4 Days in France (2016) - full transcript
A man leaves his home unannounced, and spends four days wandering around France.
FOUR DAYS IN FRANCE
...understand them
and instil from the inside
a new way
of approaching thought.
How could we talk about
this deconstruction...
On the 14th, I was happy
I suck...
I suck cock and take it up the ass
just outside Sens
Me too
Jean-Pierre speaking.
Hello, I found your number
in a washroom on the A5.
Which rest area?
The Montard one, I think.
Take the next exit.
Then follow the main road to Sens.
In Villeneuve-l'Archevêque
turn left
onto the D84 to Les Sièges
and Les Cerisiers.
Carry straight on out of the town
until a junction
and turn left onto the D141,
to Coulours. Got that?
Yes.
As you leave Coulours,
turn right at the crossroads
onto the D54 to Vaudeurs,
then the second on the right.
Take that road, Rue Du Bel Air,
then Rue des Quatre Vents.
I live at number 9,
a white house
with a tall lime tree.
The door is always open.
I'll be waiting.
Second on the right...
Road closed
Navigation.
Country of destination: France.
Town: Vaudeurs.
There. Street...
Turn left.
I turn left.
Turn right.
I turn right.
Let's see...
At the end of the street,
turn right...
Hello?
It's you, Solange.
A bad time?
I'm leaving. Can I call you
back?
Any time.
Sorry. I'll call tomorrow.
Goodbye, Paul.
Così at 8 at the Opéra Comique.
Forgotten?
In 45 minutes outside?
Hello.
My car's broken down
and I have a work appointment.
- Can you help?
- If you like.
Where are you going?
I don't know.
I'm going to Montargis.
It isn't far.
Ok, get in.
Thank you.
I'll just get my things.
Wait a second...
Sorry.
I don't like being touched.
No, I should apologize.
I'm not a very good hitchhiker.
Can you read the road signs?
All right...
Warning.
Danger or something.
Wild animals.
Say the first thing that comes
to mind.
I don't mind silence.
Don't think about it.
Kylie Minogue.
Again.
Blank page.
Projection.
Politeness.
The single.
I still have it.
Well, I had it.
Grass.
Lungs.
Say.
Say nothing.
Camille Maurane.
Fauré.
France.
Fire.
Odd ring-tone...
What does it mean?
Your turn.
Quick.
Bitch.
Spring is a bitch.
Steak. Disease.
River. Matter. Stump.
The ring-tone.
Again?
It's getting excited.
We're approaching a town.
End of the 70 kmph speed limit.
I don't see the connection.
It's like a satnav
that signals all connected
and available men,
indicating their exact position.
There are obviously
more messages in urban areas.
Pick up the phone.
Take a look.
- I press here?
- Go on.
Let me see...
"Jean 243.
Nice pecs.
482 metres away."
He writes: "Hi", then "U", then
"N2", with a question mark.
Ok...
Should I answer?
If you want.
Write, in full:
"Unavailable, sorry."
He didn't ask that.
Ok...
So write...
"Quick hook-up.
Versatile.
Anal. Safe."
Versatile?
I can be active or passive,
depending on Jean,
the mood,
the moment...
So you have no set desires?
Sometimes.
Rarely.
I desire what the other desires
of me.
I play the role he wants me to.
In that case,
if he has no set desires,
what do you do?
We can switch roles.
Or, in some cases,
there's animal recognition,
like for dogs
who instinctively know
who'll be what.
You mentioned Camille Maurane...
Yes.
He's France's greatest baritone.
The greatest for mélodie anyhow.
- Do you like music?
- Yes.
Do you sing mélodies too?
No.
In retirement homes, it's more
old French songs or standards,
or even Michèle Torr today.
I started in church,
with choral singing,
then lieder and mélodies,
then...
I lacked discipline and talent,
so I work in retirement homes.
I used to love it.
I love old people and country
roads.
Now, I see only the ugliness.
Smocks, chairs, door handles...
Those huge handles,
like curved tubes...
Maybe they're easier to
decontaminate.
And the colours...
those yellowish hues...
Hideous.
They had no effect
on a 25-year-old face and mind.
But now...
Anyhow...
Anyhow,
as the Queen of England said...
Thank you.
Do you want to see the show?
I could do Clair de lune for
you.
No, thank you.
I'll wait here.
I'll be an hour or so.
Good evening.
Good evening.
Sorry, my car broke down.
A stranger and his guitar
On a street shrouded in fog
Sang, yes sang, a song
Repeated by his two companions
Marjolaine, you're so pretty
Marjolaine, spring blooms with
you
Marjolaine, I used to be a
soldier
But today I return to your side
She had told him: I'll wait for
you
He had said: I shall come back
Still a child when he left
He is a man on his return
Marjolaine, you're so pretty
Marjolaine, I didn't lie to you
Marjolaine, I was a soldier
But today I come back to you
He went away for ten years
But ten years changed everything
Nothing is the same and on the
streets
He recognized nothing but the
sky
Marjolaine, you are so pretty
Marjolaine, spring quickly flees
Marjolaine, I know all too well
That a lost love never returns
A stranger and his guitar
Vanished into the fog
And his two companions as well
Carrying off their song with
them
And his two companions as well
Carrying off their song with
them
And his two companions as well
Carrying off their song with
them
They've found me a room.
Sorry, I made you wait for
nothing.
That's all right.
Where will you sleep?
Someone offered me a bed earlier
on Grindr.
Don't worry.
France is huge,
full of men, full of possibilities.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
I don't know your name.
I'm Pierre Thomas.
I'm Diane.
Diane Querqueville.
"Department of the Loiret.
Cepoy Lake.
Tree-lined tracks and grassy
paths.
Descend and head into the bushes
towards the shore.
Frequent evenings and nights only.
Walkers and families by day.
Meeting point: La Roche aux
Fées,
a small dolmen."
"A10 motorway.
Bellevue rest area.
Rest area just after Orléans
on the way to Blois and Tours.
Hook-ups
in the washrooms
or beneath the lime trees at
the back,
behind the truck parking area.
Possible hook-ups
with resting truck-drivers."
"Les Carmes Cinema, Orléans.
"Had a wild time with unknown
guy,
mutual jack-off,
choose screening with smaller
audience,
French movie for instance."
"Château of Sully-sur-Loire.
Château car park,
occasionally cars are there,
headlights on.
What are they looking for?"
Excuse me, is this seat free?
No.
I think it was unoccupied
during the first half.
It's mine. I have a ticket for
it.
See?
I buy one seat for me
and one for the silence
as I can't abide promiscuity.
I don't need to justify myself.
I'm in the back row of the
upper circle.
I can't see a thing.
You're monopolizing a dress circle seat.
It's not very fair.
As fair as paying 20 euros for
a foldaway and wanting a 150-euro seat.
And you don't mind bothering
those who finance the production.
Take both. Real value for money.
You disgust me.
Sir...
I don't want your seats.
I offer them willingly.
I can't listen to another note.
You're from Paris?
Yes.
You're not afraid to swallow cum?
No, I trusted you.
You trusted me?
How old are you?
Twenty.
Pick me up on your way back?
From what?
Your trip.
I'd like to see Paris.
Paris would love to see you too,
I'm sure.
But I'm not going back.
I'm sorry.
You'll have to arrive
at the station alone,
like every young gay guy
from around France.
It's just as good, you'll see.
Knowing nothing,
letting chance guide you,
you'll instinctively
find the right place
and your face will do the rest.
And 15 years later,
I'll leave Paris by car.
At first, you'll return
to Bourges for Christmas,
a little sickened
by the reunions and the proximity,
but happy to bury yourself
in your province again.
Then...
Then, I don't know.
Everything is possible,
especially for you.
Beauty authorizes everything.
And maybe one day, true,
you'll set off.
If nothing and no one holds me
back.
On the contrary.
Will you be going
through the Alps?
I've no idea.
I know a woman
who lives in the mountains.
Could you take her something,
if you go near her place?
All right.
Good night.
Good night.
I'd like a car for today.
For this morning,
I can offer you a Golf.
Bigger...
I have a minivan.
No, not a minivan.
A station wagon then, a Volvo
V60.
- That's all?
- In that category, yes.
All right, I'll take it.
How many days?
I don't know. Two or three.
Can I extend it?
Any extension depends
on the vehicle's availability.
