La campagne de Cicéron (1990) - full transcript
This version was restored
from the remains of negative images
super-16mm and magnetic soundtrack.
No copies of the film were found,
the original having been damaged in 1989.
The original alterations
couldn't be totally repaired.
It's not just paintjob
that is needed here.
The roof…
The stairs are crumbling,
the windows falling apart.
How is your friend Natalie doing these days?
Is she still in Paris?
She has gone back home,
near Carcassonne.
Music should be made in Paris.
But your festival is in the province.
But you will see, this year I have the support
of someone very important at the ministry.
- Hippolyte's backing me up unconditionally.
- Who is he?
The new music director.
I am done.
I must be at the rehearsal in an hour.
Oh, it's wet over there…
Martine has peed on the floor again.
When I say girls are pee bags, it's true.
Has Françoise still got
the same phone number?
- Yes.
- I've got a favor to ask her.
Martine!
Don't lick the electric socket!
I can't do it.
Do you want my screwdriver?
It's longer.
No, thanks.
I got another one in the kitchen.
What are you doing here Christian?
Come here.
It's Martine's thermometer.
But I bought it at the chemist!
This summer you are coming to my house,
you will be spending your holidays
in Cicero's countryside.
Beside, my assistant is leaving in October
and you are the only one who can replace him.
Would you be interested
now that you are an actor?
I know nothing about music.
What have you done, there?
I fell off the first floor.
Can I go back to the beginning
of the scene with Marton?
You wanna go back to the top?
Do you even know why?
Today I feel like
I have found something new…
Christian…
I am being sacked?
Françoise?
I am just taking my bag and I'm off.
I have been fired.
Christian, promise me that for no one you will show
yourself that way, with you bum out.
You are silly.
Swear!
Outch!
Are you sure
you really wanna go tonight?
Yes.
Oh, come on…
- What's that?
- I fell off the first floor.
I can't see a thing…
All the better, no need to see.
Because you are going
to take off all your clothes,
just keeping on your shirt,
and you are going into my bed.
And once you are in my bed,
I won't let you get out of it.
I will go to work and when I get back,
we'll spend all our time in bed.
Françoise,
soon you will meet
a man that you truly love.
And who will love you too.
So I got to go to make space for him
or he won't turn up.
Don't give me that kind of advice.
It's not an advice, it's what I believe.
Well I believe that you'd better go.
Worthless, tramp, mythomaniac…
I can get a man when
and where I want, and taller…
Sorry Sir.
A half please.
Go and see if there is mail
in the box on the door.
There isn't, are you expecting a letter?
- No. Did you say "good morning" to her?
- Of course.
Here it is very important,
be aware of it.
- Why are you hiding?
- Don't speak so loud, come over here.
The other day I brought back
one of my students from Narbonne.
He spent a few days here,
and I sent him back a bit loudly.
- Since then she's in a funny mood with me.
- Can you speak louder?
If you are intending spend a few days here, you'll have
to learn how to speak quietly, it's the village's law.
I have chosen to live here
and I don't want any troubles.
How could what I am saying
cause you any trouble?
You obviously don't know the countryside rules.
As a child I spent all my holydays in Sologne…
- But I am not on holydays.
- What's the story with your student?
Well… I had a little adventure with him.
How old?
19,18.
Oh dear…
On the night of the village fair,
I got myself so drunk, I'm disgusted with myself…
And I sent him back
in the middle of the night.
- And so?
- And so…
And I forgot everything.
All I know is that it happened outside
her front door and that she heard it all.
- Heard what?
- Everything.
It is terrible, I don't remember a thing.
Come in the kitchen.
Here. Peel that.
I might have beaten him up…
I have sudden attacks.
- You beat him up?
- I think so.
Oh, look!
There's a tin in the fridge, give him very little
and mix it up with old bread.
How handsome you are, oh, doggy…
-What's your name?
- Stop being an idiot, he's called Pastis.
He eats, he goes away.
He's ungrateful, like my student.
- But he didn't go of his own accord.
- No.
No, I pushed him out
and I kicked him
whilst he was on the floor.
I am so ashamed. I stop drinking;
I am giving away all my bottles.
On the main square,
Blue Beard's House
from Lézignan has just arrived.
You can find
a whole selection of socks,
ankle socks and full socks,
boys trousers
and little girls dresses...
Marc...
I don't want to drink anymore.
Yeah yeah…
I worked really badly this morning.
Here is good to work
but is even better to do nothing.
I am going to check my mail.
What's going on with you this morning?
Are you annoyed that I am here?
Absolutely not.
Don't you think I am puffed up?
No.
I met someone in Albi 3 weeks ago.
I went to give a concert and he was there.
He is the music director at the ministry.
No less!
I don't get it, he must be mistaking.
We are worlds apart…
When he's going to see where I live…
I can't believe what's happening to me!
What is he like?
Handsome,
has good humor,
although he doesn't look like he would,
a gentleman,
opens the restaurants doors before me,
lights up all my cigarettes…
No one's ever done that for me.
He is mad, isn't he?
He is very formal.
- Is he?
- It shows respect.
What's his name?
I don't dare saying it. You will laugh!
He is called Hippolyte.
Oh la la, I have to swell down…
You are beautiful.
These days
I am always putting myself down…
You shouldn't pick thyme so close to the path,
a fox could have pissed on it and it is poison.
Do cut without pulling the roots up.
Look, there's a dropping full of fruit stones,
badgers, they eat the cherries and apricots.
It is a badger poo.
And that?
Where?
It doesn't smell, it's too dry…
A wild boar may be.
Don't go too far in the grass, if there is
a female with youngsters she will charge.
- They would hear us and go away.
- So you think…
How many times have you seen Hippolyte ?
Once in Albi, once in Perpignan,
once in Toulouse.
The last two times,
I think he came to see me.
Looks like a fossil, I'm sure of it.
That's weird.
And it stinks. It is a very big animal.
But there is no cattle around here,
no horses, or cows…
- It is of a human.
- No one would do that around here!
That's Jacko the jackdaw.
If you want it, I give it to you.
In the village, he would get shot
if I was to keep him.
You have to hide anything
that shines or he would steal it.
Attention, attention!
The belote contest
will take place in the square's pub
this afternoon, from 4 PM.
Hello?
Oh, it's you.
Let me call him. Christian?
Christian!
- You were here? It's for you.
- Yes.
- Who is it?
- Françoise.
Allo?
But what are you doing there?
Don't stay on the phone too long,
Hippolyte could call me.
I can't talk right now.
Yes, that's it, me too. Bye.
- Why don't you ring him yourself?
- I called him yesterday.
Plus I don't know if he is at the ministry,
at home or elsewhere.
It's up to him to call.
Natalie!
Natalie!
I have a letter for you!
You are all black,
where have you been again today?
- We went for a swim in the hole.
- Well it does refresh the memory…
Henriette that's enough…
I went to see Antoinette at the post office and
she gave it to me so I could give it to you straight away,
as it's just arrived, and as the postman won't do his run until tomorrow morning…
Go, go and read it quick;
I see you are very impatient.
Thank you Henriette.
Cheeky! Did you hear what she said!
It does refresh the memory!
- What's mean about that?
- Here "memory" means "bum".
I am sure she must have seen
everything the other night.
You tear up letters?
Yes. I read them once
then I tear them up.
I have always been scared that a second reading
might cancel the first one,
because I would have overdone it
by reading it several times.
- You really are mad!
- Why are you saying that?
Oh shit!
Shit I didn't write down the time.
Thursday in Béziers, but I don't have a time.
Well, I'll ring.
He'll be here in 3 days.
I shouldn't have invited him.
Oulala, I need a drink.
- It will be a test.
- What will?
My tapestry.
- Not very nice…
- I am very attached to it, it was a present.
If he says it is bad taste…
What will you do?
I will have a think.
With this tapestry
I always know who I am dealing with.
Every time someone walks into here,
I am watching them as they look at the tapestry.
I am going to get the thyme tea.
- I am ugly as sin.
- You're not.
I can see what I can see,
I am not stupid.
May be a little stupid.
I am scared, you have no idea.
- Do you think I can greet him wearing this?
- Try it on.
No, I would be ridiculous.
First, some boobs…
I would like them shaped like pears.
Beautiful,
heavy…
I am happy.
I hear the talks from the harbor
and I make myself some hips...
wide…
and a bum,
more round, more voluptuous
than the biggest Spanish women
of the rough neighborhood of Barcelona.
Here's Jacko.
Sodding bird!
My dress is torn.
It has to be fixed immediately.
Immediately, immediately!
I can’t see the needle’s hole.
The string is too thick!
How am I gonna do it?
I can't go and get him with a torn dress!
He'll think I am a gipsy
and go back straight away.
Abandoned, there!
Poor thing.
Shit, I've pricked myself.
I don't care about this dress.
There are more questions.
More serious, more true.
Acid rains,
and the ozone hole in the south pole.
And the Basques being taken out!
Do you know about it? About the Basques plan?
It is a very noble cause.
You just don't care,
you never ask yourself any questions.
On France Culture Radio
they ask questions.
Stop it Natalie, you are winding me up.
On France Culture Radio, they ask questions.
One Cognac.
A lemon cordial.
Lip stick.
- I don't look too much like a tart?
- No.
You look stunning.
Have you had a nice trip?
We went through ridiculous turbulences,
but we weren't shaken too badly.
Christian, Hippolyte.
Well…
I am happy to be back in this area.
- You know it?
- Yes of course.
You hadn't said.
What's the make of your car?
It's a Lada. It is nice, isn't it?
It is very audacious of you to have bought a Lada.
They always break down.
It is an excellent car,
and far cheaper than any small French car.
I didn't know that you too were victim
of the anti-Soviet propaganda.
It is very comfortable.
The steering is a bit stiff,
but it grips the road very well.
And it has a screen wiper at the back.
I am extremely struck
by the similarity with Lebanon.
I read again, on the plane,
a little bit of Delteil.
And it doesn't surprise me…
The mysticism.
That similarity is extraordinary!
