Wonders in the Suburbs (2019) - full transcript
Sure but Paris is...
hardly practical.
Remember, barely a few weeks ago,
I was unemployed.
It was your call to move
two years ago.
The advantage of Paris
was my parents' apartment.
Mr. & Mrs. Mrabti, the idea was
this is an uncontested divorce.
I can sign a contested divorce notice.
We'll revisit the separation agreement
prior to divorce being pronounced.
So I'd stay in the field
of relaxation and harmonization
'cause that's what you loved in me.
My particular skills prompted you
to ask Emmanuelle to hire me.
I didn't leave Montfermeil to move here
to spare the kids long trips
when I was with Didier
in Clichy-sous-Bois.
People change, life changes...
All I know is
you always destroyed everything.
Little by little, bit by bit.
And it's still true now.
I needed you. We needed you.
My time resources are not infinite.
Sorry.
You should've shown me.
You always got home late,
obsessing about work.
You always got home exhausted.
May I conclude
you are in agreement or...
No, not the mosque.
You have a nerve.
What are they saying?
Is that all?
So you're way too brutal.
I was sick of taking it back there.
- Anal needs...
- Whoa, take it easy.
According to depositions submitted
by attorneys Hazzizi and Merkache,
I hereby declare you divorced.
Yes, please.
By mutual consent.
Are you really sure...
Isn't tomorrow Shorts Day?
No matter.
Would you believe it!
I forgot my lipstick, today of all days.
You want mine?
No, never pearly.
Makes you look stupid.
- Morning, Emmanuelle.
- Morning, Joelle.
You're doing your makeup.
Yes.
Yes.
I'll try again later.
Kinda disassembled, Kamel's ex.
As ever, I hope
he knows what he's doing.
Excuse me.
Here.
It's...
It's no-transfer.
It's no-transfer?
Yes. When you kiss, no transfer.
WONDERS IN THE SUBURBS
Ladies and gentlemen,
fellow citizens and dear colleagues,
I bid you welcome.
On this day
of my investiture in high office,
I commit to reciprocating
Montfermeil's trust in us.
I really start now?
Of course. Right now.
We are an ancient
and wonderful locality,
whose distant 12th-century origins
may have been as a leper colony,
but it was here, one dark night,
that Jean Valjean met Cosette
when she was fetching water
from the spring.
And here that Jean-Baptiste Clément
wrote, during the Commune,
When we sing of the cherry season
And gay nightingale and mockingbirds
will trill in delight
The gals will have wild ideas in mind
The lovers...
A locality, then,
which has faced down every ordeal
and risen to every challenge.
Now really? It feels weird.
Now's the time. Why come otherwise?
And it's a great honor for me
to present to you the initial reforms...
- It doesn't make sense now.
- Who cares?
Please, Joelle.
Go ahead.
We will begin, as promised,
by renaming and refreshing
public holidays.
Now, everybody, move inside of yourself.
Be sure to take
the temperature of the day.
Be sure to take the tempo.
Sense exactly
where you are in the space.
On January 21,
a date that curiously enough
marks the death
of both Louis XVI and Lenin,
we shall celebrate Harem Pants Day.
Breathe in!
And out all the way.
On February 10, we shall not hold
the Carnival of Cultures,
which for budgetary reasons
moves to June 25,
coinciding with Brioche Day.
You may say
that it is strange
to celebrate the brioche,
when many struggle to buy bread.
March 8, we shall celebrate Kilt Day.
No, sorry, the kilt's in June.
No, Ascension Thursday
is replaced by Women's Day.
Like arrows through the brain.
Easter becomes Biodiversity Day.
April 23 shall be Kimono Day.
Finally, and I kept this for the end,
May 12 will be a day
for shorts, to make it clear
that our reforms
are far more than symbolic.
I mention them first
because they are the cornerstone
of our new Policy of Urban Time,
which the people of Montfermeil approved
so massively by casting their votes
so massively for us.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I believe in local democracy.
I believe in direct democracy.
"Sometime,
"martyr weary of poles and zones
"The sea whose sob softened my rolling
"Raised it's shadow-flowers to me
with their yellow disks
"There was I like a woman on her knees
"I was carefree
"and drunk on wonders
"Million golden birds
"I lived in Montfermeil!"
Long live Montfermeil.
Long live France.
Our new Policy of Urban Time
involves reducing working hours,
to be shared
by everyone, for everyone.
The aim is twofold,
reducing unemployment
and organizing rest periods
in the course of time.
For example,
our new Naps for All program.
We'll cut unemployment in half
by creating the Montfermeil
International School of Languages.
We are responsible for house calls
with the Sexual Assistance
and Satisfaction Department.
The SASAD.
Our toll-free hotline number is 0865
865 865.
We are all over
the city's streets, every night.
Dysfunctions, shyness...
Misunderstandings, aversions...
So I'll be in charge
of outreach and liaison
between our citizens
and the Roma community.
A kind of crash-course
for our citizens
with the ideas and practices
of the Roma.
Good morning.
It's the Prefect.
That's the Prefect?
What have we here? The police?
Morning, Mr. Prefect.
As I always say,
only great actors
are successful in politics.
And an actress, even better.
A woman who epitomizes jolly.
Madame Joly.
Easier on the eye.
I also liked the content of your speech.
Lucky I didn't see you there.
I'd have lost my thread.
With all the disruptions we had.
Just some whiners.
Yes, I suppose you could say that.
You'll never lose
your thread or...
your powers of persuasion.
It makes you so attractive.
You do me good.
You have reached SASAD. Evening.
Hung up.
That's Emmanuelle.
In the cherry season
If you fear a broken heart
Avoid the beauties
Having little fear of life's cruelties
I shall not live without suffering
Nailed it.
So we're agreed, human resources
are no different than OISE.
Our model.
Noise? Humans the same as noise?
O.I.S.E...
- Concentrate, Juliette.
- Sorry.
So, the idea is 547 staff members.
We cancel the budget
for surveillance cameras
totaling 2,035,536 euros.
Which leaves us 5,500,000 to find.
And our 547 teachers.
Bring up the price list,
Guillaume.
The average stay for students
in Oxford learning English
is two weeks.
And the spend per student
ranges from 3,440 euros
to 5,570 euros.
We said we'd aim for half,
making annual turnover of 15 million.
If we don't hit our target right away,
we'll at least hit 5 million
in our second year.
Kamel, where are we at with teachers?
Nowhere. I couldn't reach out to anyone
until we were in office.
Naturally, but surely you did
a feasibility study.
- You're ready?
- No, not ready.
As I told you, Emmanuelle,
several times,
we can't begin
with 62 languages to learn.
Year 1, we focus
on languages we agreed.
Arabic, Chinese,
Tamil, Sonikay...
Soninke.
- And Cajun.
- And German.
How come German?
We said I'd contact
the Turkish community
to bring in German Turks
for the project.
Yes, that's right.
So that makes seven.
Anyway, we need double the teachers.
Guillaume,
can you bring up the schedule?
See, Benoît?
What about people's naps?
Naps mean doubling teacher numbers
compared to the Brits
for the same number of classes.
- Shit, totally forgot naps.
- So I see.
We have 8,433 employees in Montfermeil.
Agreed? 1,290 part-time.
Take away anyone who doesn't speak
Chinese, Arabic, Tamil, Soninke, etc.
Nowhere near 547 x 2.
I need 8 people per block
for the rooftop arable farms.
Okay on that?
- Benoît?
- Yes. Fabulous.
Not fabulous.
And including the Undesirables?
I didn't find the lists.
"How little time it takes
to change all things."
We stumbled across them.
We took care of it, deleted them.
Denis, we said
no destroying LCPD files.
We need them to undo
our predecessors' population removal PUR.
Slow down, Kamel. What files?
The LCPD's. Local Committee
for Prevention of Delinquency.
PUR. Plan for Urban Renovation.
"Thinking we did right,
we must look in our hearts,
"which the ice attains,
"as one counts the dead
on a battlefield.
"Each fallen grief,
each extinguished dream."
Talk normally?
He is talking normally.
It's Victor Hugo.
Denis, we must bring back
the Undesirables.
How can we find them
without the lists?
Bring them back and house them
in the Greater Paris development.
You must find those people.
Benoît Survenant,
deputy mayor, eco-solidarity.
Where are your parents?
I'm here, sir.
So, I have been charged,
for purposes of job creation,
with finding people who were...
Whom the Plan for Urban Renovation, PUR,
ran out.
And labeled Undesirable.
How would you say it?
Put aside.
- Yes, put aside.
- Undesirable.
One might say ran out.
Yes, I'd...
I'd say ran out.
I see you've lived here a long time.
I mean you're settled here.
Perhaps you know somebody
who was run out?
Somebody who was...
Who was...
run out?
Yes, I do.
Where are they?
They're everywhere.
Meaning?
I am one.
How come?
How come? Because...
Because I...
I don't fit anymore, simple as that.
Do you have a job?
I lost my job.
I don't know what to expect.
This is something
that can really be resolved.
We hope so.
In any case,
with Ms. Joly, that's our goal.
Did you arrive in France
with your daughters?
No.
I had them here.
I come to France at 19.
I see.
Came here at 19.
And you're French?
- I mean you have nationality.
- For 25-26 years.
- And the gentleman?
- Ibrahim.
You know people who were run out?
Of course, I do.
Where are they?
I don't know.
Can we find them?
There's Abdullah.
There's Saleh.
You have their family names too?
I don't really know family names.
I know them because they're local...
Ladies?
What about you?
Adham.
Adham and Awa.
At school, for example?
No, don't know any.
In one way, that's pretty fabulous.
It's fabulous.
I'll make tracks.
Benoît Survenant.
- Isn't that right?
- A pleasure.
If ever anyone comes to mind...
These people who were run out,
you understand,
are now...
Ma'am...
They are now people
that are badly wanted.
My wife and I like DETI.
Because we have more time.
At the job center,
there's no time, lots of people.
We just get 10-15 minutes
with regards to the jobs we're looking for.
As regards photocopies, documents,
signing up, signing off.
It takes time,
and there's lots of people and no time.
We're still the same DETI.
Department of Employment,
Training and Integration,
now named TUTU.
The Urban Time Unit. It's not...
Mr. Brakhni,
the philosophy of our new team
is quite specifically
to take our time with you.
An hour, if not more. Alright?
Actually, I work...
I don't work in town, I work outside.
In the Paris region.
I get by with mass transit.
I get by just fine.
Today, it's about my wife.
Mrs. Brakhni...
- Good morning.
- Morning, ma'am.
Do you...
What are your skills?
Cleaning.
I'd like to...
work with children in a school.
I didn't find anything.
You read and write French?
A bit.
- Reading and writing?
- A bit.
A little bit.
