IN EUROPE'S MIDDLE AGES, HEALING ARTS DEVELOPED
DURING ROMAN TIMES ARE ALMOST FORGOTTEN
NO DOCTORS OR HOSPITALS...
ONLY TRAVELING BARBERS WITH
LITTLE KNOWLEDGE
AT THE SAME TIME ON THE OTHER END OF
THE WORLD MEDICAL SCIENCE FLOURISHES
THE PHYSICIAN
ENGLAND
1021 A.D.
[Barber] Back and forth, up and down...
left to right for more than
one hundred years.
But nowhere have I had the pleasure of
looking out upon a crowd...
with prettier girls...
than here in your wonderful
Rough Dovender.
Why do I specially like it here because...
I always lay me best eggs here.
[Imitates chicken clucking sounds]
Ladies, Lords from broken bones...
to teeth rotting down in your jawbone...
to useless stumps.
From pustules on the backside to
thick, black fluid in your lungs.
No matter the ailment conjured up by the
devil to plague us poor Christian folk.
Me and me alone has the cure.
ME AND ME ALONE HAS THE CURE!
[Rob] Hey !That's my bread.
- [Rob]Give it back!
- [Barber]Heal up, come up, heal up for 3 pence...
Dear Lord Jesus. Have mercy upon us,
your poorest children.
Protect my sweet Rob from the anger
and much a-fists of bigger boys.
Turn back the stinky finger my Samuel uses
pull snot from his nose at table.
And let my baby Anne wait until I
finish grace before
she puts so much of a crumb
of bread in her greedy little mouth.
Amen.
[Kids] Amen.
Ma?
It's nothing.
Ma?
Mom!
Oh dear God, make it stop.
Ma!
Come quick, my ma needs help.
- Go away. I'm not here.
- Please, barber.
To hell with "please, barber"!
What do I care about another whimsy whore
in this dung-hole of a city.
Go home! Come back tomorrow if she
ain't dead by then!
Get out of my wagon!
I cleanse this sinful heart with this
sacred oil.
In the name of the Father, the Son
and the Holy Ghost.
Amen.
Hurry!
- Ma, I've brought the barber to heal you.
- Oh!
[woman] What's he doing here?!
She's got him. It's too late...
for me.
There is no cure for what ails this
woman but the grace of God.
Anything else would be called witchcraft.
Amen, Father. You've taken the words
out of me mouth.
No, barber, please!
Is there someone here who disputes the
authority of the Holy Church?
Father, not me.
Dear God and Lord Jesus...
have mercy on us three children.
Return our mother to us.
We need her more than you.
Please, Lord Jesus.
Please God.
The utensils go to whoever takes
the youngest.
- We can take the two youngest.
- They can sleep in the stable.
If you can take two, why not three?
The oldest is too grown up.
We can't fill his hungry mouth.
Don't cry, Samuel. Mother... she's
always with us.
Let's go!
Come on! Come on!
Rob!
Come on!
Come on!
I'm taking these for the penny owed
for the sacred oil.
Where should I go?
Pray to the Almighty God for guidance.
- I can look after horse. I know horses.
- My heart bleeds for you lad.
Who's there?
Show yourself!
Before the 3 of us come up and
rip you apart.
How did you get here?
You need a faster horse.
Down.
- Please, just tonight.
- No.
Get your filthy rump out of here.
- Please.
- NO!!
Could you have saved her, Barber?
There's no cure for side sickness.
- Is your Ma still alive?
- Nah, died pushing me out.
- Do you have family?
- No.
I'm sorry. Who do you talk to
when you're all alone?
I don't. I sleep like now.
You have to shut your hole.
I've seen everything the good Lord
put on the Earth for us to see.
And some terrifying things no
man was supposed to witness.
That's why I can stand here before you
and say that...
I'm gonna tear off your arms.
And then I'm gonna kill ya.
I was just dressing a wound.
No where have I had the pleasure...
of looking out up a crowd with
prettier girls...
No one less delighted by filthy tunes.
Then here, in beautiful Ethelweller.
Hell, it's broken.
For three pence I can fix it for you.
Come see us at the marketplace.
Nowhere are the girls prettier.
- You said that already!
- Oh shut up. Hey !
My juggler!
I found him at the bottom of a well. Hop, hop!
The show is for free, and the
treatment is almost for free.
- Where the hell were you?
- House visit.
A spoonful of kidney ash, every morning...
gets your kidney problems out of the way.
For forgetfulness, tie the dried tongue
of a hooper bird around your neck.
- And this is a very special potion.
- This is witchcraft!
I picked the hops myself under
a full moon.
[heckler] You'll end up in hell.
It will stop your wife from bringing
more brats for the world.
Whether their yours or your neighbor's.
- [heckler] It's black magic!
- [Barber] Shut up! Come and get healed!
Can't the young barber do it?
There's no young barber here.
Just the ignorant apprentice of an
ancient master.
If you don't like the looks of me, you shouldn't
have fallen off your broomstick hag.
Who's next?
- Goodnight, little boy.
- Goodnight.
How was it?
Oh I'm in love.
You should stick to whores, too.
Much less stress...
another mans wives and daughters.
Oh, Rob...
- Need a hand old man?
- Ah! Don't you dare!
Bollocks.
Have you ever wondered what's inside?
In here.
Flesh, blood, bones. Your soul,
if you have one.
And down here?
More flesh, more blood.
So does side sickness come from
bad blood?
I don't care if it comes from my ass.
Can't cure it, can't charge for it.
Have you never wondered what's inside?
Have you never looked?
- I can slice you up after breakfast.
- No, I mean like in dead people.
Don't you ever talk about that again.
Never!
Do you know what the church does to
necromancers?
Burn them at the stake.
Stop talking about the side sickness. It
won't bring your mother back.
Not another word. Never.
Pliers!
Open your mouth.
More light.
Hold down on him.
Holy earth from the Mount of Olives.
