"Written by" "Produced by" "According to the historian Priscus, Attila was born around 400 AD, spent his adolescence in Ravenna, capital of the Western Roman Empire, and around the age of 30 became King of the Huns by killing his brother Bleda." "Attila's greatest ambition was to become emperor of the two Empires and of the world." "According to Priscus, Attila was truly a great man." "The historians of subsequent centuries have given contradictory and different ideas of Attila." "We, with this film, provide a still different image." "Probably we have not told the story of Attila, we have simply analyzed the behavior of a historical person." "An ambitious, passionate, violent man who used every means:" "logical and illogical, mysterious and direct, sentimental and diabolical, to obtain unlimited personal power." "Of course, Attila was not the only one in centuries past." "And cetainly, he was not the last." "THE TECHNIQUE AND THE RITE" "Don't touch the sword!" "Remember that you touched it." "Your name?" "Attila." " Your age?" " Is that important?" "No." "Where do you come from?" "From the Capital." "What do you do down there?" "I studied." "You're a little old to be a student." "Maybe." "And now where are you going?" "I'm returning." "Do you have a permit?" " From whom?" " You should know you need a permit." "I have my own authorization." "You know what it means to leave the Empire without authorization?" "I repeat that I authorize myself." "So, you don't have authorization." "You're not Christian, right?" "It shows." "If you succeed in arriving over there alive, you can leave the Empire." "Run!" "Don't turn your shoulders." "I'll be back." "What's your name?" "You have a different air than the soldiers here." "You look like an Oriental." "His family sold him to the army." "And you haven't changed your old tribal name?" "No, he's never been ashamed to be a foreigner." "In the army, there's no difference." "So, tell me your name." "He can't speak." "They punished him." " Who did it?" " Me." "I obeyed an order." "Sit there." "Quickly!" "I always wondered, when I was young what I would do if one of my victims returned." "Then I discovered that in the end I wasn't culpable." "My occupation is like any other, a daily trade." "I was always at the service of the law and I never used it for personal ends." "I've always been poor... a poor soldier." "Give me an order, and I execute it." "Therefore, I'm not culpable." "Yes." "Once, many years ago, I was practically a boy," "I remember walking down a street and someone yelled at me:" ""Assassin!" "Assassin!"" "And then I began to explain, to shout, to justify myself." "Now even the others have understood that it's only my occupation." "I have many friends among the simple folk and at night, when my work is done," "we drink together." "I've forgotten everything." "My doubts, and my old philosophy." "Now what I seek is only a tranquil end." "A house in the countryside, a good horse... and a vineyard." "If I'm sometimes still afraid, it's only for my children." "I wouldn't want it to be them who pay for my past." "But I also know that God is good, and won't permit the innocent to pay." " You have children?" " Yes." "Then kill his family." "Have you killed them?" "Kill him as well." "Go!" "The friends await my signal." "You understood?" "To whom would you like to bring it?" "To Bleda?" "So, you can tell my brother that the sword of Mars means something only in a strong hand." "Healthy and virile." "Did I say I wanted to be awakened?" "What's that, my friend?" "I can wake you when I like." "You however must wait until I awaken." "I don't like this representation." "Attila." "Only you can cure him." "Attila is the only one who can cure us." "It's him we must love and worship along with our mission." "It's he who gallops around the world with his horse and the most indomitable peoples yield to his passage." "Massimo has been kind." "He's said that one day I will be great." "But perhaps he's mistaken." ""Only the stars can know in advance who will be great, who not." "And if I will truly be a great man" "I'd like to be able to do something not for you, but with you, and done by you." "I must be terrible against those who must die." "And you too must be." "The sword of Mars has been sent for us, not for me." "We need a chief, an authority." "Chance, divine fate has wanted this chief to be me." "But it could have been another, one of you." "Instead it was I who had the charism." "And it's natural on your part to have a position of faith in me." "We need friends who have no doubts." "But if there is one among you who doesn't feel this faith... if there is one among you with doubts creeping into his heart... well, you need only say it." "I don't want to force anyone." "And I would be very sad to know that one of you nourished perplexities in silence."" "You've heard Attila's message." "You know me." "We've always been in agreement, against