Cold Water (1994) - full transcript

1972, near Paris

They burned the harvest...

They killed all the animals

The German army carried on
retreating

We didn't hear any more guns
on the road to Budapest

Everything was quiet for two days.
Total silence

And then we heard
that the Russians were coming

Everyone panicked, really panicked

- Why did they panic?
- Why?

The Russian army was full of youngsters
from the Caucasus and Mongolia

They were savages. Real savages!



I don't know how to explain it to you

My father packed our most precious
belongings in crates

He walled up some of them
in the cellar

and my uncles buried the rest
in the woods

Isn't that your father's car?

Give it to me.
Not like that

It was there yesterday!

So what?

You'll twist the aerial!

Pain in the ass..

Not bad

We can get it better

Shit...

There



Quiet!

Brilliant

She could at least speak
to my father

Shit, it's not that hard!

Why bother? Your dad wants custody.
The courts gave it him

I won't go back to that moron!

He can't make you.
It's your choice, not your mother's

He'll get me back if he wants

How?

Actually, he wants to put me in
a home. The Beausoleil clinic

- He thinks I need care like mom
- You never said

- I don't tell you everything
- I do

- Why are you smiling?
- No reason

- Next time, tell me why
- Give me a break

Last year, he tore down my posters

So I slashed his tires
with a screwdriver

He chased after me in the street,
dragged me back

and started thrashing me

so I bit his ankle
until my mouth was full of blood

Is that why he sent you
to Beausoleil?

I went there
but they wouldn't let me see you

Then you told me the same rubbish
you told the others

It scares me, Gilles,
it really scares me

I know

I don't want to go back.
Promise to help me

Yeah.

Don't say it like that,
this is serious

I know

No, you don't know

You're still a kid but that's okay

Is that why you were smiling?

It's true. I've got my books, my records,
my papers and no experience

- Can't your mother help?
- Come on, she's useless

The young guy she lives with
works in a betting agency

They really impress a court!

And he's an Arab,
and they're both Scientologists!

No court's ever going
to give her custody

- What will you do?
- Nothing

The court judgment is final

We'll see
We'll see what?

I can't tell you yet.
It's a secret

But I'll tell you

I'll tell only you.
I swear

Let go, assholes!

Jesus! Fucking grab her!

"The heat in my blood
incessantly filled my mind

"with girls and women

"Yet, not knowing the true reason,

"I occupied them strangely
in my mind

"on my fantasies
for I had no idea of anything else

"These thoughts kept my senses
in a troublesome state of activity,

"from which, happily,

"they never taught me
to relieve myself"

"But the time was past
when childish games were natural

"Shame, the companion
of an evil conscience

"had come with the years

"It increased my shyness,
making it invincible

"And never, at that time or since,

"have I made an indecent proposal

"to any woman

"who had not forced me to it
by her advances,

"even knowing her immodest

"and likely to accept

"My agitation became so strong that,
unable to satisfy my desires,

"I excited them
by extravagant maneuvers"

Extravagant..

maneuvers

"I hunted out dark pathways,

"lonely spots,

"to expose myself to women
from afar

"in the condition I would have liked
to be in their company

"They didn't see the obscene object

"I never thought of that

"It was the ridiculous object"

Mr. Guersaint

Carry on reading

You weren't following

I'll help you then

We're at "the ridiculous object"

Start reading from
"the ridiculous object"

Page 121

What's this?

Where's "The Confessions"?

I left it at home

Right,

since you can't read for us,

you can tell us
what you've remembered

What happens next?

If you'd read it, you'd remember

What's he talking about?

What's this ridiculous object?

It should interest you

Is it his...

Or his...

What do you think, Gilles?

I'm sick of wasting my time
on shits like you. You piss me off!

Go on, get out!

Go on!

Take your things,

since literature interests you,

and tell the supervisor
I don't want you back

Go on!

Out!

Asshole!

Those assholes broke my bracelet
and took my wallet!

Your wallet's here

Nothing missing?