You have to call us.
Where will you leave the car?
I don't know that either.
I need to know the return
agency.
Put Clermont-Ferrand.
Can I change that too?
Drive safely
Here's the letter
with her name and address.
Marie Pilâtre de Rozier,
Valpréveyre, 05460 Abriès.
And here's the parcel.
I'd like a photo of her.
It's ages since I saw her.
All right.
I asked for less theatre,
not less poetry!
Another of your dumb phrases...
No!
Paul! Why are you here?
You're alone. Where's Pierre?
He left yesterday without a
word.
Left, left?
Yes, left, left.
Any idea where he is?
I can't tell you anything.
It's sad for you.
But maybe happy for him.
- It's his business, not mine.
- I'm worried.
Of course!
Outside your little ghetto,
anything can happen.
- What'll you do?
- Find Pierre.
He uses a phone app.
We can locate him.
As he could be anywhere,
I need to go to the centre of France.
It's a small town,
Bruère-Allichamps.
Bruère-Arlichon...
That's ridiculous.
I never give advice but...
But?
Listen, work it out!
Work it out.
You get on my nerves!
Judith, please.
Don't run after people.
It's degrading for them,
humiliating for you.
Besides, it's not very virile.
- Seen Médée?
- Not Corneille's best.
I agree.
Frankly, Paul...
Liberty.
Dignity.
Virility.
The Education of Rabbits
I gave you private French lessons
for four years.
Miss?
Yes.
Miss... That's me.
What brings you to Issoudun?
I'm here by chance.
And you?
Remember how I loved Rimbaud?
"At four on a summer morning,
The sleep of love still lingers
In the groves, dawn dispels
The festive night's scents
But down in the huge workshop
Near the Hesperidean sun,
In shirtsleeves
The carpenters are already
astir."
Wonderful.
I came to research Paterne Berrichon
who married Rimbaud's sister.
I met a man,
I stayed,
he died a few years later
and I stayed.
Everything here is simply
average.
But one easily becomes engrossed
in the ancient matter.
In Paris, I felt like someone,
but wasn't.
Here I am someone,
but I feel I'm no one.
Anonymous life is phenomenal,
you know.
Take a book. I owe you one.
You virtually funded my thesis.
The blue envelope from my
mother...
And the money I counted
in the lift with such pleasure.
I thought you'd become
a professor.
I imagined you at the Sorbonne.
My mother and uncles
were minor civil servants
and they'd say,
"Our pay arrives every month."
That disgusted me
and I rejected civil service.
Who is Pierre-Joseph
Luneau de Boisjermain?
A local man of letters
during the Enlightenment.
Author of a revolutionary method
for teaching geography.
He also wrote a book on
rabbit education
and the art of domestic warrens.
If you're interested,
I can offer you
a copy of the original edition
of his spelling manual.
It dates from 1783.
Thank you, but I want nothing.
Besides, I no longer
have a bookcase.
Will you accept a Minute Maid?
Yes?
Here...
The only thing I miss here...
is the spectacle of men.
We hardly ever see them.
They're handsome here,
marked by the old
rural world of Berry.
People talk of genes,
but it's the landscapes,
the towns,
the air we breathe
that forge bodies and faces.
For example, you lived on
Avenue Mozart.
Yet I felt you had an air and
an outline
of Brie or Gâtinais.
You never realized but...
I'd observe you.
You were a very pretty boy.
In your final year,
I thought you'd go, as some do,
from prettiness
to a man's true beauty,
but...
even now I see only
your adolescent grace.
A little wrinkled.
But that change...
However hard I look at you,
no...
Still not yet.
Don't bother, Miss.
There's no blue envelope today.
I'll take it after all.
You're welcome.
- What'll it be?
- Peppermint cordial.
- Will grenadine do?
- Fine, thank you.
I need a room for the night.
Les Tilleuls, just outside town.
And closer?
I had three rooms,
but I closed them.
No more customers
because of the sheer number
of centres of France.
There are seven now,
as good as none.
In 50 years, France has lost
its centre,
Bruère, its visitors,
and me, half my income.
- But I still have my rooms.
- You don't rent them?
No, they're for Compostella
pilgrims.
The Vézelay route is 8 km away.
Could I have one tonight?
You don't look like a pilgrim
to me.
- All right, follow me.
- Thank you.
Thank you.
My bag!
There's nothing of value in it.
So why care about it?
They're personal belongings.
Briefs, a toothbrush...
A manuscript that I cherish...
- It's just a bundle of pages.
- Good, I need paper.
- Please.
- Go to hell.
You stop people sleeping!
We fear instead of living!
Like disease and accidents,
you destroy everything
without even needing to occur!
If you're afraid of thieves,
lock your car.
I fight fire with fire!
So stop following me like a dog
and leave me the bag.
Thank me.
I could get an electronic tag
for removing your rich-boy anxieties.
No!
Happy now?
You've saved your briefs!
I've just lost my morning's
takings.
Give me the bag.
Hand it over.
Come with me.
Sit down.
Cashmere...
Persol?
Keep the CDs.
They're worthless now.
You're fond of them?
I'll take two then.
Nothing... Thank you.
Tell me...
Your watch?
Let's carry on.
What's this?
"The Principles of Reading,
Spelling and Pronunciation."
Take it, it's an antique.
It's worth a lot.
"A question mark goes at the end
of an interrogative sentence."
What's this?
It's not mine.
The famous manuscript.
"The Key is on the Hook".
Not a great title.
I'll keep it.
Because it seems
it's the most precious thing.
I think that's all.
No, what's this?
A hard disk.
With the backed-up manuscript?
I didn't look in here...
A back-up of the back-up...
Give me the manuscript!
I mean it, give it back!
Is this a bad time, Aunt?
Not at all, I'm in my dressing
room.
Racine?
No, Corneille... Médée.
One last time, then I quit.
I can't abide directors anymore.
They're parasites.
I can hear you, Judith.
Fools who believe the greatest
geniuses
need their petty ideas to shine.
Pierre...
Listen to me.
I know why you're calling.
The first few days,
the freedom is delicious.
Deliciously fresh.
Each instant is a morning.
One is intoxicated to feel the air
of this vast world on one's face.
One believes oneself to be
in the most isolated lands,
in the furthest-flung provinces.
"Fancy,
I could have lived here.
I could have been that woman
behind the curtain."
Yes, I could have.
I've done a great many tours
all over France.
By train,
by bus,
most often alone in my car.
I've known empty hotel rooms,
nights of drifting and chance.
Pretty boys that you take upstairs
after giving the receptionist a smile.
All that,
thanks to the stage.
"Take the road!"
was Breton's order.
And I certainly took it.
However,
on certain days,
the sky is ashen,
the milky light crushes
everything,
and the things that seemed so
profuse,
the roads, France,
the world, life itself,
suddenly appear empty.
And then...
without any ties,
without a home,
without a safety net,
the ground slips away
and one falls.
That's exactly
why you're calling me, Pierre.
So listen...
I never give my opinion or
advice but...
say nothing, not a word.
Take a breath, a deep breath.
And take the second left,
then the third left,
then the first right.
And then...
let fate guide you.
Above all, watch carefully,
carefully,
for it's the last time.
This point in reality,
this intersection, the sun, the shadows,
the asphalt,
the grass,
the bricks, the foliage,
the facades, the windows...
You'll never see them again.
Judith, let me take you home.
Second left.
Then...
third left.
First right here...
All right...
No hanky-panky with boys!
Beautiful.
Thank you.
Sorry, I can't return the
compliment.
My boss didn't choose the Mégane
for its style.
- It must have other qualities.
- Yes.
But I'm like you.
I love Italians.
- Petrol, I presume.
- Petrol.
170 horsepower, double clutch.
Good night.
Five.
Four.
Am I disturbing you?
No, I was just resting.
Sorry to impose, I've always dreamt
of driving an Alfa Romeo.
Would you give me that pleasure?
Gladly.
Let's go.
You seem very focused.
I'm trying to feel the car.
There's a bend coming that I
like a lot.
Did you feel it?
The chassis has to hug the curve
while giving a sense of freedom.
Rigour and flexibility.
Only a car, a well-designed car
that is,
transmits the least variation in the road
to the body and mind.
Neither trains,
nor horses, nor walking
offer such contact.
