Lydia: Doctor, my baby girl hazel is sick.
He said, "kennedy shall be hung by the neck until he be dead."
Do you think your choices will not haunt you?
If you think you'll intimidate me into dropping my bid,
Well, you're as stupid as you are duplicitous!
Lansing's out of control. He must be contained.
Is this official police business, sir, or...
What this is, mr maguire, is you showing appreciation
For being saved from the gallows!
Sullivan: Mrs corcoran. Ellen: I'm looking for kevin.
Ellen stopped by today. She's pregnant.
You slept with my wife again, you son of a bitch!
The child is not mine, kevin.
(panting)
(celtic music playing)
I was waiting all night for you to come to bed.
You never did.
I will sleep when kennedy's dead.
Well, tonight the world will be free of him.
Amen.
But first we must pay respects to kevin's wife.
Mmm... Yes.
That poor woman.
Such desperation to go so far.
Even in my darkest days...
Who can say?
But surely she did not deserve to die,
Unlike kennedy.
Robert, I think your presence there might be a victory to him.
I think, perhaps,
It might be a waste of your time.
No, I want to see it happen.
I want to see kennedy choke out his last breath.
What good will seeing that do?
It's how I will close the book on the whole sordid affair.
For father...
But mostly for you.
I'm burying her with my daughter.
It's where she belongs.
Kevin, you know the church's teachings.
She committed a mortal sin.
The new archbishop would never allow a burial on consecrated ground.
Then don't tell him.
It's not so easy, son.
Every internment goes through his office, and this new fella,
He's no dagger john hughes, believe me.
Hughes, at least, appreciated loopholes.
So the two of them are forever apart.
-I'm sorry. -Mother and child?
Kevin, I'd be banished to canarsie if I went against the church.
All because of rules made by man.
Now if ellen were to be
Cremated.
I thought that's another rule.
The church is against cremation.
And her ashes scattered
Alongside maggie's grave...
In the dead of night.
No one'd ever know.
(sighs)
You have dagger john's affinity for loopholes.
Faith
Depends on our belief in the unknowable.
Will you join me in prayer?
You go ahead, father.
I lost god about nine minutes
Into the battle of the wilderness.
(sighs heavily)
To everything there is a season,
And a time to every purpose under the heaven.
Burke: A time to be born, and a time to die.
A time to kill...
"we urge... No, uh, we demand that the board of aldermen
"select general donovan's bid
For the proposed new croton aqueduct."
"we urge that the board of aldermen
"acts with good sense and alacrity
"in approving general donovan's bid,
"et cetera, et cetera."
How long, donovan?
How long will I be your pawn?
Is that how you see our collaboration?
Oh, is that what you call this?
This blackmail operation you're running,
Using me to secure your bid for this foolishness.
Would you rather the buccaneer lansing get the project?
I would prefer neither.
The croton aqueduct is sufficient.
And yet it's most staunch advocates agree that system
Will support a population of no more than two million.
And in what fantasy land will we need more water than that?
(laughs)
That's the problem with you anglo-saxons,
You lack a talent for grandeur.
Someday, donovan, I will simply refuse to do your bidding.
Ah, I find adjusting
To the reality of one's station in life
Is like a balm for the soul.
I see our collaboration as being mutually beneficial.
You help me get what I need,
And I secure for you that which you desire.
Mr o'hearn!
(gasps)
(chuckles)
The tenement well hazel used is located here.
The water supply flowing into it begins here,
Where collect pond used to be.
A well's water is always a reflection of the history of its source.
What is the history of collect pond?
A dumping spot for tanneries, slaughterhouses, cattle pens.
A sewer would have cleaner water.
(knocking at door)
Oh, kevin...
Come in.
Sit down.
Uh, sara, I was, uh...
Hoping you could help me out. I need to...
To pick a dress for ellen.
Of course.
We'll choose a beautiful colour.
What was her favourite?
Um... I... I can't remember.
I don't think I ever knew.
Mr corcoran, if it please you, stay here.
Sara and I, we'll...
We'll get your missus ready for cooling.
Back home, I have readied the dead for the next life.
Norbert: Excuse me, robert.