When I was in Baalbek, in the middle of gunshots,
at a concert directed by Jacqueline Bale...
- What a woman…
- Natalie don't drive so fast.
- Here we are, I recognize this place?
- In the Congoust gorges.
Yeah, that's it; it reminds me
of the Verdon's gorges, only less grand.
A few years back, I went
for a cycling trip from Biarritz to Nice.
And I slept.
The night was magnificent and impressive.
"I was looking at the night, beaten to death,
yet still sufficient within itself".
René Jar.
Yes, it was a very dark night,
beautiful but moonless.
I stopped, I took my sleeping bag,
and I jumped a fence, I fell asleep.
The following morning,
I packed my sleeping back,
I went over the fence again
and I saw a sign;
"entrance prohibited,
danger of death, vipers reserve"
And…
I got back to my bike and I left.
- Do you want a cup of coffee?
- No.
A tea?
I'd like a coffee.
You didn't want it.
I am unnerved enough as it is…
Why?
- Hippolyte asleep?
- No, he's off cycling.
Already!
He can't rest.
He is so tired, you have no idea…
I am off to the hole. Good work.
Good morning Madame,
I am here to deliver the dresser.
It's not here.
It is not here, Natalie…
But who has ordered that?
I don't know,
I do the delivery, that's all.
OK, I am coming over.
I did 27km in 45 min!
- Tomorrow I will go to Camplong.
- That kind of achievement does not interest me.
Is that yours?
I thought you were responsible
for it being here.
I should hope that
what I buy you is more tasteful.
My ride was stunning;
I am more and more struck
by the similarities with Lebanon.
Same landscape, same vegetation,
although I haven't seen any cedar.
I have met two farmers, we chatted,
such simplicity, how picturesque!
But, your dresser is cross eyed!
It should be my MP,
he was meant to call me.
Hello?
Yes…
No.
Someone called Françoise want to speak
to Christian, shall I hand the phone to you?
This morning I woke up with a sentence
that I keep on repeating to myself.
I have studied it from all angles
and no other words come to my head.
Which ones?
All in all, I loved her.
I loved her, or I did love her?
Don't know. I loved her.
No.
Did love her I think.
Does it matter?
I was thinking about you.
- About me?
- Yes.
- Someone's drowned in the hole.
- Drowned!
Your glasses!
Nothing.
You dreamt it.
No, I can assure you he was here.
He was here exactly
where you've just dived.
You hallucinated.
-But…
- It's me who drinks; it's you who sees!
It's not funny.
On a different matter;
a dresser has arrived home.
I have touched it, so have Henriette
and Hippolyte, It is no trick of the eyes.
It looks very much like
the dresser I asked the price of,
when we were together in Béziers.
Christian.
Are you responsible for its apparition?
- Is it you, the dresser?
- But what dresser?
Leave me in peace,
it is my rhythm and you have to respect it.
It is nice of you to have bought it for me,
but you can keep your money.
Even if I do appreciate it.
It was for your birthday.
I dived once
in the Mediterranean Sea, near Collioure.
- I saw a sturgeon.
- Really?
A real sturgeon,
it swam in front of me and vanished.
Hippolyte, I have to be
in Lézignan at 3PM,
I have a few students left;
I don't want to lose them.
I go with you.
Are you staying?
I didn't lie you know,
I truly saw a drowned body.
Hello, hello,
the hair dresser of Fabrezan
has arrived
on the main square...
Hello?
No he's gone out.
Do you want to leave a message?
I have difficulty hearing you, excuse me.
One second, don't hang up.
It is 9 o'clock.
Yes.
I pass you over,
best regards Madame. Natalie?
A lady
would like to speak to you.
But I don't feel like talking.
- Why didn't you say that I was out?
- Because you are here. See you later.
When the jack has passed,
the jenny stumbles.
Your drowned man.
Hermance rang.
She badly wants you to meet up with her
in Cicero's Countryside; she's by herself...
- How does she know I am staying with you?
- She didn't say and I didn't ask.
I left Paris to not have to deal
with those people.
I don't understand
why you are still seeing her.
She has always been good to me.
She has offered me
to help her with a festival.
- That's a good reason.
- Not for me.
Even if I need the money.
- She is generous.
- That's what she wants people to believe.
In reality Hermance talks behind people's back,
has ulterior motives, she's a socialite.
And she knows nothing about music.
She is the feminine unleashed, she is terrifying.
Terrifying people may well be
helpless people awaiting help.
I have other worries
than Hermance at the moment.
What's up with you?
I really don't get it.
- He still is tired?
- Don't mess around, you understand very well.
He hasn't touched me since being here.
It's not normal, don't you think?
And what winds me up the most
is that he sleeps. That's the worst.
There's nothing he has to tell to me about
what he is up to when he sleeps.
Ask him for a report when he wakes up.
- I am ridiculous enough as it is.
- Why?
If you accept this situation,
there is no ridicule.
I do not accept it, but what can I do?
Tell him; you are here, in my house, in my bed,
that itself has to be paid for, normally.
Normally, to pay, those are terrible words.
No, it's awful, awful…
He sleeps.
He's got his lips open,
his legs anywhere on the bed.
And I, sat down, I look at him
making myself tiny to not disturb him.
The most twisted they are,
the faster I find them.
I am wondering what am I.
It is terrible.
I can't give myself answers.
- He might be important.
- No!
He said he's been having embarrassing troubles
with the ladies for a couple of years.
Do you think I am disgusting
because he doesn't touch me?
Yes?
- He's never touched me.
- Never?
Once, the first time. And not much.
Have you noticed; he always encounters
pointy objects in his stories!
Sturgeons, vipers…
I don't know what to do.
I have sleepless night
wondering if I am ugly, dirty.
I shower every day, you know that.
Oh shit, this morning I forgot.
But I bathe here.
It's not very flattering for a woman.
- What if you took his bike off of him?
- Stop it!
Oh, I've never seen a foreskin like that!
How horrible!
I've never seen
such a long foreskin! Show me.
But you could tie a knot with it, my poor Christian.
It suits me perfectly.
If one of my lovers had a foreskin
as long and as reapply as that,
I would require
that they'd get it cut off immediately.
It's obscene. Put your clothes back on.
That's a juniper.
You're a botanist?
No I did agronomy.
- Natalie, you have a stick insect.
- Hippolyte, please…
Hazel,
that's a deeply ridiculous tree.
In Lisbon, early in the morning,
after I had arrived in the night
to sign a Luso French deal about musical
co production on behalf of the minister,
I got awoken by a low noise
that is shaking my room, the whole hotel.
I wonder. A train engine?
A jack hammer?
I think of a new earth quake,
I run to my window, open it,
the hotel was next to the zoo
and two rhinos were mating right against the wall.
That's a shame
you didn't take your waterproofs.
What's the point in saying that now?
It's true, what is the point of an advice?
Because you've never given me advice.
Is my opinion
of any interest to you, ever?
Me?
I have been awaiting words from you.
But you, all you can do is to talk of the ridiculous.
It's to come and pick flowers here!
The ridiculous, my dear, is not a concept.
No more that bad taste,
which you seem very preoccupied with.
Me, I have been taught to respect plants
and not to consider them like ornaments.
It was for you.
I don't want it!
It's to talk about your great deeds,
of the minister, Lebanon…
To tell stories full of pointy things...
- Pointy things?
- Yes pointy things!
Sturgeons, vipers, jack hammers, rhinos.
You talk, run, walk,
and after, you fall asleep.
What do you want me to do
with this, music? Certainly not.
- So why did you walk up here with me?
- Why?
Well, to see the mountain, the water falls…
What need is there for me
to come here to see you?
I see you every night, sleeping.
- Did you think I had come for you?
- No, you came along with me…
Really! Well I must have been mistaking
because you find nothing to say
other than to moan about the hazel,
about the mountains,
about the creatures of God.
Yes I loathe them.
I hate them with their immobility,
their arrogance, all their affectations!
Oh! Affectations!
Yes, neither can I stand people showing off
on mountain tops, playing "nature".
I'd like to make them swallow
all the mud of the earth until indigestion!
They would never go back down
if it was all up to me, I can assure you.
I hate all that,
I am telling you, I loathe it!
You have to be
a bit demented to speak like this.
The mountains
are so much bigger than you!
- Oh no they aren't.
- What?
- The mountains aren't bigger than you?
- No, they aren't bigger than me.
No more than if you were to climb up a ladder
and I would stay at the bottom.
You are just full of yourself. That's all.
You are finished?
Come sit down over here.
You smell nice.
I perfumed myself
with lavender this morning.
When I was a child,
I didn't like my mum smelling of lavender.
She would rub herself with it
every morning; it was her way to wash.
And now, I do it from time to time.
Wait.
Smell.
It's good, hey!
This one is at least 10 years old.
It seems funny,
today I feel like Mum is in the house,
that she follows me everywhere.
Do you still have your parents?
I never knew my father,
and my mother died 2 years ago.
We become suddenly grown-ups,
when we lose our parents.
I have been sleeping
in the same bedroom since I was born.
I have always lived with her.
I complained about her.
And you see,
I miss her now.
Do you miss your Mum?
No.
But she is within me.
She can move and she can hear
for she has my arms and my ears.
She can't talk anymore
because she hasn't got my mouth.
She protects me.
It is sunny today but I am sad knowing
she is in the shadow of the earth.
I made you melancholic…
At your age there is no reason.
Sundays are days that mess up the week.
I heard you with Henriette.
I think the sun has boiled your brains.
Did you get much work done?
- Why are you putting my cigarette out?
- It was finished.
- No, there was a quarter left.
- The last quarter is the worst.
Mind your own business.
You don't smoke!
At this rate I would smoke 2 packets a day.
10 francs a packets, makes it 300 francs a month.
I can't afford that extra cost.
I'll buy you a ten pack tomorrow.
I don't want it.
- That's what I'll do regardless.
- You would be in the wrong.
Also I saw you.
You crushed it 7 times.
You counted, I saw your lips,
none of that with me please.
- I didn't pay attention.
