My American Uncle (1980) - full transcript

MY AMERICAN UNCLE

A being's only reason for being
is being.

In other words,
to maintain its organic structure.

It must stay alive...
otherwise, there is no being.

Plants can stay alive
without moving around.

They take their nourishment
directly from the soil.

And thanks to the sun's energy...

...they transform
this inanimate matter...

...into their own living matter.

- I was born in Torfou...
- I was born...

I was born...



- In Paris.
- In Brittany.

In the Mauges.

- In a hospital.
- On an island.

- A neighbor...
- Avenue de la R?publique.

- Meaning...
- Beef country.

- The Gulf of Morbihan.
- The 11th arrondissement.

On my parents' farm.

- It was called...
- The Execution Wall.

...delivered me.
- Logoden Island.

- It seems...
- The doctor arrived...

- Mouse Island.
... So long ago.

- 50 years.
- Too late.

- There...
- 1,000 years.

- Grandfather...
- 37 years.



Animals, including man...

...can only stay alive by consuming...

...the solar energy
previously transformed by plants.

This calls for mobility.

They are forced to move
from place to place.

Jean Le Gall,
born August 4, 1929 in the Morbihan.

Grandfather a doctor,
father an engineer.

Graduate,
Ecole Normale Sup?rieure.

Degree in History...
Professor in Paris Lyc?e.

Attached to the Ministry...

...of National Education...

...then to Ministry of Information.

Appointed News Director...

...for National Radio in 1975.

Removed after 18 months on the job.

Returns to teaching.

Publishes controversial book
about National Radio.

Says he has been faithful
to only one woman...

Danielle Darrieux,
his idol since childhood.

He has kidney stones.

Running for office, next election.

Married... Two children.

Likes old books and the theater.

Decorated by the Ministry
of Education.

To move from place to place
requires a nervous system.

This nervous system
permits action...

...upon, and within,
the environment.

And always for the same reason...
survival.

If the action is effective...

...the result
is a pleasurable sensation.

Janine Garnier, born in Paris,
January 13, 1948...

...in the 20th arrondissement.

Father: Renault factory worker.

Grade school.

Stenography course.

Member of Youth Center.
Young Communist militant.

Self-taught.

After seeing Jean Marais on stage,
wants to be an actress...

...but runs into family opposition.

Secretary in brass fixtures company.

Amateur theater,
then semi-professional.

No follow-up to one hit
at small left-bank theater.

Affair with high official,
National Radio.

Supporting roles on TV...
Commercials.

Contacts with ad agencies...

...lead to job as stylist
with textile firm.

Reads Pr?vert, Aragon,
Alexandre Dumas and Michel Z?vaco.

Never misses
a cloak-and-dagger movie on TV.

Thus there is a drive
that impels living organisms...

...to preserve
their biological equilibrium...

...their vital structure
and stay alive.

This drive will be expressed...

...in four basic behavior patterns.

1- Consumption behavior,
the simplest.

It fulfills fundamental needs...
eating, drinking, copulating.

2- Escape behavior.
3- Combat behavior.

4- Inhibition behavior.

Ren? Ragueneau,
born December 27, 1941

...in Torfou.

Parents: farmers.

Local school.
Catholic Action group.

Grade school certificate.

After working until age 19

...on the family farm...

...is hired by Lacombe & Sons
Textile Co.

Professional training
through correspondence school.

Rapid promotion.

At 35, technical director
in a suburb of Lille.

Devout Catholic.

Wife a teacher...
expecting third child.

He likes soccer, cooking, operettas...

...and all movies starring Jean Gabin...

...which he sees over and over.

Knight of Merit
for commerce and Industry.

Not interested in politics...
has a stomach ulcer.

A brain's function
is not thought, but action.

Professor Henri Laborit...

...born November 21, 1914
in Hanoi, Indochina.

Father: M.D. in Colonial Service.

Lyc?e Carnot in Paris.
Naval Medical School in Bordeaux.

M. D... Residency... Surgeon...

Research work,
Army Health Service.

Pioneers therapeutic use
of artificial hibernation...

...of chlorpromazine,
the first tranquilizer...

...and of other psychotropic drugs.

Work on reactions
of organisms to aggression...

...brought new solutions
to anesthesia and resuscitation.

Directs Laboratoire d'Eutonologie
in Paris.

Author of works
on biology of behavior.

Married... Five children.

Albert Lasker Award,
American Health Association.

Sports: horseback riding
and sailing.

Legion of Honor...
Croix de Guerre 1939-45.

Decorated by Ministry of Education.

It should be added
that he's from the Vend?e...

...where they imposed
liberty, equality, fraternity...

...especially fraternity...

...leaving 500,000 dead.

Still, he uses
the gas and electricity of France...

...which shows his patriotism.

And he has adapted to a culture...

...from which
he has greatly benefited.

My grandfather, an eccentric,
lived on an island.

He insisted I be born there.

He'd been a doctor in World War I.

So he was disgusted with mankind...
especially doctors.

His colleagues weren't fit
to deliver me.

My father insisted on natural
childbirth, "like in Russia".

I was weak at birth,
so I had to be baptized in a hurry.

Our parish priest had to come
12 kilometers to the farm.

My parents lived in town,
but my childhood...

...was mostly spent
on Grandfather's island.

Evolution...

...is a conservationist.

So, in the animal brain...

...we find very primitive forms.

There is a "first brain".

Paul MacLean calls it
the reptilian brain... And so it is.

It triggers immediate survival
responses...

...without which no animal
could survive.

Drinking and eating,
by which it preserves its structure...

...and copulation,
by which it reproduces.

Then, when we get to mammals...

...a "second brain"
is added to the first.

MacLean and others call this...

...the affective brain.

I prefer to call it...

...the memory brain.

With no memory
of what is pleasant or unpleasant...

...there's no question
of being happy, sad, anguished...

...nor of being angry, or in love.

We could almost say...

...that a living creature
is a memory which acts.

Then a "third brain"
is added to the two others.