everything." "He and I... are convinced that what we do will be just and sacred." "But we don't like your method." "We don't agree with this style." "If you need volunteers, we're always at your disposition." "Officially we're with you, but personally..." "If you want to leave us, go freely." "Go freely." "Why do you want to leave so quickly?" "Let's talk a moment." "See..." "Why do you not agree?" "We stand for the right to difference." " What's that?" " We want to always say what we think." " And you don't share Attila's ideas?" " Sometimes no." " Then you are enemies." " Not at all." "We are friends." "But we can't accept your rules." "Then you're worse than enemies." "You're dangerous." "Of course..." "Now we could let you go." "But who can guarantee that you won't do something against him?" "Listen..." "I spent my adolescence together with him." "We've always been close." "I love him." "I'll never be his enemy." "It's true." "You spent your youth together but now you don't agree with Attila." "Thus you could do something against Attila." "I don't say grand things." "You're more of a chatterbox." "But even a little thing could be a danger for Attila." "And at this time, Attila can't allow himself to have obstacles." "Of course he is your friend." "But what you ask of him isn't a gesture of friendship but a gesture of weakness." "I know Attila is very sorry." "I know if he could, he'd let you go." "He loves you." "Spiritually, he is with you." "However, for reasons of security, I believe he must eliminate you." "What will you say to Attila?" "I'll say to him... "Don't be sad."" ""Look."" " "Your friends have come back." - "Voluntarily."" ""They are ready to pay, to die by the sword of Mars."" "We swear." "We are convinced that they were enemies." "And all those who would lose faith in Attila would be traitors." "We swear." "Are you sure you can judge so quickly who is faithful and who not?" "Yes, I'm sure." "Not me." "My friends." "Around us, there are only enemies." "We need two volunteers ready to risk their life." "The Romans control us." "We must be prepared and strong against our greatest enemies." "The two volunteers must pass the frontier of the Empire." "A Roman arrow." "It's curious that you're still alive, and the other is dead" " Why didn't they kill you?" " I don't know." "What do I know?" " The shooter wasn't far from you, true?" " I don't know." "Or perhaps he wasn't alone." "Was there someone with him?" " He shook your hand as the other shot?" " I don't understand." "It wasn't the first time you met him." "Open your mouth." "Breathe hard." "I knew it." "It's not the typical odor of army alcohol." "When you met him the first time, he was in a tower." "They blindfolded you and you didn't see him." "You only heard his voice." "A sweet voice, melodious." "The second time, you gave him a list with the names of all Attila's friends." "And the third was today." "You decided today how to kill Attila." "Or not yet?" "You didn't smell the odor of alcohol, true?" "The boy didn't drink." "Don't you think his questions are too precise?" "Doesn't he seem to know too much about the enemies' methods?" "Just what I wanted to know." "What should we do with him?" "Nothing for now, nothing." "You know the frontier centurian?" " You know the frontier centurian?" " No." "Certain?" "No, I don't know him." "Me, yes." "He was a friend of mine." "Go to him, and tell him to come right away." "And tell him also... that the times have already changed." "So, here I am at your disposal." "As you see, I'm not alone." "I have with me also my little army... which still carries the great Empire's glory." "So, my friend, you want perhaps to buy me?" "If you had me called for this, you are mistaken." "I lost my career because I've never managed to be sold." "But I don't want to buy you." "Rather, on the contrary..." "We declare ourselves enemies of the Empire." "And for this we call you to do your duty." "We are enemies." "Do something against us, stop us." "Try to stop us." "Perhaps I understood." "You need provocations and you chose me because you think me weak." "You know each other?" "Sure, we've been friends for many years." "I didn't know the frontier centurian was him." "Perhaps he began service just recently." "So, my friend, it was for this, wasn't it?" "Yeah." "You need provocations." "Once we were a strong army, powerful." "Slow but implacable." "Now we're only slow." "The times have changed." "The new armies are organized differently." "Sometimes the quickness of a small group is more determining than the power of a large mass." "A good cavalry, for example." "With many changes of horses, and horses that can gallop for 20 or 25 miles without stopping." "And men with light armor." "They could destroy without much effort our soldiers on foot." "Our Rome won the centuries past with the democracy of its republic, the conviction of its politicians and the strength of its army." "Look at them