Bicycles perhaps.
Then again,
the physical effort is such that
you sense the landscape less
and pay less attention
to the land.
So, you became a salesman
for the road?
No, for sales.
At first the road was the means.
But the roles soon switched.
And you?
Me? The road for the road's sake.
My realm...
The same sector for 12 years.
From Moulins,
100 km to the north,
to Mende,
just under 100 km to the south.
To the west,
the Aubusson-Aurillac-Rodez line,
to the east,
Roanne-Le Puy-en-Velay.
There,
the lights to the left,
that's the south Clermont zone.
La Pardieu,
Aubière, Cournon...
Back there, out of sight,
the Allier flows.
On the other bank,
Le Puy-Saint-André, Mirefleurs...
In the foreground,
the Grande Limagne plain
with the A75,
the Auvergne Zénith,
Gamm Vert, Intermarché...
The black mass on this side
is the Livradois foothills.
The lights of the zone.
At first, my customers
used to be in towns.
But I prefer the zone, as you call it,
where most of my sales are now.
There's more air.
I breathe more easily.
More space, more emptiness.
More corrugated iron,
more plastic,
more roundabouts...
More absence.
You're just outside the world.
Nothing can happen.
I'd really like to kiss you.
I'd rather go back.
I'll drive.
Can you get a CD from the glove box?
Any one will do.
It's a Roman marker.
It showed distances between Bourges,
Châteaumeillant and Néris-les-Bains.
Did you find what you wanted?
Anywhere you like.
Got pics?
Pierre...
That's Pier...
...hotel or anywhere.
Sending pic of me now.
Hey, you!
What are you doing there?
You're preparing the night patrol?
Doing your dance all alone?
Waiting for the others?
Get lost! I'll call the cops!
I m sick of it.
You pollute nature here!
You pollute me!
I can't take any more, ok?
You've made an insomniac of me.
With your noise at night,
the goings-on, the squealing tyres...
I can't take any more!
I'm sick of seeing your mugs
wandering in the night.
I have a dog, Jeanjean.
He picks up the filth,
the stuff you dump after...
It's everywhere,
he sniffs it all out.
Before, nature was wonderful.
I could
breathe,
breathe in the scent of the flowers.
Now it reeks of piss!
I can't take any more.
You pollute us!
You queers pollute us!
What is it?
Can't you find a soulmate?
You have a pretty face.
- You're not bad.
- Thanks.
Hurry then.
After, it will be too late.
Off you go.
I won't call the cops this time.
I haven't damaged or dirtied anything.
Everything's fine.
- That's all.
- What were you going to do?
- What was I going to do?
- Yes.
- Pee?
- Goodbye, madam.
We're going, Jeanjean.
I chased him off.
I'll chase them all off now.
And we'll go walking together.
Get the hell out of here!
Shit, I don't believe it.
That's it, he's ruined my day,
that one.
Disgusting!
Thanks for everything.
Hello.
We're closing.
But...
- Everywhere is closed.
- Exactly.
- I'd just like some ham.
- I've put it away.
- Sausage then?
- None left.
What's that pie?
Meat pie, a local speciality.
But it's too hot to cut for now.
Give me what you want then.
Black pudding?
Yes.
You can eat it raw?
It's cooked.
Otherwise, it's called blood.
I meant, I'll eat it cold.
You're from Paris?
- Yes.
- I can tell.
My wife will ring it up.
Francine!
Customer at the till!
No idea where she is.
I'll ring it up.
- Francine, can you hear me?
- Goodbye.
2,565...
47...
That's kind.
Come to see me later?
My break's from 4 to 6:45.
Maybe.
The Coffee's as foul as ever.
The Bourbonnaise de
Menuiserie...
The other way...
Hello, madam.
Do you need anything?
- What did you say?
- Do you need any help?
- Are you lost?
- No, I'm going to the grocer's.
Can I drive you there?
If you like.
- Get in.
- All right.
Do up your safety belt, please.
- What did you say?
- Your safety belt.
Yes.
I'm deaf in one ear, that's why.
You seem lonely.
No.
You're lucky.
There's so much loneliness
in the world.
No doubt.
Do you believe in God?
No.
Which village is the grocer's
in?
- Does it bother you, talking about God?
- Yes.
It burns, that's why.
Stop, leave me here.
I'll help with your trolley.
No, don't bother. Goodbye.
Excuse me...
Have you seen a man
in a white Alfa Romeo?
- What did you say?
- A white Alfa Romeo.
I don't know what that is.
Can I help you?
Can I drive you somewhere?
If you want.
I'll put my safety belt on.
What?
I said, I'll put my safety belt on.
All right.
You're a bit hard of hearing?
No, you speak softly.
I'm a bit deaf in one ear,
that's why.
Tell me, didn't you meet anybody
on the road today?
Of course I did.
I met the priest, Jeanine,
Kevin...
I meant a stranger.
In the Forest of Babel...
You seem very lonely.
Yes, I have been for three days
now.
I'm not talking about that
loneliness.
Stop, leave me here.
Fucking Auvergne!
- Here...
- Thank you, sir.
Enjoy your stay with us.
My word,
for someone from the provinces
You're doing pretty well
And there's no small merit
in making a debut like this
You have lost...
I don't believe it!
It stinks!
Your whole body stinks.
Sorry, I've been driving three
days.
I slept in the car at the pass.
I couldn't find a hotel.
A hotel. What a joke.
- Can you pay for breakfast?
- Yes.
- Petrol?
- Yes.
Then get out of here.
There's a spring opposite
to freshen up.
Thank you.
Do you often sing at the Paris
Opera?
It happens now and then, but
rarely.
Frankly, that's a bit mean of
you.
I sang there not so long ago,
quite a lot this past season...
We do Bizet, Berlioz, Gounod
and I finish with Bolena.
Here he is!
- Something to drink.
- A soda.
The house cocktail.
I washed in the stream,
but I can take a quick shower if you want.
No, forget it.
The moment has passed.
Too many words between us now.
Too many words between us.
Horrible!
It's too late.
We've already moved on to "us",
to acquaintance,
exchange,
sharing...
Those shrink and priest notions.
Soon I'll say my mother's dead,
and you'll tell me you feel guilty
for cheating on your guy,
or prefer cats to dogs.
I need silence to get hard.
Ignorance,
distance,
solitude,
and a skin free of smells,
but you know that already.
You know a lot about me.
You know where I live,
where I work...
Yes.
I even know your establishment
helps the "P'tit Col",
the social cohesion bus
for local relations.
Yes.
It goes from village to village
and stops at this bar once a month.
The "living-together" bus.
What an expression!
And dying alone?
The "dying-alone" bus?
The local council isn't keen
to subsidize that one.
I guess it doesn't need a subsidy.
It's self-powered.
Where's the toilet?
- Sick of listening to me?
- No...
- I bore myself.
- I really need to piss.
Back there.
- There's a boy in the toilets.
- My godson.
He lingers in the kitchen and toilets,
doing God knows what!
François! It's time!
Stay with us for dictation.
I've made you a sandwich.
Have a seat.
- This is...
- Pierre.
- An old acquaintance.
- Hello, sir.
So today,
geography and spelling?
That's right.
- I'm listening. The towns first?
- Yes.
Parthenay, Remiremont,
La Charité-sur-Loire,
Forges-les-Eaux,
Forges-les-Eaux...
La Mûre,
Moudeyres,
Sospel... Clisson,
Grandville... Puylaurens...
Étampes, Écuisses,
Issoire and Malaucène.
Perfect.
Remiremont?
A small town in the Vosges,
north of Belfort.
Issoire?
In the Puy-de-Dôme, south of Clermont,
in the Allier Valley.
La Mûre?
A small town in the Isère,
south of...
south of...
Lyon?
- In...
- Grenoble!
South of Grenoble.
Napoleon passed on his way from Elba.
Ok, that's not bad.
Dictation now.
I'll be going.
- Scared of doing badly?
- No.
I have to get going.
If I come back,
we'll do dictation.
I promise.
Goodbye, François.
Goodbye, sir.
"This is the rock
where I used to sit
to contemplate from afar...
This is the rock
where I used to sit
to contemplate from afar
your pleasant dwelling.
These sharp stones
were my chisels...
These sharp stones
were my chisels
to carve your name.
Here,
I crossed the icy mountain stream..."
