Ghost Tropic (2019) - full transcript

This is what I see.

What I hear.

I see the time that has gone by.

I hear the sounds of the city.

The lives of my neighbours.

And the song of a bird.

I see us.

We are new

and unexhausted.

We fill this space with our lives.

It's a relentless task.



It's the hardest work I know.

When I see this space,
I see a labour of love.

I see the traces we leave in everything.

The thin layers of memories
are what make this chair,

make this cabinet,

make the carpet.

But if suddenly

a stranger appearing from nowhere
were to enter this room,

what would he see,
what would he hear?

And would he feel anything
by being here?

And would I feel ashamed?

Yes!

It's my miracle.

I’m curious to see the next miracle.



Maybe it's the elevator,
he gets there and...

When he gets back to the Congo he'll say:

"I made the door open,
I made the elevator go up".

What a story...

Bye.
- See you.

See you tomorrow.
- Bye.

Bye.
- Bye.

Bilal, it's mum.

I messed up and I'm at the end of the line
at Hermann-Debroux.

There are no more metros.

If you hear this message,
call me back, OK?

Sir. Sir!

Two minutes.

Just two minutes.

I need to take out some money.

Yes, but...

It's closed.
- Really?

Yes... OK, come on then.
- Thank you.

It's the other side of town.
It's the first time in twenty years.

In twenty years I've never fallen asleep
on the metro, now I have to take a taxi

and my only solution is to...
- Here's the cash machine.

Thank you.

A little patience please...

Insufficient funds available

Did it work?
- It worked.

Did it work?
- It worked.

This is one specimen of four.

There used to be four of them?
- Four.

Now one.

Three of them died.

All of this is going to be demolished.

They're going to build
a sub-tropical aquatic park.

Tropic Time...

Tropic Fun.

Things are going to change here.

Well...

The night bus leaves
from that corner over there.

I didn't know that.

It goes to the centre.

That's practical.

Yes, it's easy.

Thank you.
- You're welcome.

Good night.
- Good night.

Vanilla?

Yep.

Bye.

Arrgh... Out of service.

Sir?

Are you alright, sir?

Come on.

There's also a dog.
- A dog?

Yes, over there.

Will you be taking it too?
- No.

It'll run away, in that case.
- Maybe.

You can't take it with you?

I can tie it to something.

I can tie it up
and then this man can pick it up tomorrow.

It will die of cold.

Hey there !

What are you doing here?

This isn't your house, is it?
- No, not at all.

I was passing by chance.

And?

I worked here a long time
as cleaning lady for the Berrier family.

Well, they don't live here anymore.
- Yes, I can see that.

I was just checking.

Sometimes I think
there's somebody in there.

No, there's nobody.

Everything is closed.

Do you still do house cleaning?

We had a Polish girl, but...
- I clean for a company now.

We don't do private homes.

OK.

Well... I'm off.

There's no more tea.
- Oh, really?

Isn't there some back there?
- Yes.

Wait...

I have mint or lemon.
- Mint.

Here you go.
- Thank you.

It's cold.

The water's cold?

No. Outside.
- Ah.

Yes, it is.

That's true.

Can I stay and drink my tea here?
- I'm about to close, but...

You'll have finished your tea by then, no?
- Yes. Thanks.

I'll be off.

Have you got far to go?

Because I can give you a lift if you like?

That's very kind of you.

No, it's not that far.
- OK.

But...

With this cold...

These shoes, my feet.
- Yes.

My swollen ankles.

My son says I'm too heavy.

And yet I hardly eat anything.

Shall we go?
- I'll follow you.

Wait for me here.

I'm sorry, it's just that when I'm tired
I don't really like talking.

That's alright.

Yes, but still...

Cars are made for conversation.

Maybe.

Molenbeek?

Molenbeek. Anderlecht.
On the border.

You're a beautiful woman.

Thank you.

Are you married?

Divorced.

I have a daughter.
She's six.

Esther.

Esther...

And you?

No, not divorced.

Ha. OK.

My husband was called Munir.

He died ten years ago.

I have two children.

One son who lives alone,
and a seventeen-year-old daughter.

Do you miss him?

Munir?

Of course.

And you?

Do you miss your ex-husband?
- No.

No, not at all.

There's this man...

He often comes
to buy cigarettes from my shop.

But I don't think he smokes.

He's tall

and he has a moustache.

I don't like moustaches.

Fair enough.

That's my daughter.

I'm going to get out here.

OK.
- I'm getting out.

Are you sure?
- Yes.

Thank you.
Thank you very much.

Bye.

What are we drinking?
- Vodka!

I'm off.

There's a...
- Yes, there's a party.

Are you off?
- Yep.

This is for you.
- Nice one.

Have a good evening.

See you Friday.
- Yes, Friday.

See you.
- Bye.

Maybe see you Friday.

Yeah, you'll be there.
- Sure!

Oh yes.

See you tomorrow.

I think I'm going to go too.

You too?
- Bye, yes.

Bye then.

It's strong.

Yep.

You're cold.

Let me go and get a sweater
from my brother's place.

Don't run off.

Good evening.

The night shop over there
sells alcohol to youngsters.

To minors.

I saw it with my own eyes.

Shouldn't you...
- Yes, OK, we'll go and take a look.

It's not the first time...
Come.

Good evening.

Good evening, madam.

Was a man brought in by any chance?
- Madam...

A homeless man,
I wanted to check he was OK.

It was me who found him.

Visiting hours are from 10 till 12,
and 4 till 6 pm.

You can't come in.

Unless you're injured.

Are you injured, madam?

No.

In that case, see you tomorrow.

See you tomorrow.

Hello.

Excuse me.

Excuse me, I wanted to know
if a man had been brought in.

I don't know.

My shift has just started.

It's here.

Is he your husband?

No, this isn't him.

I'm looking for a white man,
a homeless man.

I think he was dying of cold.

And he's your husband?

No. I found him.

I just came to see how he was doing.

But that's not how things work.

Right...
Wait for me here.

He died.

Not him.

Your homeless man.

He was dead
before they got him here.

Poor man.

Alright.