"Come on, get up." "You need to buy gifts for your kids before we leave." "I'll pick up something at the airport." "No way." "Airport gifts suck." "Marie, please let me sleep another half hour." "Fine." "If you won't buy the gifts for your kids, I will." "Can you ask the front desk to prepare the bill and have some breakfast sent up?" "You know what?" "The posters are up, all over Paris." "Apparently, you can't miss them." "How many have you seen?" "Really?" "Good morning." "Could you prepare the bill for 321?" " Sure." " And could you send up some breakfast coffee and fruit?" "CLERK:" "Okay, I'll call room service." " Thank you." "They said there would be 120 across Paris." "Can you sum up the headlines for me?" "I won't have time to go online." "That's good." "Big kisses, bye-bye." "MARIE:" "Hello." "Oh, I like this one." "You have more like this?" "Yes?" "Yes." "Take this one." "Yes." " How much?" " One dollar." "I feel bad." "I should've stayed on to cover the story." "After what happened to you?" "They've sent a crew from the Hong Kong office." "I've never done that run away from such a story." "DIDIER:" "You okay?" " Yeah." " Should I come up?" " No, I'll be fine." "I almost forgot the gifts for your kids." "I love you." "The estimated figures are at several billion dollars." "But of course, we're going to talk about the survivors because we hope there are survivors." "The number of victims is estimated at several hundred thousand." "It is a horrific scene here, as this tsunami has devastated the population." "Good evening, everyone." "Marie, can you hear me?" "Mm-hm." "Everybody, break a leg." "Ready and on the air in five, four three, two and cue, Miss Lelay." "Good evening, and welcome to a new edition of Window on Events." "Tonight, our guest is Guillaume Belcher CEO of famous clothing manufacturer Soucil." "We're going to present to you a shocking investigation on child labor in their factories in Southeast Asia." "Cyril Guignard reporting." "BELCHER:" "Here in the West, it's easy to criticize Third World labor practices." "But the truth is these factories play a vital role in industrial development and evolution of poorer countries." "And let's be clear about this, the wages we are paying are substantially higher than local wages." "Marie, go at him!" "DIDIER:" "Marie, do you hear me?" "Pull this guy apart!" "You hear me, get him!" "But will this kind of justification satisfy French customers Mr. Belcher?" "If they were aware of the conditions under which the clothes are produced do you think you would still be profitable?" "Go there and you'll see how much these people need us." "Thank you for watching." "That's all for now, see you next week." "I'm sorry, that was unforgivable." "We'll fix it in the edit." "No one will notice." "And it was my fault." "A defensive CEO was a tough start for the new season." "Do you want to get something to eat?" "I'll see you tomorrow." "I think something happened to me out there." "You had a close call." "No, something really happened to me." "When I went underwater I had visions." "I don't know." "You had a concussion." "You hit your head." "Hm?" "You're right." "Two right-wing newspapers claim Sikhs were out in the streets burning cars, looting shops." "Others say the unrest was triggered by elements within the nationalist parties to cast negative suspicion on racial minorities." "DIDIER:" "What do you think about the story on the Sikhs?" "What?" "The story on the Sikhs, what do you think?" "It's very good." "Listen, I've got to work late and finish some things." "See you tomorrow." "Can I say something you might find difficult to hear?" "I think you came back to work too soon." "Physically, you're fine." "But since the accident...." "Take some time off to get over what happened." "Just a couple of weeks." "To "get over"?" "You've always said you wanted to write." "Your book idea, Michel would jump on it and pay good money." "But that would take time." "This will all be here waiting for you." "What matters is that you feel better." "We need you too much." "I'll think about it." "MARIE:" "Summing up France's postwar history, only two statesmen counted:" "De Gaulle and him." "On de Gaulle, everything's been written." "On Mitterrand, I want to finish the job." "There are fascinating elements." "The abolition of the death penalty, the European Union." "Coming from a right-wing family, he seduced the left." "And what's more, converted it to liberalism." "Amazing!" "It was a revolution, right?" "Plus the darker sides of his character that have never been explored." "He's been dead for 10 years." "The timing is right, we can dig deeper." "I want to dig into his past." "Vichy, the Elf scandal...." "What part did he play?" "The Taiwan frigates, the Papon scandal Mazarine, Marguerite Duras." "These stories were never really addressed." "They've all been buried." "I'm going to tell who knew, who didn't talk." "Isn't that going to bring us too much controversy?" "I don't think so." "What I want is a book that can be read by all." "Mitterrand was not just a politician." "Mitterrand was