Gigolo (1951) - full transcript
Back from the war, Marceau Le Guern remembers. Educated in an orphanage run by Dominican brothers, he fell into misery when he left it. His only asset was his good looks, which did not escape the attention of Madame Alice, a shady woman who persuaded him to pose for pornographic photos meant for lonely aging women. Marceau also served as a gigolo before the war and captivity put an end to this juicy business. Now he wants to start a new life, all the more as ha has found love in the person of a pure young lady named Dominique. But Madame Alice won't hear of it...
GIGOLO
Life allows no weakness,
no compromise.
Sooner or later,
the price must be paid.
Hello, soldier!
- Porte de Versailles.
- What?
- Porte de Versailles?
- Porte de Versailles...
- It's my way.
- OK. Get in.
- Speak English?
- Yes, a little.
We were liberated by the Yanks...
er, the Americans.
- Prisoner?
- Five years...
- Arrived this morning.
- Good.
Turn here, right.
Well, going home?
No home...
No father, no mother?
No...
Fiancee?
No fiancee...
Porte de Versailles is straight ahead,
100 meters, you can't miss it.
Thanks!
I'll smoke it later.
Cheers, brother!
Hey! I was here first.
For an admission.
- I thought as much.
This war wasn't
as bad as the other.
Pardon?
I said there weren't
as many dead this time.
Are you sorry?
I was dead. Five years.
Five years a prisoner, is that nothing?
- Well, you're back now.
Your life is ahead of you.
We'll see.
Come along!
Don't worry.
He won't eat you.
An orphan.
I was that boy, once.
Locked up at the age of six.
Released at eighteen.
Twelve years of dormitories, workshops,
sermons, prayers.
Twelve years of dry bread
and restraint...
melancholy in the study hall
on winter evenings.
Come in!
Well, Le Guern!
Even today,
you can't be bothered to be on time!
And you managed
to get into a fight with Philastre,
on your last day.
- Come on, shake hands!
- No!
You may
fight in the street, if you want,
but first I'll see
you shake hands.
It's simply a gesture,
but I insist on it.
First take back what
you said about Lulu.
Who is Lulu?
A woman?
Lulu is Lucien.
Take back what you said!
- I take it back.
- Louder!
I take it back.
Good! And now,
before I give you your 500 francs
I want to say something to you.
A 500-franc bill is nothing.
If that's all you take
away from the orphanage,
a miserable 500-franc bill...
then you're poor indeed,
my poor young friends.
I've done my work badly,
and so have your teachers.
But we've given you
something else, eh?
- Philastre?
- A good upbringing.
And a trade!
Each of you has been taught a trade!
But I have no illusions!
A month from now, you'll be saying:
the Brothers steered me wrong.
That's not the trade
I should have learned.
But let me tell you:
Whatever trade you chose,
it would have been just as hard.
Because work is hard.
And not always well paid.
I can't help that.
I didn't choose to be a reformer.
Tomorrow, there will be
a Mass said for you.
I would be very happy to see you there.
It won't cost you anything.
Let's call it a gesture.
Oh, no, not quite yet for you.
I have something to say to you.
No getting out of it!
And now, off you go.
Goodbye.
Goodbye, my friends!
Five hundred smackers!
Are we going to have a blowout!
Now, let's speak of something else.
Do you remember Dampierre?
He was just like you,
the same spirit.
That was just a couple years ago.
I can still see him on the day he left,
standing before me in this room.
Who would have thought...
you know he's still in prison?
You're angry at me, Marceau.
I won't ask you to shake my hand.
- No, no, I have nothing against you.
- You wouldn't be wrong if you did.
I'm not pleased with myself
when I look at you.
I haven't made the most
of what God gave you.
I'm sorry I didn't do a better job.
Don't worry, it'll be all right.
But if it isn't,
please come back, Le Guern.
Maybe I'll have a chance
to make it up to you.
Goodbye, my boy.
Above all the others,
you'll be missed here.
- And you, will you miss anyone?
- Oh no!
I don't mean your teachers.
Is it any of your business
if I'll miss someone?
Perhaps not, but I know you will.
Don't be ashamed.
You're leaving behind you here
the best of yourself.
You've been my whole family.
My father and mother and brother.
I'll never forget you.
You'll come back, Marceau,
we'll see each other.
Life is foul, you know.
Look at the way people talked about us.
They're foul. But knowing you,
I could believe in something decent.
Marceau,
promise me you'll stay pure,
out in the world as you've been with me.
- I promise, Lulu.
- In memory of our friendship.
- I'll never forget you.
- You'll never be alone, Marceau.
I'll be with you even
at the seminary.
Even when I'm a
missionary far away.
- Goodbye, Lulu.
- Goodbye, Marceau.
The best of myself.
He had TB (tuberculosis).
He died eight months later
and I never saw him again.
That's my last memory of him.
There he is.
You took your time!
Come on, I know one
that's open mornings.
Don't give me 500 francs.
It's not worth that much.
Here.
Thanks.
Listen, don't ever
give a woman a big bill.
Not many are as dumb as me,
giving you change.
Listen...
you've still got
a lot to learn.
With a face like yours,
you don't have to pay for it.
Open up!
Stop kidding around!
Get out.
You've no business here!
- Where's Marceau?
- He's fine where he is.
- Where is he?
- On ice.
Leave him!
He's overheated, I'm cooling him off.
There's one way to get him out.
Say you slept with him.
- It's not true!
- All right, do as you please...
Ask him!
Let him out, he'll freeze.
I never slept with him,
I swear.
I'm in no hurry.
Warm enough here...
No! Stay here!
Bastard!
I'll tell the cops!
Because I left the boy
in the refrigerator? That's no crime.
It's just forgetfulness.
Like you, when you forget
what you did with that kid.
I didn't do anything!
I know all about it.
Want him to freeze?
Come on! Do the right thing
and I'll let your little pal go!
Well...
It's true.
Say "I slept with him."
I want to hear you say it.
I slept with him.
I'm a man of my word.
Get out!
You're lucky to be dealing
with a man of his word!
Now piss off
and don't show your baby face again!
Don't expect a reference.
Not that you need a job.
You've got a future
on the streets.
And so do you.
You may meet up there.
Now piss off!
What did I do,
after the butcher's?
I forget.
I washed cars in a garage
for a while.
But I got in wrong.
I laid railway tracks.
My life didn't mean anything to me.
It hadn't begun.
I thought,
"None of this matters...
it's just while you're waiting."
Waiting for what?
I hadn't eaten in two days.
- Madame Alice.
- Thanks.
Got a light?
Thanks.
- Welcome.
They're always late.
- Who?
- Women, the ones you're waiting for.
- I'm waiting for no one.
- One's always waiting for someone.
Not me!
I was watching you from the café.
You didn't look happy.
So? What's it to you?
You're a friendly fellow.
If you think I'm a john, you're blind.
Can't you see I'm broke?
Want to earn 300 francs?
- With you?
- Thanks to me.
- Depends on the job.
- It's easy and pleasant.
What kind of photos are they?
- Afraid?
- Cautious. Not the same thing.
I told you,
they're art poses.
Mr. Paul is an artist.
All right, but nothing else!
Otherwise, I'll...
There will be nothing else!
It's just modeling.
The session lasts 20 minutes,
you get your 300 francs, and you go.
All right, I'm game.
You'll have a partner,
a pretty girl.
Here she is.
- Hello, Ginette.
- Hello, Mme Alice!
Hello, dollface.
- Hello, buddy.
- Buddy?
Hear that, Mme Alice?
Kids today!
Where were you brought up?
Don't push it, Ginette.
Ginette!
Awfully familiar!
Kiss each other.
You'll make a lovely couple.
Perfect!
Perfect!
Where did you find him?
Congratulations, the face is classical!
But the nails, of course...
You'll find a brush and soap
down the hall.
Come this way.
I'll do stunning things with you.
A magnificent series.
The Garden of Eden.
Make yourself at home.
We're one big happy family.
- Get undressed.
- Undressed?
The Garden of Eden,
my boy!
He's good, that boy!
Worthwhile, inexperienced,
but definitely worthwhile!
He reminds me
of someone...
Do you know who I mean?
Henri.
That poor Mr. Henri!
Your great love!
- Don't be ridiculous.
- I was joking.
Here. This is far less than your charm
and adorable inexperience deserve...
Are you angry?
Shocked?
What's it to you?
Mme Alice, are you sure
he won't cause me any trouble?
You tempt me,
Mme Alice!
You're diabolical.
I'll never set foot here again!
Well, it's extravagant,
but I'll take it!
I hug myself
and say "Thank you!"
Since men no longer
give us presents
They never gave many to me!
I also have, from the same source,
a lovely gold compact...
May I help you, sir?
I'd like to see that
chemise in the window.
I love black crepe de chine, don't you?
This is size 42.
It's for someone
your size, more or less.
That would be a 44.
I don't have it in stock.
Don't you think the 42
would be all right?
How can we tell...
Suppose you tried it on?
Would you?
Pity. I'm terribly sorry, mademoiselle.
- What was that?
- An idiot who thinks I sell lingerie!
Naughty, naughty,
Madame Henriette!
Can't I look at the photos?
- They're improper!
- Exactly!
I can't turn my back a minute,
you bad girl!
I'm terribly curious!
Of course, you see the same thing
in museums, statues that...
- But photos...
- Are more real!
This young man, the blond.
He's very handsome!
- If you like, I could introduce you!
- I wouldn't know what to do with him!
I'll just take his photo.
Less troublesome!
If he came to the shop,
I could drop in, just to see him!
I'm just terribly curious!
Hello?
Le Guern?
Hotel Pocardia, Passage des Abbesses.
And you can tell him
what I think of him!
I called him for another session
and he didn't turn up!
There's no decency any more,
Madame Alice.
Here's the coffee.
I hope it doesn't keep
you from sleeping.
- Not at all.
- Me neither.
Believe it or not, this is
the first time in my life
I've been invited to dinner.
The first time someone
served me, hospitably.
For free, without paying.
It's been greasy spoons for me
since I left the orphanage.
- Poor Marceau. One sugar?
- Yes.
Do you have a girlfriend?
There's no shortage of girls.
I can have them for the asking.
- You have your nerve!
- I'm not saying I'm irresistible.
With you, for instance...
I know there's nothing doing.
Think not?
Really?
Are you saying the two of us...
you'd go for that?
- I didn't say that!
- You see.
We're pals.
Nothing else.
You don't like it when a woman
resists your "sex appeal."
To tell you the truth,
I've never met one who did.
Well, now you have.
Tell me,
am I not your type?
Are you frigid?
Wouldn't you like to know?
You'll know nothing...
there's nothing to know.
If it were offered...
would you accept another job
like the last one?
Probably not.
Nice business you're in!
- Just helping you out!
- But why?
I'm very fond of you.
I don't believe in Santa Claus.
Nothing comes free
in this life.
Some people are disinterested.
I don't like people
taking an interest in me!
I'm not used to it!
I've always gone it alone!
You're free, Marceau.
Don't worry.
I'll go back to Mr. Paul.
- That's what you want.
- I never said that.
I'm sure we can find something better.
At your age, with your looks...
- With these clothes?
- That's no problem.
I have a man's suit.
Don't get angry, now.
It might fit you.
I don't get you, Mme Alice.