Hello, madam.
My name's Pierre Thomas.
Matthieu from Bourges sent me.
For you.
You're here in time to help me.
Come closer.
My Princesse...
I found her dead
in the kitchen yesterday.
I'll bury her up the hill
in a meadow.
Take that spade there.
I'll take the little shovel
and I'll carry the basket.
You have the wrong shoes.
Never mind. Follow me.
- You know Matthieu well?
- No.
I met him two days ago.
As I was passing through,
I brought his letter.
You can't pass through.
Valpréveyre is a dead-end.
The whole region is a dead-end.
The road ends where you parked.
There's tarmac...
and then nothing.
France ends here.
You see,
no need for hiking boots.
I see hikers pass by all summer,
the professional trekkers,
in outfits bought at Le Vieux
Campeur.
In brown, khaki, fluorescent
pink...
All that in synthetic fabrics
that are too tight or too baggy.
They're an insult to the landscape
they claim to adore.
Even mountaineers...
And skiers.
Even the locals.
As if...
the mountains and the snow
and the dangers they represent
were an excuse for ugliness.
But on the contrary...
Clothes like that are for the
blighted suburbs of Paris, not here.
If that!
If that!
Marie,
Instead of this letter,
I would have liked to come to your door
to embrace you in the scent of morning.
I am stuck in Bourges,
Rue des Machereaux.
Nothing has happened here
in six years.
The rain, the mud, the wind
and the sun.
And then sport,
a few boys,
Father Roques' sermon every
Sunday
and the books you gave me
before leaving.
Most of the time,
the days pass by
without any link between things.
Some days, fortunately,
I feel everything
falls into place
and then I understand
what I must do.
But I don't do it
as there is always
something urgent
and, on that pretext,
we neglect what matters most.
And so life passes,
full of occupations,
forgetting the only thing
that could save us.
My respects to Miss Princesse.
And please,
accept this bouquet of bittersweets
sent by your faithful
Matthieu.
Stop.
That'll do.
Princesse isn't that big.
My father had a pond dug
And the frivolous wind blows
Three white ducks swim upon it
There is a lover in my heart
And the frivolous wind blows
The wind blows
Frivolously.
The king's son hunts them down
And the frivolous wind blows
He aimed for the black,
killed the white
There is a lover in my heart
And the frivolous wind blows
The wind blows frivolously
Oh, son of the king, you are
evil
And the frivolous wind blows
For killing my white duck
There is a lover in my heart
And the frivolous wind blows
The wind blows frivolously.
After the rain comes blood
And the frivolous wind blows
After blood, gold and silver
There is a lover in my heart
And the frivolous wind blows
The wind blows
Frivolously
Matthieu wanted a photo of you.
May I?
Just a second.
I'm not just a woman of the
woods.
There, I'm ready.
You know Poussin's great
landscapes?
There's always a meadow
or clearing in the distance.
I've found it.
We're there.
His landscapes were less craggy.
He was a Norman.
But the impression of space
is the same.
This is the Poussin meadow.
That's what I call it.
And I'd like to be buried here
too.
Will you explain that to
Matthieu?
Draw a plan for him?
Next to Princesse.
My ashes mingled with the soil.
That will be perfect.
I have to give you a box from
Matthieu.
- I'll fetch it from the car.
- No, don't bother.
There's a hiker's sign
at the spot where you parked.
Just leave it there.
I was to deliver it in person.
You never know...
I'm telling you to leave it
at the foot of the sign.
All right.
Goodbye.
Farewell.
Happy Dough
Five euros a blowjob.
That's kind,
but I can just give you five euros.
I'm not begging.
I'm not a down-and-out. Forget it.
No, all right.
Go and park over there.
- You're clean, I can swallow?
- Yes.
Going back to Paris?
Yes.
- Do you wash your hands before serving?
- Don't worry.
Shit, Mélanie, what?
What about the customers?
I needed a breather.
I'm outside.
Yes, I'm pregnant.
Understand the sickness now?
That's kind of you.
See you in a minute.
Shit, she's a drag.
Poor Mélanie.
She hangs on,
doing all she can to keep it going.
You said it.
Give up, Mélanie.
Let yourself go.
She has to drop it.
I have to go.
It's the only difference.
Near Sisteron.
You?
Agnel Pass
Found you Sorel 1502.
Agnel Pass...
Coming...
Meet me at La Colle
Saint-Geniez 0420
"I prefer dogs. Pierre."
What an idiot.
It's Matthieu. I'm in Paris
on Rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie.
You must know it.
There are men everywhere
with beards.
I'm going to Notre-Dame tonight.
Bye.
"In Aries, along the Alyscamps
When shadows are red beneath the roses
And the sky clear
Beware of the softness of things
When you sense a fruitless fight
In your overly heavy body
And may the doves fall silent
Speak in a whisper to speak of love
Alongside the tombs."
Just in case you're in Aries.
Goodbye!
Hello, this is Florence Rochapi.
Sorry to bother you,
but we were due to meet yesterday
at your Sorbonne office at 8:30,
but I found it closed.
I remain at your...
Così at 8 at the Opéra Comique.
Forgotten?
In 45 minutes outside?
Drat, the box!
- Didier?
- Yes.
- Paul.
- Follow me.
My mother.
- Hello, sorry to bother you.
- Have a seat.
- I have a bit of stew left.
- I'm ok, thank you.
This is where we are.
- When Sorel answered...
- No, Pierre.
Pierre answered from here,
at Agnel Pass.
Then he moved.
I followed him by phone, along the N94
to the Serre-Ponçon Lake.
Then he took either the motorway
or the main road to Château-Arnoux.
He went to Digne.
To eat or sleep.
Or Manosque.
The Soubeyran gate is pretty.
There's a pick-up spot?
You can talk in front of me!
Yes, there's a bar...
But I think he's probably near
Peyruis.
A rest area?
Yes.
- There is a rest area...
- How far is it?
- 45 minutes away.
- Go, if you want.
No, call the hotels. I'll go.
No, take my son. I'll do that.
- He knows the area, he'll help you.
- All right.
He's 36, Pierre Thomas,
brown hair, not very tall.
Please call every hotel.
- There aren't a lot, it won't take long.
- Thanks.
- Call me if you find him.
- Sure, sure.
Nothing.
Did your mother call?
It's screwed.
He must have gone to Aix
or Castellane.
Don't you want to wait a bit?
Been together long?
Five years?
Ten years?
Fifteen?
I promised you something
for helping me.
- You struck it lucky, pal.
- He's just a friend.
Seen a guy in an Alfa tonight?
A Parisian?
No, only regulars.
I'll leave you.
You'll tell me about it.
Do you forgive me?
Over there, the Lérins Islands
and the tip of the Cape of Antibes.
The Napoule Gulf and Cannes Bay
can't be seen,
like the Fréjus Gulf,
to the west.
Behind us, the Estérel Massif.
The rock is red, porphyry red.
I used to come to this spot in summer.
I was six the first time.
We had to get here early.
My mother said
the sea washed at night
and dawn was the only time
to enjoy that.
I was intoxicated by the scent
of the pines, the rock-roses,
by the remnants of sleep.
We would be alone for an hour,
sometimes two.
After that, people would arrive
and we would leave.
The walk back up was tough.
You know Honorat d'Arles lived in
a cave here before exile on his island?
She carves a roast chicken
One Sunday as night falls
In the big garden, the nettles
Hail the distant Mont Ventoux
The night
The wind
In the forest of expectations
In the hills of Besançon
On the streets of Annecy
The gilded light of the houses
Everywhere
Nowhere
On Vaisseaux Brûlés Highway
On Departure Dock
for the Unknown
Inn of the Dreamt Life
Belvedere of Naked Men
Here
There
The scent of the eucalyptus
trees
On Croix-des-Gardes Hill
Rendezvous at the Russian church
At dawn, I cannot wait
To the east
To the west
A Vittel at the Café de France
A kiss on Place du Hasard
The tall flag of departure
Flutters in the air of
Saint-Médard
By day
By night
A dead fox at the roadside
Marker 33 of the A10
A rapidly erased patch of blood
At the Total service station
outside Nice
02:21:13,417 --> 02:21:15,417
02:21:18,417 --> 02:21:21,417
One more bend before Blois
One more sleeping village
One more stupid roundabout
One more tollgate in the night
Vroom, vroom
Vroom, vroom.