Stir it in your mead and swallow
it in one gulp.
Have you forgotten how to drink, lad?
I'll remind you.
Like that, boy.
Like that.
The farmer with the tooth.
- Death is coming for him.
- Death is coming for all of us.
Nah, I felt it.
- You felt death?
- Yes.
Death won't trouble him over a toothache.
My apprentice thinks it's the suicide.
When is my husband coming back
from war?
War, not too soon I hope.
What will harvest be like this year?
[villager]That's them, the devils!
You there!
- Murderers!
- You need to give us some answers.
In the morning this poor soul went to
work in the field.
At noon he went to see you to cure
his aching tooth.
By evening, he breathed his last.
[Barber]Run away!
You bewitched this poor man with
black magic.
You trespassed against the Lord and
THE CHURCH!!
You owe my sister a husband.
It might be hard if he's as ugly as
you are.
Get him!
I think you'll live another
hundred years.
I told you to run.
I'll start on the roof tomorrow.
Then what?
- They'll heal.
- Not before we starve.
- You should go.
- And leave you to the wolves?
I can always beg for alms outside
the church.
- Yeah, and in winter?
- I'll make a nice meal for the crows.
At least then this miserable life
of mine would be over.
Then the world would lose a
great barber.
You're not listening boy!
I can't even hold a pair of
tooth pliers.
I could hold them for you.
I've been watching you all these years.
You've also been watching the clouds.
Doesn't mean you can make it rain.
[Barber] I've seen ugly giants.
I've seen greedy dwarfs.
And just the other day I had to fight
a fire spitting dragon...
with me own two hands.
But nowhere, nowhere have I had
the pleasure of...
looking out upon a crowd of prettier girls.
This will stop your wife from bringing
more brats to the world.
- Mother have mercy on me.
- [Barber] Who wants to be healed?
Save me from soiling myself from fear.
Come into the house of wonders. Come in.
Put the lad on the table.
- Bone saw.
- Oh, bone saw.
- All toes gotta come off.
- All toes
He'll lose his leg.
Here. Put this in your mouth, lad.
Bite down.
Iron.
Iron.
- Iron!
- Talking about the iron!
Is it hot?
How many times has your apprentice
done this?
Thousands. Shut up!
Deep breath then go on. Swift movements.
Go on until your done with it.
Look, the holy Mary!
My first amputation.
Mine too.
- What's this potion called?
- Tears of the Holy Virgin.
Thought you've bought them
from a monk in Jerusalem.
He stopped praying a while back.
Keep stirring.
It has bitten.
Remember, boy. The more painful the treatment,
the more they respect the barber.
Next!
For the same pay, a mercenary has
to sell his soul.
And a farmer has to work himself
to the bone.
Thank the Lord for your profession.
Every bloody day.
Thank the Lord.
You look very healthy to me.
Rob! Rob, come here.
Shut up!
Rob!
I hereby christen Rob Cole a Barber.
You're an apprentice no more. You serve
no master but yourself.
Reward this barber, Venus.
Hey, hey, hey. I'm here, you blind old fob.
moaning ain't [...]
Hold your yap! I have eyes like a hawk.
Yes, a dead one.
Your master should see the Jew. The Jew
can heal the blind.
- No one can heal the blind.
- The Jew can.
He also raises the dead and makes
the lame walk on water.
You're talking about Jesus Christ our
savior. He ain't no bloody Jew.
Here, let me do it.
I need to practice.
These people mutilate their children.
They cut off their cocks.
They'll gouge my eyes out.
So what? You can't be anymore blind.
How is it done?
My master keeps the secret to himself.
I'm a barber too.
A barber?!
Excellent.
My hair could do with a trim.
So, I make no promises.
The operation is a difficult one.
30 pennies in advance.
30 pennies!
That's highway robbery!
Never!
Please... do your best.
What's your name?
Rob.
- What's yours?
- I'm Benjamin. This is Jesse.
- Are you Christian, Rob?
- Yes.
- Is it true that you are not circumcised?
- Our God does not want us to do so.
[Reciting prayer in Hebrew]
Holy is the Lord,
king of the universe,
Who brings forth bread from the earth.
Once you've eaten the bread,
you can talk.
- Why don't you take off his bandage?
- Me?
A barber can unwind a bandage,
can he not?
Rob. Is it you?
Yeah, it's me.
Don't open your eyes yet.
You must remove the sweat.
Can you see?
Like a child.
He needs to rest now.
Oh bloody rot.
[Speaking in Hebrew]
What you've done to my master's eyes.
Where did you learn it?
In a place called Ispahan.
Ispahan
Is that beyond London?
Is that beyond London? Is he serious?
There.
What is it?
The World.
The World.
Look.
We are here. This is London.
And here - here is Ispahan.
The greatest physician the world has
ever seen teaches there.
Ibn Sina.
There is no one on earth that can match
him for knowledge and wisdom.
- Ibn...
- Ibn Sina.
Ibn Sina.
Can he... cure the side-sickness?
Ibn Sina can cure many illnesses.
- How long would it take me to get there?
- Over a year.
First you have to go the south coast
of England, then you cross the Channel...
then you walk through France
and take a sailboat along the coast of Africa.
Then you arrive in Egypt...
and here...
you will be killed.
Why?
From this point, the Muslim world begins.
Arabia, Persia.
But Christians have been banished
from everythere, only we Jews are tolerated.
My condolences. You worship the
wrong God.
I don't remember the world so beautiful.
I'll take the men, you take the women.
We'll share the earnings fair and square.
You take 1/3 and I'll take 2/3.
No, 2/5th's for you and 3/5th's for me.
Naaah, that's too complicated!
The Jew said, Ibn Sina can cure
leprosy, consumption and typhoid.
- For how much?
- I don't know...
but he's got this huge palace where
he treats his patients.
And they stay there until they're well.
How much is he charging?
And - he's got another palace called "Madrassa",
where he teaches his students.