an icon." "He's "Tonton," our uncle!" "Maybe that's what we should use as the title!" " Tonton." " Heh, heh, heh." "MICHEL:" "I'm not sure we can keep that title." "Of course not." "It was a joke." "I'll welcome your suggestions for the title." "How about Chipping Away at the Myth or The Vacillating Statue?" "I look forward to your suggestions." "We'll make a list." "Congratulations." "The timing couldn't be better." "Politically, there's nothing going on now anyway." "You'll write the book you've always wanted to." "You'll get some rest." "Come this summer, you'll be back on the air with a bestseller under your belt, and a big renegotiated contract." "Stronger than ever." "Exactly." "Adapting and turning misfortune to your advantage." "That's what I've always loved about you, never a victim." "That's right." "Never a victim, never vulnerable, never complains." "Excuse me." "Your table is ready." "Great." "I'm starving." "Can I ask you something?" "What do you think happens when we die?" "That's a strange question!" "Tell me." "When you die, you die." "The lights go out, that's it." "Why?" "That's it?" "Just blackout?" "Totally black, the plug's pulled out." "The eternal void." "Don't you think it's possible that there is something?" "Like what?" "I don't know, something...." "A hereafter." "No, I don't." "If that were the case, wouldn't someone have discovered it by now?" "And there would be proof." "I guess." "Do you have a lot of questions like that?" "More champagne?" "Huh?" "Good evening." "Following a joint statement by Vivendi and electricity giant VFM announcing higher than expected quarterly profits we wonder if evoking France's economic downturn might be premature?" "Sorry, we are running a little late." "Come in." "Everyone is upset by the events." "Sit down." "Marie, to be honest with you, I'm a bit confused." "I thought we commissioned a book about Francois Mitterrand." "Instead, you give us the first three chapters of Hereafter:" "The Conspiracy of Silence." "I realize it's not what you were expecting." "You always said there weren't enough surprises in publishing." "Well, this is certainly a surprise!" "I don't know where to begin." "Did you at least find it interesting?" "Of course." "You've always had a nose for a good story." "But we're a political publisher" "This is political!" "This kind of material, however fascinating, is for a specialized market." "JASMINE:" "This morning, in London, six bombs went off in the heart of the city." "Apparently coordinated, the bombs exploded at the height of the rush hour." "Why are you all against this?" "Why are you so afraid of this?" "This is real!" "This is scientific evidence from well-known researchers forced to work in secret." "A Nobel Prize winner, hounded by the religious lobby." "That's a story!" "Better than a philandering, dishonest old politician." "But a book like that would probably have to be written in English for the American market." "It happened to me, Michel." "I saw it with my own eyes." "Where we're going." "What we'll experience." "Each and every one of us." "That doesn't interest you?" "Now listen, we commissioned a book about Francois Mitterrand." "Either we agree on this and you start writing it or else I want my money back." "That's all I can say." "It was so humiliating." "They looked at me as if I'd lost my mind." "Six months ago they begged me to write about anything." "Anything by the great Marie Lelay." "You'd better give me my job back." "I've had enough with being humiliated." "Today, they even took down my posters." "Why didn't you tell me?" "And your book?" "I'll finish it in my spare time." "It's caused me enough trouble as it is." "What's the matter?" "Look getting your job back might not be as easy as you think." "Why?" "It was a temporary break." "And on your advice." "I know, but" "What we couldn't have foreseen is you'd be talking in public about these experiences." " That you'd lose your credibility." " But I didn't want to write this book!" "It was your idea!" "It was my idea you should write about Mitterrand." "So, what are you saying?" "I'm saying take some more time." "Finish the book, get it out of your system, then come back." "It's that girl, isn't it?" "My replacement?" "I've watched her a few times." "She's good." "Yes, she is." "But not as good as you." "You're sleeping with her?" "How can you say such a thing?" "You always told me to ask the tough questions." "It's funny...." "Who'd have thought it?" "A few months ago I was famous." "Rich." "A success story." "I was happy." "Fulfilled by my work." "By you." "All this happened because you didn't buy your kids their gifts." "Because of what?" "What are you talking about?" "I don't understand." "Forget it." "It doesn't matter." "It's Michel." "Listen...." "I feel terrible about our meeting earlier today." "This book is obviously very important to you." "I think everyone was a bit on edge because of the events in London." "But I made a few calls." "There are two publishers who might be interested." "One American, one English." "Do you have a pen?" "I'm listening."