- You are lying.
- No.
- I am telling you I saw you.
It's a habit.
It's miserable.
Pathetic, deleterious, to become
a machine controlled by its habits.
- What does it mean deleterious?
- What you are. Look it up in the dictionary.
It's because there is 7 days in the week,
7 colors in the rain bow,
and 7 musical notes.
Musical notes.
Oh shut up, I got a head ache.
It suits you to have a sore head
because it not getting better with Hippolyte.
Listen, if you are frustrated,
if you need a female,
you take the car, you go get one in town
and you leave me alone with that.
I have other relations,
other interactions that you seem to ignore.
And I am neither your mother
nor your lover to do your education.
Be careful, you are becoming insipid.
You are starting to fall into inexistence, into stupidity.
You are incapable to see for yourself something
that hasn't first been seen by somebody else.
It's true; things only become real for me if they have
already been admired by some one that I love.
I have never been so happy
than since I have arrived at your place.
You see, what it the most painful to me,
is to have to resign to perfection.
I so would have liked to be exemplary.
What am I going to do with you?
Will you answer!
But you have nothing to do with me.
Well that's easy to say.
You are here, aren't you?
- And you, what will you do of yourself?
- I am going to go.
But first I will answer your question.
I won't do anything of myself.
Because, I understand more and more
that I will add nothing to the truth that is within me.
I need to move, eat, laugh,
love sometimes to not let this truth die.
It is a truth that I cannot say,
that I couldn't tell you.
It's that time when the evening comes.
If I had a wish, it would be to not die at dusk.
I am off to Hermance's.
Damned you!
Don't throw any more stones.
- How long have you been here?
- As long as you have.
You won't throw any more stones, will you?
I wanted to get this fucking moon off of the water.
- You came back.
- Yes.
Has it been nice for you
to stay by yourself since the morning?
May be.
I want you to give me your strength.
- That light within you. Give it to me.
- I am not a light bulb.
And what could I give you
as you don't love me?
I want you to come back to Paris with me,
that you get back to work,
and that with my help, you become
the best, the most infamous,
and the most admired.
- You are selfish.
- No, I want it all for you.
All, but like a virgin,
a soul without a body.
I can't do anything if my body isn't loved.
Regarding my light,
the one you can see shine,
it's burning down already,
down to ashes.
Wait for me. Give me time.
You will get everything from me.
But I ought to know if you love me.
So be reassured. Our fighting stops.
You love me?
Yes.
You are still wet.
Simon?
- How are you doing?
- You are staying at Cicero's Countryside?
- No. Are you on your way there?
- Yes, I am waiting for Hermance.
If you see her,
do not tell her you saw me.
Christian!
- How big is Natalie's house?
- Quite big.
Big enough for more than two persons?
When I rang, a man answered the phone,
so there are people staying up there.
One of Natalie's friends is there for a holiday.
- Someone I know?
- I think you've met him a few times.
Really? Where about?
Does he come to Cicero's Countryside?
- No.
- Paris?
- May be.
- Who can it be?
Guess.
If you start being like me,
who are not going to get along. Tell me his name.
Hippolyte.
The new ministry's music director?
- They know each other?
- As he is staying at her place…
I am happy for Natalie. It is very good.
It is very good for him too.
- You could have warned me.
- It's done.
No need to be in Venice or Vienna
to really feel decadent.
It is here, surrounded by nice and caring friends
than do everything for you.
- Anyone for more?
- I have eaten enough.
No, thanks.
It makes me fart.
Me, I am like a Japanese princess,
what I make smells of cloves.
I require to smell it.
Not now, I don't feel like it.
Are you happy about my surprise?
There's no more wine in the fridge.
Downstairs, in the cellar, rosé. OK with you?
- Yes.
- Christian, next to the coal heap.
Rosé, ok, don't get it wrong.
It is my first relaxing day since I got here.
Thank you Françoise.
Thanks for what?
I felt like seeing a pretty girl,
that wouldn't be sad.
You came along. I am pleased.
Only one bottle, do you want to ration us,
get us some more quickly.
I have bought this awful thing
after I got broken into.
They took all the lights that I had.
I am sure to fine them again
at Barjac's jumble sale, but what to do?
I had bought them there myself.
They'd probably been stolen already, so…
But where are you going to?
My hands are black with coal.
I am going to wash them in the bathroom.
My little Christian, if you are going
to the kitchen, can you check the oven?
- Christian, I got an itch.
- Do you want me to scratch it?
It's burning!
- It doesn't matter, get it out of the oven.
- Scratch me then!
- Outside or under?
- Outside.
Yes, that's it.
That's good, a little more to the left.
It' so nice.
Leaving alone, you don't get scratched…
Down a bit.
- With or without nails?
- With.
Go on, a bit wider. So nice…
Help yourself I don't want any.
I made it for you.
That's enough Charles-Henry.
What's up with you?
- Pain.
- Where?
My ear.
I've got some drops,
it will ease the pain. I'll get them.
- Oh, that's nice music.
- I sang it.
Well yes, I also sang opera, Puccini, Verdi…
She used to sing?
Of course, before she met her husband
she was an operetta's singer.
I didn't know.
Yes, her husband was a great music critic.
He was very knowledgeable
and also like operettas,
so one day
as he was in Molitg-les-Bains,
he went to see I can't remember what
and that's how he met her.
Did she sing well?
I wouldn't say well,
she had a bit of a voice.
But she was a slut
and was shagging every man.
So her voice flew away with the orgasms.
Given that weak singers...
Well she's not too fat...
don't keep their voice very long because
of the high notes, they come with each high note,
she, as well as all the highs,
she'd have all the tenors, the baritones,
and the basses like a big reputation.
What are you talking about?
- Your carrier.
- Don't listen to his bad mouth.
Here, I got your drops,
but they must be at body temperature…
Here, that's the best place to reach it.
- Don't you want to sing it for us.
- I forgot the lyrics.
- Plus, now, when I sing, I catch a cold.
- Let me help.
To the memory of our youth
Because it was spring time
I wanted to see again,
this hostel surrounded by lilacs
We could hear the birds singing
And you white dress
seemed to be leading my steps
Everything seemed to be in its place
Even your name on the mirror
Just in the place
where everything disappears,
Whatever we do,
without leaving a trace
I almost thought I heard
your tender voice wispering:
"Come closer"
I was emotional, like in those days
In this hostel, lost in the wood
My eyes were full of tears
and it felt wonderful
Throughout the all day,
in the abandoned room
For so many years…
I saw us together again
But nothing was in its place
I stayed with my head low
In the mirror,
face to face, the grimace
At last, I walked out the door
For it's over
Although when the night came
I went to sit down on the bench
Where you never went back to
You seemed to me more pretty,
charming and cruel
Than any of whom
my heart had beaten for
Everything seemed in its place
Even your name on the mirror
Just in the place
where everything disappears
Whatever we do,
without leaving a trace
Then with a poor laugh
I thought that I could read:
"After all,
"sod it"…
Hey!
I was feeling like inviting Natalie
over here for a few days.
What do you think about it?
She is charming.
What if we asked her
for an original piece for the festival?
What she does is nothing new.
She would come with Hippolyte.
- Really?
- They are together.
You're right.
For the festival, yes, yes…
And if you were to edit the interview
of the piece that I am going to ask her for…
It would be cunning.
Did you say something?
No, no.
Go away bitch.
Hurry, it's my turn!
- Wait!
- What a mentality!
It's not about mentality but necessity.
Oh shit, the flush has stopped working.
Well put some water in a bowl
and pour it in!
Definitely not! It's the crusher, someone's been
putting fag butts down the toilet again.
You must have seen
the sign I put above. It is big enough.
So what do I do?
You go in the bush, outside, near the stream
with a hoe that I am lending you.
But lent only! Everybody needs
to do their little hole in the ground.
Or you wait until I've set up
the chemical toilets, I got some downstairs.
What do I do? It won't go through.
Dear Charles-Henry, there isn't two solutions;
you take with your hands what can't go through,
you put it in the enamel basin that is near
the bath tub and you throw all that in the wilderness.
Near the Judea tree,
it's a bit dry, it needs it.
I don't want to be seen
going outside with the basin.
- It's heavy, I am going to help you.
- No, it's ok, I can carry it by myself.
These kinds of things disgust me;
I'll come back when it's cleaned.
I'm going for a walk.
You're left with the cleaning up.
Hermance!
- I'd like to go the market with you.
- No I am going there with Françoise.
But, here, there is no reason
for you to pay it all…
No, it's out of the question.
It is my pleasure.
Françoise!
Get dressed; we're off to the market.
I'm coming!
I can't, I can't.
Get off, I'll help you.
- I can't move.
- Come on.
Your file has been received, I checked.
- What are you asking exactly?
- Nothing for me, it's for the festival.
Some computer programs
for an IT workshop for young composers.
I am going to buy some tapenade.
Meet you at the Malassi.
How it is going Countess?
I had forgotten your voice.
Why Countess?
To greet you in a special way.
Are you in town? In the area?
When did you get here?
Yesterday, the day before, this morning,
I've forgotten, the weather is so mild…
You have cufflinks.
Yes, always when I am wearing
a mousquetaire cuff shirt.
It… You think of me.
Love is a rebellious bird
that no one can tame,
and it's quite useless to call him
if it suits him refuse.
Nothing moves him, neither threat nor plea,
one man speaks freely, the other keeps quiet;
and it's the other one I prefer:
he's said nothing, but I like him.
Tell me Natalie,
if you could have no more desire,
but you'd have to decide
straight away, what would you do?
- Well what would you do?
- I don't care.
It's a question far more interesting
than you think.
I am off.
You've been talking again.
You just can't keep your mouth shut!
I said nothing.
So why did she ask me
that question then?
I don't know. It's got nothing
to do with it. Just because…
You are going to have cure
yourself from this habit.
As long as you are the only one concerned,
it doesn't matter, but here you are involving others.
- It's dishonest.
- I assure you I said nothing.
And how did Hermance know that Hippolyte
was at home? Through me may be?
