"LITTLE THUMB"
I have reached the twilight of a full life.
I saw so much...
... met so many people.
I learned to read the stars...
... and the hearts of men.
I could see the beauty of this world.
Yet, there was a time when as a child...
... I could not have imagined this life.
A time when everything scared me.
A time when everything seemed dark.
A time when people called me Little Thumb
"Little Thumb".
I was born... hum... a long time ago...
A winter's night.
The child has come in the bad season.
If he survives, we will call him "Little Thumb."
In those days...
... winter was a time to be feared.
But... I survived.
Little Thumb, the stone!
I was the youngest in a family of five boys.
At that time, one mouth too many to feed.
Show me your basket.
It's full!
Hurry up! Empty it!
What are we going do you?
You can't plough...
or even... carry a basket!
The Lord's children!
Understand that we were poor.
The world, for my brothers and me...
...stopped at the field where we worked.
For our parents...
... it was quite different.
I went to the village.
I have bad news.
War is upon us.
What war are they talking about?
Soldiers have been seen.
- A rumour, nothing more! - Let's hope so.
Boys, come and help me.
For heaven's sake...
... you can't even keep yourself clean!
Go and find some wood!
Who's there?
Where are you from?
You're lost?
What is your name?
Little Thumb.
My name is Rose.
Come see.
Come!
Look.
He was a prince.
I kissed him...
He changed into toad.
Can you...
...change me into a toad?
You're not a prince!
I don't want you to be afraid of me.
I want to be normal.
It is an angel's feather.
The sap of the tree captured it.
Come here.
It's a secret.
I will protect you.
I want to go.
Come.
I must stay here.
Go, off you go.
I've kept your soup.
I thought you'd been eaten by wolves.
I got lost, I was afraid.
You must be...
... more courageous. Life is hard.
There's no place for the fearful.
Follow the example your big brother.
I'm afraid of ogres.
He's afraid of ogres, darkness.
Fear rather a bad winter...
... a poor harvest...
... a war!
Stop this nonsense.
Ogres do not exist!
I do not want to be scared.
I want to be normal.
Boys, the bread is ready!
Let's hope the weather stays kind.
We could get ahead of the season.
Mum!
I beseech you!
Not the grain, not the grain!
Or we'll be dead!
We are farmers.
Nothing else!
Get back! I eat, I win!
I win, I eat!
We are at war!
I want to defeat your Lord.
Nothing can stop me!
You! Come here!
Come here!
Give him to me!
Not the children!
We've gathered up all the food.
There's nothing else?
The pig...
... to tame.
You're talking about an army!
Let's go!
Have pity!
Leave us...
... a little to eat.
You haven't understood me very well.
Neither grain nor hen...
... nor farm.
Nor life!
Take away your hand!
Make a fire. Throw him on it.
I beseech you!
Oh! Save the children!
Burning children, is a little harsh.
What did you say?
I said it to dramatize.
A horseman is coming!
Collect the supplies, quickly!
Hurry!
They forgot a bag.
Go and hide!
Hurry, go, quickly!
Little Thumb!
Run and hide.
We have been sent by your Lord.
Looters...
- ... took everything! - Shut up, you peasant!
But...
We're fighting against the North.
The queen can't have been warned.
To save the castle...
... all food will be confiscated.
All we have left is a bag of oats.
Take the bag.
This is just a war tax.
Rose!
Can you hear me, Rose?
We are farmers.
No more harvesting or planting.
We are nothing any more.
Nothing!
We shall die.
- The war will not last. - War lasts forever.
Maybe not this one.
Looters grab everything.
It will be worse afterwards.
The queen has not yet...
... been informed.
What can she do for us?
The queen does not want war.
The queen is not hungry!
I do not want to see my sons die. I know about famine!
You survived.
We survived.
My sisters died.
And my brothers.
I must stay optimistic.
We will hide them in the forest.
Where were you?
Outside. I thought heard a hen.
Why am I abandoning my children?
So as not to see us die.
Why the looters?
Why?
Because... because.
Little Thumb, hurry up.
We'll go to the forest and collect firewood.
There is nothing to cook!
Hey!
We will eat wood?
You're thinking about the cold?
Let's get firewood.
Let's go.
On our way.
Jacques, hurry up, come on.
Father, why this way?
Because... it's safer.
We are there.
Let's split up.
Pierrot, Jacques, you go...
... over there.
Little Thumb, Martin, Joseph...
... over there.
The fog will help us.
I can't make it.
Let's wait a little.
- It's time. - I can't.
They've already disappeared.
Come!
