Un ami parfait (2006) - full transcript
"Julien Rossi wakes up in a hospital bed and finds he has no memory of the events that left him in a coma in the early hours of New Year's Day. Was he attacked? Or was his head injury caused in an accident? This is only the first of many mysteries Julien has to resolve. Who is Marl?ne, the beautiful woman who claims to be his girlfriend? Why doesn't his real girlfriend, Anna, return his calls? What made him walk out on his job as a leading investigative reporter? Julien relies on Lucas, his best friend and
BASED ON THE NOVEL BY MARTIN SUTER
Let's go back to sleep.
We'll feel better tomorrow, Mr. Rossi.
THE TRAIN OF SUICIDES
Do you know why you're here?
- No idea.
- Head trauma.
You got hit in the head.
How long have I been here?
We picked you up off the street
on New Year's morning.
You were in a coma for two days.
Did I have an accident?
Maybe.
Or you could have been attacked.
Physiologically, things aren't so bad.
That's comforting.
What is there besides physiologically?
Psychologically.
You have retrograde amnesia.
You've forgotten
what happened before the trauma.
Our tests are showing
a gap of about 60 days.
But before those two months,
your memory is intact.
- Where's Anna?
- Your friend?
She came, but we had you under
anesthesia to run some tests.
She brought these.
- Anna.
- No, I'm Marlene.
Are you tired?
Do you want me to go?
I'll come tomorrow.
- Do you feel the cold?
- No.
- And here?
- No.
- Here?
- No.
- Will that come back?
- Sometimes it takes a while.
And if it doesn't?
You'll get used to it.
I asked your friend to bring you a diary.
Write down everything you remember
about those two months,
and try to put them
into chronological order.
OK?
OK. See you later.
You've reached Anna Ferre.
I'm not here. Leave a message.
Lucas.
- I thought you were asleep.
- Just pretending.
I was expecting somebody else.
I've got some kind of a hole in here.
My memories are blurry,
and then everything stops.
- I imagine, yeah.
- Oh, no.
You can't imagine.
I can't stop seeing
a guy throwing himself under a train.
Do I know someone who did that?
Your last article in the paper
was entitled "The Train of Suicides."
- Do you have an article in here?
- Yeah.
It's not very interesting.
Let me decide that.
Have you seen Anna? How is she?
Good. I think so, anyway.
She didn't come to see me.
Are you surprised?
Are you not?
That's not all that's surprising.
Who's Marlene?
Your girlfriend, right?
When Anna found out
that you were sleeping with her,
it didn't go over well.
I left Anna?
What are you talking about?
I don't care about this Marlene.
I love Anna more than anything.
- Good morning.
- He's asleep.
I spoke to the neurologist.
He gets out tomorrow.
I'll come pick him up.
- How long has he been asleep?
- I don't know.
He was asleep when I got here.
Hi there! They got sick of you
at the hospital, Mr. Rossi?
I had your clothes dry-cleaned.
I had shirts this expensive?
Your taste in clothes improved
when you met me.
"Don't forget your meeting
with Dr. Loiseau at 11 AM, 24 Zwingli St.,
"and don't forget you're having lunch
with Lucas at 1 PM at the Munich."
I CHARGED IT FOR YOU
You've reached Anna Ferre.
Leave a message.
You've reached Anna Ferre.
I'm not here. Leave a message.
- Yes?
- Julien Rossi.
THE TRAIN OF SUICIDES
THE TRAIN OF SUICIDES
Dr. Loiseau will see you now.
It's possible
that the period you don't remember
will grow smaller over time.
What I mean is, it's possible
that, in your ocean of amnesia,
some islands of memory may arise.
But it's also possible
that everything will come back at once.
I'd prefer that.
It's also possible that your memory
of those two months may never return.
Do some mental gymnastics.
Train your memory.
Read, memorize poetry,
do crossword puzzles.
And make sure to go on walks
in familiar places.
Those places are like goldmines
for memories,
whether in terms of sight, touch, smell...
And go back to work as soon as you can.
- Hey, Julien. Are you alone?
- Hello. No, I'm meeting someone.
Have a seat over there.
Julien.
Do I know that girl?
She's been working here for a month.
She's cute, huh?
What the hell is Anna doing?
I can't reach her.
Maybe she doesn't want to talk to you.
Did she tell you that?
I'm just speculating.
Is she still mad about Marlene?
You did move in with Marlene, after all.
- The risotto and a glass of Bordeaux.
- The risotto as well.
And some water, please.
Speaking of, could I stay with you
till I get my bearings?
Right now...
It's not a good time.
Are you seeing someone?
Do I know them?
I see.
We don't confide in each other anymore.
At least tell me whether Anna
is seeing someone.
- I have no idea.
- You have no idea...
Thank you.
What was I working on
since this "Train of Suicide" thing?
You didn't tell me.
- Is that yours?
- No, that's yours.
Are you kidding?
I swear.
Marlene?
Yeah, I'm going to work with Lucas.
What do you mean, why? Hello?
The call dropped.
I hate being surveilled.
She ruined my appetite.
Shall we go?
Where?
To the paper. I must have a ton
of work to catch up on.
Come on.
Ready?
Morning.
Who's that?
Axel Barnet, Julien Rossi.
What's he doing in my spot?
You should go see Saret.
Is he your new roommate?
JACQUES SARET: EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
...both. No, but... Ah.
Give us a minute, Sophie.
- What are you doing here?
- I'm fine.
You look good.
What's this Barnet doing in my seat?
He's a new guy Lucas brought in.
And why is he at my desk?
This is your resignation letter.
From two days before your...
hiccup.
Why would I have quit?
"For personal reasons."
Isn't that how you put it?
You didn't try to stop me?
You didn't seem like a guy
who could be stopped.
Lucas Jäger?
- Why didn't you tell me?
- I didn't want to upset you.
- Well done.
- I'm sorry.
I won't recover from this
if no-one tells me what happened.
I want to know why I lost Anna, my job,
and, clearly, everyone's sympathies.
So go on, tell me.
I didn't see you anymore.
You had other friends.
Who?
- Ask Marlene.
- I'm asking you.
You hadn't exactly changed for the better.
I don't want to talk about it.
- You don't like salmon?
- I never have.
And turn off this background noise.
You liked this music
when I showed it to you.
I don't remember the guy
who liked this hormone-fed shit
and this stupid music.
Apparently you do.
So help me out, OK?
How long have we known each other?
We met November 29th,
at the press luncheon
for the Biofib launch.
What's that, a detergent?
No. It's a new product from Swichoco.
It's a fiber-enriched bifidus drink
that's good for digestion.
It's called "functional food."
I was covering that bullshit?
You seemed very interested
in the press conference.
Food isn't my line of work.
How'd I wind up there?
Actually, I'd invited Lucas.
You know Lucas?
I got into public relations
through journalism.
I started out working freelance
for Messager du Haut Pays.
Where Lucas was working
when I got him a job with us.
Right. He left six months
after I got there.
- And you stayed in touch?
- It's part of my job.
That night, you invited me to dinner...
to talk more about Biofib.
One thing led to another,
and we ended up here.
Four days later, you moved in.
Were we having much sex?
A fair amount.
What did I like?
I'll show you.
LADIES
You're getting up?
Do you know what I did with my PalmPilot?
Maybe you lost it
when you had your accident.
Let's hope I didn't change my password.
JULIEN
PASSWORD
LOADING YOUR SETTINGS...
NO SEARCH RESULTS.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO EXIT SEARCH?
That's impossible.
Yes?
Yeah. 10:30 today.
Great, thanks.
CHIEF CHRISTIAN TANNER
Here's the statement
from the officers who found you.
"The morning of January 1st, a couple
noticed a man in evening wear
"bleeding profusely from the head.
"Good citizens, they called the police."
BUS STATION
Apparently, you were very confused.
Given the type of wound,
we think you were attacked.
It happens to good people, too.
You don't know what you were doing
at that bus station?
I'm as curious as you.
- Lucas isn't here?
- He's working at home.
Would it be okay to have
my desk back a sec?
Your desk?
Yes, I'd mind.
I just want to take a look
at my hard drive.
Here you go. It's all there.
Lucas took care of it.
- I want to check for myself.
- I said it's all there.
OK, move aside.
Nice job, Lucas.
Not one trace of a file.
Like I'd never written a damn word here.
JULIEN ROSSI, STAFF
MOVE IN MARLENE
Marlene, Marlene, Marlene...
We certainly were tight.
Restaurant, movie, "No Entry"?
What is that? LML, midnight?
Who's LML?
