
You talk as though you were Lazar's brother and not my own.
You think there is no other head then Lazar's,
no other way for the existence of Serbia, except Lazar's way?
Among the weak magnates, only Lazar is the one with the vision.
I have no vision? -You? What vision do you have?
This room measures 6 x 10 meters.
That pine tree is 30 meters high.
This barrel can carry 200 liters. This bull weighs 700 kg.
The bell strikes 4 times at 4 o'clock, and 7 times at 7 o'clock.
That is my vision. The snake is poisonous, the peach is sweet
and wormwood is bitter. Serbs are few, Turks are many.
Why are you looking at me? -You call that a vision?
What vision does Lazar have? -Vision of Serbia.
And Serbian unity. -What?
He's smart enough to know that he could hardly unite the Serbs,
if he wanted to subordinate all the Serbian magnates
and proclaim himself as the Tsar, as many wanted.
I most certainly didn't.
Who chose Kosovo as the battlefield? You or Murat?
Neither Murat or me. Kosovo chose itself.
Can it be seen from here?
No, but one knows where it is. -Where?
You see that splendor in the sky? -I see.
Kosovo is directly underneath it.
That's dusk.
What's your name, you say? -Makarij.
Brother Makarij? -That's right.
Did you paint all those Lazar's churches? -Almost all of them.
I was returning from St.Petka to Vojnovica when they told me
that the patriarch is in Mojsinje and is assembling all the clergy
in Kosovo so that the army gets its communion before the battle.
How do you find the way? -The eyes aren't the only sense of sight.
Without my eyes with these old hands I can see how April dawn
is changing to July evening and November dusk.
Father Teofan, we are lost. I don't know anymore from where we came
and where we're heading. -Let's follow this way.
You blind man will show me the way? -The fog is troubling you because you see it
and I don't see it so it doesn't bother me. Are you coming or not?
Guards! Does this path lead to Kosovo? -Why are you asking?
Will you fight too? You don't look like a knight nor a solider.
I'm not a soldier. I'm a medicus, et chirurgico et barberius
de Prezarin. -What are you? -Doctor, surgeon and barber
from Prizren. - How come you don't know the path to Kosovo?
I know the way from Prizren, now I'm coming from Resava.
What are you doing in Kosovo if you're not a soldier? -What am I doing?
You know how many punctured liver, lungs,
scattered guts and brains, broken hands and feet,
broken ribs, crushed skulls, broken fingers and spines,
dug out eyes and broken bones, shot through throats
and jaws will there be in Kosovo? There will be enough blood to sail on it with boats.
Is anyone paying you to talk this way? - Do you think
that the Turks will welcome us with pilaf and baklavas?
Anyone who hears your stories will never go to Kosovo.
What you do have in the bags? -Books and medicine.
What kind of books? -Medical.
Instructions for healing wounds. -And this? Empty it.
These are medicines and balsams. Don't shake it, you'll break everything.
Who will pick this up? -Look, you fart.
I use it to wash my ears. I put the nib for the tube over here
and extract the liquid from the ears. -What do you have in this bag? -Cheese
Open it.
Close it.
He has a mortar. -To rub medicine in.
Are these medical books too? -No, those are for prophecy.
Can you predict what will happen in Kosovo from these books?
You can see that without the books. -What can you see?
When everyone takes something from Serbia, the kingdom, dukedom,
princedom, tyrantdom, and sums up all the taken
we all end up with nothing. -Tie him up.
What are you doing?
You are neither the first nor the last Turkish spy that we have caught.
I'm not a spy. I'm a medicine man. A doctor.
Obilic, God himself has sent you! -Why did you tie him up?
Because he's a Turkish spy, sir. -How do you know that?
He says that Turks will chop off our heads in Kosovo.
Won't they?
He says that the Serbian empire has fallen in ruins. -Hasn't it?
He says that the magnates are responsible for it. - Aren't they?
You're raising unpleasant sub questions, sir.
His only crimes is that he sees that the empire has fallen,
he knows why it has fallen, because of who it has fallen and is crazy enough to say it loud.
Master do you remember the battle at Plocnik, when prince Lazar
defeated Murat? -Is that you? -It's me. -A doctor? -From Prizren.
He healed my wound over there. Untie him.
We will when we get the order from our master Vuk Brankovic,
the master of Kosovo. -My respect to Vuk Brankovic.
If you have unsheathed the sword, use it to cut the rope.
Be careful not to cut him. Now sheathe the sword.
The rope was too tight. An idiot is just an idiot.
Are you talking about me? -You better leave your sword put!
Be careful with that iron ware of yours. Obilic is an excellent swordsman.
I'll feed you alright, with wooden pears.
How much would Lazar's vision be worth in Kosovo tomorrow
without my army? - Lazar also has a large army.
Larger then anyone else in Serbia could assemble.
It is large, but it isn't sufficient enough.
You can say that it has Obilic, the hero of all heroes.
