this is spain,
one thousand and eighty years after the coming of christ.
it is a war-torn, unhappy land,
half christian, half moor.
this is the time and the story of rodrigo diaz of vivar,
known to history and to legend as el cid, "the lord."
he was a simple man who became spain"s greatest hero.
he rose above religious hatreds
and called upon all spaniards, whether christian or moor,
to face a common enemy who threatened to destroy their land of spain.
this enemy was gathering his savage forces
across the mediterranean sea on the north shores of africa.
he was the african emir, ben yusuf.
the prophet
has commanded us
to rule the world.
where in all your land of spain
is the glory of allah?
when men speak of you, they speak of poets,
music makers, doctors, scientists.
where are your warriors?
you dare call yourselves sons of the prophet?
you have become women!
burn your books.
make warriors of your poets.
let your doctors invent new poisons for our arrows.
let your scientists invent new war machines.
and then, kill!
burn.
infidels live on your frontiers.
encourage them to kill each other.
and when they are weak and torn,
i will sweep up from africa,
and thus the empire of the one god,
the true god allah,
allah is the one god.
will spread.
first, across spain.
then, across europe.
then, the whole world!
allah is merciful.
there is no god but allah.
heavenly father,
we are lost and in darkness.
once again they destroy our towns,
take our people in bondage.
please help us, father.
send us someone. . .
who will take us to the light.
father.
here. Come.
the cross.
we couldn"t save your village,
but we captured their leaders.
who are you?
rodrigo diaz of vivar.
vivar?
you"re a long way from home.
sir, you are not dressed for battle.
this was to have been my wedding day, father.
how is it you came here, my son?
i thought this would be the shortest road to my bride.
we are ready, my lord.
do we hang them now ?
no, fanez.
they come to vivar with us.
no! Stop!
fernando, put down those stones!
welcome home, my son.
here are some moorish prisoners for you.
we didn"t expect such wedding guests.
are you holding them for tribute?
they"re your prisoners, sir.
they"re yours. You captured them.
you must decide what is to be done with them.
hang them!
now!
we are emir-- king.
there will be a great ransom for you if you let us live.
you were ready enough to kill.
it would seem you"re less ready to die.
i am ready, my lord rodrigo.
i have no great desire to live to see what is coming for all of us.
what is coming for all of us?
wars, death and destruction.
blood and fire more terrible than has ever been seen by living man.
don diego, i will take your prisoners back to the king at burgos.
they are not my prisoners.
they are my son"s.
oh, forgive me, don rodrigo.
then it will be your prisoners we will hang
in the palace square at burgos.
we will hang their bodies high as an example to other moors!
don ordonez,
these prisoners will not go to burgos.
the king will be just as pleased if you hang them here.
we"ve been killing them for years.
what has it brought us?
peace?
hang me, and my sons will not rest. . .
while a single christian remains alive in vivar.
what other way is there to treat the moors?
hang them now!
do you want these people to live in fear the rest of their lives?
antonio,
do you want to see your church burned too?
your villages destroyed?
then kill them.
don diego, tell your son that it is treason
to refuse to turn over prisoners to an officer of the king.
rodrigo knows what he must do.
do you solemnly pledge never again to attack king ferdinand"s country?
i do.
among our people,
we have a word for a warrior with the vision to be just
and the courage to be merciful.
we call such a man, "el cid."
i, moutamin, emir of saragossa,
pledge eternal friendship to the cid of vivar
and allegiance to his sovereign lord, king ferdinand of castile.
may allah strike the eyes from my head and
the flesh from my bones ifi break this pledge.
in the name of allah.
in the name of ferdinand,
king of castile, leon and asturias,
i charge you with treason.
within seven days, you will appear before the king at burgos
to answer these charges.
you did take the shortest road, my son.
not to your bride,
but to your destiny.
god sent you to us, my son.
god has sent you.
rodrigo!
but i did hear a sound.
he should have been here by now.
why is he so late?
he is not late, my lady. he was to be here at sundown.
it"s barely noon.
yes.
you don"t really understand how love keeps time.
later means sooner;
sundown means noon.
still,
a man on a horse can move only so fast,
no matter how much the man is in love.
yes, my lady.
all night long i kept thinking:
"oh, the moors have ambushed him!
