Augustine (2012) - full transcript

Augustine!

Some soup?

Are you okay?

What's wrong?

- Would you rather I serve?

- I'm fine.

Are you sure?

Augustine, it's ready.

- What's her problem now?

- She's sick.

Don't go believing that nonsense.

I need a good stockbroker.

I have one. Chevalier!

Does that hurt?

- When was your attack?

- Last night.

Take this off.

Bruises all over.

I banged into things.

Have these attacks often?

Every week?

- Every month?

- More or less.

But never this bad.

Do you remember anything?

Stick out your tongue.

Farther.

You can get dressed.

Brothers and sisters?

- Yes.

- How many?

Nine.

I mean, six.

Three died.

What from?

They were young.

- How old are you?

- Nineteen.

Any children?

Do you work?

As a kitchen maid.

Since I was fourteen.

Did you bring your things?

We'll keep you for a bit.

For some tests.

Are you sure?

How long?

I can't say.

Do you know what I have?

You'll go to the refectory.

And then to your room.

Follow me.

Stop.

You can walk around the hospital

but you can't leave.

And don't try.

After lunch, we'll find you work.

Everyone here works afternoons.

Can you cook?

I won't be here long.

This way.

Holy Guardian Angel,

make my eye open.

Holy Guardian Angel,

make me better.

Please, Holy Guardian Angel,

I'm begging you.

Make me get better, please.

Don't bother praying.

No one hears you here.

Not even Charcot.

It's Charcot...

you must pray to here.

Who?

Wait here.

So? Did you see Charcot?

Did he touch you?

Next.

Slowly.

That way.

- What are you looking at?

- I see him.

When did it begin?

A month ago.

Nothing in the file.

Sorry, Professor. I'll do it now.

Mr. Verdan, take a photograph.

Next case.

This way.

Next case.

1714.

Blanche.

Raped at the age of 16.

At 12...

That's enough. We know Blanche.

When was your last attack?

Two weeks ago.

And nothing since.

Does that hurt?

- Since when?

- I don't know.

Breathe.

Again.

Breathe.

It's spread to her chest.

Won't last long.

You can get dressed.

Gentlemen, enough for today.

We'll continue tomorrow.

Everyone out.

What are you doing there?

Come on!

Look who's here.

As of now,

serve meat at every meal.

It'll cost more.

- Use the Doctors' Fund.

- It's empty.

Bourneville, just manage.

Ask the paymaster.

Meat, once a week at least.

Yes, sir.

Stop that.

Why haven't I seen her?

She hasn't been here long.

Sit her down.

Don't be afraid.

Does this hurt?

When I press down?

Has it happened before?

Bring her along.

Close your eyes.

Tell me if you feel anything.

Here?

There?

Feel anything?

Exactly as we described.

Right side is desensitized.

Straight down the middle.

Prepare the needle.

Stand still.

Feel anything?

Now?

Why do I feel nothing?

- Will you cure me?

- Dress her.

Presenting her to the Academy?

I don't know.

It's too soon to say.

Depends how she reacts

in front of people.

Menstruation?

Non-existent.

She seems fully matured.

You know what menstruation is?

You don't?

You'll see with the doctor.

You won't tell me?

You'll know when it happens.

It happens suddenly.

I feel a knot in my throat.

I get hot and dizzy.

My forearms are on fire.

It was like...

the sky opened up.

Like the floodgates...

I was flowing out to sea.

Everything was possible.

What's your name?

How long have you been here?

You won't speak to me?

Brain section

Death after hysterical attack

I stopped by the gallery.

I saw a portrait of a woman you'd like.

Go see it when you can.

I'll try next week.

You always say that.

I promise I'll try.

Melanie, give him seconds.

Good idea.

I'll invite the Vantels.

He admires your work.

And he talks a lot.

A real social butterfly.

I don't know him.

Don't underestimate him.

He knows the Minister

and you need funding.

He can help you with the Academy.

You can ask Conti directly.

He knows my father.

He'll see you.