...understand them
and instil from the inside
a new way
of approaching thought.
How could we talk about
this deconstruction...
On the 14th, I was happy
I suck...
I suck cock and take it up the ass
just outside Sens
Me too
Jean-Pierre speaking.
Hello, I found your number
in a washroom on the A5.
Which rest area?
The Montard one, I think.
Take the next exit.
Then follow the main road to Sens.
In Villeneuve-l'Archevêque
turn left
onto the D84 to Les Sièges
and Les Cerisiers.
Carry straight on out of the town
until a junction
and turn left onto the D141,
to Coulours. Got that?
Yes.
As you leave Coulours,
turn right at the crossroads
onto the D54 to Vaudeurs,
then the second on the right.
Take that road, Rue Du Bel Air,
then Rue des Quatre Vents.
I live at number 9,
a white house
with a tall lime tree.
The door is always open.
I'll be waiting.
Second on the right...
Road closed
Navigation.
Country of destination: France.
Town: Vaudeurs.
There. Street...
Turn left.
I turn left.
Turn right.
I turn right.
Let's see...
At the end of the street,
turn right...
Hello?
It's you, Solange.
A bad time?
I'm leaving. Can I call you
back?
Any time.
Sorry. I'll call tomorrow.
Goodbye, Paul.
Così at 8 at the Opéra Comique.
Forgotten?
In 45 minutes outside?
Hello.
My car's broken down
and I have a work appointment.
- Can you help?
- If you like.
Where are you going?
I don't know.
I'm going to Montargis.
It isn't far.
Ok, get in.
Thank you.
I'll just get my things.
Wait a second...
Sorry.
I don't like being touched.
No, I should apologize.
I'm not a very good hitchhiker.
Can you read the road signs?
All right...
Warning.
Danger or something.
Wild animals.
Say the first thing that comes
to mind.
I don't mind silence.
Don't think about it.
Kylie Minogue.
Again.
Blank page.
Projection.
Politeness.
The single.
I still have it.
Well, I had it.
Grass.
Lungs.
Say.
Say nothing.
Camille Maurane.
Fauré.
France.
Fire.
Odd ring-tone...
What does it mean?
Your turn.
Quick.
Bitch.
Spring is a bitch.
Steak. Disease.
River. Matter. Stump.
The ring-tone.
Again?
It's getting excited.
We're approaching a town.
End of the 70 kmph speed limit.
I don't see the connection.
It's like a satnav
that signals all connected
and available men,
indicating their exact position.
There are obviously
more messages in urban areas.
Pick up the phone.
Take a look.
- I press here?
- Go on.
Let me see...
"Jean 243.
Nice pecs.
482 metres away."
He writes: "Hi", then "U", then
"N2", with a question mark.
Ok...
Should I answer?
If you want.
Write, in full:
"Unavailable, sorry."
He didn't ask that.
Ok...
So write...
"Quick hook-up.
Versatile.
Anal. Safe."
Versatile?
I can be active or passive,
depending on Jean,
the mood,
the moment...
So you have no set desires?
Sometimes.
Rarely.
I desire what the other desires
of me.
I play the role he wants me to.
In that case,
if he has no set desires,
what do you do?
We can switch roles.
Or, in some cases,
there's animal recognition,
like for dogs
who instinctively know
who'll be what.
You mentioned Camille Maurane...
Yes.
He's France's greatest baritone.
The greatest for mélodie anyhow.
- Do you like music?
- Yes.
Do you sing mélodies too?
No.
In retirement homes, it's more
old French songs or standards,
or even Michèle Torr today.
I started in church,
with choral singing,
then lieder and mélodies,
then...
I lacked discipline and talent,
so I work in retirement homes.
I used to love it.
I love old people and country
roads.
Now, I see only the ugliness.
Smocks, chairs, door handles...
Those huge handles,
like curved tubes...
Maybe they're easier to
decontaminate.
And the colours...
those yellowish hues...
Hideous.
They had no effect
on a 25-year-old face and mind.
But now...
Anyhow...
Anyhow,
as the Queen of England said...
Thank you.
Do you want to see the show?
I could do Clair de lune for
you.
No, thank you.
I'll wait here.
I'll be an hour or so.
Good evening.
Good evening.
Sorry, my car broke down.
A stranger and his guitar
On a street shrouded in fog
Sang, yes sang, a song
Repeated by his two companions
Marjolaine, you're so pretty
Marjolaine, spring blooms with
you
Marjolaine, I used to be a
soldier
But today I return to your side
She had told him: I'll wait for
you
He had said: I shall come back
Still a child when he left
He is a man on his return
Marjolaine, you're so pretty
Marjolaine, I didn't lie to you
Marjolaine, I was a soldier
But today I come back to you
He went away for ten years
But ten years changed everything
Nothing is the same and on the
streets
He recognized nothing but the
sky
Marjolaine, you are so pretty
Marjolaine, spring quickly flees
Marjolaine, I know all too well
That a lost love never returns
A stranger and his guitar
Vanished into the fog
And his two companions as well
Carrying off their song with
them
And his two companions as well
Carrying off their song with
them
And his two companions as well
Carrying off their song with
them
They've found me a room.
Sorry, I made you wait for
nothing.
That's all right.
Where will you sleep?
Someone offered me a bed earlier
on Grindr.
Don't worry.
France is huge,
full of men, full of possibilities.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
I don't know your name.
I'm Pierre Thomas.
I'm Diane.
Diane Querqueville.
"Department of the Loiret.
Cepoy Lake.
Tree-lined tracks and grassy
paths.
Descend and head into the bushes
towards the shore.
Frequent evenings and nights only.
Walkers and families by day.
Meeting point: La Roche aux
Fées,
a small dolmen."
"A10 motorway.
Bellevue rest area.
Rest area just after Orléans
on the way to Blois and Tours.
Hook-ups
in the washrooms
or beneath the lime trees at
the back,
behind the truck parking area.
Possible hook-ups
with resting truck-drivers."
"Les Carmes Cinema, Orléans.
"Had a wild time with unknown
guy,
mutual jack-off,
choose screening with smaller
audience,
French movie for instance."
"Château of Sully-sur-Loire.
Château car park,
occasionally cars are there,
headlights on.
What are they looking for?"
Excuse me, is this seat free?
No.
I think it was unoccupied
during the first half.
It's mine. I have a ticket for
it.
See?
I buy one seat for me
and one for the silence
as I can't abide promiscuity.
I don't need to justify myself.
I'm in the back row of the
upper circle.
I can't see a thing.
You're monopolizing a dress circle seat.
It's not very fair.
As fair as paying 20 euros for
a foldaway and wanting a 150-euro seat.
And you don't mind bothering
those who finance the production.
Take both. Real value for money.
You disgust me.
Sir...
I don't want your seats.
I offer them willingly.
I can't listen to another note.
You're from Paris?
Yes.
You're not afraid to swallow cum?
No, I trusted you.
You trusted me?
How old are you?
Twenty.
Pick me up on your way back?
From what?
Your trip.
I'd like to see Paris.
Paris would love to see you too,
I'm sure.
But I'm not going back.
I'm sorry.
You'll have to arrive
at the station alone,
like every young gay guy
from around France.
It's just as good, you'll see.
Knowing nothing,
letting chance guide you,
you'll instinctively
find the right place
and your face will do the rest.
And 15 years later,
I'll leave Paris by car.
At first, you'll return
to Bourges for Christmas,
a little sickened
by the reunions and the proximity,
but happy to bury yourself
in your province again.
Then...
Then, I don't know.
Everything is possible,
especially for you.
Beauty authorizes everything.
And maybe one day, true,
you'll set off.
If nothing and no one holds me
back.
On the contrary.
Will you be going
through the Alps?
I've no idea.
I know a woman
who lives in the mountains.
Could you take her something,
if you go near her place?
All right.
Good night.
Good night.
I'd like a car for today.
For this morning,
I can offer you a Golf.
Bigger...
I have a minivan.
No, not a minivan.
A station wagon then, a Volvo
V60.
- That's all?
- In that category, yes.
All right, I'll take it.
How many days?
I don't know. Two or three.
Can I extend it?
Any extension depends
on the vehicle's availability.
You have to call us.
Where will you leave the car?
