"For years the Pied Piper has gone from town to town in countless guises, his legend having no beginning nor end..." "Our particular story takes place over one day, in Prague on New Year's Eve, perhaps just so it could become a film." "Presents a film shot in 24 hours" "Starring" "Written by" "Sound" "Costume designer and Artistic conception" "Edited by" "Music" "Produced by" "Filmed and Directed by" "THE PIED PIPER" "We're having a wedding!" "Open up, councilors!" "I'm getting married today." "Well, what'll it be?" "The bride is near term and I'm not going to reconsider." "Agnes, pitch the garland." "It's not in these days." " It's not in!" " Well?" "Open up!" "So what?" "This bride is mine even without your stamp of approval." "Stamp your affluent butts!" "We'll take our business elsewhere." "I want to get married this year, not the next." "Tomorrow, tomorrow, whether craven or brave, tomorrow I'll be stretched out in my grave." "Alms for the poor." "Alms, kind sir, for me and my bride." "We're great sinners." "Here." "You're so generous on this last day of the year." "You deserve a fat reward for your sins, my good man." "Indeed, the whole town will soon be rewarded." "When I toll the midnight bells you'll all be mine, my darlings." "And I'll create you in my image." "You're mine and nobody's going to take you from me." "Anything else?" "Who are you?" "Here." "Do you still care?" "It doesn't matter, my good people, let's carry on." "Come, Agnes." "Agnes, come on!" "Lt'll be the Devil's work if we don't get married." "Come on, let's go!" "Let's go!" "Agnes, come here!" "Sexton!" "Agnes..." "Sexton!" "We'd like you to marry us." "We want to marry." "We're all set:" "We've got witnesses, the bride, the groom." "Right, I know:" "Dear Agnes, do you take" "Kristian as your husband and to protect him?" "Yes." "Dear Kristian, do you take Agnes as your wife?" "Yes." "Got it?" "You can marry us now." "What?" "What are you staring at?" "Will you marry us?" "Hey, take this and marry us." "Hey..." "Take this!" "I want you to keep living in sin." "Come on." "Let's get out of here." " Let's go!" " What a weirdo." " Come on!" " Move it!" "Anything else, my child?" "I hope you haven't sinned." "Where's Agnes?" "I know I'm living in sin, but I don't want to confess anything." "I believe that at midnight some of my innocence will return." " Glad to hear it, child." " I wait for it as for salvation." "When I toll the midnight bells I'll free the town of its guilt." "And you'll sin in my name." "Freely, with even greater simplicity and love." "And you'll see!" "You'll like it." "What were you looking for?" "Love." "Love?" "It's too damn late, eh?" " Hey, Mr. Musician, join us." " Come join us!" " What if he's not a musician?" " He's not a musician!" " But he's got such a nice pipe." " A shepherd's pipe!" "I bet he can't play it." "Maybe it's magic." "Maybe it's deadly." "I am here." "I'll rid the town of filth and rats." "I'll clean it up." "Who'll pay me?" "I'll pay you!" "But you have to clean it all;" "Not one sinful soul may remain." " That's a tough task." " You know my pipe?" " Yes." "Of course, your pipe, Pied Piper." " So you know its power." " Yes, I like power..." "I love pernicious things." "You've come too late, Piper." "You'll never purify this town of sin by midnight." "Ridding it of rats is no longer enough." "Then I'll exterminate the entire town." "My pipe cannot harm innocence anyway." "Don't abuse the gift that was given you." "I won't let you to ruin my work when it's so near completion." "I'll silence your pipe." "I've never blown with all my might." "You needn't." "Maybe you're destined for something greater." "To love... a woman." "That's far greater." " My heart's not made for loving." " The heart is an obstruction." "Okay then, purify the town by midnight." "If you fail you lose your power." "And if I succeed?" "I pay you and get out of your way." "I'll leave town." "Deal?" "Deal?" "Okay, it's a deal." "Atta boy." "Atta boy, Piper." "Stick to our strengths." "You know how to blow, and I do the tempting." "When I toll the bells we'll see who's stronger." "I thought it over." "I'd like you to hear my confession." "Who are you?" "No one." "Less than nothing." "The Pied Piper." "Pied Piper?" "Plenty of rats here." "God knows from where." "At first they just gnaw a bit, then they're bolder and bolder." " It's worse every day." " What's your name?" "Agnes." " What do