The Devil, Probably (1977) - full transcript

THE DEVIL, PROBABLY

Young man commits suicide

in P?re-Lachaise

P?re-Lachaise "suicide" was murder

Six months earlier...

Sometimes you shift your weight to the left

and sometimes to the right.

You end up with this.

Show me yours.

You don't walk properly.

Neither do you.

Nor you.

You do.

I proclaim destruction.

Everyone can destroy.

It's easy.

We can sway hundreds of thousands of people

with slogans.

Destroy what? How?

You want to know everything

and end up doing nothing.

- What will be left?

- It doesn't matter.

Anything would be an improvement.

If we're going to get done,

we want to know what the point of it is.

The point? There is no point.

Shut up!

Our only strength...

- Our only strength...

- Drop it.

Half-wits, morons.

Idiots, the lot of them.

Let's go. Come on.

SOCIETY FOR THE CONSERVATION

OF MAN AND HIS ENVIRONMENT

Thousands of dead trees

nearby and all around.

X-ray of the legs of a bull

living in the neighbourhood.

Destruction of birds and insects

beneficial to agriculture.

Rivers and oceans

contaminated by seepage.

Fixing of poisons

in living organisms, including man.

The threat of prison and even death

won't stop them.

It won't stop these either.

The tankers' effluent.

Aren't they being threatened with anything?

It's not just the noise.

Oxides are released from a height

of 15 to 20 km, destroying the ozone layer.

Once the traffic has doubled,

there'll be no more blue sky.

An earth that is ever more populated

and ever less habitable.

The destruction of entire species

for profit.

280 species of birds and mammals

in about the last hundred years.

400,000 elephants and 1,000 rhinoceros

slaughtered in Kenya this year.

180,000 baby seals for $2 million.

- Do you know where you're going?

- Yes.

- Where?

- His place.

- He hasn't got one.

- He's got a room.

- You'll break your parents' hearts.

- I can't help that.

Do you love him that much?

You're the one I love, Michel.

With him it's something else,

not true love.

What then?

I don't know.

He asked me to be

here at five, so here I am.

He might not come at all.

Here he is.

Is it because Luther decided that the Host

is sacred only once it had been swallowed

that you hand it out with unclean hands?

- Unclean?

- Hands not consecrated by priesthood.

Montesquieu said

Catholicism would destroy Protestantism

and Catholics would become Protestants.

You run after Protestants.

Because of the opportunities they offer

for living and thinking as you please?

We want to bring Christianity

into modern life.

- Why not modern life into Christianity?

- We've had enough of the old ways.

Priests and the faithful search daily...

Give us a break from your searching.

They meet daily with Protestants

to prepare the church of the future

and build a more logical form

of Christianity.

Logical?

Aren't all religions illogical?

That's why, like it or not,

the Christianity of the future will

be without religion.

You have to evolve,

move with the times.

To hell with the times!

You're so civilised, so cultured,

you and your bishops.

Is that why your music is insipid

and your hymns inane?

All those words and

gestures you've invented

are so insignificant,

they're humiliating.

God doesn't reveal himself

through mediocrity.

You no longer believe in the supernatural

but give us more than words so we may share

the fate of the poor and oppressed.

There is great suffering in the world.

A suburban vicar

said to me yesterday, "I'm bored!"

So are we. Let's go.

What you're making him do is disgraceful.

What amazes me is

how you can use Edwige like that.

Take her money but leave her alone.

Anyway, she loathes you. What about you?

I'm not in the habit of making

my feelings for girls public.

What makes you think

I have feelings for her?

Feelings?

- You're leading her on.

- Edwige, is that true?

Charles, please, don't get involved.

Leave us be.

Where was I?

Accelerate the process of psychological

disintegration already begun...

Already begun, comma,

through books, films and drugs.

Despite appearances,

she has no idea about intimacy.

She'll think you don't love her.

Who says I don't?

Now go and hurry back.

I'll bring her to you.

We'll leave.

You want to leave?

You won't leave me

after what's about to happen.

You know I've only got an hour.

What are we waiting for?

Why did you have to make me so happy?

Don't make matters worse by being stupid.

Poor little Edwige,

what have you done to yourself?