He likes him too much. -There is a reason Obilic has such a good reputation.
Is that the reason you came from Atos, so you can throw Obilic at me?
You mentioned him, not me. You jump when his name is mentioned.
What do you hold against Obilic? What harm has he done you?
Why are you so opposed to him?
Is everyone asking you what will happen in Kosovo?
Only fools don't see what will happen. -And you see it?
Wolf and dog snouts are snapping at the people,
and the people don't know where to go. You know what kind of a herd
the Serbian people are? If it takes seven sheep to pasture,
it will lose eight of them. -What do you know about Serbian people
and Serbian shepherds ? -I just know
that Serbia is doomed with shepherds like that.
A raven with a rat could rule Serbia from a thatch.
My dear Bogoj, you have been reading unwritten books and forgot about the written ones.
You could have read in these books that
the twice baptized great Serbian mayor Stevan Nemanja was also a shepherd.
And his son Stefan the first-crowned and St. Sava.
And Stefan Uros II, king Milutin, Stefan Dusan the Mighty,
Serbian Tsar. You could have seen and read,
that these shepherds didn't lose their sheep. The Serbian people with them
weren't a flock of sheep bleatingly going to the slaughterhouse.
Even lions retreated from them. With that in your mind
you could see what will happen. What will happen,
is that even today a shepherd will be found in Kosovo before whom those will
retreat that haven't retreated from no one else before.
Even Mura and his son, that degenerate of a dog.
And a sun will, even if after a hundred of years,
chase away the ravens and the rats and it will warm up and shine on Serbia.
If we strike it today.
Master.
What is it?
Why are you bothering me? -He has to speak with you.
What is this now? Is this a village crossing or a palace?
I have urgent and important news. -Gerasim, wait for me.
Something happened. Let the bartender pour you a cup of wine.
White or red? -Red, half a cup.
What is this guard's name? -This is the commander of Vuk's sentry.
Paramunac. He has his net spread all over Serbia.
You shouldn't have tried because of me.
One doesn't know here, what someone thinks and what someone is preparing because of something.
Leave Turks and Kosovo. Leave them alone and find a doctor.
It's like looking for a needle in a haystack. -I want to know where he was,
whom he met and what he did. -Ok. -Wait.
Buy yourself some wine. You've deserved it. -On command.
I didn't know this doctor was so important to you.
I don't understand something. If you're coining money for the battle as you say
why don't you allow it to go in circulation? Why are you locking it up,
when you need it most? Why can't anyone see it?
Not even for the price of a life. And what is of more importance to you today then Kosovo?
What does your silver money mean? Is it the sun,
setting for Lazar and rising for Vuk?
Too many questions at once.
3 by 3 we step on flat Kosovo
We're going to meet our destiny, farewell mother, sister...
I'm looking at the cloud above Kopaonik. It's so big and black
as though Judgment Day is coming. -We live between two frontiers .
One is dropping deep into the clothy darkness,
the other is rising to the silky light.
The upper glaring frontier is constantly avoiding us,
the lower one is following us and lurking.
I thought you knew this frontier. -I hear that for the first time.
When one trespasses this frontier, you start to grow feathers or scales,
a shepherd becomes a sheep, fisherman a fish,
people turn into mice, bugs or snakes.
You see that frontier? -I see it. -Do you see over it?
I wish I didn't.
Could you teach me to look over that frontier?
Could you teach me?
You wouldn't want that once you heard the price for it.
What is it? -Cross yourself. The price is your eyesight.
When my dear heard I was leaving, she gave me a marigold
Farewell, my first unborn son, farewell rose in rosemary
farewell summer, autumn, winter, we're leaving, but we will not return.
I accompany him at the golden doors, receive at the muddy...
Shut up. Don't bring bad luck. - He won't return from Kosovo alive.
Shut up. He'll return.
What land, what bird... -Drink a bit of water.
what river will be your fiancee -He doesn't want a drop of water.
You should thank God you're not saying farewell to your son or brother.
What is wrong with her? -Her fiancee went to Kosovo.
And hence such sorrow? -Even you would long for Milan Toplica.
He went to spy in the Turkish camp. - I accompanied to Kosovo
my father, son, both husbands and four brothers
and all my uncles and cousins, yet I am still alive and am not moaning.
And she's making such a fuss because of her fiancee.
Then I should die from sadness. -You have no idea how she suffers..
She'll forget him soon.
Some gold and five reels of thread will do it.
Why did Lazar assemble us? -The last consultation before the battle.
I fear this battle will cost us dearly.
I would have something to say about that. -All has already been said.
It's too late for words. Words have become an army.
Why should Lazar decide in the name of all of us? Since when does his authority
reach into our lands? -Who is he to decide in my own land?
He was given power with the resolution of the parliament.
And the Church supports him. -Because the patriarch is Lazar's man.
Lazar bribes him by building churches all over Pomoravje.
Hey, soldier!