Thank you.

Why that silly stare?

You're beautiful tonight.

It took me all afternoon.

I'd given up on you, my friend.

Good to meet you at last.

Constance speaks of you often.

I hear that...

your work is progressing.

Modernizing the hospital was costly.

This disease is now commonplace.

I need the Academy's support

to continue.

If the members come to me

to attend one of my lectures,

I'm sure to convince them.

Your hysterics always interested me,

as you know.

It's fascinating to me.

But isn't it too risqué

for the Academy?

I have a very interesting case.

I hope she's as impressive

as the last one.

You don't only have friends.

It won't be easy.

But I do have influence.

Come back when you're ready.

It may be soon.

I can't promise more.

What do they say?

They're still looking.

You never hear them talk?

I don't understand a word.

- What is it?

- Nothing.

Ugly, isn't it?

Why not cover it?

Here you are.

We're waiting for you.

Right away.

Can I stay with her longer?

No. Hurry up.

- You'll come back?

- Yes. I promise.

Come in.

Leave us.

Take that off.

Tell me the days of the week.

Will you cure me?

Answer my question.

I must know your capacities.

Which ones?

Maybe you're an idiot.

Monday, Tuesday,

Wednesday, Thursday...

Friday...

The months now.

January, February, March, April,

May, June...

What month is it?

November.

Good.

Sit.

Write something.

Like what?

Whatever comes to mind.

So am I an idiot?

Important men are coming on Tuesday.

If all goes well, the Academy is next.

I hope I'm not wrong about you.

Holy Guardian Angel,

make him cure me.

Please, Holy Guardian Angel,

I'm begging you.

Open my eye,

make everything well.

Holy Guardian Angel,

Archangel Gabriel, all of you,

Holy Angel and Archangel...

protect me.

Help me.

Give me strength.

Will she be naked?

Mr. Charcot says

being naked with a feather hat is absurd.

What are you waiting for?

Go ahead.

Friends, thank you for coming.

Today's patient is named Augustine.

Augustine is nineteen.

She's had attacks for months

and presents every symptom

of what we call “ovarian hysteria.”

Notice the paralysis

of the right eye?

An excellent example

of the hysterical wink.

Permanent paralysis.

The symptoms have been visible for days,

but we've found no organic lesion.

As with all hysterics,

this patient

defies the laws of anatomy.

We'll put her under hypnosis.

Via hypnosis, we'll reproduce the attack

in its natural state.

To identify it, to observe it,

and to classify the symptoms.

Mr. Verdan here

will take pictures.

Mr. Bourneville...

you may hypnotize her.

Look at the mirror.

Look at the light in it.

Follow it.

Very good.

Continue.

Eye on it.

Keep your eye on it.

Now.

Do you know where you are?

I don't know.

Know the Salpêtrière?

It's where they treat me.

Know that man?

You do know me?

You're Mr. Charcot.

The feather.

See her out.

Charcot has a new patient.

Yes, my husband told me.

Were you there?

I never miss them but I was away.

Too bad.

It was particularly fascinating.

- See Humbert's piece?

- About her?

Likens her to Sarah Bernhard.

- Who?

- Your husband's new patient.

What an anatomy!

Indeed.

The tale she tells is not for children.

Who?

Your new protégé.

You mean patient.

This isn't a circus.

You trigger her attacks, don't you?

I trigger attacks

to study symptoms.

Nothing more.

You really think

I can create diseases?

Ever seen 17th-century prints

of witches?

- Not the point.

- Answer.

The prints show exactly

what we see at the hospital.

Girls burned at the stake for ages

were merely ill.

There's one thing I want.

To understand.

Where does this illness come from?

I claim it starts in the brain.

A lesion that left no trace.

It's incurable?

An emotional or physical shock

may suffice to make the patient well.

If it's in the brain,

why is their delirium always sexual?

Why is it always so?

It's not part of the disease.

lt's just delirium.

Enough about medicine today.

Serge, tell your adventures.

Jean says you're climbing Mont Blanc.