I don't know that either.
I need to know the return
agency.
Put Clermont-Ferrand.
Can I change that too?
Drive safely
Here's the letter
with her name and address.
Marie Pilâtre de Rozier,
Valpréveyre, 05460 Abriès.
And here's the parcel.
I'd like a photo of her.
It's ages since I saw her.
All right.
I asked for less theatre,
not less poetry!
Another of your dumb phrases...
No!
Paul! Why are you here?
You're alone. Where's Pierre?
He left yesterday without a
word.
Left, left?
Yes, left, left.
Any idea where he is?
I can't tell you anything.
It's sad for you.
But maybe happy for him.
- It's his business, not mine.
- I'm worried.
Of course!
Outside your little ghetto,
anything can happen.
- What'll you do?
- Find Pierre.
He uses a phone app.
We can locate him.
As he could be anywhere,
I need to go to the centre of France.
It's a small town,
Bruère-Allichamps.
Bruère-Arlichon...
That's ridiculous.
I never give advice but...
But?
Listen, work it out!
Work it out.
You get on my nerves!
Judith, please.
Don't run after people.
It's degrading for them,
humiliating for you.
Besides, it's not very virile.
- Seen Médée?
- Not Corneille's best.
I agree.
Frankly, Paul...
Liberty.
Dignity.
Virility.
The Education of Rabbits
I gave you private French lessons
for four years.
Miss?
Yes.
Miss... That's me.
What brings you to Issoudun?
I'm here by chance.
And you?
Remember how I loved Rimbaud?
"At four on a summer morning,
The sleep of love still lingers
In the groves, dawn dispels
The festive night's scents
But down in the huge workshop
Near the Hesperidean sun,
In shirtsleeves
The carpenters are already
astir."
Wonderful.
I came to research Paterne Berrichon
who married Rimbaud's sister.
I met a man,
I stayed,
he died a few years later
and I stayed.
Everything here is simply
average.
But one easily becomes engrossed
in the ancient matter.
In Paris, I felt like someone,
but wasn't.
Here I am someone,
but I feel I'm no one.
Anonymous life is phenomenal,
you know.
Take a book. I owe you one.
You virtually funded my thesis.
The blue envelope from my
mother...
And the money I counted
in the lift with such pleasure.
I thought you'd become
a professor.
I imagined you at the Sorbonne.
My mother and uncles
were minor civil servants
and they'd say,
"Our pay arrives every month."
That disgusted me
and I rejected civil service.
Who is Pierre-Joseph
Luneau de Boisjermain?
A local man of letters
during the Enlightenment.
Author of a revolutionary method
for teaching geography.
He also wrote a book on
rabbit education
and the art of domestic warrens.
If you're interested,
I can offer you
a copy of the original edition
of his spelling manual.
It dates from 1783.
Thank you, but I want nothing.
Besides, I no longer
have a bookcase.
Will you accept a Minute Maid?
Yes?
Here...
The only thing I miss here...
is the spectacle of men.
We hardly ever see them.
They're handsome here,
marked by the old
rural world of Berry.
People talk of genes,
but it's the landscapes,
the towns,
the air we breathe
that forge bodies and faces.
For example, you lived on
Avenue Mozart.
Yet I felt you had an air and
an outline
of Brie or Gâtinais.
You never realized but...
I'd observe you.
You were a very pretty boy.
In your final year,
I thought you'd go, as some do,
from prettiness
to a man's true beauty,
but...
even now I see only
your adolescent grace.
A little wrinkled.
But that change...
However hard I look at you,
no...
Still not yet.
Don't bother, Miss.
There's no blue envelope today.
I'll take it after all.
You're welcome.
- What'll it be?
- Peppermint cordial.
- Will grenadine do?
- Fine, thank you.
I need a room for the night.
Les Tilleuls, just outside town.
And closer?
I had three rooms,
but I closed them.
No more customers
because of the sheer number
of centres of France.
There are seven now,
as good as none.
In 50 years, France has lost
its centre,
Bruère, its visitors,
and me, half my income.
- But I still have my rooms.
- You don't rent them?
No, they're for Compostella
pilgrims.
The Vézelay route is 8 km away.
Could I have one tonight?
You don't look like a pilgrim
to me.
- All right, follow me.
- Thank you.
Thank you.
My bag!
There's nothing of value in it.
So why care about it?
They're personal belongings.
Briefs, a toothbrush...
A manuscript that I cherish...
- It's just a bundle of pages.
- Good, I need paper.
- Please.
- Go to hell.
You stop people sleeping!
We fear instead of living!
Like disease and accidents,
you destroy everything
without even needing to occur!
If you're afraid of thieves,
lock your car.
I fight fire with fire!
So stop following me like a dog
and leave me the bag.
Thank me.
I could get an electronic tag
for removing your rich-boy anxieties.
No!
Happy now?
You've saved your briefs!
I've just lost my morning's
takings.
Give me the bag.
Hand it over.
Come with me.
Sit down.
Cashmere...
Persol?
Keep the CDs.
They're worthless now.
You're fond of them?
I'll take two then.
Nothing... Thank you.
Tell me...
Your watch?
Let's carry on.
What's this?
"The Principles of Reading,
Spelling and Pronunciation."
Take it, it's an antique.
It's worth a lot.
"A question mark goes at the end
of an interrogative sentence."
What's this?
It's not mine.
The famous manuscript.
"The Key is on the Hook".
Not a great title.
I'll keep it.
Because it seems
it's the most precious thing.
I think that's all.
No, what's this?
A hard disk.
With the backed-up manuscript?
I didn't look in here...
A back-up of the back-up...
Give me the manuscript!
I mean it, give it back!
Is this a bad time, Aunt?
Not at all, I'm in my dressing
room.
Racine?
No, Corneille... Médée.
One last time, then I quit.
I can't abide directors anymore.
They're parasites.
I can hear you, Judith.
Fools who believe the greatest
geniuses
need their petty ideas to shine.
Pierre...
Listen to me.
I know why you're calling.
The first few days,
the freedom is delicious.
Deliciously fresh.
Each instant is a morning.
One is intoxicated to feel the air
of this vast world on one's face.
One believes oneself to be
in the most isolated lands,
in the furthest-flung provinces.
"Fancy,
I could have lived here.
I could have been that woman
behind the curtain."
Yes, I could have.
I've done a great many tours
all over France.
By train,
by bus,
most often alone in my car.
I've known empty hotel rooms,
nights of drifting and chance.
Pretty boys that you take upstairs
after giving the receptionist a smile.
All that,
thanks to the stage.
"Take the road!"
was Breton's order.
And I certainly took it.
However,
on certain days,
the sky is ashen,
the milky light crushes
everything,
and the things that seemed so
profuse,
the roads, France,
the world, life itself,
suddenly appear empty.
And then...
without any ties,
without a home,
without a safety net,
the ground slips away
and one falls.
That's exactly
why you're calling me, Pierre.
So listen...
I never give my opinion or
advice but...
say nothing, not a word.
Take a breath, a deep breath.
And take the second left,
then the third left,
then the first right.
And then...
let fate guide you.
Above all, watch carefully,
carefully,
for it's the last time.
This point in reality,
this intersection, the sun, the shadows,
the asphalt,
the grass,
the bricks, the foliage,
the facades, the windows...
You'll never see them again.
Judith, let me take you home.
Second left.
Then...
third left.
First right here...
All right...
No hanky-panky with boys!
Beautiful.
Thank you.
Sorry, I can't return the
compliment.
My boss didn't choose the Mégane
for its style.
- It must have other qualities.
- Yes.
But I'm like you.
I love Italians.
- Petrol, I presume.
- Petrol.
170 horsepower, double clutch.
Good night.
Five.
Four.
Am I disturbing you?
No, I was just resting.
Sorry to impose, I've always dreamt
of driving an Alfa Romeo.
Would you give me that pleasure?
Gladly.
Let's go.
You seem very focused.
I'm trying to feel the car.
There's a bend coming that I
like a lot.
Did you feel it?
The chassis has to hug the curve
while giving a sense of freedom.
Rigour and flexibility.
Only a car, a well-designed car
that is,
transmits the least variation in the road
to the body and mind.
Neither trains,
nor horses, nor walking
offer such contact.
Bicycles perhaps.
Then again,
the physical effort is such that
you sense the landscape less
and pay less attention
to the land.
