"It's a story, an account..." "Even if we often forget Proust was a 20th Century man..." "It's a story that carries effects from the 19th Century." "You're a very modern filmmaker, with very modern subjects..." "How, why, this meeting with Proust?" "You say 19th Century, but it doesn't fully register." "Because I have the impression that all done between the 70s and the year 2000..." "Whatever the problem:" "Relationships, homosexuality," "Jews, social classes..." "That was a little before..." "It's all there, in a very sharp manner, very precise." "That's not why I made the film." "But I think the subjects, however..." "It's the end of the 20th Century which are treated." "I shouldn't have said 19th Century, but early 20th Century." "Spirit of the early 20th Century..." "But the early 20th Century makes me think of..." "I think of Feydeau, Courteline..." "I don't think about Proust." "Proust gives me the impression..." "Not always..." "He's like a little brother." "In any case..." "For anyone who's deeply concerned with it." "Not the question of art." "But all the subjects before..." "Everything that touches humans..." "Humans... sexuality..." "Relationships..." "There's a lot of things on the Jews." "Plus, he compares the problems Jews endure" "in relation to society." "And the problems homosexuals endure in relation to society." "I think that's genius." "He's one of the rare who did this mixture." "But this comparison in which there are things close in that..." "How one is rejected, how one hides being homosexual, or being Jewish..." "To the point it shows more." "No one said it before him." "No one made this comparison before him." "It can still be made today." "So I don't think I really see this 19th Century..." "Except in the story how he speaks about art." "That's 19th Century." "But you can't deny..." "And that's the film's beauty..." "I'd say even its strange and disturbing reality..." "The attitudes of the characters, some of which don't have contemporary attitudes." "This gives them a slightly outdated quality." "This gives a vision of the century..." "Not only the early 20th or our society..." "This gives your film's subject a universal quality." "But the "Marcel" of your film..." "The actor Stanislas Merhar..." "He has this strange social attitude, this strange daily life..." "In that beautiful, rich-Iooking apartment..." "With the beautiful Bentley or Rolls..." "And then he has this young woman..." "His wife, his companion..." "She's much more like us." "Her attitude is more open, lenient." "It's more rapid and speedy." "This makes her more like us." "There's this opposition between the two characters." "They don't have the same speed." "They don't have the same speed." "But again, it's difficult for me to speak of relationships" "in terms of centuries or not." "Because this character..." "His name is Simon in the film..." "I don't know why I chose Stanislas for the role." "I know I chose him, but I don't know why." "It was something deep inside of me." "I saw the first rushes and I knew why." "Actually, that tells also the story of someone very close to me." "Someone no longer there." "By his choice." "Someone who was sort of my brother-in-law." "I didn't know." "But I don't see someone from the 19th Century." "I see my brother-in-law." "He was completely obsessed..." "He expressed that body and gaze." "I didn't realize it." "That's why I say my unconscious made me choose Stanislas." "For reasons that had nothing to do with Marcel." "But for much more intimate reasons for me." "I know that modernity or not is a real question." "But I don't think about that when I make a film." "This was a little more..." "Let's say in the 70s... when I started making films... some of which were so-called experimental." "Then I had the idea of avant-garde and of needing to advance." "I felt it was necessary to make the "avant-garde"." "I don't think about that at all anymore." "I find it's not far from Kubrick's film." " His last film..." " "Eyes Wide Shut"..." "Exactly." "In its problematic." "In the fact that..." "When Richard Gere discovers..." "No, it's Tom Cruise." "Yes, Tom Cruise discovers there's something about his wife that he doesn't know and that he'll never know." "And maybe it's something that has to do with the early 20th Century." "I'd say Freud." "Because those were things we didn't ask before." "Really an early 20th Century question." "And also one which refers to women..." "Discovering that the other has an unconscious..." "It's not only the unconscious, but the fact the other has one." "And that the other is the other..." "And that we'll never know everything about the other." "And he..." "He's both obsessed and romantic." "He has this idea about loving someone... becoming one with the other..." "She tells him: "We'll never be one." "We'll always be two."" "I don't know how old that idea is." "I think all teenaged kids..." "They think about the love of their lives." "That they'll become one." "But even if we dream about it, we find out that's false." "When I finished writing the script," "I said I didn't understand it." "That I would when the film was made." "But then I didn't once it was." "I call that the film's strength." "The film's opaqueness makes everyone question." "It presents both trouble and resistance." "And lots of worry gives it beauty." "There are two magnificent sequences..." "One with the numerous night pursuits." "Suddenly she's in the shadows." "He joins her." "He becomes a shadow." "The two shadows cross and cover." "It's quite wonderful." "As if they needed to go to another world." "A world of shadows..." "And there's the second in which they go to the garden." "Yes, their shadows are merged." "The camera