I thought you were a bear.
Where's there a bear?
- Give it to me, idiot! - Where are the others?
Over here!
We saw a bear!
We saw caterpillars...
... poisonous ones.
Come on, shut up!
Where is Little Thumb?
Little Thumb!
And Father and Mother?
Mum! Dad!
Dad!
Dad! Mum!
Little Thumb!
We'll never find the path again.
It will swallow us up.
I know the path.
Sing a song.
To give us courage.
A cheerful song.
Listen, folks:
The very sad story
Listen, folks:
The very sad story...
of little Paul...
who was devoured by wolves.
We found his bones in a puddle of mud...
Shit, I don't like peasants!
We found...
... a farm intact.
Hmm... let's go and see it...
This farm, between...
... the forest and the river...
... home to a couple...
... and her five children.
Go!
10 pieces...
... all together!
Cursed be the queen...
... who gives money to the poor!
What more do they want?
Crap!
There you are!
Ah!
The wolves have already eaten our children.
This is how God punishes us.
Home!
Kids!
Mother! Mother!
Mother! Father!
Father!
Mother!
Oh, Father!
After that terrible day...
... we were entitled to have fun all day.
Days without work were scarce.
Our parents went out to find something to eat.
Even with 5 écus...
... finding food was not easy.
The day was wonderful...
but nothing compared with the happiness...
of seeing... our parents come back with...
Ham!
Hands off! Martin, Jacques, Little Thumb!
We'll hide this well.
We had never eaten before as we did that night.
Believe me, you can never sleep better...
... than with a full stomach.
Things don't last forever.
While fighting raged around us...
our meagre... provisions disappeared.
Looters stripped the region.
Again, we were hungry.
That's all there is.
But...!
I put some sawdust in it.
Little Thumb, stop it!
Upstairs, you will finish it...
... in your room.
Good night, Mother, good night, Father.
Good night.
You want to abandon them.
We have no choice.
Tomorrow...
... we'll go into the forest.
Let's go to bed.
God forgive us.
- Shhh! - Ouch!
Come on!
Hey!
Where are you going?
We're going...
... to collect wood.
You must stay at home.
You could be charged with...
abandoning property...
- ... to the enemy. - We need to warm ourselves.
Take this lamp.
It's getting dark.
God protect you.
The enemy's lurking in the forest.
Pierrot.
Joseph.
You go that way.
Don't stay here.
Where are our parents?
We're lost.
Little Thumb, guide us.
Birds have eaten the crumbs.
So, which way?
I don't know any more.
It's Little Thumb's fault!
We'll all die...
... because of you!
Show us the way.
I heard a noise.
Perhaps it was a donkey.
Be quiet!
It's not a donkey.
Wolves!
Mum!
Climb up trees!
Joseph, run!
Martin, don't leave me!
Martin, Martin!
Save me, Little Thumb!
Stay there.
Let me go to heaven!
I haven't done anything wrong.
Over here!
Go!
Where is Joseph?
He was taken!
Joseph!
Joseph, Joseph!
This way, quick!
- Hurry! - Hurry up!
Climb up quickly!
Flames! Down there!
Wolves are afraid of fire.
I'd rather die out here!
- I have vertigo! - No choice.
We'll run towards fire.
No. I can't.
I have vertigo!
To the fire!
The soldier with the iron leg!
I bided my time!
I was humiliated!
Defeats...
... made me stronger.
I'll set fire to everything!
I'll burn your crops!
I will destroy you!
I know no pity...
... remorse, peace!
I will tear out your heart...
... and throw it in hell!
I am a killing machine!
The greatest soldier of them all!
Death in motion!
This war...
... is ours!
Burn him!
Kill them all!
The Lord's castle...
... is nearby!
No survivors!
No one will find us.
We've disappeared.
The ogre!
Someone's got to climb the tree.
Little Thumb, you're the lightest.
Climb!
There's smoke coming from a chimney!
We're saved!
Joseph.
They smell of blood!
We are lost.
Go away immediately.
We are hungry.
This is not an inn!
If you stay here, you'll die.
In the forest the wolves will eat us.
This is not an ordinary house...
Please!
We are exhausted.
He who lives here is the person...
... who children must never meet.
Wait!
Come up, quickly!
Go by the fire.
I'll make you something...
- ... to eat. - Are you a witch?
A witch?
My God, no.
I am just... a wife...
Where is your husband?
He went into the forest to look for one of our daughters...
... whom we care about a lot.
Four other girls sleep upstairs.
I'll hide you until morning.
Nobody in the house must see or hear you.