Read and write a bit.
We're going to open a school
here in Montfermeil.
A language school.
We could perhaps offer you
a job as a pronunciation coach
in Arabic classes.
That's not bad.
It would be here, at Cedar House.
And that would also enable you...
to tutor people while they commute.
You'll get to know Paris and the sites.
I like traveling.
So, it's perfect.
Think about my offer,
talk it over with the family,
and we'll meet again in...
A week.
A week sounds okay?
Yes, sounds great.
- Who's that?
- My girlfriend.
- You're kidding?
- We're getting married.
C'mon, if you have no life,
have it on Second Life.
Second Life is so outdated.
- Nobody uses it anymore.
- She does.
Look, that's where we met.
We chatted.
We went on quests together.
I brought some tea.
Thank you.
The tea.
It was a good investiture.
Yes, Emmanuelle,
a very good investiture.
I was right to insist on singingThe Cherry Season.
Yes, Emmanuelle, you were right to...
What was that poem?
Surely not your own?
Half and half.
What does that mean?
Half-Rimbaud, half-me.
No, she can't do that here.
I've got it.
And pull on the water's surface.
To raise your heads out of the water.
Tell me what I do that works.
And what doesn't work.
And then back again.
And we unfurl our wings. Six times.
Aren't you fetching the kids?
Sure. The lobby may not be the place...
It may not be the best place to do this.
With both hands.
"It's 59 minutes past.
"One minute to go.
"In your administration,
"maybe not everyone on the team
is playing ball.
"Someone who's here to help."
- You're going?
- Just changing.
Take a look at this a second.
There are some wackjobs.
People are nuts.
Know what?
I'm learning to speak Soninke.
- But by the time...
- To go on missions.
By the time you learn Soninke,
you'll still be with the guy?
I don't know. Who cares!
You are so right.
Who cares!
What on earth is that?
We voted for mostly housing
on Station Plaza.
Not for offices.
I need you to help me, Marylin.
My life bores me.
The humor's gone.
Don't exaggerate now.
Look at me.
What?
I'm disguised as a Mexican wrestler.
Come over here.
No, I don't feel like it.
When you're like this, it turns me off.
I am
deputy
mayor of Montfermeil,
with responsibility
for the Bureau
of Comings and Goings.
Okay.
You're taking me
for an
idiot.
An idiot.
You are a hostess
with OFFII,
disguised
as a deputy mayor!
I come
from City Hall in Montfermeil.
Very good.
And you don't work
for OFFII?
Yes? Is that right?
The Office for Immigration
and Integration?
Immigration and Integration?
You know?
Are you really
an official with a mandate
from City Hall? Really?
Or are you talking out of your behind?
Dad.
Eat.
I would really like
to organize a kind of trip.
It would involve taking people
in your wagons from Montfermeil
to the Apuseni mountains
in Transylvania.
In our wagons?
Seriously? Wagons?
Really? Wagons?
What is this
bullshit idea?
Mr. Sandor,
hear me out.
The Municipal Police
was created by our predecessors.
Basically, we intended
to disband it. However,
I'll convince Madam Mayor
to give them instructions
to redeploy
as cemetery guards
so they can stop
the National Police force
from drilling holes in your faucets.
Alright then, you want
civil war!
What was Latin class about, kitten?
Orders and commands.
Let me take this book?
Hunc librum capem.
Capem?
Is that the subjunctive?
Capiam.
Let them take the book?
Capiunt?
What?
I don't know.
Just as I thought, you're lying to me.
I'm not lying to you.
So why did you get it wrong? Liar!
- I'm not lying.
- Are!
You're lying to me! You liar!
I cannot stand you lying to me!
Be quiet! Quiet!
- Mom, listen...
- Quiet!
When you go to a crap school,
you work properly.
Twenty years, we waited
for a liberal mayor in this town.
The day we get to work at last,
you pull this.
It's a disgrace!
A disgrace!
That doesn't tell me
where to look for
information
on the Greater Paris pilot company.
Is it at...
regional or national level
that I can find out?
Let's recap.
"I'm in a gang, but I have religion.
"I want to leave it
and live an honest life.
"Do nothing more than we ask.
"If you change the plan,
they'll suspect.
"And it'll be
barapandaramonium."
Sign "Someone who's here to help"
as usual.
As usual.
Good job.
How brutal is hope!
What the heck is that?
A new Greater Paris Express station
What does that mean, children?
Hold on. Mohammed?
It means it's a girl speaking.
But what does it mean?
"I am" or "I exist."
Stanley?
How would a boy say it?
Ormance?
You're kind of halfway, look.
1, 2, 3...
Hands up!
Move back.
Am I...
Or...
I'm hungry.
Hungry!
Like in German.
Pronounce it like it's German.
We had nothing for lunch,
so I'm hungry.
I skipped lunch, so I'm hungry.
There you go.
I'm tired.
It's like a...
That means I'm tired, I'm beat.
You've got it.
How are the children?
How are the people from our village?
The rolled 'r'
has to be really discreet and deep.
I'm not discreet enough.
Alright, I know I sing out of tune.
How are the children?
I could not afford to...
To live there with the children.
It was really hard and dull.
That's very complicated.
The plane is up there.
That's how you say "a plane."
Look, the plane is in the sky.
An explosion in the darkness!
There she is.
The fox is me.
The leopardess is her.
Gonna send a quick IM.
How about we meet up
in real life, little pearl?
What's with all these offices?
"Windows onto a life of beauty"?
I maybe went too far.
I bet she's looking good.
As good as me, I hope.
Who?
I want a nice girl.
A leopardess maybe.
Let me show you
how we're lobbying the Prefect.
Paris is changing
but none of our energy has flagged
My brand of feminism
involves putting myself
systematically in the center.
Pretend I'm not here.
On June 12, she has invited me
to Bobigny Theatre, to see a show.
Dance Taped.
Dance Taped.
June 12, the theatre,
isn't that tomorrow?
It truly terrifies me.
You're not mad, are you?
Of course I'm not mad at you.
- It's not my fault.
- I know it's not.
I had no choice
but to leave with the Minister.
It's why I left.
I tried to catch your eye.
To give you a kiss from afar
with my eyes.
Paul, I see offices everywhere,
and no housing.
- The document...
- Baby, I read it.
It sums up the argument for offices
and against housing, and vice-versa.
It contains no new data
through lack of access to info
that is crucial and remains unclear.
Look at the Prefecture's conclusions
instead of whining straight off the bat.
Where exactly did I whine?
If you cannot give me
this crucial information,
when I feel like I'm...
You feel like you're what?
I really must scoot.
Am I what? Capable of what?
Of giving me information that is crucial
when I feel I'm getting royally fucked
by two next-door mayors.
Getting what? I didn't catch it...
A cause for pride, no?
You see, Emmanuelle, attendance
at Medici is even more fabulous,
so Arabic classes have moved here.
But we cannot go on like this.
They learn one language.
Then another and another.
So, you see,
we need to open up outposts.
I wonder if it's better...
I don't know where to turn, ma'am.
Children today just won't listen.
They don't want to work at school.
I'm tired.
I'm so tired.
I'm absolutely exhausted.
I feel like killing myself.
Kamel, fabulous.
Selim, fabulous you could make it.
Yes, fabulous.
We reviewed the situation.
It's fabulous, but we need new outposts.
And to recruit team leaders
and deputy team leaders.
Just one tiny second...
After you arrive late,
how much time do you need to engage?
Talking of time, take out your planners.
Friday June 12, at 7 pm,
on the evening news,
Culture Minister Frédéric Chaban
will announce the Medici redevelopment.
I want the whole team present.
Naturally, Emmanuelle.
We'll all be there.
On Friday June 12,
"Rome ousts Sparta."
June 12?
Friday June 12?
What's with the preppy look?
A skirt?
What the hell? A twinset?
It's sexy, isn't it?
Whereas neither Béatrice, nor myself,
nor anyone else here
has particularly noticed
that anyone
has gone over the top
with compliments on your sportswear.
Am I wrong?
- No.
- Doesn't look great.
What I wear is none of your business.
Emmanuelle said it was.
Sorry, I forgot
I take my orders from you.
Sorry, sorry, sorry.
From now on, I'll call every morning
with my wardrobe choices.
And in the fall,
my comrades and I
will send our tailor...
I don't give a shit about your duds.
Not one shit!
But I have enough worries,
and your trinkets and pearls
can only mean trouble.
I work here as hard
and as well as anyone.
I run 25 workshops.
- You told Emmanuelle?
- I did.
- And she said?
- "Tell her, no more uptown girl."
Fine.
- That way?
- Yes.
- Isn't this outfit just great?
- Mine?
No, mine.
Yours is great, but mine?
- It's super sexy.
- You think?
I absolutely love disguises.
Your cry from the heart today:
No, not them too!
Not my own friends!
No.
Is the crew pulling
in the same direction?
Someone who's here to help.
There.
It'll hold.
Marylin?
Yes?
Could you face the mirror?
She's stunning like that, isn't she?
Yes, she's very beautiful.
But I wish we could make love
without disguises.
Relying only on our tenderness.
That's understandable.
Isn't it, Marylin?
Sure, but sometimes our tenderness
doesn't seem to consist of much.
We'll go nice and slow.
Nice and slow.
Maybe...
you want to simply disrobe her.
Maybe you simply remove her robe,
and that's just wonderful.
Maybe it matters little
what you remove.
Nice and slow, that's it.
Her shoulders...
Maybe leave her wig on for now.
Turn her around slightly.
Maybe.
The most beautiful back
in the whole Paris region.
Nice and slow now.
Maybe raise her up a touch.
Slip a hand under her bottom.
There you go.
The most beautiful bottom
in northern France.
Maybe we can leave the wig to chance.
It's pinned pretty securely.
Even better, right?
Nobody told him
that's the best way to get caught?
- Jumping the turnstile?
- Sure.
- Which stop?
- Le Raincy.
So he's at the motel next door.
Rack your brains
to hatch a plan to get him out.
I'll come up with one too,
and we'll see which one's better.
To break him out.
Well?
I've got it. Here we go.
We borrow a municipal vehicle.
I hack a waiver...
on internet from Immigration
and we make it look old.
We rock up at the motel
in the municipal car,
and say his cousin found the waiver
in his apartment. It happens.
We can even
hack a...
Similarly, we can
hack a residency permit
approved by City Hall
'cause we know where the stamps are.
We know.
It's a good plan.
- Am I right?
- Yes, it's good.
It's very good,
kind of cobbled together.
But it's way too simple.
There's no challenge.
What's the point of a plan
with no degree of difficulty?
I've never been to Germany.
Louder.
I've never been to Germany.
Even louder.
Stress!
I abbreviated it.
Arsène.
The first name, Arsène...