You don't like me
the way a woman likes a man.
Why are you so nice to me?
It needs ironing.
- I don't want to deprive you.
- You're depriving no one, now.
I think the shirt will fit, too.
Take the monogram off.
Try it on!
Embarrassed to undress
in front of me?
Come this way.
I thought about the man who'd worn
this shirt, this suit...
Mme Alice's lover.
"H" like Henri.
"H.B."
There had been a man in her life.
She seemed clearer now,
easier to understand.
He had probably left her.
She avoided men because
she didn't want to be hurt again.
That's what I thought,
poor fool that I was.
What's wrong?
Don't you like it?
I'm not the one who has to like it,
my little Marceau.
I'm not in the game.
Mr. Marceau!
Where should we forward your mail?
Nowhere.
I don't expect any.
No kiss for me?
Driver! Modern Hotel,
rue de Lisbonne.
Just around the corner from me,
isn't that nice?
These ties!
How could you?
- Don't you like them?
- Hideous! Especially this one.
And the suit. Show me.
She chose the suit!
- We may have made a mistake.
- What do you mean?
She's a woman who earns her own living.
They're the stingiest of all.
What did she give you
for pocket money this month?
- 400 bills, maybe a little more.
- 400? That's pitiful.
400 is better than nothing!
I'm saving for a motorbike.
He wants a motorbike!
And to buy it himself!
I could weep.
She should give it to you,
as a present.
Otherwise, what's the point of her?
And a motorbike...
that makes no sense at all.
Even worse...
it will hurt her feelings.
It shows you want to go out alone,
that you're bored with her.
You must get her to give you a car!
I should have taken the train!
- What do you expect? It's second-hand!
- I've heard quite enough about that!
- It's the spark plug.
- Catch me in this contraption again!
What if my friends saw me like this?
- Was it my idea to drag you along?
Rude little beast!
Well, do something!
Must I just sit here?
Get out and walk!
I will!
Help me!
You're not stopping me. No surprise!
I knew you wanted to go alone!
I'm going back to Paris by myself!
Have a nice trip!
- What's wrong?
- No idea.
Hop in!
I'll drop you at the next garage.
Thank you.
I should tell you,
I'm not alone.
Get in.
Oh no, don't bother.
I'll manage by myself.
Oh, get in already.
Watch how you're driving!
This is worse than a sidecar.
What are you laughing at?
That's it, pick her up!
And get a hotel room on my money.
Little pimp!
Pimp...
- That bitch!
- What happened?
I've never seen such a bitch!
Calm down. The neighbors...
- She called me a pimp!
- Big deal.
It's all right for you.
You don't care
as long as you get your cut.
You're a piece of work.
Flesh peddler!
But no more!
I'm tired of making money for you!
No more of this trade for me!
I'll eat stones first!
No, Marceau, you're too fond
of your pretty teeth!
I'd been walking for two hours.
No money for a metro ticket.
I'd never been so broke.
I'd taken nothing but Mr. Henri's suit.
An elegant suit for a man
who hadn't eaten since
the day before.
I wanted to see Brother Bénédict.
I wanted to talk to him,
to ask for help.
Perhaps there was a job
at the orphanage.
In the kitchen, maybe.
Maybe I could help out there.
Stupid idea. the work at Saint Nicolas
was done by monks.
There was nothing for a layman.
Suppose I became a monk?
Lulu would be doing his novitiate here.
Together again!
But imagine me as a monk,
what a joke!
Every day at 4:00
they set a basket out.
Afternoon snack.
That stopped me from taking the bread.
I would have been ashamed
for him to see me.
I couldn't take his charity.
Marceau!
What a surprise!
Marceau!
Let me look at you, my boy!
You seem to be doing well!
What an outfit!
- You look wonderful!
- I can't complain, thanks.
Dress for success, you know!
I was in the neighborhood...
- Any news about Lulu?
- Yes, his health worries us.
But the air is good in Savoie.
Doesn't he write you?
No.
Well, we got a letter recently...
I didn't have the courage
to tell him why I had come.
I just wanted him to go...
so I could take a piece of bread.
But you should put money aside
don't lay it all out on clothes!
You're almost too elegant.
Do you have a savings account?
No.
Would you have come back
if things weren't going well for you?
No, I don't think so.
I'm sorry, my boy,
I must leave you now.
Come back to see us, often.
It would be a real pleasure.
- Goodbye, my boy.
- Goodbye, Father.
He came in 23 to 1!
How about that?
2,000 bills!
- Let's go to Les Halles for a blowout.
- I'm not touching my share.
I've figured it out to the penny.
A dress for the broad, 300.
Stockings and shoes, 200.
And tomorrow night she's on the job!
Why don't you do the same?
No shortage of dolls, with your looks.
I told you, my girl has a friend...
- Just say the word!
- No, not for me.
- I don't get you!
- When a guy has principles...
- Principles! Don't make me laugh.
- To each his own.
I'm going to a hotel.
I want a bed with sheets!
I'll have sheets myself tomorrow,
and the broad'll pay.
I've got principles too!
- Goodbye, pal.
- Goodbye.
I'm going to crash till seven...
Principles...!
Get your evening paper!
Chamberlain and Hitler meet!
Good news!
That's a load off my mind!
I thought I was off to the Maginot Line!
Get your evening paper!
Chamberlain and Hitler meet!
Get your evening paper...
I'd avoided her eyes.
But I would have liked her to see me.
But I knew when I saw her again
I was lost.
Madame Alice!
Paper?
Recognize this?
Of course.
I often thought of selling it,
but I didn't.
Why not?
- I thought it was a souvenir.
- Of me?
Yes, and also a souvenir for you.
I thought it meant something to you.
What a sweet boy.
We'll make something of him yet.
- Are you leaving?
- I must.
Where will you sleep?
Stay the night.
Don't you want to?
Yes, it's a good idea.
Don't bother, Mme Alice.
I can make a bed.
I made my own for twelve years
at the orphanage, and perfectly.
I even made Lucien's for him.
You know, my friend
who was going to be a priest.
I did it for him every day.
You miss your childhood.
Not really,
but I was a nice kid then.
And now you're not?
Now I'm bad.
Bad? My poor little Marceau!
- Maybe not bad, but hard.
- Not hard enough!
Stop thinking about your childhood.
It wasn't even happy!
What about you, Mme Alice?
Was your childhood happy?
I never think about it
and I don't care to discuss it.
I'll give you a blanket
so you won't be cold.
- Think I'll need it?
- Of course.
- Will this bed be big enough?
- Of course, what can you be thinking?
- That wasn't why you invited me?
- Absolutely not.
- No?
- No.
You're unbelievable.
- You wouldn't be slightly...
- Slightly what?
You're not very feminine,
you don't wear makeup or jewelry...
Oh, I see. How funny!
No, my poor Marceau, you're wrong.
I don't like women,
for that or anything else.
You silly boy.
So what are you?
Fine, I get it.
You're just a cold fish.
You're a child.
Why spoil our friendship?
Our friendship!
- Aren't we friends?
- No! Oh, I don't know.
The more I know you,
the less I know.
You had someone in your life.
The suit you gave me
wasn't your grandmother's.
No, Marceau. It was a friend's.
He died.
- Did you love him?
- Not the way you think.
I was attached to him
in a certain way.
The way you're attached to me?
If you like.
Believe it or not,
I have feelings.
I need someone, too.
Since I ask nothing of him,
he can be as handsome as I please.
You ask nothing of him?
Nothing.
But, madame, it's perfectly natural.
You don't know anyone in Paris...
Would this be to go dancing?
Not for dancing.
More a travel companion.
I plan to visit Italy, Switzerland...
A man of the world, then,
or a student?
Just now, unfortunately,
I don't...
I do know someone...
But he's a very simple boy,
rough around the edges.
Would you like to meet him?
Well... really...
But there's something charming
about introducing a young man...
to the wonders of the world.
After the lady who liked travel,
there was the one who liked doggies.
Where have you been?
- This is when you show up?
- Why, what time is it?
Six o'clock.
- I've been waiting since four.
- No kiss?
- Of course.
Are you smelling me now?
Don't be ridiculous!
The dog smells of perfume.
Where were the two of you?
He didn't pick it up in the street.
A woman touched him.
- Yes. Madame Alice.
I was at her place.
- What do you do there every day?
You don't need her any more.
She's already placed you.
Marceau!
It's Emilie. Take him.
Go upstairs.
Emilie!
What a nice surprise!
I'll be with you in a minute, my dear.
- Eighty-eight...
- Where's Marceau?
- Marceau?
- Yes, haven't you seen him?
Ninety... No, not today.
Thank you, Madame.
We said three crepe de chine slips
two black, one pink
with the lace you selected.
I know he's here!
They'll be ready in a week.
I'll send them to you in Dijon.
Mme. Emilie, a longtime customer,
Mme Helene, from Dijon, a first-timer.
Mme Alice has pretty things,
don't you think?
Oh, yes.
I must be going.
I'm sure there's no shop
like hers in Dijon.
No, indeed.
A fine thing!
Marceau!
No use hiding now!
A nice woman you are!
Shut up!
That's enough, Marceau.
Emilie is a bit on edge.
When she's calmed down,
she'll be sorry for what she's said.
I won't!
And I've more to say to you
and your gigolo!
How dreadful!
That's it! Run!
Back to Dijon with you!
You pig.
After all I've done for you.
You two deserve each other.
Keep your gigolo.
Stick with the skinny witch.
She'll treat you like Mr. Henri.
Ask her what she did to him.
- Ask her how he died.
- I don't give a damn about him or you.
She can tell you about
his suicide. It's interesting.
Good.
Thank you.
Well, now. The ring?
- I tell you, she gave it to me.
- That's not true.
It's a family heirloom.
I wouldn't have given it to him.
It was my name day gift.
The day we left for Cannes.
My name's Marceau,
but Saint Marcel's my day.
The proof he stole it?
He left his suitcase.
He didn't dare come back for it.
Between Madame's word
and that of someone like you
- Say, listen.
- That will do.
I have no time to waste,
nor does Madame.
Will you return the ring?
Why should I?
It's mine.
You're very sure of yourself.
Think it over.
I have.
Very well.
Do you recognize these photos?
Yes.
Then don't make a fuss.
Give Madame her ring, like a good boy.
Do you know what something
like this could cost you?
Good.
I'm glad you understand your position.
Come to the washroom.
It'll come off with a bit of soap.
That's all that was needed.
Coming along?
No. To Madame.
Consider yourself lucky
that Madame isn't pressing charges.
The door's that way.
Forgetting your suitcase?
No, I'm leaving it.
Like the ring, it belongs to Madame.
Last year I was really scared.
But this year I don't believe it.
FRANCE AND ENGLAND
MOBILIZE
- She'll pay us back for that ring.
- Right.
Alice, how did Mr. Henri die?
- What?
- How did he kill himself?
Oh, yes...
He jumped onto the metro tracks.
He was a strange fellow, Mr. Henri.
He had a taste for drama,
right up to the end.
Making trouble for everyone.
He stopped traffic for an hour.
Tell me more about poor Mr. Henri.
Is this an interrogation?
Have the police rubbed off on you?
Exactly.
I'd like to know
if poor Henri, who killed himself...
also posed for...
art photos.