Is this the way to Kosovo? -No.
Then I am lost. -No. You have arrived. -Is this Kosovo?
You're loaded as a Dubrovnik caravan.
Do you have silk and spices? -No, balsams and medicines.
Is something bothering you as well? -Something has been bothering me, for a longer time
But it can be cured with a bowl of lentils.
Why didn't you say before? Here, take it, eat. -What is this?
Cheese. Just eat.
How come it's hairy ? -Because I have been carrying it in a bag made of goat skin.
It looks more like a badger then cheese. -Then leave it if you don't want it.
Why are you constantly looking back? -Me? Why would I?
Why do you have the hairy side turned inside instead out outside?
You're not hungry. -Of course I am. -Shut up.
What is it? -Keep silent!
We musn't tell prince Lazar about this -Why not?
If we tell him what we saw in the Turkish camp,
he might get scared, have his doubts and give up on the battle.
If he gave up on the battle, if he surrendered in and submitted,
what would be of Serbia when Asia flood her without any resistance?
And what do you think we should tell him? -We wont tell him
that we saw janissaries, we'll tell him we saw ripplers and sieve makers.
Instead of cavalry we'll mention combers, saddlers and leather merchants.
We'll tell him the truth.
If you insist on that the prince's dinner will go down the wrong way.
Better then our breakfast going down the wrong way tomorrow. Hurry up.
Why are we hiding from our own people? -If she saw us,
she wouldn't tell how large of an army is in Kosovo.
I saw her even without them. If Serbia was on balance
with Kosovo, it would rise high in the air, and Kosovo would sink.
That big is the army in Kosovo. I've been sitting here for 2 days
and watching. If only the wind didn't blow from the Turkish side.
I'm feeling sick from all the suet smell. Even the basilica smells of it.
That's because the Turks prepare everything with suet.
Baklava's, pilaf, pies. Even candles. -At least I don't eat candles.
Serbia is ruled by the priests, not Lazar. It's full of black frocks .
Be careful what you say. -Only the prince could silence me
not his nephew. -If your father didn't teach you order,
this sword would teach you, if we weren't here.
Are we gonna fight against the Turks or are fighting among ourselves?
I didn't come to negotiate with the prince's nephews,
I have come to see this man, that signs himself
as Christ Lord sovereign of Serbia,
Stefan, prince Lazar, to put some sense into his head.
Let him withdraw the army from Kosovo, let him not fight but negotiate.
You can negotiate about the head, but not the honour.
I know why you don't want to go to battle. You think your lands
are far away from Kosovo. But Kosovo will be in your lands tomorrow.
People stronger then you have acknowledged Turkish authority. -Who are you?
King Marko, despot Dejanovic. -Stronger, you say.
And what have they done with this authority? Did they return the Altamanovic
lands or did I? Who turned the defeated and divided Serbia into
a principality which will, if God gives, become an empire again?
When everyone was squandering, who was gathering? Marko, Konstantin
or Lazar? -They have avoided the bloodshed
preserved the land and the people. -They preserved their crowns.
At least they think so.
When your farmers will be leaving bones in Kosovo with you
their's will be peacefully harvesting wheat. -So they pay the Turks for the haradj.
So they will starve in peace. We must defend ourselves from such peace.
Don't talk to me about farmers. You don't care about the farmers not about Serbia.
You don't care if your lands will be tomorrow under Hungary
or under Turkey. All you care about is that you have a crown on your head,
gold in your purse and cloth in the chests . -That's not true.
The truth will be proven in Kosovo, not here.
Did you come to fight or talk? -We have come to talk about
whether it is worth fighting for. -It's not about
whether we want to fight, it's about our existence.
Does existence to you mean bowing to Murat's servants, cooks
and ostlers and kissing Murat's shoe?
The Turkish might is too big. -Your fear is too big.
Shall we let fear destroy everything we have achieved?
If we don't rise in the air like hawks over the Turks today,
we will have chickens cackling in the palace tomorrow.
You were long among the Turks. -Longer then we expected.
What have you to say? -Unfortunately nothing good.
The Turkish army is all over Kosovo.
With one wing they're holding Lab, with the other Sitnica.
They even have a tent-city with streets, workshops
and stores. There's at least twice as many of them as us.
You aren't exaggerating? -There's 50.000 of Janissaries.
30.000 lancers, 60.000 infantrymen,
20.000 troopers. -There are only 70.000 Serbs.
If only we got the promised balisters and bombards.
The army is big but it's assembled from all kinds of places.
Quantity instead of strength. Idlers, not soldiers.
I wouldn't say they are idlers, nor that they would be from all kinds of places.
The Turkish army is well selected, skillful,
well armed and excellently paid.
Your reports are different. One says white the other black.
Does one want to make me happy or the other scare me?
I'd rather believe Kosancic. -So you would retreat before the Turkish might
and return to your peaceful lands?
I know he wave to attack the Turks but not blindly.