It's not dangerous?

The risk doesn't scare you?

Not coming to bed?

Shortly.

Have you heard of this Augustine?

Today we discovered

a cut on her back.

Although it is deep,

there was no bleeding.

The other parts of her body

are hypersensitive.

Tweezers.

You may leave.

Raise your arm.

Your hair.

Get dressed.

What is menstruation?

One day you said I had none.

Bleeding that women have every month.

You use big words

to say simple things.

Why don't I have it?

You will, once you're cured.

- Once I'm cured?

- Yes, once you're cured.

Go on.

In here.

You can thank Mr. Charcot.

Are you okay?

It was as if I were

on a divine mission.

I went to Sacré-Cœur,

the basilica at Montmartre.

I walked down the main aisle.

I dropped my coat on the floor.

I stepped onto the altar...

and I shouted

we had to set women free.

I saw the nuns behind me

with their veils.

I felt like telling them

“Stop obeying!”

It always began with a sound.

In fact it was my heartbeat

that I heard in my ear.

It was the...

A noise like this.

I took a piece of glass.

I cut myself...

My whole body

with that piece of glass.

And afterwards...

I felt better.

Calm down now!

Come, fatso.

Can you help?

It's just a hen.

Paralysis on the left now.

Straight down the middle.

Worthy of an Old Master.

The left hand is paralyzed,

claw-like.

Unresponsive to hot or cold.

And the left ear?

Move your hand.

A watch ticking in her left ear

is barely audible.

The right ear hears it

4 inches away.

Vaginal temperature is unchanging.

Left eye sees only red.

Right eye, every color but purple.

No sense of smell on the left.

Right, almost normal.

Sugar, salt or pepper:

indiscernible.

Hypnotized,

she becomes totally stiff.

This allows us to keep her

in this state for a while.

We've never tried

more than 4 or 5 minutes.

A 90-pound weight

didn't make her stomach flinch.

Last night

she dreamt of a slaughterhouse.

Animals fell in pools of blood.

She woke up to her first period.

Personality.

Augustine is active, intelligent,

affectionate, impressionable.

Enjoys seeing men.

Likes being seen, feeling tended to.

She cares about her appearance,

rearranges her full head of hair,

wears it one way, then another.

Adores colorful ribbons.

Can I have an apple?

Not much love in your books.

What do you know about love?

Lots of things.

I've gotten letters.

Really.

Are you surprised?

Yes, I am.

Sit still.

I won't be much longer.

For Dr. Bourneville.

Did you find it?

“Augustine,

under Dr. Charcot's gaze,

performed before our eyes

a series of tableaux vivants,

whose style and power

belittled Art's grandest endeavors.

Never before

has an actor or a painter,

not Rachel, not Sarah Bernhard,

attained such authority of expression.”

Is that all?

I had your valise packed.

Bordeaux. The conference.

You seem upset.

I haven't prepared my paper.

You'll improvise.

You know I never do.

Lie down.

What about Mr. Charcot?

He's not coming?

He left on a trip.

He didn't tell me.

He doesn't give his patients notice.

Let go of me!

So? Where do things stand?

I have a patient for you.

Are you sure of yourself?

Positive.

The Academy is not easily

dispatched elsewhere.

Augustine will persuade them.

I'm sure.

A magnificent patient.

I hope so for your sake.

I'll see what I can do.

Come in.

- You called for me?

- Get Augustine.

She was agitated after you left.

Just get her.

She's too weak. She won't eat.

I gave her laudanum

but she spits everything back out.

Why is she tied up?

She was very agitated.

Remove that.

Get me some soup.

- This late?

- Do as I say.

If you starve,

I can't cure you.

It's cold.

Sorry, sir.

The kitchen is closed.

Go on, eat.

She eats perfectly fine.

Change her sheets.

We'll resume our tests tomorrow.

You went away.

Where?

Bordeaux.

- Is it nice?

- Very.

I'd like to see Bordeaux.

Once you're cured.

Make her bed.

Let me show you something.