It's called the cerebral cortex.

In humans,
it has become highly developed.

We call it an associative cortex,
meaning that it "connects".

It connects...

...the various nerve paths...

...which have retained traces
of past experiences.

It connects them
in a way that is different...

...from the way they were imprinted
by the environment...

...at the moment of the experience.

In other words...

...it enables us...

...to create, to be imaginative.

In humans, these 3 brains
still exist, superimposed.

Our drives are still primitive,
coming from the reptilian brain.

We lived in 2 rooms
on Rue de Bagnolet.

My parents had paid
3,000 francs key money to get it.

My mother worked part-time,
so I was alone every afternoon.

We had a 60-acre farm
which my father worked himself...

...helped by my mother.

My father said I was good
for nothing, except to be a priest.

Wait till I catch you!

We had a big house with a garden...
the Villa Beaus?jour.

It's still there.

I inherited it from my parents.

Jean! Shame on you...

...a big boy like you!

Every September we went
to the big Communist festival.

As a child, I began taking Communion
once a month.

Father wanted me to be
a Navy officer.

He decided the day I was born,
so that in the next war...

I could avoid the infantry. It's
cleaner to die in water than in mud.

At school I loved to clown around...
I nearly got expelled.

I heard Sacha Guitry was
expelled 6 times, so I was proud.

But Papa said he was a reactionary.

So I started studying seriously.

Silence, girls!

My grandfather
had a reward system...

15 francs for a first place...

10 francs for a second...

5 francs for a third...

Fourth or lower...
a kick in the rear.

My uncle, a cattle merchant,
called me "the intellectual".

He liked to quiz me,
as sort of a joke.

What color was Henri IV's white
horse? Say the 10 Commandments...

Thou shalt not steal.

Thou shalt not bear false witness.

Thou shalt not covet
thy neighbor's wife.

When we had guests, I had to climb
on a chair and recite a poem.

They didn't have to coax me.

"In notebooks,
on schooldesks and treetrunks...

"On sand and snow,
I write your name."

These three layers of the brain
must function together.

Therefore, they are linked...

...by nerve bundles.

One nerve bundle we might call
the reward nexus.

Another, the punishment nexus.

This one will lead to escape,
or to combat.

A third one will cause
the inhibition of action.

For example,
a mother's caress for her child...

...the medal that flatters
a soldier's self-esteem...

...applause for an actor...

...all these release chemical
substances in the reward nexus...

...and result in pleasure
for the object of the attention.

"I was born to know you,
to name you: Liberty!"

Everyone in my family had ideas
about what I should read...

Grandfather favored Jules Verne.

Father, the lives of French heroes:
Lyautey, P?re de Foucauld...

Mother's choice was Racine's
tragedies, which she adored.

Instead of these masterpieces...

I read adventure stories,
perched in a tree.

"The lad left the car
and entered with confident step.

"Tall, strong, honest and bold...

"he was none other
than the Gold King, Samuel Knight...

"orphan and millionaire
who, in the true American way...

"on this August 1, 1914,
was giving a party at a restaurant...

...to celebrate his 18th birthday."

Our farm, like many at the time...

...was badly run:
my father stuck to the old ways.

We raised a bit of everything
and did it badly.

Grain, market produce,
a few cows, chickens, ducks...

...half-a-dozen goats,
a small vineyard.

My brother Maurice
wanted Father to specialize.

He was sure he could convince him.

We were secretly taking
correspondence courses.

My uncle was deported and died.

My father was tortured
by the Gestapo.

Then there was Indochina, Algeria...

I turned militant very young.
I was sure we'd change the world.

The cops!

But I wanted it to happen faster!
Tomorrow... Today...

My family was proud
of my scholastic success.

But I knew they'd be upset
when I told them my plans.

My province seemed more and more
like a prison... I had to escape.

I dreamed of movies and plays
I could see only in Paris.

My family had never heard
of the painters and writers I liked.

Only in Paris could I meet them.

We had hiding-places
for our books...

...in our beds, in the attic,
in the stable.

After Grandfather died,
I still went...

...to his island, now abandoned.

It added to my prestige
with the girls...

...when I took them there
unchaperoned.

I spoke about memory...

But we must understand
that at birth...

...the brain is still...

...immature.

Therefore, during the first
2 or 3 years of existence...

...a human being's experience
of his surroundings...

...will be indelible.

It will play a very important role...

...in the evolution
of all his future behavior.

Above all,
we must come to recognize...

...that what affects our nervous
system, starting at birth...

...perhaps even in the womb...

...the stimuli
acting upon our nervous system...

...come essentially from others.

We are others.

When we die, these others,
interiorized by our nervous system...

...these others who have formed us,
formed our brain...

...and filled it... Are going to die.

I had been in an "agit-prop" show...

...staged by some of my comrades.

I wanted to be an actress.

Unfortunately, I told my parents.

They told me to get a real job.

I had to start earning my keep.

Calm down!
She needs to have some fun!

It's not a crime!

"Analysis of the tables on page 50
reveals that in March..."

My brother was studying agronomy.
My field was accounting.

"Analysis of the tables...

...on page 50
reveals that in March..."

Of all my girlfriends,
the most determined was Arlette.

For a month,
we'd been quarreling with my father.

Fertilizers, tractors...
anything would start an argument.

Don't like my stew?

The blow-up came the Sunday
my parents invited Th?r?se...

...a girl I'd met
at a Catholic Farm Youth seminar.

They didn't like her...
she wasn't a local girl.

I told Arlette my plans
to go to Paris...

...and discussed
how to break it to my family.

I thought I'd say:
for the best education.

She took it badly...
it meant we'd be separated.

She said she loved me
and wanted to marry me.

Why did I say that I loved her, too?

To make peace...
to stop her crying?

No, Jean!

My love...

I was telling your fianc?e
that when she's living with us...

My father talked
about our future on the farm.

That did it.
I finally let it all come out.

That I was sick of the farm...
no way would we stay!

Nor would we work in a factory
to finance it.

