Pauline asservie (2018) - full transcript

"Am I in love?
Yes, since I am waiting."

Roland Barthes,
A Lover's Discourse: Fragments

PAULINE ENSLAVED

-When was his last text?
-Two days ago.

-Where is he?
-I don’t have a clue!

I don’t even know
where that prick went.

I don’t know if he’s working
or on vacation,

he just said
“I’ll be away for 8 days”.

Can you believe it?
Nobody says “I’ll be away”.

That’s rather tactful.

Maybe he’s with his wife
but he keeps it vague.



-I don’t give a shit about his wife!
-I’m sure he doesn’t fuck her anymore.

No, what freaks me out is that...

- So nice of you to pick us up.
- You’re welcome!

This is my friend Violette.

- Nice to meet you Sir.
- Oh "Sir". Call me Maurice!

You know, she was on
that TV show you watched.

They aged me
a lot for the part...

So you came here
to breathe some fresh air?

Yeah... I got some work, a paper
for a symposium, I’m super late.

Do you think he could be
in love with his wife again?

- Sorry?
- No, I...

Here’s the good ol’
Pignol country.

- Or he feels guilty...
- He’s not comfortable with a double life.

I can’t hear you.



For instance, you, Maurice,
if you were cheating on Marie-Thérèse...

Oh my! Don’t even...

I would just have to think of
something like this to... snip!

I married a jealous woman!

"I'm going two days to
Bordeaux, for a book fair"

"I spent Christmas south,
with my in-laws", but "I'll be away..."

That's a completely new one,
It's not normal!

Just out of nowhere,
No sign of life.

He's sending me crazy hot texts,
then out of the blue, absolute nothing.

Sorry, but when you talk like this,
you're clearly in love.

I'm not, I'm just
protecting myself.

I enjoy it when
he sends me love texts

So I find this a nasty thing to do,
because I get excited.

- Anyway, it's been 3 days, no updates.
- Two days.

It's still a lot.
He doesn't care about me.

- Do you want the sunlight in the
morning or evening? - Doesn’t matter...

How can you switch from intense
conversation to complete nothingness?

That’s unacceptable. You don’t harass
people with crazy love texts...

then disappear completely.
That’s ghosting, I can’t take it.

Sorry but that’s not
what ghosting means.

So... What did he say exactly?
He said... I know his text by heart.

He said “Can’t make it next week.
I’ll be away for 8 days.

- Don’t forget me, my paramour.
I’ll be back soon.” - “My paramour”?

I forgot he was so dumb.

- What did you answer?
- Well, I didn’t answer.

What? You didn’t answer?
No wonder you never heard back.

Not at all, it’s the opposite.
I didn’t answer so he would react.

I wanted to scare him.
Like, what do you expect, dude?

That I'll wait for you?
But that’s really the worst.

I didn’t answer in retaliation,
it’s half punishment, half strategy,

and he doesn’t react.

You could just send him:
“Where are you?”

Really?
That’s seriously intrusive.

Come on, it’s been almost
two months you’re together,

you have the right to know
how he spends his days.

No? He owes you that.

No, he doesn’t owe me a thing.
He didn’t ask for anything,

I jumped on him
like a frickin’ bulldozer.

Poor guy. He’s 55,
bored with his wife,

spends his days
working and then,

this gorgeous thirty-something
falls in love with him.

I’ve heard worse stories.

Let’s be pragmatic. You wanna
know when you’ll see him again? - Yes.

Send him this:
“When will I see you?”

- Well. That’s blunt... - No! That’s
honest and sharp! A grown-up text.

Yeah, you’re right.
I’ll text that.

- “So when will I see you?”
- No, Skip the “So”,

You’re not begging for anything.
Just "When will I see you"

OK.

Sending...

Sent.

Awesome, gingerbread!
Should I take some for dessert?

No, it’s gross, it makes me
wanna puke.

OK there really is a problem.
He can’t take this long to answer.

-This isn't his usual response time.
-"Usual response time"

Look: last month,
I text at 2:28, he answers at 2:31.

Then again, I text back at 3:09
and him, 3:14.

Another day, I text him at 9,
he texts back at 9:02.

And two weeks ago, weekday,
11:17-11:21, 11:24-11:30.

Same day, I mean in the evening,
I texted him at 11...

13.20 euros please.

Let’s tackle it rationally.
The Descartes way.

First scenario: the technical issue.
He never got my text.

Yeah...

Or I’m the one
who didn’t get his answer.

- Fuck, no reception here.
- Can we not consider this option?

Fair enough. Second scena...
What if he’s dead?