Presidential announcement:
In view of
the international situation...
the government is calling up...
reserve troops.
But what the hell does it matter now?
We're at war.
Without the war,
I could never have shaken off Alice.
Perhaps I would never have wanted to.
The war did me a favor
yes, as it did for others.
I didn't think about the danger ahead.
The one behind me
seemed so much greater.
For four years, every week...
she sent a letter and a package.
Then the Allies entered Germany.
There was no more mail.
Mme Alice was dead to me.
I didn't think about her any more.
I'd made my resolutions:
Go to work as soon as I was back...
not see Alice again.
It's your turn!
We've finished with the director.
Was he nice to you?
He gave him a holy picture.
Pardon me.
I wanted to see Brother Bénédict.
Alas, sir.
Brother Bénédict is no longer with us.
God called him back three years ago.
It was a great misfortune
for the orphanage.
An irreparable loss.
- Are you an alumnus?
- Yes. Le Guern. Marceau.
Allow me, since you knew him.
This modest picture...
will be a souvenir of him.
Thank you, sir.
Brother Bénédict would have been
proud of that decoration.
You've done honor
to the orphanage, sir.
How could I tell this stranger
what I'd sworn
to tell Brother Bénédict?
I had my demobilization pay
I was set for a few days.
Marceau!
Ginette.
Don't you recognize me?
- How are you?
- Fine.
- Will you buy me a drink?
- Sure thing.
There.
- What'll you have?
- If you don't mind, red Bordeaux.
Make it two.
Could I have an egg?
You haven't changed.
Still handsome as ever.
If you saw my arms!
I lost 10 kilos.
I couldn't pose for Mr. Paul now.
He kicked the bucket,
poor Mr. Paul.
Just in case you didn't know.
Don't look at me like that.
I'm a mess.
My landlord's holding
everything I own.
I can't even change my dress.
And I have to run into you like this!
Any news from Mme Alice?
We haven't seen her in ages.
No.
Maybe she's dead too.
Madame Alice...
Mr. Paul...
Oh, well...
- You aren't listening to me.
- No...
- Where's the telephone?
- Back and to your right.
She's alive.
She's there in her shop,
where I've called her so often.
In that arcade where she supposedly
sells lingerie.
I gave Ginette
almost all the money I had on me.
I was in good spirits.
- May I help you, sir?
- Madame Alice, please.
I don't know her.
- I phoned yesterday...
- There's no phone here.
- But she answered.
- Impossible! We have no phone.
- Who lives here?
- A gentleman. He's ill. I'm his nurse.
I'm sorry.
Good day.
Alice?
Marceau.
Marceau!
I went to the shop,
but they said
you didn't live there any more.
I sold the shop,
but kept the telephone.
I live at 78 rue de Passy now.
Come quickly!
She wept. She can weep!
It's the last thing I expected.
She doesn't frighten me any more.
So why should I run from her?
You intimidate me.
- Have I changed?
- Yes. And I?
You too.
- Are you crying?
- Not the first time!
For me it is.
You've never made me so happy before.
My handsome prisoner.
See? We're better off
than other people.
- What other people?
- The other prisoners.
They've made love with their wives,
and now they're both uneasy.
The men thinking,
"Did she cheat?"
The wives,
"What are you thinking about?"
You have no hidden thoughts,
nor I. We're at peace.
I'm going to tell you something,
something I've never told anyone.
I had no childhood, Marceau.
I know.
No. You know nothing.
When I was eight, a man...
Don't speak. I can't tell you.
You can't imagine.
And that, dear sir, is why
I don't like childhood memories!
But, you see,
I still have feelings.
I've always dreamed of a friend,
a man I could love in my own way.
Once I thought I'd found him.
But no.
I was wrong.
Then there was you.
I don't want to lie to you, Alice.
You told me the truth,
I'll do the same.
I changed in the Stalag.
I'm older.
I've lost the taste for pleasure.
Wait a few days
we'll see.
And I want to work.
To work...
What I did before the war,
that's over.
It's over for me, too.
Now I'm in business.
- Decent business?
- Business.
I help decent people
cheat on their taxes.
And there are lots of decent people!
No, that's not what I want.
I want to make my own way.
- How?
- By working.
- Oh, really!
- Don't you believe me?
- No, I know you too well!
- We'll see.
Just as you like.
If you like, I could help you
I know lots of people.
Meanwhile,
you need a rest in the country.
A few weeks later,
Alice and I were guests
on the estate of a certain
Mr. d'Argelouve...
to whom Alice had been useful.
We were met at the railroad station.
Alice...
no end to her surprises.
Madame's room.
And Monsieur's.
No, that's not mine.
- Monsieur Antoine!
- Yes?
Do you think they're
sleeping together?
You'll see tomorrow,
when you make up the rooms.
Be careful. My friend Marceau
doesn't know about it.
I didn't want to tell him
he's very proud.
He wouldn't have come.
I recognize your old methods
give people a fait accompli.
It's so much simpler
for me and for them.
If I succeed, he won't dare
bear me a grudge, and if I fail...
He'll never know!
It seemed to be the custom for everyone
to go about his business or pleasure...
without bothering
about the others.
Les Liaisons Dangereuses...
Thank you.
I don't feel like reading.
May I suggest Sir take a walk
through the grounds and see the pool?
It's a beauty spot.
- A beauty spot?
- Yes, sir.
Ah... she must be a guest.
Eighteen...
no, nineteen years old.
I give myself three days for her mouth,
a week for the rest.
She wants to impress me.
I swim as well as she can.
I've seen what you can do enough!
You've done your little act
my turn!
- You swim in your clothes?
- Too lazy to put on trunks.
My uncle invites such strange people!
Who are you?
We were expecting
a few people this morning.
A Mr. Le Guern and Mlle. Combes.
I'm half of that group.
My name is Dominique.
You'd better go back to the house
and change.
Look at the state of you!
Did you fall in?
I hope Dominique didn't push you
but she's capable of it!
Your aunt will be seeing Mlle Combes
at 11:00. I'd like you to be there.
Certainly.
Dominique is my poor wife's
only companion and distraction.
Mlle Combes must have told you
my poor Consuelo is half-paralyzed.
She hasn't left her room in ten years.
But she sees us!
She can see through walls.
Alice, a family solicitor
is a confessor.
Tell me everything.
Marceau...?
- He's very handsome.
- You're nowhere near, my dear.
Consuelo?
Mlle Combes is here.
- How old is she?
- Really, Consuelo!
I'm forty-one, Madame.
May I sit down?
This is about one of your businesses,
the port dealership on rue Balzac.
The manager will be leaving.
I'd like to propose a replacement,
a remarkable boy.
Former POW, Croix de Guerre,
very well brought-up...
hard-working, energetic...
Highly presentable.
Well-built, no?
- Very pleasant fellow.
The boy who dived into the pool
with all his clothes on?
Thank you, no.
He may be an amusing guest
but he's no manager.
Marie,
what are you most afraid of?
- Growing old.
- Oh, yes growing old!
- And you, Philippe?
- Being bored.
- And you?
- Poverty.
And you, Father,
what do you fear most?
Dying.
- But you're a Christian.
- That's precisely why I fear it.
- And yet in the Stalag...
- Pardon me, I must leave you.
He has avoided me all evening.
Now I'm sure of it.
He must take me for a gigolo.
What do you think of the abbé?
He's amazing, and so appealing, too.
He's just the sort of priest
we need in France.
Pardon me.
Marie told me about your accident.
Apparently you fell into
the pool fully dressed!
No, I dived in on purpose.
You see how impulsive he is, Dominique?
We never know what he'll do next!
I wouldn't trust this fellow!
- I'm sure the lady won't heed slander.
- Of course not.
She mistrusts you so little,
she's dying for you to ask her to dance.
I'm old enough to tell Mr Le Guern
if I'm dying to dance.
It's not true.
Of course it is!
Have fun, children.
I'll go play cards.
Old miser-woman that I am,
only money interests me now.
- Will you join us for bridge?
- I'd prefer poker.
Will you dance with me, Dominique?
I didn't give you permission
to call me by my first name.
Are you planning
to woo me?
If it's to be polite,
thank you, but you're excused.
- If it's an irresistible yearning...
- Don't make fun of me.
Why are you being disagreeable?
We got along well this afternoon.
If I acted like a fool,
I apologize.
I'm not very proud of myself.
I was the one who told my aunt
about the pool.
I didn't know.
Perhaps, if you stay a few days,
she'll change her mind.
There are trout streams.
Do you fish?
If I stay,
it won't be to fish.
Nor to get in the good graces
of Madame your aunt.
I don't care about that at all.
Who is it?
It's me.
I saw light and thought
you must be awake.
Reading?
It must be fascinating
you're still on page two.
- Well? Did the girl apologize?
- Oh, the poor kid.
I think she's more upset than I am.
I believe she has a lot of influence
over the old lady.
Use it.
She appeals to you,
of course.
- She's a kid.
- All the better!
I'm her uncle's guest.
I'd be a cad...
How well he said that!
Pity.
I don't think the girl
would put up much of struggle.
And I'd find it amusing,
because of the family.
I still can't swallow
what happened this morning.
Was yours a religious household?
Very much so, Dominique.
As a boy,
I went to Mass every day.
- Did your parents make you?
- Not my parents.
The people who raised me.
Fine people. Monks.
Monks?
I was in an orphanage.
I like it when you tell me
about yourself.
- You don't tell me much.
- My life isn't very interesting.
The orphanage, the war,
the Stalag...
Eighteen years in prison.
If Uncle Philippe saw us now,
I wonder what he'd say.
Probably that I had a crush on you.
Or that you're being kind to a poor chap
who'd be bored without you.
And your uncle knows that you're...
very sensible.
I'm not sure I'm so sensible.
Have you known Mlle Combes
a long time?
- You can't think that...
- No, I don't believe it.
I wonder what she means to you.
Merely a comrade, that's all.
I don't like Mlle Combes.
I'm probably being unfair,
I don't really know her
but I don't like her.
Are you angry at me, Marceau?
No.
How long have you known her?
I know I'm being indiscreet,
as though I were investigating you.
I'd like so much to be able to trust.
Trust whom?
You.
Why shouldn't you trust me?
Mlle Combes, again?
Yes, but...
I hardly dare say it...
There's something strange about you.
When you speak of your childhood,
I'm happy, I feel fondly towards you...
but other times...
you're hiding something, Marceau.
I don't know who you are.
Why is it necessary
for you to trust me?
Why?
It's natural, when you
feel sympathy for someone.
Of course, I understand.
I'm just your uncle's guest,
we hardly know each other.
A fellow who came looking for a job,
whom you'll never see again.
I don't want to force your sympathy
or your trust.
I'm sorry you can't like me.
You say that so calmly.
I'm always calm.
Would you prefer I leave tomorrow?
You see you're being cruel to me.
Why?
I can't play your game.
It's not fair.
If you don't feel you can give me up,
accept me as I am.
Careful.
She didn't see us.
I wouldn't mind the others seeing us
but not her.
She wouldn't be jealous.
I know.
I even think she'd be pleased.
You needn't have hid.
It was for her sake.
It seems to be going
nicely for you two.
Yes, it is.
If Philippe finds out: boom!
That would be amusing.
Oh, I don't know,
would it, after all?
I'm tired.
I'm getting old.