A "family farm" doesn't mean
"farming out the family".

My cattle merchant uncle mixed in,
so I let him have it, too.

It was exploiters like him
who were screwing the farmers.

Little moron!

How often have you bought
a sick cow dirt-cheap?

And then re-sold it
as a healthy cow?

That night we left for Cholet...

...where I got an accounting job
in a textile firm.

I had broken with my family.

Come on, Th?r?se.

Arlette wanted a quick wedding.
It meant abandoning my plans.

So I broke with her
and went to study in Paris.

Thus our three brains are there.

The first 2 functions unconsciously
beneath our level of awareness...

Drives...
socially-conditioned reactions.

The third furnishes
an explanatory language...

...which provides reasons,
excuses, alibis...

...for the unconscious workings
of the first two.

We can compare the unconscious
to a deep sea.

And what we call consciousness
is the foam that appears...

...sporadically on the crest
of the waves.

It is the most superficial part
of that sea, buffeted by the wind.

It wasn't just society
I wanted to change...

...but also a way of life
that was dull, gray, boring.

My parent's way of life... And mine.

I got a small part
In "A Midsummer Night's Dream"...

...touring the provinces.

I immediately quit
my secretarial job.

I had wings,
I had never felt so free...

...so happy.

My mother!

I had let my mother know...
she came to make a scene.

To stop me.

We're going home!

I'm not doing anything wrong.

Tell your father that!

No, I won't budge.

I have a right to slap
my own daughter!

I went home with her.

That night I skipped out
with all the money in the house...

...this time for good.

After wandering around for an hour...

I went to see a girlfriend,
who took me in.

Seen Ducorg? lately?

Three years later, Arlette joined me
and we got married.

I was a teacher...
I had given up my ambitions.

Then I ran into a classmate
I'd lost sight of.

He was on the staff
of the Minister of Education.

My wife, Arlette...
and the hors-d'oeuvres.

He got me free-lance work to do
for the Ministry.

Reports, surveys, statistics, etc.

Soon, I was writing
all the Minister's speeches.

"My very soul felt the pain
of those cruel words."

"We cannot love each other."
I replied, "I cannot live".

Don't look at him,
face the audience, I said!

You aren't talking to him...
it's a letter!

Pick it up from there.

"My friend...

If I must tell you what I believe,
what is true...

...it is that when I see you..."

My friend had...

...the lead role in a play based
on 18th-century love letters by...

Julie de Lespinasse.

I found the rehearsals fascinating.

I had cued my friend so often,
I knew her lines by heart.

"Yes, go!
Tell me you love another.

That is my desire, that is my wish.

I am too weak and too sensitive,
you are right."

She is not a vamp
and you are not Gaby Morlay!

I told you to face the audience!

You should be gazing
into the distance... Got it?

I'm an actress, not a puppet!

Save the platitudes! Start again.

I can't work like this.
Find someone else!

The blow-up I hadn't dared hope for
had happened.

Pretending it was to save time,
I suggested to the director...

...that he try me in the role.

Thus we can distinguish
four main kinds of behavior...

1 - Consumption behavior,
which fulfills basic needs.

2 - Gratification behavior...

When an action results in pleasure,
we try to renew it.

3 - Behavior in response
to punishment...

...either by escape, to avoid it...

...or by combat,
to destroy the aggressor.

4 - Inhibition behavior...
all action ceases.

We wait tensely...
which leads to anguish.

Anguish is the impossibility
of dominating a situation.

"My friend, if you knew
what my days are like...

...dull and dreary
with no hope of seeing you...

Amusement, distraction, movement
suffice for you.

But my happiness is you...

...and only you."

You can go on the night shift,
but take my advice...

No moonlighting by day.

At your age... Sleep!
Or study, if you're ambitious.

Look at me, a farmer's son...
grade school certificate.

When I started
I knew less than you.

I took courses... Technical
school... Climbed the ladder.

And here I am,
responsible for 200 looms.

The man I worked for
became Minister of Information...

...and I joined his staff officially.

I was appointed News Director
for National Radio.

"It's you... Only you.

I wouldn't want to live...

...if I couldn't
see you and love you always."

"She forbids him
to enter her bedroom.

She doesn't want him
to see her face ravaged by pain."

"Your day has been hideous,
your night will be more so.

See a doctor.

Drink milk since you think
it might soothe you."

The play was a hit...
much to our own surprise.

It ran for a year.

"My friend, I love you.

This is the sedative for my pain.

Only you have the power
to change it to poison.

I am so weary of life...

I am ready to beg you
to grant me this release.

Oh, my friend...

...let me owe you my rest!
For virtue's sake...

...be cruel this once.

I die..."

Jean-Marie... I feel like crying!

Jean-Marie... it's criminal
to close the play!

You know we have no choice.

The theater's booked!

Look, open the door!

Even a hit loses money
in such a small theater.

Find another!

And publicity? I'm broke!

That's your fault.

And I bet you have another play!

We were a stepping-stone
and now to hell with us!

- Janine, stay!
- Leave me alone!

I was in the audience
and I had to congratulate you.

Remarkable...

...absolutely remarkable.

Jean Le Gall... Radio News Director.

My wife was spellbound, weren't you?

Yes, it's a very fine play.

Very moving.

I'm not the one to tell...

...it's the director.

The cast had organized
an end-of-show party.

In the end, I agreed to stay.

I had no idea how that evening
would change my life.

You're wanted.

The recipe for rabbit
? la moutarde.

Thank you. It's not too complicated?

Just don't use cream for mustard,
and mustard for cream.

Our company,
founded nearly a century ago...

...had always been run
by the same family.

Mr Louis, the present director,
started 40 years ago, as a buyer...

...under his grandfather.

Under his father,
he was in charge of Weaving.

15 years ago, after his father died...

...he took full charge, assisted
by his younger brother, Mr Paul.

Things had changed
in those 15 years.

Common Market competition...
computers...

Despite our size...

...we hadn't "the means to expand,"
as Mr Paul said.