You can check later

They had no right to keep me!

Where did they keep you?

In some shitty locker room

What happened there?

Is that all?

They tried to intimidate me,
no such luck

You've done this before

- Maybe
- You know you have

There's no proof! I never signed.
Prove it!

There's their word

And their word says
they saw you today

stealing records in the store
with your boyfriend

Their word's worth fuck-all!

Why?

They're not sworn officers.
That's why

If they play it that way,
I can tell a few things too

Meaning?

Nothing

You're not at school

This is a police station.
Answer my questions

Nothing. Ask them what happened
in the locker room

It was the tall guy with short hair

We were alone together in there

He tried to ask me
a few dumb questions

When he saw I wasn't answering,

he started feeling under my skirt

And then?

He took off my panties and then...

He put his finger in me.
I was dry

And you let him?

I felt nothing.
He doesn't exist

Did it last long?

No idea

Then he made me kneel down
and took out his cock

Did he ask you to...

He didn't ask

He forced you?

No, he just pissed on me

Yeah, he pissed on me with his cock

That's a serious allegation

Dead serious

Right...

Christine Huart..

I've had your file here
for three weeks now

Know what's in it?

A court order your father
wants applied immediately

In other words,

they want me to send two officers

to take you to him...

of your own free will or not

Nothing to say?

Nothing

When they divorced,

did you want to live
with your mother?

No one asked me

You prefer your father?

I'd rather croak than stay
with that worm!

And now?

Now I'm waiting to be old enough
to take off

Where to?

I know where

You won't say?

Your mother won't answer my letters

She's not stupid,
she knows what you want

It's too late now

Maybe I could have helped

but it's too late now

Your father's here for you

I didn't have time
for Chapon's delivery

It took me an hour!

Right, you...

take the van

There's the roll of fencing...

and the stakes. 250 of them

Count them with the customer
or he'll piss us off again

You could have shaved!

Right... You unload the van...

No, you don't unload it...
We gave him 10% off

He didn't pay for labor

It's from the site where my dad works

One of his pals sorted it out

Six, seven, eight...

It's okay to handle it

It only works with a detonator

These are the detonators

You stick the fuse in on this side

The stick goes on the other side

This is Bickford fuse

4 meters of it to cut up

It's string and gun powder

Remember, once you light it,
you can't put it out

Who said come in?

Who said? Whose place is this?

- Is Madeleine here?
- Answer me!

Whose place is this?

Show me some fucking respect!

See you, Mourad

They took Christine from her!

- Did you know?
- No, I didn't

The store guards got her

I know that

You don't give a fuck about her
when you steal your goddamn LPs!

It's fun, huh? Mom and dad
can get you out of trouble

or cough up if they have to
like last time!

You're drunk, I'm not listening!

Give me the key and sleep it off!

Give me the fucking key!

I said I'd smash your face in
if you started again!

It's not a game for Christine.
It's her life

Okay, Mourad, cut it out

Hands off, queer!

Last time, they told you
they'd get the cops!

The cops called her dad

and he's sending her to Beausoleil

Oh fuck.

What now?

She'd left when Madeleine
got to the police station

so she went to the ironmongery

The sales guy...

...threw her out
Were you there?

No, she called from a phone-box

She was crying, her dress was torn,
and she wanted me to fetch her

I've got to get to the betting agency,
I'm already late as it is

There, your room's ready

Here

Take this before bed.
It will do you good

It's not very strong

You don't have to take it
but I'll have to tell Dr. Varennes

That's good

If you need anything,
my office is down the corridor

Use the buzzer to call me. Okay?

Good night

Come and see

Remember the "Death of the Virgin"
from the Louvre?

That character, at the Virgin's feet,
remember him?

Hands over his eyes and at his throat,
his head lowered

Few images of suffering move me
more than this

What about you?

Does it move you like that

or not?

Once the painting was finished,

they said Caravaggio had used
a drowned prostitute as his model

If you look closely,
it seems plausible...