Oh absolutely! At his age...
heart attack in his staircase.

-I’m serious. What if his plane crashed?
- What plane?

- Let’s call the foreign service.
- That’d be a shame!

- Don’t you wanna stop here?
- No, we'd know if something bad happened.

- Aren’t we walking?
- I don’t know, I’m hungry.

There’s no network around here,
we gotta keep walking. Come on!

Your cousin is arriving
tomorrow, right?

- Do you know his friends?
You’ve got any pictures? - No.

- They’re all kids, don’t get excited.
- We’re not all gerontophiles, sorry.

I’m not gerontophile,
I’m sapiophile, not the same.

- Fucking countryside.
- "Sapiophile"?

Yes, I’m sexually attracted
to smart people.

- And Bruce isn’t that old.
- Come on, “Bruce”!

Just for that stupid name,
you should forget him.

You can’t be named Bruce
when both your parents are French.

Well. Anyway.
Third scenario...

We're here!

Here’s the house.

- My cousin Pauline.
- Hi Arnaud!

A brilliant scholar,

finishing her PhD in literature...
she’ll explain.

- This is Simon.
- Hi.

- My dear friend Françoise.
- Hi.

- And Annabelle, we met her
on our way here. - How funny...

Remember when he was saying
“I adore you, I’m longing for you”.

He was crazy about me, right?

And that night
when he texted me:

- “You’re making me happen to myself”...
- So pedantic...

And such a “Me, Myself, and I".

And that Tuesday when
he texted me out of the blue:

- “You perfume the air I breathe."
- That’s so corny!

You’re not a toilet freshener!
He’s so full of himself, it’s exhausting

He should spare that for his books
and stop being a pain in the ass...

Well, he stopped actually.

What about you, Colette?
What do you do?

Is she talking to me?

My name is Violette.

I met Pauline in uni.
And I'm an actress.

So, I promised
we'll go see the river.

- You coming?
- Definitely!

- Actually I have some work to do.
- You haven't done shit since we arrived

Exactly! Sorry.

There's no network there, we can't go.
What if he tries to call?

That's why you're staying,
are you fucking kidding me?

Alienation.

Benjamin Constant next to this.
I can't believe it.

A little order...

A little rigor.

MOM:
"I found your gloves"

How was "work"?

- He has a mistress.
- But you are his mistress!

- Another one.
- Did he tell you?

No but I can tell,
I’ve thought it through.

It’s the only explanation.

Look:

I knew he wasn’t here in early January,
he went to Serbia for a book fair

Then his essay release in Norway
or Iceland, Finland...

I don’t know,
some stupid island.

That was planned. But he was a
little unclear about the last two weeks,

he kept saying he wasn’t sure
about his trips,

he was so vague
and he’s never like that,

usually he plans every single thing,
like a psychopath.

I wasn’t suspicious, I didn’t try
to decipher this weird uncertainty.

And all of a sudden, out of the blue,
“I’ll be away for the next 8 days”.

Doesn’t say where nor why,
he uses super bare sentences,

so careful, so he doesn’t have to lie,
except that it's super sketchy.

It indicates a huge red flag.

And do you know why?
You know what happened?

Well he was just waiting
for another girl’s answer!

Another mistress he wanted
to go away with, his main mistress.

Maybe someone he met before me,
"the official mistress".

Anyway, this slut has much more
power over him than I do,

and he is completely dominated.

“Oh alright darling, wherever,
whenever, whistle and I’ll come.

I’ll stop everything
because I love you, my lover,

my sweet lover, you drive me crazy, you
make me lose my mind...” - Okay, but...

That’s brilliant! I’m here waiting for
a guy, who is waiting for a girl!

I’m therefore the doormat
of a bitch I don’t even know!

It’s a double-dependency scenario:

I’m the slave of a slave.

It’s all so logical. He has another
mistress, he likes her better!

That’s it.

If he doesn't respond, I think
it's to make you think about yourself.

Give you back the feeling of your
autonomy as a related subject

Nonsense. This guy is fucking with you.
You need to leave him.

He's not fucking with her,
she knew he was married and busy.

He took what he could,
and now it's done.

You know, it's totally possible
he never got your text.

In reality, it's a question
of subjective feeling of time.

The man you love is very busy,
he barely has time.

While you're out here,
in the countryside.

A day for you is 100 years,
while a week for him is 10 seconds.

Don't forget he's an old man.
He's not as excited anymore.

He still wouldn't
turn down the chance.

He should see Pauline and think:
"Fuck, the last meal before dessert"

- I think he's scared.
- And what's your theory?