- He's got two palaces?
- Yeah.
And I want to go there and study.
A barber with two palaces!
No! I want to become a hakim.
The Saracens, they call their healers "Hakims".
I don't care what they call them.
That Jew has been feeding you a story.
We should travel to the Orient.
- We?
- Yes.
- In the Orient?
- Yeah, and will come back as great healers.
Cure our patients much better.
Here's your share.
Rise and shine, Mister Hakim.
Rob?
Rob!
Rob!
Bloody hell! What are you doing?
I don't want to treat warts all my life.
I don't want to pull teeth and sell [...] horse
piss as a miracle tonic.
I want to learn how to cure the cataracts,
I want to learn how to cure the side-sickness
and all the other diseases.
You told me it couldn't be done,
but now you can see again!
There's so much that you know nothing about.
It's huge.
Yeah. That's Dover. The best place to
get a boat.
Now get off my wagon!
What are you waiting for? Go and drown.
Get eaten by sea creatures. What do I care.
Here.
Thank you.
Piss off, rat.
Piss off.
May the Lord have mercy upon me.
Bless me in my long and dangerous journey.
Let not the waves engulf me nor
sea monsters devour me.
Let not bandits slit my throat,
or wolves eat me alive.
Let me not starve or get lost in the
dark woods or cold mountains.
And please let Jesus forgive me.
That I shall deny my faith and
soil myself with sin.
To serve your creation and glory.
The caravan to Ispahan leaves in 4 days.
Before you go I'll bring you to my brother.
He has nice Jewish robes, [...].
He'll make a good price.
[Note: He is circumcising himself so as
to appear Jewish]
Shalom.
Shalom.
How long to Ispahan?
- Two months.
- Just two months?
That's good enough, Jew.
Make sure these are filled with water by sunrise.
Stop reading and sleep.
You're wasting oil.
That girl is as obsessed with her book...
as an opium smoker is with his pipe.
You must give good money to bring
her to Persia.
More than enough. A wealthy man came
down to Earth.
Like this.
Close to the heart.
What is your name?
Jesse.
- Son of?
- Benjamin.
I don't know how Jews pray in England,
Jesse ben Benjamin...
but here we observe the rules, yes?
Yes.
Seljuks.
- Who are they?
- Nomadic tribes from up North.
Gruesome horse people.
They trek across this land and leave
a path full of blood everywhere.
By Allah, they look like they are praying.
What thieves leave riches like this
behind?
The Seljuks believe Allah has
chosen them to punish all sinners.
They despise possessions and pleasure
in equal measure.
It's alright.
We should take her with us.
I don't have room on my camel, and
you don't even have one.
I have room in my sedan.
With all due respect, she's not
your business.
I'm making her my business.
How is she?
Sleeping.
Don't forget to make her drink.
How come you know so much about fever?
- In England I was a barber.
- A barber?!
Englishman! Walk somewhere else!
Or do you find the desert too plain
for your liking?
Jesse!
Jesse!
Come! The little girl, she's
getting worse.
She was shivering with cold before.
Now she's on fire.
We need to lower her temperature.
Do you have any water?
Here.
And Alladin was startled by the lamp
which began to hiss and smoke.
A ghostly fog was formed from which a
giant shape emerged.
With eyes the size of cartwheels.
"Who are you?" asked Aladdin.
"I.. am a Genie, at your service"
[...] voice. Answer.
What happens next?
Genie grants Aladdin's wishes...
he makes him unbelievably wealthy...
and he helps him win the hand of the
sultan's daughter.
Wish I had a lamp like that.
My favorite story is about
Sinbad the Sailor.
He meets cannibals and giants on
his voyages.
But he isn't scared of anything.
- All these stories in this one book?
- Uh-huh.
Yeah, and many more.
It's the most beautiful thing...
I've ever seen.
I can take care of her now.
So what are you doing so far away from
home, mister barber?
I'm going to study with the
greatest healer in all the world.
Where I come from all the boys
do want to be rabbis or merchants.
- I just want to help people.
- I can see that.
What takes you to Ispahan?
Business deal.
What kind of business deal?
A sandstorm is coming!
Englishman!
Tie the camels together.
Jesse!
Brothers. We lost the others.
I'll find them.
Help!
Come on, help me!
Get the rope!
I can't hold it.
Rebecca!
RebeccAAA!!
Save your strength.
They're all dead.
Keep moving.
Keep moving.
Deliver us from evil...
For thine is the kingdom,
power and glory...
for ever and ever. Amen.
Who are you?
The shah!
This man wants to speak with you.
You're supposed to chase the beggars
away from the gate...
not drag them into my room.
Please, sir.
I'm no beggar.
I've come to study with the
great healer, Ibn Sina.
I see.
So, you have, um, letters of recommendation...
from renowned scholars of science
praising your intellectual qualities...
heralding you as mankinds greatest hope?
I haven't, no.
Then I can only assume you are
fabulously rich...
and wish to provide an additional wing
for our library.
No, I've only a pocket full of sand.
Then why should I take you in here?
The last thing we need is another poor,
stinking Jew.
- Throw him out.
- No, please.
- And give him a beating.
- Please. No, please.
I've come from the other end of the world!
You can't touch those.
Why don't I feel any pain?
Your wound was made numb...
so it could be sewn together
without pain.
How?
Poppy seed ointment.
Poppy seed ointment.
We've used it for centuries. What
do they... use in your land?
Mead.
Lots of mead.
You seem... more interested in medicine
than my other patients.
I've come to be a student of Ibn Sina.
Have you now?
I've been told he's the greatest healer
in all the world.
No he's not that great. Quite
ordinary, really.
- Do you know him?
- A little better each day.
- Could you speak to him for me?
- You rest now.
Jew. Jew!
Wake up! Your class is about to start.
You may have tricked the master
to giving you a seat in this class.
You haven't tricked me.
I've been accepted?!