He'll take your life.
You are not a witch?
I don't think so.
My God, no!
Hide!
He's coming!
Come quick!
In the trunk!
In the trunk, fast!
Shhh!
I'm coming!
The door creaks.
What are you up to that stops you opening the door?
Nothing, I was putting the girls to bed.
I did not...
... hear you arrive.
Go to bed, then!
Rose!
The ogre!
Ah!
This bitch is hiding further and further away.
How can she be...
so different... from her sisters?
However I punish her, nothing changes.
She has every reason to be happy here.
Go to bed quickly.
Starting tomorrow, you will remain locked up...
... in your room!
(In Ogrish)
And you will become...
... a true ogress.
Voluntarily...
... or by force!
Go!
Woman!
Hunger is tying up my entrails!
- It's strange... - What is it?
I can sense...
A smell...
Like a strange smell...
The smell of mutton.
No, it smells...
Fine... rare...
Rare...
Ah yes. Ah!
These are the spices imported...
... from distant lands.
I have used them in the soup.
It has nothing to do with spices, sheep...
... or any exotic animal...
It is... hum...
Some fruit must have rotted in a corner.
No! That smell... fine.
It's like a sweet hazelnut flavour...
... and clear water...
that a little... iron on the tongue...
... would revive.
- I do not smell anything like it. - But there is!
- The mutton is ready. - It can wait!
I must find...
... where this smell...
... is coming from.
Divine!
Ah...
Ah!
It smells like...
It smells like fresh meat!
Hold on!
What perfume!
- What smell... - No!
Delicious!
Someone's keeping...
... secrets in my home!
No, it is a misunderstanding.
I haven't kept anything secret from you!
What do you take me for?
You deserve to be...
... roasted with them.
No, I did wrong!
Forgive me.
Wife, where is...
... my cutlass?
In your workshop.
Please.
Forgive my weakness!
Where is that cutlass, so I can calm my heart!
These are lost children. Spare them.
What's to do except eat them?
You've got plenty of time to eat.
Why hurry?
Where is my silver knife?
You're too worked up.
You'll make a mess of their preparation.
This would be a pity, with meat so rare.
They are so thin.
A last meal would perfume their flesh.
They can wait one night.
You're right.
Fatten them up.
Bake them tomorrow.
Wake my daughters.
Dad's back.
(In Ogrish)
- Dad! - My loves, my princesses!
Ah, my ogresses!
Come see daddy, my darlings.
There, there, my pretty ones, there.
Go, go, take your place.
We have guests today.
This one! He's the ripest!
No, my daughters.
No, no, no, the dinner party...
... is for tomorrow.
So eat.
Eat from your plates.
And these boys, we will eat them tomorrow.
Why aren't you eating?
I have no appetite.
Ogresses always have an appetite.
Look at your sisters eat!
I do not want to be an ogress.
What... What does she say?
The chicken is too fatty.
You are the shame...
... of this family!
Go up to your room!
And don't come back down...
... until you have found...
... your appetite!
Upstairs!
Fortunately, I have you.
Go on, my daughters, eat all you can.
Go on! Eat!
It's time to go to bed.
And you, wife...
... prepare tomorrow's meal.
Give them a good bed.
So that their flesh...
... will be tender in the morning.
Come on, darlings, come on.
You can sleep without fear...
I'll wake you up... before my husband.
Little Thumb, are you asleep?
Come.
Work!
This is my home.
I knew we'd meet again.
I made it.
She has no name.
Do you recognize him?
It's you!
I made him after we met in the forest.
Look.
I pick them up and put them there.
This opens when you touch it.
Don't go to sleep, the ogre will come in the night.
It's him! Quick!
Wake your brothers!
Martin!
The ogre!
Wake up, wake up!
Little Thumb, come back!
He's coming!
Come and hide.
Shhh, stop!
Stop!
Little Thumb!
The dolls.
Put them there.
Why postpone until tomorrow...
... what I can do now?
Crowns...
Hell, I was going to kill my daughters!
This wine has messed up my head!
There are the caps of these boys.
Ah... the flesh is so tender!
Ah...
Let's start work.
It's scarcely day, yet I'm already hungry!
Women, cook the boys for me!
My God, he's already awake!
Children, the ogre!
No!
My daughters...
I've taken the lives of my daughters!
Damn them, those boys!
May the heavens destroy them!
Vengeance!
No, I beg you stop, stop!
With my 7 league boots...
You can run...
... but not escape!
Nothing will give us back...
... our girls.
Stay with me!
Do not leave me.