The Sultan brought the armies from Rumelia and Anatolia,
his sons Jakub and Bajazit and his best generals.
It is not a usual battle for them. -And it is for us?
For them it's a holy war. -Isn't it for us as well?
Anything else important? -Yes, noble prince.
The Turkish army has Serbs and Greeks from Epir and Tesalia.
There is a very influential Serb in Murat's court. -Hamza?
Turkish vassals but Christian soldiers and knights.
Fear the Christian sword more then the Turkish sabre.
We heard the report from Kosovo. The Turks are as they are.
Let's see how we stand. -If it's true as Kosancic says,
that there's twice as many of Turks then us...
Whether or not I go to battle doesn't depend on the strength of the enemy
but based on the sacred thing that I defend.
Hey, are you sleeping? -No, I'm dreaming.
I sat on the beach of Morava. -And what were you doing?
I was watching ships loaded with fish and watermelons. -Will you have some cheese?
This cheese of yours is more hairy then a bear.
As though he was eating me. -As you wish.
How do you distinguish them? -What? -The cheese and fur coat.
Do you ever wear the cheese and have fur coat for dinner?
You will wake me at night when you won't be able to sleep because of hunger.
You get fever and hallucinations from hunger.
Sit down, gentlemen.
Tonight the table is monastic not princely.
There is no boar-meat, hare's meat, venison and chamois meat.
Not because we wouldn't have good hunters and cooks,
but because we have to say hungry and sober.
This is more of a Holy Communion then a dinner. We will eat
what Christ ate, because tomorrow we are Christ's soldiers.
Gentlemen, let's pray.
Let us have nothing else then a grain of salt
but let everything be salted with it. When water and fire
take everything from us, let that grain be our everything. Amen. -Amen.
I raise my first cup to the soldiers, the first toast to the first of them.
If I had another Obilic in the army I would sleep even peacefully.
I want to make a toast too, prince. But I would like to start with the last one.
If you recognize the first one in him,
my toast does not disprove yours. Let me please,
the first to make a toast contrary to the usual custom.
What does this mean? -In Kosovo there won't be just
two countries, two nations and two rulers fighting
but two continents, two religions, two Gods. This will be your battle.
The one that betrays you is sitting tonight behind your table.
Obilic, Vuk is looking at you. -You're just imagining it.
I hope you're not joking. -I'm obliged to say that I see
among those that have come on horseback to Kosovo with us
those that eat with us, drink and talk with us,
tomorrow they will rise their sabre against us.
Obilic, Vuk is looking at you. -Why would he be looking at me?
If your son-in-law is converting, my new brother-in-law ,
and so many of Serbian gentlemen,
why wouldn't some of your best soldiers?
Levcanin? -What? -Don't do you think that Vuk is looking at me?
Should he be?
Did Judas come to Kosovo to earn his silver coins?
He's not asking me. -I ask myself.
I ask myself, how do we survive without... -Without what?
If we have no grain, I don't know what else that wouldn't melt or change nor in the river nor in the sea
nor in the poison nor in the blood.
Which will also stay in heaven what it was in hell.
Olive tree, vine, wheat, everything would spring up from this grain,
if we had it. -Those that don't have the grain don't have anything.
Some people would give their lives for it
others would give away this holy grain... For what, Obilic?
For pearly grain? Or for Judas silver coins?
Or for a bowl of Murat's pilaf?
Vuk Brankovic! You will swallow this pilaf.
I'll use my sword to press it into your lying mouth.
Don't draw the sword behind my table.
Do you allow your sons-in-law to
accuse honest people without any evidence? -My word isn't enough?
Of course not. You have accused the best among us
using such words that you'll have to answer with your head for each of them.
I'm not afraid of any pledge. -I need evidence.
My guards have caught a Turkish spy between Toplico and Lab.
He was scaring the soldiers saying that the Turks would chop off their heads.
The guards tied him up when Milos Obilic appeared.
To cut a long story short. As the guards have stated
Obilic confirmed everything that the spy talked about.
He said that the Serbian has disintegrated
that the fight against the Turks is hopeless and lost in advance.
Then he attacked the guards with his sword and freed the spy.
He wanted to kill the guards. -He's not a Turkish spy,
he's a Serbian medicine man. In the battle at Plocnik
he took care of my wound. -Obilic wants to remind you
that he was wounded in battle. For that he expects you to pay.
I don't sell my wounds. -You can't believe one single word more then
all of Obilic's battles. -It is Vuk Brankovic's word.
Obilic also isn't just someone, he's a Obilic.
Because Vuk suspects Obilic, I suspect Vuk.
It's not only about treason it's about conspiracy -You're not saying...
We have spoken enough tonight. Even a blind man can see the obvious.
It won't be hard for you to judge.
How can I judge the one to whom I made the first toast?
But how can I not judge him, if he is being accused by the one,
to whom I have my first-born daughter?
A detailed investigation would be necessary
to find out the truth. But there is not time for that.
