"I really belong to the spring." "Every spring, the season smiles just at me." "You're December's child." "You like the cold and ice." "You exaggerate." "Look at the hyacinths prettier than the ones in the garden." "It's a shame it's windy today." "But we need wind, especially now." "It helps some kind of flowers reproduce." "Ah, well, that's news." "What would you say, Anna, if your mother, at her age..." "Hurry, they're here." "The KeIIers' car is already here." "Come on." "To think I always hated birthdays..." "Mama says that every year." "Maria has nothing to fear." "Time has no hold on her." "Right, charles?" "I remember it like yesterday." "In cologne, Robert introduced me to a girl." "Remember, Jeanne?" "We waited for her at the Conservatory." "You wore a yellow dress, and a big hat." ""This time I'II get married", he said." "He kept his word because now I'm Mrs TummIer." "As for the rest..." "I admit that sometimes I regret having given up singing." "My mom wanted me to pursue it." "She'd been a singer." "Quite good - a beautiful contralto." "The war ruined it." "Sing that song I Ioved as a girl." "Libiamo, libiamo..." "libiamo, libiamo!" "If Robert saw you now, he'd be proud." "The lake light suits you better than the Rhine." "I never really liked DusseIdorf." "And Robert knew it, too." "When he died, and we had to find a better climate for Anna's health," "I was happy to live here." "Edouard was tiny." "You always liked the Leman area." "Mama says she feels more at home here." "She senses the warmth of the south." "You know my grandmother was italian?" "The other day on our walk, I saw a cypress, the ultimate italian tree." "Cypress or no the Leman's banks are astonishing." "You can get lost there." "But it's great, no limits." "That's what I Iike." "To Europe." "To Maria." "To Maria." "Spring is sprung" "Bringing hope" "To lovers' hearts..." "To him my tenderness" "And gentle drunkenness" "That my burning love" "Shall keep till he returns..." "The sun stayed out until the end." "It's really a beautiful evening." "The fresh air wore me out." "Birthdays are always long." "especially yours." "Don't joke tonight." "About your birthday earlier..." "I didn't mean to upset you." "It's not so tragic getting older." "Every minute and every second that pass remind us, regardless of our age." "That's the way it is." "You're right, one must grow old." "No, Jeanne." "Leave it please." "I'm sorry." "I need everything to be the same." "I couId need it at any moment." "It's my support." "I can't do anything today." "You know, usually when I put on my blouse, it's like wearing a uniform, a shield between me and the world." "It helps me focus, but today something's wrong." "It's awful." "Then I get the feeling I'II never make it." "You didn't frame the painting." "It's not finished." "It's still a part of its surroundings." "Framing it wouId rein it in, prevent it from finding its true form." "Understand?" "I'm not sure, but I Iike the colors." "Thank you." "It's so difficult, you know." "Sometimes I feel so alone when I paint." "For me, it's all that matters." "When I can't paint, it's awful." "I want to die." "Is that true?" " Yes, it's true." "It's after 8 o'cIock..." "WindsaiIing is exhausting, but school on Monday morning is also important." "Did you have fun?" "A great day." "AII that was missing was you." "I told my mom about the exams... which I don't want to fall." "Those are just excuses." "Anyway my absence must have passed unnoticed." "With Anna it's different." "You know, sometimes I feel a bit left out of their life." "luckily, you're here." "You make me play a funny role." "What role?" " Keeper of the secrets." "There're secrets?" "There always are." "sublime." "It's the perfume of the gods." "I bet the happy spirits up there breathe rose-scented air." "It must get tiring." "In the end, that's all you smell." "It's true for any blessing." "An unnoticed pleasure is still a pleasure." "remarkable." "utterly remarkable." "What do you call that?" "It's trees in the wind." "Ah." "That should enlighten us as to your intentions." "So the strokes with the green spots on the gray background are trees..." "And this swirl that rises and uncurIs is the wind." "If just once, with all the talent you have, you indulged our sensibilities." "A bouquet of lilacs, for example, so real that we smell their scent." "A still life while you're at it." "No." "You can't paint like that