Ja. A little German.
Reggae, the music.
Brr, cold.
Lee, a shelter. In a shelter.
Arsène, ja,
reggae, brr, lee, ben.
Eighteen years I stayed.
Since I'm only an assistant here,
is my presence really necessary
at Friday's press conference?
One moment, right back.
Kamel! Are you coming back?
- Yes?
- You went out?
- Yes, Emmanuelle.
- We'll let it go.
Say, about Friday...
I planned to mention Friday.
You'd skip it too?
Yes, something big's come up.
I must be dreaming!
Does anyone on my team
have a sense of civic duty?
In one year since we took office,
this is the first time
I ask people to work overtime.
And everybody backs out.
You said we...
Emmanuelle,
Kamel and I discussed it.
Everything's just fine. Fabulous.
Who asked you, Benoît?
What does that even mean,
"Kamel and I discussed it"?
Who is the mayor here?
I am!
Yes, Emmanuelle.
What's with you? More exercises?
So you want to duck out?
That's just fine.
We'll get by easily enough without you.
In 10 years, I never asked a favor.
All day, every day,
I fight for work-life balance.
Schizophrenia has its limits.
Once in one year,
I ask 13 elected officials...
13!
Le Raincy has twice as many.
Morning, ma'am.
Can our teams be of service?
This morning,
we left boxes out for recycling.
They're still there.
Our recycling operatives
do not pick up large boxes of the kind
used for white goods since it involves
supplementary treatment costs.
For collection and waste management,
take them to the recycling center,
good and...
flat
to facilitate handling.
Have a good day.
Likewise. Goodbye, ma'am.
13 people,
who spend their days
twiddling their thumbs,
while I am accountable
for all their decisions.
Hello!
Drinks with the Jouberts?
There's the press conference, though.
Exactly, yes. No but...
Precisely.
Emmanuelle, come here.
Why get so worked up?
For 2 months now, you bark at me.
I may have my reasons.
One thing's for sure,
you're not happy with me.
I'll let you draw
the obvious conclusions.
You know what?
We'll stop there. It's for the best.
Prefect Franceschini
is asking about the council meeting.
No, I won't be at the council meeting.
We, the police, need that data.
I'll get it to you somehow.
You talk on the phone now?
I wish you'd been there.
Kamel and I can go
from the Roma camp to the meeting.
Virginie!
Sorry to intrude on your kiddie time,
but can you cover it?
I'll cover it with pleasure.
Thank you, Virginie.
You're welcome.
What are you doing here?
Riding the bus.
You lost weight recently?
Maybe.
You're buff.
Suits you, looking good.
I meant to tell you...
The other day,
you were right about my outfit.
It was ghastly.
- Not ghastly.
- So tasteless.
Vulgar.
I owe you big time.
I could've dressed like that forever.
I'd have gone on my date Friday
in that outfit.
Friday?
Are you dumb?
No.
But I have something big on Friday, too.
As I'm a mere assistant,
I think you can fix it for me.
That's why I'm looking good.
At last, my opinion matters.
You made my life a misery all year.
I can't say
you've been extremely friendly.
Everything I do is wrong.
I want people on the street, wrong.
Do an Oomph-ma? Wrong
Make a suggestion? That sucks.
When my suggestions
are really good, mostly.
- Pain in the butt.
- At the investiture, I was psyched.
Full of life and enthusiasm.
Everybody was fascinated
by my odd methods.
Now I'm a shadow of that person.
I'm nothing. You're a dictator, period.
With your big democratic posturing.
My
ass.
Any day now,
I might just ditch everything.
I'll do my exercises.
But for myself, and only once a day.
In fact, I won't do my exercises
because I'll make love six times a day.
I'll still find a tiny second
to write you an email to say
you suck.
I don't like you.
In the trees.
I have children. I live in Montfermeil.
Welcome to my home.
At Jean Richard Circus,
we worked another four years.
After the roof fell in,
we started working for Pinder.
After Jean Richard,
you worked at Pinder Circus?
Afterward, we worked at Pinder.
And after Pinder Circus?
After Pinder Circus, we stopped.
It's way too long
if I tell you the whole story now,
but he kept on working in tarps.
He quit working with the circus...
Because he broke his leg.
He worked in the wind and rain.
He fell and broke his pelvis.
He had retired but he kept working.
He's a solid guy, my brother. Sturdy.
I really wish there was a moat
around the motel.
The night of the escape,
if there's time, we'll dig one.
We need to make a rope ladder.
We could take the drapes from City Hall
and make a rope ladder
for him pretty easily.
We'd send it to him in a pie.
In the pie?
That's usually how it works.
I don't get why he needs a rope ladder.
To use it.
He must have a rope ladder.
They've all got one.
Sorry to barge in
on purpose at breakfast,
to be sure to find you in.
Benoît Survenant,
deputy mayor, eco-solidarity.
Your parents are in? May I?
Fabulous.
Here we are.
Fabulous.
So I have been charged,
for purposes of job creation...
I'm looking for people who lived here,
whom the PUR,
meaning the Plan for Renovation,
ran out.
Why come to us last?
Of all the kids at school?
I don't know,
I have lots of families to do still.
With kids in lots of other schools.
You are the mother
of these fabulous children, I suppose?
Might there be,
among your acquaintances,
people who were run out?
Don't be dumb.
She's not our mom.
She looks after us.
Our mother and father are at work.
No?
I see.
I'll make tracks.
Benoît Survenant.
Isn't that right?
Your parents can find me at City Hall.
And fabulous news...
The people who were run out
are badly wanted now.
- You wanted a word?
- Yes, about what you said.
Sorry, I was...
I lost my cool.
No, I think you were right.
You'll be happier
on someone else's team.
You think so?
I'm sure of it.
I printed an email
that won't make a transfer harder.
All that's left
is for us to say goodbye.
Goodbye, Emmanuelle.
She apologized, I guess?
"To whom it may concern,
Kamel Mrabti leaves my team voluntarily.
"Mr. Mrabti began in Montfermeil
as a community organizer.
"His diligence saw him elected councilor,
then deputy mayor.
"In his five years as our right-hand man,
he has proven to be
"reliable, professional and resourceful.
"We commend his work
without reservation.
"He takes with him our best wishes
for his future projects.
"Emmanuelle Joly."
"I no longer accuse
"I no longer curse
"But let me cry!"
My dear Kamel, every one of us,
every member of this extraordinary team,
will agree with me when I say
this is a shock and a surprise.
We have a sense
of losing a splendid coworker.
We all wish you
all the luck you richly deserve.
The whole team gathered here
wants to say thank you.
Thank you for your courage,
for your innovation, for all you gave us.
Happens every day, people getting fired.
We're heading for the press conference.
Beg pardon?
The press conference
was canceled two weeks ago.
Why?
No more empty promises
in the media
to fake interest in our communities.
Kamel, it's Selim.
Look...
The press conference is canceled,
so meet you wherever.
See you right away.
All his working life here.
A brother to you. You'd done it all.
The best staffer you have.
Why let him go?
Mr. Bouazzi, you enjoy working
on my team, don't you?
You want to finish the work
you have begun?
Yes.
I believe in it.
It's a short-term contract?
Yes, it is, madam mayor.
And I have a family with four children.
So mind your own business
and go home.
Yes, Madam Mayor.
What will she be reading?
Life and Fate, Vasily Grossman
Life and Fate!
And on the table, in plain sight,
there should be
a leopard's tail.
Leopard's tail?
Well?
Hold on, there's a chick there.
She's stunningly beautiful.
But no book.
There she is, behind the pillar.
Yes, that's it.
Life and Fate, Grossman.
And the tail?
There's a furry thing poking out.
That's it.
What?
Is she pretty?
Yes, very pretty.
She's pretty.
There's something about her...
like Joelle.
Joelle, my ex-wife?
You can't say Joelle isn't beautiful.
Are we really discussing Joelle here?
Listen up, brother.
If you don't like Joelle,
I swear you won't like this girl.
How come?
It is Joelle.
You're feeling furry?
Or in a fury?
Just kidding,
you don't look like a fury.
Do you know when they close the doors
in this theatre?
Life and Fate, fabulous!
You've started it?
Perhaps you saw last year at Documenta,
those painted apples by
Korbinian Aigner.
The priest and gardener
who fought the Nazis.
Evening.
You know the anti-Nazi priest
who developed apples at Dachau?
The KZ-1 apple, KZ-2 and KZ-3 too.
Excuse me, do you mind if we swap seats?
What is this all about?
What brings you here?
No, I'm sorry...
Sorry, have your seat back.
Sorry, but can you sit there?
Late, isn't he?
I'll swap with you.
A tough week, a vile day,
is no reason
to tail me on the street
all the way here.
Keep your bitterness.
Bitter, me?
In five minutes on the phone,
I had two far more spectacular offers.
Great, I'm...
delighted for you.
Sorry.
You're interested in dance now?
You too perhaps?
Gaping holes in your knowledge of me.
Thank goodness
because I know what I'd find.
Instead of a heart, a mirror.
And instead of non-urban time
spent loving people around you,
a political manifesto doomed to fail.
You always combined
analysis and cruelty, anyway.
I based my campaign and policies
on people being necessary.
We need them to fill jobs.
And we'll house them.
Benoît has spent all year
on the road looking for people
and getting the word out
that we're working for eco-solidarity.
I don't need your stump speech.
Stop being so mean.
Do you realize
people will feel betrayed
if they think
I'm going to build offices?
They'll think I'm bringing them back
not to rehouse them
but perhaps put them in camps.
It's unbearable. I can't bear the idea.
The Prefecture must refute it.
You must refute it.
Refute the fantasies of Emmanuelle Joly?
An interesting take on our relationship.
You're losing it.
Losing it.
Why not send international lawyers
to fight rumors, too?
Well, that's enough now.
"They dug and dug,
"dug and dug...
Dug and dug
every day and every night...
"It snowed...
"It snowed...
"Still it snowed.
"They were no longer
"living hearts,
"but a dream wandering in the mist.
"The frightening solitude...
No, "the solitude,
enormous and frightening to see."
Best place for her is a psych ward.
Sorry, Ms. Bedoult,
what exactly is your relationship
with Ms. Joly?
Well...
I'd describe myself
as a kind of interface
for purposes of translation.
I dispatch all the decisions she makes,
reformulating them
to make sure that there is not
the tiniest,
most infinitesimal
part
of a part
of the interpretation
that is misinterpreted.
I am a witness to decisions...
So you're her secretary.
Sorry, but did I call you a dealer?
What happened? How are you?
It was
a shock.
Dreadful. You have no idea.
I just need to get over it.
But it must be our secret.
Of course.
- It won't get out.
- You...
Emmanuelle
and me.
I don't want an injection.
I don't want an injection.