It caused quite a scandal

and Caravaggio's patrons refused it

He wasn't able to defend himself
as he had to flee Rome

after killing a man in a duel

Are you listening?

Did you see that letter from school?

No, I didn't

Come on, I'm not stupid

It was on the table

I know you go through my papers

Yeah, I saw it

Okay

And what do you think of the letter?

What am I supposed to think?
They can expel me next year

I'll pass the exam anyway

- What if you fail?
- I won't

What if you fail?

I'll fucking pass!

Don't shout at me, please

I've had enough of these hassles

You were disciplined twice last year,
for heaven's sake!

Mess about but don't let them catch you

I'm sick of seeing the head

and having to kow-tow to her

Two years ago,

we moved you to arts
because maths was too hard

Then a class without Latin

because it was even easier

So what is it you want?
Tell me, what?

Some private school
full of idiots and daddy's boys?

The same as your moronic cousin

who's over twenty
and still in high school?

Give me a break with that cretin!

I'm 16 and I haven't failed
my exam yet, okay?

If you don't want to answer
or see them, don't. It's my problem!

Change your tone. lf you don't mind,
it's my problem too

I do mind!

That bitch has been after me all year!

Poor little martyr

Any graffiti, stealing or strikes
and she sends for me straight away!

It's not me every time!
I'm sick of being a scapegoat!

Now she's writing to you

What have I done now?
I've had enough!

If she wrote to me,
she had her reasons

I'm telling you there's no reason.
She's obsessed!

She's just after me!

When you get like that,
no one can talk to you

You won't even try to understand!

Stop it, Gilles!

Little jerk

Can I talk to you now?

It is my problem too

I just spoke to your mother

She had a copy of the letter

What did she say?

She wants you in a boarding school

She spoke to the head
who thinks it's a great idea

A brilliant idea

What can I say?

Your grades are bad...

you've got permanent discipline
problems...

at the slightest remark,
you go crazy...

This proves it

I'm never home.
I can't watch you all the time

You've got to stand
on your own two feet

I know, I keep trying!

You'd never guess. Some kids
your age already have jobs

You're lucky,
you've never lacked money

It's no fun at your age
being left to your own devices

But that's the way it is

That's life and you have to act
like an adult

That's what you need to learn

These days, I'm...

I don't know what to tell your mother

I can't make any commitments

about your work or mental balance

She said she'd handle everything

She knows a very decent place
in the south-west somewhere

She said it's for your own good.
And I didn't say no

agreed

Gilles!

Come here...

Come here...

Look how it works

- I'm doing my homework
- Do it later

Show me after. I can't concentrate

You're just copying!

Okay, but it has to be neat,
pain in the ass

I can't later

Have you got that?

Tell Maxime

Can't you? He's coming tomorrow
after his riding class

- No, it pisses me off
- Why?

I'm not interested. It's kids' shit

Give it to him.
He doesn't owe me anything, okay?

Put the light out

Yes, yes...

Give me the scissors now

You'll do something dumb

Give them to me

It's not funny

You're out of your mind

- She's nuts!
- Look what you did

Get the scissors off that bitch!

Come on, come on!

Let go of me!

Come on now!

You'll break her arm!

He's crazy!

- Stop him!
- Back off!

I'll let her go

It's okay

It's over now

I was scared you wouldn't come

Thanks for worrying about me

It's not that.
I'm talking about Christine

What about her?

She's here

- What's she doing here?
- She ran away

- How?
- I don't know

She must have said

She wouldn't. She turned up
at dinner, dead beat

- Were your folks there?
- Of course

What did you tell them?

A load of shit

- Did they believe it?
- Not a word

- They'll call her dad!
- No way

Says who?

I do. They're not sneaks

Yeah, sure

They spoke to her

She went to my room. I made coffee
and then brought her here

- You should have let her sleep
- At home?

Of course

I can't keep her

You've got room

What about my folks?

Tell them her mom went away

They'll buy that!

Make something up

No, you have her!

I can't!
Same here!