you have to confess?" " I'm like a delay-action mirror." "It's my fate to get things late." "I say everything too late;" "I laugh and cry a day later." "But I know how to wait patiently." "So I'm waiting for midnight." "But I'm the only one who'll feel it a day late." "It seems like I've known you forever." "Agnes?" "Are you here?" "I have to go, Piper." "Kristian is my bridegroom." "Agnes..." "Piper..." "Enchanted..." "Intoxicate the heart beyond the grave..." "I didn't confess..." "Is your little soul at peace?" "My sweet bride." "My darling." "Alms, my good man, for me and my bride." "We're great sinners." "For aims I'll tell you what happens at midnight." "At midnight..." "At midnight the town becomes Hell!" "Hey, a wedding garland and money." "If you're seeking a bride, take this." "But my bride is dead." "We're all cursed." "I lay awake last night sleepless in bed," "But there's nothing here I need to dread," "Just the rats I hunt until they run red," "What's this cloud that's crept in my head?" "I know what it is to be dead." "I know all the world's pain," "Envy can't hurt me nor a dirty name," "As feeling awakens the Piper's life is vain," "I must be gone when I've blown my song of fame." "Let me die and death strike its blow," "Love can't live in the Piper's heart," "What does Fate want?" "Will the pain ever go?" "I should have scorned that woman from the start." "On the horizon I see the end:" "A red stain like blood, and knights this way wend, and that's no good." "Agnes?" "Pathetic Piper!" "Looking for your angel here?" "You're wasting time." "Blow, and remember that midnight means all or nothing." "Bride and groom, let's go!" "Let's get drunk!" "Ladies and gentlemen, to the bride!" "Long may she live!" "Long live this day!" "Long live Agnes!" "Long live Agnes!" "Agnes!" "Come on." "Join us." "Looking for me, handsome?" "Got some time?" "Want love?" "Plenty of time till midnight." "See, Piper?" "A city full of rats and sin." "A golden surface covering the filth within." "Hear that?" "How they rejoice?" "They little suspect that time is on my side." "What's the matter little girl?" "Don't you like them?" "My two very favorite sins:" "Vice and lechery." "Kiss!" "Kiss!" "Kiss!" "Crying, Agnes?" "Here, I'll paint you some tears." "Piper?" "Is it you?" "I have to tell you something." "Agnes..." "I never loved anyone before." "But now?" "I had my pipe and I exterminated rats." "Now I'm forgetting my calling." "Purifying the town means killing." "Midnight cleans everyone, even me who laughs and cries late." " Lf I tell you, you won't want me." " None can save a lost soul." "I can decide who lives and who dies." "But I don't want to." "Maybe I'll find you..." "And maybe I'll lose everything." "There's only you." "There was Kristian." "But now I only think of you." "Agnes?" "I want to dance with you." "I've got to go." "What'll we drink?" "Wait here, Agnes." "Alms, please." "This miss is sensitive and will be rewarded." "At midnight the whole town will be rewarded for its sins." "Rewarded for sin?" "Won't we be forgiven?" "Sorry, good people, to interrupt your tete-a-tete." "Beat it back where you belong." " Are you nuts?" "Giving away my gold?" " Go away!" "Of course!" "Give it all away." "Alms..." "Come and get them." "You'd like some alms, eh?" "Sure, you'd like some alms." "Excuse me, my dear Piper." "You play and play but the sinning goes ever on." "I guess you realize that some are born to joy, others to woe." "Some live in slums, others in palaces." "You have to stop and think when hirelings come to drink." "No, no, it's okay." "Feelings?" "Oh, no, they don't suit you, Piper." "The Pied Piper should have no heart; feelings weaken him." "He'll lose his uniqueness." "They weaken him." "Remember midnight!" "Why, Piper?" "Such a fine timepiece." "Friends, I've got a pleasant surprise for you." "Champagne or not?" "If I die it won't be of thirst." "A rat!" "Agnes, I've got a little present for you." "Let me lay it at your feet." " Kristian?" " Agnes!" "You won't run away from me!" " That wasn't such a funny joke." " No, it wasn't." "Try to understand her." "She's oversensitive right now." "To each his deserts." "And I deserve Agnes." "I do." "All aboard!" "Hey, give it a rest." "Cut the blowing and get lost!" "Are you deaf, or what?" "Get out of the way!" "Where's Agnes?" "Where's the bride?" "Please, Piper, take pity on me." "I don't love Kristian." "It's not my