rises..." "Suddenly on their bodies, very different from them." "But I don't believe in fusion." "The film is about that." "And also the wall on which Simon hits his head." "He won't have a fusion." "That makes me think about Sylvie Testud..." "She really wanted the role of Ariane." "She wanted it so much." "At a certain point, I asked her why." "Why so much?" "She said because Ariane was a free woman." "I thought since she said that, she herself didn't believe in fusion." "That's also a big theme in the film." "A big theme in the film..." "You make it felt, you express it." "You direct in a powerful manner..." "In two moments where people were left out a little." "Then talking helps it become evident." "Those two moments, the "love" scenes..." "The will of Simon to want in a way to enter" "Ariane's body..." "What's beautiful is that it's done originally since, unlike in so many films, there isn't the approach of the sexual act." "There's simply a sort of onanism." "A sort of pressure from Simon's body." "It's almost masturbatory against Ariane's body." "We see it well two times." "Once on the small canopy bed." "He comes on her." "The other time, behind her." "We can't say he fails." "Something speaks of the absence of these two fusions, two bodies." "Yes, there's that..." "They both find a device." "It suits them." "That takes me back to "Eyes Wide Shut."" "Because these powerful people..." "They also find a device." "In that macabre, theatrical scene." "A device..." "One which suits their eroticism." "Mutual and sectarian." "And ritual." "That's their device, too." "Everyone finds something erotically." "He and she." "She finds pleasure, too." "She, by not thinking of him." "That's why it's an eroticism that suits them both." "It shows once again that physical love isn't what we think." "It's a very mental film..." "which says things." "The opposite of a romantic film." "Even if there's romantic music." "It shows that..." "An amorous device can work." "It makes them both work." "Some say they don't love each other." "They do." "They both get what they want." "His obsessive side is nourished by the fact she escapes him." "After all, he chose someone who would always escape him." "That nourishes his obsessive neurosis." "It gives him desire, too." "And her, the way it happens..." "I think that device..." "It satisfies her." "Free, I agree with you." "She's a free woman." "That seems to shock a lot of people." "Shocking to see her perform the contrary of this freedom." "Her submission, her openness..." "Of an unprecedented manner." "But this device, this erotic device..." "When she's no longer in it." "She escapes." "So this erotic device suits her." "It's good." "But it's totally ritualized." "You leave it open if codes are necessary for freedom?" "I didn't think that far." "Because their erotic device is that they have a mutual code..." "And that gives her freedom..." "It's a device that..." "In submission, if you find pleasure in submission..." "Like people in sadomasochistic relationships..." "It's erotic..." "They don't have them on the outside with their neighbors, their dog... or when they're cooking, etc." "It's only pleasing at a certain moment." "So that's not submission." "That's called..." "Find pleasure where you can." "In fact, that's coded." "For example, in Jeunet's "Les Paravents."" "The bishop who behaves like a baby..." "Bishops act like babies only then." "Good example." "At other moments of the day, they're probably very different." "She is, too." "It's only at that moment where they have the code." "It's an arrangement between them, it brings them both pleasure." "But, you know, having passed by Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut"" "to speak about your film is good since it's contemporary." "When I saw the film the first time," "I found it contemporary in other ways." "Like an old film, less revolutionary in style." "From a past director, Hitchcock." "I never saw that in your work before..." "A relation to Hitchcock." "But I find it the case here." "Voluntary or involuntary?" "Well, when I wrote the pursuit," "I decided to watch "Vertigo" again." "Of course, it was filmed differently." ""Vertigo" has pieces of cars, a lot of cheating." "It's also a story of obsession." "Both films." "I love Hitchcock, because it's mental, also abstract." "There's a touch of the abstract with Hitchcock." "And I think in my film, too." "With that said, the manner in which Hitchcock uses the spectator..." "I say that without judgment..." "His way of affecting the spectator is very different." "I think it's much more calculated than what I do." "Hitchcock never misses that." "My best-made films have always escaped me somewhat." "I consider this film well-made." "But I didn't always know what I was doing." "Sabine, who is filming us..." "I told her I didn't understand the film." "Hitchcock was about control." "So much so that when he spoke of Freudian issues, it didn't work because when the unconscious was involved, it needed the unconscious, of which we don't know much." "Everything to do with Freud, that aged a lot with Hitchcock." "He's much much more conscious and more calculated." "Every shot is calculated." "Very calculated." "Allow me to interrupt on that..." "I have the impression that each shot is extraordinarily..." "I think you're a very specific woman... a very specific director." "I find the framing incredible." "It's not the same kind of control." "With Hitchcock, it's the fact that he decided to do it." "What he does to achieve it." "Instead of "Vertigo," "The Birds."" "I saw it in a theater." "I was so scared I was under my seat." "He knew each effect." "I discover my film little by little during the editing." "Little