The accuser was counting on that fact.
Do you have any evidence whatsoever Obilic?
I do. Just that my evidence aren't words
and my evidence is not here. My evidence is in Kosovo.
I will prove myself with the evidence. -Would you tell us how will you do that?
We know how. So he betrays us to Murat.
I swear before this bread and wine,
before this living image of Jesus Christ
that I will kill Murat tomorrow in Kosovo.
He's crazy. -Obilic, do you know what you're saying?
Tomorrow we all go to battle with the fear of dying
and the hope of not dying. If the person that went to the Turks
to kill Murat, cherished such a hope he would be crazy.
If he didn't cherish such hope he would be crazy if he did go.
There is no question about it with Obilic. Obilic doesn't care about hope,
because he knows that he and Murat will be as alive tomorrow as they are today.
Who is that crazy to believe someone who so easily makes such
a difficult oath? Not me.
Vuk Brankovic, tomorrow the trail of everyone, of you and me
in Kosovo will be visible as in snow.
On Vid's day we will see who is who.
And to you prince Lazar,
the one that slandered me at your place to you, Serbian knights,
I will say only one thing.
You, prince Stefan Lazar,
and you, Mr. Vuk Brankovic,
and you two, brothers Stevan and Lazar Music,
and you, Milan Toplica, and you, Ivan Kosancic,
and you, Tamnavec, and you, Levcanin,
and all you other Serbian knights, and me with and among you,
as we will be tomorrow, we will be for all eternity.
I should have thrown him in jail. -Obilic said
that he will kill Murat tomorrow, so you should judge about the oath tomorrow.
Why did you all bow your heads?
If Obilic has abandoned us God has not.
You intend to go to Kosovo without Obilic?
Whether or not I go to battle doesn't depend on how
strong my army is, it depends on the sacred thing I defend.
We have no wine left. I'll fetch another goblet. Here.
What kind of money is this? -Silver dinar of Vuk Brankovic,
coined in Prizren. -Instead of Lazar there's St. Stefan.
Why would Vuk do that? -Show me.
Vuk probably asked himself what so many marriages meant.
You mean Lazar's daughters? Vuk now has 3 brothers-in-law.
Maybe Vuk asked himself, whom Lazard would give Olivera.
Maybe he'll give her to Obilic. Vuk could also ask himself,
who would rule Serbia if Lazar was to fall in action in Kosovo tomorrow.
Be careful witch, better stick to your fish. Turn out the candle.
You don't want me to fetch the wine? -Let me sleep.
Who's singing at this time of hour?
The army that is going to Kosovo.
The Communion in Kosovo will start any minute now.
We'll soon be there. Promise to help me.
They're already carrying the icons and banners from the church.
I can't paint anything as long as I don't see with my
clerical eyes as you do. -Everyone is already over there except for us. -No they aren't.
What do you mean they aren't, if the whole of Kosovo is glaring from the knight arms?
Those aren't knights those are fireflies and dew.
What do you have your eyes for? Serbian knights are glaring in Kosovo
the most glaring of them is Lazar.
Do I, blind man, have to show you what is what?
I want to see the essence which is invisible to the human eye.
Did you forget that you would have to sacrifice your bodily eyes,
to see with you your clerical eyes? -I didn't.
Are you prepared to pay such price? -How many times should I tell you?
The Patriarch's prayer will start any minute.
When will I go blind?
I call and ask holy warriors Jurij and Dimitrij,
St. Prokopij, St. Teodor Tiron and Teodor Stratilat,
St.. Merkurij, St. Artemij, St. Nikita...
Take a good look at all of this,
because you're watching it for the very last time.
Support us and take us to battle like reapers to harvest
and that we return from battle like reapers from harvest with abundant bread.
Shine on us today, let heaven be filled with icons
on the holy banners. Give us the strength,
so we fight bravely for eternity and righteous life.
What are the Serbian priests singing? -The liturgy.
You listened to it before the battle at Plocnik. -I'm not trembling
from this singing but because of the summer coldness.
Do you feel that the moonlight smells of linden and acacian honey today?
It smells to me more like wormwood. -It doesn't matter anyway.
In less then an hour, everything, from the moonlight and the wind,
Europe and Asia, the sky and the earth will smell of blood.
I hope it will smell more of Serbian then Turkish blood.
You talking as though it weren't two armies fighting,
but two planet.
You're not with the army yet, Jakub? One question has been troubling me. -Again?
What question? -There are Serbian aristocrats among us. -So what?
How much can we trust them? Will Serbs fight against other Serbs?
How can someone be a brother to a stranger, who is a stranger to his own brother?
If they betrayed their own, they can betray us too.
The battle will already begin and end and he'll still be asking questions.
I didn't ask you.
Its the easiest thing to do, to chop off the defeated King's head,
but it's not the smartest thing to do. It can still be of some use to you. How?