What is it to you?

You're not going to cry, too?

There's something ridiculous about you

that makes you seem funny.

I'll never stop laughing at you.

I'm going.

It's such a bourgeois idea,

such an outdated prejudice.

Prejudices are never outdated.

You bore me to tears.

I thought if he didn't come back

I'd have to talk to you.

- And did he come back?

- No.

What makes you think he won't come back.

Of course he'll come back.

I know you weren't made for each other.

You have nothing in common.

That's not true,

but I'll be his worst enemy

if I stop him from loving Edwige.

If I was sure he loved her,

it would cost me nothing to decide.

I'd make myself scarce.

- He wouldn't have that.

- I'd make sure he didn't feel guilty.

There is a way.

Stop loving him and love someone else.

Oh, Michel.

No, that's not it. If you left him first,

he'd come running after you.

Why don't you like him?

You're always putting him down.

Me?

Look what I found among his things.

Cyanide. That's a dreadful poison.

There's this, too.

Maybe it's to scare himself,

or to scare us.

- Hide it or throw it away.

- He'll notice.

Go on, but not just anywhere.

Where's Alberte?

What's the matter?

- I'll tell you everything.

- Don't tell me anything.

- No.

- Yes.

- No!

- Just that. Is it right?

You should know that the derivative

of log U is U prime over U.

Now go away

and don't ever come back.

He's there, but he refuses

to give lessons or be paid for them.

He won't do any more.

Why?

Is there no limit to doing nothing?

Yes, but beyond that

you experience such unheard-of pleasure.

What does Alberte say?

I haven't asked her.

She doesn't like questions.

You treat her appallingly.

Are you lecturing me?

Don't go. Stay.

Tell me who I love most,

Edwige or Alberte?

- You must know better than me.

- I don't know. You decide.

- Edwige, obviously.

- You're wrong. It's Alberte.

I've told Edwige and she completely agrees.

Suppose you didn't love either of them?

He really told me off.

- That's not true.

- Please.

Not another word about me.

He'll grow sick of me.

It's a sure way to put him off me.

And don't give him a lift.

- He's insisting.

- You'll impress him.

But you won't convince him.

You'll only reinforce his ideas.

Are you coming?

- Did you destroy the bottle?

- Yes.

- Did he notice?

- Of course.

Your new roads pass through wood pulp?

They must be felled.

They're seedlings.

SAVE OUR PLANET

Do you know how civilisations end?

It's when stupidity is accelerated.

Growth. Growth of what?

Of happiness?

Happiness on credit,

the credit card?

Or the happiness of walking in the country

and diving into a river?

All this is pretty much above board.

Red mud.

For years, 2,000 tons of sulphuric acid,

titanium and cadmium

dumped in the Mediterranean every day.

Dumping it on the seabed is no better.

Mercury waste thrown into the sea

passed on to humans through fish.

These pictures can't be shown too often.

15 years to react.

1 to 2% of world tonnage

spread along the coast and in the oceans.

Giant tankers are still being launched.

It's up to science to save us.

We'll end up simply waving our limbs about

and eating cakes, completely mad.

Do you want to go back to living in caves?

I ask for nothing,

I lay claim to nothing.

No, you want to be an exceptional guy

in an exceptional world.

What about you?

What do you stand for? Well?

Progress, brotherly love, love?

And you?

Me? Unbridled pleasure.

Making love like a beast, a wild animal.

- Where are you going?

- There.

Do you know her?

What's wrong with you?

Open the door!

Open the door!

I was so frightened.

What happened?

You can't rest your head underwater,

as if on a pillow, and wait.

It's not possible.

- Wait for what?

- I don't know.

This?

Idiot.

Do you know

what trouble you could get me into?

Idiot.

Do you think I could kill myself?

- Not for a moment.

- Why?

Because if we were really done for,

as you say we are,

if there really was no hope,

I'd still want to live

in spite of everything.

Without thinking,

just for the sake of it?

Living for the life force.

But I'm certain everything will be OK.

Certain?

Not through reason or intelligence.

- Something else.

- You're right.

Look what someone gave me.

Chocolates?

Don't worry,

I don't need anything.