You won't have an injection.
- She won't.
- No injections.
You won't have one.
I surfed those Poupamis.
What puppies?
No.
- They're not puppies.
- What then?
Not puppies.
Not the Poupamis.
They're Poumapis.
Denis and Virginie
are campaigning on internet
to try to undermine me.
And they nearly succeeded.
Why would they undermine you?
To turn Station Plaza into offices.
They have lists.
What lists?
Lists of folks they removed,
kept removing.
And the lists from before...
They won't let us have them
so we never find anyone.
They are depopulators, you see?
They are the Poumapis,
in cahoots with the Prefect.
The Poumapis?
I realized when I saw
their new homepage.
"They dug and dug,
every day and every night."
It was poetry, and I realized.
It reminded me of,
"It snowed. Whoever lay down, died."
"And the desert devoured the caravans."
- Victor Hugo.
- Yes, I'm devastated.
I put so much trust in them.
I thought they had my back.
Thanks for coming.
Will you stand in for me on Monday?
Yes, I will.
But what do I do about Victor Hugo?
I'm not entirely sure of the procedure.
I'll leave it up to you.
Juliette, I should thank you.
You saved my life.
It was nothing.
No, not nothing. Life's not nothing.
You know, girls in relationships
at our ages,
they're in a living nightmare.
Fights, tyranny, duplicity.
Solitude is worse
when supposedly you're a couple.
I know.
And you? All good?
Yes, all good.
You're an incurable romantic.
I had an idea.
I'll transfer you
to International Affairs.
You've done enough secretarial.
I love you.
You're my friend.
Our heartiest congratulations!
What a relief!
Now we're a happy family again.
Haroun, where's mom? What?
Is it serious?
Tell her to take her time
getting better.
Honestly, Kamel,
it's fabulous,
as good old Benoît might say.
What's fabulous?
We have beagle eyes.
We saw your ex-wife
is a political ball-and-chain.
She wants to take initiatives
at City Hall
by relying on you, but not!
Can we leave Joelle out of this?
Ideally, you'd meet someone,
a woman who straightens stuff out
so Joelle reconsiders
her professional goals.
One more word, I punch you.
You don't understand,
Virginie agrees with you.
Like I give a shit. You're fired.
Fired!
Out!
We're done. I'm sick of you.
Crappy hypocrites!
Juliette!
Marylin! Benoît!
You heard what he called us?
Hypocrites!
Me? The visionary.
The foreteller of cities.
You're all witnesses.
Witnesses to the language
this man uses.
Beat it.
I'm the boss now.
Get out of my sight.
You may think you're Giant Barabo
but I'm not your brother Poumapi.
A sin confessed
is not always forgiven, Poumapi.
Barabo!
I'll stave in your abdomen.
Bravo!
Your belongings.
Mom's not eating.
In ten days, it's Brioche Day.
We'll need you, for all the stress.
Make a speedy recovery.
I think I'll be on my feet
in a couple days.
Don't pressurize yourself.
You shouldn't...
I feel kind of responsible.
You?
Not a chance.
It's way bigger than you, unfortunately.
The problem is...
Let's say, psychological.
Mom, you got an IM.
I received an IM? Really?
Children, how about you get dad a drink?
Don't you want a drink?
- It's the Fox.
- Yes.
Go to your rooms.
Good news?
Very good.
Know what?
I'll be on my feet tomorrow.
Goodness, what a transformation!
You know, if I wasn't so happy,
- I'd be mad at you.
- At me?
- How come?
- You ruined my evening out.
I was right to tell you to move.
My friend saw us talking.
- He began to wonder.
- If we're dating?
Obviously.
Listen.
"Be honest, who was the hot guy?
Looked a real heartbreaker."
A little jealousy won't hurt him.
He sees you there,
with another guy, so he backs off?
Listen to you. It's unbelievable.
He wasn't scared of you.
It's called tact.
He's discreet.
How could I explain
a guy like him to you?
He says,
"I await the soft, noble form she takes
to follow her
"and love her only.
"A flash of lightning that lasts."
I'm having a brain wave.
Is the journey
Marylin's organizing to Romania still on?
Tomorrow, ask her to book
two seats on the bus for me?
An absolute brain wave.
Transylvania with my love.
Not Transylvania. What is this?
Vampire country for a first date?
But it isn't a first date.
We got married a year and a half ago
on Second Life.
Transylvania, come on!
There's no snow even!
You're serious about a trip?
The Caribbean.
The Dominican Republic's cool.
Marylin says you booked
the last seats to the Carpathians.
Yes, I did.
For me and my boyfriend.
Great.
- The leopard print is for him?
- Yes.
I told Judy, the English teacher,
to sign up with her husband.
Shoot.
I'm really sorry.
Suggest she tries
the European Parliament in Brussels.
No, that trip's too good.
I dislike her husband.
He's a graceless fellow
who spread gossip about me.
I'll recommend something really sinister.
Like...
Crossing lugubrious mountains.
Sleeping in rooms reeking of garlic
under crucifixes.
In hotels built by Ceausescu,
all without snow.
Picture it.
The ultimate buzzkill. Funny, isn't it?
Sorry...
I'm running down your vacation.
No, honestly, what do you think?
I don't know, it's hard to say.
What would you say
to the Caribbean?
The Caribbean's good. It's...
The Caribbean,
like the Dominican Republic?
Yes, exactly that.
You're instantly hotter
than in Europe or Algeria.
Than here I mean,
due to humidity.
Your hair curls.
Your skin's luscious and lustrous.
In 30 minutes,
you shed 10 years.
You spend all day,
snuggling in the sand.
Or naked in the water.
There's nobody around.
You make love in the turquoise sea.
- Goodbye, Ms. Joly.
- See you Monday.
Evening, what brings you here?
Weren't you discharged?
No, I'm still there.
For a while longer, in Section 15 now.
I attend the day hospital. Outpatient.
- Great. You go home every night?
- Exactly.
- You can even go on vacation.
- Yes, I think so.
- Where will you go?
- I don't know.
Take care of yourself.
I'm not crazy.
- Goodbye, Mr. Boutih.
- Goodbye, Ms. Joly.
"Now,
"I am my corpse, deep in a well.
"I breathed my last long ago.
"My heart long since stopped beating.
"Besides the bastard who killed me,
no one knows what happened."
"Desperados from Indian territory
will steal the slave during expulsion.
"They'll come up from Clichy
onto the plateau
"to enter the slave's motel
and whisk him away."
"I'm supposed to hold back
"and sound a white-tin horn
if there's danger.
"But I shall bleat like a sheep
when they enter
"and shall not blow the horn.
"So send in a SWAT team, no worries."
Not exactly reassuring.
Don't go chicken on us,
so close to our goal.
If you can somehow manage to...
Hold on...
Scared of the dark, Benoît?
No. Not anymore.
As a boy, yes.
It's good. Really good.
Really very good.
We can be proud of ourselves.
You have plans for the vacation?
Yes.
- With my girlfriend, I'm...
- Don't.
Don't say more.
I just wanted to be sure
you wouldn't end up alone.
Nice to meet you.
"Girlfriend,"
did I hear you say earlier?
First I heard of it.
I can tell you,
now a new life's opening up to me...
At first, working here with you,
while we were getting divorced...
At times, you could've uprooted me.
Of course I thought,
"My girl, what's gotten into you?"
I was wondering
if you want to come to the coast with me.
See the guy over there?
He's waiting to take me away
for a few days.
Who knows, perhaps forever.
Enjoy it.
I very nearly fell for you again.
I really doubt that.
It's true.
If I'd known, when we were married,
all my sexual or relationship hangups
but I had no idea.
Now you know, it's all good.
With my boyfriend, this time,
things will be so different.
As obviously as I'm Joelle.
Perhaps, after the vacation,
you and I will both move in
with someone.
It'll be weird for the kids.
For sure, super weird.
Me, only perhaps. Nothing's sure.
Yes, it's sure.
- How'd you know?
- It's sure.
- I've lost my shoes.
- I'm on it.
Shoo mosquitoes.
So now it's...
two disguises?
Bob Marley sang that.
Our children, what will they sing?
You didn't give a single dollar.
You big jerk!
Calm down, little jerks.
You calm down!
You're a thief. I say it to your face!
They're getting away!
Shame on you!
Sons of bitches!
What did you mean earlier,
for me it's sure?
How come?
That after the vacation,
I'll move in with someone.
That?
I guess I can tell you.
I saw him.
- Who?
- Your suitor.
He came to see me.
He came to see you?
It sounds unlikely and unlike him.
Don't worry, I put him straight.
He's such a traditionalist,
soon you'll be Mrs. Poitard.
Mrs. Poitard?
- His name, isn't it?
- Sure.
- Poitard?
- Of course.
That's right. Nice guy.
- Handsome, right?
- In his way.
Don't get it into your head
to change him. Bad idea.
No diet, for example.
You'd say he's fat?
I like the spare tire. It's cute.
Why do I fight it?
It's reassuring.
After all we endured, what do we want?
Reassurance.
If I were a woman and I had the choice
between an unstable young guy...
and one of the national elite,
who cuts a dash
in a sharp suit and crisp shirt
with sky blue stripes
that are so classy,
and works for a defense contractor
as head of outsourcing...
it's a no-brainer.
Yes, I'd choose Gilbert Poitard.
Didn't you find him subtle?
With a remarkable sense of humor?
Sorry, but it's a fool's game
judging the sense of humor of a guy
convicted of harassment
at France Telecom.
And who's here putting out feelers
for the next elections.
However, thanks to me,
he knows how in touch you are
with the sensitivities of the inhabitants
of Montfermeil.
That grabbed his attention.
No kidding.
To manipulate people's minds,
their psyches...
I am completely revolted.
If you saw the things he wrote...
Such as? Tell me.
"Since you are, eternal heart,
the woman, and I know you."
"Fleeting wave carried on air,
elusive flame."
Apollinaire.
He even stole that.
I thought I'd found the perfect man.
And I went and destroyed it.
Yes.
Although I suppose I should thank you.
You know, Joelle,
if we had a heart-to-heart earlier,
things would be different.
We wouldn't have fought.
Or maybe we'd have fought,
but only about settling down
in Paris or out here.
I appreciate you
trying to cheer me up but...
It's pointless.
Sorry.
Know what I'd like?
Later, when your doorbell rings,
you open up,
and instead of Poitard...
I come in.
Stop making things more difficult.
I'd say,
Joelle, sweetheart,
I can't take any more.
Please, teleport to your island
and tell the Leopardess
to kiss me full on the mouth.
Can't be.
Can.
You're the Fox?
My sweet...
You ok?
Psychologically, very unsettled.
Feeling pretty good, actually.
Personally, I mean.
