"People, see what happens to rebels!" "See what happens to rebels." "May the fate of these rebels be a lesson to you!" "May the fate of these rebels be a lesson to you!" "Eflatun Efendi!" "Eflatun Efendi!" "Forgive me." "Drawing in the style of the infidels only heightens your suffering." "If only I hadn't encouraged you." "It's all right, Gazal Efendi." "If only the work of European artists reflected the truth." "If only it gave us a sense of the kingdom of Allah." "My child..." "WAITING FOR HEAVEN" "Gazal Efendi!" "Carry on with the miniature." "Eflatun Efendi, shall I send the miniature to the miniaturists for them to complete?" "That would be good, Gazal Efendi." "Yes, let them finish it." "Shall I add an inverted cypress tree to the miniature, master?" "Don't show me any more of your miniatures." "I won't be painting miniatures again." "Nor drawing infidel pictures." "But without you the workshop will go to ruin!" "God knows when I'll find the strength to paint miniatures again." "My child is gone." "For consolation, I sought the kind of beauty that would belong to me alone." "Like the infidels." "What's the matter?" "What do you want from us?" "Get yourselves ready." "We're going to the Vizier's residence." "They're pictures of my late son and wife." "To remember them by." "In drawing them, I've deviated from what my masters taught me." "I don't care for European art." "A true miniaturist would never attempt an infidel drawing." " Ottoman rule has never forbidden it." " Perhaps not." "But it hasn't sanctioned it either." "It was grief for my son and wife that drove me to try infidel art." "But it only made my torment worse." "I'll suffer and do penance." "Forgive me." "Let me go." "Your Excellency..." "I have with me the miniatures that the Sultan commissioned." "I'm satisfied with your miniatures, Efendi." "But this time, your mission is to be different." "The rebel chief of an uprising against the Sultan has been captured." "Just recently." "In the eastern provinces." "At a tumbledown caravansary." "The rebel's head is to be cut off and brought to me at once." "Your task, Efendi, is to draw the rebel before his head is cut off." "Just like these." "In the way European artists do." "The rebel's portrait and his severed head will be shown to people who knew him." "Even if his head rots on the way back we'll still have your picture." "My apprentice Gazal is far better at drawing in the European style than me." "Send him on this mission instead of me." "Your apprentice Gazal Efendi will be staying here." "If you're seen to do anything wrong he'll be disposed of." "Sergeant Osman!" "Keep an eye on the miniaturist Eflatun Efendi." "For the world needs both justice and beauty." "Eflatun Efendi..." "Let me go instead of you." "Anatolia is a hotbed of rebellion." "Fathers disown sons; sons disobey fathers." "It's pandemonium." "No, it's out of the question." "If you say they won't allow it..." "Pardon my suggestion, master but there is something you can do." "Damage your hand." "Then you'll have to return to Istanbul." "And I'll go to Anatolia instead." "The workshop can't function without you." "Forgive me, Gazal Efendi." "They're going to hold you hostage." "A miniature is the representation of a frozen dream." "If I don't return tell my story in miniatures." "Bring some water." "Come on!" "Send me back to Istanbul." "Let me go." "Let you go?" "No." "I'm finished as a miniaturist." "Send me back." "I'm not sending you back come hell or high water." " But..." " No buts!" "Now look here, miniaturist!" "You're in the thick of a struggle for the throne." "You'd easily find someone else to draw a face." "But you're the most qualified." "You've had your orders." "I'm not qualified any more." "The place is teeming with bandits." "They'll kill you." "Calm down." "Calm down?" "How?" "You interrupted my grieving and brought me to this wilderness." "Now listen here or I'll kill you just like that." "There's a pretender to the throne in Anatolia." "The son of Murad III." "The late Mehmet III found 10 concubines pregnant by his father, Murad III and had them thrown into the sea." "But by chance, one of them survived." "She had a son, in Spain." "The crown prince grew up in Spain." "And