The girl hates me, of course.
Do you think so?
Come on, she can't stand me.
No matter.
Rather flattering.
She's not jealous of you.
No?
Then why...?
Marceau...
we're bound to each other, no?
What do you mean?
I mean you wouldn't abandon me
if anything bad should happen.
What, for instance?
- My business isn't without risk.
- What are you on about?
- You wouldn't abandon me, Marceau?
- No, of course not!
I knew it,
but I like to hear you say so.
What's the matter?
Are you crazy?
My intentions are pure,
you know that.
You're handsome.
A very handsome boy.
75 kilos of calcium, phosphates,
water and fat...
and various other substances,
more or less appetizing...
stir and serve piping hot
in Dominique's virginal bed...
and Dominique
will be in seventh heaven...
Stop this Dominique nonsense!
Love is very important to you,
isn't it?
- To everyone, no?
- To everyone not to me.
I'm idiotic this evening.
I envy you!
Nothing to envy.
Nothing will happen.
I'm leaving.
- You can stay. I'm not jealous.
- It's not about you.
What's happened to you?
Does she intimidate you?
- Never mind.
- You're getting sentimental.
My advice is to sleep with her
and get it over with.
No!
Yes...
I think we need
a change of scene.
- Here's what I suggest for Sunday.
- Sunday, we won't be here.
- Leaving us already?
- Alas, we must.
- What about our poker?
- Have you won enough from us already?
Marceau must go back to Paris.
Unless he's changed his mind
he's so fickle!
I haven't.
I'm sorry
I'm expected in Paris.
Well, I won't let you go
until I've won back my losses.
- Is that you, Dominique?
- Yes, Aunt.
I'm tired, my girl.
Let me sleep.
Are you crying?
Dominique avoided me all day.
She didn't even come to dinner.
Alice watches me sidelong.
Smile all you like.
Are you sorry to leave the château,
young man?
- No.
- Well, you're frank!
And yet, this château
is picturesque enough...
Thank you.
For instance,
that perfect butler...
He looks through keyholes
to watch the ladies undress.
Our own dear Marie...
hangs about for hours, naked,
in hopes he'll break her door down.
She's so disappointed he hasn't.
What's that to me?
You're a rather extraordinary fellow,
Le Guern.
Your disdain for good manners...
is appalling,
but somehow impressive.
- You haven't a trace of hypocrisy.
- La, good sir.
I'm a fake,
like everyone else.
- Good evening, sir.
- Good evening, Father.
This time I'm sure
he avoided me on purpose.
Why didn't you acknowledge me?
Didn't I?
Just distraction. Pardon me.
- Well, goodnight.
- No, wait!
You avoid speaking to me.
You act as though I weren't there.
Do you scorn me that much?
I don't scorn you, Le Guern.
I apologized for my absent-mindedness.
Be satisfied with that.
Don't pretend not to understand!
You know you haven't the same
consideration for me as for the others.
Do you think I'm a lowlife?
Perhaps I am!
So why do you sit at table with me?
You haven't the courage to tell
your cousin what you think of me.
- Go on and tell him!
- Calm down, my boy.
Will you listen to me a moment?
Do I seem scornful to you?
I'm not.
The difference in our age and state
makes encounters awkward.
But I assure you
I never meant to offend you.
Do you think, Mr. Le Guern,
we could forget this misunderstanding?
I was worked up...
When I'm angry, you know...
The funny thing is,
I meant to go see you tonight.
Not to berate you, of course!
Good...
I'm listening.
Confide in me, my child.
No.
It's not you I must speak to.
That would be cowardice again.
Excuse me.
There's still light
in the old lady's window.
Dominique must be there.
When she's back in her room,
I'll speak to her.
I went as far as the pool.
There she was.
In the very spot I saw her
for the first time.
Dominique!
Where were you this evening?
I didn't want to come downstairs.
I'm angry at you for trifling with me.
Was it a whim?
- No, Dominique.
- Then why?
Because I'm not the boy for you.
You don't know me.
Lucky you.
I'd rather not know myself.
Hush!
- I must tell you something.
- No, don't.
You don't have to tell me anything.
It was I who chose you.
I ask no questions.
Your past doesn't matter.
You were born when I met you,
Marceau.
When I saw you for the first time,
all wet, coming out of the pool.
I wanted to take you in my arms.
Marceau...
Let's go swimming!
- But...
- In the summer night, how wonderful!
- We don't have any...
- Never mind! Let's just swim!
This isn't some dirty game...
it's completely different.
We'll swear to each other
to do nothing else.
Dominique...
I'll undress in the grotto.
It was a test, Marceau...
Now I trust you.
You've given me a brand new soul.
Even yesterday I wasn't sure
I loved you enough for a lifetime.
Now I know it.
How strong you are,
Marceau.
You'll have to be strong too, Dominique.
Because I'm poor.
You're poor too.
That's why I love you.
I'd like to carry you off
taking nothing with you.
Take you away
as you were last night by the pool.
I'd like to shout it, Marceau.
I love you, I love you.
I love you!
Come.There's someone
we must tell right away.
Someone who suspects already
and will be both happy and sad.
- We put ourselves under her protection.
- Her protection?
I don't know what I'm saying
but I want her to see and approve.
Come.
I would like to present my fiancé.
Come here.
Sit down
so she can see you better.
Let's see your teeth.
I didn't say to laugh
show me your teeth.
Is it true you love my little girl?
Yes, Madame.
But you have no trade?
You're the one
who wanted to run a bar, aren't you?
My little Dominique
may love you as you are
but I'm more ambitious
than that.
You'll go to Chile
you'll work in my brother's business.
You're not afraid of work,
I hope?
- I've got to talk to you.
- Are you packed?
I am. And I've reserved
the tickets as usual.
- If I had to depend on you...
- I'm not leaving.
- You're not?
- No, I'm staying.
You are capricious. At your age,
you should know what you want.
- I've bought the tickets already.
- I'll pay you for mine, of course.
Aren't you funny!
Will you help me?
Yes.
Thank you.
I get it you're
sending me off alone.
Stay, if you want.
Is it the girl?
Yes.
I'm going to marry her.
You joker... my hand slipped,
and now I look like a clown!
It's no joke!
I'm really marrying her.
Well, marry her,
what do you want me to say?
I'm glad you're
taking it like this.
Let me kiss you.
I'm completely lost.
What are you telling me?
Dominique and I are getting married.
We decided today.
It sounds crazy,
but it's true.
- You're marrying Dominique?
- Yes.
Why?
- Because I want to.
- Because you want to!
But tell me...
Funny, I don't know what I'm saying...
Oh yes...
- Does she want to?
- Yes.
- She said so?
- Obviously, since I'm marrying her.
Of course.
- When's the wedding?
- As soon as possible.
As soon as possible.
Of course.
Well, how nice.
And the family...
Have you thought about the d'Argelouves?
Never mind Philippe,
he's a fifth wheel...
- What about Consuelo?
- She consents.
It's monstrous...
Do you even realize...
To marry that poor little girl...
You?
It's monstrous!
But not monstrous to sleep with her?
That's what you expected.
A boy like you!
And you know you don't love her.
If you do this idiotic thing, you'll be
weeping on my shoulder in three months.
In three months I'll be far away.
In Chile.
Chile?
How will you live there?
I'll work.
- You've never done anything without me.
- Don't you worry!
Of course, the old lady's money!
Congratulations. I taught you well!
Shut up!
And where do I come in?
I'm not thinking about you!
I never will again!
You get out of my life at last!
That's it!
Will that change anything?
Will that change you?
Idiot!
People like you never change!
When they can't go on
they kill themselves, that's all!
Like Mr. Henri.
Bitch.
Yes, like Mr. Henri.
You're a sick boy, Marceau,
obsessed, compulsive.
That didn't bother me
on the contrary.
But you're not cured. After this girl,
you'll want another, then another.
That's why
you haven't slept with her!
You know it!
Marceau!
- What's wrong?
- Nothing.
How pretty you look.
It's my engagement dress.
- But something's wrong are you ill?
- No, it's nothing.
Marceau just told me
the good news.
Talk about a surprise!
Where will you go
for your honeymoon?
My favorite part of a wedding
is the honeymoon.
Italy?
You know it
he's very well-traveled.
North Africa,
perhaps?
I'd choose North Africa
for my honeymoon.
The landscape is very picturesque.
And then the little shoeshine boys
so amusing.
You know, the shoeshine boys
who sell things to tourists.
- Tourists or honeymooners!
- What things?
- Oh, postcards, or...
- Or what?
Art photos.
Photos of a special nature.
If you know what I mean.
Stay here, Dominique.
You, come with me.
You asked for this.
Alice!
Marceau!
It's absolutely inexplicable.
They were very close.
Sir, pardon this question:
What, in your opinion, was
Le Guern's relationship to the victim?
As Mr. d'Argelouve said,
they were very close.
Thank you, sir.
I see crime of passion.
Miss Dominique
a call for you.
Father Quentin says
he must speak to you.
It's me...
What!
He is... yes, yes...
I'll be there right away.
I'm sorry.
I have orders.
Do you want to go out, Miss?
Yes, I need some air.
Please, I can't bear it...
Let her through.
Thank you.
- Where is he?
- Here. No, I must speak to you first.
- Was she his mistress?
- No.
- You can tell me. What does it matter?
- She wasn't his mistress.
It was something worse.
Between them
there was something horrible.
They were accomplices,
in a way.
Did they steal together?
A crime...
Yes. That woman killed
Marceau's soul.
And he let her do it.
That's what they did together.
- It's not you I want to hear, but him.
- You'll see him only after hearing me.
Whatever you say, I must see him.
Hear me. Spare him the confession
he should have made to you before.
If he had unburdened himself to you,
he would not have committed this crime.
Why didn't he tell me the truth?
Evil flees good, Dominique.
Impurity flees purity.
Purity!
I hate my purity, if it's why
Marceau couldn't confide in me.
What use is purity if it makes you
a stranger to the one you love?
And I'm not pure, Father
not any more.
If Marceau is impure,
so am I.
I take his sins on myself
and I ask his pardon.
If he thought his burden
was too heavy for me
I didn't know how
to show him my love.
It's my fault.
Marceau!
Marceau!
Forgive me...
you weren't able to trust me...
- I didn't stop you...
- I didn't mean to kill her.
I know...
- I was defending myself.
- I know.
What you don't know is that
I often wished I were rid of her.
That soothed me.
I thought I'd be free, saved.
- Saved from what?
- It's hard to explain.
I thought if I were free of her,
I could...
I thought I was an insatiable brute...
that I was... out of control...
And I am.
I thought with you I'd be saved.
No.
I would have dragged you down.
There was something
rotten in me from the beginning.
- We would have rotted together.
- Don't weaken! Leave me my courage!
We'll both have need of it,
Marceau.
- Did you phone them?
- They'll be here shortly.
- Go now, Dominique.
- No!
- You shouldn't be seen here.
- It's where I belong.
- You'll take care of her?
- Surely.
- I hope she won't appear in court.
- I would be so glad to.
I would be glad to go anywhere
to see you for one minute.
I would go anywhere,
without shame, to be with you.
Here they come.
Courage, my child.
God has left you Dominique's love
that is the beginning of pardon.
- I don't believe in God.
- I do.