I'm not staying.
I just wanted to thank you for the invitation to this evening's hanging.
The invitation didn't come from me.
It arrived this morning to the club.
My wife remains your ardent supporter.
For all her unfortunate instincts,
She does sometimes recognise what is right.
Putting kennedy's terror to rest
And trying to keep us a family.
I'm sorry for the things I said about your mother.
Truly sorry.
For mother's sake alone I will attempt to accept your apology.
Just to be clear, that gun was not loaded.
I will see you at the hanging.
(laughs hysterically)
My fire's burning hot now!
Guard: Damn rebel!
Kennedy: Huh? Is that really what you think?
Carrying on like a loon in there!
Jesus, kennedy, you're a bit touched!
I'll be home soon!
(groans)
Sanity is for the unchained.
(grunts weakly)
Hey, major, missus, come on in.
Donovan: # 'tis there I'd sit and cry my fill
# and every tear would turn a mill #
(continues singing)
I don't think I can find the words.
Don't have to, matthew.
You and I have been through enough together.
A few words won't change that.
Sara, I can't thank you enough.
She looks beautiful, and at rest.
Sara: We were glad to do it.
She is at peace now
With the lord.
Corky...
Your aunt maeve is quite an interesting woman.
I was always terrified of her.
She used to beat my cousin with a wire belt.
(laughs)
You certain there's nothing I can arrange?
More food, spirits?
Railway ticket out of town?
Oh, no, major, thank you.
My heart aches for your grief, kevin.
I hope you find solace amidst the pain.
I appreciate the two of you making the trip,
But I'm holding up.
I hope I did not upset him further.
For all our differences, corky and I share one trait,
We do not receive sympathy with much grace.
So that's an irish wake.
Mourning and drinking and singing all rolled into one.
I prefer the way we do it.
Sombre affairs mark the sombre passing of sombre lives.
Sombre or not, these events remind us
We only have limited time on this earth, robert.
Seeing kevin and matthew together reminded me of that.
The war?
No place like the battlefield
To learn about the fleeting nature of life.
Every day, I wondered, "would I be next?"
Oh, my god.
I can't even imagine.
Until I accepted the truth that was before me.
The truth?
I have no control, nor will I ever.
(horse whinnies)
(people chattering in distance)
These nitwits
Think the drink, the opium, to be a result of my soft life.
What does it matter what other people think?
In truth, it's the opposite.
They help soothe the agony in my vanished leg
And clawing in my gut.
They keep the idea of an alternative
Ending at bay.
Oh, robert,
Amidst the chaos,
I'm so glad we found each other.
Major general dix has asked me to come
And witness the preparations for the execution.
I'll be back shortly.
All the staff have gone to the parade.
I'm going to enjoy the rare quiet.
# when boyhood's fire was in my blood
# I read of ancient freemen
# for greece and rome who bravely led
# three hundred men and three men
# and then I prayed I yet might see
# our fetters rent in twain
All: # and ireland, long a province
# be a nation once again!
# a nation once again
# and ireland, long a province #
(singing continues)
(chuckles quietly)
You foiling my plan of escape?
Sounds like you have a saloon on your hands.
You planning on coming in or are you gonna hide out here all day?
Heard your people considered it a bad omen
For women in my condition to attend.
Ill tidings for the baby.
Since when does eva heissen believe in old superstition?
(breathes shakily)
Just one breath at a time,
That's how we endure these things.
I'm sick of superstition.
I'm tired of rules that don't consider what it's like
Actually being in this world.
Kevin,
I'm afraid I may have caused your ellen to worry.
What do you mean?
I encountered her on the street the other day.
She asked about my pregnancy, asked about you.
So?
I may have inadvertently given her the impression that you were the father.
Well, how so?
I can't be. The timing's all off, right?
Of course it is, but how could ellen know that?
I could have assured her, but I didn't.
Well, sadly, what we could have done different,
Don't matter much now, eva.
Have you got a name yet?
I'm going back and forth. Nothing german.
A nice american name.
Yeah.
No sense in looking to the past.
(sighs)
(sniffles)
(sighs loudly)
Major general dix, I came to inquire
About the details of kennedy's execution and now he's gone?
