"Like in a mysterious rite of passage, Bardo players appear on the mental stage of the dead, their only audience." "Their director is Karma." "W.Y.Evans-Wentz, The Tibetan Book of the Dead." "I always thought my mother would die after me." "I imagined myself as a castrated bachelor, wearing cardigans and living in his mother´s home at the age of forty... lt happened differently." "The Belleville Book of the Dead" "She is losing consciousness..." "Metastases spread from the brain to the spine through the rachidian canal." "She is under morphine." "It´s a matter of hours..." "Mom´s disease was mercifully quick, but dreadful." "The cancer spread thorough her body as if it was afraid to be late to a prosperous infections meeting." "Your turn..." "Do you want me to wheel you in?" "Don´t tell me you´ve been smoking!" "I have, why?" "Why?" "Because we´re in a fucking hospital!" "I think she passed away..." "Sonya?" "What are you doing?" "Sonya..." "What do you mean "Sonya"?" "Let´s go..." "When I started to realize that Mom was really gone, I entered a time of deep depression." "I felt like I had lost an adversary." "Someone I could compete with." "My biggest fan and my harshest critic." "This is how you work?" "Mom, why are you here?" "What do you mean why am I here?" "You can´t live your life like a slug!" "But you´re dead!" "Yes I´m dead, so what?" "I´m sick of lying down!" "is that the problem?" "In my dreams," "Mom accepted her dead condition with a lot of honesty..." "She wasn´t trying to look alive." "On the contrary, she was dealing with death´s consequences like she had dealt with life´s bad times" "A lousy marriage and two kids who, eventually, had pretty much disappointed her." "You can´t expect everyone to only be motivated by work!" "But you, like Michel, are bureaucrats." "No difference..." "You have security." "If you do shit, you still get paid." "Don´t exaggerate!" "I think regulating is good." "You won´t make people work 60 hours a week like a 100 years ago!" "And what if I fucking want to work 60 hours?" "What would stop me?" "I´ll work 35 hours if I want and 60 hours if I want!" "It´s a free country, goddamit!" "Idiot, what are you saying?" "When I think I fought my whole life with your stupid father for you to end up like him... a conservative prick!" "Mom, don´t start!" "Slug, shut up!" "I have as much to say about you!" "Well, let´s not fight about this." "Cheers!" "Good!" "Get drunk!" "It could only help!" "Mom, you can´t do that." "You are dead!" "Stop breaking my balls!" "Jesus!" "Being dead isn´t a reason to shut up!" "Let´s drink... to your mother." "To Mom..." "You fucking hypocrite!" "Bitch!" "You could never bear me!" "Mom!" "What are you doing here?" "Can´t you see what I´m doing!" "These rotting leftovers!" "How can you let yourself go like this?" "There´s something I´d like you to explain to me..." "What, again?" "As far as I know, you´ve always been opposed to the idea of life after death." "You mean all that nonsense about God?" "Reincarnation?" " All that bullshit?" " Yes." "I remember you saying:" ""dead people rot and that´s it."" "You said: "you put them in boxes and they rot."" "Yes, so what?" "So how do you explain that you´re washing my dishes while you are dead?" "Poor little pumpkin." "You know what?" "Keep asking these kinds of useless questions, and you´ll pass by your own existence." "Almost 6 months after Mom died, my dreams became less frequent and finally disappeared." "and finally disappeared." "I understood that I had finally accepted her death." "I still thought about her but her absence wasn´t gnawing at me like a rat." "I had moved on." "I had changed." "I was no more the kind of man to have a mother like Mom..." "My mother was dead." "All this made what happened at the end of spring seem even more disconcerting." "I was out for a walk in Belleville." "It was about three in the afternoon." "I wanted to take a day off." "Mom?" "Oh, Michel!" "Look how cute this is!" "I wonder what they use it for..." "What are you doing here?" "You always refused to go to Belleville except to take the cat to the vet!" "But now I live here, it´s not that bad." "And I discovered Chinese food!" "I just bought an egg roll." "Want some?" "Try it!" "But Mom, you´re dead!" "Of course I´m dead!" "Did you think I was on a cruise in the Caribbean?" "But, last time I saw you was... I