these days." "I'm sure there's a subject that appeals to the senses." "You don't understand." "It's not about whether I can." "Art has other demands now." "well, too bad for the times and for the art." "It's a flower from a poplar tree." "It's a unisex species - male and female." "The linden trees are in bloom." "Can you smell that fine fragrance?" "That's what you should paint to gauge your talent." "I'II say it again" " I can't." "To me nature is a pretext." "But you don't erase it, you start with an image." "A scent can be a sensual pleasure, but abstract too." "You can convert the pleasure of the nose to a pleasure for the eyes." "Some colors are pure happiness." "Like ChagaII's blue." "Mama, you're amazing." "You're so romantic..." "translating perfumes into colors." "I'm sure I deserve your irony." "No, you don't deserve any irony." "It's true I often lose my patience." "This is what I'm looking for..." "Impressions that we can't capture or speak of, but that exist in nature." "We tend to reckon with shapes." "Yet a landscape has no shapes, but rather a secret, silent movement." "What does it mean when nature moves?" "Water flows." "The wind stirs pines in the mountains." "Forests grow to a future we won't see." "Do you understand?" "It's the mystery that draws me, that's occupied and preoccupied me lately." "Your words are upsetting Anna." "You're against me." "But she's suffered a Iot lately." " Francois?" "She said he was nice, but lacking." "I think you're wrong." "She doesn't talk, but she's unhappy." "She didn't like that he left her." " I know." "You're right." "I haven't really been paying attention lately." "Edouard had his lesson?" "Mr. Keaton just got here." "They say he's successful with the ladies." "That wouldn't surprise me." "Yes, look." "It's a book from another century." ""Do we want to play real tennis in the village field?"" ""No, we will not go to the village field."" "Repeat after me." "Sound the "r" on the palate without rolling it." "I hear an accent." "German." "Dad was from DusseIdorf, where I lived as a toddler." "I spoke German." "But Anna has no accent." " Life can be odd." "Do you ever plan to go the US?" "To study, after my degree." "What kind of studies?" " Physics." "More specifically, research in biology." "So I want to get to know American labs and methods." "Americans are the technology kings." "Does your mom agree?" "If she knows I really want to do it." "I really want it." "You need a Iot of money to study there." "It's true." "My family isn't what you call weII-heeIed." "My dad was a NATO officer, his parents were industrialists." "I'm sorry to bother you." "I'II leave you." "Stay for a lesson." "You'II meet alfred, a tennisman." "Staying for dinner, Mr. Keaton?" "I accept your invitation with pleasure." "See you tonight." "Then you left for an adventure." "Americans aren't very stable." "It's a state of mind." "I hear you love history." "Yes, history is my hobby." "I really like the middle Ages." "Did school make you Iike history?" "I went to high school, but I Iearned nothing from the continental point of view." "Excuse me, but we say European." "You're right to correct me." "I'd Iike you to." "Then I went to college in Detroit." "I did a bit of everything... cook, diver, even campus gardener." "You, Ken?" "A gardener?" "How did you manage to keep such soft hands while you worked?" "Doesn't he have noble hands?" "Yes, indeed." "well, he doesn't have gardener's hands." "Did you want them soft for the weekends?" "Is it a custom?" "That's not the right word." "Customs are for countries with a history, a past." "There's a German custom I really like :" "Schmackostern." "What?" "Schmack-ostern?" "Schmackostern." "For Easter, village boys hit girls with willow branches for health and fertility." "That's extraordinary." "I've never heard of it." "Did you go?" " No, but it really interests me." "We tried to find something like that in the US." "But chasing after dollars has made life joyIess." "Money is very important here, too." "And, sadly, most customs are just memories." "It's important to remember." "We have no memory, just vast spaces with no history behind them." "What I Iike in Europe is the depth of history." "I prefer no memory." "But never mind that." "Why do you Iike it?" " Because it's new for me." "This wine is truly something rare..." "Chateauneuf-du-Pape." "Its texture is from the pebbles in the Rhone and the Durance that