That, I said, but it doesn't matter.
It does because I am here.
That she invited us.
That we have had to come.
Well you could have stayed home.
One word from Hippolyte back to Hermance
and you had it, your commission.
No one's forced you to come.
After what you said about her.
Come on, we all know what she's like.
Everybody knows her down side,
no need to describe it.
But even so, she is a good woman before anything.
I have never said any different,
you are being dishonest.
My honesty and I don't always agree.
Oh,
Hippolyte is watering Françoise.
Thank you.
Listen, sounds like a hornet.
It's a plane.
It's high, very high.
- Oh, shit.
- What?
A bee fell in my sleeve.
It's left its sting in. Poor little bee…
Here is the reddest kiss you've ever had.
Such clever music.
Cleverness isn't the most subtle, or the most powerful,
or the most appropriate way
to get closer to the truth.
That's very true.
Shut up. You don't know
what you are talking about.
To talk about what you ignore
always gets you to learn about it.
Would you mind going back
to the beginning of the recording?
Love is a rebellious bird
that no one can tame,
and it's quite useless to call him
if it suits him refuse.
Nothing moves him, neither threat nor plea,
one man speaks freely, the other keeps quiet;
and it's the other one I prefer:
he's said nothing, but I like him.
My arm is sore. It's that sting.
It's easier to stay with an open mouth
than an outstretched arm.
What's going on?
I am sorry Christian, I lost control…
The dryness is bothering me.
If he had to drink all what's going to fall,
he'd be pissing 'till Christmas
You liar. What is it with you always
repeating everything, can't you help it?
Simon.
I was just working on your paper.
Very good, show me.
It's not finished, the type writer is playing up.
I am going to Paris tomorrow,
I'll send it there.
No, not in Paris.
There.
But...
OK.
You know Françoise?
Yes, we met several times.
Several times?
I was looking for you.
We have met several times?
Yes.
I don't remember.
You have no memory.
I do. I have a selective memory,
like everyone.
That's not nice. A coffee shop…
- In Paris?
- You see…
- You ran away.
- No.
I didn't run away, I had a train to catch.
- I should have missed it.
- Would you be able to?
From today, yes.
Simon?
Simon!
You are visiting. Do you recognize?
What you've done with it is really good.
It would be even better
if I hadn't done it by myself.
I've got to go.
But you've only just arrived.
You're not having your Pastis?
- You are not staying for dinner?
- I have to be in Paris tonight.
Sleep here, you'll go tomorrow.
I have an appointment
with a print maker tomorrow morning.
Cancel it.
It is impossible. I have to go.
So why did you come by then?
Because it was on my way.
I'll walk you back.
I changed the sign
on our door in Joinville.
I took your name off.
I was hoping it would bring you back.
See I didn't get it wrong,
I am seeing you again.
Yes.
Last time you were here with me
you've left some yellow espadrilles,
they are still by my bed,
the robbers left them for me.
I wear them to go to the bathroom,
because the tiles are cold.
It's like if you were hugging me
and I am no longer cold.
But I have to take them off very quickly,
because I miss you even more violently
when I am wearing them.
Burn them.
Stay with me.
Don't leave me. Don't leave me alone.
Hermance you are not alone.
You are surrounded by many people.
Are you joking?
Since you left, bit by bit,
I have become wood.
- Now I am turning to stone.
- Hermance stop it.
Let me go, calm down.
I only need you shadow,
stay here, just leave me your shadow.
Even if you need to think
of someone else to fuck me. Stay with me.
I am sorry.
If you dad is alive, he will regret
to not have had a daughter.
Leaving after you've seen me at your feet.
I will get revenge Simon.
I'll follow you wherever you'll be.
And everything you do I will destroy,
and every girl you meet I will crush.
Everywhere your feet land,
I will step in to erase your track.
I will even go ahead of you,
to destroy the places you don't
yet know you want to go to.
Hermance?
I don't like herbal teas.
It's true. Makes you want to die.
There is a question I am asking myself
since I got here Hermance.
Why is the house called
"Cicero's Countryside"?
I don't know.
It might have been built
on the ruin of a roman villa, or a temple.
I have never known,
it was called like that when we bought it.
Charles-Henry,
have you packed for tomorrow?
Yes, everything is ready.
In some storms, the lightning has the fantasy
of coming through the chimney,
and going out through the window.
You should shut it.
Exactly, it has to be able
to get out if it comes in.
Where are you going?
What a pity to stay indoors
with such weather.
Hermance,
there is a lightning rod on the roof?
Electricity went through
my bum and my feet!
- Hippolyte, help me I can't see a thing.
- Are there candles?
In the bathroom's wardrobe.
Christian, get the candles
in the bathroom's wardrobe.
We should be able to wait,
and be like a butterfly
during our whole life.
And at last, very late,
one could write the 10 bars
that would be good.
To fill up a whole stave,
one must have seen many men,
many cities, many things.
One must know about animals,
have felt how the birds fly.
I heard some noise.
Have you heard anything Charles-Henry?
He knocks himself out
with sleeping pills.
I am going see Françoise,
she might poorly.
Go to bed, I'll do it.
Here, I am going downstairs.
Are you made, I don't want it.
I might have dreamt it. Since I got broken into,
every night I hear noises.
It's grotesque. Everything is grotesque.
Hippolyte, Hermance,
Charles-Henry spelt with a "Y".
It's locked.
And the spares are indeed on the nail!
I was looking for you.
Why are you called Hippolyte?
My dad wanted to call me Philippe,
because he liked horses,
my mum, who thought that name was common,
as well as being Pétain's... She was Gauliste.
So she said to him;
"If you call him that I won't call him".
That's just what I thought.
Is it you Christian?
No, it's me. It's me Simon.
Simon?
How did you get up here?
I took the keys this afternoon;
I've just put them back.
Why have you come here?
Françoise.
Yes.
Are you locked in?
I am sleeping.
Somebody is in the house;
there are footsteps all the way to your bedroom.
Well, I am by myself, and I am sleeping.
Martine, go back to your room!
This dog will drive me mad…
Do you live here in Cicero?
No.
No.
You are going to go,
and so am I.
You cufflink.
The other one?
It will be fine.
- How are you going to do without?
- Like this.
- Is that you Simon.
- No it's not me.
- Who is it then?
- No one.
Alright…
What are we going to do?
Come to my place, in Sète.
I have a house by the water.
Martine !
- Get away, over there.
- In an hour, in town, at the Malassi.
Martine?
- Where are you coming from?
- From the garden of course.
Oh, that's right.
I was forgetting,
I need to ring the plumber.
Charles-Henry hurry up,
get your bags ready.
But what have I got there Hermance?
I can't go like that.
It's not normal to be swollen.
It's a spider. Say goodbye to everybody
and put your bags in the boot.
Charles-Henry, look what I found!
It's cute.
Help me.
Say my farewell to everyone,
I really don't feel like seeing them.
Say thanks to Hermance,
I'll give her a call.
- I'll walk you out.
- No.
I am happy.
You look tired.
Did you have a bad night sleep as well?
I haven't slept at all,
but that doesn't matter.
It seemed like I was hearing walking
in the house throughout the night.
I had horrible dreams.
I was married to you.
It was you and it wasn't you,
you were enormous.
Then came a mother in law
who had a face like…
Well, like you Hermance.
No one is interested in your dreams.
You are procrastinating.
- Coffee Natalie?
- I am going to go today.
- And Hippolyte ?
- Ask him yourself.
- I have brought your belongings down.
- I am going back home.
I won't go to the festival,
I won't be ready.
But, I have sent off
the program for printing.
Hippolyte will find you another woman,
very good, to replace me.
That's not fair on us.
Hermance and I had thought of you
because the music you write is of such modernity…
Oh, please!
Natalie is pulling our leg.
- Hippolyte, tell us it's a joke.
- I don't think so.
I have found you out and you know it.
I won't got to your festival
and don't want to be edited in your review.
I won't go to Paris with you,
or anywhere else.
The critique and you, you are like the favorites
of the kings and the priests of God.
You'd rather be the favorite than the king
and the priest than God,
because in this place,
you may sometimes receive grace.
But you will never be able to give it.
She doesn't mean what she says.
Let her sober down.
I am confused Hermance.
I am ever so sorry.
Could you take me to the station
at the same time as Charles-Henry?
Of course this incident doesn't change anything
about our friendship, I promise you,
I take on me the sorting of everything you need
for the realization of you project.
If you knew how little I care
about the festival.
If you knew how much all that
means nothing to me.
Hippolyte, Charles-Henry, we're off.
Tell me my little Christian,
can I sit next to you?
Come on Hermance.
You could not feel like it.
I would understand.
How do you see me?
Well, as you are.
How am I?
I don't know.
I know how you have treated me,
and what I owe you.
Not much.
Not much.
You have softened times
which for me were hard,
enriched times that were poor,
brightened up sad moments.
- Françoise has gone?
- Yes.
Where to?
I don't know… She will call you.
I found that this morning.
- In her bedroom.
- What is it?
- A pearl.
- Give it back to her.
It's not hers, it is Simon's.
Where are they?
I don't believe what you are saying.
You don't know
that they slept together, here.
Up there, next to your bedroom.
That Simon took Françoise away with him.
Don't try out lying,
you are not good enough.
- Simon went to Paris yesterday.
- No.
Because Charles-Henry
is sending him his paper to Paris.
What paper?
The one that was typed
last night on your writer.
My typewriter?
You are a very bad accomplice.
No one can fool me, my little Christian,
you talk too much.
I am accomplice of nobody.
I have said nothing.
You've done better.
It's not my secret,
it doesn't belong to me.
Idiot.
- Why are you looking at me? What do you see?
- I see myself.
Christian, the tolerant,
the disguised, the accomplice.
The one that shelters from place to place.
The one that means well
but does bad, the destruction.
The one that walks under the sun
and feeds of others misfortune.
Leave Cicero.
Take the car, leave it at the train station,
open, with the keys on.
It is far, towards the kind ones
that I must sent you.