MIDNIGHT: LML
MOVIES MARLENE
LML?!
You've reached Anna Ferre.
I'm not here. Leave a message.
I saw you with Lucas.
I want to understand.
Nope, Lucas Jäger is not here.
But don't worry: he'll be back.
In the meantime,
go ahead and leave a message.
Since when are you into women,
you piece of shit?
ACCOUNT DEACTIVATED
Shit!
Julien, that's the paper's server.
You quit. You can't log in anymore.
Clearly.
Say... You knew about Anna and Lucas?
Why didn't you tell me?
It was for Lucas to tell you.
A friend's girlfriend is sacred.
Anna wasn't yours anymore.
Exes too, they're still off-limits.
And for Lucas, women were a new thing.
He made some premiere...
People change.
Yeah.
Sounds like everything changed.
You said we met on...
November 29th,
at the Swichoco press luncheon,
for the Biofib launch, right?
You never suspected I had a partner
already?
No, I did.
That next Wednesday.
That's the day you got an interview
with Dr. Fleischer,
our nutritional scientist.
About what?
You wanted to know everything
about our past and future products.
DR. FLEISCHER
That night, we had a date,
but you canceled
with some vague explanation.
I thought you and I were over.
- How did Anna find out?
- A few days before Christmas.
One night, around midnight,
the phone rang.
She asked for you. I didn't know
it was her. I put you on.
You didn't know it was her?
Of course, how could you?
What were my friends saying
about my double life?
We never saw your friends.
Other than the Lelievres, of course.
Luc and Marc.
I'd stopped seeing those social climbers
years ago.
Well, you seemed pretty close.
CALL FROM LUCAS
ADVANCED SEARCH
Julien!
- Hi, Marc.
- No, I'm Luc.
It's nice to see you again.
- Hi, Marc.
- Especially here in our restaurant.
- You own this place?
- Not yet.
Marc means that since we got back
in touch, you'd loved coming here.
- Whisky, as usual?
- No alcohol, thanks.
He's gone sober on us.
Is that because of the accident
you mentioned?
Thank you.
I've got a blank up here.
Like a hangover that won't pass.
Has anything come back to you?
Nothing in particular about you.
Can you tell me how we got back in touch?
Sure.
We ran into each other one night,
at the Richemont bar.
Then you called us up, so we met up again.
- At first just now and then.
- Then more often.
For dinner?
Dinner, lunch, drinks, to chat.
To talk about stuff
that had never interested you before.
Like what?
Money.
Yep.
I talked about with money with you?
- Yeah, well, indirectly.
- You asked us questions.
About how to make money?
No.
More like, how to spend it.
Meals, trips, women.
You were bored with your lifestyle,
and you were looking for a mentor.
You two?
You know, you were...
A little bourgeois drowning
in small-time desires.
- And thanks to you, I became...?
- Much more respectable.
SHOOTING BEGINS ON "LAKE LOVE",
JEAN-LOUIS MONTIER'S NEW FILM
- It's just what you need.
- Perfect to show Marlene off.
CALL FROM LUCAS
KEYPAD LOCKED
Hello.
PRESS
Jerome!
I knew it!
Try to tone it down a little.
Nicolas!
- Can you give him the blood packet?
- OK.
- How long?
- Ten minutes.
Ten minutes, OK.
- How much tape do we have?
- Fifty meters.
OK.
- How are you?
- Fine.
New perfume?
Your memory's OK.
I must have acted horribly toward you.
I don't know anymore.
I know you don't.
It's true, Anna.
I have no memory of us splitting up.
Unfortunately, I remember everything.
Tell me when and why
I started screwing up.
When you became infatuated
with the Lelievre brothers.
You were obsessed with them.
Why? I have no idea.
You wanted to bridge our worlds.
It wasn't possible.
It was that gap that destroyed us,
not Marlene.
She was just a symptom.
We broke up over a symptom?
Yeah, Sophie, it's me.
Your stuff from the office.
From Lucas.
It seems you're weren't answering.
Half a pint, please.
No-one will help me. Why?
Everyone would have helped
the Julien you remember.
But the one you've forgotten
was a real asshole.
You never helped anyone out.
You were coming into the office
less and less.
You'd made headlines with
"The Train of Suicides."
It was an accolade,
but you just kept saying
you were fed up with the paper.
- That wasn't really new.
- No.
What was new
was that you wanted to move on.
Move on?
Get a new job...
Get a new life.
Thank you.
You wanted to end
on what you were calling your "big scoop."
- What big scoop?
- You wouldn't tell anyone.
I can't have not talked about it
with Lucas.
He always said you hadn't told him anything.
But I don't believe him.
If anyone can help you, it's him.
Why?
When your friends
would say you were lying,
Lucas was the only one
who stood up for you.
Interview with Erwin Stoll,
train engineer, October 30th.
It's hard to see the guy looking at you
through the window.
To me, throwing yourself under a train
shows a lack of respect
for the person driving.
For him, it's over.
But I have to live with the image
of him looking at me, even at night.
Erwin Stoll.
I remember this guy's apartment,
the faded blue living room,
his canaries, his girlfriend.
His last suicide was André Barth.
He was a food scientist.
That's his widow, Jacqueline Barth.
I remember she was... hurt.
Oh, yes, I'm upset with André.
Of course. Suicide is...
What a horrible thing to do to someone.
So now, my attorney
is looking into the inheritance,
but I doubt I have much left.
I'm scared.
I'm afraid of what might happen.
You think at my age,
you want to go back to work?
I remember she was crying.
I want to meet
with that nutritional scientist.
The one you introduced me to.
- Dr. Fleischer?
- Right.
- What about?
- For an article.
You're writing again?
Why not?
Are we eating here or out?
Do what you want.
I've got work. I'm not hungry.
THE TRAIN OF SUICIDES
Dr. Barth was the head
of a research division at SanitAgro labs
for a dozen years.
Nothing.
- Hello?
- Mrs. Barth?
Mrs. Barth is away. I'm the maid.
Can I leave a message?
Yes.
Tell her Julien Rossi called.
Let me give you my number.
You don't know what you were doing
at that bus station?
EAUX VIVES BUS STATION
EAUX VIVES STATION
BUS STATION
- Hello.
- Hello.
Coffee, please.
- Yes? - This is Jacqueline Barth.
What do you want, Mr. Rossi?
We'd agreed that we'd come to
a mutually satisfactory agreement
and that we'd never speak of it again.
Look, I have a serious problem.
I had an accident, and I have amnesia.
Are you joking?
What did you mean just now,
about our agreement?
What was our agreement?
I gave you everything I had.
Gave me what?
UNKNOWN CALLER
EAUX VIVES STATION
- What happened?
- We'll help you.
We haven't seen you in ages!
Yes?
I got you a meeting with Dr. Fleischer.
He can see you next Thursday at 11 a.m.
OK, thanks.
I was thinking, last Sunday,
while reading your article
on André's suicide...
that you seemed like someone
I could trust.
I might be wrong.
But I trust you.
Here.
Take these files and notebooks
and see what you can do with them.
They belong to my husband,
and I figure they're important.
DR. M. LANG -- MANAGEMENT
Here. A brochure about who we are.
Thanks for arranging this meeting.
I really like your paper.
- Mr. Rossi. - Dimanche Infos.
- Mr. Rossi.
- Hi.
As Mrs. Monti must have told you,
I don't have a lot of time.
The lab is going through
some restructuring.
Thanks for seeing me.
I've only been here three months.
You draft security standards
for the food-processing industry, correct?
That's right. Future standards.
Consider... Even just detecting
GMOs in food.
Or all that's left to do about prions.
Do you know what that is?
Basically. Like everybody.
We believe that prions are responsible
for human contamination
by pathogens that carry
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Mad cow.
Actually, I'm interested
in someone who used to work here.
In the context of an article I'm doing
on suicide.
Who?
Dr. Barth worked here, correct?
I had only just arrived
when he committed suicide.
Mrs. Monti was his assistant.
What were his duties here?
Dr. Barth was in charge
of quality control.
In other words,
he developed the lab protocols.
Yes?
I'll check and call you back.
Excuse me...
Mrs. Monti will see you out.
You put her in a bad mood.
You're interested in Barth?
I'm interested in his research.
Mrs. Monti!
I'm catching my bus downstairs in an hour.
For my photo album.
When our lab was bought up
by the Swichoco Group,
Dr. Lang came in
and started reorganizing our lab.
SanitAgro is owned by Swichoco ?
Yeah. A classic tale
of mergers and acquisitions.
Dr. Lang was talking
about taking Barth's department away.