So, you became a salesman
for the road?
No, for sales.
At first the road was the means.
But the roles soon switched.
And you?
Me? The road for the road's sake.
My realm...
The same sector for 12 years.
From Moulins,
100 km to the north,
to Mende,
just under 100 km to the south.
To the west,
the Aubusson-Aurillac-Rodez line,
to the east,
Roanne-Le Puy-en-Velay.
There,
the lights to the left,
that's the south Clermont zone.
La Pardieu,
Aubière, Cournon...
Back there, out of sight,
the Allier flows.
On the other bank,
Le Puy-Saint-André, Mirefleurs...
In the foreground,
the Grande Limagne plain
with the A75,
the Auvergne Zénith,
Gamm Vert, Intermarché...
The black mass on this side
is the Livradois foothills.
The lights of the zone.
At first, my customers
used to be in towns.
But I prefer the zone, as you call it,
where most of my sales are now.
There's more air.
I breathe more easily.
More space, more emptiness.
More corrugated iron,
more plastic,
more roundabouts...
More absence.
You're just outside the world.
Nothing can happen.
I'd really like to kiss you.
I'd rather go back.
I'll drive.
Can you get a CD from the glove box?
Any one will do.
It's a Roman marker.
It showed distances between Bourges,
Châteaumeillant and Néris-les-Bains.
Did you find what you wanted?
Anywhere you like.
Got pics?
Pierre...
That's Pier...
...hotel or anywhere.
Sending pic of me now.
Hey, you!
What are you doing there?
You're preparing the night patrol?
Doing your dance all alone?
Waiting for the others?
Get lost! I'll call the cops!
I m sick of it.
You pollute nature here!
You pollute me!
I can't take any more, ok?
You've made an insomniac of me.
With your noise at night,
the goings-on, the squealing tyres...
I can't take any more!
I'm sick of seeing your mugs
wandering in the night.
I have a dog, Jeanjean.
He picks up the filth,
the stuff you dump after...
It's everywhere,
he sniffs it all out.
Before, nature was wonderful.
I could
breathe,
breathe in the scent of the flowers.
Now it reeks of piss!
I can't take any more.
You pollute us!
You queers pollute us!
What is it?
Can't you find a soulmate?
You have a pretty face.
- You're not bad.
- Thanks.
Hurry then.
After, it will be too late.
Off you go.
I won't call the cops this time.
I haven't damaged or dirtied anything.
Everything's fine.
- That's all.
- What were you going to do?
- What was I going to do?
- Yes.
- Pee?
- Goodbye, madam.
We're going, Jeanjean.
I chased him off.
I'll chase them all off now.
And we'll go walking together.
Get the hell out of here!
Shit, I don't believe it.
That's it, he's ruined my day,
that one.
Disgusting!
Thanks for everything.
Hello.
We're closing.
But...
- Everywhere is closed.
- Exactly.
- I'd just like some ham.
- I've put it away.
- Sausage then?
- None left.
What's that pie?
Meat pie, a local speciality.
But it's too hot to cut for now.
Give me what you want then.
Black pudding?
Yes.
You can eat it raw?
It's cooked.
Otherwise, it's called blood.
I meant, I'll eat it cold.
You're from Paris?
- Yes.
- I can tell.
My wife will ring it up.
Francine!
Customer at the till!
No idea where she is.
I'll ring it up.
- Francine, can you hear me?
- Goodbye.
2,565...
47...
That's kind.
Come to see me later?
My break's from 4 to 6:45.
Maybe.
The Coffee's as foul as ever.
The Bourbonnaise de
Menuiserie...
The other way...
Hello, madam.
Do you need anything?
- What did you say?
- Do you need any help?
- Are you lost?
- No, I'm going to the grocer's.
Can I drive you there?
If you like.
- Get in.
- All right.
Do up your safety belt, please.
- What did you say?
- Your safety belt.
Yes.
I'm deaf in one ear, that's why.
You seem lonely.
No.
You're lucky.
There's so much loneliness
in the world.
No doubt.
Do you believe in God?
No.
Which village is the grocer's
in?
- Does it bother you, talking about God?
- Yes.
It burns, that's why.
Stop, leave me here.
I'll help with your trolley.
No, don't bother. Goodbye.
Excuse me...
Have you seen a man
in a white Alfa Romeo?
- What did you say?
- A white Alfa Romeo.
I don't know what that is.
Can I help you?
Can I drive you somewhere?
If you want.
I'll put my safety belt on.
What?
I said, I'll put my safety belt on.
All right.
You're a bit hard of hearing?
No, you speak softly.
I'm a bit deaf in one ear,
that's why.
Tell me, didn't you meet anybody
on the road today?
Of course I did.
I met the priest, Jeanine,
Kevin...
I meant a stranger.
In the Forest of Babel...
You seem very lonely.
Yes, I have been for three days
now.
I'm not talking about that
loneliness.
Stop, leave me here.
Fucking Auvergne!
- Here...
- Thank you, sir.
Enjoy your stay with us.
My word,
for someone from the provinces
You're doing pretty well
And there's no small merit
in making a debut like this
You have lost...
I don't believe it!
It stinks!
Your whole body stinks.
Sorry, I've been driving three
days.
I slept in the car at the pass.
I couldn't find a hotel.
A hotel. What a joke.
- Can you pay for breakfast?
- Yes.
- Petrol?
- Yes.
Then get out of here.
There's a spring opposite
to freshen up.
Thank you.
Do you often sing at the Paris
Opera?
It happens now and then, but
rarely.
Frankly, that's a bit mean of
you.
I sang there not so long ago,
quite a lot this past season...
We do Bizet, Berlioz, Gounod
and I finish with Bolena.
Here he is!
- Something to drink.
- A soda.
The house cocktail.
I washed in the stream,
but I can take a quick shower if you want.
No, forget it.
The moment has passed.
Too many words between us now.
Too many words between us.
Horrible!
It's too late.
We've already moved on to "us",
to acquaintance,
exchange,
sharing...
Those shrink and priest notions.
Soon I'll say my mother's dead,
and you'll tell me you feel guilty
for cheating on your guy,
or prefer cats to dogs.
I need silence to get hard.
Ignorance,
distance,
solitude,
and a skin free of smells,
but you know that already.
You know a lot about me.
You know where I live,
where I work...
Yes.
I even know your establishment
helps the "P'tit Col",
the social cohesion bus
for local relations.
Yes.
It goes from village to village
and stops at this bar once a month.
The "living-together" bus.
What an expression!
And dying alone?
The "dying-alone" bus?
The local council isn't keen
to subsidize that one.
I guess it doesn't need a subsidy.
It's self-powered.
Where's the toilet?
- Sick of listening to me?
- No...
- I bore myself.
- I really need to piss.
Back there.
- There's a boy in the toilets.
- My godson.
He lingers in the kitchen and toilets,
doing God knows what!
François! It's time!
Stay with us for dictation.
I've made you a sandwich.
Have a seat.
- This is...
- Pierre.
- An old acquaintance.
- Hello, sir.
So today,
geography and spelling?
That's right.
- I'm listening. The towns first?
- Yes.
Parthenay, Remiremont,
La Charité-sur-Loire,
Forges-les-Eaux,
Forges-les-Eaux...
La Mûre,
Moudeyres,
Sospel... Clisson,
Grandville... Puylaurens...
Étampes, Écuisses,
Issoire and Malaucène.
Perfect.
Remiremont?
A small town in the Vosges,
north of Belfort.
Issoire?
In the Puy-de-Dôme, south of Clermont,
in the Allier Valley.
La Mûre?
A small town in the Isère,
south of...
south of...
Lyon?
- In...
- Grenoble!
South of Grenoble.
Napoleon passed on his way from Elba.
Ok, that's not bad.
Dictation now.
I'll be going.
- Scared of doing badly?
- No.
I have to get going.
If I come back,
we'll do dictation.
I promise.
Goodbye, François.
Goodbye, sir.
"This is the rock
where I used to sit
to contemplate from afar...
This is the rock
where I used to sit
to contemplate from afar
your pleasant dwelling.
These sharp stones
were my chisels...
These sharp stones
were my chisels
to carve your name.
Here,
I crossed the icy mountain stream..."
Hello, madam.
My name's Pierre Thomas.