Go now, quickly.
Hurry up.
from the remains of negative images
super-16mm and magnetic soundtrack.
No copies of the film were found,
the original having been damaged in 1989.
The original alterations
couldn't be totally repaired.
It's not just paintjob
that is needed here.
The roof…
The stairs are crumbling,
the windows falling apart.
How is your friend Natalie doing these days?
Is she still in Paris?
She has gone back home,
near Carcassonne.
Music should be made in Paris.
But your festival is in the province.
But you will see, this year I have the support
of someone very important at the ministry.
- Hippolyte's backing me up unconditionally.
- Who is he?
The new music director.
I am done.
I must be at the rehearsal in an hour.
Oh, it's wet over there…
Martine has peed on the floor again.
When I say girls are pee bags, it's true.
Has Françoise still got
the same phone number?
- Yes.
- I've got a favor to ask her.
Martine!
Don't lick the electric socket!
I can't do it.
Do you want my screwdriver?
It's longer.
No, thanks.
I got another one in the kitchen.
What are you doing here Christian?
Come here.
It's Martine's thermometer.
But I bought it at the chemist!
This summer you are coming to my house,
you will be spending your holidays
in Cicero's countryside.
Beside, my assistant is leaving in October
and you are the only one who can replace him.
Would you be interested
now that you are an actor?
I know nothing about music.
What have you done, there?
I fell off the first floor.
Can I go back to the beginning
of the scene with Marton?
You wanna go back to the top?
Do you even know why?
Today I feel like
I have found something new…
Christian…
I am being sacked?
Françoise?
I am just taking my bag and I'm off.
I have been fired.
Christian, promise me that for no one you will show
yourself that way, with you bum out.
You are silly.
Swear!
Outch!
Are you sure
you really wanna go tonight?
Yes.
Oh, come on…
- What's that?
- I fell off the first floor.
I can't see a thing…
All the better, no need to see.
Because you are going
to take off all your clothes,
just keeping on your shirt,
and you are going into my bed.
And once you are in my bed,
I won't let you get out of it.
I will go to work and when I get back,
we'll spend all our time in bed.
Françoise,
soon you will meet
a man that you truly love.
And who will love you too.
So I got to go to make space for him
or he won't turn up.
Don't give me that kind of advice.
It's not an advice, it's what I believe.
Well I believe that you'd better go.
Worthless, tramp, mythomaniac…
I can get a man when
and where I want, and taller…
Sorry Sir.
A half please.
Go and see if there is mail
in the box on the door.
There isn't, are you expecting a letter?
- No. Did you say "good morning" to her?
- Of course.
Here it is very important,
be aware of it.
- Why are you hiding?
- Don't speak so loud, come over here.
The other day I brought back
one of my students from Narbonne.
He spent a few days here,
and I sent him back a bit loudly.
- Since then she's in a funny mood with me.
- Can you speak louder?
If you are intending spend a few days here, you'll have
to learn how to speak quietly, it's the village's law.
I have chosen to live here
and I don't want any troubles.
How could what I am saying
cause you any trouble?
You obviously don't know the countryside rules.
As a child I spent all my holydays in Sologne…
- But I am not on holydays.
- What's the story with your student?
Well… I had a little adventure with him.
How old?
19,18.
Oh dear…
On the night of the village fair,
I got myself so drunk, I'm disgusted with myself…
And I sent him back
in the middle of the night.
- And so?
- And so…
And I forgot everything.
All I know is that it happened outside
her front door and that she heard it all.
- Heard what?
- Everything.
It is terrible, I don't remember a thing.
Come in the kitchen.
Here. Peel that.
I might have beaten him up…
I have sudden attacks.
- You beat him up?
- I think so.
Oh, look!
There's a tin in the fridge, give him very little
and mix it up with old bread.
How handsome you are, oh, doggy…
-What's your name?
- Stop being an idiot, he's called Pastis.
He eats, he goes away.
He's ungrateful, like my student.
- But he didn't go of his own accord.
- No.
No, I pushed him out
and I kicked him
whilst he was on the floor.
I am so ashamed. I stop drinking;
I am giving away all my bottles.
On the main square,
Blue Beard's House
from Lézignan has just arrived.
You can find
a whole selection of socks,
ankle socks and full socks,
boys trousers
and little girls dresses...
Marc...
I don't want to drink anymore.
Yeah yeah…
I worked really badly this morning.
Here is good to work
but is even better to do nothing.
I am going to check my mail.
What's going on with you this morning?
Are you annoyed that I am here?
Absolutely not.
Don't you think I am puffed up?
No.
I met someone in Albi 3 weeks ago.
I went to give a concert and he was there.
He is the music director at the ministry.
No less!
I don't get it, he must be mistaking.
We are worlds apart…
When he's going to see where I live…
I can't believe what's happening to me!
What is he like?
Handsome,
has good humor,
although he doesn't look like he would,
a gentleman,
opens the restaurants doors before me,
lights up all my cigarettes…
No one's ever done that for me.
He is mad, isn't he?
He is very formal.
- Is he?
- It shows respect.
What's his name?
I don't dare saying it. You will laugh!
He is called Hippolyte.
Oh la la, I have to swell down…
You are beautiful.
These days
I am always putting myself down…
You shouldn't pick thyme so close to the path,
a fox could have pissed on it and it is poison.
Do cut without pulling the roots up.
Look, there's a dropping full of fruit stones,
badgers, they eat the cherries and apricots.
It is a badger poo.
And that?
Where?
It doesn't smell, it's too dry…
A wild boar may be.
Don't go too far in the grass, if there is
a female with youngsters she will charge.
- They would hear us and go away.
- So you think…
How many times have you seen Hippolyte ?
Once in Albi, once in Perpignan,
once in Toulouse.
The last two times,
I think he came to see me.
Looks like a fossil, I'm sure of it.
That's weird.
And it stinks. It is a very big animal.
But there is no cattle around here,
no horses, or cows…
- It is of a human.
- No one would do that around here!
That's Jacko the jackdaw.
If you want it, I give it to you.
In the village, he would get shot
if I was to keep him.
You have to hide anything
that shines or he would steal it.
Attention, attention!
The belote contest
will take place in the square's pub
this afternoon, from 4 PM.
Hello?
Oh, it's you.
Let me call him. Christian?
Christian!
- You were here? It's for you.
- Yes.
- Who is it?
- Françoise.
Allo?
But what are you doing there?
Don't stay on the phone too long,
Hippolyte could call me.
I can't talk right now.
Yes, that's it, me too. Bye.
- Why don't you ring him yourself?
- I called him yesterday.
Plus I don't know if he is at the ministry,
at home or elsewhere.
It's up to him to call.
Natalie!
Natalie!
I have a letter for you!
You are all black,
where have you been again today?
- We went for a swim in the hole.
- Well it does refresh the memory…
Henriette that's enough…
I went to see Antoinette at the post office and
she gave it to me so I could give it to you straight away,
as it's just arrived, and as the postman won't do his run until tomorrow morning…
Go, go and read it quick;
I see you are very impatient.
Thank you Henriette.
Cheeky! Did you hear what she said!
It does refresh the memory!
- What's mean about that?
- Here "memory" means "bum".
I am sure she must have seen
everything the other night.
You tear up letters?
Yes. I read them once
then I tear them up.
I have always been scared that a second reading
might cancel the first one,
because I would have overdone it
by reading it several times.
- You really are mad!
- Why are you saying that?
Oh shit!
Shit I didn't write down the time.
Thursday in Béziers, but I don't have a time.
Well, I'll ring.
He'll be here in 3 days.
I shouldn't have invited him.
Oulala, I need a drink.
- It will be a test.
- What will?
My tapestry.
- Not very nice…
- I am very attached to it, it was a present.
If he says it is bad taste…
What will you do?
I will have a think.
With this tapestry
I always know who I am dealing with.
Every time someone walks into here,
I am watching them as they look at the tapestry.
I am going to get the thyme tea.
- I am ugly as sin.
- You're not.
I can see what I can see,
I am not stupid.
May be a little stupid.
I am scared, you have no idea.
- Do you think I can greet him wearing this?
- Try it on.
No, I would be ridiculous.
First, some boobs…
I would like them shaped like pears.
Beautiful,
heavy…
I am happy.
I hear the talks from the harbor
and I make myself some hips...
wide…
and a bum,
more round, more voluptuous
than the biggest Spanish women
of the rough neighborhood of Barcelona.
Here's Jacko.
Sodding bird!
My dress is torn.
It has to be fixed immediately.
Immediately, immediately!
I can’t see the needle’s hole.
The string is too thick!
How am I gonna do it?
I can't go and get him with a torn dress!
He'll think I am a gipsy
and go back straight away.
Abandoned, there!
Poor thing.
Shit, I've pricked myself.
I don't care about this dress.
There are more questions.
More serious, more true.
Acid rains,
and the ozone hole in the south pole.
And the Basques being taken out!
Do you know about it? About the Basques plan?
It is a very noble cause.
You just don't care,
you never ask yourself any questions.
On France Culture Radio
they ask questions.
Stop it Natalie, you are winding me up.
On France Culture Radio, they ask questions.
One Cognac.
A lemon cordial.
Lip stick.
- I don't look too much like a tart?
- No.
You look stunning.
Have you had a nice trip?
We went through ridiculous turbulences,
but we weren't shaken too badly.
Christian, Hippolyte.
Well…
I am happy to be back in this area.
- You know it?
- Yes of course.
You hadn't said.
What's the make of your car?
It's a Lada. It is nice, isn't it?
It is very audacious of you to have bought a Lada.
They always break down.
It is an excellent car,
and far cheaper than any small French car.
I didn't know that you too were victim
of the anti-Soviet propaganda.
It is very comfortable.
The steering is a bit stiff,
but it grips the road very well.
And it has a screen wiper at the back.
I am extremely struck
by the similarity with Lebanon.
I read again, on the plane,
a little bit of Delteil.
And it doesn't surprise me…
The mysticism.
That similarity is extraordinary!