His suicide took us all by surprise.
He and I got along well.
What was he working on?
A process that would have made it possible
to prove that prions
present in certain materials
could have contaminated the food chain,
and on a method of eliminating any risk
of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
being passed to humans.
What kind of food
was Barth doing this research on?
Chocolate.
"Opium" by Yves Saint-Laurent, right?
Does that bother you?
I used to wear it,
but it didn't work on me.
Yeah.
So our friend Anna adopted it.
Isn't that right, Lucas?
See? My memory's coming back.
You can't hide from me forever.
Stop obsessing about the past.
Focus on the future.
Don't you feel
like you screwed my future up for me?
What do you mean?
Come on.
I mean you stole my girlfriend
and you stole my scoop.
You want my ass, too?!
Get the hell out.
I'm going to get what's mine.
Get out.
Instead of staring.
GENEVA AIRPORT.
TOWARDS A FRANCO-SWISS WAR?
THE FRANCO-SWISS WAR STARTED
IN THE BAGASSE WOODS...
- Thank you.
- Bye.
You don't look too good.
That's my photo that should be there.
He stole more than that from you.
What do you mean?
He was seeing Marlene Schwartz
while you were in hospital.
A Twix, please.
What was Lucas doing here
when I was in the hospital?
He only came once.
- I wasn't doing well.
- And?
- And he took care of me.
- Ah.
Taking care of other people's women
is his specialty.
It's not what you think.
Cut the crap! I get it.
I was on a big scoop,
and Lucas stole it from me.
And you...
You helped him.
You opened the door
and said, "have at it, Lucas."
That's ridiculous.
Lucas thought you were going
to get into trouble.
Oh, Lucas was thinking of me!
What a perfect friend!
I guess he was protecting me
when he stole my files
and erased my hard drive, too?
I don't know what you mean.
All I know is that Lucas mentioned a lead
that could cause you harm.
- To me or your employer, Swichoco?
- What's that supposed to mean?
It means that if Lucas
hasn't published anything yet,
then either he needs more info,
or he's planning something else!
Are you going to tell me why you hid this?
You'd have noticed
that some files had been erased.
Then why didn't you throw it away?
Are you crazy?
You know how much those cost?
Can you give this to accounting?
If you feel like crying tonight, call me.
He's already here.
You're early.
Shall we? Room 112, second floor.
- We didn't discuss the rent.
- Oh, no rent for friends.
Follow the guide.
This way.
Happy New Year, Lucas.
Can you turn it down a little, please?
DR. A. FLEISCHER -- NUTRITIONAL SCIENTIST
I should tell you that if it weren't
for this memory problem of yours,
I wouldn't have seen you.
You don't recognize me?
No.
- No.
- Honestly?
Honestly.
I wanted to discuss our interview
about Dr. Barth's research.
- Who?
- André Barth.
- From SanitAgro labs.
- What was his field?
Prion detection.
I don't remember us having discussed
that subject.
Dr. Barth had developed a promising test.
Interesting. He'll make himself rich.
He's dead.
That's a shame.
You don't remember our conversation
about Dr. Barth's research?
No.
I do remember
that we talked a lot
about functional food.
Read this again. It's fascinating.
Your meeting with Fleischer
has been canceled.
He's at a business seminar in Chicago. Marlene.
UNIVERSITY OF LAUSANNE
ALBERT FLEISCHER: BIOLOGY DEGREE
- Thank you.
- Functional food is our future.
Certain Swichocho products
are enriched with animal-based proteins.
Yes.
You know that they're prions?
Animal proteins, yes.
That's a dirty word for it.
And these prions
can enter proteinated food.
Take, for example,
the chocolate-production process.
What you're implying
is disparaging and slanderous.
There's a problem with these invoices.
They don't correspond
to any of your articles.
A round-trip train ticket,
two taxi rides, a lunch...
All on December 17th of last year.
You did write the article
"Polvolat Factory in Ouchy"?
Seems that way.
No-one in the office was able
to tell me what you were doing there.
We don't cover private travel.
If I got receipts,
then it was work-related.
Thank you.
Julien!
He went to his paper.
I'll call you in an hour.
SANITAGRO LABS -- BIANCA MONTI: SECRETARY
I only have a few minutes.
I'll have the same thing.
I wanted to talk about André Barth again.
Did Barth ever mention
a company called Polvolat?
Polvolat.
P-O-L-V-O-L-A-T.
Thank you.
This is off the record.
Extremely off the record, OK?
Yes, he met some people from Polvolat.
They're the end-all-be-all
of powdered foods.
They supply the big firms
like Swichoco, for example.
I went with him.
They made us put on lab coats,
boots, hair-coverings...
To prevent us from contaminating anything.
Dr. Barth thought that powdered foods
could be contaminated by prions.
I know he went back to Polvolat
several times after that, but without me.
Barth was almost certainly able
to confirm his fears.
POLVOLAT PRODUCTION LINE
We can produce powdered food products
with up to 80% fat
to produce other products.
We can produce powdered milk,
powdered cheese, chocolate,
anything you want,
which can then be used to make
feed for calves, baby food...
At the same time?
- Calves, babies?
- Of course not.
The machine is stopped and cleaned
between production cycles.
Hang on. Let's say, for example,
that you add beef fat
to the powder for calves, OK?
Now let's suppose that
the beef fat is contaminated with prions.
Who can assure me that the
sterilization of the machine will work
when you switch to baby food?
Don't forget that prions
can withstand very high temperatures.
There must be some record of his research.
He wasn't working all alone.
Researchers share their results.
I can email you the list of people
he was in contact with.
But I'm risking my job.
Don't worry.
- I protect my sources.
- I sure hope so.
I have to go.
Do you know a cheap hotel around here?
Yes: Les Goelands. It's my sister's hotel.
Let's go.
POSTCARD FOR SALE
I imagine this isn't a coincidence.
I'm terribly sorry.
You want to talk about my husband again?
About what you gave me of his.
Let's at least discuss it over lunch.
I'm starving.
Your husband had detected
the presence of prions
in various Swichoco products.
That's clear from some
of the documents you gave me.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
Delicious.
The problem is,
I no longer have those documents.
Do you have copies?
No.
Does the name Lucas Jäger ring a bell?
- Who?
- Lucas Jäger.
A journalist.
I think he stole what you gave me.
In fact, I think he's in cahoots with you.
My investigation confirmed
what your husband discovered.
Someone got ticked off by my investigation
and had me attacked.
Lucas took advantage of my amnesia
to steal my scoop,
and got you to set your sources
aside for him.
You're mistaken.
Mr. Jäger did pay me a visit.
But he wanted my silence,
and he was worried about your health.
Let's suppose --
and I do mean "suppose" --
that these documents exist.
Perhaps your friend
doesn't want them published.
Maybe someone dissuaded him
from publishing the story.
Dissuaded him rather insistently.
By threatening him?
Or buying him out?
If that's what you think, then help me.
In your husband's memory.
For the thousands who
could have been contaminated.
A few hundred people will get sick,
but the rest will be fine.
Why set off a panic?
The manufacturers have already taken steps
to prevent this kind of mistake
from recurring.
Come on.
Enjoy the present.
When I first spoke with you,
you were worried about money.
The notary discovered some investments.
A lot of money?
And you accepted it
without knowing where it came from?
That's your perspective.
What if your husband killed himself
because he was so ashamed
at having sold his soul?
My husband allowed for me
to have a good life after he was gone.
If that's what he sold his soul for,
as you put it so fancifully,
then I can't judge him.
All I can do is thank him.
I'm OK, thanks.
Thank you.
You're paying, of course?
You wouldn't dream of profiting
off of any shady money.
Under other circumstances,
I would have looked forward
to giving you a last drink
in my room.
Under other circumstances,
I might have agreed.
Thank you.
What do you want with me?
I didn't understand.
At some point,
which I'm having trouble pinpointing,
I became a very different person.
And I don't remember the person I became.
I'm hesitant, even,
about trying to remember.
What I glimpse in other people's eyes
isn't very encouraging.
But I guess if I chose to be someone else,
it's what I wanted, right?
That need existed under the surface,
and something triggered it in you.
Perhaps your encounter
with your old friends Luc and Marc.
The luxury and ease
that seems to surround them...
You wanted to become
the person you'd always forbidden yourself
from being.
What you have to figure out
is where you feel best.
I mean, in the skin you're in now,
or as the person you became,
and whom you've forgotten.
THE NO ENTRY
Samantha.
So, you're back?
Did I come here often?
- You had your own table.
- And your own bottle.
