Genre: Historical/Drama
Director: Joe Wright
Writer: Mo Buck
Cast: Christian Bale, Rami Malek, Jamie Dornan, Natalie Dormer, Gil Birmingham, Zahn McClarnon, Jeff Goldblum, Gary Cole, Hugh Laurie, Sacha Baron Cohen, Alexander Ludwig
Plot: PART I – The Capture
It’s 1651, waves are hitting the boat on which Pierre Esprit Radisson (Christian Bale) makes his way to the New Continent, from his native France. The boat is rocking as the agitated water of the usually calm St-Lawrence river hits the boat. Radisson looks on the horizon, they just past the city of Québec. He will get down at Trois-Rivières, where their big boat won’t be able to go much further down the river. He decided to have a fresh start in New France with his sisters, who already lives over there. He decided to arrive just as she’s about to get married. Pierre goes inside as it starts to rain.
When Pierre gets off the boat, he’s welcomed by his sister, Marguerite (Natalie Dormer) and her soon-to-be husband, Médard Chouart (Rami Malek). They show him around town, but Trois-Rivières wasn’t much bigger than a medium-sized settlement by that point. They welcome him in their home and show him where he’ll sleep. It’s not much, but that’ll do just fine. He kisses his sister on the cheek and shakes Médard’s hand, thanking them for welcoming him, even if life is difficult around here, people aren’t rich and sometimes, they don’t know if they’ll even eat the next day. Médard says it’s not a problem and speaking about food, he tells Pierre do get ready for tomorrow. They’re going on a hunt with another men to try to find food for their families.
Médard, Pierre and another man are deep into the woods, looking for a prey to kill. They hear something moving and they all stop, looking around. Médard whispers that he can’t see anything. They move slowly, but surely. Out of nowhere, they’re jumped by a group of Native Americans. They start hitting them with their tomahawks, a small axe. Radisson is injured. The Native Americans, from the Iroquois tribe, kidnap all three men, but decide between them to leave the odd man out, too heavily injured to be worth something. They strap them roughly and start dragging them. Médard is able to break free. He wants to save Radisson, but Pierre begs him to return to his sister. They start running behind Médard, but he’s already gone. Pierre doesn’t say a word, as the Iroquois bring him to their small village. One of the members of the tribe, called Young Wolf (Zahn McClarnon) comes and drags Pierre to his hut. They meet his father, Old Wolf (Gil Birmingham). Both of them don’t speak the common tongue, but Pierre roughly understands that they want to adopt him. It was not unusual to see Native Americans try to adopt Europeans and to assimilate them to replace deceased loved ones.
During the following six weeks, Pierre learns a lot about the Iroquois and he’s really starting to become one of their own, learning how to speak a couple of words and he’s now able to live with their lifestyle. One day, an unrecognizable Pierre is on a hunt with the Iroquois. They kill a prey and as the Iroquois are working on it, Pierre’s attention is directed elsewhere. Another Native American, but from the Algonquiens tribe, is trying to talk to him and he speaks English. He says that he knows he’s not really Iroquois and he could help him go back to Trois-Rivières. Pierre accepts and the Algonquien gets up and screams their war cry. It catches the Iroquois attention is chase Pierre and the Algonquien. They’re caught and they kill the Algonquien. They tie up Pierre and he now feels like he isn’t one of their own anymore.
When they arrive back at the village, they strap Pierre on a pole. Old and Young Wolf arrive. Pierre can’t understand what they’re saying, but they seem to implore pardon for his actions. A much older man comes in front of him and grabs his hand. Pierre tries to fight back, but Old Wolf calms him down. He makes gesture signaling that it’s better for him to not fight back. The old man pulls all fingernails of Radisson, as he’s screaming. The night has come and they leave him on a pole, screaming and crying. During the night, a group of Iroquois arrive with prisoners, including a man who speaks English. He says that they will torture them and their survival will depend on their bravery during this life-threatening challenge. During the night, all the prisoners scream relentlessly.