When I was in Baalbek, in the middle of gunshots,
at a concert directed by Jacqueline Bale...
- What a woman…
- Natalie don't drive so fast.
- Here we are, I recognize this place?
- In the Congoust gorges.
Yeah, that's it; it reminds me
of the Verdon's gorges, only less grand.
A few years back, I went
for a cycling trip from Biarritz to Nice.
And I slept.
The night was magnificent and impressive.
"I was looking at the night, beaten to death,
yet still sufficient within itself".
René Jar.
Yes, it was a very dark night,
beautiful but moonless.
I stopped, I took my sleeping bag,
and I jumped a fence, I fell asleep.
The following morning,
I packed my sleeping back,
I went over the fence again
and I saw a sign;
"entrance prohibited,
danger of death, vipers reserve"
And…
I got back to my bike and I left.
- Do you want a cup of coffee?
- No.
A tea?
I'd like a coffee.
You didn't want it.
I am unnerved enough as it is…
Why?
- Hippolyte asleep?
- No, he's off cycling.
Already!
He can't rest.
He is so tired, you have no idea…
I am off to the hole. Good work.
Good morning Madame,
I am here to deliver the dresser.
It's not here.
It is not here, Natalie…
But who has ordered that?
I don't know,
I do the delivery, that's all.
OK, I am coming over.
I did 27km in 45 min!
- Tomorrow I will go to Camplong.
- That kind of achievement does not interest me.
Is that yours?
I thought you were responsible
for it being here.
I should hope that
what I buy you is more tasteful.
My ride was stunning;
I am more and more struck
by the similarities with Lebanon.
Same landscape, same vegetation,
although I haven't seen any cedar.
I have met two farmers, we chatted,
such simplicity, how picturesque!
But, your dresser is cross eyed!
It should be my MP,
he was meant to call me.
Hello?
Yes…
No.
Someone called Françoise want to speak
to Christian, shall I hand the phone to you?
This morning I woke up with a sentence
that I keep on repeating to myself.
I have studied it from all angles
and no other words come to my head.
Which ones?
All in all, I loved her.
I loved her, or I did love her?
Don't know. I loved her.
No.
Did love her I think.
Does it matter?
I was thinking about you.
- About me?
- Yes.
- Someone's drowned in the hole.
- Drowned!
Your glasses!
Nothing.
You dreamt it.
No, I can assure you he was here.
He was here exactly
where you've just dived.
You hallucinated.
-But…
- It's me who drinks; it's you who sees!
It's not funny.
On a different matter;
a dresser has arrived home.
I have touched it, so have Henriette
and Hippolyte, It is no trick of the eyes.
It looks very much like
the dresser I asked the price of,
when we were together in Béziers.
Christian.
Are you responsible for its apparition?
- Is it you, the dresser?
- But what dresser?
Leave me in peace,
it is my rhythm and you have to respect it.
It is nice of you to have bought it for me,
but you can keep your money.
Even if I do appreciate it.
It was for your birthday.
I dived once
in the Mediterranean Sea, near Collioure.
- I saw a sturgeon.
- Really?
A real sturgeon,
it swam in front of me and vanished.
Hippolyte, I have to be
in Lézignan at 3PM,
I have a few students left;
I don't want to lose them.
I go with you.
Are you staying?
I didn't lie you know,
I truly saw a drowned body.
Hello, hello,
the hair dresser of Fabrezan
has arrived
on the main square...
Hello?
No he's gone out.
Do you want to leave a message?
I have difficulty hearing you, excuse me.
One second, don't hang up.
It is 9 o'clock.
Yes.
I pass you over,
best regards Madame. Natalie?
A lady
would like to speak to you.
But I don't feel like talking.
- Why didn't you say that I was out?
- Because you are here. See you later.
When the jack has passed,
the jenny stumbles.
Your drowned man.
Hermance rang.
She badly wants you to meet up with her
in Cicero's Countryside; she's by herself...
- How does she know I am staying with you?
- She didn't say and I didn't ask.
I left Paris to not have to deal
with those people.
I don't understand
why you are still seeing her.
She has always been good to me.
She has offered me
to help her with a festival.
- That's a good reason.
- Not for me.
Even if I need the money.
- She is generous.
- That's what she wants people to believe.
In reality Hermance talks behind people's back,
has ulterior motives, she's a socialite.
And she knows nothing about music.
She is the feminine unleashed, she is terrifying.
Terrifying people may well be
helpless people awaiting help.
I have other worries
than Hermance at the moment.
What's up with you?
I really don't get it.
- He still is tired?
- Don't mess around, you understand very well.
He hasn't touched me since being here.
It's not normal, don't you think?
And what winds me up the most
is that he sleeps. That's the worst.
There's nothing he has to tell to me about
what he is up to when he sleeps.
Ask him for a report when he wakes up.
- I am ridiculous enough as it is.
- Why?
If you accept this situation,
there is no ridicule.
I do not accept it, but what can I do?
Tell him; you are here, in my house, in my bed,
that itself has to be paid for, normally.
Normally, to pay, those are terrible words.
No, it's awful, awful…
He sleeps.
He's got his lips open,
his legs anywhere on the bed.
And I, sat down, I look at him
making myself tiny to not disturb him.
The most twisted they are,
the faster I find them.
I am wondering what am I.
It is terrible.
I can't give myself answers.
- He might be important.
- No!
He said he's been having embarrassing troubles
with the ladies for a couple of years.
Do you think I am disgusting
because he doesn't touch me?
Yes?
- He's never touched me.
- Never?
Once, the first time. And not much.
Have you noticed; he always encounters
pointy objects in his stories!
Sturgeons, vipers…
I don't know what to do.
I have sleepless night
wondering if I am ugly, dirty.
I shower every day, you know that.
Oh shit, this morning I forgot.
But I bathe here.
It's not very flattering for a woman.
- What if you took his bike off of him?
- Stop it!
Oh, I've never seen a foreskin like that!
How horrible!
I've never seen
such a long foreskin! Show me.
But you could tie a knot with it, my poor Christian.
It suits me perfectly.
If one of my lovers had a foreskin
as long and as reapply as that,
I would require
that they'd get it cut off immediately.
It's obscene. Put your clothes back on.
That's a juniper.
You're a botanist?
No I did agronomy.
- Natalie, you have a stick insect.
- Hippolyte, please…
Hazel,
that's a deeply ridiculous tree.
In Lisbon, early in the morning,
after I had arrived in the night
to sign a Luso French deal about musical
co production on behalf of the minister,
I got awoken by a low noise
that is shaking my room, the whole hotel.
I wonder. A train engine?
A jack hammer?
I think of a new earth quake,
I run to my window, open it,
the hotel was next to the zoo
and two rhinos were mating right against the wall.
That's a shame
you didn't take your waterproofs.
What's the point in saying that now?
It's true, what is the point of an advice?
Because you've never given me advice.
Is my opinion
of any interest to you, ever?
Me?
I have been awaiting words from you.
But you, all you can do is to talk of the ridiculous.
It's to come and pick flowers here!
The ridiculous, my dear, is not a concept.
No more that bad taste,
which you seem very preoccupied with.
Me, I have been taught to respect plants
and not to consider them like ornaments.
It was for you.
I don't want it!
It's to talk about your great deeds,
of the minister, Lebanon…
To tell stories full of pointy things...
- Pointy things?
- Yes pointy things!
Sturgeons, vipers, jack hammers, rhinos.
You talk, run, walk,
and after, you fall asleep.
What do you want me to do
with this, music? Certainly not.
- So why did you walk up here with me?
- Why?
Well, to see the mountain, the water falls…
What need is there for me
to come here to see you?
I see you every night, sleeping.
- Did you think I had come for you?
- No, you came along with me…
Really! Well I must have been mistaking
because you find nothing to say
other than to moan about the hazel,
about the mountains,
about the creatures of God.
Yes I loathe them.
I hate them with their immobility,
their arrogance, all their affectations!
Oh! Affectations!
Yes, neither can I stand people showing off
on mountain tops, playing "nature".
I'd like to make them swallow
all the mud of the earth until indigestion!
They would never go back down
if it was all up to me, I can assure you.
I hate all that,
I am telling you, I loathe it!
You have to be
a bit demented to speak like this.
The mountains
are so much bigger than you!
- Oh no they aren't.
- What?
- The mountains aren't bigger than you?
- No, they aren't bigger than me.
No more than if you were to climb up a ladder
and I would stay at the bottom.
You are just full of yourself. That's all.
You are finished?
Come sit down over here.
You smell nice.
I perfumed myself
with lavender this morning.
When I was a child,
I didn't like my mum smelling of lavender.
She would rub herself with it
every morning; it was her way to wash.
And now, I do it from time to time.
Wait.
Smell.
It's good, hey!
This one is at least 10 years old.
It seems funny,
today I feel like Mum is in the house,
that she follows me everywhere.
Do you still have your parents?
I never knew my father,
and my mother died 2 years ago.
We become suddenly grown-ups,
when we lose our parents.
I have been sleeping
in the same bedroom since I was born.
I have always lived with her.
I complained about her.
And you see,
I miss her now.
Do you miss your Mum?
No.
But she is within me.
She can move and she can hear
for she has my arms and my ears.
She can't talk anymore
because she hasn't got my mouth.
She protects me.
It is sunny today but I am sad knowing
she is in the shadow of the earth.
I made you melancholic…
At your age there is no reason.
Sundays are days that mess up the week.
I heard you with Henriette.
I think the sun has boiled your brains.
Did you get much work done?
- Why are you putting my cigarette out?
- It was finished.
- No, there was a quarter left.
- The last quarter is the worst.
Mind your own business.
You don't smoke!
At this rate I would smoke 2 packets a day.
10 francs a packets, makes it 300 francs a month.
I can't afford that extra cost.
I'll buy you a ten pack tomorrow.
I don't want it.
- That's what I'll do regardless.
- You would be in the wrong.
Also I saw you.
You crushed it 7 times.
You counted, I saw your lips,
none of that with me please.
- I didn't pay attention.
- You are lying.
- No.