Are you two regulars, too?
The walls are owned
by one of our businesses.
Like the place you're putting me up in.
Exactly.
You're still all about money, eh?
Is that a problem?
Look out: you're turning back
into your old bourgeois self.
Samantha, did she work here before?
No, she's new.
But she's quite talented.
Do you know her?
- No.
- Looks like she knows you.
Hang on! Forget it.
No answer.
Mr. Jäger must have gone home.
- Where's Lucas?
- I'm not his secretary.
Where's Lucas?
I think he has a meeting
at the Beau Rivage hotel.
Hi, I'm going to Henchoz, by the lake.
I'll point it out.
I have every reason to believe
he sold out to Swichoco
to bury my story.
But I won't be bought off.
So I'm being followed.
You're paranoid.
I don't believe your story about
stolen files, or the rest.
- Anna.
- Yes?
Can you do the body double?
Sure.
Lucas always defended you
when people criticized you.
- People?
- Me, for example.
Sometimes.
I'm glad to hear that.
Lucas always made excuses for you.
He was always trying
to explain your behavior.
Here.
It's beautiful, but I don't want.
Lucas and I are over.
It could never work.
That's why I agreed to see you.
So you'd hear it from me.
SEALED
Sorry.
Sophie?
Lucas killed himself.
He was my best friend.
Why did he kill himself?
My girlfriend just broke up with him.
His girlfriend, I mean.
Who had been mine before...
I need to be alone.
Samantha.
Thank you.
The phone company gave us
the list of calls to and from
Mr. Jäger's cell.
He called an ambulance
very early on January 1st.
When the ambulance got to his cabin,
no-one was injured.
Mr. Jäger apologized
and paid for their time.
That was the morning you were found
at Eaux Vives station.
You still don't remember
why you were there?
No.
Nor do you remember
where you spent New Year's Eve?
OK.
You were with Marlene Schwartz
and the Lelievre brothers.
You celebrated until sunrise
at their club.
... two, one, midnight!
Happy New Year!
We've established
that you called Mr. Jäger
early New Year's morning.
Was it to wish him a Happy New Year,
or to talk to him about your partner,
who was now his?
Probably the latter.
You wind up at his place.
Things go south.
You fight. You're bleeding.
Mr. Jäger panics and calls an ambulance.
But the blizzard had damaged
the cell tower.
The service is spotty.
Mr. Jäger walks off to find some.
When he gets back, you're gone.
After he breaks up with Anna Ferre,
Mr. Jäger moved to his cabin.
He spent just one night there.
Between the heartbreak
and a ruined friendship on his conscience,
anyone might have been tempted
to drown himself.
Brothers and sisters,
as we await the Resurrection,
we return to the earth which perishes,
and we affirm our faith in eternal life
and our communion
with beliefs throughout the ages.
It's so horrible.
Today more than ever,
we count on You to help us believe.
Help us preserve our faith,
the power of love and hope.
Amen.
Why didn't Anna come?
I imagine she feels responsible.
I feel responsible, too.
JULIEN ROSSI: YOU HAVE ONE NEW MESSAGE
CANCEL - OPEN
"As per your request,
"here is the list
of immunoassay specialists
"Barth had been in contact with.
"Ciao, Bianca."
"please contact me
"if you exchanged
"any information regarding SanitAgro
"with Dr. Barth
"before he died.
"Julien Rossi."
MESSAGE SENT TO:
Here. This is everything
Lucas left behind when he left.
Nothing about Barth, or Swichoco,
or SanitAgro, or Polvolat.
How could I have been so wrong?
- Does it hurt?
- A little.
You need to press charges.
- What good would it do?
- What do you mean?
It's too hard to explain.
Lucas loved you.
Truly.
He said your accident
was a miracle, a second chance.
He said people never
get a chance to start over
and forget how misguided they'd been.
I used to ask him what he meant.
But he'd never answer me.
Where's his laptop?
He took it to the cabin
the night he left me.
I'm going to make some tea.
- Yes? - Mr. Rossi?
That's me.
I'm Dr. Daenzer's secretary.
You sent him an email
regarding Dr. Barth's experiments.
That's right.
Dr. Daenzer has suggested
that you meet with his assistant,
Mr. Hartmann, today at 6 p.m.
OK.
Mr. Rossi!
Rodolphe Hartmann.
Forgive me for my appearance
the other day.
Who are you?
I work with Swichoco.
In which department?
Security.
Please excuse my agents.
They thought they needed
to intimidate you.
They went a little overboard.
They'll be disciplined.
Send me an invoice for the damages.
And of course,
we'll compensate your for physical damage.
What are you playing at?
You don't scare me.
Why don't we discuss André Barth's death?
He was a very talented researcher.
His suicide is inexplicable.
His discovery had made him rich.
You paid him off?
The Swichoco Group
acquired Barth's process
at the same time as SanitAgro did.
Barth had developed the most reliable
process for detecting prions.
That's correct.
It's strange we never heard about it.
Do you really think
we should cause that amount of trouble
for a company like ours
because a researcher found
a few unfortunate prions
in our bars of chocolate?
Especially since in the end,
they'd only impact a completely
negligible number of victims?
We're helping the economy grow.
We have a great number of employees.
What's more important?
The well-being of our employees
and their families,
or a handful of presumed victims
we'll never know anything about?
Lucas Jäger is dead
because he didn't share
your sense of responsibility?
Mr. Jäger? I met him just once,
right here.
He tried to convince us
that you were only trying
to get your memory back.
I'd have believed him
if you hadn't been so meticulous
as to pursue, among other things,
Mrs. Barth.
Mr. Jäger made the mistake
of threatening us
if we wouldn't leave you alone.
And so you killed him?
Every man has a price, as you know.
What's a journalist's silence worth?
$800,000. In cash, of course.
You paid Lucas $800,000?
Him, no.
But you, yes.
It was four days
before you wound up in the hospital.
But...
But...
If I had $800,000, I'd know.
What you do with your money
is none of our business.
You'll understand that at that price,
we wouldn't take kindly to a
unilateral revision of your commitments.
Consider this conversation
my contribution to your recovered memory.
And if I may allow myself
to give you some advice about your money:
Swichoco is a good investment.
Happy New Year, Lucas.
- What happened?
- I fell.
Like an idiot.
Say...
We met up because of your
financial knowledge, right?
That's right.
To discuss a discreet investment...
For example.
An $800,000 investment.
More or less, yes.
Did you ask me where I got it?
If you'd wanted to tell us,
you'd have gone to your bank.
Why haven't you mentioned it to me?
We wanted to see if you'd remember.
- And if it hadn't?
- You wouldn't have missed that money.
Well, I miss it now.
Get it back to me in 48 hours.
With or without interest?
With.
- That stinks.
- I'll throw them out.
The police must have taken his laptop.
He always used to put it
under his mattress.
So?
I've got it.
Do you know his password?
If he didn't change it, it's "Julien."
Mine was "Lucas."
The hard drive's been wiped.
It's all here.
Including the copies of Barth's notebooks.
And this.
"Swichoco affair, Julien Rossi,
hard-drive copy."
You think I matter
compared to a company that size?
May as well make money!
If they're willing to pay you,
it's proof they're scared of you.
They're afraid of the scandal.
Once your article comes out,
the press will back you.
- I'm tired of fighting.
- Fight, for Christ's sake!
If only to be able to look at yourself.
I want a new life.
Don't forget that you gave me a copy
of all your information.
"Just in case," you said.
So if you don't publish your article,
I will.
I advise against that.
Truly.
Happy New Year, Lucas.
Forget it.
Forget...
That's my specialty.
I should get a change of scenery.
I need sun, and sea, and wind.
I need you.
Will you come with me?
I don't know.
Maybe, after shooting's over.
CHOCO SHOCK: PRIONS IN CHOCOLATE
CHOCO SHOCK: PRIONS IN CHOCOLATE
BY LUCAS JÄGER
- It's me. - Are you still coming?
It's great here.
I just read Dimanche Infos.
Did they publish the article?
Fantastic.
- Are you insane? - Why are you reacting this way?
I owed it to Lucas. You don't want him
to have died in vain, do you?
Have you considered
how the Swichoco people will react?
They got rid of Lucas,
and he hadn't published anything.
Exactly. They can't kill him twice.
But you're alive!
They know it had to have been you.
That's true.
The funniest bit is,
they had paid me to keep quiet.
Can you repeat that?
Swichoco had paid me off.
Or I'd sold out.
I don't know if I regret it.
How much did you get?
$800,000, which I've just recovered
and am going to spend with you.