The next day, practically the whole tribe comes out and a group of men come forward with their sons, including Young and Old Wolf, who stand in front of Radisson. The men start to burn to kill their designated prisoners, as they weren’t brave enough to face their punishment. One woman has her breasts cut and they took her baby out her belly. They tried to force her to eat it, but she died during the operation. Old Wolf and Youg Wolf remain stoic in front of Pierre. They tell their chief that they don’t want to kill him and that just a simple punishment will suffice. The chief accepts, but on one condition, unbeknown to Radisson, if he’s brave enough, he’ll survive. Old Wolf starts to burn Radisson on the chest with a stick, while Young Wolf stabs him in the foot with a red-hot knife. Radisson remains stoic and he doesn’t lose consciousness. He passed the test. Old Wolf frees him and he brings him back to their hut. He starts healing his injuries.
Six weeks later, Pierre, in the meantime, left the tribe, along with pretty much all the men, to go to New Amsterdam, today known as New York. They want to raid the town and collect much needed supplies. When they arrive in New Amsterdam, they start attacking the pedestrians and stealing from the houses. Pierre is alone, in his Iroquois gear. He’s walking down the street, when a man hooks him up. He says he knows he’s not really a Native American, and by looking at his fingernails, he knows he’s not doing this by choice. He offers him to go back to Europe, in Holland and to flee the continent, to try to have a normal life, once again. Pierre throws his Iroquois gear in the water and he gets on the boat.
His stay in Holland is a very brief one. With absolutely no intention of staying in Europe, he gets on a boat for Quebec. This time, he’ll try not to get kidnapped. The ship leaves the Rotterdam port and sets sails for the New World.
PART II – A Fresh Start
Pierre eventually went back to Trois-Rivières in 1658, seven years after setting foot there for the first time. His injuries suffered at the hands of the Native Americans are now completely healed. Radisson travels all the way to his sister’s house. Trois-Rivières is now a small town and not just some vulgar settlement. When he knocks on the door, he’s greeted by a little kid, who doesn’t recognize him. He thinks he’s at the wrong house, until his sister shows up and recognizes him. She’s happy to see him once again, she thought he was dead and she thought she would never see him again. Médard comes in and jokingly tells Pierre that they won’t go hunting anymore, so he won’t get kidnapped this time around. Pierre says he wants to work. He wants to help them. He doesn’t want to be a burden for her sister’s family and he doesn’t want to waste the best working years of his life doing nothing. Médard says he found a job and a pretty lucrative one too. He’s a fur trapper and he leaves for an expedition to Lake Michigan and Lake Superior next week. Pierre says he’ll come along.
A week later, Médard shows Pierre how to obtain the fur from a dead animal. They skin one together and they bring him back to their small canoe. The furs are a lucrative, untapped market, especially popular in Europe, where they’re seen as a sign of wealth. Médard has been selling his furs to merchants for a good price. The English had a flair for furs a long time ago. Médard often encounters some on his way to the Lakes. He even heard of a huge, unexplored territory, in the North of New France, but nobody wants to go there. The travelling required to reach the remote location would cost too much money, especially when you don’t know if there’s enough furs to make it valuable. They small canoe is full of furs and they navigate in the St-Lawrence river to go sell their furs in Montreal. They’re suddenly accosted by a French ship, led by Pierre d’Argenson (Jeff Goldblum), governor of New France. He wants to stop the illegal fur trading that’s going on. Fur trappers are required to have a permit. Médard has one, but not Pierre. They are fined by d’Argenson for not having a permit and he seizes all their furs.
They followed d’Argenson’s ship all the way to Montreal, where they urge him to meet with them. They talk to him about the territory up north that could make them rich. If d’Argenson finances their expedition, they would give a cut to them, but d’Argenson refuses, stating that he never heard of a promised land up north He escorts them out of the building. Radisson and Médard discuss amongst themselves and conclude that they really want to explore the Hudson Bay, the supposedly fur-rich territory. They say they’ll go to the Colonies down south to seek financing.