decided to seize the throne." "He stole into Ottoman lands and rallied all the rebels to his side." "But he was captured by his brother's men." "You're to draw the crown prince's head." "Preserve the head in honey." " They sometimes rot even in honey." " Pack it in salt then." "Use yourjudgement." "Go and get some rest." "Osman Efendi, we found a girl in the cave." "A concubine, I expect." "She's wailing something about why did we kill her father." "Why did you kill my father?" "My father was innocent." " Was he the frontier guard here?" " He was a traveller." "A merchant." " God rest his soul." " My father was innocent." "If you help us, it means other people won't lose their fathers." "Were the attackers on horseback?" "Were there a lot of them?" " Did they strike suddenly?" " They were dressed as travellers." " Did they plunder the food supplies?" " Yes." " Did they harm the boys and women?" " Yes." "They raped them." " Where are your horses?" " They seized them." "Which way did they go?" "Did they say they were planning to rob any other staging posts?" "Yes, the next one." "I'll read you now the names of some staging and frontier posts." "Tell me which have been plundered." "Mutayaga, Armenehor, Siligu." "I don't know." "I'm just a traveller." "I was on my way to Istanbul." "Sister!" "We're going." "Get ready." "Don't leave me in this wilderness!" "The picture of your late wife..." "We took it from your house." "Eflatun Efendi..." "Is that caravansary there the same as the one in the miniature?" "It looks like it." "But is it safe?" "Leyla, go to the caravansary." "See if the people there are bandits." "If they are, don't mention us." "Say you're travelling and have lost your way." "Say you're looking for your father." "If they're frontier guards come to the gateway and bow to the ground." "No!" "Don't send me." "Either you stay here alone or you go to the caravansary." "The rebels dress as guards and plunder travellers." "Don't leave me with them." "Let's watch the fortress ourselves." "Don't send the girl." "There's no telling who's who." "We'd be wasting time." "We need to change horses." "We wouldn't stay overnight." "Now get going to the caravansary!" "What will I do if you go?" "They'll never believe me." "We'll pick you up on our way back." "If the bandits are there they'll rape me." " Osman Efendi." " Just shut up!" "Now go!" "We'll pick you up on the way back." "You'll never find me." "They'll kill me." "Get moving!" "Go on now!" "Someone else should go." "Who?" "If you go, they'll catch you and flay you alive." "They'll find out about us, come after us and flay us too." " Go." "Don't look at us." " I won't be able to find you." "Go, I said!" "Now, go!" " Mustafa." " Don't send me." "I'll hang myself." "Don't look back." "Start crying at the caravansary." "Now I'm going to smear mud on your face." "Say you were on a pilgrimage the caravan was attacked and you're lost." " Stop talking!" " Off you go." "Keep safe." "They've seen us at the caravansary." "We need time to escape." "We were on a pilgrimage." "The caravan was attacked." "Now I'm lost." "I want to come in and rest." "Come in, sister." " Selam aleykum." "Is it safe here?" " Yes." "Thank you." "Let's not leave the woman." " Get on your horse, Eflatun Efendi." " It's not fair on the girl." "Osman Efendi, look at the gate!" "Hide your daggers under your shirts." "We'll continue on our way." "We won't stay at the caravansary." "The woman can stay there." "You tell her that." "She's my wife." "She's exhausted." "So can we be on our own?" "She's sick and tired from the journey." "She must rest." "Thank you." "You're to stay here." "Don't leave me." "The bandits will come here too." "Why are you handing out coins left, right and centre?" "They'll think we're tax collectors or robbers and attack us." "The men are tricky as it is." "Stop talking and come out." "We're leaving." "Where are you going?" "To draw a picture, like a European!" "A portrait." "Something like this." "Who's that?" "My son." "Is he in Istanbul?" "No." "He's in heaven." "The Mahdi, the Moslem Messiah, took him and his mother to heaven." "This is the Mahdi carrying my wife and son to heaven." "It's as though..." "As though..." "It's like..." "A