cover the vines." "The sun heats the pebbles in the day." "Then the warmth radiates during the night and the grapes ripen faster." "That's amazing." " Isn't it?" "The fields look like rose gardens." "exactly." "Because of the vines' worst enemy, phyIIoxera, a microscopic parasite that spreads unbelievably fast." "It attacks the most prestigious vines first." "Then it was discovered that rose bushes are more vulnerable than grapes." "And winemakers had the great idea to plant roses alongside the vines." "When phyIIoxera spots appear on the roses, it alerts the winemakers, who save their harvest before it's too late." "The duck was exquisite, delicious." "My english is limited to I love you!" "You love me?" " Like everyone, Mr. Keaton." "You also seem to enjoy our company." "Am I wrong?" "I really like a relaxing family meal at a set time." "people don't dine now, they don't talk." "They watch TV." "They come late and leave before it's over." "These liberties have robbed dinner of its charm." "Is Edouard's work good?" "He's improving." "Good." "Thank you." " Good night." "With this weather, I'II be able to go to Bouveret." "If the east wind stays, I'II get to go by Yvoire." "I Iove this lake more than anything else..." "At dawn right before summer starts, it smells like cut hay." "Admit that you really like it because it's so big." "It's the biggest lake of all." "I'm proud of it... calmly passing through centuries." "Maria, Iet me laugh." "Edouard." "Mama," "let me point out that you're fooled by appearances." "What do you mean?" "Look at your pretty lake." "Look at its smooth surface, calm, Iike you said." "It's only an illusion." "The water lost its transparency." "For 20 years, microscopic algae have been multiplying :" "oscillatoria rubescens." "Say that again." "Oscillatoria rubescens." "It means "blood of the Burgundians", after charles the Intrepid, because the algae turn the water red." "And it doesn't smell like cut hay, but like rotten eggs." "Don't forget : oscillatoria rubescens." "Funny." " He's growing up." "It's true." "I always think he's 10, catching butterflies." "How long was it?" "At least 2 summers." "And the cork trays for drying macaroons?" "We found them in every room." "His system for distilling mint from the marsh..." "That erased the scent of the mint..." "But left the smell of the marsh." "It's true." "Is that Anna's work?" "No, Maria's uncle's, a friend of Suzanne VaIadon and Matisse who lived at Bateau-Lavoir." "It's our family great honor." "Anna won't show her work." "You'II understand." "With her, it's never finished." "Look at that old tree." "See how it holds on to its age." "Its roots stuck in the soil..." "it can't fall." "I find that sight comforting, reassuring." "should we go back?" "already?" "Oh, you're freezing" " No, I don't feel well." "What's wrong?" "I'm sorry." "Remember the first time it happened?" "You were scared." "I said it was a big day." "The day you were born..." " Listen," "I don't want to talk about it." "I won't suffer." "But it's necessary suffering." "Not for me." "I don't want children." "How can you say that?" "Of course you're free, but it's a shame." "You're in the natural cycle, fertility." "I'm not." "What are you talking about?" "It's not the end of your life." "You see things clearly in hindsight." "You have detachment and calm." "Sometimes I envy you." "I don't see it that way at all." "I'm not ready for calm detachment." "I don't want to be respected." "It's revolting." "No, I think nature does everything right." "I earned my bread working odd jobs here and there." "Which means..." "Before I came here, I worked at a youth camp in Hungary." "The wheat rippling along Hungarian roads..." "The wind in the balkan parades..." "It's funny that you mention wheat, since our job was to pull out the weeds from the wheat fields." "With or without gloves?" " Anna." "No machines?" "Not for now." "It's just manual labor." "Teenagers from the West are lodged and they work in the mornings." "It's too hot in the afternoon." "The fly bites are worse." "files?" "It's well known." "Hungarian files are awful." "They're enormous horsefIies." "Fat and voracious." "We didn't wear shorts or t-shirts." "When they bite you, their jaws get stuck in your skin." "Before Hungary, I spent several months in italy." "I was disappointed." "What I liked the best in italy was the area of VintimiIIe, the region formed by Provence, Piedmont