"oh, yes, he"s been attacked by a madman.
"oh, he"s fallen ill."
they say all women in love
are tormented that way.
because they don"t dare believe that such happiness
can really be theirs.
oh!
help me, please.
the gown is
very beautiful.
your highness is
very gracious.
it is not often we are so honored.
no. lt is not an ordinary day.
then you have not heard?
there has been news.
oh, yes.
news of,
of rodrigo, your highness?
of rodrigo.
the gown is so beautiful.
your highness.
can you tell me what has happened to rodrigo?
yes, i can tell you.
you knew that rodrigo was on his way here? yes.
that there was a battle?
you knew that there was a battle with the moors?
chimene.
my father, tell me. . .
rodrigo"s been hurt. no, rodrigo"s alive and well.
you love him so much.
two names.
my father. . .
and rodrigo.
chimene,
you are my only child.
i have no wife.
you alone can carry my blood.
i should have had a son.
but
rodrigo will be your son.
no.
you"re young.
you can learn to love again.
could i learn to love another father?
it is not the same.
there are others.
chimene!
don garcia ordonez, tell me what has happened.
you have always been a good friend.
i would be more to you, chimene,
if you would let me.
you know that can never be.
it can now.
why now?
could you love a traitor, chimene?
since i love rodrigo, the question can never have meaning.
it has meaning now.
rodrigo is a traitor.
i do not believe you.
there were others who were there. i do not believe them.
i am the one who brought the charges against him.
he is to be tried for treason against the king.
you would do anything to hurt rodrigo.
no.
i would do anything to win you.
chimene ! What if these charges are true?
they are not true.
but there are many who saw it.
they did not know what they saw!
you will see for yourself, chimene.
his majesty, don ferdinand,
the king, our lord!
king of castile, leon and asturias.
and the infantes, prince sancho. . .
prince alfonso. . .
and the princess dona urraca.
you have been gathered here at this court
to give your solemn advice in a matter of great import to the crown.
garcia ordonez has invoked the charge of treason
against rodrigo of vivar.
he cannot bring such charges against my son!
i repeat the charge! lt is treason!
he"s the man who"s fighting moors!
it is treason to the king!
you shouldn"t have come.
then i"ll go.
no.
another moment.
oh, forever.
besides, there is no danger.
no danger?
listen to them.
it doesn"t matter.
because i know you"re not guilty.
you don"t even know what i"ve done.
no.
but i know it was not treason.
what did you do?
i let a man live. No. Five men.
but how can they call it treason?
but. . .
death to the moors!
who are these five men?
emirs.
moors?
you let moors live?
why?
i"m not sure it was right.
i don"t know. l think it was. . .
it happened strangely.
i was on my way to you.
i can"t even remember where i was.
there must have been
roads,
trees and people.
all i remember is your face.
there was a battle.
i fought too.
my heart wasn"t in my sword. l kept
seeing your face.
suddenly, i thought,
"why are we killing each other?"
true, they"re moors, we"re christians. . .
chimene,
do you understand what i"m trying to say?
yes, but. . .
there always have been wars between us.
i know.
always.
you don"t think, then,
we could live in peace?
quiet!
will you keep quiet, the both of you!
this is not a charge i would bring lightly against any man,
especially a man who in a short time was to be my son.
but a man who frees the enemies of the king--
son or no son--
i must call such a man "traitor."
sire,
he slurs the honor of our family.
this cannot be.
i, too, was once the king"s champion.
that was many years ago, don diego.
perhaps it would be better to leave the matter in our hands.
no, sire. There were things said here which cannot be forgotten,
even in this royal assembly.
count gormaz of oviedo,
when you call my son a traitor,
i say you lie.
i am the king"s champion.
i would not want to shame my sword with an old man"s blood.
yet no man can call me a liar!
liar!
i don"t really understand, rodrigo.
i only know ifit grew out of our love,
it must be right.
what do you want?
you shamed my father.
i want his name back.
but not the way you left it.
i want it clean
so he can once more wear it proudly.
i cannot apologize.
it is not that i do not want to.
i do not know how to.
people will only esteem you the more for it.
everyone will understand.
i have told you no.
go home, rodrigo.
i ask nothing for myself.
i humble myself before you.
have pity on a proud old man.
i have no pity for those who have outlived the usefulness of their lives.