You've reached Anna Ferre.
I'm not here. Leave a message.
You don't get it, Anna.
Money can buy happiness.
Just ask poor people.
And you know what?
It's exciting to play with fire.
I'll meet you at the airport.
I love you.
Subtitle translation by: Adam Lozier
Let's go back to sleep.
We'll feel better tomorrow, Mr. Rossi.
THE TRAIN OF SUICIDES
Do you know why you're here?
- No idea.
- Head trauma.
You got hit in the head.
How long have I been here?
We picked you up off the street
on New Year's morning.
You were in a coma for two days.
Did I have an accident?
Maybe.
Or you could have been attacked.
Physiologically, things aren't so bad.
That's comforting.
What is there besides physiologically?
Psychologically.
You have retrograde amnesia.
You've forgotten
what happened before the trauma.
Our tests are showing
a gap of about 60 days.
But before those two months,
your memory is intact.
- Where's Anna?
- Your friend?
She came, but we had you under
anesthesia to run some tests.
She brought these.
- Anna.
- No, I'm Marlene.
Are you tired?
Do you want me to go?
I'll come tomorrow.
- Do you feel the cold?
- No.
- And here?
- No.
- Here?
- No.
- Will that come back?
- Sometimes it takes a while.
And if it doesn't?
You'll get used to it.
I asked your friend to bring you a diary.
Write down everything you remember
about those two months,
and try to put them
into chronological order.
OK?
OK. See you later.
You've reached Anna Ferre.
I'm not here. Leave a message.
Lucas.
- I thought you were asleep.
- Just pretending.
I was expecting somebody else.
I've got some kind of a hole in here.
My memories are blurry,
and then everything stops.
- I imagine, yeah.
- Oh, no.
You can't imagine.
I can't stop seeing
a guy throwing himself under a train.
Do I know someone who did that?
Your last article in the paper
was entitled "The Train of Suicides."
- Do you have an article in here?
- Yeah.
It's not very interesting.
Let me decide that.
Have you seen Anna? How is she?
Good. I think so, anyway.
She didn't come to see me.
Are you surprised?
Are you not?
That's not all that's surprising.
Who's Marlene?
Your girlfriend, right?
When Anna found out
that you were sleeping with her,
it didn't go over well.
I left Anna?
What are you talking about?
I don't care about this Marlene.
I love Anna more than anything.
- Good morning.
- He's asleep.
I spoke to the neurologist.
He gets out tomorrow.
I'll come pick him up.
- How long has he been asleep?
- I don't know.
He was asleep when I got here.
Hi there! They got sick of you
at the hospital, Mr. Rossi?
I had your clothes dry-cleaned.
I had shirts this expensive?
Your taste in clothes improved
when you met me.
"Don't forget your meeting
with Dr. Loiseau at 11 AM, 24 Zwingli St.,
"and don't forget you're having lunch
with Lucas at 1 PM at the Munich."
I CHARGED IT FOR YOU
You've reached Anna Ferre.
Leave a message.
You've reached Anna Ferre.
I'm not here. Leave a message.
- Yes?
- Julien Rossi.
THE TRAIN OF SUICIDES
THE TRAIN OF SUICIDES
Dr. Loiseau will see you now.
It's possible
that the period you don't remember
will grow smaller over time.
What I mean is, it's possible
that, in your ocean of amnesia,
some islands of memory may arise.
But it's also possible
that everything will come back at once.
I'd prefer that.
It's also possible that your memory
of those two months may never return.
Do some mental gymnastics.
Train your memory.
Read, memorize poetry,
do crossword puzzles.
And make sure to go on walks
in familiar places.
Those places are like goldmines
for memories,
whether in terms of sight, touch, smell...
And go back to work as soon as you can.
- Hey, Julien. Are you alone?
- Hello. No, I'm meeting someone.
Have a seat over there.
Julien.
Do I know that girl?
She's been working here for a month.
She's cute, huh?
What the hell is Anna doing?
I can't reach her.
Maybe she doesn't want to talk to you.
Did she tell you that?
I'm just speculating.
Is she still mad about Marlene?
You did move in with Marlene, after all.
- The risotto and a glass of Bordeaux.
- The risotto as well.
And some water, please.
Speaking of, could I stay with you
till I get my bearings?
Right now...
It's not a good time.
Are you seeing someone?
Do I know them?
I see.
We don't confide in each other anymore.
At least tell me whether Anna
is seeing someone.
- I have no idea.
- You have no idea...
Thank you.
What was I working on
since this "Train of Suicide" thing?
You didn't tell me.
- Is that yours?
- No, that's yours.
Are you kidding?
I swear.
Marlene?
Yeah, I'm going to work with Lucas.
What do you mean, why? Hello?
The call dropped.
I hate being surveilled.
She ruined my appetite.
Shall we go?
Where?
To the paper. I must have a ton
of work to catch up on.
Come on.
Ready?
Morning.
Who's that?
Axel Barnet, Julien Rossi.
What's he doing in my spot?
You should go see Saret.
Is he your new roommate?
JACQUES SARET: EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
...both. No, but... Ah.
Give us a minute, Sophie.
- What are you doing here?
- I'm fine.
You look good.
What's this Barnet doing in my seat?
He's a new guy Lucas brought in.
And why is he at my desk?
This is your resignation letter.
From two days before your...
hiccup.
Why would I have quit?
"For personal reasons."
Isn't that how you put it?
You didn't try to stop me?
You didn't seem like a guy
who could be stopped.
Lucas Jäger?
- Why didn't you tell me?
- I didn't want to upset you.
- Well done.
- I'm sorry.
I won't recover from this
if no-one tells me what happened.
I want to know why I lost Anna, my job,
and, clearly, everyone's sympathies.
So go on, tell me.
I didn't see you anymore.
You had other friends.
Who?
- Ask Marlene.
- I'm asking you.
You hadn't exactly changed for the better.
I don't want to talk about it.
- You don't like salmon?
- I never have.
And turn off this background noise.
You liked this music
when I showed it to you.
I don't remember the guy
who liked this hormone-fed shit
and this stupid music.
Apparently you do.
So help me out, OK?
How long have we known each other?
We met November 29th,
at the press luncheon
for the Biofib launch.
What's that, a detergent?
No. It's a new product from Swichoco.
It's a fiber-enriched bifidus drink
that's good for digestion.
It's called "functional food."
I was covering that bullshit?
You seemed very interested
in the press conference.
Food isn't my line of work.
How'd I wind up there?
Actually, I'd invited Lucas.
You know Lucas?
I got into public relations
through journalism.
I started out working freelance
for Messager du Haut Pays.
Where Lucas was working
when I got him a job with us.
Right. He left six months
after I got there.
- And you stayed in touch?
- It's part of my job.
That night, you invited me to dinner...
to talk more about Biofib.
One thing led to another,
and we ended up here.
Four days later, you moved in.
Were we having much sex?
A fair amount.
What did I like?
I'll show you.
LADIES
You're getting up?
Do you know what I did with my PalmPilot?
Maybe you lost it
when you had your accident.
Let's hope I didn't change my password.
JULIEN
PASSWORD
LOADING YOUR SETTINGS...
NO SEARCH RESULTS.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO EXIT SEARCH?
That's impossible.
Yes?
Yeah. 10:30 today.
Great, thanks.
CHIEF CHRISTIAN TANNER
Here's the statement
from the officers who found you.
"The morning of January 1st, a couple
noticed a man in evening wear
"bleeding profusely from the head.
"Good citizens, they called the police."
BUS STATION
Apparently, you were very confused.
Given the type of wound,
we think you were attacked.
It happens to good people, too.
You don't know what you were doing
at that bus station?
I'm as curious as you.
- Lucas isn't here?
- He's working at home.
Would it be okay to have
my desk back a sec?
Your desk?
Yes, I'd mind.
I just want to take a look
at my hard drive.
Here you go. It's all there.
Lucas took care of it.
- I want to check for myself.
- I said it's all there.
OK, move aside.
Nice job, Lucas.
Not one trace of a file.
Like I'd never written a damn word here.
JULIEN ROSSI, STAFF
MOVE IN MARLENE
Marlene, Marlene, Marlene...
We certainly were tight.
Restaurant, movie, "No Entry"?
What is that? LML, midnight?
Who's LML?
MIDNIGHT: LML
MOVIES MARLENE
LML?!
You've reached Anna Ferre.
I'm not here. Leave a message.
I saw you with Lucas.
I want to understand.
Nope, Lucas Jäger is not here.
But don't worry: he'll be back.
In the meantime,
go ahead and leave a message.