My eyes are patient. They shall live
to see you fail and leave.
By Allah, not another Jew!
Better a studious Jew than a lazy,
over priveleged Persian loud mouth.
Be careful who you insult, Mirdin.
My father donated 31 rooms
to the library...
and I can arrange it so you have
access to none of them.
Karim. Mirdin.
I do hope that your heated exchange...
is in the name of scientific progress.
Yes, master.
And how's the head of our... new arrival
from across the Earth?
Very much better.
- Thank you, sir.
- Oh! Thank your youth.
Works miracles no physician can match.
No, I meant thank you for speaking to
Ibn Sina on my behalf.
That was far less trouble than
you might imagine.
[Ibn Sina] Yesterday I discovered something...
This is Ibn Sina's physics class.
[Ibn Sina] ... to a patient, you'll see...
[Ibn Sina]... and I wish us to incorporate
this into our healing.
In my last physics class...
we discussed sound.
I demonstrated harmony
and resonance. I discovered...
[Ibn Sina]...that sound can...
[continuing lecture and fades]...
Won't your parents mind a stranger
staying in their home?
If they found out I let a fellow student
sleep on the street, they'd disown me.
- This is Jacob and this is Sarah.
- Hello.
Jesse, would you do us the honor of
saying grace.
Yes, of course.
Let us thank the Lord for wheat...
and let us thank the Lord for the wheat
that um... he...
has... has born from the Earth with his
own two hands...
so that we who... eat bread...
have a lot of... bread to eat.
This is how you say it in England?
Criminals, [...]. You shouldn't pity them
too much.
- Why, what have they done?
- They are zealots.
They believe our Shah is violating
the laws of Allah.
Tolerance towards other religions, his
support for science and the arts...
all deadly sins in the eyes
of the mullahs.
Does that deserve such harsh treatment?
Jesse, if these people come to power
the Madrassa will be closed...
and we Jews will be driven out of
the city.
We must be thankful to the Shah.
Up in time for class, Karim.
What's wrong?
Did your father realize there is more to
studying than just buying books?
One cannot be up in time for class
if one never went to bed.
Shame on you, Karim. A true muslim
avoids wine and bad company.
A true muslim avoids the advice of a fake
student who has only made it to janitor.
Exists due to existence...
Existence is not the consequence
of existing.
- Formal sine qua non of the latter...
- Englishman, do you understand a word of this?
- Not yet.
- Aristotel ?
"We don't treat diseases. We treat
the people who suffer from diseases."
Good day to you, sir.
My name is Ibn Sina and these
are my students.
With your permission, we would
like to treat you.
What is your name?
My name is Abu Husain.
It's a great honor...
Ibn Sina would like a report on ear
infections.
Do you have a book on the topic?
- Up there.
- Thank you.
- Which one is on ear infections?
- All of them.
Gentlemen, this is lamp oil...
...while that is vinegar for purification.
- Purification.
- That are blocks of ice for cooling patients with fever.
Okay, gentlemen. Ideas?!
- The ice?
- Ice.
- Maybe get some rest?
- He's in pain!
That's how we do it, in England.
Imagine the spheres of the universe...
as a series of concentric circles
moving within one another.
The great Aristotle claimed...
that the friction created by this
motion generates a sound...
which he termed...
"the music of the spheres."
Sometimes on a really quiet night, if
you listen really hard...
the sound is apparent to the human ear.
Master... I hear it.
Are the girls in England as
pretty as this?
- Prettier.
- Prettier?!
- Hello.
Are their bodies like cypresses, is their
hair like... like waterfalls?
- Some even have red hair.
- Red?
I do not believe it.
- All over?
- Yeah.
Praise be onto Allah for
the plenitude of creation!
Pray that some redhead English virgins
await me in paradise.
Did you leave a girl behind to
come here?
- Actually... I did.
The most beautiful girl I ever met.
Clever... gentle...
- clever...
- You already said that.
- Yeah, and beautiful.
- You already said beautiful too.
- I would've stolen this girl from you.
- I would have killed you first!
Today we pray for our brothers...
who lay in chains deep down
in the tyrant's dungeons.
But what misdeed did they commit?
- Did they murder someone? No.
- No, no.
Did they dishonor a woman? No.
Their only crime...
was to follow the laws of the
Holy Koran, o Allah.
Allah... we kneel humbly in the dust
before you and ask you...
how long do you want us to
bear this injustice?!
We call on the righteous and
generous Bar Kappara.
- Mirdin!
- Honorable Bar Kappara!
Let me introduce my friend and fellow
student...
Jesse ben Benjamin from England.
From England!
We are proud of every Jew who gets
accepted to the Madrassa.
And my future bride is from Spain.
Allow me to introduce her. Rebecca?
Come.
You may greet him.
Shalom.
Shalom.
Shalom.
I hope you will each do me the honor
of attending our wedding.
- You are too generous.
- We have much to celebrate.
It is a miracle Rebecca survived her
passage to Ispahan.
Her caravan was swallowed by the most
ferocious sand storm.
Our brave guide saved me...
and a little girl.
Thank God.
My friend!
Now you know what the business deal is.
May your marriage be blessed and happy.
- And now before we take our leave...
- Thank you.
You seem sad.
- I lost someone I cared for very much.
- Well...
now you have found me.
We must take what we can find in
this life.
So why don't we see what we can find...
here.
- Now listen to me. I never lie down for anyone for free.
- Please, be quiet.
Does this hurt?
What's her ailment?
- I haven't yet diagnosed it, master.
- Master?
If you are the master tell this maniac
to let me go.
The night is nearly over and my
purse is empty.
There is no virtue of telling him
my child...
that this young man has brought you
here [...] from good reason.
Your good reason is?
She won't survive the night.
- She looks and sounds in perfect health to me.
- It's something I can't explain.
I need to go!
My beautiful rose...
as a personal favor to me, grant my
student here a moment more...
of your valuable time.