didn´t expect to see you in Belleville this afternoon!" "Neither did I expect to see you in Belleville this afternoon!" "And work?" "I took the day off..." "There wasn´t much to do..." "All I do is file." "You´re in a bad way." "That´s not how you´ll climb the ladder of life!" "Life?" "Mom, you can´t really talk about life!" "You could´ve told us you moved." "Ever hear of a phone?" "I´m going to be late for my class." "I have to go." "Wait a minute." "How does it feel to be dead?" "Oh, it´s not a big deal!" "I´ll tell you everything tomorrow evening." "I live nearby, 1 8 rue de la Villette." "I´ll make tea and cookies!" "How was it possible?" "My mom... she was always so sure about the absence of life after death." "How could she take it so lightly?" "I had to learn more about her resurrection." "She wasn´t going to get away with it like this." "How long are you going to stand there?" "Who´s that?" "A Sadhu." "Come on!" "What´s a "sad dude"?" "Not a "sad dude", a Sadhu!" "He´s my guide. I´ll explain later." "It´s all so organized, much better than in life!" "Death services don´t mind your name´s on the door?" "Idiot!" "There is no "Death services"." "When you die, you move neighborhoods." "So, the crematorium was fake?" "You weren´t in the casket?" " l admit, I´m not quite sure." " What?" "I went directly from the hospital to Belleville, then visited this apartment with real estate agents." "Dead real estate agents?" "Yes!" "As dead as doornails!" "The water is boiling, have a seat there." "There. I´ll bring the tea." "Don´t worry!" "It was the first time I saw a post-mortem house." "What struck me from the start was Mom´s new house was identical to the one she lived in the last years of her life." "A small detail disturbed me, though:" "the photos of my brother and I that used to cover all possible surfaces were now pictures of strangers..." "Pictures of people I had never seen." "Although I was shaken, I kept quiet." "I knew that if I was curt, Mom wouldn´t tell me anything." "The Belleville Book of the Dead" "You just got here and you already want to make a call!" "Mom, what is this?" "Let´s just say they´re religious texts..." "Mom, can you answer my questions, please?" "But I answered you already!" "When you die, you change neighborhoods, you´re registered in the phone book." "That´s it!" "That´s it?" "You mean there are herds of dead people walking in Paris, and nobody has ever realized it?" "And Belleville..." "Why Belleville?" "You always hated Belleville!" "Well, yes..." "But believe me, it could have been worse!" "I heard some dead people end up in the suburbs... in track housing!" "Track housing!" "Mom, please..." "The cookies!" "It took a while, but I finally got information out of her" "This is pretty much what happens:" "When you die, you´re transferred to a new neighborhood where you roughly have the same kind of life you had before you died." "There really are herds of dead people in Paris and lots of dead companies." "When you´ve been dead for many years, you go to the country." "The dead community has its own administration." "It places its people in most ofthe big companies and government institutions." "Dead people almost all have a job." "Like Mom, for example..." "And I found a job in a publishing company." "They are alive, but they pay good money." "Well, now you know everything." "Okay Mom, that´s the story..." "But Mom, you´re so curious, didn´t you try to know more?" "Who´s in charge of all ofthis?" "Who´s got the supreme power?" "How should I know?" "I´m not an intellectual like you." "I take things as they come and I like it like that." "I work, I see friends, I go to my class..." "This class again?" "What is this class?" "The phone book people..." "They organize initiation classes for the new-dead." "We study the Yellow Pages." "We learn lots of stuff to get by in death." "But still, it´s so unlike you, Mom." "You, the revolutionary, the great rebel ending up in a sect directed by dead Telecom employees!" "How did you end up like this?" "You´re right." "It´s shady." "Death must have fucked up my brain." "I´m not throwing you out, but I have to get ready... I´ve met new friends, very smart people I´m invited to a reception." "Do you want to come?" "I don´t feel like partying with corpses" "Sorry." "No worries, pumpkin." "But you should come!" "Pretty girls come to these