dream." "A dream." "It's different." "Dreams and miniatures are the same thing." "Why are they the same?" "Why the same?" "Eflatun Efendi, we're leaving." "I can tell you about my dream." "The dream that will never come true." "I'm Croatian." "I was taken from my family and recruited to the Janissaries." "I haven't seen my mother in Dubrovnik for 30 years." "She's my dream." "Come outside." "Well anyway..." "You've listened." "I feel better now." "Don't mention what I've told you to anyone else." "Take this." "You can join a caravan and find your way to your family." "Keep the cloak." "They'll think you're a man." "Cut your hair too." "Eflatun Efendi, hurry up." "If you come one step closer I'll cut off his head." "Come on." "I'll tear you to shreds." "Get back!" "Get back!" "Shut that door!" "Use this as a turban." "Wind this around your waist like a sash." "Let's leave the girl in the nearest town." "Then her relatives will find her." "The girl's a slave." "But she said her father was a merchant." "She was lying!" "No merchant would bring his daughter to this wilderness." "Yes, the man was a merchant." "A slave merchant!" "He was her master, not her father." "Her papers!" "He was taking her to the slave market in Istanbul." "She was sold to him by her uncle in Circassia." "She's worth a lot." "Despite being second-hand goods." " Let's take her with us." " She stands out." "She's a liability." "I dressed her in my cloak and cut her hair." "You've fallen for her, have you?" "No." "Eflatun Efendi, don't get attached to something you're sure to lose." "Go on, get some rest." "Selam aleykum." "We've come from Istanbul." "Boil some thyme." "Melt the wax." "Mark the safe frontier posts on the map." "Crown Prince Danyal." "I'm ready." "Free my hands so I can pray." "Strangle me, but don't torture me." "Stay with me." "Help me." "Bring me a mirror." "I need light." "God damn you!" "A European painting." "The picture of a prince about to be executed." "I'm not Crown Prince Danyal." "I'm his son, Yakup." "Help me escape and my father Danyal will shower you with gold." "My father Danyal will commission paintings from you." "He'll protect you." "You can draw whatever you like whether it's miniatures or those infidel pictures!" "Help me escape!" "Wait for me here!" "He says he's not Danyal but his son Yakup." "If he's not Danyal, then I won't draw him." "You don't like infidel pictures then." "Do it for your own safety." "But if he's a son of the late Murad III he should be older." " Lf they find out at the palace..." " Don't make excuses." "And my hand's injured..." "You've drawn infidel pictures before." "So you can do them again." "I'll have to answer for myself on Judgment Day." "If he has a father, we'll find him." "Now get on with it!" "Those are your orders." "You have no choice." "My father knows the European artists." "He'll commission work from you." "He'll be lenient with you." "Just get me out of here." "My father will grant you a fortune." "Just get me out of here." "Undo my hands so I can pray." "You're about to strangle me." "If I die, let me die a Muslim." "He wants to pray." "Should I untie his hands?" "No." "I'm not Prince Danyal." "I'm not his son either." "Don't kill me." "I'm not interested in the throne." "Don't strangle me." "Don't strangle me." "Think of a garden." "Think of meadows, of your mother..." "Think of the scent, the light." "Think of your mother's skin." "The past can make you feel better." "Let me write a letter to my mother, Dulcinea." "Ask them to untie my hands." "I'll warn my father." "He's surrounded by traitors." "Those fiends want to turn him over to the Ottomans." "Go and wait for me outside." "The traitors will earn rank." "They write to my father pretending to be the chief rabbi or Greek patriarch." "They call him the Messiah and swear their allegiance to him." "They make promises." "They'll suggest meeting somewhere." "It's all lies!" "They just want to trap my father." "Guard!" "He's escaping." "The prince is making a run for it." "Catch the prince!" "Hold the gate!" "The prince is escaping!" "Hold the gate!" "The gate!" "He's running away!" "The prince is running away!" "You idiot!" "Get in there!" "Two fine men died because of