Since when are you into women,
you piece of shit?
ACCOUNT DEACTIVATED
Shit!
Julien, that's the paper's server.
You quit. You can't log in anymore.
Clearly.
Say... You knew about Anna and Lucas?
Why didn't you tell me?
It was for Lucas to tell you.
A friend's girlfriend is sacred.
Anna wasn't yours anymore.
Exes too, they're still off-limits.
And for Lucas, women were a new thing.
He made some premiere...
People change.
Yeah.
Sounds like everything changed.
You said we met on...
November 29th,
at the Swichoco press luncheon,
for the Biofib launch, right?
You never suspected I had a partner
already?
No, I did.
That next Wednesday.
That's the day you got an interview
with Dr. Fleischer,
our nutritional scientist.
About what?
You wanted to know everything
about our past and future products.
DR. FLEISCHER
That night, we had a date,
but you canceled
with some vague explanation.
I thought you and I were over.
- How did Anna find out?
- A few days before Christmas.
One night, around midnight,
the phone rang.
She asked for you. I didn't know
it was her. I put you on.
You didn't know it was her?
Of course, how could you?
What were my friends saying
about my double life?
We never saw your friends.
Other than the Lelievres, of course.
Luc and Marc.
I'd stopped seeing those social climbers
years ago.
Well, you seemed pretty close.
CALL FROM LUCAS
ADVANCED SEARCH
Julien!
- Hi, Marc.
- No, I'm Luc.
It's nice to see you again.
- Hi, Marc.
- Especially here in our restaurant.
- You own this place?
- Not yet.
Marc means that since we got back
in touch, you'd loved coming here.
- Whisky, as usual?
- No alcohol, thanks.
He's gone sober on us.
Is that because of the accident
you mentioned?
Thank you.
I've got a blank up here.
Like a hangover that won't pass.
Has anything come back to you?
Nothing in particular about you.
Can you tell me how we got back in touch?
Sure.
We ran into each other one night,
at the Richemont bar.
Then you called us up, so we met up again.
- At first just now and then.
- Then more often.
For dinner?
Dinner, lunch, drinks, to chat.
To talk about stuff
that had never interested you before.
Like what?
Money.
Yep.
I talked about with money with you?
- Yeah, well, indirectly.
- You asked us questions.
About how to make money?
No.
More like, how to spend it.
Meals, trips, women.
You were bored with your lifestyle,
and you were looking for a mentor.
You two?
You know, you were...
A little bourgeois drowning
in small-time desires.
- And thanks to you, I became...?
- Much more respectable.
SHOOTING BEGINS ON "LAKE LOVE",
JEAN-LOUIS MONTIER'S NEW FILM
- It's just what you need.
- Perfect to show Marlene off.
CALL FROM LUCAS
KEYPAD LOCKED
Hello.
PRESS
Jerome!
I knew it!
Try to tone it down a little.
Nicolas!
- Can you give him the blood packet?
- OK.
- How long?
- Ten minutes.
Ten minutes, OK.
- How much tape do we have?
- Fifty meters.
OK.
- How are you?
- Fine.
New perfume?
Your memory's OK.
I must have acted horribly toward you.
I don't know anymore.
I know you don't.
It's true, Anna.
I have no memory of us splitting up.
Unfortunately, I remember everything.
Tell me when and why
I started screwing up.
When you became infatuated
with the Lelievre brothers.
You were obsessed with them.
Why? I have no idea.
You wanted to bridge our worlds.
It wasn't possible.
It was that gap that destroyed us,
not Marlene.
She was just a symptom.
We broke up over a symptom?
Yeah, Sophie, it's me.
Your stuff from the office.
From Lucas.
It seems you're weren't answering.
Half a pint, please.
No-one will help me. Why?
Everyone would have helped
the Julien you remember.
But the one you've forgotten
was a real asshole.
You never helped anyone out.
You were coming into the office
less and less.
You'd made headlines with
"The Train of Suicides."
It was an accolade,
but you just kept saying
you were fed up with the paper.
- That wasn't really new.
- No.
What was new
was that you wanted to move on.
Move on?
Get a new job...
Get a new life.
Thank you.
You wanted to end
on what you were calling your "big scoop."
- What big scoop?
- You wouldn't tell anyone.
I can't have not talked about it
with Lucas.
He always said you hadn't told him anything.
But I don't believe him.
If anyone can help you, it's him.
Why?
When your friends
would say you were lying,
Lucas was the only one
who stood up for you.
Interview with Erwin Stoll,
train engineer, October 30th.
It's hard to see the guy looking at you
through the window.
To me, throwing yourself under a train
shows a lack of respect
for the person driving.
For him, it's over.
But I have to live with the image
of him looking at me, even at night.
Erwin Stoll.
I remember this guy's apartment,
the faded blue living room,
his canaries, his girlfriend.
His last suicide was André Barth.
He was a food scientist.
That's his widow, Jacqueline Barth.
I remember she was... hurt.
Oh, yes, I'm upset with André.
Of course. Suicide is...
What a horrible thing to do to someone.
So now, my attorney
is looking into the inheritance,
but I doubt I have much left.
I'm scared.
I'm afraid of what might happen.
You think at my age,
you want to go back to work?
I remember she was crying.
I want to meet
with that nutritional scientist.
The one you introduced me to.
- Dr. Fleischer?
- Right.
- What about?
- For an article.
You're writing again?
Why not?
Are we eating here or out?
Do what you want.
I've got work. I'm not hungry.
THE TRAIN OF SUICIDES
Dr. Barth was the head
of a research division at SanitAgro labs
for a dozen years.
Nothing.
- Hello?
- Mrs. Barth?
Mrs. Barth is away. I'm the maid.
Can I leave a message?
Yes.
Tell her Julien Rossi called.
Let me give you my number.
You don't know what you were doing
at that bus station?
EAUX VIVES BUS STATION
EAUX VIVES STATION
BUS STATION
- Hello.
- Hello.
Coffee, please.
- Yes? - This is Jacqueline Barth.
What do you want, Mr. Rossi?
We'd agreed that we'd come to
a mutually satisfactory agreement
and that we'd never speak of it again.
Look, I have a serious problem.
I had an accident, and I have amnesia.
Are you joking?
What did you mean just now,
about our agreement?
What was our agreement?
I gave you everything I had.
Gave me what?
UNKNOWN CALLER
EAUX VIVES STATION
- What happened?
- We'll help you.
We haven't seen you in ages!
Yes?
I got you a meeting with Dr. Fleischer.
He can see you next Thursday at 11 a.m.
OK, thanks.
I was thinking, last Sunday,
while reading your article
on André's suicide...
that you seemed like someone
I could trust.
I might be wrong.
But I trust you.
Here.
Take these files and notebooks
and see what you can do with them.
They belong to my husband,
and I figure they're important.
DR. M. LANG -- MANAGEMENT
Here. A brochure about who we are.
Thanks for arranging this meeting.
I really like your paper.
- Mr. Rossi. - Dimanche Infos.
- Mr. Rossi.
- Hi.
As Mrs. Monti must have told you,
I don't have a lot of time.
The lab is going through
some restructuring.
Thanks for seeing me.
I've only been here three months.
You draft security standards
for the food-processing industry, correct?
That's right. Future standards.
Consider... Even just detecting
GMOs in food.
Or all that's left to do about prions.
Do you know what that is?
Basically. Like everybody.
We believe that prions are responsible
for human contamination
by pathogens that carry
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Mad cow.
Actually, I'm interested
in someone who used to work here.
In the context of an article I'm doing
on suicide.
Who?
Dr. Barth worked here, correct?
I had only just arrived
when he committed suicide.
Mrs. Monti was his assistant.
What were his duties here?
Dr. Barth was in charge
of quality control.
In other words,
he developed the lab protocols.
Yes?
I'll check and call you back.
Excuse me...
Mrs. Monti will see you out.
You put her in a bad mood.
You're interested in Barth?
I'm interested in his research.
Mrs. Monti!
I'm catching my bus downstairs in an hour.
For my photo album.
When our lab was bought up
by the Swichoco Group,
Dr. Lang came in
and started reorganizing our lab.
SanitAgro is owned by Swichoco ?
Yeah. A classic tale
of mergers and acquisitions.
Dr. Lang was talking
about taking Barth's department away.
His suicide took us all by surprise.
He and I got along well.
What was he working on?
A process that would have made it possible
to prove that prions
present in certain materials
could have contaminated the food chain,
and on a method of eliminating any risk
of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
being passed to humans.
What kind of food
was Barth doing this research on?