Oh, it's trapped me!
Let's help him!
Little Thumb, help me!
Ah, my legs!
My legs!
Help me!
Pierrot!
I'm going to die!
Help me!
- We'll have to climb. - Oh no, no, no!
- Ah! - Don't look down!
Little Thumb!
Ah!
Martin!
Grab my hand!
- Grab it! - Ah!
Come on!
Joseph!
I can't go on!
Come on!
Go on!
Take my hand.
The ogre!
- Ah! - The ogre!
Hurry!
Get in!
These boots are exhausting me, I must sit down.
We'll die.
We'll be...
- ... skeletons. - Shhh!
Without his 7 league boots...
... the ogre won't be able to get us.
We've got to take them off him.
Send Little Thumb.
He is brave but...
... it is my duty to go.
It's impossible, I'm too big.
I'll do it.
Quick, quick!
Go!
Little Thumb, come on, hurry up!
I'll catch up with you later.
What are you doing?
These are my boots!
Ah! Who are you taking them for?
I am the ogre of the forest!
You have nothing to fear, nothing!
I just want...
Just want to eat you!
Ah!
Youngster!
Little one!
Come here.
Little one! Little one!
Little one!... Come here!
Come close.
Look... there...
This is a letter.
Here.
This is my message.
This is a message for the queen.
When the queen receives this message...
... she will put an end to the war.
Go!
Deliver the message before nightfall.
Go... Go!
You're a brave boy.
Go!
Hurry, hurry!
Run quickly.
You cannot wait any longer.
Let me send in our troops.
l need you to decide quickly.
You like war.
What? I...
It is your nature.
Majesty...
Only cannon will save the kingdom.
For more deaths...
... and misfortune.
I no longer want a country full of fire and blood.
It is time to rebuild it.
But not with tears.
The future is not in your hands.
They're catapulting children at us!
- It's a trap! - The Queen will thwart it.
Let me go, let me go!
I escaped the wolves!
I beat an ogre!
I have a letter for the queen!
Me, I knew Jeanne d'Arc!
Come on, to the Queen!
- What is it? - They're catapulting children!
Majesty...
The child said he an envelope for you.
Let me see.
The war will soon end.
What is your name?
Little Thumb.
It's a nice name.
This is news...
... we no longer expected.
The contents of this letter...
... I still don't know.
I was kept away from confidences.
Take this letter and deliver it as soon as possible...
... to all the garrisons.
The war ended with a piece of paper.
A simple letter and terror and hunger ceased.
You're too young to be a knight, but...
... you'll make an excellent messenger of honour.
I make you first messenger...
...of the kingdom.
I can grant you a wish.
If it is in my power.
Think carefully.
I'd like to see my brothers... my family... again
- They're coming! - They're coming, they're coming!
I saw other wars.
As a messenger...
... still trying...
... to avoid them.
Traveling throughout the country...
creating bonds... among the realms...
... and among men.
Time passed quickly.
We all grew up...
... then aged.
We had great lives...
... not always easy, but that's how it is.
Joseph became a bee-keeper.
His honey was so good...
... he was recognized throughout the region...
... as the best bee-keeper.
Jacques and Martin remained on the farm.
Seasons governed their lives.
And their children took the farm.
Pierrot became a ship's captain.
He made several trips around the world.
And he grew old happily in remote islands.
I never forgot that trip in the forest.
When facing the challenges of my adult life...
remembering it... always comforted me.
Like the angel's feather...
... that I still wear on my neck.
Have fun, children!
Believe in yourselves...
Respect others... and enjoy their differences.
I'll stop before I hear you say I am senile.
A little riddle to end with.
Do you know who became my wife?
"The Moon Shines For You" (Vanessa Paradis)
# Close your eyes and let the stars #
# Cling to your fingers like butterflies. #
# My love, the night is beautiful. #
# Come to me,... #
# open your wings wide. #
# The moon like an angel watches over you. #
# If you are afraid of learning to fly,... #
# the beating of my heart says:... #
# "I am very close" #
# I asked for a perfect sky... #
# so that you can finally dream. #
# Close your eyes. #
# The night will be your friend. #
# Feel like the wind caress your face. #
# Realize that time... #
# is just a mirage. #
# The night is beautiful, come to me. #
# We no longer see anything but her:... #
# the moon, my love, shines for you. #
# Close your eyes and let the stars... #
# shine with all their might... #
# like huge suns. #
# My love, the night is beautiful! #
# Come to me,... #
# open your wings wide. #
# It's you, my love, who shines for me:... #
# you are my love that shines for me! #