Subtitles: Simon John
Subtitling: HIVENTY
hardly practical.
Remember, barely a few weeks ago,
I was unemployed.
It was your call to move
two years ago.
The advantage of Paris
was my parents' apartment.
Mr. & Mrs. Mrabti, the idea was
this is an uncontested divorce.
I can sign a contested divorce notice.
We'll revisit the separation agreement
prior to divorce being pronounced.
So I'd stay in the field
of relaxation and harmonization
'cause that's what you loved in me.
My particular skills prompted you
to ask Emmanuelle to hire me.
I didn't leave Montfermeil to move here
to spare the kids long trips
when I was with Didier
in Clichy-sous-Bois.
People change, life changes...
All I know is
you always destroyed everything.
Little by little, bit by bit.
And it's still true now.
I needed you. We needed you.
My time resources are not infinite.
Sorry.
You should've shown me.
You always got home late,
obsessing about work.
You always got home exhausted.
May I conclude
you are in agreement or...
No, not the mosque.
You have a nerve.
What are they saying?
Is that all?
So you're way too brutal.
I was sick of taking it back there.
- Anal needs...
- Whoa, take it easy.
According to depositions submitted
by attorneys Hazzizi and Merkache,
I hereby declare you divorced.
Yes, please.
By mutual consent.
Are you really sure...
Isn't tomorrow Shorts Day?
No matter.
Would you believe it!
I forgot my lipstick, today of all days.
You want mine?
No, never pearly.
Makes you look stupid.
- Morning, Emmanuelle.
- Morning, Joelle.
You're doing your makeup.
Yes.
Yes.
I'll try again later.
Kinda disassembled, Kamel's ex.
As ever, I hope
he knows what he's doing.
Excuse me.
Here.
It's...
It's no-transfer.
It's no-transfer?
Yes. When you kiss, no transfer.
WONDERS IN THE SUBURBS
Ladies and gentlemen,
fellow citizens and dear colleagues,
I bid you welcome.
On this day
of my investiture in high office,
I commit to reciprocating
Montfermeil's trust in us.
I really start now?
Of course. Right now.
We are an ancient
and wonderful locality,
whose distant 12th-century origins
may have been as a leper colony,
but it was here, one dark night,
that Jean Valjean met Cosette
when she was fetching water
from the spring.
And here that Jean-Baptiste Clément
wrote, during the Commune,
When we sing of the cherry season
And gay nightingale and mockingbirds
will trill in delight
The gals will have wild ideas in mind
The lovers...
A locality, then,
which has faced down every ordeal
and risen to every challenge.
Now really? It feels weird.
Now's the time. Why come otherwise?
And it's a great honor for me
to present to you the initial reforms...
- It doesn't make sense now.
- Who cares?
Please, Joelle.
Go ahead.
We will begin, as promised,
by renaming and refreshing
public holidays.
Now, everybody, move inside of yourself.
Be sure to take
the temperature of the day.
Be sure to take the tempo.
Sense exactly
where you are in the space.
On January 21,
a date that curiously enough
marks the death
of both Louis XVI and Lenin,
we shall celebrate Harem Pants Day.
Breathe in!
And out all the way.
On February 10, we shall not hold
the Carnival of Cultures,
which for budgetary reasons
moves to June 25,
coinciding with Brioche Day.
You may say
that it is strange
to celebrate the brioche,
when many struggle to buy bread.
March 8, we shall celebrate Kilt Day.
No, sorry, the kilt's in June.
No, Ascension Thursday
is replaced by Women's Day.
Like arrows through the brain.
Easter becomes Biodiversity Day.
April 23 shall be Kimono Day.
Finally, and I kept this for the end,
May 12 will be a day
for shorts, to make it clear
that our reforms
are far more than symbolic.
I mention them first
because they are the cornerstone
of our new Policy of Urban Time,
which the people of Montfermeil approved
so massively by casting their votes
so massively for us.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I believe in local democracy.
I believe in direct democracy.
"Sometime,
"martyr weary of poles and zones
"The sea whose sob softened my rolling
"Raised it's shadow-flowers to me
with their yellow disks
"There was I like a woman on her knees
"I was carefree
"and drunk on wonders
"Million golden birds
"I lived in Montfermeil!"
Long live Montfermeil.
Long live France.
Our new Policy of Urban Time
involves reducing working hours,
to be shared
by everyone, for everyone.
The aim is twofold,
reducing unemployment
and organizing rest periods
in the course of time.
For example,
our new Naps for All program.
We'll cut unemployment in half
by creating the Montfermeil
International School of Languages.
We are responsible for house calls
with the Sexual Assistance
and Satisfaction Department.
The SASAD.
Our toll-free hotline number is 0865
865 865.
We are all over
the city's streets, every night.
Dysfunctions, shyness...
Misunderstandings, aversions...
So I'll be in charge
of outreach and liaison
between our citizens
and the Roma community.
A kind of crash-course
for our citizens
with the ideas and practices
of the Roma.
Good morning.
It's the Prefect.
That's the Prefect?
What have we here? The police?
Morning, Mr. Prefect.
As I always say,
only great actors
are successful in politics.
And an actress, even better.
A woman who epitomizes jolly.
Madame Joly.
Easier on the eye.
I also liked the content of your speech.
Lucky I didn't see you there.
I'd have lost my thread.
With all the disruptions we had.
Just some whiners.
Yes, I suppose you could say that.
You'll never lose
your thread or...
your powers of persuasion.
It makes you so attractive.
You do me good.
You have reached SASAD. Evening.
Hung up.
That's Emmanuelle.
In the cherry season
If you fear a broken heart
Avoid the beauties
Having little fear of life's cruelties
I shall not live without suffering
Nailed it.
So we're agreed, human resources
are no different than OISE.
Our model.
Noise? Humans the same as noise?
O.I.S.E...
- Concentrate, Juliette.
- Sorry.
So, the idea is 547 staff members.
We cancel the budget
for surveillance cameras
totaling 2,035,536 euros.
Which leaves us 5,500,000 to find.
And our 547 teachers.
Bring up the price list,
Guillaume.
The average stay for students
in Oxford learning English
is two weeks.
And the spend per student
ranges from 3,440 euros
to 5,570 euros.
We said we'd aim for half,
making annual turnover of 15 million.
If we don't hit our target right away,
we'll at least hit 5 million
in our second year.
Kamel, where are we at with teachers?
Nowhere. I couldn't reach out to anyone
until we were in office.
Naturally, but surely you did
a feasibility study.
- You're ready?
- No, not ready.
As I told you, Emmanuelle,
several times,
we can't begin
with 62 languages to learn.
Year 1, we focus
on languages we agreed.
Arabic, Chinese,
Tamil, Sonikay...
Soninke.
- And Cajun.
- And German.
How come German?
We said I'd contact
the Turkish community
to bring in German Turks
for the project.
Yes, that's right.
So that makes seven.
Anyway, we need double the teachers.
Guillaume,
can you bring up the schedule?
See, Benoît?
What about people's naps?
Naps mean doubling teacher numbers
compared to the Brits
for the same number of classes.
- Shit, totally forgot naps.
- So I see.
We have 8,433 employees in Montfermeil.
Agreed? 1,290 part-time.
Take away anyone who doesn't speak
Chinese, Arabic, Tamil, Soninke, etc.
Nowhere near 547 x 2.
I need 8 people per block
for the rooftop arable farms.
Okay on that?
- Benoît?
- Yes. Fabulous.
Not fabulous.
And including the Undesirables?
I didn't find the lists.
"How little time it takes
to change all things."
We stumbled across them.
We took care of it, deleted them.
Denis, we said
no destroying LCPD files.
We need them to undo
our predecessors' population removal PUR.
Slow down, Kamel. What files?
The LCPD's. Local Committee
for Prevention of Delinquency.
PUR. Plan for Urban Renovation.
"Thinking we did right,
we must look in our hearts,
"which the ice attains,
"as one counts the dead
on a battlefield.
"Each fallen grief,
each extinguished dream."
Talk normally?
He is talking normally.
It's Victor Hugo.
Denis, we must bring back
the Undesirables.
How can we find them
without the lists?
Bring them back and house them
in the Greater Paris development.
You must find those people.
Benoît Survenant,
deputy mayor, eco-solidarity.
Where are your parents?
I'm here, sir.
So, I have been charged,
for purposes of job creation,
with finding people who were...
Whom the Plan for Urban Renovation, PUR,
ran out.
And labeled Undesirable.
How would you say it?
Put aside.
- Yes, put aside.
- Undesirable.
One might say ran out.
Yes, I'd...
I'd say ran out.
I see you've lived here a long time.
I mean you're settled here.
Perhaps you know somebody
who was run out?
Somebody who was...
Who was...
run out?
Yes, I do.
Where are they?
They're everywhere.
Meaning?
I am one.
How come?
How come? Because...
Because I...
I don't fit anymore, simple as that.
Do you have a job?
I lost my job.
I don't know what to expect.
This is something
that can really be resolved.
We hope so.
In any case,
with Ms. Joly, that's our goal.
Did you arrive in France
with your daughters?
No.
I had them here.
I come to France at 19.
I see.
Came here at 19.
And you're French?
- I mean you have nationality.
- For 25-26 years.
- And the gentleman?
- Ibrahim.
You know people who were run out?
Of course, I do.
Where are they?
I don't know.
Can we find them?
There's Abdullah.
There's Saleh.
You have their family names too?
I don't really know family names.
I know them because they're local...
Ladies?
What about you?
Adham.
Adham and Awa.
At school, for example?
No, don't know any.
In one way, that's pretty fabulous.
It's fabulous.
I'll make tracks.
Benoît Survenant.
- Isn't that right?
- A pleasure.
If ever anyone comes to mind...
These people who were run out,
you understand,
are now...
Ma'am...
They are now people
that are badly wanted.
My wife and I like DETI.
Because we have more time.
At the job center,
there's no time, lots of people.
We just get 10-15 minutes
with regards to the jobs we're looking for.
As regards photocopies, documents,
signing up, signing off.
It takes time,
and there's lots of people and no time.
We're still the same DETI.
Department of Employment,
Training and Integration,
now named TUTU.
The Urban Time Unit. It's not...
Mr. Brakhni,
the philosophy of our new team
is quite specifically
to take our time with you.
An hour, if not more. Alright?
Actually, I work...
I don't work in town, I work outside.
In the Paris region.
I get by with mass transit.
I get by just fine.
Today, it's about my wife.
Mrs. Brakhni...
- Good morning.
- Morning, ma'am.
Do you...
What are your skills?
Cleaning.
I'd like to...
work with children in a school.
I didn't find anything.
You read and write French?
A bit.
- Reading and writing?
- A bit.
A little bit.
Read and write a bit.