Matthieu from Bourges sent me.
For you.
You're here in time to help me.
Come closer.
My Princesse...
I found her dead
in the kitchen yesterday.
I'll bury her up the hill
in a meadow.
Take that spade there.
I'll take the little shovel
and I'll carry the basket.
You have the wrong shoes.
Never mind. Follow me.
- You know Matthieu well?
- No.
I met him two days ago.
As I was passing through,
I brought his letter.
You can't pass through.
Valpréveyre is a dead-end.
The whole region is a dead-end.
The road ends where you parked.
There's tarmac...
and then nothing.
France ends here.
You see,
no need for hiking boots.
I see hikers pass by all summer,
the professional trekkers,
in outfits bought at Le Vieux
Campeur.
In brown, khaki, fluorescent
pink...
All that in synthetic fabrics
that are too tight or too baggy.
They're an insult to the landscape
they claim to adore.
Even mountaineers...
And skiers.
Even the locals.
As if...
the mountains and the snow
and the dangers they represent
were an excuse for ugliness.
But on the contrary...
Clothes like that are for the
blighted suburbs of Paris, not here.
If that!
If that!
Marie,
Instead of this letter,
I would have liked to come to your door
to embrace you in the scent of morning.
I am stuck in Bourges,
Rue des Machereaux.
Nothing has happened here
in six years.
The rain, the mud, the wind
and the sun.
And then sport,
a few boys,
Father Roques' sermon every
Sunday
and the books you gave me
before leaving.
Most of the time,
the days pass by
without any link between things.
Some days, fortunately,
I feel everything
falls into place
and then I understand
what I must do.
But I don't do it
as there is always
something urgent
and, on that pretext,
we neglect what matters most.
And so life passes,
full of occupations,
forgetting the only thing
that could save us.
My respects to Miss Princesse.
And please,
accept this bouquet of bittersweets
sent by your faithful
Matthieu.
Stop.
That'll do.
Princesse isn't that big.
My father had a pond dug
And the frivolous wind blows
Three white ducks swim upon it
There is a lover in my heart
And the frivolous wind blows
The wind blows
Frivolously.
The king's son hunts them down
And the frivolous wind blows
He aimed for the black,
killed the white
There is a lover in my heart
And the frivolous wind blows
The wind blows frivolously
Oh, son of the king, you are
evil
And the frivolous wind blows
For killing my white duck
There is a lover in my heart
And the frivolous wind blows
The wind blows frivolously.
After the rain comes blood
And the frivolous wind blows
After blood, gold and silver
There is a lover in my heart
And the frivolous wind blows
The wind blows
Frivolously
Matthieu wanted a photo of you.
May I?
Just a second.
I'm not just a woman of the
woods.
There, I'm ready.
You know Poussin's great
landscapes?
There's always a meadow
or clearing in the distance.
I've found it.
We're there.
His landscapes were less craggy.
He was a Norman.
But the impression of space
is the same.
This is the Poussin meadow.
That's what I call it.
And I'd like to be buried here
too.
Will you explain that to
Matthieu?
Draw a plan for him?
Next to Princesse.
My ashes mingled with the soil.
That will be perfect.
I have to give you a box from
Matthieu.
- I'll fetch it from the car.
- No, don't bother.
There's a hiker's sign
at the spot where you parked.
Just leave it there.
I was to deliver it in person.
You never know...
I'm telling you to leave it
at the foot of the sign.
All right.
Goodbye.
Farewell.
Happy Dough
Five euros a blowjob.
That's kind,
but I can just give you five euros.
I'm not begging.
I'm not a down-and-out. Forget it.
No, all right.
Go and park over there.
- You're clean, I can swallow?
- Yes.
Going back to Paris?
Yes.
- Do you wash your hands before serving?
- Don't worry.
Shit, Mélanie, what?
What about the customers?
I needed a breather.
I'm outside.
Yes, I'm pregnant.
Understand the sickness now?
That's kind of you.
See you in a minute.
Shit, she's a drag.
Poor Mélanie.
She hangs on,
doing all she can to keep it going.
You said it.
Give up, Mélanie.
Let yourself go.
She has to drop it.
I have to go.
It's the only difference.
Near Sisteron.
You?
Agnel Pass
Found you Sorel 1502.
Agnel Pass...
Coming...
Meet me at La Colle
Saint-Geniez 0420
"I prefer dogs. Pierre."
What an idiot.
It's Matthieu. I'm in Paris
on Rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie.
You must know it.
There are men everywhere
with beards.
I'm going to Notre-Dame tonight.
Bye.
"In Aries, along the Alyscamps
When shadows are red beneath the roses
And the sky clear
Beware of the softness of things
When you sense a fruitless fight
In your overly heavy body
And may the doves fall silent
Speak in a whisper to speak of love
Alongside the tombs."
Just in case you're in Aries.
Goodbye!
Hello, this is Florence Rochapi.
Sorry to bother you,
but we were due to meet yesterday
at your Sorbonne office at 8:30,
but I found it closed.
I remain at your...
Così at 8 at the Opéra Comique.
Forgotten?
In 45 minutes outside?
Drat, the box!
- Didier?
- Yes.
- Paul.
- Follow me.
My mother.
- Hello, sorry to bother you.
- Have a seat.
- I have a bit of stew left.
- I'm ok, thank you.
This is where we are.
- When Sorel answered...
- No, Pierre.
Pierre answered from here,
at Agnel Pass.
Then he moved.
I followed him by phone, along the N94
to the Serre-Ponçon Lake.
Then he took either the motorway
or the main road to Château-Arnoux.
He went to Digne.
To eat or sleep.
Or Manosque.
The Soubeyran gate is pretty.
There's a pick-up spot?
You can talk in front of me!
Yes, there's a bar...
But I think he's probably near
Peyruis.
A rest area?
Yes.
- There is a rest area...
- How far is it?
- 45 minutes away.
- Go, if you want.
No, call the hotels. I'll go.
No, take my son. I'll do that.
- He knows the area, he'll help you.
- All right.
He's 36, Pierre Thomas,
brown hair, not very tall.
Please call every hotel.
- There aren't a lot, it won't take long.
- Thanks.
- Call me if you find him.
- Sure, sure.
Nothing.
Did your mother call?
It's screwed.
He must have gone to Aix
or Castellane.
Don't you want to wait a bit?
Been together long?
Five years?
Ten years?
Fifteen?
I promised you something
for helping me.
- You struck it lucky, pal.
- He's just a friend.
Seen a guy in an Alfa tonight?
A Parisian?
No, only regulars.
I'll leave you.
You'll tell me about it.
Do you forgive me?
Over there, the Lérins Islands
and the tip of the Cape of Antibes.
The Napoule Gulf and Cannes Bay
can't be seen,
like the Fréjus Gulf,
to the west.
Behind us, the Estérel Massif.
The rock is red, porphyry red.
I used to come to this spot in summer.
I was six the first time.
We had to get here early.
My mother said
the sea washed at night
and dawn was the only time
to enjoy that.
I was intoxicated by the scent
of the pines, the rock-roses,
by the remnants of sleep.
We would be alone for an hour,
sometimes two.
After that, people would arrive
and we would leave.
The walk back up was tough.
You know Honorat d'Arles lived in
a cave here before exile on his island?
She carves a roast chicken
One Sunday as night falls
In the big garden, the nettles
Hail the distant Mont Ventoux
The night
The wind
In the forest of expectations
In the hills of Besançon
On the streets of Annecy
The gilded light of the houses
Everywhere
Nowhere
On Vaisseaux Brûlés Highway
On Departure Dock
for the Unknown
Inn of the Dreamt Life
Belvedere of Naked Men
Here
There
The scent of the eucalyptus
trees
On Croix-des-Gardes Hill
Rendezvous at the Russian church
At dawn, I cannot wait
To the east
To the west
A Vittel at the Café de France
A kiss on Place du Hasard
The tall flag of departure
Flutters in the air of
Saint-Médard
By day
By night
A dead fox at the roadside
Marker 33 of the A10
A rapidly erased patch of blood
At the Total service station
outside Nice
02:21:13,417 --> 02:21:15,417
02:21:18,417 --> 02:21:21,417
One more bend before Blois
One more sleeping village
One more stupid roundabout
One more tollgate in the night
Vroom, vroom
Vroom, vroom.