The traitor escaped and stabbed a guard.
Soldiers and coppers are scouring the downtown area.
I hope he's downtown.
(door creaks open)
(parade music playing)
What's the problem? Can we not move any faster?
It's the parade, sir. I have no way around the crowd.
Pull over. I'll go by foot.
-Man: Whoa! -(horse whinnies)
(coughing)
Within the bounds of your precinct
Is an entire tenement full of very sick people.
Irish and black alike, in dire need of blood transfusions.
I can help them if I can find healthy, fit donors!
News headline, "people are sick and dying in five points."
Thank you for the update on neighbourhood affairs.
Your younger patrolmen are the best candidates.
They are active and of the right age.
This police force is not going to mix races in the name of magic!
So a month ago I should have left my black hands in my pockets
And my science in my own head?
I didn't have to walk into a building under siege,
Risk my own well-being,
Or ask my wife to work with me all night
To help keep you alive!
It's saint patrick's day!
I'm about a battalion short of men needed to keep order!
(sighs) but a few of the lads may be available.
Tell them to meet me at the tenement on leonard
As soon as they can get there.
Isn't it amazing that robert and I can wear the same clothes?
I always considered him a much smaller man.
Certainly not an achievement or standing.
I was gonna flee the city,
But I thought I'd drop in and invite you along with me.
How thoughtful.
Despite your occasional cruelty,
I hold friendly sentiments toward ya.
I hold nothing for you but mockery, you fool!
Well then...
It's time I finally changed your opinion.
You will die today... Try as you might.
Oh, that's enough, mrs morehouse.
(glass shatters)
(grunts)
(panting)
-(screams) no! -(grunting)
You fight like a dirty guttersnipe!
(elizabeth screams)
It's arousing, I must admit,
But I will not hesitate to end your life.
(sobs)
(whimpers)
(panting)
Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!
Wait...
Shh!
Not here.
The staff will be back from the parade soon.
I'll come with you, but we must hurry.
Kennedy: You search the top one?
Elizabeth: Yes, of course. Kennedy: The left side as well?
Elizabeth: There's nothing there!
(loud clattering)
Kennedy: Maybe the notes are tucked away. What about the other end?
I thought you said the money was here.
We can't travel without resources.
I told you, the morehouse men don't involve their women in money matters.
Oh, forgive me.
I didn't realise we would have visitors.
Elizabeth, did you offer mr kennedy a drink?
A brandy man, if I remember correctly.
(both laughing)
You know, I would love one last taste
Of the blessed morehouse stock.
Dear, be a good wife and pour us men a drink, would you?
Or would you prefer something stronger, my good man?
Kennedy: Thank you. We've got to be going on soon.
I think a brandy would be wonderful.
You always considered yourself clever,
A clever man who can manipulate and exploit,
But unfortunately a firearm is much more powerful
Than a wealthy wiseass.
Kennedy: Where's your money?
(both laugh)
Truthfully, I haven't seen a silver piece in an age.
When father left, I found I was literate in all things but finance.
-(both laughing) -is that so?
(groans)
(robert grunts)
Your drinks, gentlemen.
I do appreciate your hospitality.
(chuckling)
Mmm...
But, we've got to be off soon and uh...
Elizabeth has decided to leave with me.
Really? That's a revelation.
So don't make me ask you again or I will shoot you.
Where is your goddamn money?
Maybe I have a few bobs stashed away.
(breathes heavily)
There.
All the morehouse notes yet to be deposited.
The key!
(timepiece chain jingles)
Uh...
(kennedy chuckles)
Mmm...(sighs)
(grunts)
(breathing heavily)
So clever... (chuckles bitterly)
Always so clever. (grunts)
(elizabeth screams)
Robert! Are you okay?
I'm okay.
(groans)
She is first mine. (chuckles)
(groans)
You know the most frightened I ever seen ya?
Was you holding maggie
Them first few days after she was born.
God...
I was terrified of that gorgeous little creature.
Your whole body goes stiff.
You looked like...
Like that little babe in your arms
Was planning to devour you at any moment.