We're going to open a school
here in Montfermeil.
A language school.
We could perhaps offer you
a job as a pronunciation coach
in Arabic classes.
That's not bad.
It would be here, at Cedar House.
And that would also enable you...
to tutor people while they commute.
You'll get to know Paris and the sites.
I like traveling.
So, it's perfect.
Think about my offer,
talk it over with the family,
and we'll meet again in...
A week.
A week sounds okay?
Yes, sounds great.
- Who's that?
- My girlfriend.
- You're kidding?
- We're getting married.
C'mon, if you have no life,
have it on Second Life.
Second Life is so outdated.
- Nobody uses it anymore.
- She does.
Look, that's where we met.
We chatted.
We went on quests together.
I brought some tea.
Thank you.
The tea.
It was a good investiture.
Yes, Emmanuelle,
a very good investiture.
I was right to insist on singingThe Cherry Season.
Yes, Emmanuelle, you were right to...
What was that poem?
Surely not your own?
Half and half.
What does that mean?
Half-Rimbaud, half-me.
No, she can't do that here.
I've got it.
And pull on the water's surface.
To raise your heads out of the water.
Tell me what I do that works.
And what doesn't work.
And then back again.
And we unfurl our wings. Six times.
Aren't you fetching the kids?
Sure. The lobby may not be the place...
It may not be the best place to do this.
With both hands.
"It's 59 minutes past.
"One minute to go.
"In your administration,
"maybe not everyone on the team
is playing ball.
"Someone who's here to help."
- You're going?
- Just changing.
Take a look at this a second.
There are some wackjobs.
People are nuts.
Know what?
I'm learning to speak Soninke.
- But by the time...
- To go on missions.
By the time you learn Soninke,
you'll still be with the guy?
I don't know. Who cares!
You are so right.
Who cares!
What on earth is that?
We voted for mostly housing
on Station Plaza.
Not for offices.
I need you to help me, Marylin.
My life bores me.
The humor's gone.
Don't exaggerate now.
Look at me.
What?
I'm disguised as a Mexican wrestler.
Come over here.
No, I don't feel like it.
When you're like this, it turns me off.
I am
deputy
mayor of Montfermeil,
with responsibility
for the Bureau
of Comings and Goings.
Okay.
You're taking me
for an
idiot.
An idiot.
You are a hostess
with OFFII,
disguised
as a deputy mayor!
I come
from City Hall in Montfermeil.
Very good.
And you don't work
for OFFII?
Yes? Is that right?
The Office for Immigration
and Integration?
Immigration and Integration?
You know?
Are you really
an official with a mandate
from City Hall? Really?
Or are you talking out of your behind?
Dad.
Eat.
I would really like
to organize a kind of trip.
It would involve taking people
in your wagons from Montfermeil
to the Apuseni mountains
in Transylvania.
In our wagons?
Seriously? Wagons?
Really? Wagons?
What is this
bullshit idea?
Mr. Sandor,
hear me out.
The Municipal Police
was created by our predecessors.
Basically, we intended
to disband it. However,
I'll convince Madam Mayor
to give them instructions
to redeploy
as cemetery guards
so they can stop
the National Police force
from drilling holes in your faucets.
Alright then, you want
civil war!
What was Latin class about, kitten?
Orders and commands.
Let me take this book?
Hunc librum capem.
Capem?
Is that the subjunctive?
Capiam.
Let them take the book?
Capiunt?
What?
I don't know.
Just as I thought, you're lying to me.
I'm not lying to you.
So why did you get it wrong? Liar!
- I'm not lying.
- Are!
You're lying to me! You liar!
I cannot stand you lying to me!
Be quiet! Quiet!
- Mom, listen...
- Quiet!
When you go to a crap school,
you work properly.
Twenty years, we waited
for a liberal mayor in this town.
The day we get to work at last,
you pull this.
It's a disgrace!
A disgrace!
That doesn't tell me
where to look for
information
on the Greater Paris pilot company.
Is it at...
regional or national level
that I can find out?
Let's recap.
"I'm in a gang, but I have religion.
"I want to leave it
and live an honest life.
"Do nothing more than we ask.
"If you change the plan,
they'll suspect.
"And it'll be
barapandaramonium."
Sign "Someone who's here to help"
as usual.
As usual.
Good job.
How brutal is hope!
What the heck is that?
A new Greater Paris Express station
What does that mean, children?
Hold on. Mohammed?
It means it's a girl speaking.
But what does it mean?
"I am" or "I exist."
Stanley?
How would a boy say it?
Ormance?
You're kind of halfway, look.
1, 2, 3...
Hands up!
Move back.
Am I...
Or...
I'm hungry.
Hungry!
Like in German.
Pronounce it like it's German.
We had nothing for lunch,
so I'm hungry.
I skipped lunch, so I'm hungry.
There you go.
I'm tired.
It's like a...
That means I'm tired, I'm beat.
You've got it.
How are the children?
How are the people from our village?
The rolled 'r'
has to be really discreet and deep.
I'm not discreet enough.
Alright, I know I sing out of tune.
How are the children?
I could not afford to...
To live there with the children.
It was really hard and dull.
That's very complicated.
The plane is up there.
That's how you say "a plane."
Look, the plane is in the sky.
An explosion in the darkness!
There she is.
The fox is me.
The leopardess is her.
Gonna send a quick IM.
How about we meet up
in real life, little pearl?
What's with all these offices?
"Windows onto a life of beauty"?
I maybe went too far.
I bet she's looking good.
As good as me, I hope.
Who?
I want a nice girl.
A leopardess maybe.
Let me show you
how we're lobbying the Prefect.
Paris is changing
but none of our energy has flagged
My brand of feminism
involves putting myself
systematically in the center.
Pretend I'm not here.
On June 12, she has invited me
to Bobigny Theatre, to see a show.
Dance Taped.
Dance Taped.
June 12, the theatre,
isn't that tomorrow?
It truly terrifies me.
You're not mad, are you?
Of course I'm not mad at you.
- It's not my fault.
- I know it's not.
I had no choice
but to leave with the Minister.
It's why I left.
I tried to catch your eye.
To give you a kiss from afar
with my eyes.
Paul, I see offices everywhere,
and no housing.
- The document...
- Baby, I read it.
It sums up the argument for offices
and against housing, and vice-versa.
It contains no new data
through lack of access to info
that is crucial and remains unclear.
Look at the Prefecture's conclusions
instead of whining straight off the bat.
Where exactly did I whine?
If you cannot give me
this crucial information,
when I feel like I'm...
You feel like you're what?
I really must scoot.
Am I what? Capable of what?
Of giving me information that is crucial
when I feel I'm getting royally fucked
by two next-door mayors.
Getting what? I didn't catch it...
A cause for pride, no?
You see, Emmanuelle, attendance
at Medici is even more fabulous,
so Arabic classes have moved here.
But we cannot go on like this.
They learn one language.
Then another and another.
So, you see,
we need to open up outposts.
I wonder if it's better...
I don't know where to turn, ma'am.
Children today just won't listen.
They don't want to work at school.
I'm tired.
I'm so tired.
I'm absolutely exhausted.
I feel like killing myself.
Kamel, fabulous.
Selim, fabulous you could make it.
Yes, fabulous.
We reviewed the situation.
It's fabulous, but we need new outposts.
And to recruit team leaders
and deputy team leaders.
Just one tiny second...
After you arrive late,
how much time do you need to engage?
Talking of time, take out your planners.
Friday June 12, at 7 pm,
on the evening news,
Culture Minister Frédéric Chaban
will announce the Medici redevelopment.
I want the whole team present.
Naturally, Emmanuelle.
We'll all be there.
On Friday June 12,
"Rome ousts Sparta."
June 12?
Friday June 12?
What's with the preppy look?
A skirt?
What the hell? A twinset?
It's sexy, isn't it?
Whereas neither Béatrice, nor myself,
nor anyone else here
has particularly noticed
that anyone
has gone over the top
with compliments on your sportswear.
Am I wrong?
- No.
- Doesn't look great.
What I wear is none of your business.
Emmanuelle said it was.
Sorry, I forgot
I take my orders from you.
Sorry, sorry, sorry.
From now on, I'll call every morning
with my wardrobe choices.
And in the fall,
my comrades and I
will send our tailor...
I don't give a shit about your duds.
Not one shit!
But I have enough worries,
and your trinkets and pearls
can only mean trouble.
I work here as hard
and as well as anyone.
I run 25 workshops.
- You told Emmanuelle?
- I did.
- And she said?
- "Tell her, no more uptown girl."
Fine.
- That way?
- Yes.
- Isn't this outfit just great?
- Mine?
No, mine.
Yours is great, but mine?
- It's super sexy.
- You think?
I absolutely love disguises.
Your cry from the heart today:
No, not them too!
Not my own friends!
No.
Is the crew pulling
in the same direction?
Someone who's here to help.
There.
It'll hold.
Marylin?
Yes?
Could you face the mirror?
She's stunning like that, isn't she?
Yes, she's very beautiful.
But I wish we could make love
without disguises.
Relying only on our tenderness.
That's understandable.
Isn't it, Marylin?
Sure, but sometimes our tenderness
doesn't seem to consist of much.
We'll go nice and slow.
Nice and slow.
Maybe...
you want to simply disrobe her.
Maybe you simply remove her robe,
and that's just wonderful.
Maybe it matters little
what you remove.
Nice and slow, that's it.
Her shoulders...
Maybe leave her wig on for now.
Turn her around slightly.
Maybe.
The most beautiful back
in the whole Paris region.
Nice and slow now.
Maybe raise her up a touch.
Slip a hand under her bottom.
There you go.
The most beautiful bottom
in northern France.
Maybe we can leave the wig to chance.
It's pinned pretty securely.
Even better, right?
Nobody told him
that's the best way to get caught?
- Jumping the turnstile?
- Sure.
- Which stop?
- Le Raincy.
So he's at the motel next door.
Rack your brains
to hatch a plan to get him out.
I'll come up with one too,
and we'll see which one's better.
To break him out.
Well?
I've got it. Here we go.
We borrow a municipal vehicle.
I hack a waiver...
on internet from Immigration
and we make it look old.
We rock up at the motel
in the municipal car,
and say his cousin found the waiver
in his apartment. It happens.
We can even
hack a...
Similarly, we can
hack a residency permit
approved by City Hall
'cause we know where the stamps are.
We know.
It's a good plan.
- Am I right?
- Yes, it's good.
It's very good,
kind of cobbled together.
But it's way too simple.
There's no challenge.
What's the point of a plan
with no degree of difficulty?
I've never been to Germany.
Louder.
I've never been to Germany.
Even louder.
Stress!
I abbreviated it.
Arsène.
The first name, Arsène...
Ja. A little German.
Reggae, the music.