count.
i beg you.
see? Two words are all i ask.
can you not say, "forgive me"?
i cannot.
i will not.
now go.
don"t make me stain my life
and chimene"s with your blood.
go home, rodrigo.
no one will think the less of you for not having
stood up against the king"s own champion.
count gormaz!
i will ask you
only this last time.
i see that courage and honor are not dead in castile.
and now i remember why i once thought you were worthy of my chimene.
go home, rodrigo.
what glory is there for the king"s champion in killing someone like you?
can a man live
without honor?
no.
now, count,
now i am satisfied.
chimene!
chimene.
father!
chimene. oh, father!
father.
avenge me
as my son would.
don"t let me die. . .
unavenged.
oh, father.
i didn"t seek your father"s life, chimene.
no,
but you knew he could only answer the way he did,
and you were prepared to kill him.
you bought your honor with my sorrow.
there was no other way for me.
the man you chose to love could do only what i did.
why did you come, rodrigo?
did you think the woman you chose to love could do less than you ?
i tried not to come.
i tried.
i told my love it had no right to live.
but my love won"t die.
kill it! you kill it!
tell me you don"t love me.
i cannot.
not yet.
but i will make myself worthy of you, rodrigo.
i will learn to hate you.
dona chimene,
daughter of the late count gormaz of oviedo,
the king"s lamented champion.
dona chimene, never was there a moment
when we needed your father more.
his death is a great loss to us.
and never did i regret more deeply
that i am his daughter and not his son.
i will not stand on ceremony, ferdinand.
three times i have written you on the matter of the city of calahorra...
and have received no answer.
the city of calahorra belongs to aragon,
and i"ve come to claim it.
calahorra has always been a part of castile.
his majesty, king ferdinand, of castile, leon and asturias,
denies these claims.
ramiro, king of aragon by the grace of god,
does this day challenge ferdinand, king of castile, leon and asturias,
to meet him in battle on the plains of calahorra,
with all the forces he can command.
to the victor in this battle and to his heirs,
the city of calahorra shall belong forever!
no!
all spain is threatened by the moors.
what could give greater comfort to the enemy
than to see two christian kings and their christian armies
tear each other to bits.
why not then let the fate of calahorra be determined
by the outcome of a single combat
between your champion and mine?
we know why you have chosen this moment to press your claim.
our champion is dead.
the gauntlet lies there.
let one man come forward now, or give up calahorra.
lord king!
let me take up this gauntlet, sire.
why should we entrust the fate of a city
to your inexperienced hands?
it was i who killed your champion, sire.
what man has a better claim to his place?
don martin has killed 27 men in single combat.
you know that?
yes.
yes, sire, i know that.
why, then, would you risk your life in this way?
i stand accused of treason, sire.
and the other things.
i"ve not been permitted to answer these charges.
you"ve not judged me.
let me now offer myself before the highest judge.
ifi"m guilty,
god will direct don martin"s lance to my heart.
ifi"m innocent, let him be my shield.
he"s never fought before. he is strong, father.
a city, a whole city is at stake.
he defeated our champion.
how do we know it wasn"t from behind and in the dark?
there were no witnesses.
that is not rodrigo"s way.
let him fight, father.
he has much to fight for.
rodrigo of vivar, take up the gauntlet.
and may god give you strength.
may god give me strength.
why have you come to this place at this hour?
we have come to do battle for the city of calahorra!
will you fight to the death,
giving no quarter and receiving none?
we will.
go, then, and fight for calahorra.
don martin.
you have always been my father"s enemy.
will you be his avenger?
will you wear my colors?
my lady, who would not be proud to wear your colors?
i promise you
that he who has offended you shall die.
until your triumph,
my color will be black.
rodrigo, the champion of castile cannot go into combat
without a lady"s colors.
my lady.
almighty god,
now the hour of my ordeal has come.
judge me
and let all men know my guilt or innocence.
do you think don martin will kill rodrigo?
i hope he does, your highness.
i"m sure you will understand why i do not join you in that hope.
after all,
we would lose a city.
he"s held the first charge!
rodrigo"s held!
ah!
kill him!
to whom does calahorra belong?
calahorra belongs to ferdinand
and to castile.
god saw fit to give me strength, sire.
never have i seen a man fight with greater courage.