- I am telling you I saw you.
It's a habit.
It's miserable.
Pathetic, deleterious, to become
a machine controlled by its habits.
- What does it mean deleterious?
- What you are. Look it up in the dictionary.
It's because there is 7 days in the week,
7 colors in the rain bow,
and 7 musical notes.
Musical notes.
Oh shut up, I got a head ache.
It suits you to have a sore head
because it not getting better with Hippolyte.
Listen, if you are frustrated,
if you need a female,
you take the car, you go get one in town
and you leave me alone with that.
I have other relations,
other interactions that you seem to ignore.
And I am neither your mother
nor your lover to do your education.
Be careful, you are becoming insipid.
You are starting to fall into inexistence, into stupidity.
You are incapable to see for yourself something
that hasn't first been seen by somebody else.
It's true; things only become real for me if they have
already been admired by some one that I love.
I have never been so happy
than since I have arrived at your place.
You see, what it the most painful to me,
is to have to resign to perfection.
I so would have liked to be exemplary.
What am I going to do with you?
Will you answer!
But you have nothing to do with me.
Well that's easy to say.
You are here, aren't you?
- And you, what will you do of yourself?
- I am going to go.
But first I will answer your question.
I won't do anything of myself.
Because, I understand more and more
that I will add nothing to the truth that is within me.
I need to move, eat, laugh,
love sometimes to not let this truth die.
It is a truth that I cannot say,
that I couldn't tell you.
It's that time when the evening comes.
If I had a wish, it would be to not die at dusk.
I am off to Hermance's.
Damned you!
Don't throw any more stones.
- How long have you been here?
- As long as you have.
You won't throw any more stones, will you?
I wanted to get this fucking moon off of the water.
- You came back.
- Yes.
Has it been nice for you
to stay by yourself since the morning?
May be.
I want you to give me your strength.
- That light within you. Give it to me.
- I am not a light bulb.
And what could I give you
as you don't love me?
I want you to come back to Paris with me,
that you get back to work,
and that with my help, you become
the best, the most infamous,
and the most admired.
- You are selfish.
- No, I want it all for you.
All, but like a virgin,
a soul without a body.
I can't do anything if my body isn't loved.
Regarding my light,
the one you can see shine,
it's burning down already,
down to ashes.
Wait for me. Give me time.
You will get everything from me.
But I ought to know if you love me.
So be reassured. Our fighting stops.
You love me?
Yes.
You are still wet.
Simon?
- How are you doing?
- You are staying at Cicero's Countryside?
- No. Are you on your way there?
- Yes, I am waiting for Hermance.
If you see her,
do not tell her you saw me.
Christian!
- How big is Natalie's house?
- Quite big.
Big enough for more than two persons?
When I rang, a man answered the phone,
so there are people staying up there.
One of Natalie's friends is there for a holiday.
- Someone I know?
- I think you've met him a few times.
Really? Where about?
Does he come to Cicero's Countryside?
- No.
- Paris?
- May be.
- Who can it be?
Guess.
If you start being like me,
who are not going to get along. Tell me his name.
Hippolyte.
The new ministry's music director?
- They know each other?
- As he is staying at her place…
I am happy for Natalie. It is very good.
It is very good for him too.
- You could have warned me.
- It's done.
No need to be in Venice or Vienna
to really feel decadent.
It is here, surrounded by nice and caring friends
than do everything for you.
- Anyone for more?
- I have eaten enough.
No, thanks.
It makes me fart.
Me, I am like a Japanese princess,
what I make smells of cloves.
I require to smell it.
Not now, I don't feel like it.
Are you happy about my surprise?
There's no more wine in the fridge.
Downstairs, in the cellar, rosé. OK with you?
- Yes.
- Christian, next to the coal heap.
Rosé, ok, don't get it wrong.
It is my first relaxing day since I got here.
Thank you Françoise.
Thanks for what?
I felt like seeing a pretty girl,
that wouldn't be sad.
You came along. I am pleased.
Only one bottle, do you want to ration us,
get us some more quickly.
I have bought this awful thing
after I got broken into.
They took all the lights that I had.
I am sure to fine them again
at Barjac's jumble sale, but what to do?
I had bought them there myself.
They'd probably been stolen already, so…
But where are you going to?
My hands are black with coal.
I am going to wash them in the bathroom.
My little Christian, if you are going
to the kitchen, can you check the oven?
- Christian, I got an itch.
- Do you want me to scratch it?
It's burning!
- It doesn't matter, get it out of the oven.
- Scratch me then!
- Outside or under?
- Outside.
Yes, that's it.
That's good, a little more to the left.
It' so nice.
Leaving alone, you don't get scratched…
Down a bit.
- With or without nails?
- With.
Go on, a bit wider. So nice…
Help yourself I don't want any.
I made it for you.
That's enough Charles-Henry.
What's up with you?
- Pain.
- Where?
My ear.
I've got some drops,
it will ease the pain. I'll get them.
- Oh, that's nice music.
- I sang it.
Well yes, I also sang opera, Puccini, Verdi…
She used to sing?
Of course, before she met her husband
she was an operetta's singer.
I didn't know.
Yes, her husband was a great music critic.
He was very knowledgeable
and also like operettas,
so one day
as he was in Molitg-les-Bains,
he went to see I can't remember what
and that's how he met her.
Did she sing well?
I wouldn't say well,
she had a bit of a voice.
But she was a slut
and was shagging every man.
So her voice flew away with the orgasms.
Given that weak singers...
Well she's not too fat...
don't keep their voice very long because
of the high notes, they come with each high note,
she, as well as all the highs,
she'd have all the tenors, the baritones,
and the basses like a big reputation.
What are you talking about?
- Your carrier.
- Don't listen to his bad mouth.
Here, I got your drops,
but they must be at body temperature…
Here, that's the best place to reach it.
- Don't you want to sing it for us.
- I forgot the lyrics.
- Plus, now, when I sing, I catch a cold.
- Let me help.
To the memory of our youth
Because it was spring time
I wanted to see again,
this hostel surrounded by lilacs
We could hear the birds singing
And you white dress
seemed to be leading my steps
Everything seemed to be in its place
Even your name on the mirror
Just in the place
where everything disappears,
Whatever we do,
without leaving a trace
I almost thought I heard
your tender voice wispering:
"Come closer"
I was emotional, like in those days
In this hostel, lost in the wood
My eyes were full of tears
and it felt wonderful
Throughout the all day,
in the abandoned room
For so many years…
I saw us together again
But nothing was in its place
I stayed with my head low
In the mirror,
face to face, the grimace
At last, I walked out the door
For it's over
Although when the night came
I went to sit down on the bench
Where you never went back to
You seemed to me more pretty,
charming and cruel
Than any of whom
my heart had beaten for
Everything seemed in its place
Even your name on the mirror
Just in the place
where everything disappears
Whatever we do,
without leaving a trace
Then with a poor laugh
I thought that I could read:
"After all,
"sod it"…
Hey!
I was feeling like inviting Natalie
over here for a few days.
What do you think about it?
She is charming.
What if we asked her
for an original piece for the festival?
What she does is nothing new.
She would come with Hippolyte.
- Really?
- They are together.
You're right.
For the festival, yes, yes…
And if you were to edit the interview
of the piece that I am going to ask her for…
It would be cunning.
Did you say something?
No, no.
Go away bitch.
Hurry, it's my turn!
- Wait!
- What a mentality!
It's not about mentality but necessity.
Oh shit, the flush has stopped working.
Well put some water in a bowl
and pour it in!
Definitely not! It's the crusher, someone's been
putting fag butts down the toilet again.
You must have seen
the sign I put above. It is big enough.
So what do I do?
You go in the bush, outside, near the stream
with a hoe that I am lending you.
But lent only! Everybody needs
to do their little hole in the ground.
Or you wait until I've set up
the chemical toilets, I got some downstairs.
What do I do? It won't go through.
Dear Charles-Henry, there isn't two solutions;
you take with your hands what can't go through,
you put it in the enamel basin that is near
the bath tub and you throw all that in the wilderness.
Near the Judea tree,
it's a bit dry, it needs it.
I don't want to be seen
going outside with the basin.
- It's heavy, I am going to help you.
- No, it's ok, I can carry it by myself.
These kinds of things disgust me;
I'll come back when it's cleaned.
I'm going for a walk.
You're left with the cleaning up.
Hermance!
- I'd like to go the market with you.
- No I am going there with Françoise.
But, here, there is no reason
for you to pay it all…
No, it's out of the question.
It is my pleasure.
Françoise!
Get dressed; we're off to the market.
I'm coming!
I can't, I can't.
Get off, I'll help you.
- I can't move.
- Come on.
Your file has been received, I checked.
- What are you asking exactly?
- Nothing for me, it's for the festival.
Some computer programs
for an IT workshop for young composers.
I am going to buy some tapenade.
Meet you at the Malassi.
How it is going Countess?
I had forgotten your voice.
Why Countess?
To greet you in a special way.
Are you in town? In the area?
When did you get here?
Yesterday, the day before, this morning,
I've forgotten, the weather is so mild…
You have cufflinks.
Yes, always when I am wearing
a mousquetaire cuff shirt.
It… You think of me.
Love is a rebellious bird
that no one can tame,
and it's quite useless to call him
if it suits him refuse.
Nothing moves him, neither threat nor plea,
one man speaks freely, the other keeps quiet;
and it's the other one I prefer:
he's said nothing, but I like him.
Tell me Natalie,
if you could have no more desire,
but you'd have to decide
straight away, what would you do?
- Well what would you do?
- I don't care.
It's a question far more interesting
than you think.
I am off.
You've been talking again.
You just can't keep your mouth shut!
I said nothing.
So why did she ask me
that question then?
I don't know. It's got nothing
to do with it. Just because…
You are going to have cure
yourself from this habit.
As long as you are the only one concerned,
it doesn't matter, but here you are involving others.
- It's dishonest.
- I assure you I said nothing.
And how did Hermance know that Hippolyte
was at home? Through me may be?