Well, Ragueneau...
your vacation went well?

Very well, Mr Louis... Thank you.

Your wife? The children?

They're fine.

Leon Veestrate.

Mr Veestrate has the same duties
at Lacaune & Co as you have here.

For a while,
we'd like him to work with you...

...so you can compare methods,
exchange ideas...

...to prepare for the day,
not too far off now...

...when our merger becomes fact.

I see.

I won't keep you any longer.

If I may make a suggestion...

You might start by showing
your colleague around our plant.

Yes, of course.

Come with me, Mr Veestrate.

Why stock your goods that way?

Don't you have a traveling crane?

Come see the Spooling Section.

Don't you know
the fully-automated Italian system?

Of course...

...but I hear it's fragile,
always breaking down.

Let's see the Finishing Section.

How frequent is production control?

Once a month.

We won't work on orders any more,
but on an annual program.

That means planned production...

...and daily inspections.

- Daily?
- Yes... At least at the start.

What'll I do?

Papa's hurting Mama.

You're horrible! Horrible!

Jean, think it over!

Do anything you like,
I won't say a word... But stay!

What do I have to do... Kneel?

Grovel at your feet?
Is that what you want?

No, you won't leave!

You'll have to hit me.

Go on, hit me!
You know you're dying to!

Why is Papa going away?

He has to take a trip.

Say goodbye to him.

Now go back to bed.

I'll call you tomorrow morning.

It's for you.

Yes, Mr. Vaudoyen.

That's the Blondel file...
I'll get it ready and bring it in.

The Finishing Section?
I'll be right there.

A problem in Finishing.

If Vaudoyen calls,
tell him I'll bring the file...

...as soon as I can.

OK.

Mr Vaudoyen, my respects.

The Blondel file?

I'll bring it in.

Did you bring your whole library?

The problem of the wayward
intellectual: what to take?

Balzac or Stendhal?
Lenin or Trotsky?

95% just stay put,
because they couldn't choose.

Or didn't want to.

What's that?

Pictures and documentation
for a book I've wanted to write.

But my wife, the children...

A book?

About the sun...
the history of the sun.

Men's ideas about the sun,
since the dawn of time.

A universal man! You told me...

...you wanted to be Prime Minister,
now you're writing a book.

They're not incompatible...
in fact they go together.

Think of Blum, Herriot,
Edgar Faure and Pompidou.

And that?

An island in Brittany.

They say Druids gathered there
to worship a sun-god.

I was born there.

On an island?

- Take me there?
- Of course.

Would I love the writer more,
or the politician?

Many politicians are failed writers.

Ragueneau! Not punching in?

Me?

Hello, dear... How are you?

I'm fine...

The children?

Did you call the doctor?

His fever's gone,
that's what counts... And you?

Good... I'll call you tomorrow.

No, tonight I can't.

A big kiss...

Go into my office,
I'll be right there.

Three copies, please, Josyane.

Anything special?

A Janine Garnier called.

I'll call her... Anything else?

Mr Bauzon-Montrieux
has been waiting for an hour.

I said you had appointments, but...

Mr Le Gall, I won't stand for it.

You're going to see me immediately!

This appointment was made
2 weeks ago.

I've had one with you
since you dropped my program.

I sent you a note about that.

I want you to tell me
the real reason.

You know it as well as I do...

After five years,
it was time for a change.

The real reason, Mr. Le Gall...

...is political!
And I'll make you admit it!

What a nasty thought...

I can prove to you that it wasn't.

It took me years
to get my format accepted.

The new program, just between us,
is even more subversive.

I'm sure that you have
another project to submit...

Why not leave it
on Mrs Arnal's desk?

I promise I'll take it home
and study it tonight.

See you soon, my friend.

That ought to hold him
for 3 weeks...

You were perfect!

But...

But was it wise
to drop his program?

To replace it with what?

Don't you like the new show?

What I think doesn't matter...

It's the Minister's opinion
that counts.

You saw him this morning?

What did he say?

Oh, he's delighted... Delighted!

But...

What's wrong?

It's nothing...

It's just nerves.

It's that guy, Veestrate...
He's on my back all day long.

It's as if I'm taking an exam.

It won't last forever.

That's just it...
they have to decide.

Who "they"?

Not Mr Louis or Mr Paul...
the head office in Paris.

People I've never seen.

They're comparing my work
with somebody else's.

That's never happened
to me before...

The comparison
may be in your favor.

One thing is sure...

I haven't kept up
with modern methods.

- Invite him to dinner.
- Who?

Your Veestrate...
It might make him more human.

Me, cook for a guy
who's sabotaging me?

Why not?

It smells good!

What is it?

Salmi of woodcock.

Not too much...

You had no p?t?, either.

My husband can't eat game...
it gives him hives.

In 3 minutes,
he'd be covered with spots.

Go ahead and eat,
don't worry about me.

We have ham...
or we can make spaghetti.

It's wonderful!
How do you make it?

It's fairly complicated...

Roast the birds
till three-fourths done.

Take skin, carcass, gizzard...
all the innards...

Chop finely and make...

...a sauce, using
diced onions, thyme, etc...

...with hot cognac,
mushrooms and croutons.

The big secret with woodcock
is the intestines.

I add them at the last minute,
for more flavor.

Won't you taste it?

No, no... I was thinking
about the Willot brothers.

All he thinks about is work.

The Willots are game old birds...
but too tough for a salmi!

Know what Antoine Willot said
about French businessmen?

"Their goal is to conserve;
ours is to conquer."

Well said!

Oh, sir!

We're sick about it!

Josyane's been crying all morning.

We all liked you,
we were a real team...

What the hell is this?

I thought you knew.

It was like this when we got here...
they must've come early!

Excuse me!

I'm not crying... But I'd like to.

They moved everything out.

Who are "they"?

What the hell is this?

Clear the table...
Can't you work in your rooms?

Where's your mother?

She's not back yet.

Shit, shit, shit... Move!

Oh, it's you!

What's going on?

Why are you so late?