our lord was surely with you.
who can now deny that the charges brought against you were false?
we are deeply in your debt, rodrigo.
you will be my champion.
your colors are no longer black.
until my father is avenged,
my colors will be deepest black.
someone will avenge me.
someone will yet come forward.
no.
believe me, chimene.
not one knight in all castile will risk his life against rodrigo.
he has become too dangerous.
then why have you come to me, don garcia?
this is not just a momentary anger?
you really want rodrigo"s death?
you would fight rodrigo?
not fight. Kill him.
i could fight him.
it"s not a question of courage.
before i first saw you,
i was ready to throw my life away,
but. . .
not now, chimene.
to kill him?
how?
i want your love, chimene.
more than i want honor,
glory, wealth.
you understand a love like that.
yes.
yes, i do.
then i will kill him.
oh, father.
why did you leave me such a burden?
rodrigo of vivar, you are hereby our own champion
and the first knight of the realm.
with this sword, may you vanquish all our enemies
my lieges,
for the first time in generations
our moorish vassals have refused to pay us tribute.
they have been stirred into unrest by the moors of africa.
an expedition, therefore, must be sent to collect that tribute.
this expedition will be your first task.
may i prove worthy, sire.
our son, sancho, will go with you.
may i too prove worthy, father.
sire, this will be the first expedition of our prince.
could i, too, accompany him?
you have our permission count ordonez.
spare our son sancho no hardship or danger,
but teach him also that peace,
not war, is the real task of a king.
lord king,
by ancient custom,
when a lord deprives a lady of her support,
he is himself required to give her shelter.
i killed that lady"s father.
therefore, if, by god"s will,
i return alive from this mission,
will you give me dona chimene of gormaz as my lawful wife,
to provide for and protect as her father would have done?
yes, rodrigo.
let there be an end to this hatred.
the marriage will take place on your return.
dona chimene will hold herselfin readiness.
in nomine patrius et filius et spiritu sancti, amen.
this is the man you hoped don martin would kill.
this is the man whose death you sought!
yes, your highness?
would you then still accept this marriage?
ifit is the king"s order,
i must obey.
my king, beware!
stop him!
my lord moutamin.
my lord cid.
you came in good time this day.
praise be to allah.
you were betrayed by one of your own, my lord cid.
betrayed by a christian, saved by a moor.
you"ve earned the enmity of your people.
it was no more than my cid did for me.
if ever you have need of me.
ordonez.
my cid.
before i die, i want you to know that the woman you love
offered herself to me
ifi would kill you.
kill him!
kill him! he betrayed us!
no.
let him go.
they will say i was too soft. you will soon be a king!
you must learn to think like one.
any man can kill.
only a king can give life.
i want no more blood on my marriage.
[ priest speaking latin ]
volo.
[ speaking latin continues ]
why doesn"t she speak?
what"s wrong?
volo.
[ speaking latin ]
will my lady take a little wine?
it is a very good wine, especially brought from vivar.
i thank you, fanez. no.
all night long you"ve been telling my lady how good everything is
because it comes from vivar.
well, it is good.
you will see for yourself, my lady, when you come to vivar.
it is such. . .
such a happy place.
is it, fanez ? oh, yes, my lady.
it"s impossible to be there without. . .
feeling it.
i. . . i think my lord and lady
must be tired.
yes!
good night, my lord, my lady.
good night, and may this night be the most, --
i mean, may you have, uh--
good night, my lord and lady. good night.
since i"ve taken the vows of wife,
and since there must be nothing hidden
between man and wife,
there is something i wish to tell you.
sometimes it"s best to leave a little something hidden,
even between man and wife.
they say each unspoken thought
becomes a small ghost.
we have room for a few small ghosts.
i knew ordonez would betray you.
we planned your death. . .
together.
chimene, i knew you"d planned to kill me.
ordonez told me.
i never hoped
our marriage would
bring your love back quickly.
i did hope
it would end your hate and that. . .
then somehow. . .
chimene.
do you know why i married you, rodrigo?
it was the only way left for me to avenge my father.
it is true that if you want me,
it is your right as my husband to take me.
but. . .
you will never get a woman"s love from me.
perhaps we have. . .
wounded each other too deeply.
chimene.
is it our chimene?
yes, reverend mother.
it"s chimene.
why have you come back to us?
i"ve come to find peace, mother.
after all that has happened to you,
the peace you seek is not within these walls.
you were made for the world, chimene.
one day you will want to go back to it.
but you may remain with us
until you feel you must leave.
why did they not hail me king?
because you are not the king.
the kingdom has been divided.
liar. father proclaimed before he died that castile is yours,
but asturias and leon go to me! liar!
and to our sister urraca the walled city of calahorra.
no!
i am the eldest.