I know he means you no harm,
for he's let me love you.
Light, please.
I don't want them to see
I'm about to cry.
Goodbye.
Goodbye, my Marceau.
I love you.
Subtitles: (c) 2017 Phoebe Green
Reformatting, additions, revisions:
hobsbaum for KG.
Life allows no weakness,
no compromise.
Sooner or later,
the price must be paid.
Hello, soldier!
- Porte de Versailles.
- What?
- Porte de Versailles?
- Porte de Versailles...
- It's my way.
- OK. Get in.
- Speak English?
- Yes, a little.
We were liberated by the Yanks...
er, the Americans.
- Prisoner?
- Five years...
- Arrived this morning.
- Good.
Turn here, right.
Well, going home?
No home...
No father, no mother?
No...
Fiancee?
No fiancee...
Porte de Versailles is straight ahead,
100 meters, you can't miss it.
Thanks!
I'll smoke it later.
Cheers, brother!
Hey! I was here first.
For an admission.
- I thought as much.
This war wasn't
as bad as the other.
Pardon?
I said there weren't
as many dead this time.
Are you sorry?
I was dead. Five years.
Five years a prisoner, is that nothing?
- Well, you're back now.
Your life is ahead of you.
We'll see.
Come along!
Don't worry.
He won't eat you.
An orphan.
I was that boy, once.
Locked up at the age of six.
Released at eighteen.
Twelve years of dormitories, workshops,
sermons, prayers.
Twelve years of dry bread
and restraint...
melancholy in the study hall
on winter evenings.
Come in!
Well, Le Guern!
Even today,
you can't be bothered to be on time!
And you managed
to get into a fight with Philastre,
on your last day.
- Come on, shake hands!
- No!
You may
fight in the street, if you want,
but first I'll see
you shake hands.
It's simply a gesture,
but I insist on it.
First take back what
you said about Lulu.
Who is Lulu?
A woman?
Lulu is Lucien.
Take back what you said!
- I take it back.
- Louder!
I take it back.
Good! And now,
before I give you your 500 francs
I want to say something to you.
A 500-franc bill is nothing.
If that's all you take
away from the orphanage,
a miserable 500-franc bill...
then you're poor indeed,
my poor young friends.
I've done my work badly,
and so have your teachers.
But we've given you
something else, eh?
- Philastre?
- A good upbringing.
And a trade!
Each of you has been taught a trade!
But I have no illusions!
A month from now, you'll be saying:
the Brothers steered me wrong.
That's not the trade
I should have learned.
But let me tell you:
Whatever trade you chose,
it would have been just as hard.
Because work is hard.
And not always well paid.
I can't help that.
I didn't choose to be a reformer.
Tomorrow, there will be
a Mass said for you.
I would be very happy to see you there.
It won't cost you anything.
Let's call it a gesture.
Oh, no, not quite yet for you.
I have something to say to you.
No getting out of it!
And now, off you go.
Goodbye.
Goodbye, my friends!
Five hundred smackers!
Are we going to have a blowout!
Now, let's speak of something else.
Do you remember Dampierre?
He was just like you,
the same spirit.
That was just a couple years ago.
I can still see him on the day he left,
standing before me in this room.
Who would have thought...
you know he's still in prison?
You're angry at me, Marceau.
I won't ask you to shake my hand.
- No, no, I have nothing against you.
- You wouldn't be wrong if you did.
I'm not pleased with myself
when I look at you.
I haven't made the most
of what God gave you.
I'm sorry I didn't do a better job.
Don't worry, it'll be all right.
But if it isn't,
please come back, Le Guern.
Maybe I'll have a chance
to make it up to you.
Goodbye, my boy.
Above all the others,
you'll be missed here.
- And you, will you miss anyone?
- Oh no!
I don't mean your teachers.
Is it any of your business
if I'll miss someone?
Perhaps not, but I know you will.
Don't be ashamed.
You're leaving behind you here
the best of yourself.
You've been my whole family.
My father and mother and brother.
I'll never forget you.
You'll come back, Marceau,
we'll see each other.
Life is foul, you know.
Look at the way people talked about us.
They're foul. But knowing you,
I could believe in something decent.
Marceau,
promise me you'll stay pure,
out in the world as you've been with me.
- I promise, Lulu.
- In memory of our friendship.
- I'll never forget you.
- You'll never be alone, Marceau.
I'll be with you even
at the seminary.
Even when I'm a
missionary far away.
- Goodbye, Lulu.
- Goodbye, Marceau.
The best of myself.
He had TB (tuberculosis).
He died eight months later
and I never saw him again.
That's my last memory of him.
There he is.
You took your time!
Come on, I know one
that's open mornings.
Don't give me 500 francs.
It's not worth that much.
Here.
Thanks.
Listen, don't ever
give a woman a big bill.
Not many are as dumb as me,
giving you change.
Listen...
you've still got
a lot to learn.
With a face like yours,
you don't have to pay for it.
Open up!
Stop kidding around!
Get out.
You've no business here!
- Where's Marceau?
- He's fine where he is.
- Where is he?
- On ice.
Leave him!
He's overheated, I'm cooling him off.
There's one way to get him out.
Say you slept with him.
- It's not true!
- All right, do as you please...
Ask him!
Let him out, he'll freeze.
I never slept with him,
I swear.
I'm in no hurry.
Warm enough here...
No! Stay here!
Bastard!
I'll tell the cops!
Because I left the boy
in the refrigerator? That's no crime.
It's just forgetfulness.
Like you, when you forget
what you did with that kid.
I didn't do anything!
I know all about it.
Want him to freeze?
Come on! Do the right thing
and I'll let your little pal go!
Well...
It's true.
Say "I slept with him."
I want to hear you say it.
I slept with him.
I'm a man of my word.
Get out!
You're lucky to be dealing
with a man of his word!
Now piss off
and don't show your baby face again!
Don't expect a reference.
Not that you need a job.
You've got a future
on the streets.
And so do you.
You may meet up there.
Now piss off!
What did I do,
after the butcher's?
I forget.
I washed cars in a garage
for a while.
But I got in wrong.
I laid railway tracks.
My life didn't mean anything to me.
It hadn't begun.
I thought,
"None of this matters...
it's just while you're waiting."
Waiting for what?
I hadn't eaten in two days.
- Madame Alice.
- Thanks.
Got a light?
Thanks.
- Welcome.
They're always late.
- Who?
- Women, the ones you're waiting for.
- I'm waiting for no one.
- One's always waiting for someone.
Not me!
I was watching you from the café.
You didn't look happy.
So? What's it to you?
You're a friendly fellow.
If you think I'm a john, you're blind.
Can't you see I'm broke?
Want to earn 300 francs?
- With you?
- Thanks to me.
- Depends on the job.
- It's easy and pleasant.
What kind of photos are they?
- Afraid?
- Cautious. Not the same thing.
I told you,
they're art poses.
Mr. Paul is an artist.
All right, but nothing else!
Otherwise, I'll...
There will be nothing else!
It's just modeling.
The session lasts 20 minutes,
you get your 300 francs, and you go.
All right, I'm game.
You'll have a partner,
a pretty girl.
Here she is.
- Hello, Ginette.
- Hello, Mme Alice!
Hello, dollface.
- Hello, buddy.
- Buddy?
Hear that, Mme Alice?
Kids today!
Where were you brought up?
Don't push it, Ginette.
Ginette!
Awfully familiar!
Kiss each other.
You'll make a lovely couple.
Perfect!
Perfect!
Where did you find him?
Congratulations, the face is classical!
But the nails, of course...
You'll find a brush and soap
down the hall.
Come this way.
I'll do stunning things with you.
A magnificent series.
The Garden of Eden.
Make yourself at home.
We're one big happy family.
- Get undressed.
- Undressed?
The Garden of Eden,
my boy!
He's good, that boy!
Worthwhile, inexperienced,
but definitely worthwhile!
He reminds me
of someone...
Do you know who I mean?
Henri.
That poor Mr. Henri!
Your great love!
- Don't be ridiculous.
- I was joking.
Here. This is far less than your charm
and adorable inexperience deserve...
Are you angry?
Shocked?
What's it to you?
Mme Alice, are you sure
he won't cause me any trouble?
You tempt me,
Mme Alice!
You're diabolical.
I'll never set foot here again!
Well, it's extravagant,
but I'll take it!
I hug myself
and say "Thank you!"
Since men no longer
give us presents
They never gave many to me!
I also have, from the same source,
a lovely gold compact...
May I help you, sir?
I'd like to see that
chemise in the window.
I love black crepe de chine, don't you?
This is size 42.
It's for someone
your size, more or less.
That would be a 44.
I don't have it in stock.
Don't you think the 42
would be all right?
How can we tell...
Suppose you tried it on?
Would you?
Pity. I'm terribly sorry, mademoiselle.
- What was that?
- An idiot who thinks I sell lingerie!
Naughty, naughty,
Madame Henriette!
Can't I look at the photos?
- They're improper!
- Exactly!
I can't turn my back a minute,
you bad girl!
I'm terribly curious!
Of course, you see the same thing
in museums, statues that...
- But photos...
- Are more real!
This young man, the blond.
He's very handsome!
- If you like, I could introduce you!
- I wouldn't know what to do with him!
I'll just take his photo.
Less troublesome!
If he came to the shop,
I could drop in, just to see him!
I'm just terribly curious!
Hello?
Le Guern?
Hotel Pocardia, Passage des Abbesses.
And you can tell him
what I think of him!
I called him for another session
and he didn't turn up!
There's no decency any more,
Madame Alice.
Here's the coffee.
I hope it doesn't keep
you from sleeping.
- Not at all.
- Me neither.
Believe it or not, this is
the first time in my life
I've been invited to dinner.
The first time someone
served me, hospitably.
For free, without paying.
It's been greasy spoons for me
since I left the orphanage.
- Poor Marceau. One sugar?
- Yes.
Do you have a girlfriend?
There's no shortage of girls.
I can have them for the asking.
- You have your nerve!
- I'm not saying I'm irresistible.
With you, for instance...
I know there's nothing doing.
Think not?
Really?
Are you saying the two of us...
you'd go for that?
- I didn't say that!
- You see.
We're pals.
Nothing else.
You don't like it when a woman
resists your "sex appeal."
To tell you the truth,
I've never met one who did.
Well, now you have.
Tell me,
am I not your type?
Are you frigid?
Wouldn't you like to know?
You'll know nothing...
there's nothing to know.
If it were offered...
would you accept another job
like the last one?
Probably not.
Nice business you're in!
- Just helping you out!
- But why?
I'm very fond of you.
I don't believe in Santa Claus.
Nothing comes free
in this life.
Some people are disinterested.
I don't like people
taking an interest in me!
I'm not used to it!
I've always gone it alone!
You're free, Marceau.
Don't worry.
I'll go back to Mr. Paul.
- That's what you want.
- I never said that.
I'm sure we can find something better.
At your age, with your looks...
- With these clothes?
- That's no problem.
I have a man's suit.
Don't get angry, now.
It might fit you.
I don't get you, Mme Alice.
You don't like me
the way a woman likes a man.
Why are you so nice to me?
It needs ironing.
- I don't want to deprive you.
- You're depriving no one, now.
I think the shirt will fit, too.
Take the monogram off.
Try it on!
Embarrassed to undress
in front of me?