by little in the mix..." "Plus I discover..." "I control, but I don't control..." "I think you control structurally." "For this film in particular." "I don't decide the effect I'll have on another." "Not the kind of effect it will have." "I'm with the editor when I see the film's effect for the first time." "You surprised yourself in editing when you found it in disorder, then you organized the story?" "I didn't imagine it would be so tense." "When I saw the first cut, I saw this strong tension." "I decided to go with it." "To go with the tension." "Everything aside from the tension, I threw it out." "It was on a terrible tightrope." "What we didn't want, what we tried to avoid..." "Was not to date the film." "Not to say this 2000 or 1998." "It could be 1970, it could be 2020." "What's said in the film, for me..." "This could still be said in 30 years." "I think it's a modern film, but the modernity isn't shown through art direction or lighting." "No flashing lights." "We almost tried to make a studio set out of Paris." "This is an apartment film." "Also your idea of an apartment." "For you, an apartment is a studio set." "But an apartment and all it has." "Both its closeness..." "And always a little worrisome." "Something that could suffocate." "But still something protective." "It's both:" "Protective and suffocating." "We don't need to search far:" "It's the mother relationship." "My next film will be 80% apartment." "It's called "Demain On Déménage"." "That's partly why when I read "Albertine Prisonnière"" "I knew it was for me." "If only for the hallways." "Hotel Monterey, hallways, rooms..." "I need that to frame." "I feel more comfortable." "Anna's meetings..." "All those rooms for Anna's meetings." "To frame, I need rooms, windows, hallways." "I don't feel right without them." "I feel more comfortable indoors." "With structures." "Outdoors, there aren't any." "In fact..." "Structure is made by the framing." "That's why my exteriors are often at night." "There aren't all those details as during the day." "It ends up being like an interior." "It's obvious I'm still moved by "La Captive."" "The care in which you frame..." "In your framing, the frames within your frames, and still further within." "We get the feeling that you..." "Your eyes have visited everything in the composition." "This great attention to form." "You spoke before of this importance." "Even for a story taken by the imaginary." "The importance which results from a controlled form." "Remember telling me?" "No, but it's true that for me..." "Cinema is about form." "I remember what I told you." "So much that I've tried to break that." "Because I've always used symmetrical shots." "I didn't even know." "The camera operator has asked for explanations." "I couldn't explain." "I tried, but that's how it is." "She told me I filmed symmetrically." "She said I just had to tell her." "But I didn't even know what that was." "It got to a point that I said:" "I have to try and get out of this." "I tried for years." "That's why I started doing comedies." "To get out of something that I felt locked into." "I looked and looked during a whole bunch of films." "I found it with "Jeanne Dielman."" "That was..." "Everything I had looked for over 7 years." "That was it." "After, I had the feeling I was repeating myself." "Less strong, less well." "I gave myself other stakes." "I tried to take on comedies." "I tried something else." "I had to stop repeating." "Especially with framing." "With "La Captive," I just gave in." "If that's what I do, let's do it." "A little like the last line in Bresson's "Pickpocket."" "I took the long road, a very long detour." "All that to come back." "When I saw the first shots of "La Captive,"" "my main character made me think of someone very close." "I probably did it like that." "I probably chose Stanislas to act that way." "Because of that close someone." "I was returning to "Jeanne Dielman."" "But the film's composition..." "It's less..." "A little more supple." "But it was important during your period of extreme composition." "That was your style." "A style both youthful and constituent of your maturity." "You had to leave it to return to it." "I always want to be facing things." "In a frontal manner." "Two characters speaking before us." "I always like that." "I don't think I knew that at first." "Later I decided that I created the spectator." "The spectator is in my place when watching the film." "That's very strong." "Not a voyeuristic position." "Not on the side or above or below." "Even if that's still the place where the director is." "My spectator is in a relationship" "of "me" as a spectator, of "me" as the director." "The spectator faces the actors." "This face-to-face makes sure he doesn't forget himself." "Not at any moment." "My films aren't seen from a distance." "Not about not seeing time go by." "The spectator sees time going by." "He's face-to-face with it." "He can't forget a second." "He's always there as a spectator." "Facing what I present to him..." "I think that... there must be some connection." "What must be spoken, I usually believe less." "In God's second commandment:" ""Don't worship false idols."" "But there are no false idols." "I had a very strong feeling to be in "La Captive."" "For different reasons, in fact." "Obviously, I read the text at first." "The text was very powerful." "It took me away." "That was the first of freedoms I found... inside the text and more precisely, in playing the character of Ariane." "Plus, she's a free character." "She has no need to prove she exists." "Her simple existence is enough." "This obviously seemed simple to ordinary people." "But it isn't simple to live." "Not when you're someone like