Want to hold her?

What's his name?

Zibidie. She's a girl.

Don't be afraid.

Don't be afraid.

I'm not.

She's nice.

Usually I leave her at home.

The hospital is too cold.

Calm down.

Come here.

Zibidie, come.

It's like she's listening.

She is.

She's the ancestor of us all.

Come on.

Get out.

Out.

She wakes up startled

and sits up in bed.

As if someone were beside her.

Gives a few kisses,

falls back asleep.

At night, crudely calls out

to an imaginary lover.

Arms crossed,

pressed to her breasts.

She's covered in sweat.

Very well.

You can go back.

When is the change of shifts?

Midnight.

“We are all hysterical,

since Dr. Charcot,

the high priest

of hospital-harvested hysteria,

spends a fortune maintaining

a race of nervous women

whom he infects with madness,

provoking demoniacal frenzy.

Cheat on your husband?

Hysterical.

But a sensual hysteric.

Lie constantly? Hysterical.

Like to eat? Hysterical.

Nervous? Hysterical.

You are this or that,

what women have been

since the dawn of time:

hysterical.”

Who wrote that?

Maupassant.

He's an idiot.

An idiot.

Any news from the Academy?

Not yet.

Undress her.

Lie down.

Tighten it.

Tighter.

Tighter.

More.

Can this have an effect

on paralysis?

We'll see.

Loosen it.

Get dressed.

Why do that in front of everyone?

Want to get cured?

You say that and nothing happens.

My cousin stopped coming.

You'll see her at Christmas.

That's right, at Christmas.

I hope to be gone by then.

I've had enough of your experiments.

I want to leave here.

Where will you go?

I'll find a job.

On your own? I doubt it.

You'll find work in your condition?

I'll manage.

I'll find you work

when you're ready.

I don't need you.

I'll manage alone.

Learn to read and write.

Even a maid needs to.

I hate you.

There's a note from Conti on the table.

So?

Is the lecture set?

When?

Tuesday.

You should be happy.

About what?

Still asleep?

Mr. Charcot is waiting.

Hurry.

Don't feel like talking today?

Because of the presentation?

You never listen anyway.

It's too long.

Not if we hem it.

There's a button missing.

We'll find another.

It fits well.

Not too tight.

So they see how she moves.

Lift your arm.

I'll take it in.

That's fine.

I'll let you finish up.

A lot of people

will be seeing you.

- Thimble?

- In the box.

Where were you?

Look at you! That dress was clean!

- I'm cured.

- Cured...

Calm down or you'll get laudanum.

- But I'm cured

- Tell it to Mr. Charcot.

Gentlemen...

Dear colleagues...

I welcome you all.

I want to point out

we've never come closer

to understanding the disease.

I offer irrefutable proof.

Our hysterical patients

are not witches or feigners,

or liars,

but diseased people.

This is a great step.

It's time to go now.

So that you may understand

our work at the hospital,

I'll begin by showing you

an hysterical attack.

To do so,

I'll hypnotize the patient

before your eyes.

You'll thus observe the disease

in its natural state.

You'll notice

three distinct, separate steps.

The tonic phase,

the clonic phase

and the final phase.

This is Augustine.

Augustine is an experienced patient.

Very easily hypnotized.

As soon as Mr. Bourneville

asks her to stare at a moving point,

before your eyes, she'll fall under.

Thunderstruck.

Mr. Bourneville.

Look at the mirror.

Follow it.

Follow the mirror.

I'll start over.

Look at the mirror.

Follow it.

Follow the mirror.

Give that to me.

I'm cured.

Gentlemen,

experiments performed on animals

work better in a lab

than with an audience.

This is the case today.

The feathers.

The attack has begun.

Stop this.

Take her to my office.

Mr. Bourneville

will analyze what you've seen.

Everyone's expecting you.

I'm coming.

Fascinating. We're very impressed.

The Academy will back you.

You can count on us.

Subtitles: Andrew Litvack

Subtitling by L.V.T. - Paris