The two friends are now in the what is today North Carolina and go the governor’s office, where they meet with the governor, George Carteret (Hugh Laurie). The man likes their proposition, but his colony doesn’t have the money they require. He will send them on a ship to England, where they’ll be able to meet the King in person. He’ll give them all the money they need, especially if Carteret gives them a letter with his blessing. Pierre and Médard are thrilled, but are concerned that they have to travel all the way to England.
It’s Pierre and Médard’s first time in England and they are nervous to meet with the king. They wore the best clothes they could find, but they’re definitely not up to the standards of the usual King visitors. They go to the palace, where they’re welcomed with a certain reticence, but once they show the letter from Carteret, they get right in, escorted by a guard. Then, Médard and Pierre meet with Charles II (Sacha Baron Cohen). They pitch him their idea and satisfied with the potential reward this could give him, Charles II accepts. They thank him, especially that the French passed on their offer. Then, Charles warns them that if he surprises them concocting something with the French, he’ll have them both killed. He gives them two boats, but forces them to collaborate with George Cartwright (Jamie Dornan), a British officer, commissioned by Charles II to explore the Hudson Bay, besides, he knows how to get there, so that’s a plus. But then, the king’s financing didn’t come through and they had to wait three years in England to finally leave, so in 1668, they finally leave for the Hudson Bay with George Cartwright.
PART III – Hudson Bay
Radisson, Médard and Cartwright have a nice operation going in the Hudson Bay. They sent a ship filled with furs to England a long time ago and they have plenty of fur left in store. Radisson receives a letter from England and everyone is gathering around him to read it. The King is giving them even more financing, but he needs them to do something in exchange. According to Cartwright, who’s been sending letters to the King in secret, they need to establish a colony in Fort Nelson. Cartwright will make sure that every resource sent by the King will be used to that effect. The two friends are mad that they got tricked. They were certain that Cartwright was there to help them but he wasn’t. With all the work they did for England, they never even get paid. That night, Médard and Radisson plant a knife in Cartwright’s foot, to incapacitate him. Unsatisfied with they way they’ve been treated, they take a good part of the money they had left from the original financing and they flee the Hudson Bay.
The two friends eventually stop in Quebec City. They want to have their own financing for a project in the Hudson Bay to competition with the English. They now have proof that it’s a lucrative. So they decide to pay a visit to the new governor, the pretentious Louis de Frontenac (Gary Cole). He doesn’t accept to back him financially, as the colony has other preoccupations, but if they’d have an already existing operation, he could very well give them permission to be fur trappers, because as of this date, they don’t have French permits. Sad and unmotivated, they go back to Trois-Rivières with Marguerite for the next ten years.
PART IV – Betrayals
It’s now 1681, and a much older Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médard Chouart are poor and desperate. They could have made so much money, but they ended up with nothing. They decide to make one last push to have a fur-trapping business up north, with the blessing of Marguerite, who suffers every time they leave, but if it works, it could give them a great fortune, so she accepts, every time. Médard and Pierre are set to travel to Quebec City to meet with Louis de Frontenac, once again.
The second time around, Louis is more open to their suggestions. Of course, in the meantime, the French heard how much money the English made in the business. Pierre and Médard say they are the best men he can find around here to capture the Hudson Bay from the English. Louis decides that the English had enough fun just north of their territory and he wants it to end. He puts them in command of a group of soldiers, and together, they need to seize Fort Nelson and the Hudson. They either win or they die! If they somehow come out of the bloodshed alive, Louis will pay them generously, in the name of the King.