Chocolate.
"Opium" by Yves Saint-Laurent, right?
Does that bother you?
I used to wear it,
but it didn't work on me.
Yeah.
So our friend Anna adopted it.
Isn't that right, Lucas?
See? My memory's coming back.
You can't hide from me forever.
Stop obsessing about the past.
Focus on the future.
Don't you feel
like you screwed my future up for me?
What do you mean?
Come on.
I mean you stole my girlfriend
and you stole my scoop.
You want my ass, too?!
Get the hell out.
I'm going to get what's mine.
Get out.
Instead of staring.
GENEVA AIRPORT.
TOWARDS A FRANCO-SWISS WAR?
THE FRANCO-SWISS WAR STARTED
IN THE BAGASSE WOODS...
- Thank you.
- Bye.
You don't look too good.
That's my photo that should be there.
He stole more than that from you.
What do you mean?
He was seeing Marlene Schwartz
while you were in hospital.
A Twix, please.
What was Lucas doing here
when I was in the hospital?
He only came once.
- I wasn't doing well.
- And?
- And he took care of me.
- Ah.
Taking care of other people's women
is his specialty.
It's not what you think.
Cut the crap! I get it.
I was on a big scoop,
and Lucas stole it from me.
And you...
You helped him.
You opened the door
and said, "have at it, Lucas."
That's ridiculous.
Lucas thought you were going
to get into trouble.
Oh, Lucas was thinking of me!
What a perfect friend!
I guess he was protecting me
when he stole my files
and erased my hard drive, too?
I don't know what you mean.
All I know is that Lucas mentioned a lead
that could cause you harm.
- To me or your employer, Swichoco?
- What's that supposed to mean?
It means that if Lucas
hasn't published anything yet,
then either he needs more info,
or he's planning something else!
Are you going to tell me why you hid this?
You'd have noticed
that some files had been erased.
Then why didn't you throw it away?
Are you crazy?
You know how much those cost?
Can you give this to accounting?
If you feel like crying tonight, call me.
He's already here.
You're early.
Shall we? Room 112, second floor.
- We didn't discuss the rent.
- Oh, no rent for friends.
Follow the guide.
This way.
Happy New Year, Lucas.
Can you turn it down a little, please?
DR. A. FLEISCHER -- NUTRITIONAL SCIENTIST
I should tell you that if it weren't
for this memory problem of yours,
I wouldn't have seen you.
You don't recognize me?
No.
- No.
- Honestly?
Honestly.
I wanted to discuss our interview
about Dr. Barth's research.
- Who?
- André Barth.
- From SanitAgro labs.
- What was his field?
Prion detection.
I don't remember us having discussed
that subject.
Dr. Barth had developed a promising test.
Interesting. He'll make himself rich.
He's dead.
That's a shame.
You don't remember our conversation
about Dr. Barth's research?
No.
I do remember
that we talked a lot
about functional food.
Read this again. It's fascinating.
Your meeting with Fleischer
has been canceled.
He's at a business seminar in Chicago. Marlene.
UNIVERSITY OF LAUSANNE
ALBERT FLEISCHER: BIOLOGY DEGREE
- Thank you.
- Functional food is our future.
Certain Swichocho products
are enriched with animal-based proteins.
Yes.
You know that they're prions?
Animal proteins, yes.
That's a dirty word for it.
And these prions
can enter proteinated food.
Take, for example,
the chocolate-production process.
What you're implying
is disparaging and slanderous.
There's a problem with these invoices.
They don't correspond
to any of your articles.
A round-trip train ticket,
two taxi rides, a lunch...
All on December 17th of last year.
You did write the article
"Polvolat Factory in Ouchy"?
Seems that way.
No-one in the office was able
to tell me what you were doing there.
We don't cover private travel.
If I got receipts,
then it was work-related.
Thank you.
Julien!
He went to his paper.
I'll call you in an hour.
SANITAGRO LABS -- BIANCA MONTI: SECRETARY
I only have a few minutes.
I'll have the same thing.
I wanted to talk about André Barth again.
Did Barth ever mention
a company called Polvolat?
Polvolat.
P-O-L-V-O-L-A-T.
Thank you.
This is off the record.
Extremely off the record, OK?
Yes, he met some people from Polvolat.
They're the end-all-be-all
of powdered foods.
They supply the big firms
like Swichoco, for example.
I went with him.
They made us put on lab coats,
boots, hair-coverings...
To prevent us from contaminating anything.
Dr. Barth thought that powdered foods
could be contaminated by prions.
I know he went back to Polvolat
several times after that, but without me.
Barth was almost certainly able
to confirm his fears.
POLVOLAT PRODUCTION LINE
We can produce powdered food products
with up to 80% fat
to produce other products.
We can produce powdered milk,
powdered cheese, chocolate,
anything you want,
which can then be used to make
feed for calves, baby food...
At the same time?
- Calves, babies?
- Of course not.
The machine is stopped and cleaned
between production cycles.
Hang on. Let's say, for example,
that you add beef fat
to the powder for calves, OK?
Now let's suppose that
the beef fat is contaminated with prions.
Who can assure me that the
sterilization of the machine will work
when you switch to baby food?
Don't forget that prions
can withstand very high temperatures.
There must be some record of his research.
He wasn't working all alone.
Researchers share their results.
I can email you the list of people
he was in contact with.
But I'm risking my job.
Don't worry.
- I protect my sources.
- I sure hope so.
I have to go.
Do you know a cheap hotel around here?
Yes: Les Goelands. It's my sister's hotel.
Let's go.
POSTCARD FOR SALE
I imagine this isn't a coincidence.
I'm terribly sorry.
You want to talk about my husband again?
About what you gave me of his.
Let's at least discuss it over lunch.
I'm starving.
Your husband had detected
the presence of prions
in various Swichoco products.
That's clear from some
of the documents you gave me.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
Delicious.
The problem is,
I no longer have those documents.
Do you have copies?
No.
Does the name Lucas Jäger ring a bell?
- Who?
- Lucas Jäger.
A journalist.
I think he stole what you gave me.
In fact, I think he's in cahoots with you.
My investigation confirmed
what your husband discovered.
Someone got ticked off by my investigation
and had me attacked.
Lucas took advantage of my amnesia
to steal my scoop,
and got you to set your sources
aside for him.
You're mistaken.
Mr. Jäger did pay me a visit.
But he wanted my silence,
and he was worried about your health.
Let's suppose --
and I do mean "suppose" --
that these documents exist.
Perhaps your friend
doesn't want them published.
Maybe someone dissuaded him
from publishing the story.
Dissuaded him rather insistently.
By threatening him?
Or buying him out?
If that's what you think, then help me.
In your husband's memory.
For the thousands who
could have been contaminated.
A few hundred people will get sick,
but the rest will be fine.
Why set off a panic?
The manufacturers have already taken steps
to prevent this kind of mistake
from recurring.
Come on.
Enjoy the present.
When I first spoke with you,
you were worried about money.
The notary discovered some investments.
A lot of money?
And you accepted it
without knowing where it came from?
That's your perspective.
What if your husband killed himself
because he was so ashamed
at having sold his soul?
My husband allowed for me
to have a good life after he was gone.
If that's what he sold his soul for,
as you put it so fancifully,
then I can't judge him.
All I can do is thank him.
I'm OK, thanks.
Thank you.
You're paying, of course?
You wouldn't dream of profiting
off of any shady money.
Under other circumstances,
I would have looked forward
to giving you a last drink
in my room.
Under other circumstances,
I might have agreed.
Thank you.
What do you want with me?
I didn't understand.
At some point,
which I'm having trouble pinpointing,
I became a very different person.
And I don't remember the person I became.
I'm hesitant, even,
about trying to remember.
What I glimpse in other people's eyes
isn't very encouraging.
But I guess if I chose to be someone else,
it's what I wanted, right?
That need existed under the surface,
and something triggered it in you.
Perhaps your encounter
with your old friends Luc and Marc.
The luxury and ease
that seems to surround them...
You wanted to become
the person you'd always forbidden yourself
from being.
What you have to figure out
is where you feel best.
I mean, in the skin you're in now,
or as the person you became,
and whom you've forgotten.
THE NO ENTRY
Samantha.
So, you're back?
Did I come here often?
- You had your own table.
- And your own bottle.
Are you two regulars, too?
The walls are owned
by one of our businesses.
Like the place you're putting me up in.
Exactly.
You're still all about money, eh?
Is that a problem?
Look out: you're turning back
into your old bourgeois self.
Samantha, did she work here before?
No, she's new.