You're in a bad mood!

Read this.

So, the head office in Paris
has sent for you...

It's not a dismissal notice.

They're being tactful.

To top it all,
I saw the Minister that very day...

He was charming, as usual.

Ah, there you are!

- Where were you?
- I went home to change.

- Hello Michel.
- Dear Janine...

More radiant than ever.

And so, the Minister?

He knew my successor
was already appointed!

He never let on...

He listened to my plans
for next year!

Nothing was said about
the unsinkable Bauzon-Montrieux?

Why? No...

Know who phoned today?
Your "successor", as you call him.

You three were students together...

What did he want?

To apologize...
It seems he was forced to accept.

That's a good one!
Let's change the subject...

But that's not all.

He says you got him appointed,
Michel.

Is that true?

Drop it.

I helped him, as I've helped Jean,
and as Jean will help me...

What's the problem?

Jean must capitalize on this...

He's big news.

That's not the point!
Is Jean your friend or not?

That's enough, Janine.

Darling, what is it?

- It's back.
- What's back?

Kidney attack...

My love!

Call a doctor!

Sit down...
We have a lot to talk about.

No, thanks... I don't smoke.

In our work, it can be dangerous.

I called you in today
to discuss your future with you.

My future?

You know our firm is undergoing
many changes...

Successive mergers cause
a great deal of upheaval.

You've continued
to do your job well...

...though you must've had
many questions.

The time has come for choices...

...and I want to make them with you.

We can't keep 2 technical directors...

...for a relatively
small production unit.

Obviously.

There has to be a chief...
We've chosen Veestrate.

Come out and say it... I'm fired.

No question of that...

On the contrary, we thought
of giving you a harder job.

You know Broceliande Looms,
a recent addition to our group?

It's in Cholet.

I know... I started out there.

They're converting to ready-to-wear,
and we need a new director.

- To live in Cholet?
- Of course.

600 kilometers from my home!

You'd get a substantial raise.

That's our proposition.

Think about it, talk to your wife...
go there and see.

But if you refuse,
it would create a problem.

I think it's starting again.

Hot compresses... Hurry!

Quick!

- Which side?
- Right!

I need to have my shot.
Call the doctor.

Wait! Get me something to drink.

I've got to piss
the damn stone out.

The compress! It's cold!

Damn it, come on!
What in hell are you doing?

- You feel better?
- Yes.

Thank you.

I'm sorry...

I'm an impossible patient.

You know, with my severance pay...

...and the advance on my book...

I think we can afford
that honeymoon trip to Peru...

...to the temples of the sun.

When will we go to your island?

It's home territory... Cholet.

A rundown weaving mill
going into ready-to-wear.

There'll be a transition period
to remove the looms...

...and convert the factory,
then we go into production.

And you'd be the director?

Yes, but what if it's a trap?

It's a job I've never done...
a huge job.

I'll have 200 employees under me.

I'll have to learn the job.

Unless they want me
to get in deeper and then... Out!

You must be right.

I'd have to ask for a transfer.

That's not so easy for teachers.

We'd have to move.

For what?

Now wait...
it's not entirely negative.

There's a hell
of a difference in salary.

It's too big for you.

What do you mean by that?

What if you fail?

Who says I'm going to fail?

Let's face facts...

...for 20 years you've followed orders.

Now you'd take on
all this responsibility?

Why not?

I don't want to leave,
I like it here.

The house is almost paid for.

I'm used to my job,
I get along with the staff.

There are good schools
for the kids... A university nearby!

All down the drain
to go back to that hole?

You remind me of my father!

If we talked about change, he talked
about his uncle in America!

He died a bum!

My father said he died a bum...
it was never proved!

So you're accepting?

Well, don't count on me!

Don't forget
my prescription at the pharmacy.

Yes, yes... Try to sleep a little.

May I talk to you?

If you want Jean...

I came to see you.

I haven't much time!
Jean's been ill and...

Don't worry...

I'm not going to lecture you
or make a scene.

Can we go somewhere quiet?

Why not here?

Well?

This is very difficult.

You'll think
I'm pressuring you, using blackmail.

You haven't said anything.

I want you to let Jean come home...
to me and the children.

Not for good...

Just for a few months.

I don't understand.

You will...

But promise not to tell Jean,
it's between us.

I'm ill, too...

...more seriously than Jean.

I've just learned...
I know it's true...

I'm dying.

Won't you say goodbye?

You're really leaving?

Even if I wanted to,
I couldn't back out now.

Ren?... I'm pregnant.

You tell me now?

How long have you known?

Go... quickly.

"I loved you to distraction,
I experienced...

I experienced every degree...

...every nuance
of suffering and passion.

I wanted to die...

I thought I would die..."

- Listen!
- I can't... I have to go.

Where to?

A rehearsal... with Laugier.

- We're doing Julie again.
- You didn't tell me.

Why should I?
You'd have said it was stupid...

Reviving a play after it's closed...
That's crazy!

I wonder why you left your wife...
What am I, for you?

Am I a little younger...
more chic, more in style?

Yes, you found her too provincial
for a Minister's wife.

Don't think
you can use me to show off.

I forbid you to leave!

First, why this tirade?

First, let me leave!

Take the next logical step...

Lock me in!

I want to live alone for a while.

I'll be back after midnight.

That gives you time
to pack your bags.

Leave your key in the mailbox.

TWO YEARS LATER

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4TH 1979

A rat is put in a cage...

...that is divided in two...

...by a partition with a door in it.

The floor is intermittently
electrified.

Before the electricity
passes through the grids...

...a signal warns the animal...

...that 4 seconds later
the shock will come.

He doesn't know at the start...

He learns fast
but at first is apprehensive.

He quickly sees the open door
and goes through it.

The same thing happens
a few seconds later.

Again he learns the lesson quickly.

He can avoid the punishment
of the small electric shock...

...by going back
to the first compartment.

The animal is subjected
to this experiment...

10 minutes a day, 7 days in a row.

After these 7 days...

...he is in perfect health.
His coat is sleek...