Come this way.
I thought about the man who'd worn
this shirt, this suit...
Mme Alice's lover.
"H" like Henri.
"H.B."
There had been a man in her life.
She seemed clearer now,
easier to understand.
He had probably left her.
She avoided men because
she didn't want to be hurt again.
That's what I thought,
poor fool that I was.
What's wrong?
Don't you like it?
I'm not the one who has to like it,
my little Marceau.
I'm not in the game.
Mr. Marceau!
Where should we forward your mail?
Nowhere.
I don't expect any.
No kiss for me?
Driver! Modern Hotel,
rue de Lisbonne.
Just around the corner from me,
isn't that nice?
These ties!
How could you?
- Don't you like them?
- Hideous! Especially this one.
And the suit. Show me.
She chose the suit!
- We may have made a mistake.
- What do you mean?
She's a woman who earns her own living.
They're the stingiest of all.
What did she give you
for pocket money this month?
- 400 bills, maybe a little more.
- 400? That's pitiful.
400 is better than nothing!
I'm saving for a motorbike.
He wants a motorbike!
And to buy it himself!
I could weep.
She should give it to you,
as a present.
Otherwise, what's the point of her?
And a motorbike...
that makes no sense at all.
Even worse...
it will hurt her feelings.
It shows you want to go out alone,
that you're bored with her.
You must get her to give you a car!
I should have taken the train!
- What do you expect? It's second-hand!
- I've heard quite enough about that!
- It's the spark plug.
- Catch me in this contraption again!
What if my friends saw me like this?
- Was it my idea to drag you along?
Rude little beast!
Well, do something!
Must I just sit here?
Get out and walk!
I will!
Help me!
You're not stopping me. No surprise!
I knew you wanted to go alone!
I'm going back to Paris by myself!
Have a nice trip!
- What's wrong?
- No idea.
Hop in!
I'll drop you at the next garage.
Thank you.
I should tell you,
I'm not alone.
Get in.
Oh no, don't bother.
I'll manage by myself.
Oh, get in already.
Watch how you're driving!
This is worse than a sidecar.
What are you laughing at?
That's it, pick her up!
And get a hotel room on my money.
Little pimp!
Pimp...
- That bitch!
- What happened?
I've never seen such a bitch!
Calm down. The neighbors...
- She called me a pimp!
- Big deal.
It's all right for you.
You don't care
as long as you get your cut.
You're a piece of work.
Flesh peddler!
But no more!
I'm tired of making money for you!
No more of this trade for me!
I'll eat stones first!
No, Marceau, you're too fond
of your pretty teeth!
I'd been walking for two hours.
No money for a metro ticket.
I'd never been so broke.
I'd taken nothing but Mr. Henri's suit.
An elegant suit for a man
who hadn't eaten since
the day before.
I wanted to see Brother Bénédict.
I wanted to talk to him,
to ask for help.
Perhaps there was a job
at the orphanage.
In the kitchen, maybe.
Maybe I could help out there.
Stupid idea. the work at Saint Nicolas
was done by monks.
There was nothing for a layman.
Suppose I became a monk?
Lulu would be doing his novitiate here.
Together again!
But imagine me as a monk,
what a joke!
Every day at 4:00
they set a basket out.
Afternoon snack.
That stopped me from taking the bread.
I would have been ashamed
for him to see me.
I couldn't take his charity.
Marceau!
What a surprise!
Marceau!
Let me look at you, my boy!
You seem to be doing well!
What an outfit!
- You look wonderful!
- I can't complain, thanks.
Dress for success, you know!
I was in the neighborhood...
- Any news about Lulu?
- Yes, his health worries us.
But the air is good in Savoie.
Doesn't he write you?
No.
Well, we got a letter recently...
I didn't have the courage
to tell him why I had come.
I just wanted him to go...
so I could take a piece of bread.
But you should put money aside
don't lay it all out on clothes!
You're almost too elegant.
Do you have a savings account?
No.
Would you have come back
if things weren't going well for you?
No, I don't think so.
I'm sorry, my boy,
I must leave you now.
Come back to see us, often.
It would be a real pleasure.
- Goodbye, my boy.
- Goodbye, Father.
He came in 23 to 1!
How about that?
2,000 bills!
- Let's go to Les Halles for a blowout.
- I'm not touching my share.
I've figured it out to the penny.
A dress for the broad, 300.
Stockings and shoes, 200.
And tomorrow night she's on the job!
Why don't you do the same?
No shortage of dolls, with your looks.
I told you, my girl has a friend...
- Just say the word!
- No, not for me.
- I don't get you!
- When a guy has principles...
- Principles! Don't make me laugh.
- To each his own.
I'm going to a hotel.
I want a bed with sheets!
I'll have sheets myself tomorrow,
and the broad'll pay.
I've got principles too!
- Goodbye, pal.
- Goodbye.
I'm going to crash till seven...
Principles...!
Get your evening paper!
Chamberlain and Hitler meet!
Good news!
That's a load off my mind!
I thought I was off to the Maginot Line!
Get your evening paper!
Chamberlain and Hitler meet!
Get your evening paper...
I'd avoided her eyes.
But I would have liked her to see me.
But I knew when I saw her again
I was lost.
Madame Alice!
Paper?
Recognize this?
Of course.
I often thought of selling it,
but I didn't.
Why not?
- I thought it was a souvenir.
- Of me?
Yes, and also a souvenir for you.
I thought it meant something to you.
What a sweet boy.
We'll make something of him yet.
- Are you leaving?
- I must.
Where will you sleep?
Stay the night.
Don't you want to?
Yes, it's a good idea.
Don't bother, Mme Alice.
I can make a bed.
I made my own for twelve years
at the orphanage, and perfectly.
I even made Lucien's for him.
You know, my friend
who was going to be a priest.
I did it for him every day.
You miss your childhood.
Not really,
but I was a nice kid then.
And now you're not?
Now I'm bad.
Bad? My poor little Marceau!
- Maybe not bad, but hard.
- Not hard enough!
Stop thinking about your childhood.
It wasn't even happy!
What about you, Mme Alice?
Was your childhood happy?
I never think about it
and I don't care to discuss it.
I'll give you a blanket
so you won't be cold.
- Think I'll need it?
- Of course.
- Will this bed be big enough?
- Of course, what can you be thinking?
- That wasn't why you invited me?
- Absolutely not.
- No?
- No.
You're unbelievable.
- You wouldn't be slightly...
- Slightly what?
You're not very feminine,
you don't wear makeup or jewelry...
Oh, I see. How funny!
No, my poor Marceau, you're wrong.
I don't like women,
for that or anything else.
You silly boy.
So what are you?
Fine, I get it.
You're just a cold fish.
You're a child.
Why spoil our friendship?
Our friendship!
- Aren't we friends?
- No! Oh, I don't know.
The more I know you,
the less I know.
You had someone in your life.
The suit you gave me
wasn't your grandmother's.
No, Marceau. It was a friend's.
He died.
- Did you love him?
- Not the way you think.
I was attached to him
in a certain way.
The way you're attached to me?
If you like.
Believe it or not,
I have feelings.
I need someone, too.
Since I ask nothing of him,
he can be as handsome as I please.
You ask nothing of him?
Nothing.
But, madame, it's perfectly natural.
You don't know anyone in Paris...
Would this be to go dancing?
Not for dancing.
More a travel companion.
I plan to visit Italy, Switzerland...
A man of the world, then,
or a student?
Just now, unfortunately,
I don't...
I do know someone...
But he's a very simple boy,
rough around the edges.
Would you like to meet him?
Well... really...
But there's something charming
about introducing a young man...
to the wonders of the world.
After the lady who liked travel,
there was the one who liked doggies.
Where have you been?
- This is when you show up?
- Why, what time is it?
Six o'clock.
- I've been waiting since four.
- No kiss?
- Of course.
Are you smelling me now?
Don't be ridiculous!
The dog smells of perfume.
Where were the two of you?
He didn't pick it up in the street.
A woman touched him.
- Yes. Madame Alice.
I was at her place.
- What do you do there every day?
You don't need her any more.
She's already placed you.
Marceau!
It's Emilie. Take him.
Go upstairs.
Emilie!
What a nice surprise!
I'll be with you in a minute, my dear.
- Eighty-eight...
- Where's Marceau?
- Marceau?
- Yes, haven't you seen him?
Ninety... No, not today.
Thank you, Madame.
We said three crepe de chine slips
two black, one pink
with the lace you selected.
I know he's here!
They'll be ready in a week.
I'll send them to you in Dijon.
Mme. Emilie, a longtime customer,
Mme Helene, from Dijon, a first-timer.
Mme Alice has pretty things,
don't you think?
Oh, yes.
I must be going.
I'm sure there's no shop
like hers in Dijon.
No, indeed.
A fine thing!
Marceau!
No use hiding now!
A nice woman you are!
Shut up!
That's enough, Marceau.
Emilie is a bit on edge.
When she's calmed down,
she'll be sorry for what she's said.
I won't!
And I've more to say to you
and your gigolo!
How dreadful!
That's it! Run!
Back to Dijon with you!
You pig.
After all I've done for you.
You two deserve each other.
Keep your gigolo.
Stick with the skinny witch.
She'll treat you like Mr. Henri.
Ask her what she did to him.
- Ask her how he died.
- I don't give a damn about him or you.
She can tell you about
his suicide. It's interesting.
Good.
Thank you.
Well, now. The ring?
- I tell you, she gave it to me.
- That's not true.
It's a family heirloom.
I wouldn't have given it to him.
It was my name day gift.
The day we left for Cannes.
My name's Marceau,
but Saint Marcel's my day.
The proof he stole it?
He left his suitcase.
He didn't dare come back for it.
Between Madame's word
and that of someone like you
- Say, listen.
- That will do.
I have no time to waste,
nor does Madame.
Will you return the ring?
Why should I?
It's mine.
You're very sure of yourself.
Think it over.
I have.
Very well.
Do you recognize these photos?
Yes.
Then don't make a fuss.
Give Madame her ring, like a good boy.
Do you know what something
like this could cost you?
Good.
I'm glad you understand your position.
Come to the washroom.
It'll come off with a bit of soap.
That's all that was needed.
Coming along?
No. To Madame.
Consider yourself lucky
that Madame isn't pressing charges.
The door's that way.
Forgetting your suitcase?
No, I'm leaving it.
Like the ring, it belongs to Madame.
Last year I was really scared.
But this year I don't believe it.
FRANCE AND ENGLAND
MOBILIZE
- She'll pay us back for that ring.
- Right.
Alice, how did Mr. Henri die?
- What?
- How did he kill himself?
Oh, yes...
He jumped onto the metro tracks.
He was a strange fellow, Mr. Henri.
He had a taste for drama,
right up to the end.
Making trouble for everyone.
He stopped traffic for an hour.
Tell me more about poor Mr. Henri.
Is this an interrogation?
Have the police rubbed off on you?
Exactly.
I'd like to know
if poor Henri, who killed himself...
also posed for...
art photos.
Presidential announcement:
In view of
the international situation...
the government is calling up...
reserve troops.
But what the hell does it matter now?
We're at war.
Without the war,
I could never have shaken off Alice.
Perhaps I would never have wanted to.
The war did me a favor
yes, as it did for others.
I didn't think about the danger ahead.