Pierre Radisson is hiding in the deep white snow of the Hudson Bay with his friend Médard. He gets up and he signals the beginning of the assault. He can see George Cartwright and he wants to kill him. The bloodshed starts all around. The French are outnumbered, by they had the advantage of taking them by surprise. In the battle, Pierre comes face to face with George Cartwright. They have a dramatic battle and, in the end, Pierre ends up piercing George’s stomach with his stomach. As he dies, Cartwright, whispers to Pierre that he’s a traitor and he’ll always be. Pierre answers that it’s just who he is, and in a sense, that’s true. He betrayed the Iroquois, by running away, he betrayed the French by doing business with the English and he turned on them by attacking Fort Nelson. The fight is over and the French came out on top. Pierre drafts a letter to Louis de Frontenac, noticing him that they won. Pierre didn’t know it at the time, but he’ll betray again, and soon.
When Louis de Frontenac receives Radisson’s letter, he answers that it’s a good thing, but he won’t be able to come through with the money. Once again, Radisson and Médard feel betrayed and tired of the seemingly unstoppable bullshit, they give the French soldiers the permission to leave and they set everything on fire. As Fort Nelson is burning, Médard and Radisson flee the scene and head back to Trois-Rivières.
Louis de Frontenac heard that Fort Nelson burned down and he holds Radisson responsible for that. He decides to send his best knight, Pierre de Troyes (Alexander Ludwig). Radisson has a bounty on his head, and Louis wants him dead or alive. The knight makes sure he heard it right and he leaves for Trois-Rivières, where he’s supposed to live, with his sister Marguerite and her husband Medard.
The truth is, Pierre doesn’t live with Marguerite and Médard anymore. Marguerite insisted on that. She wants her husband around and she can barely survive without him. She thinks Pierre is too much a distraction for Médard and she, in other words, kicked out her own brother. Pierre is living in an abandoned farm house, where all the previous occupants died in their sleep. It’s commonly accepted that the house is haunted, but that’s nothing to hold back Pierre-Esprit Radisson. Pierre is sleeping and dreaming. He dreams of Old Wolf and Young Wolf and everything they did to him when he was attached to the pole. He sees men being hit to death with tomahawks and he sees Young Wolf stabbing him with a red hot knife in the foot. He wakes up, all sweaty. He realised that he despised Old and Young Wolf for all these years, and all they did was save him. They could have killed him on that pole, but they didn’t. He thinks about everyone he betrayed over the years and he considers himself lucky that it never really got back to him.
Pierre de Troyes is in Trois-Rivières with his white horse, looking all elegant. He stops in front of Marguerite’s house and he asks to speak to her brother Pierre, since it’s his last known address. She says he doesn’t live here anymore and she asks why he wants to see him. Médard arrives and overhears the knight saying there’s a bounty on Pierre’s head, and he will give half the amount with whoever helps him find Pierre-Esprit Radisson. He comes in and says that Pierre lives in the abandoned farm house up the hill. The knight thanks him and leaves. Marguerite is furious at her husband for giving up her brother and his friend like that. Médard argues that all Pierre did to them was to separate them and they never got anything for it. They’re still as poor as they was when he arrived and it’s all because of him. Médard had a nice start-up and Pierre came and everything went wrong from there. He also says that he betrayed everyone in his life, without any remorse, without any retaliation and it was now time to pay for it.
Pierre de Troyes arrives at the farm house. He gets off his horse. Pierre, inside, hears him and he looks through a window. The knight kicks the door down and he grabs Pierre. Radisson asks him who gave him up and Pierre answers that his friend Médard gave him up. Radisson has a teary eye and he punches the knight straight in the jaw, which knocks him down. All his years being a fur trapper kept him in a phenomenal physical shape and he escapes on foot. Pierre de Troyes gets on foot and tries to chase him. In the small port, a man declares that the ship is leaving for England, right now. The knight looks around for Radisson, but it’s too late, he got on board of the ship and he’s leaving for good.
THE END
Pierre Esprit Radisson died a poor man after telling his life story to a scribe who wrote everything. He died after giving birth to nine children during his numerous trips to England. On his funerals, he was presented as a Ruined Gentleman. He died in anonymity in 1710, thirty-six years after leaving America. He’s somehow considered a hero in Quebec, all these years later.
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