and Liguria." "It's like being in the heart of ancient Europe..." "Where's the heart of Europe today?" "There is no center." "Once, the world was flat and Rome was its center." "Then it was round and lost its center." "For centuries, capitals thought they were the center." "Paris, berlin... even Washington, which copied every Roman monument." "Yes, you're absolutely right and maybe that ambition still lives today." "switzerland says it's the center..." "China was the middle Kingdom - we interrupted you." "Sorry." "Germany really interests me." "Why Germany?" "I was struck by the Rhine valley, the heroic valley between Mainz and KobIenz." "Do we want to play ball in the village field?" "Mama, I'm just trying to be funny." "Lost your sense of humor?" "Sorry, Ken." "You know so much, you should teach history." "Won't get many students..." "I'd sign up for your classes." "In that case, I'd feel..." "Ken would feel a bit intimidated." "It's good for shyness." "No, I don't drink alcohol." "I drink wine, but not alcohol." "Because of my illness." " Your illness?" "I only have one kidney." "You can break a kidney like you break your leg." "A broken kidney is a stream of trickling blood that can cause a haemorrhage." "If it haemorrhages, you lose your kidney." "I'm so sorry." "It's okay." "I get by just fine." "One kidney is wholly sufficient." "It gets bigger than normal kidneys." "would you do me a favor?" "Yes." "please play Mozart's "Variations" for me, I Iove it." "I'II never tire of our walks." "It's so pleasant." "I Iike it all here." "The dust and the pebbles on the path..." "I know all the bumps and when I see them again, it's like seeing friends." "We're not stopping here?" "please, I'd Iike to go back alone." "I Iove him." "I Iove him like I've never loved at my age." "Those legs, those shoulders," "those arms I long to feel around me." "I'm ashamed." "I'm ashamed to confront him and to feel his innocent gaze on at me." "I'm scared." "He hurt me." "I want him." "For the first time, it's me who desires..." "I'm still a woman because I Iove him." "Anna doesn't believe in miracles, but I believe in them." "Nature can restore your faith even when it's too late." "almost too late... desire," "jealousy," "I'm feeling them today as I'm disoriented and ravished." "My God," "I'm going crazy." "I'm ridiculous." "I'm not laughing." "I don't want to laugh, I want to believe." "I want to believe," "believe in nature's gifts of weII-being, in this beautiful springtime," "in this overdue awakening." "Are you dining with us, Ken?" "Oh, I'm sorry." "But I can on Friday." "Okay, that's good..." "You're not dressed well;" "evenings are cool now." "Don't worry, I'm not too fragile." "Excuse me, Mrs TummIer." "Are you hurt?" "No, I'm clumsy." "I'II take care of it." "Do you want to play something?" "If you want music, you can play a CD." "Edouard, take care of Mr. Ken." "Good evening." "Don't be upset with Mama." "She's a bit off-putting lately." "It's typically European anxiety." "That's why I Iike it." "Ah yes, perhaps." "Good night." " Good night, Ken." "What's going on with Mama?" "Doesn't she like Ken now or does she like him a Iot?" "What are you getting at?" "It's a difficult time, Iike all women her age." "This change always affects personality." "well, that's new and helpful." "What if I told Mama" "I'd learned enough from Ken?" "That's touchy." "I don't see what you could say." "I couId tell her that I know enough for now." "I know enough to go to the US." "I'm not going tomorrow anyway." "She won't agree." "I'II tell her it's unnecessary expense and that we can thank Ken kindly." "I can just imagine her response." ""Edouard, surely you jest, it's not that bad." "We can afford your lessons." "We can't suddenly tell Ken..."" ""Thanks for your help but it's too much..."" ""He's part of the family."" ""It would hurt him."" ""What about our evenings, Edouard?"" ""They'II be less merry without him."" "well, I'm still going to try." "You're right." "Try anyway." "A total fiasco." "That dress at her age?" "It's not correct." "Do you know her?" "It's my boss." "I give english lessons to her son." "Maria, you're stunning this evening." "Oh yes, ravishing." "You're outshining all the girls." "You exaggerate." "tell us your fountain of youth." "Bravo, it's true." "Madame TummIer is scrumptious this evening." "Good evening." " Good evening." "I think I drank too much." "You should drink