When I'm hungry, I get what I need

from home when no one's there.

I've got the keys.

Isn't Charles here?

He might be angry with me

about the day before yesterday.

He hasn't been back since.

- Did you fight?

- No.

But I let him know I was sad.

He spoke to me gently

but his voice was so dry, almost polite,

that I froze.

Usually it's me comforting him.

Have you heard the news?

He's going to stay with Edwige

while her dad's away.

I know he wants to.

Don't get annoyed.

He'll be better off with her.

But I daren't encourage him

or he'll insist on staying.

I don't want him to be stuck here

out of duty.

That would kill off any love

he had left for me.

Can you believe he brought me these?

Do you want one?

Are you mad?

What's got into you? Tell me.

I knew you needed me.

Yes, I need you, Michel.

But not today. I'd rather be alone today.

It's awful seeing you here.

Come on, let's go out.

If my book's here, it's a bad sign.

It means it's not having the effect

I intended.

He thinks it's great.

- How do you know?

- He told me.

I think he's trying to please you.

He knows we're friends.

He keeps it hidden. I prefer that.

He's two-faced. Come the revolution...

- There won't be any revolution.

- Why?

- It's too late.

- If you say so.

- You said so yourself the other day.

- I did?

- It's tempting.

- What?

Nothing.

Can I borrow it?

I'll sell it to you. I've got another one.

Put it down.

Is it your gun that Charles has got?

- He was staring at the bullet in his hand.

- The bullet?

He probably wants a good look

before he puts a bullet in his head.

Charles!

He was here.

Charles!

Aren't you worried?

May I?

- You're shivering.

- No.

Yes, you are.

Come on. Let's warm you up.

Here, drink this.

I'm out of here.

Go on then.

All right? Am I late?

Alberte?

I prayed that you'd come back to life

so that I could hold you in my arms again

and kiss you like before.

Was I dead?

Then I woke up

to find you close to me.

It feels so good.

You know I'll never leave you.

Yes, I'm getting married.

- To Edwige?

- To Alberte.

- It's the only solution.

- Do you really think so?

- There is no other.

- Here it comes.

- I'll come with you.

- No, don't.

Hasn't the acceptable dose for humans

been rather hastily assessed?

I don't think so.

It's 0.17 rem.

A rem is the effect produced

on the organism by 1 rad of radiation.

A rad is equivalent to 100 ergs per gram.

Do nuclear power stations,

apart from permanently

destroying rivers,

preclude any threat of radioactivity

to the population?

If the precautions are insufficient,

we'll adopt more as we go along.

The gases given off

are mainly krypton and tritium.

They require processing plants

and waste has to be stored.

Isn't there a risk in transporting

that waste?

Trains carrying uranium were derailed,

one in the US and another in Germany.

- The containers remained intact.

- That was lucky.

Plutonium is more dangerous than uranium.

It lasts indefinitely.

Isn't the danger increased

by road transportation?

The engineers and technicians

are handling that problem.

Once stored, doesn't the waste

threaten to contaminate drinking water?

The earth's drinking water is comparable

to a drop of water on an orange.

Has the possibility of earthquakes

been considered?

And doesn't dumping the waste in the sea,

as we have become accustomed to doing,

mean the total destruction

of marine flora and fauna?

Never mind.

It's the future generations who'll pay.

The United States are planning

to build 1,000 nuclear power stations.

It is thought

that the USSR will build double that.

And you're not terrified by the sudden

proliferation of these power stations?

No, not at all.

Why the atom and not solar energy

or tidal power, for example?

Whose choice is it?

It's dictated by the work on

armaments and new types of weapons.

The masterpiece

is a thermonuclear missile

that will kill 20 million

men, women and children.

It's incredible that to reassure people,

you simply have to deny the facts.

What facts?

This is the supernatural. Nothing is clear.

You're unbelievable!

STOP REQUESTED

Governments are short-sighted.

Don't accuse governments.

No government in the world today

can boast that it's actually governing.

It's the masses who determine events.

Obscure forces whose laws are unfathomable.

It's true that something

is driving us against our will.

You have to go along with it.

And we do go along with it.

Who is it that's making

a mockery of humanity?