It was nothing that could have been expected or imagined.
I've been meaning to say, kevin, she looks stunning, your ellen.
Christ, sybil.
You promised you weren't gonna say that.
Shut up. It's a free country.
God forbid I should say something nice.
Every wake we ever been to,
Whether the departed is eight or 80,
"ah, they look beautiful, they do."
-She goes on and on. -Well, she does.
She's dead, sybil.
How the hell can you be good looking when you're dead?
Keep it up and they'll be building a box for you right quick.
-You remember bridey o'halloran? -Oh...
Bridey o'halloran. You remember bridey o'halloran?
She had some mug on her.
She was as ugly a witch as ever walked the earth.
It's bad luck to disrespect the dead!
We go to the wake,
And this one's saying to mr o'halloran,
"ah, she looks lovely in the box, she does."
(both laughing)
The dead are just dead, okay?
They're neither good looking or not, 'cause it don't matter.
-Oh, stick it, you big oaf! -(clattering)
Sorry.
Hey, at least now it's a proper wake.
(both laughing)
(people coughing)
So what's next?
We start swinging from the trees and craving bananas?
And what do they call you irish but savages?
You talk to a copper like that?
I apologise, sir.
-I was out of line. -Momma!
You know what? To hell with sullivan's crack orders!
Freeman: Sara!
Would you and hattie mind checking on the cart outside?
(whispers) robert?
Robert!
You're not supposed to be up there!
True, but good god...
Imagine if you were found out.
You might have been forced up these steps.
Come on, come up.
No. No, I will not.
And you don't have to keep reminding me of my debt to you.
Humour me.
(rope creaks)
Oh, my god.
It really does give you the chills, doesn't it?
(door opens)
(women pray quietly)
Annie reilly.
-Where you been? -Around.
I um... I heard about your ellen.
I'm so sorry.
-Well, thanks for coming. -(slaps bench)
It means a lot to me.
I have been planning to come see you.
I have found a nice family to live with.
Oh, yeah?
Well, is it safe?
Are they kind?
They are gentle.
They own a farm in jersey, a place called new milford,
On the banks of the hackensack river.
For a little girl, anything beats five points.
I told them my name was annie corcoran,
That my father is a new york city detective.
Is that okay?
Of course it is, child.
You promise me you'll be careful, annie,
Annie corcoran,
And bring me back some country chickens now and again.
Now eat before you stand. Get your strength back.
Transfusion is working.
Everyone seems to be responding well.
Matthew, come here!
Breathe... Breathe for me, baby.
Hazel, honey, breathe for me!
I believed in you! I trusted you!
Sara: She was fine.
She was getting stronger.
Let matthew tend to this girl.
What the hell's going on?
(lydia sobs)
I told you this fool was no better than some cracker doctor.
You don't give a damn about us!
(lydia sobbing)
Go on now, this party's over!
Leave us be, damn it!
Matthew, time to go.
(cries)
(sobs quietly)
I am what I heal.
Today I am nothing.
Many of those patients were beyond the reach of medicine,
And some still you saved.
Think on the last time we were together in virginia.
For months we planned escape,
But it didn't work out.
Yet here we are, years later, together.
You do what you can, the rest is up to god.
I may have faith,
But too much dependence on god is
Only for the helpless,
And I can solve this problem.
Even with all your learning, matthew,
You are not the answer to the world's troubles.
Hattie: No man is.
The world will know the loss of hazel turnow.
(breathing heavily)
And it will not lose one more like her.
You must be blessed with an abundance of luck,
What with alderman bartlett
Strangled to death with his pants down,
The most vocal opponent of your aqueduct bid and of you,
Meeting such a sordid end.
Ah, the poor man.
I offered up a rosary for him, past Sunday mass.
Please, it's more likely you danced a jig over his demise.
I don't tend to gloat, but I do like to win.
You have been winning since you got to these shores,
But I have to ask, no rich daddy back home?
Nobody to stake you in the new world?
I was one of 14 children
Raised in a mud-floored hut
Outside of sneem in the county of kerry.
Need I do the math for you?
You're a keen operator, donovan,
But even with bartlett gone,
You will not get the aqueduct project
Unless you get lansing to withdraw his bid.