Brr, cold.
Lee, a shelter. In a shelter.
Arsène, ja,
reggae, brr, lee, ben.
Eighteen years I stayed.
Since I'm only an assistant here,
is my presence really necessary
at Friday's press conference?
One moment, right back.
Kamel! Are you coming back?
- Yes?
- You went out?
- Yes, Emmanuelle.
- We'll let it go.
Say, about Friday...
I planned to mention Friday.
You'd skip it too?
Yes, something big's come up.
I must be dreaming!
Does anyone on my team
have a sense of civic duty?
In one year since we took office,
this is the first time
I ask people to work overtime.
And everybody backs out.
You said we...
Emmanuelle,
Kamel and I discussed it.
Everything's just fine. Fabulous.
Who asked you, Benoît?
What does that even mean,
"Kamel and I discussed it"?
Who is the mayor here?
I am!
Yes, Emmanuelle.
What's with you? More exercises?
So you want to duck out?
That's just fine.
We'll get by easily enough without you.
In 10 years, I never asked a favor.
All day, every day,
I fight for work-life balance.
Schizophrenia has its limits.
Once in one year,
I ask 13 elected officials...
13!
Le Raincy has twice as many.
Morning, ma'am.
Can our teams be of service?
This morning,
we left boxes out for recycling.
They're still there.
Our recycling operatives
do not pick up large boxes of the kind
used for white goods since it involves
supplementary treatment costs.
For collection and waste management,
take them to the recycling center,
good and...
flat
to facilitate handling.
Have a good day.
Likewise. Goodbye, ma'am.
13 people,
who spend their days
twiddling their thumbs,
while I am accountable
for all their decisions.
Hello!
Drinks with the Jouberts?
There's the press conference, though.
Exactly, yes. No but...
Precisely.
Emmanuelle, come here.
Why get so worked up?
For 2 months now, you bark at me.
I may have my reasons.
One thing's for sure,
you're not happy with me.
I'll let you draw
the obvious conclusions.
You know what?
We'll stop there. It's for the best.
Prefect Franceschini
is asking about the council meeting.
No, I won't be at the council meeting.
We, the police, need that data.
I'll get it to you somehow.
You talk on the phone now?
I wish you'd been there.
Kamel and I can go
from the Roma camp to the meeting.
Virginie!
Sorry to intrude on your kiddie time,
but can you cover it?
I'll cover it with pleasure.
Thank you, Virginie.
You're welcome.
What are you doing here?
Riding the bus.
You lost weight recently?
Maybe.
You're buff.
Suits you, looking good.
I meant to tell you...
The other day,
you were right about my outfit.
It was ghastly.
- Not ghastly.
- So tasteless.
Vulgar.
I owe you big time.
I could've dressed like that forever.
I'd have gone on my date Friday
in that outfit.
Friday?
Are you dumb?
No.
But I have something big on Friday, too.
As I'm a mere assistant,
I think you can fix it for me.
That's why I'm looking good.
At last, my opinion matters.
You made my life a misery all year.
I can't say
you've been extremely friendly.
Everything I do is wrong.
I want people on the street, wrong.
Do an Oomph-ma? Wrong
Make a suggestion? That sucks.
When my suggestions
are really good, mostly.
- Pain in the butt.
- At the investiture, I was psyched.
Full of life and enthusiasm.
Everybody was fascinated
by my odd methods.
Now I'm a shadow of that person.
I'm nothing. You're a dictator, period.
With your big democratic posturing.
My
ass.
Any day now,
I might just ditch everything.
I'll do my exercises.
But for myself, and only once a day.
In fact, I won't do my exercises
because I'll make love six times a day.
I'll still find a tiny second
to write you an email to say
you suck.
I don't like you.
In the trees.
I have children. I live in Montfermeil.
Welcome to my home.
At Jean Richard Circus,
we worked another four years.
After the roof fell in,
we started working for Pinder.
After Jean Richard,
you worked at Pinder Circus?
Afterward, we worked at Pinder.
And after Pinder Circus?
After Pinder Circus, we stopped.
It's way too long
if I tell you the whole story now,
but he kept on working in tarps.
He quit working with the circus...
Because he broke his leg.
He worked in the wind and rain.
He fell and broke his pelvis.
He had retired but he kept working.
He's a solid guy, my brother. Sturdy.
I really wish there was a moat
around the motel.
The night of the escape,
if there's time, we'll dig one.
We need to make a rope ladder.
We could take the drapes from City Hall
and make a rope ladder
for him pretty easily.
We'd send it to him in a pie.
In the pie?
That's usually how it works.
I don't get why he needs a rope ladder.
To use it.
He must have a rope ladder.
They've all got one.
Sorry to barge in
on purpose at breakfast,
to be sure to find you in.
Benoît Survenant,
deputy mayor, eco-solidarity.
Your parents are in? May I?
Fabulous.
Here we are.
Fabulous.
So I have been charged,
for purposes of job creation...
I'm looking for people who lived here,
whom the PUR,
meaning the Plan for Renovation,
ran out.
Why come to us last?
Of all the kids at school?
I don't know,
I have lots of families to do still.
With kids in lots of other schools.
You are the mother
of these fabulous children, I suppose?
Might there be,
among your acquaintances,
people who were run out?
Don't be dumb.
She's not our mom.
She looks after us.
Our mother and father are at work.
No?
I see.
I'll make tracks.
Benoît Survenant.
Isn't that right?
Your parents can find me at City Hall.
And fabulous news...
The people who were run out
are badly wanted now.
- You wanted a word?
- Yes, about what you said.
Sorry, I was...
I lost my cool.
No, I think you were right.
You'll be happier
on someone else's team.
You think so?
I'm sure of it.
I printed an email
that won't make a transfer harder.
All that's left
is for us to say goodbye.
Goodbye, Emmanuelle.
She apologized, I guess?
"To whom it may concern,
Kamel Mrabti leaves my team voluntarily.
"Mr. Mrabti began in Montfermeil
as a community organizer.
"His diligence saw him elected councilor,
then deputy mayor.
"In his five years as our right-hand man,
he has proven to be
"reliable, professional and resourceful.
"We commend his work
without reservation.
"He takes with him our best wishes
for his future projects.
"Emmanuelle Joly."
"I no longer accuse
"I no longer curse
"But let me cry!"
My dear Kamel, every one of us,
every member of this extraordinary team,
will agree with me when I say
this is a shock and a surprise.
We have a sense
of losing a splendid coworker.
We all wish you
all the luck you richly deserve.
The whole team gathered here
wants to say thank you.
Thank you for your courage,
for your innovation, for all you gave us.
Happens every day, people getting fired.
We're heading for the press conference.
Beg pardon?
The press conference
was canceled two weeks ago.
Why?
No more empty promises
in the media
to fake interest in our communities.
Kamel, it's Selim.
Look...
The press conference is canceled,
so meet you wherever.
See you right away.
All his working life here.
A brother to you. You'd done it all.
The best staffer you have.
Why let him go?
Mr. Bouazzi, you enjoy working
on my team, don't you?
You want to finish the work
you have begun?
Yes.
I believe in it.
It's a short-term contract?
Yes, it is, madam mayor.
And I have a family with four children.
So mind your own business
and go home.
Yes, Madam Mayor.
What will she be reading?
Life and Fate, Vasily Grossman
Life and Fate!
And on the table, in plain sight,
there should be
a leopard's tail.
Leopard's tail?
Well?
Hold on, there's a chick there.
She's stunningly beautiful.
But no book.
There she is, behind the pillar.
Yes, that's it.
Life and Fate, Grossman.
And the tail?
There's a furry thing poking out.
That's it.
What?
Is she pretty?
Yes, very pretty.
She's pretty.
There's something about her...
like Joelle.
Joelle, my ex-wife?
You can't say Joelle isn't beautiful.
Are we really discussing Joelle here?
Listen up, brother.
If you don't like Joelle,
I swear you won't like this girl.
How come?
It is Joelle.
You're feeling furry?
Or in a fury?
Just kidding,
you don't look like a fury.
Do you know when they close the doors
in this theatre?
Life and Fate, fabulous!
You've started it?
Perhaps you saw last year at Documenta,
those painted apples by
Korbinian Aigner.
The priest and gardener
who fought the Nazis.
Evening.
You know the anti-Nazi priest
who developed apples at Dachau?
The KZ-1 apple, KZ-2 and KZ-3 too.
Excuse me, do you mind if we swap seats?
What is this all about?
What brings you here?
No, I'm sorry...
Sorry, have your seat back.
Sorry, but can you sit there?
Late, isn't he?
I'll swap with you.
A tough week, a vile day,
is no reason
to tail me on the street
all the way here.
Keep your bitterness.
Bitter, me?
In five minutes on the phone,
I had two far more spectacular offers.
Great, I'm...
delighted for you.
Sorry.
You're interested in dance now?
You too perhaps?
Gaping holes in your knowledge of me.
Thank goodness
because I know what I'd find.
Instead of a heart, a mirror.
And instead of non-urban time
spent loving people around you,
a political manifesto doomed to fail.
You always combined
analysis and cruelty, anyway.
I based my campaign and policies
on people being necessary.
We need them to fill jobs.
And we'll house them.
Benoît has spent all year
on the road looking for people
and getting the word out
that we're working for eco-solidarity.
I don't need your stump speech.
Stop being so mean.
Do you realize
people will feel betrayed
if they think
I'm going to build offices?
They'll think I'm bringing them back
not to rehouse them
but perhaps put them in camps.
It's unbearable. I can't bear the idea.
The Prefecture must refute it.
You must refute it.
Refute the fantasies of Emmanuelle Joly?
An interesting take on our relationship.
You're losing it.
Losing it.
Why not send international lawyers
to fight rumors, too?
Well, that's enough now.
"They dug and dug,
"dug and dug...
Dug and dug
every day and every night...
"It snowed...
"It snowed...
"Still it snowed.
"They were no longer
"living hearts,
"but a dream wandering in the mist.
"The frightening solitude...
No, "the solitude,
enormous and frightening to see."
Best place for her is a psych ward.
Sorry, Ms. Bedoult,
what exactly is your relationship
with Ms. Joly?
Well...
I'd describe myself
as a kind of interface
for purposes of translation.
I dispatch all the decisions she makes,
reformulating them
to make sure that there is not
the tiniest,
most infinitesimal
part
of a part
of the interpretation
that is misinterpreted.
I am a witness to decisions...
So you're her secretary.
Sorry, but did I call you a dealer?
What happened? How are you?
It was
a shock.
Dreadful. You have no idea.
I just need to get over it.
But it must be our secret.
Of course.
- It won't get out.
- You...
Emmanuelle
and me.
I don't want an injection.
I don't want an injection.
You won't have an injection.