Who crowned himself, cares more about the crown,
then his head, so he would give his head his people,
his country and faith for the crown, but he wouldn't renounce his crown not even for his honour.
To retain this royal or princely crown
they defend more eagerly then the aga's and bey's in their countries
the rights of our Islamic country and faith.
If it is so, shouldn't we get Lazar this way?
The Serbian Communion has ended.
Their knights have gotten on horses. -Everyone to your respective places.
The first Serbian blow will be the strongest.
Did prince Lazar gallop before the army? -Yes.
His helmet with the horns can be seen from far away.
So we grab him with both hands by the horns.
Bajazit, you better shut up and hurry. The Serbian cavalry will attack.
Serbian and Turkish banners are mixed up.
It didn't start as it should have.
What is happening to our front line?
The Serbs are penetrating it like an iron waterfall.
Luckily there's our best infantry.
They must hold out the first wave of attacks. -If it goes on like this, they won't.
Is this how you wage war?
What is happening there? -Serbian men at arm have broken the infantry.
Where? -On the Jakuba Celebija wing. -Impossible.
Our front line is retreating. Second line is yielding.
Go find Jakub at once.
Where did those Serbian banners among the tents come from?
They reached our train. -This is complete chaos.
The Serbs have stopped over there but Jakub is almost totally battered.
Let Balaban transfer the janissaries as soon as possible,
Stop this offensive and go into a counterattack.
Bajazit Ilderim is informing us that he is beating Vukovic's army,
that he separated it from the main body of the army and is pushing it towards Lab.
Tell him to slower the offensive. Let him wait,
so Jakub pulls himself together on the left wing.
Maybe Vukovic is leading him into a trap with the retreat.
His spear is inverted the wrong way. -So he means to surrender.
And who is that hero? -Duke Milos Obilic.
Does anyone know anything about this Obilic? -He's Lazar's best duke.
If he was the best we wouldn't invert the spear the wrong way.
Bring him to me.
Be careful, it may be a deception.
Accede and bow to the sultan.
Noble sultan.
Don't you Serbs know how to approach a Turkish sultan?
How? -Kneel down and kiss his shoe.
I didn't come as a servant but as a knight. -Kneel down!
Where is that doctor? -Call Mustafa.
Why didn't you take his knife? -I thought he only had a spear.
Call Bajazit!
Is there any hope? -No way. His abdomen is rip open.
You need a grave digger not a doctor. Move out of the way
Give him some air.
Padishah opened his eyes. He regained his consciousness.
Soon he will close them forever. Don't move, sultan.
Is that one alive? -He's alive. -Say and he'll lose his head.
Bring him to me.
Are you mad enough to think that my death will determine the outcome of this battle?
If it won't determine today's it will determine tomorrow's.
What tomorrow's? You'll die today. -Let him speak.
Let it be known that Serbia is a soft rug.
That Kosovo is no silky pillow.
Serbs have something more dear to them then their own life.
Dog! -Don't beat him tied up. -But he's barking.
Serbia isn't a handful of rice for every crow that the wind brings.
Leave the crow and rice alone. Tell me, what is so precious
more precious then life. What did you sacrifice your head for today?
I gave my head for my word.
I can't laugh.
Because you're paying with your head for a word doesn't mean,
that your word is so precious but that your head is so cheap.
If it wasn't for that word, what else would be left? -Listen, boy.
In less then half an hour we'll both be just worm food,
despite your word and all of my army.
Is he alive?
Are you badly wounded? -I can't hold my guts with my hands.
Is this the murderer? -Yes. -What are you waiting for?
We're waiting for your decision, master. -Chop off his head.
Did you notify Jakub? -Not yet. We have waited for you.
You're smart, Miralem. I won't forget it.
Where are you taking him? -To the oak tree. -Do it here.
Let sultan see him die.
And you send someone for Jakub who still doesn't know what has happened.
He should tell him , that Murat is calling for him, not me.
Bogoje?
I'm no longer Bogoje, but Mustafa
I'm no longer Christian but Muslim,
I'm no longer a doctor or a medicus, but a Hakim.
I don't visit a church anymore, but a mosque. -For God's sake...
Don't wonder. Brankovic drove me to another religion.
They have persecuted you, so they could get me.
They wanted to destroy me, so they would take down Lazar.
Who is the hero that hit me?
Serb Hamza. -That's why he hits also when it isn't necessary.
No one trusts a turned Turk. If a Turk is bleeding down to his elbows,
he must bleed to his shoulders. -You have learned that fast, Mustafa.
Well Jaur, are you ready to meet your own God?
I am. -Allah is merciful. Maybe he will help you.
God will help me as i have not renounced him.
All your bloodshed is in vain today.
I am drawing in borders with my blood. -What border?
The one between me and you. -Cut the dog.
Impale him on the spear.
Master, the Padishah is dying.
Your murderer is dead. Look at him.
Should I lift your head? -I'm still alive,
and I hear they're already calling you master.