parties!" "Girls?" "I think I found the good argument." "Wait for me. I´ll just be 1 0 minutes." "So, pumpkin, what are you doing all by yourself?" "Daydreaming again?" "Come on, I want you to meet somebody." "Good evening!" "Good evening." "Good evening." "Enjoying yourself?" "Vladimir!" "My friend!" "Please meet my second son Michel." "Very good!" "I´m absolutely delighted to meet you, young man." "Sir." "Vladimir´s a new friend." "He´s Russian, from Vladivostok?" "From the suburbs!" "Vladimir imports caviar in bulk." "Big eggs of caviar!" "But I know his little secret." "Oh!" "Madame!" "Yes, Vladimir is an artist." "He writes poems, short stories, just like you." "Sonya, honey!" "This is Sonya, my daughter whom I´m delighted to have found again." "No way?" "You too?" "Come on, Michel!" "Wake up!" "Come on, introduce yourself!" "Vladimir!" "Awaltz!" "Let´s leave the kids alone." "With great pleasure, Madame." "Good evening, Michel." "So, the hospital was not a dream?" "No. I was there for my dad." "I´m sorry you didn´t know him before." "How long has it been?" "1 5 years?" "Fifteen years without news and here you are with these..." "These dead people acting normal don´t seem to bother you." "I´m a fool, is that it?" "It´s no newsflash." "But now you´re here, I need to know..." "How can you disappear from someone´s life without even a phone call?" "I was in love with another man." "I didn´t want you to suffer." "Really?" "It must be my fate." "Every woman I´ve ever loved, loved someone else." "But Sonya, you could´ve written or given a little sign of... a little sign of... life?" "I think..." "I think I need a drink." "You have to explain all this to me." "I tried to ask my mom but she refuses to answer me." "She´s not refusing." "She just doesn´t know much yet." "She´s like my father." "They are new-deads." ""New-deads"?" "But Sonya, how do you face the idea of spending eternity with only old people?" "In these parties, the age group is always the same, among the living or among the dead." "What happened, Sonya?" "Don´t ask any more questions." "I´m taking you somewhere." "I´ll meet you at the cloakroom." "Good evening." "Mom, I have to go, can I talk to you in private?" "Of course, pumpkin." "Tell me, when I saw you in Belleville, it was the first time since..." "Since?" "Yes, of course, why?" "You never came to my place?" "To your place?" "You don´t remember coming to do the dishes, for example?" "The dishes?" "What a crazy idea!" "My big boy is so cute!" "At his age, he still believes in ghosts!" "All right, you can go!" "Her, me and all the people here..." "We chose to kill ourselves." "What happened, Sonya?" "He was only feeding himself with my love." "When he left me, I was completely empty." "Frozen." "I couldn´t bear it." "Death didn´t make my pain go away, but it gave me guidance," "and the Palace of Sweetness to soothe me." "So, baby boy?" "Looking for Mommy again?" "Yes, I´m a caviar importer." "I take big grains, small grains from Vladivostok." "It´s at the other end of Russia!" "Our habits are hard to kill." "They control our existences." "It took me a few months but I finally stopped wondering if I was dead or alive." "if I was dead or alive." "My new life is very similar to my last one except that everything is lighter, easier..." "Today, I am a happy man, a normal man." "Michel?" "It´s me!" "I just called to see how you´re doing." "I´m fine, Mom." "Are you working?" "Yes, I am working." "You seem grumpy." "What is it?" "Did you sleep well?" "I´m okay, Mom." "Why don´t you come over for dinner tonight?" "I´ve invited new friends you don´t know." "Why not, okay..." "Come with Sonya..." "Listen, Mom, I don´t know... I´ll see." "She may have other plans." "Are things okay between you two?" "Mom!" "I´m sorry." " So, I´ll see you at eight?" " Fine." "See you tonight, pumpkin." "Michel, are you okay?" "I´m fine, thanks." "Was that your mother?" "Sam, you know my mother died 18 months ago." "I know." "But, you said "Mom"." "I didn´t say "Mom"." "I said, "Momo"!" "As in my friend, "Mohammed"." "Not "Mom", "Momo"." "Yes, as I finish these lines, I am what you can call a happy man." "But there´s still something that´s bothering me." "I just turned 40, and I´d hate if anyone knew that my mother calls me at work everyday." "Sous titrage :" "Nicolas Thomas C 2007, ELYTEL." "Tous droits réservés."