- She won't.
- No injections.
You won't have one.
I surfed those Poupamis.
What puppies?
No.
- They're not puppies.
- What then?
Not puppies.
Not the Poupamis.
They're Poumapis.
Denis and Virginie
are campaigning on internet
to try to undermine me.
And they nearly succeeded.
Why would they undermine you?
To turn Station Plaza into offices.
They have lists.
What lists?
Lists of folks they removed,
kept removing.
And the lists from before...
They won't let us have them
so we never find anyone.
They are depopulators, you see?
They are the Poumapis,
in cahoots with the Prefect.
The Poumapis?
I realized when I saw
their new homepage.
"They dug and dug,
every day and every night."
It was poetry, and I realized.
It reminded me of,
"It snowed. Whoever lay down, died."
"And the desert devoured the caravans."
- Victor Hugo.
- Yes, I'm devastated.
I put so much trust in them.
I thought they had my back.
Thanks for coming.
Will you stand in for me on Monday?
Yes, I will.
But what do I do about Victor Hugo?
I'm not entirely sure of the procedure.
I'll leave it up to you.
Juliette, I should thank you.
You saved my life.
It was nothing.
No, not nothing. Life's not nothing.
You know, girls in relationships
at our ages,
they're in a living nightmare.
Fights, tyranny, duplicity.
Solitude is worse
when supposedly you're a couple.
I know.
And you? All good?
Yes, all good.
You're an incurable romantic.
I had an idea.
I'll transfer you
to International Affairs.
You've done enough secretarial.
I love you.
You're my friend.
Our heartiest congratulations!
What a relief!
Now we're a happy family again.
Haroun, where's mom? What?
Is it serious?
Tell her to take her time
getting better.
Honestly, Kamel,
it's fabulous,
as good old Benoît might say.
What's fabulous?
We have beagle eyes.
We saw your ex-wife
is a political ball-and-chain.
She wants to take initiatives
at City Hall
by relying on you, but not!
Can we leave Joelle out of this?
Ideally, you'd meet someone,
a woman who straightens stuff out
so Joelle reconsiders
her professional goals.
One more word, I punch you.
You don't understand,
Virginie agrees with you.
Like I give a shit. You're fired.
Fired!
Out!
We're done. I'm sick of you.
Crappy hypocrites!
Juliette!
Marylin! Benoît!
You heard what he called us?
Hypocrites!
Me? The visionary.
The foreteller of cities.
You're all witnesses.
Witnesses to the language
this man uses.
Beat it.
I'm the boss now.
Get out of my sight.
You may think you're Giant Barabo
but I'm not your brother Poumapi.
A sin confessed
is not always forgiven, Poumapi.
Barabo!
I'll stave in your abdomen.
Bravo!
Your belongings.
Mom's not eating.
In ten days, it's Brioche Day.
We'll need you, for all the stress.
Make a speedy recovery.
I think I'll be on my feet
in a couple days.
Don't pressurize yourself.
You shouldn't...
I feel kind of responsible.
You?
Not a chance.
It's way bigger than you, unfortunately.
The problem is...
Let's say, psychological.
Mom, you got an IM.
I received an IM? Really?
Children, how about you get dad a drink?
Don't you want a drink?
- It's the Fox.
- Yes.
Go to your rooms.
Good news?
Very good.
Know what?
I'll be on my feet tomorrow.
Goodness, what a transformation!
You know, if I wasn't so happy,
- I'd be mad at you.
- At me?
- How come?
- You ruined my evening out.
I was right to tell you to move.
My friend saw us talking.
- He began to wonder.
- If we're dating?
Obviously.
Listen.
"Be honest, who was the hot guy?
Looked a real heartbreaker."
A little jealousy won't hurt him.
He sees you there,
with another guy, so he backs off?
Listen to you. It's unbelievable.
He wasn't scared of you.
It's called tact.
He's discreet.
How could I explain
a guy like him to you?
He says,
"I await the soft, noble form she takes
to follow her
"and love her only.
"A flash of lightning that lasts."
I'm having a brain wave.
Is the journey
Marylin's organizing to Romania still on?
Tomorrow, ask her to book
two seats on the bus for me?
An absolute brain wave.
Transylvania with my love.
Not Transylvania. What is this?
Vampire country for a first date?
But it isn't a first date.
We got married a year and a half ago
on Second Life.
Transylvania, come on!
There's no snow even!
You're serious about a trip?
The Caribbean.
The Dominican Republic's cool.
Marylin says you booked
the last seats to the Carpathians.
Yes, I did.
For me and my boyfriend.
Great.
- The leopard print is for him?
- Yes.
I told Judy, the English teacher,
to sign up with her husband.
Shoot.
I'm really sorry.
Suggest she tries
the European Parliament in Brussels.
No, that trip's too good.
I dislike her husband.
He's a graceless fellow
who spread gossip about me.
I'll recommend something really sinister.
Like...
Crossing lugubrious mountains.
Sleeping in rooms reeking of garlic
under crucifixes.
In hotels built by Ceausescu,
all without snow.
Picture it.
The ultimate buzzkill. Funny, isn't it?
Sorry...
I'm running down your vacation.
No, honestly, what do you think?
I don't know, it's hard to say.
What would you say
to the Caribbean?
The Caribbean's good. It's...
The Caribbean,
like the Dominican Republic?
Yes, exactly that.
You're instantly hotter
than in Europe or Algeria.
Than here I mean,
due to humidity.
Your hair curls.
Your skin's luscious and lustrous.
In 30 minutes,
you shed 10 years.
You spend all day,
snuggling in the sand.
Or naked in the water.
There's nobody around.
You make love in the turquoise sea.
- Goodbye, Ms. Joly.
- See you Monday.
Evening, what brings you here?
Weren't you discharged?
No, I'm still there.
For a while longer, in Section 15 now.
I attend the day hospital. Outpatient.
- Great. You go home every night?
- Exactly.
- You can even go on vacation.
- Yes, I think so.
- Where will you go?
- I don't know.
Take care of yourself.
I'm not crazy.
- Goodbye, Mr. Boutih.
- Goodbye, Ms. Joly.
"Now,
"I am my corpse, deep in a well.
"I breathed my last long ago.
"My heart long since stopped beating.
"Besides the bastard who killed me,
no one knows what happened."
"Desperados from Indian territory
will steal the slave during expulsion.
"They'll come up from Clichy
onto the plateau
"to enter the slave's motel
and whisk him away."
"I'm supposed to hold back
"and sound a white-tin horn
if there's danger.
"But I shall bleat like a sheep
when they enter
"and shall not blow the horn.
"So send in a SWAT team, no worries."
Not exactly reassuring.
Don't go chicken on us,
so close to our goal.
If you can somehow manage to...
Hold on...
Scared of the dark, Benoît?
No. Not anymore.
As a boy, yes.
It's good. Really good.
Really very good.
We can be proud of ourselves.
You have plans for the vacation?
Yes.
- With my girlfriend, I'm...
- Don't.
Don't say more.
I just wanted to be sure
you wouldn't end up alone.
Nice to meet you.
"Girlfriend,"
did I hear you say earlier?
First I heard of it.
I can tell you,
now a new life's opening up to me...
At first, working here with you,
while we were getting divorced...
At times, you could've uprooted me.
Of course I thought,
"My girl, what's gotten into you?"
I was wondering
if you want to come to the coast with me.
See the guy over there?
He's waiting to take me away
for a few days.
Who knows, perhaps forever.
Enjoy it.
I very nearly fell for you again.
I really doubt that.
It's true.
If I'd known, when we were married,
all my sexual or relationship hangups
but I had no idea.
Now you know, it's all good.
With my boyfriend, this time,
things will be so different.
As obviously as I'm Joelle.
Perhaps, after the vacation,
you and I will both move in
with someone.
It'll be weird for the kids.
For sure, super weird.
Me, only perhaps. Nothing's sure.
Yes, it's sure.
- How'd you know?
- It's sure.
- I've lost my shoes.
- I'm on it.
Shoo mosquitoes.
So now it's...
two disguises?
Bob Marley sang that.
Our children, what will they sing?
You didn't give a single dollar.
You big jerk!
Calm down, little jerks.
You calm down!
You're a thief. I say it to your face!
They're getting away!
Shame on you!
Sons of bitches!
What did you mean earlier,
for me it's sure?
How come?
That after the vacation,
I'll move in with someone.
That?
I guess I can tell you.
I saw him.
- Who?
- Your suitor.
He came to see me.
He came to see you?
It sounds unlikely and unlike him.
Don't worry, I put him straight.
He's such a traditionalist,
soon you'll be Mrs. Poitard.
Mrs. Poitard?
- His name, isn't it?
- Sure.
- Poitard?
- Of course.
That's right. Nice guy.
- Handsome, right?
- In his way.
Don't get it into your head
to change him. Bad idea.
No diet, for example.
You'd say he's fat?
I like the spare tire. It's cute.
Why do I fight it?
It's reassuring.
After all we endured, what do we want?
Reassurance.
If I were a woman and I had the choice
between an unstable young guy...
and one of the national elite,
who cuts a dash
in a sharp suit and crisp shirt
with sky blue stripes
that are so classy,
and works for a defense contractor
as head of outsourcing...
it's a no-brainer.
Yes, I'd choose Gilbert Poitard.
Didn't you find him subtle?
With a remarkable sense of humor?
Sorry, but it's a fool's game
judging the sense of humor of a guy
convicted of harassment
at France Telecom.
And who's here putting out feelers
for the next elections.
However, thanks to me,
he knows how in touch you are
with the sensitivities of the inhabitants
of Montfermeil.
That grabbed his attention.
No kidding.
To manipulate people's minds,
their psyches...
I am completely revolted.
If you saw the things he wrote...
Such as? Tell me.
"Since you are, eternal heart,
the woman, and I know you."
"Fleeting wave carried on air,
elusive flame."
Apollinaire.
He even stole that.
I thought I'd found the perfect man.
And I went and destroyed it.
Yes.
Although I suppose I should thank you.
You know, Joelle,
if we had a heart-to-heart earlier,
things would be different.
We wouldn't have fought.
Or maybe we'd have fought,
but only about settling down
in Paris or out here.
I appreciate you
trying to cheer me up but...
It's pointless.
Sorry.
Know what I'd like?
Later, when your doorbell rings,
you open up,
and instead of Poitard...
I come in.
Stop making things more difficult.
I'd say,
Joelle, sweetheart,
I can't take any more.
Please, teleport to your island
and tell the Leopardess
to kiss me full on the mouth.
Can't be.
Can.
You're the Fox?
My sweet...
You ok?
Psychologically, very unsettled.
Feeling pretty good, actually.
Personally, I mean.
Subtitles: Simon John
Subtitling: HIVENTY