But she's quite talented.
Do you know her?
- No.
- Looks like she knows you.
Hang on! Forget it.
No answer.
Mr. Jäger must have gone home.
- Where's Lucas?
- I'm not his secretary.
Where's Lucas?
I think he has a meeting
at the Beau Rivage hotel.
Hi, I'm going to Henchoz, by the lake.
I'll point it out.
I have every reason to believe
he sold out to Swichoco
to bury my story.
But I won't be bought off.
So I'm being followed.
You're paranoid.
I don't believe your story about
stolen files, or the rest.
- Anna.
- Yes?
Can you do the body double?
Sure.
Lucas always defended you
when people criticized you.
- People?
- Me, for example.
Sometimes.
I'm glad to hear that.
Lucas always made excuses for you.
He was always trying
to explain your behavior.
Here.
It's beautiful, but I don't want.
Lucas and I are over.
It could never work.
That's why I agreed to see you.
So you'd hear it from me.
SEALED
Sorry.
Sophie?
Lucas killed himself.
He was my best friend.
Why did he kill himself?
My girlfriend just broke up with him.
His girlfriend, I mean.
Who had been mine before...
I need to be alone.
Samantha.
Thank you.
The phone company gave us
the list of calls to and from
Mr. Jäger's cell.
He called an ambulance
very early on January 1st.
When the ambulance got to his cabin,
no-one was injured.
Mr. Jäger apologized
and paid for their time.
That was the morning you were found
at Eaux Vives station.
You still don't remember
why you were there?
No.
Nor do you remember
where you spent New Year's Eve?
OK.
You were with Marlene Schwartz
and the Lelievre brothers.
You celebrated until sunrise
at their club.
... two, one, midnight!
Happy New Year!
We've established
that you called Mr. Jäger
early New Year's morning.
Was it to wish him a Happy New Year,
or to talk to him about your partner,
who was now his?
Probably the latter.
You wind up at his place.
Things go south.
You fight. You're bleeding.
Mr. Jäger panics and calls an ambulance.
But the blizzard had damaged
the cell tower.
The service is spotty.
Mr. Jäger walks off to find some.
When he gets back, you're gone.
After he breaks up with Anna Ferre,
Mr. Jäger moved to his cabin.
He spent just one night there.
Between the heartbreak
and a ruined friendship on his conscience,
anyone might have been tempted
to drown himself.
Brothers and sisters,
as we await the Resurrection,
we return to the earth which perishes,
and we affirm our faith in eternal life
and our communion
with beliefs throughout the ages.
It's so horrible.
Today more than ever,
we count on You to help us believe.
Help us preserve our faith,
the power of love and hope.
Amen.
Why didn't Anna come?
I imagine she feels responsible.
I feel responsible, too.
JULIEN ROSSI: YOU HAVE ONE NEW MESSAGE
CANCEL - OPEN
"As per your request,
"here is the list
of immunoassay specialists
"Barth had been in contact with.
"Ciao, Bianca."
"please contact me
"if you exchanged
"any information regarding SanitAgro
"with Dr. Barth
"before he died.
"Julien Rossi."
MESSAGE SENT TO:
Here. This is everything
Lucas left behind when he left.
Nothing about Barth, or Swichoco,
or SanitAgro, or Polvolat.
How could I have been so wrong?
- Does it hurt?
- A little.
You need to press charges.
- What good would it do?
- What do you mean?
It's too hard to explain.
Lucas loved you.
Truly.
He said your accident
was a miracle, a second chance.
He said people never
get a chance to start over
and forget how misguided they'd been.
I used to ask him what he meant.
But he'd never answer me.
Where's his laptop?
He took it to the cabin
the night he left me.
I'm going to make some tea.
- Yes? - Mr. Rossi?
That's me.
I'm Dr. Daenzer's secretary.
You sent him an email
regarding Dr. Barth's experiments.
That's right.
Dr. Daenzer has suggested
that you meet with his assistant,
Mr. Hartmann, today at 6 p.m.
OK.
Mr. Rossi!
Rodolphe Hartmann.
Forgive me for my appearance
the other day.
Who are you?
I work with Swichoco.
In which department?
Security.
Please excuse my agents.
They thought they needed
to intimidate you.
They went a little overboard.
They'll be disciplined.
Send me an invoice for the damages.
And of course,
we'll compensate your for physical damage.
What are you playing at?
You don't scare me.
Why don't we discuss André Barth's death?
He was a very talented researcher.
His suicide is inexplicable.
His discovery had made him rich.
You paid him off?
The Swichoco Group
acquired Barth's process
at the same time as SanitAgro did.
Barth had developed the most reliable
process for detecting prions.
That's correct.
It's strange we never heard about it.
Do you really think
we should cause that amount of trouble
for a company like ours
because a researcher found
a few unfortunate prions
in our bars of chocolate?
Especially since in the end,
they'd only impact a completely
negligible number of victims?
We're helping the economy grow.
We have a great number of employees.
What's more important?
The well-being of our employees
and their families,
or a handful of presumed victims
we'll never know anything about?
Lucas Jäger is dead
because he didn't share
your sense of responsibility?
Mr. Jäger? I met him just once,
right here.
He tried to convince us
that you were only trying
to get your memory back.
I'd have believed him
if you hadn't been so meticulous
as to pursue, among other things,
Mrs. Barth.
Mr. Jäger made the mistake
of threatening us
if we wouldn't leave you alone.
And so you killed him?
Every man has a price, as you know.
What's a journalist's silence worth?
$800,000. In cash, of course.
You paid Lucas $800,000?
Him, no.
But you, yes.
It was four days
before you wound up in the hospital.
But...
But...
If I had $800,000, I'd know.
What you do with your money
is none of our business.
You'll understand that at that price,
we wouldn't take kindly to a
unilateral revision of your commitments.
Consider this conversation
my contribution to your recovered memory.
And if I may allow myself
to give you some advice about your money:
Swichoco is a good investment.
Happy New Year, Lucas.
- What happened?
- I fell.
Like an idiot.
Say...
We met up because of your
financial knowledge, right?
That's right.
To discuss a discreet investment...
For example.
An $800,000 investment.
More or less, yes.
Did you ask me where I got it?
If you'd wanted to tell us,
you'd have gone to your bank.
Why haven't you mentioned it to me?
We wanted to see if you'd remember.
- And if it hadn't?
- You wouldn't have missed that money.
Well, I miss it now.
Get it back to me in 48 hours.
With or without interest?
With.
- That stinks.
- I'll throw them out.
The police must have taken his laptop.
He always used to put it
under his mattress.
So?
I've got it.
Do you know his password?
If he didn't change it, it's "Julien."
Mine was "Lucas."
The hard drive's been wiped.
It's all here.
Including the copies of Barth's notebooks.
And this.
"Swichoco affair, Julien Rossi,
hard-drive copy."
You think I matter
compared to a company that size?
May as well make money!
If they're willing to pay you,
it's proof they're scared of you.
They're afraid of the scandal.
Once your article comes out,
the press will back you.
- I'm tired of fighting.
- Fight, for Christ's sake!
If only to be able to look at yourself.
I want a new life.
Don't forget that you gave me a copy
of all your information.
"Just in case," you said.
So if you don't publish your article,
I will.
I advise against that.
Truly.
Happy New Year, Lucas.
Forget it.
Forget...
That's my specialty.
I should get a change of scenery.
I need sun, and sea, and wind.
I need you.
Will you come with me?
I don't know.
Maybe, after shooting's over.
CHOCO SHOCK: PRIONS IN CHOCOLATE
CHOCO SHOCK: PRIONS IN CHOCOLATE
BY LUCAS JÄGER
- It's me. - Are you still coming?
It's great here.
I just read Dimanche Infos.
Did they publish the article?
Fantastic.
- Are you insane? - Why are you reacting this way?
I owed it to Lucas. You don't want him
to have died in vain, do you?
Have you considered
how the Swichoco people will react?
They got rid of Lucas,
and he hadn't published anything.
Exactly. They can't kill him twice.
But you're alive!
They know it had to have been you.
That's true.
The funniest bit is,
they had paid me to keep quiet.
Can you repeat that?
Swichoco had paid me off.
Or I'd sold out.
I don't know if I regret it.
How much did you get?
$800,000, which I've just recovered
and am going to spend with you.
You've reached Anna Ferre.
I'm not here. Leave a message.
You don't get it, Anna.
Money can buy happiness.
Just ask poor people.
And you know what?
It's exciting to play with fire.
I'll meet you at the airport.
I love you.
Subtitle translation by: Adam Lozier