Now that's how to talk to a lady.
Hey! People pay good money to
take those off.
Master, look!
Wake the pharmacist, fetch my bag. Run!
Where is he going?
To save your life.
Like a premonition, was it?
It's as if...
time stands still for a moment.
The fabric of reality is pulled aside
like a veil for me to see through.
- And what is it you see?
- I see nothing.
I just... feel...
I know that death is coming.
The first time was with my mother.
She died of side sickness.
- It's a curse.
- It's a gift.
You saved that girl's life tonight.
- A success but many failures.
- Well...
this is the burden every physician
must learn to bear.
- You can't look upon death as the enemy.
- Than what?
A friend?
I've calculated the orbits...
of all these stars and planets.
Filled volumes... with calculations.
I have barely scratched the real
secrets of creation.
Isn't it frustrating there's so much
you don't know?
No.
Fills me with awe.
How pale and tedious would this world
be without mystery.
Master.
Could have cured my mother's
side sickness?
That's beyond our reach.
Maybe in a hundred years.
Maybe in a thousand.
Ibn Sina!
It appears I'm about to be summoned.
- Ibn Sina!
Never approach more than five steps.
Never look him in the eye.
Should he address you, answer in
short sentences...
and always end with one of
his honorifics.
Jesse...
A-a-answer in short sentences and end
with his honorifics.
I sprained my wrist.
If you'd come earlier...
you would have seen me deftly separate
this Seljuk's head from his body.
I'm so sorry I missed it.
I'm sure the Seljuk deserved the
dissection.
He was sent with a message of a
peace treaty.
- And hence the immediate decapitation.
- Of course
The Seljuks are constantly
violating our borders.
We need to whip these wild animals...
or they will slaughter us like
a sick goat.
Do you so long war a perfect one?
The Seljuk's have nothing to lose but
the beasts beneath their saddles.
You have an entire civilization.
Is that so!
Which great artist ever glorified
a peaceful king?
War alone will bestow immortal glory
upon my name...
don't you agree?
I have studied healing arts,
O Sublime One.
I know nothing of the route
to immortality.
Did you hear that? He dare speak
openly in my presence.
I pray my palace will not collapse
from such audacity.
- Where are you from?
- He hails from England, O Sublime One.
I've read of it.
A barbaric island at the edge
of the world...
where half-naked pagans resisted
Caesar's legions.
My countrymen wear clothes now.
- O Protector of the people.
- O Protector of the people.
Tell me.
Have you seen strange countries
on your journey east?
- More than I can count.
- Oh!
Even a humble student has seen more of
the world than the Shah.
Send that stinking head back
to the Seljuks.
My son shall have a hero's burial.
What message may I bring to my Lord the Shah
from the Lord of the Seljuks?
Don't trouble yourself. I'll send my
own message.
Get one of our brothers who is
suffering from the black death.
So, the needle...
pierces the middle of the eye...
pushing the dimmed lens to the back
of the eyeball.
This allows sunlight to reach
the patient's eyes... and diminish...
Master, someone died in the market.
He had black boils all over.
A falcon's beak can pierce
a man's skull.
Did you know that, Englishman?
Please, Sublime One.
We have heard of the pustulated corpse
who expired within your city walls.
We must evacuate the city immediately.
The city has been spared the plague
for over a century.
Even my father only ever heard
speak of it.
But his son... may live to see it
with his own eyes.
The Imam and his mullahs...
have been praying for God's vengeance
to punish my extravagance.
I cannot do them that favor.
My lord, hundreds of thousands of
your subjects could die.
My people are fruitful! They will survive!
Don't disturb my falcon.
This audience is over.
The plague doesn't care if you're
rich or poor...
common man or nobleman or head
of state but it's reached Ispahan.
No wall, however thick, will stop it.
- Are you threatening me, Englishman?
- Not a threat, My lord.
A promise.
Galen believed that the plague was due
to a disproportion of the 4 humors.
Hippocrates blamed it on the release of
bad air from the ground during earthquakes...
caused by a diseased [...] constellation of
Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
The only thing these fellows agree on...
is there are approximately 12 hours
between contagion and eruption.
Twelve hours, gentlemen.
Twelve hours.
Listen. On His Majesty's orders...
the Madrassa will be honored to
accompany the Shah on his hunting trip.
Please express our regrets to the Shah,
but we cannot join him.
You refuse to obey?!
We are Hakims not hunters.
I will convey your answer.
I know.
Each of us is thinking "why should I
stay and risk my life..."
"fighting a pestilence that has
no cure", well...
we must each find our own answer. So...
Those who wish to leave, go now
with my blessing.
The rest will battle death by my side
until...
we defeat it.
Or it defeats us.
Since when do we have fleas here?
Twelve hours are almost gone.
Maybe the Allmerciful spares us.
Shouldn't you be hunting with the shah
instead of risking your life here?
To hear from Mirdin and you until the
end of my days what the...
...bad doctor and infamous coward I am?
Is it so important what a bunch of
Jews think of you?
No.
It's only important what my friends
think of me.
Help! Help!
Lay her down.
The woman says the Seljuk
spit on her before dying.
Master, the plague doesn't kill everyone.
The boy will live.
- The woman, the two men...
- Stop!
They're going to die.
We will fight for each and every life.
Do you hear me?
Each and every one.
Yes, hakim.
The soldiers are closing the gates.
We'll be locked in with the plague.
Yes sir. You can go through.
Hold back. Hold them back!
Get back! Hold them back!
Only members of the royal court are
permitted to leave the city.
But I am a member of the court.
Close the latch. Hold them back.
[In Hebrew] Dad, Mom...
please don't worry, it will all be
over in a few days.
Watch out for yourselves.
You too.
Mirdin... hurry to your sponsor's house.
- Hasn't Bar Kappara left town?
- He has, yes.
Jesse.
The water cools down the fever, no?
You'd make a good Hakim.