me." "I'm living in the 21st Century." "It's complicated to just "be."" "To be sure of one's existence when one simply "is."" "The character of Ariane has that kind of strength." "But the film is called "La Captive"..." "Yes, because, in fact..." "There's an apparent confinement in an apartment, in an interior." "But the character I find to be the real captive..." "It's Simon." "He's captive to his desire." "He exists because she's there, because of his desire for her." "That keeps him alive." "But she's free inside these walls." "In "La Captive," I think there's simply physical confinement." "Physical, but not of a mental nature." "And not of the sensational." "I found that very powerful." "Difficult to explain from reading." "I had a feeling of freedom." "During the filming, I realized that I had been also touched." "The only film where I was me." "Simply seated in a chair..." "Not having, not even as an actress..." "Not having to play something." "So that touched me." "I'll say something I heard someone else say..." "This actress said..." "Sometimes there's the fear that the characters take us." "That's wrong." "They make us." "It's rare, but it happens." "That happened to me with Ariane." "I think she taught me." "What happened when I met Stanislas..." "It's hard to say exactly." "There's something about Stanislas that I really like." "Something basic about him as a human being." "He doesn't know who he is." "I think he would like to know." "But it's far away." "Too far away, what he is." "His poles are very separated:" "Who he'd like and like not to be." "But as an actor, he doesn't want to play a character." "It goes beyond the limits he sets." "Beyond what other actors do." "Meaning he's really in the film..." "Very obsessed by this woman." "He follows her, studies her, dreams of her." "He convinces himself, talks himself out of it." "Those could have been barriers." "Making him define himself as an actor, as a character." "Stanislas is someone who receives." "And he gives according to that." "He gives the same opportunity to the other actors." "He gives and nothing is decided before the scene happens." "So the scene happens." "In life, I think people expect us to be like them." "But I expect to be myself." "That's not much." "I say it but I mean it." "Like an outline is expected." "And it's expected of me that I know who I am." "Like everyone." "There are moments on a film where that's not expected." "We expect someone." "With all the hesitations, all the interrogations." "True one day and false the next." "The character of Ariane..." "I was relieved to know that someone had dared." "If someone wrote it, dramatized it..." "Someone thought of it before me." "Someone who experienced and felt it." "That's something really difficult..." "It's hard to get across what I want to say..." "I tell myself that the character understands." "So I would like to be like that." "To not be bothered." "To just be sure of my existence." "That's quite a wonderful thing." "We can only be at peace the day we really are." "When I wrote the screenplay..." "It was a novel I thought I understood..." "Then the screenplay from the novel was totally opaque." "I decided it didn't matter." "It would reveal itself later." "What was revealed afterwards was the force of that opaqueness." "That might be what you're talking about." "Yes, but it's because it's about not being afraid to lose one's self..." "People in general..." "We're alike with fear in common." "We're afraid." "People are afraid of losing themselves." "But they're there." "They're afraid of not knowing, of not accomplishing something." "It's in that respect that Ariane is free." "She's not afraid." "You weren't afraid because you didn't fully understand." "There must have been a strong feeling there." "We rehearsed a lot for "La Captive."" "I felt something strong already established." "I have nothing against precise gestures, for example." "What disturbs me and shuts me in, what makes me nervous..." "It's when the steps, advancing..." "The road..." "I see the gate at the end..." "I see it's all closed up." "So I can't go on." "It something that closes." "For an actor, it becomes Kafkaesque." "If there's even a little urge to evolve, to blossom somewhere." "The things tighten up when controlled, with precision." "For this film, there are moments" "I'll have to be precise." "I need liberty in that precision." "If I say this is the moment, then I give up, that won't work." "I don't need to say it." "I'll find the freedom inside." "That's why on a set we say concretely there are walls." "I feel more free inside those walls than outside, where there are no obvious walls." "They're elsewhere." "The urge for freedom, too." "Ariane in "La Captive" is referred to..." "She's said to be free." "She is." "I..." "I..." "I really..." "I really..." "I really..." "I really like you." "I really like you." "I really like you." "Sir?" "Miss Ariane Rey." "She doesn't stay here, Sir." "I thought she did..." "Never?" "No, her aunt stays here." "She's arriving Tuesday." "Miss Rey has just booked a room for her." "Yes, I know." "Thank you." "Yes, Mr Levy, Sir is in." "Come on up." "Hurry." "Come in." "Brought back your book." "You alone?" "Yes..." "No, grandmother's here." " How is she?" " Fine, a rock." "Well, be seeing you." " I feel it's a key work, no?" " Yes..." " It opens new avenues..." " Yes..." " Politically..." " Right..." " A friend?" " An acquaintance." "Bye..." "But it's Andrée!" "How kind to pick up Ariane every day, you don't mind?" "She dislikes going out alone..." "Not at all, I really like Ariane." "You're doing me a big favour." "Had fun yesterday?" " Yesterday?" " At Saint-Cloud." "Yes, Saint-Cloud..." "Not bad." "You