...blood pressure normal.

He has avoided punishment
by escaping.

It was a pleasurable experience.

He has maintained
his biological equilibrium.

Come on, Th?r?se.

What is easy
for a rat in a cage...

...is more difficult for man
in society.

Certain needs have been created...

...by this society,
starting in infancy.

And it is rarely possible
to satisfy those needs...

...by resorting to combat
when escape proves ineffective.

You see, I'm not dead.

You might have contacted me.

Why? Did you contact me?

You walked out on me.

You could've written or phoned.

What for?

Anyway, we're on your island...
both of us.

What are you doing here?

You promised to show it to me.

Don't worry,
I won't steal your memories.

When two individuals
have different goals...

...or the same goal...

...and they are competing
to attain it...

...there is one winner, one loser.

First, let me leave!

The result is the dominance...

...of one of the individuals
over the other.

Seeking to dominate
in a space we can call...

...the territory...

...is the fundamental basis...

...of all human behavior...

...though we are not conscious
of our motives.

Spend my life playing Julie...
no thanks!

I wanted to start from scratch.

A publicity man offered me
a job as a stylist.

We had talked... He liked my ideas.

Ready-to-wear, textiles...
a whole different world.

I've always liked to try new things.

You're shocked? I know,
"industry" is a dirty word...

...to my old friends, and yours.

But I like it.

I've always liked to drive,
to visit foreign countries.

Oh, I heard
you won your election...

I'd see your island
from the road, driving by.

It made me think of you.

I bet your grandfather
cooked crabs there.

You remember that?

They come in on the rising tide,
hordes of them.

Green ones and red ones...

I caught dozens of them.

We'd cook, shell and eat them...
so hot they'd burn our fingers.

The green ones aren't as good.

The red ones are best,
but there are mostly green ones.

There is no proprietary instinct.

Nor is there an instinct
to dominate.

The individual's nervous system
has learned...

...the necessity of keeping,
for the individual's own use...

...an object or person
that is also desired... Coveted...

...by someone else.

You love Mama?

And he has also learned
that in the competition...

...to keep that object...

...or that person for himself,
he must dominate.

You read The Gold King there?

No! You missed.

My reading place
was the top of a tree.

I'll show you.

I was forbidden to climb trees.

Since they trusted me...

...mistakenly!

They never looked for me up there.

It was great...
All I could see was sky.

I was sure
a treasure chest was buried here.

I got a shovel...

...and I dug and I searched
for days on end.

I kept hearing about an uncle...

...who'd gone off to America.

I was sure he'd come back
to tell me where it was.

For me, he was The Gold King...

...my uncle in America.

I'm still searching.

You kid!

The treasure exists!

Probably more than one! Pirates
used these islands as hide-outs.

Only you and I know
these awesome secrets.

We have already said
that we are others.

A boy in the wild,
abandoned far from other people...

...will not grow up to be a man.

He'll never know
how to walk or talk.

He'll behave like a little animal.

Through language,
man has been able...

...to pass on to succeeding
generations...

...all the experience that has
accumulated over millions of years.

The time is long past
when a person...

...could ensure his own survival.

He needs others in other to live.

He can't know everything,
or do everything.

It's a crab... It can't pinch you
if you hold it like this.

You can eat it... It's really good!

I'll teach you to find them,
and to cook them.

Have you done your "duty"?

Go to the bathroom. You've got time.

From infancy...

Oh, it's you? Oh, sorry.

...group survival is linked...

...to teaching man's young...

...what they must know
to function in society.

We teach him not to soil his pants,
and to pee in his potty.

Then very rapidly
we teach the child how to behave...

...so as to maintain
the cohesion of the group.

We teach him
what is beautiful, what is good...

...what is bad, what is ugly.

We tell him what he must do...

...and punish or reward him
accordingly...

...no matter what his own pleasure
dictates.

He is punished or rewarded...

...according to whether his behavior...

...conforms to the survival need
of the group.

It's hot... Watch out! It burns.

See? It spins.

Sit up straight!

Shake hands with the lady.

Repeat after me: "U.S. go home!"

One, two, second, three, four...
only four fingers!

"The lad left the car
and entered with confident step.

"He was the Gold King...

"Samuel Knight, orphan...

...and millionaire."

No, don't!

Is that other island yours, too?

Can we go there?

If you like.

We're just starting to understand
how our nervous system works.

Only in the last 20 or 30 years...

...have we learned how the system...

...starting with chemical molecules,
which are its building-blocks...

...establishes nerve paths,
which will be programmed...

...impregnated
by social conditioning.

And all this within
an unconscious mechanism...

In other words, our drives
and our cultural automatisms...

...will be masked by language,
by logical discourse.

"To die for your country
is such a glorious fate...

...that legions will beg
to charge Death's gate."

"The white race,
the most perfect of races...

...inhabits mainly Europe, West Asia...

North Africa and America."

Now then...

15 francs for a first place...

10 francs for a second...

5 francs for a third...

Fourth or lower...
a kick in the rear!

Why did we break up?

How's your wife?

Thanks to you, I'm still married.

Tide's rising, we must go.

It's risen a lot already!

Thus language only serves
to hide the cause of dominance...

...to mask the mechanism
that established it...

...and to convince the individual
that, in working for the group...

...he is gratifying himself.

But usually all he is doing...

...is preserving
hierarchical situations...

...which hide behind
linguistic alibis...

...alibis furnished by language,
as an excuse.

I'm dying.

Won't we be clean!

And I have to meet my wife
in an hour... At the lawyer's.

It's important...
a disputed inheritance.

Some cousins want this island.

Your wife can still get around?

What are you talking about?

Her illness allows her to go out?

What illness?

She isn't ill?

It's not possible.

It's horrible.

What's the matter?

I'm an idiot!

Look!

I have to get over to the house.
I came for some papers.

You're going to know everything!
She came...

I'd like to get back!

Wait... I'll be back.

In this second situation...

...the door between
the two compartments is closed.

The rat can't escape.