- So this is your good Jew?
- [...] what it looks like.
- Would you have left her like that?
- No, neither would any husband worth the name.
Tie her down.
She mustnt scratch the boils. They
must burst by themselves.
- Why can't we just cut them out?
- The roots are too deep.
According to which authority?
Hippocrates himself. He compares them
to the roots of a tree.
Did he see them with his own eyes?
You question Hippocrates?
You taught me to question all
certainties, Hakim.
Whatever their source.
Deeper.
What if humans are different than dogs?
- What if the boils don't inside of us!
- No!
We have more than enough corpses at
our disposal.
What you are proposing, Allah forbids.
As does Yahweh as does Jesus Christ.
People are dying... and we can only watch.
How can that be the will of any God?
A hundred and thirteen.
Today's body count alone.
If we extrapolate the entire city,
there are probably...
more than a thousand deaths a day.
Like baling out the ocean
with a thimble.
But we are bailing... nevertheless.
This Sinbad the Sailor has a story to tell.
The story of his life.
The long seasons he kept open house.
His entertainments were the most
magnificent of all.
All that were just goodbyes
seemed at his disposal.
He lavished the good things of his life
upon his guests.
Villagers, slaves and attendants,
there were in great number.
His garden was spacious... and beautiful.
- It's the fleas, master!
- What?
The shrouds of the dead are crawling
with them.
I believe the plague may be carried
by their bite.
When the host dies the body cools and
the fleas leave to find a new victim.
So every corpse is a threat.
Great, now we look like women.
It's better than dying.
He won't be satisfied until we're
all dead.
You have all these virgins waiting for
you. How many was it again?
Some say 99, some say 20. What
about yours?
None.
None?
- Then what's the point in dying?
- To walk with God.
Master.
Look.
Dust flea.
Commonly found in rats.
Gentlemen!
- We mix a strong poison.
- Yes, sir.
Praised be Allah. A hundred and ten,
three less than yesterday.
The rate of death is declining.
Well you heard me. Get to work.
Stop loafing !
You look better.
Don't the other patients complain [...]?
I treat every patient equally.
- Do you also read to them for hours?
- If it helps.
Will you grant me one more wish, Genie?
Or are they all gone?
It's so beautiful.
You can even see the snow
in the mountains.
Helps you forget everything down there.
What sin has Ispahan committed that
God must punish it so?
I'm just thankful he spared you.
In my fever I dreamt that we were
man and wife.
We had children.
Four!
And did we roam around in a
barbers cart?
No.
No, we lived in a great city.
Where you built a Madrassa.
All by myself?
I helped.
Jesse.
You have to see this.
Bar Kappara! Bar Kappara! You are alive!
Jesse, don't you see that?
Hakim! Hakim! Wait, wait! Come here!
There!
Karim.
Don't look at me like that.
Where I am going, there is a
river of wine...
and women...
Women that are more beautiful than
in the Shah's harem.
Might even be a redhead.
God gives us life...
and God takes it back.
Why does he always take more than
he gives?
Looking for reasons not to go home.
Jesse, I wish you a long and happy life.
You deserve it.
Blessed are you, Lord...
sovereign of the universe...
who has sanctified us with
his commandments...
and saved us from the plague.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
To survival.
If the world were just...
I should bow to you.
But it is not.
Arise.
Arise, heroes of Ispahan!
We have a celebration to attend.
Would you like a little wine?
Are you sure?
Why so glum?
You've saved us. You should be drunk on
our gratitude.
Hailing that and my wine.
- This one of the state?
- Enjoy yourself, Englishman.
My father believed...
feelings and emotions...
were beneath a true ruler.
When I was a child, to drive them
from my heart...
he would take me to witness executions.
I watched condemned men beg
for their lives.
I watched the swarms of flies feasting
on twitching corpses.
But then, over time...
I became used to the sight, the smell...
and the screams.
In time I felt nothing.
My father had succeeded in turning death...
into a subject of objective study.
And now I am the Shah, ruler of
all we see.
The king of feeling nothing.
What was the name of your heroic friend?
Karim.
I shall be your new friend,
Jesse ben Benjamin.
And perhaps one day I shall
mourn your passing.
When Aristotle said that the world
had no beginning.
He was not saying there was no creator.
He simply wished to absolve the creator...
of the charge of ever having been idle.
I must apologize, Jesse.
- For what?
- For not engaging you with Aristotle.
When the plague came...
you were as helpless as a beach is
to the advance of the sea.
The tide washed over us and dragged
our people away...
and we could do nothing to stop it.
You ask of medicine that only
Allah can perform.
Or Yahweh.
Do you never doubt your calling?
Every morning and every evening.
In between I work too hard
to think about it.
We've just received new patients.
I can offer you a broken hip, worms...
or a terminal case of acute side sickness.
Good day, sir.
My name is Jesse ben Benjamin. and with
your permission, I'd like to treat you today.
Call me... Qasim.
Can I... give you something for the pain, Qasim?
Can I still talk to you then?
No, the opium does dull the senses.
Then I respectfully decline your
generous offer.
I might fall off the ladder.
The ladder?
The ladder my soul must ascend to heavens.
It is very long and it is easy to fall off.
May I nevertheless... examine you
and ask you some questions?
Will it shorten the time before I...
Jesse.
You know I am dying, don't you Jesse?
Yes
I didn't want to frighten you.
Would you do me a favor?
When I am gone...
take my corpse to the tower and leave
it for the birds.
You don't want to be buried or cremated?
We Zoroastrians leave our bodies
to the vultures.
They cleanse our souls of earthly remains.
What about resurrection?
Muslims...
Jews...
Christians...
doubt the immortality of the soul.
They want to take their bones with them.
Just in case.
So you care nothing for your body?
Why should God worry about the house...
when he can have...
the fruit inside?
Jesse...
Jesse...
Thank you.
I hope you found your paradise my friend.
O my God, have mercy on me.