met all the gang?" "The gang is no more." "The holidays are over." "Right, of course." "So you met no one, not even Hélène?" "She often goes, she lives nearby." "No, certainly not Hélène." "Why certainly?" "It could happen." "If it had, I'd have told you." "You know that." "Of course, I've total faith in you, Andrée." "And I in you." "By the way," "Ariane wanted to go to Buttes Chaumont today but I suggested she go to Boulogne instead..." "Boulogne, why not?" "Leave your books for once and come with us." "Not today, I'm going out with Gran." "Come, she might be bored alone." "A few days later" "Enjoy your singing lesson?" "Yes." "All because in Chaville Wood" "Grew lily of the vale" "That day in Chaville Wood" "Grew lily of the vale" "If my memory be good" "It was in the month of May..." "Water not too hot?" "It's hot but good." "Don't fall asleep, not yet." "No, not yet, my darling." "Wash yourself all over... your arms, your legs... and your soft downy hairs." "Don't forget a thing." "I'm washing all over." "I wouldn't want my odours to bother you." "They don't, on the contrary." "On the contrary." "On the contrary." "On the contrary?" "Yes." "Especially those sweet changing odours between the legs." "I'm afraid at times I smell too strong." "On the contrary." "When you perspire ever so slightly, that moistness..." "You like that?" "I sometimes feel I smell so strong that it even bothers me and I want to clasp my legs together." "No, those are the best moments." "Your vagina is so beautiful when moist." "Yesterday, as you slept on my bed your peignoir came undone..." "And I looked at you." "And I... parted your legs ever so slightly" "and looked at your beautiful vagina." "Do you mind?" "Not at all." "Do as you like." "And I breathed of it, so warm and tender." "Really?" "Yes, my Ariane." "If it weren't for my allergy and all the pollen you bring in" "I almost wish you'd never wash." "Never?" "Not so often." "All because in Chaville Wood" "Grew lily of the vale" "Like me to come?" "No, not yet." "Later, perhaps." "It was in the month of May" "And in May, as the proverb goes" "Do what comes your way" "So lying upon the grass" "We did as it did say" "And as deep within the grove" "We were indeed hid well" "The Saturday Post and Sunday Globe" "On us they did not tell" "Come now." "What would you like to do?" "Play draughts like last night?" "Draughts in the dark, I'd lose again." "Just one game." "If you like, but I don't much feel like it." "Just one." "Alright then." "We could put on the light and read, if you like but my eyes sting this evening." "Yes, that bath made me drowsy." "We could listen to music." "Yes." "So, tell me." "What?" "About your afternoon at Buttes Chaumont." "Buttes Chaumont?" "No, we went to Boulogne and then to the pool." "The pool?" "I didn't know." "And so?" " So?" " Yes, so?" "Andrée nearly drowned." "She was exhausted." "She swallowed tons of water." "I grabbed her from behind, she'd turned blue." " And not you?" " No, on the contrary." "How so, on the contrary?" "You know how I like to let off steam." "Yes." "You didn't say you were going swimming." "We went on a whim." "I was sick of walking." "And tomorrow?" "Tomorrow?" "Yes." "I've my singing lesson." "Like every Thursday, I've my singing lesson." "I thought it was on Tuesdays and trapeze on Thursdays." "Gran, do you need anything?" "I thought it was on Tuesdays." "Yes, sometimes it's on Tuesdays." "She's unwell, go see." "No, she doesn't want." " This week it's Thursday?" " Yes." "And I'm dining later with my aunt." " Again?" "Where?" " At the Aurore." "Thought she didn't like the Aurore." "She does..." "Last week you said she didn't want to go there." "Did I say that?" "Maybe." "She must've forgotten." "Forgotten!" "How can one forget?" " Aren't you thirsty, Ariane?" " Yes." "I'll go fetch something." "Everything alright, Gran?" "Yes, don't worry about me." "Andrée..." "My darling." "You'll join us tomorrow?" "No, I don't think so." "There's too much pollen and I promised Gran..." "I don't know, perhaps." "I have to work." "Now off you go to bed." "Goodnight." "Next day" "You mustn't go in there." "That's Sir's bedroom." "Don't open the blinds yet, Françoise." "Must we repaint now?" "It's good for your Gran's morale, Sir." "She's really that unwell?" "Not very well." "She's already awake and asking for you." "And Miss Ariane has the fidgets." "Andrée." "Come collect her." "She's fidgety." "I heard you nearly drowned yesterday in the pool." "Andrée, sometimes I think it's you I should've loved." "If I'd been, I too would've nearly drowned." "We're so close." "Come pick her up, Andrée, she's bored." "Simon..." "Goodness, how pale you are." "And how are you?" "Not bad, thanks." "I'm seeing my doctor today so he'll tell me I'm fine." "Can you take me?" "You know I have to work." "Yesterday I did nothing, my Racine's at a standstill." "I suppose it can wait." "Yes, I'll take you." "That Ariane is so charming." "Thank you, Aymé." "Listen Gran, Aymé will take you and bring you back." "You don't really need me." "Very well, off you go." "Hello, Andrée." "You were quick." "You think?" "Hello, Simon." "Recovered from your dunking?" "It was nothing." "Ariane saved me, once again." "Of course, she swims so well." "Take no risks today." "I don't want she takes you on any dangerous capers." "Today?" "None of that today." "No, today I'm taking Ariane to her singing lesson." "I thought her singing lesson was on Tuesdays." "She's keen, soon be three times a week." "The teacher asked her to listen to a Thursday pupil." "They may sing a duet together." "A duet?" "Yes I recall, she did mention it." "Who is this pupil?" "I'd rather she had a lesson to herself." "Can't remember her