The questions is
why isn't he answering, right?

I always have anxiety
responding instantly to texts

Then I forget to reply at all.

But then I don't think about it.
But it doesn't mean anything.

Pauline?

- You okay?
- Yeah...

- Igor?
- No, Guillaume.

Life sucks.

Your boyfriend texts you
all the time and you have a lover.

I’d rather not...

Is that your phone?

You have three texts.

Fuck! Are you kidding me?

Is the courtesy of turning your
phones off too much to ask? Fuck!

Simone de Beauvoir would never
feel this way because of a guy.

-What does she have to do with all this?
-I don’t know, she’s been on my mind.

If I were a true scholar,
a strong, independent woman,

- I wouldn’t be dying for a...
- You don’t know that.

-I wish I were him.
-What?

I’d like to be in his shoes.
To feel like...

that what I do is meaningful,
that my life is important.

I don’t believe mine is.
I’m empty empty empty...

-But his life is over!
-He made it. He transcends himself.

-I’m doomed to immanence.
-Love him if you want but this is crazy.

Could you hand me
the scarf he gave me please?

Please...

But Violette...

If he gave this to me,
it means that we are made to last.

Right? It means
that it’s serious.

You can’t give someone a scarf...

then forget about them,
that’s not possible.

OK, well, call me
if you need me.

You're all going to sleep?

Yeah, I think we’re off to bed...

"You were asleep, I went with them
to visit the castle...

They'll drop me at the end of the day,
before the festival. Love you, Violette"

"A life without love is like
a sailboat without a sail"

I don't know.

Next one.

It’s freezing!

Enough, enough.

Thanks.

I don’t know,
it came to me this afternoon.

I’m young, pretty and smart,

I’m not gonna spend my life
waiting for a text.

Come on, a fucking “text”!
How void is this!

- Just saying it is humiliating.
- That’s a tad too much.

He thinks he is
an influential writer,

- but no one knows who he is.
- That's what I said!

Slightly off the mark...

Come help?

Let’s be honest,

his books are alright,
but he’s no Proust.

What a loser.
On the verge of seniorhood.

If we had kids he could be
their grandfather.

-I’m sure his sperm has expired.
-Stop, that's gross.

So?

-Who did you sleep with?
-When?

Five’s a lot no?
Didn’t you feel redundant?

-We just visited a castle...
-Yeah, especially that night.

Here, take this...

you filter the texts, OK?
If the douchebag texts, just delete.

-Don’t want to hear about him.
-What? If he answers tomorrow or...

-Do you want to help or not?
-I want to help but it’d suck if...

No, he doesn’t deserve me.

Stopping everything on a whim?
You don’t want to know how it ends?

This is the end.
I'm taking my freedom.

By the way, enough with the countryside.
I’m going back to Paris tomorrow.

I told Maurice we were walking
to his house, since it’s so nice out.

Do you think I’ll see her again?
She probably forgot about me already.

-Who?
-Annabelle.

The train from...

See you Maurice,
thank you for everything!

Wait...

What the hell are you doing?
We’re gonna miss it!

-I can’t find my phone!
-You had it in the car.

-Give me your phone, I’ll call mine.
-What?

-Give me your phone, I’ll call mine.
-We don’t have time now...

-Which pocket?
-I don’t know, a small one.

Oh shit...

What, was there a text?
Who was it?

It was Bruce.
Hold on, don’t go!

-Wait, did you delete his message?
-Well... yes.

Thanks, good move.

Can you help me?
I can’t find my phone.

What if she’s trying
to get in touch?

-And what was Bruce saying?
-“Let’s see each other soon”.

Can you repeat
the message, just once?

- “Thinking about you, let’s
see each other soon”.

-What? “Thinking about you”?
-Oh found it!

-Yeah, I think so.

Train’s gone.

Next one is tonight, so get back in.
you’re not gonna spend all day here.

Violette, could you be more precise?

I need to know exactly
what the text was.

It’s not the same thing if
he said “Thinking about you” or...

You see, every word matters,
I won’t understand the meaning if you...

I’m sorry, I forgot...

I can’t believe it,
are you’re insane?

you erased it before
knowing it by heart?

What's wrong with you?
Why didn’t you read me the full text?

-You asked me to !
-You just want to ruin my life.

-You’re a complete psycho.
-Yes, pretty much.

You see how weak I am,
so you stab me in the back.

You're so selfish!
You don’t care about my distress!

I’ve been waiting for a sign from
him for 8 days, I almost died for him,

and when he finally texts me back,
all you do is...

THE END

HBF@KG