He will undergo the punishment
he cannot avoid.

This punishment will provoke
inhibition behavior.

He learns that all action is
useless, he can't escape or fight.

He stops trying.

This inhibition, in man,
is accompanied by "anguish"...

...and creates profound
biological disturbances...

...so profound that,
if a microbe is present...

...whereas normally
he could fight it off...

...now he can't: he gets an infection.

A cancerous cell,
which normally he would destroy...

...now will develop into cancer.

And his biological troubles
will lead to...

...all those illnesses
called "civilized" or psychosomatic.

Stomach ulcers,
high blood pressure...

...insomnia, fatigue...

...extreme discomfort.

In the third situation...

...the rat can't escape.

He will receive
the same punishment...

...but he will be confronted
by another rat...

...who will serve as adversary.

And he will fight him.

This combat is absolutely useless...

He is still punished...

...but he has taken action.
A nervous system is meant to act.

This rat will have
no pathological problems...

...such as those we saw
in the preceding case.

He'll be in excellent condition...

...although he has received
the same punishment.

But in man's case...

...the laws of society
usually forbid...

...such defensive violence.

The worker who is stuck with...

...a foreman that he detests...

...can't punch him in the nose.
He'd land in jail.

He can't run away;
he'd be out of work.

So every day and every week...

...and every month, sometimes
for years, his action is inhibited.

Man has many ways to combat...

...this inhibition of action.

Aggression, for example...
It is never gratuitous.

It always results from...

...other action being inhibited.

An outburst of aggression...

...rarely pays off.

But in terms of the nervous system,
it is readily explained.

That's your fault.
I bet you have another play!

We were a stepping-stone.
Now to hell with us!

Shit, shit, shit... Move!

No, I won't budge.

Thank you for this heroic rescue.

We'll go back to the mainland
in our respective boats.

I have to go find those papers.

Want me to tell you
why you left me?

I'd been fired,
I was no use to you anymore.

So long!

Thus, as we have said...

...the person is in a situation
where action is inhibited.

Me, punch in?

If it is prolonged,
it will affect his health.

The attendant biological
disturbances...

...will not only cause...

...the appearance
of infectious diseases...

...but also the behavior
we call "mental illness".

When a person can no longer direct
his aggression against others...

...he can turn it against himself
in one of two ways.

He can react somatically...
physiologically...

...aggressing his stomach,
causing a hole...

...an ulcer...

Or his heart and arteries,
causing high blood pressure...

...sometimes even acute lesions...

...leading to severe heart disorders...

...heart attacks, strokes.

Or he'll develop rashes or asthma.

The other way
he can turn his aggression...

...against himself
is even more effective.

He can commit suicide.

When we can't take out
our aggression on others...

...we can still take it out
on ourselves.

"I no longer dare say
I love you...

I no longer know."

I'm going to die...

"Jean... I never say
what I should say.

I never do what I should do.

But this morning,
your attitude shut me up.

I wanted to tell you
that I can't live without you.

I'm in pain, Jean... I'm suffering.

I should have told you
why I left you.

But would you believe me?"

- 'Evening, Miss Garnier.
- 'Evening, Albert.

- How are you?
- Fine.

It's late... Car trouble?

No, I just took a little detour.

Your friends are there.

I'm going to my room first.
Tell them I'm coming.

The market counts,
not the product.

Your line of slacks
almost sank us both.

"Jean... This morning
I almost told you why I left you.

But your attitude shut me up.

I left you because your wife
told me she was dying.

And now I learn that it was a lie."

Got any kids?
They don't want tight pants anymore.

Now, everybody's jogging.

We had a chance to beat
Japan and South Korea.

We'll have to fight to be first!

We'll be the guerrillas of fashion.

- Good trip?
- Yes... Fine.

- What'll you have?
- A Perrier with lemon.

I'm glad you're here.

You'll see... we'll work it out.

- My rayon bibs really sold.
- The bibs did fine.

With the same kind
of ad campaign for my pants...

- Bibs aren't pants!
- You're obstinate!

How about my zipper system?

Style, Ragueneau, style!
I know Janine warned you.

A year ago, you decided
to manufacture pants.

You knew it would take time
to start. And styles change fast.

Result? You have 100s
of them in stock.

We'll have to sell them off cheap.

Your job was to re-launch
a business... Now you call for help.

But that's all past...

The group will grant you a loan.
Isn't that good news?

With conditions.

I'm starving... How about you?

I hear you're a gourmet...
We can talk over dinner.

Conditions? What conditions?

That you share the responsibilities.

You're really a technician.

Management will be taken over
by an administrator.

You'll handle
all technical problems.

Meaning I'm demoted.

You'll just have less work...
for the same salary.

I'll just be a small cog!

It's a scandal!

I worked my guts out for 20 years...

Sacrificed everything...
my family life...

- Don't exaggerate.
- I'm not exaggerating!

My wife has to stay in the north
to keep her job.

I never see my kids...
I hardly know my youngest.

- I've wasted my life.
- Don't be ridiculous.

Ridiculous? You have no right.

One doesn't humiliate
a man like that.

Mr Louis wouldn't have
allowed it.

- What's all this?
- Times have changed.

Not for the better!

Goodnight! I'm going home,
I'm not hungry.

Don't worry, he'll get over it...
like all the others.

I'm more worried
about your dress.

- I'm waiting for an apology.
- What?

You bumped into me.

- Me?
- Yes, you!

Apologize! I want you to apologize!

You're a witness...
This individual insulted me.

He refuses to apologize!

You're crazy!

There he goes again!
Shut up, you little jerk!

Bastard!

Hooligan!

Coward!

You damn coward!

Mr Ragueneau? Are you back?

Your wife called...
She'd like you to call her.

An hors d'oeuvre?

Not for me...
but have the rillettes.

It's a specialty here in Anjou.

You just want the pike
au beurre blanc? Me, too...

It won't be as good as Ragueneau's.

- He cooks?
- Very well!

What about the shops?