now... my little soldiers." "Sons of shepherds." "Some barbarians captured in a raid, the weakest." "Mercenaries without conviction who speak neither Latin or any other possible language." "They join the army only because they don't know what else to do." "They're here to defend the great name of Rome and they've never seen it." "And you... you want me to do something against you?" "You're mistaken." "I can only let you go." "Our last weapon is tolerance." "You're more Greek than Roman." "Let's drink then, to the great power of the Empire... because it's always a great Empire." "You don't need me anymore, do you?" "You've killed my little shepherds." "You've condemned me to death." "It's always friends who condemn us to death." "Get out!" "Run!" "No, my friend, never." "If one must die, it should be face to face with death." "Your duty was to keep him alive... not to push him to die." "It's very serious." "There's always need for military talents." "It doesn't matter where they come from or their ideas." "We needed this man, he shouldn't have died." "You're responsible for his death." "So now we condemn you." "And in twelve moons, this same day, when the sun sets, you must die." "One can never know who is a friend and who an enemy." "Now you're sad because we've condemned you." "But maybe Attila will change his mind." "A year is long, and he may forget." "In a year, he'll probably be master of the world." "He'll have to fight his enemies, he won't have time for his friends." "If we're still his friends." "Are you afraid of him?" "He's a friend." "We are the friends of Attila." "We are with him, but we are not like him." "He is greater than us." "And even if he is close to us, we must feel him apart." "He inherited all the habits of his family." "He sleeps only to the rhythm of the drum." "You've had the privilege of seeing Bleda." "Blacksmith of the skies." "King of the Huns." "He was chosen as candidate and successor by Valentinian III," "Emperor of the West." "What do you want with Attila?" "You follow him because you find him simple, clear, direct." "You love him because he mirrors your discontent, your grudges." "Sure, challenging everything, taking up arms, creating chaos, it isn't so difficult." "Sometimes it's even noble." "Because after chaos, arrives renewal." "But perhaps you don't want this renewal." "You use only aggressive language to deceive simple people, to frighten them." "You teach hatred of the Empire and you know well that hatred without power doesn't matter." "Thus you want to take your hatred to the throne." "But one can't govern with hatred." "Ask your ancestors who held power for a thousand years." "Ask them, if you still have a moment of clarity." "Stop!" "They could kill us, and they would also kill Attila." "Attila." "We are your faithful." "But we still carry the weaknesses of our culture." "An unjust culture, because it taught us to save our life, not to give it." "To reflect, to evaluate, to judge before acting." "We are weak because of our origins." "But from this day forward, we will be blind, deaf and mute." "And we will fight for you, Attila, to the death." "We will be the living dead." "And when you wish, you can take our lives." "We've lost." "Our time has not yet come." "My brother Bleda, with the Empire's support, has satisfied his ambitions." "Go to him and be his slaves." "We have sworn." "We want to die for your name." "Go." "I ask you to go." "Understood?" "Understood?" "Your brother, who was far from you, has returned." "Look." "You've won, my brother... because you were better than me." "Thus you will become the great man." "They'll prepare epics for your name." "And mine will be forever forgotten." "One last thing I ask you." "Save my friends." "We are the soldiers of a lost battle." "We are the soldiers of a lost war, because perhaps we're not the real combatants." "We wanted to be wise, improve the world." "But the world is wiser than us and it changes and improves even without us." "My brother's friends are my friends." "Before leaving you," "Bleda wants to give you one of his wives." "Thus from now on, even if you are far, you'll feel more connected." "Not just two brothers, but carriers of the same love." "How many times have you killed with these hands?" "He was noble." "He was our chief and lord, and he was also our friend." "We believed him immortal." "We have no more reason to live." "Who wants to offer their life to Attila?" "Our hope is finished... and also the path." "Friends, you are mistaken." "I know that Attila still needs us." "Alive." "Perhaps I'm the only one to know that he's alive." "The world doesn't need men like me." "And men like him can never die." "And finally, it begins." "And finally, it begins." "The days of miracles have arrived." "The stars fall... the earth trembles... and I'll be... me, the hammer of the world." "Finally, I've come." "And even the most indomitable peoples will come to salute my feet."