That, I said, but it doesn't matter.
It does because I am here.
That she invited us.
That we have had to come.
Well you could have stayed home.
One word from Hippolyte back to Hermance
and you had it, your commission.
No one's forced you to come.
After what you said about her.
Come on, we all know what she's like.
Everybody knows her down side,
no need to describe it.
But even so, she is a good woman before anything.
I have never said any different,
you are being dishonest.
My honesty and I don't always agree.
Oh,
Hippolyte is watering Françoise.
Thank you.
Listen, sounds like a hornet.
It's a plane.
It's high, very high.
- Oh, shit.
- What?
A bee fell in my sleeve.
It's left its sting in. Poor little bee…
Here is the reddest kiss you've ever had.
Such clever music.
Cleverness isn't the most subtle, or the most powerful,
or the most appropriate way
to get closer to the truth.
That's very true.
Shut up. You don't know
what you are talking about.
To talk about what you ignore
always gets you to learn about it.
Would you mind going back
to the beginning of the recording?
Love is a rebellious bird
that no one can tame,
and it's quite useless to call him
if it suits him refuse.
Nothing moves him, neither threat nor plea,
one man speaks freely, the other keeps quiet;
and it's the other one I prefer:
he's said nothing, but I like him.
My arm is sore. It's that sting.
It's easier to stay with an open mouth
than an outstretched arm.
What's going on?
I am sorry Christian, I lost control…
The dryness is bothering me.
If he had to drink all what's going to fall,
he'd be pissing 'till Christmas
You liar. What is it with you always
repeating everything, can't you help it?
Simon.
I was just working on your paper.
Very good, show me.
It's not finished, the type writer is playing up.
I am going to Paris tomorrow,
I'll send it there.
No, not in Paris.
There.
But...
OK.
You know Françoise?
Yes, we met several times.
Several times?
I was looking for you.
We have met several times?
Yes.
I don't remember.
You have no memory.
I do. I have a selective memory,
like everyone.
That's not nice. A coffee shop…
- In Paris?
- You see…
- You ran away.
- No.
I didn't run away, I had a train to catch.
- I should have missed it.
- Would you be able to?
From today, yes.
Simon?
Simon!
You are visiting. Do you recognize?
What you've done with it is really good.
It would be even better
if I hadn't done it by myself.
I've got to go.
But you've only just arrived.
You're not having your Pastis?
- You are not staying for dinner?
- I have to be in Paris tonight.
Sleep here, you'll go tomorrow.
I have an appointment
with a print maker tomorrow morning.
Cancel it.
It is impossible. I have to go.
So why did you come by then?
Because it was on my way.
I'll walk you back.
I changed the sign
on our door in Joinville.
I took your name off.
I was hoping it would bring you back.
See I didn't get it wrong,
I am seeing you again.
Yes.
Last time you were here with me
you've left some yellow espadrilles,
they are still by my bed,
the robbers left them for me.
I wear them to go to the bathroom,
because the tiles are cold.
It's like if you were hugging me
and I am no longer cold.
But I have to take them off very quickly,
because I miss you even more violently
when I am wearing them.
Burn them.
Stay with me.
Don't leave me. Don't leave me alone.
Hermance you are not alone.
You are surrounded by many people.
Are you joking?
Since you left, bit by bit,
I have become wood.
- Now I am turning to stone.
- Hermance stop it.
Let me go, calm down.
I only need you shadow,
stay here, just leave me your shadow.
Even if you need to think
of someone else to fuck me. Stay with me.
I am sorry.
If you dad is alive, he will regret
to not have had a daughter.
Leaving after you've seen me at your feet.
I will get revenge Simon.
I'll follow you wherever you'll be.
And everything you do I will destroy,
and every girl you meet I will crush.
Everywhere your feet land,
I will step in to erase your track.
I will even go ahead of you,
to destroy the places you don't
yet know you want to go to.
Hermance?
I don't like herbal teas.
It's true. Makes you want to die.
There is a question I am asking myself
since I got here Hermance.
Why is the house called
"Cicero's Countryside"?
I don't know.
It might have been built
on the ruin of a roman villa, or a temple.
I have never known,
it was called like that when we bought it.
Charles-Henry,
have you packed for tomorrow?
Yes, everything is ready.
In some storms, the lightning has the fantasy
of coming through the chimney,
and going out through the window.
You should shut it.
Exactly, it has to be able
to get out if it comes in.
Where are you going?
What a pity to stay indoors
with such weather.
Hermance,
there is a lightning rod on the roof?
Electricity went through
my bum and my feet!
- Hippolyte, help me I can't see a thing.
- Are there candles?
In the bathroom's wardrobe.
Christian, get the candles
in the bathroom's wardrobe.
We should be able to wait,
and be like a butterfly
during our whole life.
And at last, very late,
one could write the 10 bars
that would be good.
To fill up a whole stave,
one must have seen many men,
many cities, many things.
One must know about animals,
have felt how the birds fly.
I heard some noise.
Have you heard anything Charles-Henry?
He knocks himself out
with sleeping pills.
I am going see Françoise,
she might poorly.
Go to bed, I'll do it.
Here, I am going downstairs.
Are you made, I don't want it.
I might have dreamt it. Since I got broken into,
every night I hear noises.
It's grotesque. Everything is grotesque.
Hippolyte, Hermance,
Charles-Henry spelt with a "Y".
It's locked.
And the spares are indeed on the nail!
I was looking for you.
Why are you called Hippolyte?
My dad wanted to call me Philippe,
because he liked horses,
my mum, who thought that name was common,
as well as being Pétain's... She was Gauliste.
So she said to him;
"If you call him that I won't call him".
That's just what I thought.
Is it you Christian?
No, it's me. It's me Simon.
Simon?
How did you get up here?
I took the keys this afternoon;
I've just put them back.
Why have you come here?
Françoise.
Yes.
Are you locked in?
I am sleeping.
Somebody is in the house;
there are footsteps all the way to your bedroom.
Well, I am by myself, and I am sleeping.
Martine, go back to your room!
This dog will drive me mad…
Do you live here in Cicero?
No.
No.
You are going to go,
and so am I.
You cufflink.
The other one?
It will be fine.
- How are you going to do without?
- Like this.
- Is that you Simon.
- No it's not me.
- Who is it then?
- No one.
Alright…
What are we going to do?
Come to my place, in Sète.
I have a house by the water.
Martine !
- Get away, over there.
- In an hour, in town, at the Malassi.
Martine?
- Where are you coming from?
- From the garden of course.
Oh, that's right.
I was forgetting,
I need to ring the plumber.
Charles-Henry hurry up,
get your bags ready.
But what have I got there Hermance?
I can't go like that.
It's not normal to be swollen.
It's a spider. Say goodbye to everybody
and put your bags in the boot.
Charles-Henry, look what I found!
It's cute.
Help me.
Say my farewell to everyone,
I really don't feel like seeing them.
Say thanks to Hermance,
I'll give her a call.
- I'll walk you out.
- No.
I am happy.
You look tired.
Did you have a bad night sleep as well?
I haven't slept at all,
but that doesn't matter.
It seemed like I was hearing walking
in the house throughout the night.
I had horrible dreams.
I was married to you.
It was you and it wasn't you,
you were enormous.
Then came a mother in law
who had a face like…
Well, like you Hermance.
No one is interested in your dreams.
You are procrastinating.
- Coffee Natalie?
- I am going to go today.
- And Hippolyte ?
- Ask him yourself.
- I have brought your belongings down.
- I am going back home.
I won't go to the festival,
I won't be ready.
But, I have sent off
the program for printing.
Hippolyte will find you another woman,
very good, to replace me.
That's not fair on us.
Hermance and I had thought of you
because the music you write is of such modernity…
Oh, please!
Natalie is pulling our leg.
- Hippolyte, tell us it's a joke.
- I don't think so.
I have found you out and you know it.
I won't got to your festival
and don't want to be edited in your review.
I won't go to Paris with you,
or anywhere else.
The critique and you, you are like the favorites
of the kings and the priests of God.
You'd rather be the favorite than the king
and the priest than God,
because in this place,
you may sometimes receive grace.
But you will never be able to give it.
She doesn't mean what she says.
Let her sober down.
I am confused Hermance.
I am ever so sorry.
Could you take me to the station
at the same time as Charles-Henry?
Of course this incident doesn't change anything
about our friendship, I promise you,
I take on me the sorting of everything you need
for the realization of you project.
If you knew how little I care
about the festival.
If you knew how much all that
means nothing to me.
Hippolyte, Charles-Henry, we're off.
Tell me my little Christian,
can I sit next to you?
Come on Hermance.
You could not feel like it.
I would understand.
How do you see me?
Well, as you are.
How am I?
I don't know.
I know how you have treated me,
and what I owe you.
Not much.
Not much.
You have softened times
which for me were hard,
enriched times that were poor,
brightened up sad moments.
- Françoise has gone?
- Yes.
Where to?
I don't know… She will call you.
I found that this morning.
- In her bedroom.
- What is it?
- A pearl.
- Give it back to her.
It's not hers, it is Simon's.
Where are they?
I don't believe what you are saying.
You don't know
that they slept together, here.
Up there, next to your bedroom.
That Simon took Françoise away with him.
Don't try out lying,
you are not good enough.
- Simon went to Paris yesterday.
- No.
Because Charles-Henry
is sending him his paper to Paris.
What paper?
The one that was typed
last night on your writer.
My typewriter?
You are a very bad accomplice.
No one can fool me, my little Christian,
you talk too much.
I am accomplice of nobody.
I have said nothing.
You've done better.
It's not my secret,
it doesn't belong to me.
Idiot.
- Why are you looking at me? What do you see?
- I see myself.
Christian, the tolerant,
the disguised, the accomplice.
The one that shelters from place to place.
The one that means well
but does bad, the destruction.
The one that walks under the sun
and feeds of others misfortune.
Leave Cicero.
Take the car, leave it at the train station,
open, with the keys on.
It is far, towards the kind ones
that I must sent you.
Go now, quickly.
Hurry up.