It's been a long time since we
have laid together.
You will have to wait a little
while longer.
Why?
I have my impurity.
My husband would defile himself.
You still have it?
I'm sorry.
No matter.
I will tell the servant to prepare a bed
for you in the other room.
The lungs, are...
a large circle in which the
heart resides...
with the stomach in front.
A tube runs from the throat to both...
the lungs... and the stomach.
- So gentlemen, lungs...
- [students] lungs...
- heart...
- heart...
- stomach...
- stomach...
- tube.
- tube.
What sin did Allah strike us
through with the plague?
Why did our women and children
have to die?
And I say onto you...
it is the sins committed each and
every day in the University...
whose godless philosophy corrupts
our city.
Allah wishes...
that we finally open our eyes and
look the enemy in the face.
He gives us the insight and the wisdom.
His mercy allows us to recognize...
who is responsible for our misery.
Allahu Akbar!
Allahu Akbar!
Mirdin...
- What's going on?
- Where have you been all night?
Working in the library.
The whole city is up in arms. The
mullahs have taken to the streets.
You're on the wrong side, Davout.
Maybe.
One day a great koran school will arise
within the walls of this godless university.
and Allah willing, I will be its dean.
I bring you the word of God,
father of all Seljuks.
I give you his sword, Keeper
of the faith.
The faithful of Ispahan need your help.
You promised me a city in chaos,
yearning for a strong ruler.
As a man dying of thirst
yearns for water.
Under the Shah, the city of Isfahan...
is adrift in the desert...
decaying from vice and apostasy.
But when the Seljuks have driven out both
the Shah and his Jews...
we can tether Ispahan to our faith...
and rebuild it clean.
And the Seljuks?
Could conquer all Persia.
Ispahan is your first step.
Expect my army in 10 days.
It will be my greatest honor.
Jesse Ben Benjamin, you are
to come with us.
It has attacked and killed
countless people.
All the villages around here are being
deserted for fear of it.
Finally my boredom ends.
The blood is still wet.
It's beautiful.
You should capture it, my lord. Take
him back to your palace for company.
Where it will grow old and fat
in a gilded cage!
No, he deserves a glorious death.
I shall not deny him.
- My lord, what are you doing?
- Do not worry, Englishman.
We man eating beasts have the greatest
of respect for one another.
Did Allah ever create a more lowly
beast than you?
Your eyes are still of this
world, Jesse ben Benjamin.
The other world is so much better.
Only the road of excess can lead
to the palace of wisdom.
You're in pain, I... I should examine...
Our Lord is the very blessing of health...
and if anything, illness fears him.
Go ahead. Quench your desire.
They are very beautiful, sire, but...
But...
The female body holds no attraction
for you.
Am I right?
We should get back soon.
Only the Shah may end an audience.
Are you the Shah?
No.
Bored me after only one day.
Would you permit me to examine your
wife in private?
Of course.
I'd like to congratulate your husband.
But there is no reason to, is there?!
You know whom to congratulate.
- Your husband will cut you up.
- I cannot wish for more.
Don't be naive.
He will have to hand you over to the
others and they will pass judgment on you...
and we both know that
judgment will be.
I want to go home.
This is your only chance.
You must lie with your husband tonight.
I'm back my old friend. Let's work.
Rebecca?
Rebecca?!
Rebecca?
I've always known you were a fraud.
But never in my wildest dreams did I see
you as a fraud and necromancer.
Take him.
Jesse!
Rebecca.
It's time for you to tell your secrets
to your husband.
You have no right to arrest me. The
Shah will punish you for this.
The Shah's time is over. Now there's
only God.
It can't be God's will to kill an unborn.
Is there no other solution?
The child is not yours. What do you care
about the Englishman's bastard?
Mirdin!
Rebecca has been found guilty of adultery.
She will be dead by tomorrow.
You promised me you'd be a good Jew.
You promised you'd stay away from her.
But you dishonored her and now
she is with child.
What have you done, Jesse?
May the witness Davout Hossein arise.
These men trespassed against Allah.
They have desecrated and defiled
a corpse...
committing the sin of necromancy.
What proof do you have for
your accusation?
They recorded their misdeeds.
Drawings... depicting the inside
of a corpse.
Which hakim Ibn Sina and his Jewish
student cut open...
expressly for this purpose.
Where did you get these drawings?
From Ibn Sina's house, which I searched
after his arrest.
You're a liar!
I made those drawings. You took
them from me.
Are you certain they are not the
result of a deranged imagination...
or an opium hallucination?
See for yourself.
This is the face of the godless Madrassa!
This is the face of the godless Jews
who study there.
This is the face of their godless
teacher!
No!
I alone dissected that body.
You could not have undertaken this
without his permission.
Whether or not Ibn Sina held the
knife or the pen...
Ibn Sina was involved.
There can only be one verdict for such
a heinous crime.
The court sentences both of them
to death.
No! You're making a terrible mistake.
This is the most enlightened
man of our time!
This is what becomes of letting
Jews in our city!
They poison the spirit. They undermine
our faith!
I am no Jew!
I am no Jew!
I am no Jew! I am no Jew!
What did you say?
I am no Jew!
The Jewish community does not deserve
your wrath.
My name is not... Jesse ben... Benjamin.
It's Rob Cole.
I am a Christian.
Baptized in an English church...
in the name of the Father...
the Son...
and the Holy Ghost.
Fine performance.
It's true.
Shall we see?
Looks like a Jew to me.
Enough of this farce.
Take them away.
Forgive me.
How can you expect me to forgive you.
You're my greatest student...
to whom God gave such talents
and a unique gift?
You owed it...
to the science of healing...
to grow old and gray, Rob Cole.
It was your duty to live long and
heal many.
But you were reckless...
and now you will die for it.
What is it like?
Inside?
It's both...
beautiful...
and frightening.
Go on.
- I saw the heart.
- Describe it.