The one behind me
seemed so much greater.
For four years, every week...
she sent a letter and a package.
Then the Allies entered Germany.
There was no more mail.
Mme Alice was dead to me.
I didn't think about her any more.
I'd made my resolutions:
Go to work as soon as I was back...
not see Alice again.
It's your turn!
We've finished with the director.
Was he nice to you?
He gave him a holy picture.
Pardon me.
I wanted to see Brother Bénédict.
Alas, sir.
Brother Bénédict is no longer with us.
God called him back three years ago.
It was a great misfortune
for the orphanage.
An irreparable loss.
- Are you an alumnus?
- Yes. Le Guern. Marceau.
Allow me, since you knew him.
This modest picture...
will be a souvenir of him.
Thank you, sir.
Brother Bénédict would have been
proud of that decoration.
You've done honor
to the orphanage, sir.
How could I tell this stranger
what I'd sworn
to tell Brother Bénédict?
I had my demobilization pay
I was set for a few days.
Marceau!
Ginette.
Don't you recognize me?
- How are you?
- Fine.
- Will you buy me a drink?
- Sure thing.
There.
- What'll you have?
- If you don't mind, red Bordeaux.
Make it two.
Could I have an egg?
You haven't changed.
Still handsome as ever.
If you saw my arms!
I lost 10 kilos.
I couldn't pose for Mr. Paul now.
He kicked the bucket,
poor Mr. Paul.
Just in case you didn't know.
Don't look at me like that.
I'm a mess.
My landlord's holding
everything I own.
I can't even change my dress.
And I have to run into you like this!
Any news from Mme Alice?
We haven't seen her in ages.
No.
Maybe she's dead too.
Madame Alice...
Mr. Paul...
Oh, well...
- You aren't listening to me.
- No...
- Where's the telephone?
- Back and to your right.
She's alive.
She's there in her shop,
where I've called her so often.
In that arcade where she supposedly
sells lingerie.
I gave Ginette
almost all the money I had on me.
I was in good spirits.
- May I help you, sir?
- Madame Alice, please.
I don't know her.
- I phoned yesterday...
- There's no phone here.
- But she answered.
- Impossible! We have no phone.
- Who lives here?
- A gentleman. He's ill. I'm his nurse.
I'm sorry.
Good day.
Alice?
Marceau.
Marceau!
I went to the shop,
but they said
you didn't live there any more.
I sold the shop,
but kept the telephone.
I live at 78 rue de Passy now.
Come quickly!
She wept. She can weep!
It's the last thing I expected.
She doesn't frighten me any more.
So why should I run from her?
You intimidate me.
- Have I changed?
- Yes. And I?
You too.
- Are you crying?
- Not the first time!
For me it is.
You've never made me so happy before.
My handsome prisoner.
See? We're better off
than other people.
- What other people?
- The other prisoners.
They've made love with their wives,
and now they're both uneasy.
The men thinking,
"Did she cheat?"
The wives,
"What are you thinking about?"
You have no hidden thoughts,
nor I. We're at peace.
I'm going to tell you something,
something I've never told anyone.
I had no childhood, Marceau.
I know.
No. You know nothing.
When I was eight, a man...
Don't speak. I can't tell you.
You can't imagine.
And that, dear sir, is why
I don't like childhood memories!
But, you see,
I still have feelings.
I've always dreamed of a friend,
a man I could love in my own way.
Once I thought I'd found him.
But no.
I was wrong.
Then there was you.
I don't want to lie to you, Alice.
You told me the truth,
I'll do the same.
I changed in the Stalag.
I'm older.
I've lost the taste for pleasure.
Wait a few days
we'll see.
And I want to work.
To work...
What I did before the war,
that's over.
It's over for me, too.
Now I'm in business.
- Decent business?
- Business.
I help decent people
cheat on their taxes.
And there are lots of decent people!
No, that's not what I want.
I want to make my own way.
- How?
- By working.
- Oh, really!
- Don't you believe me?
- No, I know you too well!
- We'll see.
Just as you like.
If you like, I could help you
I know lots of people.
Meanwhile,
you need a rest in the country.
A few weeks later,
Alice and I were guests
on the estate of a certain
Mr. d'Argelouve...
to whom Alice had been useful.
We were met at the railroad station.
Alice...
no end to her surprises.
Madame's room.
And Monsieur's.
No, that's not mine.
- Monsieur Antoine!
- Yes?
Do you think they're
sleeping together?
You'll see tomorrow,
when you make up the rooms.
Be careful. My friend Marceau
doesn't know about it.
I didn't want to tell him
he's very proud.
He wouldn't have come.
I recognize your old methods
give people a fait accompli.
It's so much simpler
for me and for them.
If I succeed, he won't dare
bear me a grudge, and if I fail...
He'll never know!
It seemed to be the custom for everyone
to go about his business or pleasure...
without bothering
about the others.
Les Liaisons Dangereuses...
Thank you.
I don't feel like reading.
May I suggest Sir take a walk
through the grounds and see the pool?
It's a beauty spot.
- A beauty spot?
- Yes, sir.
Ah... she must be a guest.
Eighteen...
no, nineteen years old.
I give myself three days for her mouth,
a week for the rest.
She wants to impress me.
I swim as well as she can.
I've seen what you can do enough!
You've done your little act
my turn!
- You swim in your clothes?
- Too lazy to put on trunks.
My uncle invites such strange people!
Who are you?
We were expecting
a few people this morning.
A Mr. Le Guern and Mlle. Combes.
I'm half of that group.
My name is Dominique.
You'd better go back to the house
and change.
Look at the state of you!
Did you fall in?
I hope Dominique didn't push you
but she's capable of it!
Your aunt will be seeing Mlle Combes
at 11:00. I'd like you to be there.
Certainly.
Dominique is my poor wife's
only companion and distraction.
Mlle Combes must have told you
my poor Consuelo is half-paralyzed.
She hasn't left her room in ten years.
But she sees us!
She can see through walls.
Alice, a family solicitor
is a confessor.
Tell me everything.
Marceau...?
- He's very handsome.
- You're nowhere near, my dear.
Consuelo?
Mlle Combes is here.
- How old is she?
- Really, Consuelo!
I'm forty-one, Madame.
May I sit down?
This is about one of your businesses,
the port dealership on rue Balzac.
The manager will be leaving.
I'd like to propose a replacement,
a remarkable boy.
Former POW, Croix de Guerre,
very well brought-up...
hard-working, energetic...
Highly presentable.
Well-built, no?
- Very pleasant fellow.
The boy who dived into the pool
with all his clothes on?
Thank you, no.
He may be an amusing guest
but he's no manager.
Marie,
what are you most afraid of?
- Growing old.
- Oh, yes growing old!
- And you, Philippe?
- Being bored.
- And you?
- Poverty.
And you, Father,
what do you fear most?
Dying.
- But you're a Christian.
- That's precisely why I fear it.
- And yet in the Stalag...
- Pardon me, I must leave you.
He has avoided me all evening.
Now I'm sure of it.
He must take me for a gigolo.
What do you think of the abbé?
He's amazing, and so appealing, too.
He's just the sort of priest
we need in France.
Pardon me.
Marie told me about your accident.
Apparently you fell into
the pool fully dressed!
No, I dived in on purpose.
You see how impulsive he is, Dominique?
We never know what he'll do next!
I wouldn't trust this fellow!
- I'm sure the lady won't heed slander.
- Of course not.
She mistrusts you so little,
she's dying for you to ask her to dance.
I'm old enough to tell Mr Le Guern
if I'm dying to dance.
It's not true.
Of course it is!
Have fun, children.
I'll go play cards.
Old miser-woman that I am,
only money interests me now.
- Will you join us for bridge?
- I'd prefer poker.
Will you dance with me, Dominique?
I didn't give you permission
to call me by my first name.
Are you planning
to woo me?
If it's to be polite,
thank you, but you're excused.
- If it's an irresistible yearning...
- Don't make fun of me.
Why are you being disagreeable?
We got along well this afternoon.
If I acted like a fool,
I apologize.
I'm not very proud of myself.
I was the one who told my aunt
about the pool.
I didn't know.
Perhaps, if you stay a few days,
she'll change her mind.
There are trout streams.
Do you fish?
If I stay,
it won't be to fish.
Nor to get in the good graces
of Madame your aunt.
I don't care about that at all.
Who is it?
It's me.
I saw light and thought
you must be awake.
Reading?
It must be fascinating
you're still on page two.
- Well? Did the girl apologize?
- Oh, the poor kid.
I think she's more upset than I am.
I believe she has a lot of influence
over the old lady.
Use it.
She appeals to you,
of course.
- She's a kid.
- All the better!
I'm her uncle's guest.
I'd be a cad...
How well he said that!
Pity.
I don't think the girl
would put up much of struggle.
And I'd find it amusing,
because of the family.
I still can't swallow
what happened this morning.
Was yours a religious household?
Very much so, Dominique.
As a boy,
I went to Mass every day.
- Did your parents make you?
- Not my parents.
The people who raised me.
Fine people. Monks.
Monks?
I was in an orphanage.
I like it when you tell me
about yourself.
- You don't tell me much.
- My life isn't very interesting.
The orphanage, the war,
the Stalag...
Eighteen years in prison.
If Uncle Philippe saw us now,
I wonder what he'd say.
Probably that I had a crush on you.
Or that you're being kind to a poor chap
who'd be bored without you.
And your uncle knows that you're...
very sensible.
I'm not sure I'm so sensible.
Have you known Mlle Combes
a long time?
- You can't think that...
- No, I don't believe it.
I wonder what she means to you.
Merely a comrade, that's all.
I don't like Mlle Combes.
I'm probably being unfair,
I don't really know her
but I don't like her.
Are you angry at me, Marceau?
No.
How long have you known her?
I know I'm being indiscreet,
as though I were investigating you.
I'd like so much to be able to trust.
Trust whom?
You.
Why shouldn't you trust me?
Mlle Combes, again?
Yes, but...
I hardly dare say it...
There's something strange about you.
When you speak of your childhood,
I'm happy, I feel fondly towards you...
but other times...
you're hiding something, Marceau.
I don't know who you are.
Why is it necessary
for you to trust me?
Why?
It's natural, when you
feel sympathy for someone.
Of course, I understand.
I'm just your uncle's guest,
we hardly know each other.
A fellow who came looking for a job,
whom you'll never see again.
I don't want to force your sympathy
or your trust.
I'm sorry you can't like me.
You say that so calmly.
I'm always calm.
Would you prefer I leave tomorrow?
You see you're being cruel to me.
Why?
I can't play your game.
It's not fair.
If you don't feel you can give me up,
accept me as I am.
Careful.
She didn't see us.
I wouldn't mind the others seeing us
but not her.
She wouldn't be jealous.
I know.
I even think she'd be pleased.
You needn't have hid.
It was for her sake.
It seems to be going
nicely for you two.
Yes, it is.
If Philippe finds out: boom!
That would be amusing.
Oh, I don't know,
would it, after all?
I'm tired.
I'm getting old.
The girl hates me, of course.
Do you think so?
Come on, she can't stand me.
No matter.
Rather flattering.
She's not jealous of you.
No?
Then why...?
Marceau...
we're bound to each other, no?
What do you mean?
I mean you wouldn't abandon me
if anything bad should happen.