name." "Juliette..." "No, Lise..." " You don't know her?" " No." "And does Ariane?" "What?" " Does Ariane know her?" " Who?" "This Juliette or Lise." "I don't think so." "I mean no, she doesn't know her." "If she did, I would too." "We go everywhere together." "Of course, how silly of me." "Goodbye Andrée." "Have a nice day." "Ariane, it's Andrée." "Andrée!" "You'll tell me how their lesson went." "Yes." "Ariane has come on immensely." "The red scarf or the white one?" "Wear the white one." "Look before you answer." "The red really suits you, but I prefer the white." "Me too." "Hush!" "Simon is resting." "And working too." "Don't you find Hélène's voice incredibly alive?" "It really moves me." "You find it sensual?" "That's it, sensual." "I wouldn't say I find it sensual." "One could find it sensual, but..." "Her voice has this breathiness." "Never noticed a breathiness." "That's what gives it its emotion." "Work well." "Call me after the lesson, let me know how it went." "Yes." "Be back about two." "Very well, see you at two." "May I open the blinds now, Sir?" "Yes, do Françoise." "The day has begun." "I wonder if I ought to marry Ariane." "Beautiful day, isn't it Françoise?" "Yes, Sir." "Good evening." "Good evening." "Seen a girl with a white scarf with a lady who could be her mother?" "Must be those ladies there." "No, that's not them." "Sorry, they're the last." "We're closing." "Thank you." "Simon!" "Is it you, Simon?" "Hélène, hello." "Lovely to see you." "Likewise." "We never see you anymore, nor Ariane." "We thought you'd vanished." "You see her the odd time?" "Very often, yes, quite often." "Know where she is?" "I've some news for her." "What kind?" "Just news of friends of hers." "Who?" " Old friends." " Which friends?" "I don't know their names." "Have to go." "Goodbye, Simon." "Like me to come?" "You take them." "I'll leave you." "Your bag." "Your scarf." "Keep it." "See you tomorrow, Simon." "Andrée..." "Simon..." "Something to tell me?" "No, and you?" "No, nothing." "I think I'm crazy." "No, nothing." "And you?" "Yes, in fact, I've something to tell Ariane." "What a pity you've allergies." "These flowers smell so nice." "Ariane!" "I'm a bit tired, but if you want, I'll come." "Andrée..." "Still here?" "You don't feel well?" "I'm fine." "But don't forget, tomorrow afternoon, Carmen." "Carmen, I'm not too keen..." "No, we have to go, Léa will be there." "Léa?" "Yes, Léa Landowsky." "Well, I think." "More than likely." "Perhaps..." "Anyway, let's go." "Just for me." "We'll see, I'm not too pushed." "But if you really want to, we'll see tomorrow." "See you then." "Has Andrée been drinking, or what?" "She has." "She drinks when she's bored, and with my aunt..." "But she shouldn't, she gets silly." "Sunday afternoon" "No gypsy girl, she's blonde with a lily-white complexion, head high as she walks on stage to a hail of applause as you've just heard." "The theatre is in thrall, cries ring out." "Cries of"Léa, Léa, Léa..."" "Live from the Odéon Theatre," "France Musique brings you "Carmen Oui"" "by the young composer Henri Polmier, libretto by Florence Erenberg, with, in the role of Carmen, Léa Landowsky and as Don José, Frédéric Van Heyden." "Will he cry as in Bizet's Carmen." ""It was I who killed her!"" "Léa is one of the greatest voices of our day, literally radiant as she awaits, concentrated and serene, to begin." "Already, she troubles us, only to thrill us." "Léa is one of the greatest singer-actresses we have." "Now at the height of her art, it's no wonder she'll be awarded tonight "Performer of the Year"..." "Faster, Aymé." "See you tonight!" "Hope you're not mad at my taking you away." "It's sunny, I so wanted we stroll together." "That was Léa, wasn't it?" " Who?" " Who said: "See you tonight"." "Strange, "See you tonight"." "Strange?" "You told me you didn't know Léa." "I did?" "Maybe so." "I hardly know her." "Yet her tone when she hailed you..." "She's an actress, terribly extrovert." "She's said to be reserved." "No, not at all." "On the contrary." "Well, from what I've heard." "From Hélène, she knows her very well." "Really?" "You mean Hélène and her..." "No, not at all..." "I mean, Hélène knows all of Paris." "Hélène introduced you to her?" "No, no." "Perhaps." "I can hardly remember." "It was so long ago." "You must've impressed her, she sure remembers you." "You think so?" "You didn't say she was singing today." "No?" "I must have told you." "Well, maybe I didn't." "I guess I thought you knew." " Andrée surely told you." " No." "I see you tell me nothing." "You must've received an invite to the awards tonight." "An invite?" "Don't know." "I don't think so." "I barely glanced at the mail today." "Anyway, I hate such evenings." "So you did get an invite and intended to go." "Hold on, let me think." "I'm not sure." "If I did, it must be in my bag." "Maybe it's this." "So it is." "Eight thirty, at the Atelier Theatre." "What to do?" "I've not the least desire to go." "Could you turn up the heat, Aymé?" "Maybe we could go together." "Oh, not that." "I mean, don't force yourself just to please me." "Believe me, I'm not." "Let's go together." "No, I'm not going." "So, what'll you tell her?" "I'll find something." "I don't want you having to lie." "You just told me you loathe that." "Honest, I'd love to go with you." "I don't feel like it." "It'll be packed, I hate that." "You'd rather see her alone." "Not at all, I swear." "She's a bore." "I'd much rather stay home tonight." "So Ariane, does this Léa have many affairs?" "Léa?" "She'd like to, but does she really?" "How do you know she'd like to?" " It's plain to see." " From what?" "I don't know." "But you just said it was plain to see." "So from what?" "You see, you feel