"tis my birthright.
the kingdom will not be divided!
you can"t stop it now.
i am king of asturias and leon.
i won"t let you stand in my way. i am the eldest son!
i"ll have the triple crown or none at all!
then let it be none at all.
it was you and urraca
against me.
father was old.
she worked on him!
you"re no better than we are,
just because you"re the firstborn.
you and our sister.
it was always you and our sister.
you. . .
held her too close!
you covet her!
you lie!
sancho, no!
he thought he could be king.
ansures!
accompany his highness to his new kingdom--
the dungeon of zamora.
will you give me your prisoner, or must i take him?
there are thirteen of us
and you are alone.
what you do is against god"s law.
were you thirteen times thirteen i would not be alone.
what kind of a man are you?
come.
we"ll go to your sister
at calahorra.
open the gates of valencia,
in the name of allah!
and the time came when ben yusuf rode to valencia
to secure the aid of the frightened moorish king al kadir.
he had to make certain that he could land
his mighty armada on the shores of spain.
clear out, all of you!
my lord ben yusuf, what an honor.
what an honor.
allah be praised.
our moment has come.
king ferdinand has died,
and the two young kings have quarreled.
allah, in his wisdom, has willed it so.
and now allah will ordain it so that one christian brother
will kill another christian brother.
how will this happen ?
he
will do the killing.
the word will spread that brother has killed brother.
there will be confusion, revolution.
the kingdom will be torn in two,
and then, when they are most weak,
i will bring my legions from africa.
a master strategy.
when i land, they may attack you
here at valencia.
if they do,
you will hold valencia.
do you understand me ?
yes, my lord, i understand.
i will leave my guards with you
to make certain you understand.
don"t let him take me, urraca.
go.
urraca!
you have given refuge to my brother!
i demand you release him at once!
this is my city!
you do not demand!
release the prisoner at once or my army will attack!
alfonso stays here with me!
i give you until dawn to decide.
my lady.
what would it be worth to you
if sancho were kept from your gates?
who is there who could do such a thing?
i could.
only. . .
only i would ask a great deal.
thank heaven you answered our call.
why did you send it, sir ?
unless i surrender to sancho,
he threatens to lay siege to us by morning.
help us, rodrigo.
when brother fights against brother,
what can any man do?
if you joined us, many knights would come.
i swore allegiance to sancho.
and to alfonso.
and to me!
i can only help one brother by breaking faith with the other.
i can help no one.
but sancho would kill alfonso.
whatever happens. . .
must happen without me.
sanctuary!
what do you want here, dolfos?
i have words for your ears only, my king.
well?
there is a way calahorra could be taken without a blow.
i will help you.
why should you do this for me?
i will not stand by and see our land torn by civil war.
tell me.
i know where there is an unguarded gate.
i will take you there.
with a few men, you. . .
even though my father trusted you, dolfos,
one false move. . .
but i am unarmed, sire.
show me this gate.
from here it will be better to go on foot.
i see no gate.
there. around the corner.
open! open the gate!
open the gate! open the. . .
confess me.
confess me. confess me!
sancho.
rodrigo. my poor sancho.
i was almost a king,
wasn"t i?
you are a king, my lord.
i have not come here as a queen.
forgive me, your highness.
you still love rodrigo.
and i know rodrigo still loves you.
you have made a long and hard journey to come here.
rodrigo must be stopped!
we will not permit this, alfonso and i!
rodrigo will listen to you.
what is it i must tell rodrigo, your highness?
he has threatened to force alfonso to swear publicly
that he is innocent of our brother sancho"s death
is he not innocent of your brother"s death?
you must tell him not to do this.
he must not.
we will not permit it! we will stop him!
you had better speak to him.
do you understand me, chimene?
i understand, your highness.
no one can ask a king to swear. no one!