What, for instance?
- My business isn't without risk.
- What are you on about?
- You wouldn't abandon me, Marceau?
- No, of course not!
I knew it,
but I like to hear you say so.
What's the matter?
Are you crazy?
My intentions are pure,
you know that.
You're handsome.
A very handsome boy.
75 kilos of calcium, phosphates,
water and fat...
and various other substances,
more or less appetizing...
stir and serve piping hot
in Dominique's virginal bed...
and Dominique
will be in seventh heaven...
Stop this Dominique nonsense!
Love is very important to you,
isn't it?
- To everyone, no?
- To everyone not to me.
I'm idiotic this evening.
I envy you!
Nothing to envy.
Nothing will happen.
I'm leaving.
- You can stay. I'm not jealous.
- It's not about you.
What's happened to you?
Does she intimidate you?
- Never mind.
- You're getting sentimental.
My advice is to sleep with her
and get it over with.
No!
Yes...
I think we need
a change of scene.
- Here's what I suggest for Sunday.
- Sunday, we won't be here.
- Leaving us already?
- Alas, we must.
- What about our poker?
- Have you won enough from us already?
Marceau must go back to Paris.
Unless he's changed his mind
he's so fickle!
I haven't.
I'm sorry
I'm expected in Paris.
Well, I won't let you go
until I've won back my losses.
- Is that you, Dominique?
- Yes, Aunt.
I'm tired, my girl.
Let me sleep.
Are you crying?
Dominique avoided me all day.
She didn't even come to dinner.
Alice watches me sidelong.
Smile all you like.
Are you sorry to leave the château,
young man?
- No.
- Well, you're frank!
And yet, this château
is picturesque enough...
Thank you.
For instance,
that perfect butler...
He looks through keyholes
to watch the ladies undress.
Our own dear Marie...
hangs about for hours, naked,
in hopes he'll break her door down.
She's so disappointed he hasn't.
What's that to me?
You're a rather extraordinary fellow,
Le Guern.
Your disdain for good manners...
is appalling,
but somehow impressive.
- You haven't a trace of hypocrisy.
- La, good sir.
I'm a fake,
like everyone else.
- Good evening, sir.
- Good evening, Father.
This time I'm sure
he avoided me on purpose.
Why didn't you acknowledge me?
Didn't I?
Just distraction. Pardon me.
- Well, goodnight.
- No, wait!
You avoid speaking to me.
You act as though I weren't there.
Do you scorn me that much?
I don't scorn you, Le Guern.
I apologized for my absent-mindedness.
Be satisfied with that.
Don't pretend not to understand!
You know you haven't the same
consideration for me as for the others.
Do you think I'm a lowlife?
Perhaps I am!
So why do you sit at table with me?
You haven't the courage to tell
your cousin what you think of me.
- Go on and tell him!
- Calm down, my boy.
Will you listen to me a moment?
Do I seem scornful to you?
I'm not.
The difference in our age and state
makes encounters awkward.
But I assure you
I never meant to offend you.
Do you think, Mr. Le Guern,
we could forget this misunderstanding?
I was worked up...
When I'm angry, you know...
The funny thing is,
I meant to go see you tonight.
Not to berate you, of course!
Good...
I'm listening.
Confide in me, my child.
No.
It's not you I must speak to.
That would be cowardice again.
Excuse me.
There's still light
in the old lady's window.
Dominique must be there.
When she's back in her room,
I'll speak to her.
I went as far as the pool.
There she was.
In the very spot I saw her
for the first time.
Dominique!
Where were you this evening?
I didn't want to come downstairs.
I'm angry at you for trifling with me.
Was it a whim?
- No, Dominique.
- Then why?
Because I'm not the boy for you.
You don't know me.
Lucky you.
I'd rather not know myself.
Hush!
- I must tell you something.
- No, don't.
You don't have to tell me anything.
It was I who chose you.
I ask no questions.
Your past doesn't matter.
You were born when I met you,
Marceau.
When I saw you for the first time,
all wet, coming out of the pool.
I wanted to take you in my arms.
Marceau...
Let's go swimming!
- But...
- In the summer night, how wonderful!
- We don't have any...
- Never mind! Let's just swim!
This isn't some dirty game...
it's completely different.
We'll swear to each other
to do nothing else.
Dominique...
I'll undress in the grotto.
It was a test, Marceau...
Now I trust you.
You've given me a brand new soul.
Even yesterday I wasn't sure
I loved you enough for a lifetime.
Now I know it.
How strong you are,
Marceau.
You'll have to be strong too, Dominique.
Because I'm poor.
You're poor too.
That's why I love you.
I'd like to carry you off
taking nothing with you.
Take you away
as you were last night by the pool.
I'd like to shout it, Marceau.
I love you, I love you.
I love you!
Come.There's someone
we must tell right away.
Someone who suspects already
and will be both happy and sad.
- We put ourselves under her protection.
- Her protection?
I don't know what I'm saying
but I want her to see and approve.
Come.
I would like to present my fiancé.
Come here.
Sit down
so she can see you better.
Let's see your teeth.
I didn't say to laugh
show me your teeth.
Is it true you love my little girl?
Yes, Madame.
But you have no trade?
You're the one
who wanted to run a bar, aren't you?
My little Dominique
may love you as you are
but I'm more ambitious
than that.
You'll go to Chile
you'll work in my brother's business.
You're not afraid of work,
I hope?
- I've got to talk to you.
- Are you packed?
I am. And I've reserved
the tickets as usual.
- If I had to depend on you...
- I'm not leaving.
- You're not?
- No, I'm staying.
You are capricious. At your age,
you should know what you want.
- I've bought the tickets already.
- I'll pay you for mine, of course.
Aren't you funny!
Will you help me?
Yes.
Thank you.
I get it you're
sending me off alone.
Stay, if you want.
Is it the girl?
Yes.
I'm going to marry her.
You joker... my hand slipped,
and now I look like a clown!
It's no joke!
I'm really marrying her.
Well, marry her,
what do you want me to say?
I'm glad you're
taking it like this.
Let me kiss you.
I'm completely lost.
What are you telling me?
Dominique and I are getting married.
We decided today.
It sounds crazy,
but it's true.
- You're marrying Dominique?
- Yes.
Why?
- Because I want to.
- Because you want to!
But tell me...
Funny, I don't know what I'm saying...
Oh yes...
- Does she want to?
- Yes.
- She said so?
- Obviously, since I'm marrying her.
Of course.
- When's the wedding?
- As soon as possible.
As soon as possible.
Of course.
Well, how nice.
And the family...
Have you thought about the d'Argelouves?
Never mind Philippe,
he's a fifth wheel...
- What about Consuelo?
- She consents.
It's monstrous...
Do you even realize...
To marry that poor little girl...
You?
It's monstrous!
But not monstrous to sleep with her?
That's what you expected.
A boy like you!
And you know you don't love her.
If you do this idiotic thing, you'll be
weeping on my shoulder in three months.
In three months I'll be far away.
In Chile.
Chile?
How will you live there?
I'll work.
- You've never done anything without me.
- Don't you worry!
Of course, the old lady's money!
Congratulations. I taught you well!
Shut up!
And where do I come in?
I'm not thinking about you!
I never will again!
You get out of my life at last!
That's it!
Will that change anything?
Will that change you?
Idiot!
People like you never change!
When they can't go on
they kill themselves, that's all!
Like Mr. Henri.
Bitch.
Yes, like Mr. Henri.
You're a sick boy, Marceau,
obsessed, compulsive.
That didn't bother me
on the contrary.
But you're not cured. After this girl,
you'll want another, then another.
That's why
you haven't slept with her!
You know it!
Marceau!
- What's wrong?
- Nothing.
How pretty you look.
It's my engagement dress.
- But something's wrong are you ill?
- No, it's nothing.
Marceau just told me
the good news.
Talk about a surprise!
Where will you go
for your honeymoon?
My favorite part of a wedding
is the honeymoon.
Italy?
You know it
he's very well-traveled.
North Africa,
perhaps?
I'd choose North Africa
for my honeymoon.
The landscape is very picturesque.
And then the little shoeshine boys
so amusing.
You know, the shoeshine boys
who sell things to tourists.
- Tourists or honeymooners!
- What things?
- Oh, postcards, or...
- Or what?
Art photos.
Photos of a special nature.
If you know what I mean.
Stay here, Dominique.
You, come with me.
You asked for this.
Alice!
Marceau!
It's absolutely inexplicable.
They were very close.
Sir, pardon this question:
What, in your opinion, was
Le Guern's relationship to the victim?
As Mr. d'Argelouve said,
they were very close.
Thank you, sir.
I see crime of passion.
Miss Dominique
a call for you.
Father Quentin says
he must speak to you.
It's me...
What!
He is... yes, yes...
I'll be there right away.
I'm sorry.
I have orders.
Do you want to go out, Miss?
Yes, I need some air.
Please, I can't bear it...
Let her through.
Thank you.
- Where is he?
- Here. No, I must speak to you first.
- Was she his mistress?
- No.
- You can tell me. What does it matter?
- She wasn't his mistress.
It was something worse.
Between them
there was something horrible.
They were accomplices,
in a way.
Did they steal together?
A crime...
Yes. That woman killed
Marceau's soul.
And he let her do it.
That's what they did together.
- It's not you I want to hear, but him.
- You'll see him only after hearing me.
Whatever you say, I must see him.
Hear me. Spare him the confession
he should have made to you before.
If he had unburdened himself to you,
he would not have committed this crime.
Why didn't he tell me the truth?
Evil flees good, Dominique.
Impurity flees purity.
Purity!
I hate my purity, if it's why
Marceau couldn't confide in me.
What use is purity if it makes you
a stranger to the one you love?
And I'm not pure, Father
not any more.
If Marceau is impure,
so am I.
I take his sins on myself
and I ask his pardon.
If he thought his burden
was too heavy for me
I didn't know how
to show him my love.
It's my fault.
Marceau!
Marceau!
Forgive me...
you weren't able to trust me...
- I didn't stop you...
- I didn't mean to kill her.
I know...
- I was defending myself.
- I know.
What you don't know is that
I often wished I were rid of her.
That soothed me.
I thought I'd be free, saved.
- Saved from what?
- It's hard to explain.
I thought if I were free of her,
I could...
I thought I was an insatiable brute...
that I was... out of control...
And I am.
I thought with you I'd be saved.
No.
I would have dragged you down.
There was something
rotten in me from the beginning.
- We would have rotted together.
- Don't weaken! Leave me my courage!
We'll both have need of it,
Marceau.
- Did you phone them?
- They'll be here shortly.
- Go now, Dominique.
- No!
- You shouldn't be seen here.
- It's where I belong.
- You'll take care of her?
- Surely.
- I hope she won't appear in court.
- I would be so glad to.
I would be glad to go anywhere
to see you for one minute.
I would go anywhere,
without shame, to be with you.
Here they come.
Courage, my child.
God has left you Dominique's love
that is the beginning of pardon.
- I don't believe in God.
- I do.
I know he means you no harm,
for he's let me love you.
Light, please.
I don't want them to see
I'm about to cry.
Goodbye.
Goodbye, my Marceau.
I love you.
Subtitles: (c) 2017 Phoebe Green
Reformatting, additions, revisions:
hobsbaum for KG.