you." "They'll abuse me in there." "Hide in a room." "And run for it when we leave." " Will you look while you're drawing?" " No." " Cut off his head." " A miniaturist paints what's in his head." " Keep quiet!" " Not what's in front of him." " Shut up, I said." " That wasn't Danyal." " The rebellion will carry on." " Watch what you say." "The real Danyal will butcher us." "We'll never get to return." "If the prince had escaped they'd have killed us all." "The nation would have been steeped in blood." "You must draw it again." "Be quick about it." "The rebels!" "The rebels are coming." " We must get out of here fast!" " The horses?" "They're ready." "Go at once." "We've marked the frontier and staging posts now in rebel hands." " Shall I give you some men?" "Or gypsies!" " No." "We'll just draw attention." "The rebels are everywhere." "There's a chance we'll get caught." "I'll take Danyal's portrait and go this way." "You have the head and take that route." "All right?" "Kill Eflatun in the reedbeds." "Then catch up with us." "He'll be a burden to us on the way." "And if he makes it to the palace we'll only have to deal with the things he says, writes and paints." "Miniaturists are given to overstatement." "He'll say we were after women." "He'll say our men died." "They make mountains out of molehills." "They can't see for us or speak for us." "If they do, we're in trouble." "Someone will ask how he died." "Say the rebels killed him." "All right?" "Mustafa, no one should know the truth." "They'll kill you on the way." "Be careful." "If you come back, I'll wait for you here." "Up on the hill." "Have my hair." "It's yours." "Kill Mustafa." "Then find me and we'll run away." "I won't let them take me away." "I'll hide." "Around here." "Eflatun Efendi, I'm going to Istanbul first." "We'll meet in Yalova." "Why?" "The painting and the head should travel separately." " I want to stay here." " It's not a good idea." "If I leave the eminent miniaturist here I'll get punished by the palace." "You're to go with Mustafa." "You can help him map read." "Mustafa doesn't need a map." "It's safer here than on the road." "The rebels will capture this place too." "Not even the dogs will be spared." "Years ago, we were in the same corps at the sultan's palace." "We were palace guards together." "For old times' sake, Osman." "Let me stay here." "If they capture you they'll find out about the head." "You must go with Mustafa." "There's no alternative." "And the girl will come with me." " Stop!" "Where are you going?" " Why?" "Mustafa Efendi's orders." "I can't let you go anywhere." "The picture must be delivered to the palace." "It's a royal command." " Out of the way!" "Or you're dead." " Call Mustafa the executioner!" "Call that mute executioner!" "Stop!" "Stop it!" "I'll fight any one of you one to one." "If I win, you let us free." "If I lose, you can kill us." "Danyal has been executed." "You have the same fate coming your way." "I'll kill the woman." "She shouldn't suffer." "They mustn't be allowed to rape her." "Kneel on the ground." "Who are you?" " Strip." " I'm a pilgrim." "I'm a pilgrim." "I'm on my way to Bursa." "I'm an artist." "I have no money." "What is this?" "Where's the crown prince?" "I'm a miniaturist." "Have mercy!" "Crown Prince Danyal is coming." "The prince is coming." "What happened to the boy?" "I'd like to know." "He was strangled." "Osman Efendi had him strangled." "Liar!" "He's lying." "I did not have him strangled!" "Where's his body?" "Tell me or you're dead." "Danyal Bey!" "I had my orders." "Where's the body?" "It's here." "Is it in one piece?" "No." "Did you cut off his head?" "Has the boy's head been cut off?" "You abused the body, did you?" "It was being taken to the palace." "The head was cut off." "Where's the head?" "It was being taken away." "By him." "On that dead man's horse." "In the sack." "The body's over here, inside." " He did it." " That's a lie." " I'm a miniaturist." "I only drew the boy's face." " Don't believe him." "Have mercy." "I helped the prince." "If you spare me and my brother I'll tell you the truth." "Be quick about it or I'll butcher you." "Spare us!" "Tell the truth and I'll spare you." "This is the man who helped your son Yakup escape