I believe my proposal will win the day,
And you and I will profit
As the properties we share will explode in value.
So far he has refused.
What makes you so certain he will come around to your position?
I'm sure that you will see that
Chief among my greatest traits is flexibility.
I can adjust my negotiation style if required.
(gasps) who's that?
(gags)
I'm the angel of darkness, you orange bastard.
Help! Sheehan!
(shushes)
It's a catholic holiday.
All your staff are down at eva's paradise...
Kerosene?
...Spending donovan's money on whores and whisky.
You got two choices.
You can sign this paper now
(breathing nervously)
Or I turn you into a flaming scarecrow.
What is this?
I'm not paid to know or care.
You really think you clowns will get away with this?
If I'm a clown,
Then there's only one choice for you.
No.
Please, spare me!
Please, god in heaven, put that match out!
Lansing: Look, you bastards have won! Please!
(crying) I don't want to die.
Jesus, you're embarrassing me, lansing.
Now sign.
-(whimpers) -(blows)
Happy saint patrick's day.
(men argue drunkenly)
I have never seen such poor white folks. Just wretched.
They're living worse than half the slaves I ever knew.
At least they are free.
Free to do what?
Live like some kind of sick animals,
Unable to fend for themselves?
Most of them, the irish especially,
Arrived here with nothing,
So they are forced to fight for the scraps.
I'm not trying to defend whites
Who see fit to own people as property, but,
In my experience, at least they had manners.
Momma!
So long as you say thank you and please
And know what fork to use first...
-Don't... No, do... -...Means you are a good person?
Do not try to change what I'm saying.
Just... Civilized.
Well, we're equals here, at least by law,
And we are carving out a life for ourselves and...
A life? (chuckles)
Here?
Life has space, sara, and sky and...
Privacy.
Clean air to breathe.
On the plantation, the only privacy we had
Was what daddy wanted to give us.
Here it's whatever we can take, for ourselves.
I don't aim to be ungrateful.
I'm just
Not accustomed to your five points.
You, uh... You don't have to go, annie.
I do.
I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry, kevin.
(sighs) it wasn't your fault.
We were broken long before you got here.
I just wish that...
How many wishes do each of us have?
Some get more than others, I guess.
I was telling the story the other day
On how you took me to central park and we went sleigh riding.
Yeah, that was a fun day.
Even your ellen had fun.
She was happy.
I wish that
We could all have had more days like that.
Ever since a copper offered me an egg,
I have learned to have good days.
Thank you for never giving up on me.
I am always so proud of you.
Matthew is just wasting his time.
He is changing lives,
Saving lives.
I know you have been free for a while,
But I cannot believe that any white man
Is gonna care about the words
He's putting down on that paper.
That is a strong possibility,
But not putting those words down
Guarantees that no man, white or black,
Will ever read them.
(breathes nervously)
(gasps)
(breathes shakily)
You tell my friends these last words!
I am to hang, and you are my brothers,
And I happily die for you, for my country,
And I am not sorry
And I am not afraid.
It's better this be my fate
Than fall on bended knee to the union!
(chuckles)
# trust to luck trust to luck
# stare fate in the face
# for your heart will be easy
# when it's in the right place #
(rope creaks)
(morehouse sighs)
(door opens)
I'm not gonna lie to ya, kevin,
And you can do what you like to me.
You can shoot me through the head or the heart.
Don't tempt me.
But I loved ellen.
Maybe not as much as you,
Maybe in a different way,
But I did.
I still do.
And I love you too, ya bastard,
More than any brother I ever could have had.
I know I done things that can't be forgiven,
But just remember,
I will kill or die for you any day of the week.
All you need to do is ask.
I know, francis.
Do you realise that
On saint patrick's day, we celebrate the day he died?
(spits)
When I was a boy, I always assumed
We were drinking to his birth.
I was never that hopeful.
(sighs heavily)
# our ship she's ready to sail away
# and it's come my sweet comrades
# o'er the stormy sea...
# her snow white wings are all unfurled
# and soon we'll swim in a watery world #
(celtic music playing)