It has two chambers with an impassable
wall in between.
So how does the blood get from one
side to the other?
By way of the lungs I think.
So all our theories about human
circulation would be... wrong?!
Master...
nothing is as it is in the books.
Nothing!
Continue.
Don't skip a single detail.
It seemed to be infected like a... like a toe.
It was inside and I believe that is
what killed him.
You sent for me?!
A trial detained me.
I heard.
First preacher... now judge.
What's your next step?
I serve Allah wherever he sends me.
[Shah] So much pride in such
a humble servant.
I should lay your head in front
of your feet.
But I... do not grant you...
the fame of a martyr.
You dare bring me here to tell me...
everything you don't want to do
because of your fear?!
Set Ibn Sina free. Immediately.
Rescinding Allah's judgment would
be a blasphemy.
It would require someone with greater
courage than I possess.
Someone with no fear of the
wrath of God.
All the Seljuk army that arise in front
of the city walls as we speak...
to free us from tyranny.
Clear the gate! Everyone inside!
Thank you, Master,
for all that you have taught me.
Thank you... Rob Cole...
for all that you have learned.
Come with me!
The Hakims...
have reached a consensus.
I have side sickness.
I shall not live... to honor the sunrise.
Only you...
have seen the cause of this illness
with your own eyes.
You will cut me open... and then remove it.
Impossible.
- You've done it before.
- On a dead man, Sun of the state.
If the Sun of the state...
sets tonight...
the army will surrender to the Seljuks...
and the mullahs will wipe out everyone...
who stands in their way...
especially the Jews.
Or does a Christian care nothing for
the fate of Jews?
But you must help me, first.
Stop this!
This woman is under the protection of
Shah. Release her immediately.
Which one of you is Mirdin Askari?
Right here.
Mirdin! Where is Rebecca?
She's with my mother.
I need your help.
I cannot think of a reason to help a
liar and a traitor like you.
The Shah has side sickness.
Then you don't need my help or anyone
else's because he's going to die!
Master?
We're going to cut the Shah open and
remove the sickness.
Are you mad?
Yes, I think we've all gone
a little mad. You're next.
Send your men away now.
Someone... has to punish you... if you fail.
You wouldn't want to outlive
your beloved Shah.
[whispering] Just like that.
Englishman.
Tonight... you are the Shah...
and I am your subject.
We don't have much time.
We will take our men and full-armed soldiers
and place them on that ridge...
to go and wait...
here.
It is the sins of the Jews, who take
every advantage...
while they shelter under the protection
of that man...
who permits all of their sins.
Our friends the Seljuks need
our help now...
as they try to break down the walls
of our prison from the outside...
we need to clean it with fire
from the inside.
May HaShem be with us in time
of distress...
and danger.
As our enemies rise against us...
lend our congregation, strength...
Lord!
and help your children...
to stand together as one.
Now...
we can throw stones at the
right people.
Master, hand me the scalpel.
- Hold the wound.
- Okay.
Can you see it?
Too much blood.
How's the heart?
Strong enough.
Mirdin! Put some more in.
I think...
Master, I need the scalpel.
Hurry everyone. Come and join us.
Quick, get inside!
Burn them like rats! Smoke them out!
We should bandage him now.
My lord, to stand any chance of
survival, you must rest.
The hour of my demise...
is already waiting.
Thanks to you...
the angel of death
will not find me in bed like a
simpering old man...
but on the battlefield... like a king.
You gave me a gift.
Now I give one to you.
Get your people to the east gate.
My guards will escort you.
From there the path is clear
to the mountains.
What... will you remember me as, Englishman?
Friend or tyrant?
Both.
The shah is coming!
Hurry, the mullahs are gone. The way
out is safe now.
This way.
Come! We must move. Quickly!
Quickly!
We took everything, master.
What do we do now?
To the east gate. Don't stop!
Don't stop until the city is but a
pinpoint behind you.
Go to the east gate.
Perfect one?!
Let us write some lines in a poem.
Let us go get a place in a painting.
- Where is Ibn Sina?
- I saw him at the Madrassa.
Ibn Sina?
In my dreams...
I had hoped that students would still
study here in a thousand years...
and ...
honor my memory.
Such vanity deserves to go up
in flames.
Another ruler will build you a university.
I'm too old to scrape and bow.
What have you done?
Call it...
your final exam... Rob Cole.
Because there's nothing to be afraid of.
Death is merely a threshold
we must all cross.
Into the silence after the
final heartbeat...
drifting away...
with our final exhalation...
into eternal peace.
Correct my mistakes...
add your diagrams...
and show the world what
we've learned in this place.
Hakim.
Robert Cole.
Master.
Now do as I say for once...
and leave.
Can you take us home now?
Where to?
Wherever.
Our home is with you now.
I already miss him.
No. No one is dead.
As long as we all remember them...
his spirit will live on.
But it is in your hands to keep it alive.
How can I do that?
Be a great physician.
[Barber]These 2 eyes have seen everything the
good Lord put on this Earth was to see...
and some terrifying things that no man
was meant to witness in his life.
But nowhere have I seen more...
beautiful girls than here in...
in beautiful London.
So roll up! Listen up and shut up!
What's wrong? Nobody's sick in this
dump anymore?
All the sick are at the hospital.
- The what?
- The hospital.
- Built by the physician from the Orient.
- What physician from the orient?
Physician Cole!
Cole?!
Him, his wife and a bunch of Jews.
They can cure anything.
Brat!
Here.
Lead the way. Tell me about it.
I went for a fever.
You get a soft bed to lie in, hot meals
and magic medicine.
Someone's playing music.
And then what?
Physician Cole comes to see you
every evening.
And if you ask, he juggles and tells
you amazing stories.
With lions and horses...
with big humps on their back.
And falcons that can break a man's
skull with its beak.
- And his wife, what is... what's she like?
- Delicious.
- What do you know? What are you, nine?
- I'm ten!