it, there are signs?" "Tell me." "Honest, I don't know." "And why are you so interested in that?" "That young girl who smiled at you in the theatre bar, it was a way of saying she desired you, no?" "It's a certain kind of smile, isn't it?" "Which young girl?" "I don't remember any young girl." "But you said it was obvious Léa wanted love affairs?" "That's what they say." "But I know nothing about her." " What they say?" " Yes." "You must be tired, Ariane." "Exhausted." "Don't mind me, sleep if you wish." "It's you, Simon?" "What is it?" "What were you thinking?" "Nothing." "Nothing?" "I'd so like to know your thoughts, who you are," "what you hide from me." "Tell me, Ariane, what you're thinking." "If I'd thoughts, I'd tell you, but I don't." "Perhaps you miss your other life?" "What other life?" "You seemed so happy... with your girlfriends in Normandy." "Your carefree air which I so envied." "Don't say it wasn't for real." "I read in a book today that chance, desire, fear and death leave men and women face to face, alone." "To dare love a girl it takes courage?" "Everything takes courage." "Perhaps you want to go to the awards tonight." "No, not at all." "On the contrary." "Then why do you look so sad?" "Are you unhappy with me?" "No, on the contrary." "I'm happy." "Very happy." "I feel like driving." "To the "Atelier", please." "I'm burning to know what goes on between women that doesn't between a man and a woman." "I imagine it's..." "But I don't know..." "Above all in terms of feelings, but not just, gestures too." "I mean, I've seen women together." "Feelings?" "Nothing to explain." "Could you, Isabelle?" "Can't be explained." " Could you, Sarah?" " No." "Is it possible while making love that a woman forget she's with a man?" "Ever happened to you?" "No, I never tried." "I'm sure it could though." "Remember, with Gérard?" "Yes, I remember." "I loved him, but it wasn't the same thing." "In what way?" "I don't know." "I was less moved." "But "moved" is not the word." "Then what's the word?" "Less what?" "Honest, I don't know." "It wasn't the same thing." "Yet you loved him?" "Yes, why not?" "So it's not inevitable." "No." "But I prefer Sarah." "Is it a question of bodies?" "I too prefer women's bodies, I feel better with women." "No, it's not just a question of bodies..." "Not simply that." "I mean, I've more trust." "We're not enemies." "Never?" "I guess it can happen." "But it's not the same thing." "Yet you do part." "But when we do it's not the same." "And you get mad." "But it's not the same." "So I've no chance with Ariane?" "I don't think so." "But, I don't know..." "I thought as much." "Yet maybe you do, why not?" "Not if she's into women." "If she's into women, no." "So she still is?" "Sarah says she's into girls, but who knows?" "If she were, could she love me as much?" "It'd be different." " That ever happened to you?" " What?" "When you're making love you forget who you're with." "Yes, I always forget who I'm with." "Really?" "Eyes closed, you think of who you like." "You're free, to think of what you like." "Oblivious, you drift off, you open your eyes, it's over." "It's weird to open your eyes on someone who's suddenly a stranger, stranger than before." "Stranger than before?" "Yes, for a fleeting moment." "Can you slow down a bit?" "No, a little faster, but not too fast." "That's fine, thank you." "Stop here, please." "Good evening." "Can you close your eyes?" "Can you sleep?" "If you like." "No, not like that." "How then?" "I don't know." "Thank you." "Stop, please." "Wait..." "Ever gone with women?" "Women..." "Not on the job." "I thank you." "I saw Sarah." "I saw Isabelle." "I saw Léa." "You must really love her." "Now I'm sure." "I know I shouldn't have, but I couldn't do otherwise." "I had to, Ariane." "To know you." "They told me it's not the same thing." "But what's not the same thing?" "What is?" "What's not the same?" "What did you say, Ariane?" "What did you say?" "Nothing." "Did I say something?" "What did you say?" "You want me to come?" "You must be surprised to see me here." "A stranger." "You see me as a stranger." "But no." "I see you." "It's you I see." "You, Simon." "Yes, of course." "Goodnight, Ariane." "Goodnight, Simon." "You're up early, Sir." "Like me to come?" "No, it's not that." "I think, Ariane... there's no point anymore." "Never again." "Simon, are you cold?" "Going out already?" "No, not cold, I'm not going out..." "So why not take off your coat?" "If you like." "I was saying, things aren't the same, it's wearing thin between us, Ariane." "I wanted to hide it, but I feel you know." "I feel you're bored here, you're forcing yourself to stay." "You shouldn't." "It's best you leave, that you leave now, this morning, immediately." "You want I go this very morning?" "Yes." "It's best for you, and me." "You can do as you like." "We were happy, but now we sense we shall be unhappy." "Don't say "we", it's you alone who think that." "You, me, what matter?" "It's as you want." "As I want, but it's you who want." "And because you want I must want it too." "Then I have decided." "It'll be no less painful for me." "But not for long, I suppose." "As you know, I am without memory." "But in the beginning, the first few days..." "So it's best we don't write, or call..." "Make a clean break." "You're right." "You'll go to Andrée's?" "To Hélène's?" "To someone else's?" "To my aunt's." "I'll drive you." "I can manage." "I'd rather drive you, we're not enemies." "No, of course not." "But why drive me?" "It only makes our parting worse." "No, not worse." "As you like." "Promise you'll do your all to avoid me." "You must." "We must never see each other again." "It'd cause me too much pain." "I promise you." "I suppose you