from the fortress." "He also asked for him to be pardoned." "It was Osman Aga who had your son killed." "Spare me and my brother." " Is that true?" " She's lying." "I have the letter your son Yakup wrote." "Have mercy!" "Wait." "Wait." "Take him inside." "Don't take me away from my sister." "Don't take me away from my sister." "Did you draw this European picture?" "Yes." "They forced me to draw it." "Are you a miniaturist?" "I'm known as Eflatun." "Forgive my sister." "Allow me to do my ablutions so I can pray." "Before I die." "I won't lay a finger on you." "But to stay alive you must draw a picture." "You can't promise the people bread alone." "You also have to promise them dreams." "You're to make my dream the dream of the people." "In this picture, there'll be me and my Yakup." "My dream will also be in it." "And my hopes." "These paintings are by a Spanish artist." "They're both the same." "The painter painted the reflection of my late father Murad III in the mirror." "You're to blank out the reflection of my father." "And draw the reflection of the Mahdi the Moslem Messiah, instead." "The people in the room mustn't appear in the mirror." "You're to draw only the Mahdi's reflection in the mirror." "People should know about my sovereignty." "Once I ascend the throne the Mahdi will appear." "I can't do that!" "Why not?" "This infidel painting is different from other European paintings you've seen." "It's more like a miniature." "Like a miniature, it brings together different realms, times and spaces." "I know nothing about European painting." "You have one day to do it." "Do the painting." "Then maybe they'll let us go." "You're a woman." "They won't kill you." "I can't do it." "I can't do it." "I can't do it." "Eflatun Efendi!" "I'll bring you water." "I can't do it." "Eflatun Efendi." "Get up." "Get up!" "Eflatun Efendi." "I've tried something." "Have a look." "I took the miniature of the Mahdi rescuing the boy and his mother..." "And I pasted it over the mirror." "The people always side with the winner." "If I lose tell my story in miniatures." "People shouldn't think my efforts have been futile." "They should know I can't always be there for them." "I'm giving you your freedom." "Now go and make that same addition to the other painting." "This painting is my dream." "The Mahdi, the Moslem Messiah, spoke to me." "He promised me faith and justice." "He said we'd triumph in our struggle." "My rule will be the rule of the Mahdi the Moslem Messiah." "This is what the Mahdi promised me." "This is your dream." "Take the painting." "Take it to the east to the villages and towns to the dervish lodges, the inns, the roads and the ships." "Take my message to the people." "Tell them that victory is ours." "Say the Moslem Messiah has appeared to Crown Prince Danyal." "Tell them an age ofjustice and prosperity is dawning." "Don't oppress the people." "And have no pity on the oppressors." "Make way for those who are coming." "But hold your ranks." "Be ready to fight." "They're approaching now but they face being wiped out." "We'll drown them in their own blood." "Long live Danyal Bey!" "Victory is ours!" "Let's go!" "The struggle awaits you." "The Greek Patriarch's envoy is waiting for us in the church." "With gold." " Where's the church?" " A bit further ahead." "Go tell the envoy Danyal isn't the Messiah who'll bring order to the world." "Danyal Efendi, we're making a mistake." "The army can't grow without gold." "You won't win the throne through random, small-scale operations." "We need horses and weapons." "Tell the envoy to come to the village of Piskobu." "No!" "He shouldn't come." "This might be an Ottoman ruse!" "I'll catch you up at Piskobu." "Danyal Efendi we're hungry and homeless." "We've been stealing the villagers' sheep to keep from starving." "Didn't I say there was to be an end to stealing?" "We've been fighting to feed the villagers." "We haven't seen a town in two months." "We've been living on weeds, husks and carcasses." "Help us, Efendi!" "Take him away." "Danyal Efendi, isn't that tough on the boy?" "God has entrusted the people to our care." "So it's our duty to kill anyone who dares to steal, murder or rape." "Anyone who thinks otherwise does not belong with