Listen, Bajazit.
Don't forget that Jakub is your brother.
Don't worry. Be at ease.
Does it hurt you much? -No. But it is degrading.
I don't know why a man needs as much intestine as a ram.
Don't let him talk so much. -When will I talk, if not now?
Bajazit, don't forget that a brother is sacred. Did you hear me?
I heard you. -Save your strength
and don't provoke hatred. If you want to divide Serbia,
rely only on the Serbs. They will do a better job then you.
Look, behind Kosovo there are churches standing one behind another.
Studenica, Zica, Ravanica. Behind these Serbian churches
are German, Roman, Florentine and Venetian churches.
And churches in Paris and Rouen. Till where you hear the church bell,
till there you will have to unlatch the arrow of Islam.
Do you remember Ali's bequest? -He said:
Torture the Jaurs wherever you can. Better to look for them with your sabres
in their houses, then to wait for them with the spoons in your own.
Your talk is in vain. He doesn't hear you anymore.
He died.
Close his tent.
The army musn't know about his death till the end of the battle.
I'm taking over the battle into my own hands.
What is happening? Why aren't you on the battlefield? Why is father calling for me?
He's altering the plan. -Why did he close the tent? -Because of the heat.
Where does all this blood come from? -You're asking where the blood comes from in the middle of a battle?
That's why you aren't doing that well. -Is he angry because of the retreat?
No, he's happy that the Serbs are advancing. Hurry up.
What are you doing? Leave me alone!
Bajazit, where is the sultan? Leave me!
Is the sultan alive? Bajazit, what have you done to Murat?
What should i do, master? -They're already calling you master?
Traitors. -Strangle him with a silky string.
You'll strangle your brother? Murat said that a brother is sacred.
He is. But I am a brother too. Jakub's brother.
I am sacred too. -I'll never recognize you as a master.
Do you have the string or not? -I do. -What are you waiting for?
For me to order that they use it to strangle you?
Murderer! Bajazit! Brother!
Prepare two stretchers for Murat and Jakub.
We'll bury them in Bursa.
Now we have to end this battle as soon as possible.
Let the buzundzija's shout and wail. What are we paying them for?
Everyone should set out to counterattack. Let's tip
the balance in our favor.
What are you waiting for? -I'll fly as an arrow.
Fly faster then lightning. All forces ahead!
Vlatko Vukovic is leaving the battle and returning to Bosnia.
Pasha Sarudza asks for enforcements.
He's still stronger then the Serbs. Let him continue the fight .
The army is assembling around prince Lazar.
Our forces are swarming around him like bees swarm around honey.
Attack Lazar with all of your forces.
Serbs are amid chaos. Lazar fell from a wounded horse,
the army thinks he's dead and is running away.
Don't give the Serbs any time to breathe.
Beware of Vuk Brankovic. -He withdrew from Kosovo.
Withdrew? -Withdrew.
News for Padishah. -Let me here them.
The janissaries have captured a Serbian prince. -What are you saying?
And a lot of magnates.
Last night in gold and silk, today muddy and bloody.
Last night on his throne, today in the bear's hole .
This is also coming from God. -If you knew last night,
what you know today, you wouldn't be here. -I didn't know last night,
that I'm buying myself eternity with this suffering.
Nonsense. Your head will fall over here in the dust.
Your life isn't worth a nickel.
Life values as much, as you're willing to pay for it.
Never mind these cliches and face the facts.
Kosovo is full of facts without heads, hands and legs.
If I compare our victory and your defeat... -My defeat?
Your defeat is in the fact that you don't see our victory. -Victory?
Is this victory? You have lost too much blood and you haven't come to yourself.
Look around you. Is this your victory, Lazar?
Are the corpses in Lab and Sitnica the corpses of victors?
Do these broken hands and legs belong to victors?
Is this head on the spear, that is looking at its corpse on the ground,
a head of a victor?
Yes, Bajazit.
Take a look at it well so you remember it.
You don't see a head like this every day. -If life is really as precious
as you say why didn't Brakovic pay for it as much?
Vuk's life is not worth it, Obilic's is. Come closer, Bajazit.
Look, how beautiful this head is
with which the heavenly kingdom is being bought.
You wouldn't get an onion for this head.
This head doesn't lay into a grave but into a foundation.
This head talks too much. Chop it off.
Allow me, noble sultan. -Who are you? -Servant Milutin.
Don't ask for his life. -Allow me, noble sultan,
to take into this sinful hands Lazar's sacred head.
Accept it. I don't think he will feel any more easy about it.
Tell me now Lazar, who is the victor.
You with the head on the scaffold or me with the crown on my head?
Your scaffold is only a threshold to me. As far as the victory is concerned,
we have fought in different battles.
You have won in yours, I have won in mine.
Thank you, Lord for allowing me,
to be warmed by the evening of a sunny day on this threshold.
Another victorious head. Last night on throne,
today on the scaffold. -And in the evening on the cloud.