think I'd long planned this break, that I was but feigning tenderness for you." "No, I didn't think that at all." "You're right." "You know, I may not have loved you madly, but I loved you a lot, more than you can imagine." "I know that." "And you don't think that I love you..." "It hurts me terribly to leave you." "Me a thousand times more." "Can you swear you never lied to me?" "Yes." "Well, I'm ready." "Let's go." "If you didn't hide all from me..." "I hide nothing, nothing that concerns you." "If you didn't hide all" "I'd not have had to see Léa." "Whatever I'd have said or done, you would have." " You think so?" " I'm sure of it." "Can you swear you never lied to me?" "Yes..." "I mean, no." "When I told you we were at the Aurore with my aunt, we were at one of her friends." "So why did you?" "I was afraid you'd get... the wrong idea of this friend, so..." "Is that all?" "When I told you we met no one at Saint-Cloud, we met Hélène with her father." "Her father is ill." "See?" "When I tell the truth you don't believe me." "How can I, when I know he's confined to his room and you tell me you hardly know Léa?" "Just, I know how you worry over the slightest thing." "I prefer the truth, even if it hurts." "Yet all you give me are half-truths when you know I'll find out anyway." "But what's two lies?" "Give me at least four." "Then maybe I'll believe you." "Without blame." "At least I'll have memories, real ones." "No, nothing." "Nothing else." " Nothing else?" " Nothing." "Tell me two more lies, just two." "Own up to at least two more." "Just to show you trust me." "And as we're parting, why hide them from me?" "Tell me, for my own dignity." "I've nothing to say." "We're nearly there." "Nothing to say to me?" "Ariane, speak." "We're nearly there." "There's nothing to say, Simon." "Take a right." "Ah, you girls in love..." "You learnt to lie very young, it's become second nature." "So many years hiding from the world what you are, how you love, and..." "There are such girls, but others couldn't care less." "Who have nothing to hide." "Should've taken a right." "And you?" "I am here now with you." "You know that." "Yes, but sometimes I wonder." "You're not happy with me." "Indeed, lucky for you it's over." "You were happier before." "You miss it." "You believe that?" "Really, Simon?" " You talk of things you don't know." " No, alas." "We're like strangers at times." "At times, yes." "But that's what I like." "You want to know all, as if that changed something." "Me, I ask you nothing." "Neither what you think, nor dream." "And if you told me all I feel I'd love you less." "I love you because there's a part of you I don't know." "I imagine you've this world I cannot enter." "It intrigues me." "That it's closed to me only pleases me." "See?" "We cannot get along." "I'm the total opposite." "For me, love is the very opposite." "No one home, let's go." "The keys are somewhere around." "Now we must part." "You deprived yourself so, and now it's adieu, no?" "If you want." "I'll go get the bags." "No, let me." "You must never write to me." "No." "And never try to see me again." "No, I promise you." "Anything but see you suffer." "If it must, so be it." "You say that so easily." "Initially, I'll avoid your regular haunts." "Are you going to Normandy this summer?" "Normandy?" "I don't know yet." "Don't know where I'll go." "Nor I." "Nor I." "Sit down, rest awhile." "Just a while, then I'll leave you." "I wonder where your aunt is." "Not far." "Probably at a friend's." "The one from the restaurant." "Yes, she lives nearby." "It's best we part, no?" "I guess so, for you." "No, for you." "No, not for me." "You say you'll be sad, that you were happy with me." "Of course." " You mean that?" " Yes, I do." "It's not just to please me?" "No." "So, like to give it a few more weeks?" "You never know." "You never know." "From week to week, it can grow." "You really want to?" "Yes, if you do." "Then, yes." "Still love me a little?" "Nothing has changed." "Then let's go, now." "Yes." "Tell me..." "Yes, Simon." "What do you think of when making love?" "Nothing." "You do..." "What?" "You think of something." "You drift off once you close your eyes." "No." "I feel it." "I know..." "You're no longer with me." "Leave me be." "Alright, you drift off, but if you told me where, with whom, and how, I'd be with you, closer to you." "That's all I want." "I think of nothing." "Ariane..." "Kiss me." "Come..." "When it gets finer we could go to Venice, or Vienna." "If you like." "You'd rather Istanbul?" "Either way, as you like." "From there, we could sail to the Greek islands live in a little village, for a while." "A little village, if you like." "Tomorrow I can call Andrée, see if she'll join us." "Nothing to say?" "Leave Andrée to me." "You won't miss her?" "Leave me." "You seem tired, Ariane." "Yes, perhaps." " Like to go to bed?" " Yes, maybe." "You have nice hands." "You too." "Let me look at you." "If you like." "It's so mild, I'd like to swim." "This evening?" "Yes, why not?" "Shall I order supper?" "If you like, yes." "Good idea." "I'm starving." " In the meantime, I'll unpack." " Right." "What'd you like to eat?" "Eat?" "Whatever you like." "No, you choose." "Well then..." "Scrambled eggs, salmon, salad, and boiled eggs." "Scrambled and boiled?" "No, just scrambled eggs." "I'll go swim, just a few strokes." "Good evening." "I'd like scrambled eggs, salmon and salad." "And champagne for two." "Thank you." "Good evening." "Scrambled eggs..." "The wind's up." "Be fine tomorrow." "Yes." "More than likely." "Shall I open the champagne?" "No, I'll do it." "Thank you." "This film is dedicated to the memory of Jacob Akerman" "Subtitles:" "Peter Leonard" "Processed by C.M.C." " Paris"