You want her to go back to the home?

No, to her mother's

No, her father will go straight there

She might know

The cops will turn up and she'll panic

Why the cops?

He'll send them this time!

We can't let her down

You're crazy! You've seen her.
She needs care

She was okay all year

Now look at her
after a day in the clinic

They only gave her valium.
It's normal

Electric shock treatment
will be normal too!

Come on, you're raving

They use it at the clinic!
My mom works there!

You want to be rid of her

Quitter!

Where's Christine?

I don't know. At the clinic

They said she escaped

He knows already

- I know what?
- Don't fuck with me!

They thought she'd come home

Luckily, she's a bit smarter than that

Mourad remembered
this party was on...

We haven't seen her

She must have taken a train to Paris

A train! You think I'm an asshole?!

Out of the way!

You and Mourad fought?

It's okay, I understand

No, he's a pain in the ass.
He's losing his marbles

While he was still on
the football team, it was okay

But since he started
at the betting agency, it's hell

What does Christine tell you?

About what?

I don't know...
About me... her father..

She must say something

She won't even speak to me

She's unhappy
but I don't know how to help

- Does she want to live with her dad?
- No way!

What then?

To be alone maybe

Alone? She's only 16,
I can't let her go off!

I don't know! You asked me
what she says. She wants to be alone

But that's ridiculous, right?

Maybe it's something
she can't say otherwise

Like?

Like she needs attention

I know her

- She wants me to have a steady life
- Maybe

A steady job, without Mourad

I don't think...

Mothers and daughters are like that!

She judges me!
But I won't give up my life for her!

She's like her father

Always the center of attraction.
Like at the store

Self-centered. And fussy too!

So I left.
I won't let her pull the same act!

I'll live the way I want.
I'm a Scientologist, that's my business!

Not here! We'll try your sister's
and the station,

then back here in case she turns up

I didn't want to get uptight.
I really care for her

I don't want to lose her

Swear you know nothing...

that you haven't seen her...

I swear

- We've got to go
- One question first

What?

Wait

It's a secret

No time for dumb secrets!

It's not dumb. Promise?

I promise

Come on

Remember Chlo??

You know, in the 4th year

I wasn't in your class

I was always with her, a blonde girl

Oh, yeah. She vanished ages ago

No, she hasn't vanished

Her dad's a painter

They moved to an old farm
in the Loz?re region

The farm's full of artists

They did it up. It's great

How do you know? Maybe it sucks

She writes a lot.
She's my best friend

You want to go there?

I've wanted to for a long time

I never told anyone

Except you

I want you to come

- When?
- Right now

I haven't got my things

Neither have I

Wait!

What!

You hesitated. You shouldn't have

I'll go alone

Just give me a second

No, not one second. It's too late

I'm coming

We'll be all alone, you know?

We won't have a family...

money, or a home...

You'll have me..

and I'll have you. That's all

I know

You're coming anyway?

I thought they'd never go!

Will they be back?

No, they think you're in Paris,
that you'll turn up tomorrow

They can screw themselves!

Here, it's Fran?oise's sweater.
It's warm, you'll need it

And my jacket...

No, I'll be okay

I want you to have it

with you

Here...

It's not much
but it can help you out a bit

Here

Has Chlo? got a phone number?

No, there's no phone

No water or electricity either

The address then?

I thought you wrote a lot

We've never written

Gilles doesn't know.
I don't want him to

I don't want to go alone

You do love him?

Yes, I love him

I love only him

Stop looking at the map!

I told you, it's on the Villefort road

Call them.
Maybe they could fetch us

There's no phone, no water
and no electricity

How do they wash then?

There's a well

And after?

You use a basin, you heat the water
It's simple enough

Have you ever done that?

Got a light?

Did Chlo? tell you all that?

We won't be there by dark

It doesn't look so far on the map

The road twists a lot.
It's at least 20 km

20 km...

That's nothing

There's no cars on the roads

And it'll be dark soon

Subtitles: Ian Burley