fault." "Please." "Agnes!" "I don't love him anymore." "I don't want his baby." "It just happened." "I want to be innocent, but I can't." "I don't know how." "Piper!" "Find Agnes." "I only want what's rightfully mine." "Agnes!" "Please, I can only think of you." "Now you know everything I've done wrong." "I know, my child." "Too bad he doesn't know..." "Your Pied Piper." "He's busy exterminating rats." "But he doesn't have enough time." "But you won't be destroyed for your sin." "That I'm sure of." "Agnes..." "Agnes!" "Midnight's getting closer..." "God said to Abraham:" "If I find in Sodom 50 righteous I will spare all the place." "And Abraham answered and said:" "Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous:" "Wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five?" "And God said," "If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it." "Everyone knows the story." "Poor God would have been satisfied with ten righteous." "But that sinful city had none." "We'll all get our just deserts." "At the stroke of midnight." "Agnes!" "Anyone seen where my bride's gone?" " Who's seen his bride?" " Agnes!" "Where are you?" "Have you seen her?" "Agnes..." "My darling children!" "Now you realize, Piper, that if you wish to purify this town you've got to kill, without exception, without mercy." "You've just got to kill- if you've got the power." "Look here:" "Sins, intolerance... duplicity..." "lies... lies..." "You lie down, you play..." "I know, your pipe." "Midnight is approaching." "Piper!" "Midnight..." "Only I have the gift..." "All eternity." "Don't you miss me?" "I heard you were throwing a cool party." "Don't ever leave me." "I'll never give up what I've got, get it?" "I'll never release you." "Kristian, I don't belong to you anymore." "You're like rats." "I thought there was hope in midnight but now I'm afraid." "I've never blown with all my might, but I will tonight." "Or else I won't purify the town." "But don't worry." "My pipe won't harm your innocence." "My innocence?" "Piper, why don't you listen to me?" "Midnight is coming..." "Get the champagne ready." "We'll all soon be happy." "Here's to the bride!" "She's already happy now." "What are you saying, you toad?" "Where's my bride?" "What does it matter, man?" "Here or under the bridge?" "A sin more or less?" "Long live midnight!" "Agnes..." "I'm you man!" "Well, well, well..." "With whom do I have the honor?" "Spill it, man." "Some loser with a cane?" "Some bum with a crutch?" "Maybe a stinking cur who dug up a rotting bone, eh?" "Oh, no, you're from outer space." "An extraterrestrial with an oar who missed the boat." "Agnes is carrying my child." " Well, Piper, now you'll dance." " Give me the pipe back!" "Yes, now we're going to play, right?" " I'm going to play for Agnes..." " No!" "...because I love her." "No, Kristian!" "He who is without sin..." "Cast the first stone." "He who is without sin..." "Cast the first stone." "He who is without sin..." "Cast the first stone." "Piper!" "Wait for me." "Take me with you, wherever." "I must stop the Devil's bells." "I won't let him take this town." " Then blow with all your might." " But you will perish too." "You lost, Piper!" "You were to purify the whole town." "My dear Piper, I'm so glad you're so weak." "And glad you're strong." "You traded your power for the love of a woman!" "The town is mine;" "your pipe is mine..." "The beauty of the town, the ruin of the town..." "My dear Piper..." "It's all for you..." "It's the end, Piper." "No one heard your pipe, but they all heard my bells." "And all who heard..." "All will go to hell!" "You lost, Piper." "Your pipe, please." "Here, take it." "I won hope and I won love." "Get out of my town!" "Get out!" "Here I wait knowing in time you'll understand." "Stairs to Heaven's gate slip like ice;" "Come take my hand." "So many stars so bright" "shining on you fair." "So many paths so right" "leading you there." "You know my name," "I'm your shadow and your fears," "they're yours again." "I feed on tears." "So many stars so bright" "shining on you fair." "So many paths so right leading you there." "I'm like a delay-action mirror." "Only I will hear the bells tomorrow." "In mists I wait, you can't sense what's in store, what comes so late," "maybe nothing, maybe more." "So many stars so bright shining on you fair." "So many paths so right" "leading you there." "Subtitled by John Brent" "Printed at LS PRODUCTIONS"