us." "They should leave." "The vizier who sent me here gave me this ring on one occasion." "It was when I'd finished the miniatures chronicling the war." "Let's not go to the Ottoman army." "They'll kill you there." "They won't believe your story." "I won't tell the Ottomans where Danyal is." "Danyal gave me my freedom." "He's a dreamer, bent on giving the people a better life." "If he must be punished let it be from some other quarter." "The Ottomans will come here too." "Let's go to Circassia." "Life is sweet there." "We have to go back to Istanbul." "My apprentice Gazal Efendi is a hostage to the palace there." "I must rescue him." "Then we can run away." "No one will find out the truth." "You're the only face I see." "Don't go." "If you go, all that will be left of you is an illusion." "Get up, woman." "Is anyone here?" "We've come to fight for Danyal." "Is anyone here?" "It was here that the Mahdi the Moslem Messiah, appeared to Danyal." "We're here to fight for Prince Danyal." "Stop it." "In the name of God stop." "Crown Prince Danyal has promised the rebels war, bread and dreams." "He says he'll be victorious if he can win the people to his side." "He's hungry and penniless but one day the Mahdi will help him." "Abundance and prosperity will return." "Danyal will be sultan." "A picture was brought to your village yesterday." "The picture tells this story." "They said the Mahdi had appeared in this caravansary." "They said there would be crops in the fields and that there'd be an end to famine, debt and oppression." "The painting was something like this." "Take it." "Here, take it..." "Yes!" "Is this the Mahdi?" "In the mirror, yes!" " And where's Prince Danyal?" " In front of the mirror." "You keep it." "A painting belongs to artist and viewer alike." "If you go this way you'll find Danyal's troops." "Goodbye then." " Eflatun Efendi, your father's name?" " Mehmet." " Your mother's?" " Halime." " Your wife's name?" " Leyla." " Her father's name?" " Mahmut." "Her mother's?" "Her mother's name?" "Emine." "I hereby give Leyla, daughter of Emine her freedom." "She is now my wife." "May I ask for a certificate of manumission." "The marriage settlement is one purse of gold." "God bless and keep you happy." "Are you the witnesses?" " Yes." " Draw up a deed of manumission." "Your Excellency..." "When we arrived at the ruined caravansary they strangled Yakup thinking he was his father Prince Danyal." "When Danyal found us later he had everyone killed." "I was spared because I painted a picture." "Danyal freed me once I'd painted the picture." "I've come before you to tell you the truth." "This is a picture of Danyal." "It was me who painted it." "There's a lot missing from your story." "Who painted this?" "An infidel artist." "I just made some additions." "Why?" "To save my life." "I painted the Moslem Messiah." "So who is this?" "Crown Prince Danyal." "Tell the truth." "I am telling the truth." "I've done nothing wrong." "Where's Gazal?" "My apprentice?" "Have pity on us." "I only painted a picture." "The things you painted saved your life." "Do you belong to your paintings or do they belong to you?" "Let him go." "And give him a purse of gold." " What have you done to Gazal?" " Don't look for trouble." "Get out of here!" "What have you done to Gazal?" "What have you done to Gazal?" "Gazal!" "Eflatun Efendi!" "Thank God for that!" "I haven't stopped thinking about you." "Where did this come from?" "The Ottomans promised rank and privilege to Danyal's followers." "So his men handed him over to the Ottomans." "And they strangled him." "I painted his picture in the style of the Europeans." "I've been painting Danyal's portrait." "I keep thinking about what he said." "Help me recover." "Help me return to my former self." "To return to the past means embarking on a new journey." "We'll paint a European picture." "Sometimes we'll use the style of miniatures." "And sometimes we'll merge the two styles." "Then perhaps I can start doing miniatures again." "We'll make mistakes." "Like you, I hope to return to the very beginning." "We'll look forward to recovering." "We'll always look forward to that." "We'll try to find our way." "Leyla, come here." "Gazal Efendi..." "This is my wife."