A cap is more worth now then a head.
Even if it's not worth a grain of bean I'll give you a pearl grain for it.
Stretch out your hand. -My hand was sanctified by this head.
Chop off his sanctified hand, so it doesn't get greased tomorrow.
What about the other Serbian aristocrats? -Kill them. -All of them? -All.
It seems that the battle is over.
The stretchers with Murat and Jakub shall be carried with the greatest honour.
Let's hurry to Bursa. -The troops are restless because of Jakub.
We have to deal with it immediately. -How? -You know, how.
There are only two ways, advancement and execution.
Hurry up. Strangle Kapidza Pasha at once.
Those that support me shall advance.
Clear up this heads and corpses it's hot.
Everything splendid and faithful died on Kosovo Polje.
Only the unfaithful survived Kosovo.
Only the unfaithful returned home from Kosovo.
Us unmarried widows are looking at them from the thresholds.
Whom shall we marry, whose children should we widows give birth to ?
Should we continue the treacherous origin?
Or will each of us go after our dead hero to no-time,
from no-place. A fiancee for a live hero, a bride for a dead one.
What are you carrying in your bag? -Just oats.
Something is glistening. -What is it? Unless they stole the oats and put
a candle into my bag. -Your bag?
Your hay is burning. -Burning? Probably some firefly.
Let me help you. -I didn't stop to rest,
but to listen. Do you hear me?
What is this? -Birds barking From Kosovo, from human flesh
the bark of crows and ravens is rising.
They say they're on the threshold of Pristina. -Move out of the way.
Who are you saying this to? Him, the martyr and hero?
Shall he move away from the prince with whom he fought along,
from the saint that also, sanctified him?
Respect his wooden leg, you wooden head. -Listen, you...
I have listened enough. -Shut up. The princess is coming.
Look the princess Milica is coming, our woman martyr
Take off your cap. She has come to expect her martyr.
I am the only salvation for Serbia that also suits you.
Me? -You.
Lazarj's crown will be succeeded after me by my sons,
your grandsons Grgur, Djuradj, Lazar.
Lazar didn't die in Kosovo so we quarrel because of the crown
but to unite around his head.
Whatever, Mrs Milica, Lazar is dead, Vuk is alive.
Both is good for Serbia.
For which Serbia, Vuk Brankovic?
For the Serbia that doesn't defend itself when being chopped? Which has it's eyes closed
and is silent when it's being burned down and when others administer it in their own way?
When others command her what to sow and reap.
What and from whom it shall buy and whom it shall sell. For the Serbia,
which forgets about it's own children, heroes and martyrs,
dresses, feeds and glorifies those that dream of burying it.
Many times wa have been led by those that we have fed and watered
and been fooled by them.
Which Serbia will you choose?
The Turks have finally destroyed the Serbian empire in Kosovo.
Serbia wasn't defeated by the Turks in Kosovo
but by its own magnates. -If Serbia wants to save itself,
it must forget about Kosovo as soon as possible. -What should it remember?
Kosovo opens for Serbia the doors of hell.
Kosovo lifts Serbia to heaven.
Lazar is coming.
Until we transfer him to Ravanica, he will be here in Pristina.
The assembly that has enthroned Lazar, will with God's blessing
enthrone Lazar's son upon him.
If you will enthrone this child and not me,
you will not only be in war with the Turks but also with me.
Where are you now, Lazar? Where have you gone? -He has carried our burden with him to the sky.
Where have you gone? Whom did you leave us to?
In which holy land should we bury you, Lazar's head?
We will not bury Lazar's head.
We will lay it in the ground like seed.
How should I weep for you, how should I not mourn for you,
when everything in this world has ended for me?
How should I not rejoice, when you have returned glittering.
You left as a great hero and returned as a great martyr.
You're returning bigger as you were when you left.
How could we not glorify you today,
when you are rising to the clouds with the rain of our tears,
to accept the upper crown, and leave us in this blind world,
where Stefan will be out eyes?
Help us, oh Lord, that the ruined to to ashes from ashes it rises,
that the disunited unites, that the blind sees,
that the killed, tortured, burned down, slaughtered, downtrodden, hung
and torn apart, in known and unknown graves buried,
from all the graves risen, entire Serbia comes under one crown.
You have lost your bodily eyes, but you have not seen with the clerical ones.
Are you listening to me? -I think I am slowly starting to see.
A blind can be deceived by a lot of things. Something is warming you and you're hoping,
it's shining.
I think I see. -What do you see?
A man that is leaving for a path. -Which path?
I can see that he has trespassed a border . I don't see him anymore.
Look more carefully beyond this border.
I only see a spider crawling along the path.
Look closer at this spider. -Are you going to say it's a human?
Do you know which human this spider is?
We have to try to look over the upper border
which is glaringly evading us. Which we were shown by,
towards which he led us and across which
he left for the golden worlds Lazar.
Translated by Bluesoul