Who's leading us by the nose?

The devil, probably.

NO BATHING

Do you find her selfish?

She lets me go, then she's sad.

It's worse than if she hadn't let me go.

- Do you love him very much?

- Yes.

In that case...

What?

- Do you want him to be happy?

- Yes, of course.

If it seems he'd be happier with you...

Perhaps I'm not the person to say this...

It's all decided as you well know.

What's decided?

Leave us alone and don't get cross.

You stay.

- Did he tell you we were getting married?

- Yes.

He told me too, but it's just for show.

- It calms him down.

- That's what I thought.

He's caught a live fish.

Quick, let's hide.

We've arrested one person.

Keep us posted.

I've been told everything

and I thought I should come and see you

in view of my interest in you.

I hope you'll let me come back.

You must not doubt my sincerity.

What will you do?

Make it up with your parents?

Go home?

Return to what made you leave

in the first place?

Or hang on to your freedom?

I can get you a good position

with a colleague

or with me at the bookshop.

You'll never find a better friend than me.

Let me prove it to you.

Get away.

Take your money and get lost!

You're making a mistake.

I'm offering you protection.

- What happened?

- Nothing at all.

Why have you come?

All I've got left

is an old sweater

and the Coke bottles to take back.

- There's no more love.

- You didn't love him.

Or you only loved him

so you could be generous and forgiving.

He wasn't unfaithful.

He didn't know

he didn't love me any more.

You were only jealous

when he was away.

Leave me alone. Go away.

You're going to make me leave,

go back home.

I don't want to, do you hear?

Go away, please.

Are you there?

It's Valentin, he's back on drugs. Quick.

Are you hungry?

- Are you all right?

- Yes.

He says he has plenty of places he can go,

but he's lying.

He's safe here in the meantime.

Lock him in if necessary.

I'll be back.

- Don't go right away.

- I'm in a hurry.

No, leave that.

You should go to bed now.

Go to bed? Yes, I'm going to bed.

Straight to bed.

Here.

People here say you're mad too.

Victor Hugo says here,

on the subject of cathedrals,

"Such places are really holy."

But somewhere else he says,

"A cathedral is divine.

God is present.

"But if a priest appears,

God is no longer present."

- That's going too far, don't you think?

- Me and God, you know...

You're still going, we're going together.

On one condition.

All right.

I'm noting that you deny

any part in breaking open the boxes

or any part in the theft.

Go ahead.

- And yet you weren't alone.

- True.

A second sleeping bag is proof of that.

- Who was he?

- I don't know his name.

He escaped through the open doors.

He fled. He's far away.

What about the leaflets?

I found them on the chairs when I arrived.

I suppose you deny any intention to

distribute them

like in St. Bernard's the other night?

You're very clever,

but if I'd wanted to hand

these leaflets out in the church,

I wouldn't have been screwing them up

to make them unreadable,

and put them in the state they were in

when you found them in my pockets.

Can you explain what you were doing

in St. R?my church with that record player?

Do you refuse to answer?

No, but you wouldn't believe me

if I told you.

Answer!

You must understand

that I don't want your attention.

I need to be left alone.

That stupid business has shaken him up.

He hasn't even thought of getting up

since yesterday.

Only a great analyst

like Dr. Mime can make him better.

- How do we get him to accept that?

- I have some addresses.

Yes, I've forgiven him.

But will you ever forgive me, Michel?

I've been awful to you.

I want to know

what's going on in that heart.

Kiss me.

He has fled from his bed.

- When?

- I don't know.

- Where is he?

- How should I know?

Quickly, let's go.

How did this clash with society arise?

It's my normal state.

I've kept it quiet for a long time.

Don't you get pleasure from non-action?

Yes, but the pleasure of despair,

obviously.

- Do you feel guilty?

- Guilty?

Towards yourself?

Guilty without being so.

I know I'm more

intelligent than the others.

I'm perfectly aware of my superiority.

But if I did anything,

then I'd be useful, even if slightly,

in a world that disgusts me.

I'd betray my ideas.

It would only entrench me further.

I prefer to know that there's no way out.

Isn't begging in the streets, as I've seen

people like you do, a bit degrading?