We don't talk
about our gourmet shops...

Especially not to people
we lay off in textiles.

They know! Anyway, Ragueneau
hasn't been laid off yet.

He will be... He's conscientious
but lacks imagination.

I wouldn't have any authority...

The other guy'd be the boss,
I'd answer to him.

But you haven't been laid off.

Lucky me!

You don't understand.

Want to hear about the baby?

I'll call you back later.
I mean, tomorrow.

Like most people...

I thought happiness
was something I had coming to me...

...like an inheritance...

...from an uncle in America.

America doesn't exist...
I know, I lived there.

What did I tell you?

He's going
to smash your face in.

Please excuse my behavior
earlier on.

I was ridiculous.

I've already forgotten it.

Sit down... Have something to eat?

So you're a cooking enthusiast.

I would be...
if our bosses left me more time.

Do I tell him about it?

What if they paid you to do it?

- What? Cooking?
- Gastronomy.

What you're about to hear
is confidential.

One of our executives
is another cooking nut.

He wants to diversify.
Though we're in textiles...

...we know about franchising.

Yes... A chain of about
40 food shops.

De luxe shops...

...selling gourmet products
by great chefs.

Where do I fit in?

We'd need competent managers
to run them.

What would that involve?

Checking product quality...

...helping customers
make up a menu, select a wine...

...taste sample dishes...

Do you furnish the apron
and chef's hat?

What's the use...

They had to dine out so often...

...that now all his wife
can stomach is tea and toast.

But his mistress has a secret recipe
for spaghetti carbonara.

Can't his wife make spaghetti?

Heretic! Carbonara is an art!

First, the eggs mustn't curdle...

You're not listening.

I'm tired...

God forgive me...

And the kids are just as bad...

I know of one girl who...

I'll call Ragueneau...
Let's talk to him again.

We handled him badly.

Give me 622244.

Cholet, yes.

Yes, one moment.

Mr Ren?, it's for you! Phone!

Mr Ragueneau, are you asleep?

Call a doctor, hurry!
Call the police...

Hurry... He's hanged himself!

Barbiturates, too...

He may or may not pull through.

Poor guy...

I'll call his wife...
maybe you could talk to her.

- Must I go with you?
- What?

You don't really need me.

No. What will you do?

150 kilometers!
It's very important to me.

Where can I call you?

Either the hotel or the hospital.

I'll call you in the morning.

But where are you going?

The strangulation caused
a mild edema... Nothing serious.

He'll probably sleep 7 or 8 hours.

Since he has a strong
constitution...

He never seemed
the sort who'd do that.

Depression hits boxing champs
as well as pensioners.

- The Le Gall home?
- Yes. Do you want Mrs. Le Gall?

- No, Mr. Le Gall.
- He isn't in.

- I'll wait.
- He'll be back late.

He's hunting
with Marquis de Villeneuve.

Who is it?

- Jean isn't here!
- Wait!

I want to talk to you!

I know what you're going to say...

...but I don't regret a thing.

Jean belongs at home...
it was the only way.

He needs stability...
it's the key to his success.

His success?

Yes... Success!

For example, he'd never have written
his book without me.

If you had children...

...you'd have done just what I did!

May I use the phone?

Room 135, please.

He's out of danger!
He was pretty far gone.

Us, too!

- It doesn't solve anything.
- Why not?

He's unstable... Dangerous!
He'll have to go.

Have to find a replacement...
Got any ideas?

It doesn't hurt, see?

Where is Jean?

I won't tell you.

It shouldn't be hard
to find the Villeneuve estate.

I may as well tell you.

It won't make any difference.

Jean told me he saw you yesterday.
He tells me everything.

Talk to him.
It won't change a thing.

I know he'll say
I was right!

I know it!

PRIVATE PROPERTY
KEEP OUT

Another one for you.

How do you do it, Senator?

It's a knack.

Did you hear that?

- What was it?
- Someone get shot?

- How'd she get in?
- You there! Get out of here!

Dumb bastards!

You could've been killed!

You aren't hurt?

It's all right!

No harm done!
I'll be right with you!

What are you doing here?

I want to talk to you.
I couldn't, yesterday.

All right, but not here.

I tried to write,
but it was no good.

We can meet tomorrow...

We must talk now! We can't go on
living with this stupid lie.

Listen to me!

I think I know why you're here.

When I told Arlette I'd seen you,
she confessed everything...

...the whole story.

I was shattered...
You were fantastic.

And I apologize for Arlette.

But she was fantastic, too...
it took courage to tell that lie.

How she must have suffered!

At first, I was furious with her.

I didn't sleep all night.

By morning, I understood.

I realize it's better this way.

Arlette and I both cried...

Le Gall... You coming?

Telling your life story?

Not punching in?

Your job was to re-launch
a business... Now you call for help.

We'll have to fight to be first.
We'll be the guerrillas of fashion.

The unconscious
is a formidable instrument.

Not only because it holds
all that we have repressed...

...things too painful for us
to express...

...because we'd be punished
by society.

But also because all that
is authorized...

...even rewarded by society...

...has been placed
in our brain since birth.

We're unaware of its presence,
and yet it guides our actions.

This unconscious (which is not
Freud's) is the most dangerous.

What we call
the personality of an individual...

...is built up from a grab-bag
of value judgments...

...prejudices and platitudes.

As he grows older,
they become more and more rigid...

...less and less subject to question.

Take away one single stone from
this edifice, and it all crumbles.

The result is anguish.

And anguish stops at nothing,
neither murder...

...nor genocide... Nor war...

...in the case of social groups.

Quick!

We now begin...

...to understand by what mechanism...
why and how...

...in the past and in the present...

...the hierarchies of dominance
have been established.

To go to the moon,
we must know the laws of gravity.

Knowing the laws of gravity
doesn't make us free of gravity.

It merely allows us to utilize it.

Until we have...

...shown the inhabitants
of this planet...

...the way their brain functions,
the way they use it...

...until they know it has always
been used to dominate others...

...there is little chance
that anything will change...