Charity degrades the donor

as much as the recipient.

Isn't that a good excuse for laziness?

Perhaps, but so what?

If my aim was money and profit,

everyone would respect me.

Isn't being right

compensation for being alive?

In losing my life,

here's what I'd lose.

Family planning, package holidays -

cultural, sporting, linguistic.

The cultivated man's library.

All sports. How to adopt a child.

Parent-teacher associations.

Education. Teaching 0 to 4 years,

7 to 14 years, 14 to 17 years.

Preparation for marriage.

Military duties. Europe.

Decorations - honorary insignia.

The single woman.

Paid sick leave, unpaid sick leave.

The successful man.

Tax benefits for the elderly.

Local taxes.

Hire purchase.

Radio and television rentals.

Credit cards. Home repairs.

Index-linking. VAT and consumers.

Do you believe in God?

I believe, so far as possible,

in everlasting life.

But if I commit suicide,

I can't think I'd be condemned

for not comprehending

the incomprehensible.

How long have you been thinking

about death for?

He's there. All is well.

- All is well?

- Yes.

Often in my sleep

I see myself murdered, dead.

But I go on being hit.

I'm being trampled. It's awful.

All that for a holy cause.

Once the dream is over,

do you feel like a martyr?

Only an amateur.

When I wanted to drown myself in the bath,

or pull the trigger,

I was well aware of how hard it was.

Is your father in your dreams?

It's not very clear.

What does he do?

He's a property developer in the provinces,

or a contractor. I'm not really sure.

He's rich.

He pulls down trees with machines.

A new upsurge of libido

in our western world

might bring a destructive counterforce

for people in your father's profession.

What about your mother?

The richer he gets, the more she loves him.

Do you make love often?

Often. It puts me in touch

with my emotions, my feelings.

In your sexual relations, are you aware

of your fianc?e's bodily needs?

We don't have relations any more.

She was good in bed.

I thought that was love.

I've lost a wonderful girl.

When did you stop studying?

After higher maths.

I organised a sixth form cell at school.

And now you belong to left-wing groups?

Yes. Or rather, no.

No more politics in your life?

The rejection of all politics.

- Do you have any problem eating?

- Sometimes.

- I mean do you have an aversion to food?

- Not at all.

Loss of appetite

often accompanies severe depression.

I'm not depressed.

I just want the right to be myself.

I don't want to be forced to

give up wanting,

to replace my true desires with false ones

based on statistics, surveys, formulae,

ultra-stupid American-Russian

scientific classifications.

I don't want to be a slave or a specialist.

Were you beaten as a child?

Try to remember.

I was spanked.

Do you know that the feeling

of being crushed by the society you live in

might well be the result

of that spanking you got as a child?

That, together with the painful dream

of being murdered for a good cause,

would point to the development

of psychomotor symptoms

and explain the root

of your disgust and your wish to die.

But I don't want to die.

What? Of course you do.

I hate life but I hate death too.

I find it appalling.

Look, leave it to me.

Come back in two days.

Thursday, same time.

But Doctor, I'm not ill.

My illness is seeing too clearly.

Of course.

It's 200 francs a session.

Doctor.

- I don't think I will ever be able to...

- Pay?

Do the deed. To think I would suddenly stop

thinking, seeing, hearing.

That's why the ancient Romans entrusted

a servant or friend with the task.

- He's saved.

- Do you think so?

Edwige?

I know he has one to sell.

What if he refuses?

He won't. Give him this.

What do you need it for?

You'll see.

Just don't tell him it's for me.

But look...

Go on. I'll wait for you here.

And the bullets?

It's loaded.

Farewell.

Will you do me a favour?

No.

Worthy of the ancient Romans.

What ancient Romans?

Look.

That's all for you if you do as I ask.

What?

I'll tell you later.

Come with me for now.

I'll wait downstairs. Hurry.

Are you all right?

Let's get some air. Come on.

We're stopping here. Follow me.

A tot of something strong,

anything, brandy.

What about you?

Nothing.

Let's go.

Can't you wait?

Where are we going?

Wherever you like. Here or there.

I thought at a time like this

I'd have sublime thoughts.

Shall I tell you...?