moderately." "I talk..." "I always think it's the first glass." "That's strange, I'm cold." "But my head's on fire." "You look tired tonight." "It was very hot there and with these showers now." "could it be spring has come?" "It is spring, we had no winter this year." "You think so too?" "Goodnight." "I'II make you some tea before you go to bed." "Okay, I'II meet you in your room." "The tea's ready." "Do you want sugar?" "Don't move." "What would you say, Anna, if I said I was in love?" "It's obvious." "How you talk." "Look, you're in love." "The whole house knows." "And I thought I was hiding it." "I Iove him, Anna." "My heart is full of him." "The heart is a sentimental joke." "A heart is totally different." "Don't phiIosophize." "I need you." "I need understanding, to talk." "I'm sorry." "I didn't know our young friend deserved such emotion." "Deserved?" "But I Iove him." "I Iove him, Anna." "Ken is the most handsome man I ever saw." "please - handsome because you love him." "No, you don't understand." "Yes, I understand." "You don't understand." "Yes, I understand." "It's easy not to understand a feeling you don't share." "It's true that he's nice, pleasant, but you have to admit he's a bit naive." "That naivete is wonderful, so natural, so spontaneous." "It's his country's mentality." "He has no respect for his country." "You must love him and really suffer to see things as you do." "It's not your pity that I need." "Try to understand me, Anna." "I'm happy." "I'm happy even in my suffering." "Happy and proud as if my Iife were starting over." "We could feel it, you know." "lately something extraordinary has happened in you," "like a renewal of youth..." "Sometimes" "I thought I saw the old you, the figure you had when I was a girl." "Sometimes..." "I saw you as I had never known you..." "like a very young girl." "It was a fantastic vision... beautiful." "But at the same time, I was worried." "What you saw, Anna, was the result of his youth." "I'm scared for you." "You're hurting yourself." "You must stop." "He leaves, you forget." "With absence, you forget." "No, Anna." "Stop." "I'm scared for you." "Since he loves Germany," "I'II convince him to go back." "Or we'II leave." "Make him leave, move away..." "You're crazy, Anna." "I have to let this love run its course." "I'II still try to make him leave." "I must be by him." "I'II never forgive you if he goes." "Autumn crocus." " No, it's not the right season." "It's a plain crocus." "But they do look alike." "It's easy to confuse them, to believe in spring that it's autumn." "Your friend Mother Nature likes ambiguity." "Don't be mean to her." "Don't be mean to her." "She'II just play another trick." "You sound like Anna." "I don't understand Anna." "I'm so attached to her." "I watched her grow up." "A long time." "obviously you're very close." "I'm sure she tells you things." "Of course, I'm not jealous." "Remember how it started... when she was so sick?" "I think you worried more than me." "Robert asked me to stay for the winter." "I'm still here." "In the end, we couldn't do without you." "You keep our family balanced." "Sometimes I regret..." "I think without us you would have remarried." "Pierre meant so much, it's like he's still here." "He taught me so much that helps me now." "To savor each moment... the small things in life." "And the secret... the one you try to Iearn, that's right there... that we think we come close to..." "He taught me to dare." "And to throw down the cards, then make my hand." "But I was distracted, young," "and mostly, I think I didn't want to listen." "It's odd." "I Iearned it all after... when he was gone." "I started to live like him after he died." "But here, with you and the children," "I've really found some peace." "It's nice to say that these days." "I'm happy to hear it." "should we go back?" "Are you tired?" " No, I feel fine." "That's incredible." "Wooden flowers, a specialty of the Aoste valley." "You like them?" " A Iot." "I prefer real ones." "But they don't last." "exactly." "That's why I Iike them." "They're ephemeral." "You think Mama looks ill?" "She's pale." "Last night, she looked tired." "It was scary." "And she'd been so well lately." "She seemed so young." "You noticed." "Of course." "You know I know it all..." " Everything." "What do you think about it?" "It's great." "She's living her life." "Your dad wasn't always nice." "It must be hard to love someone so much younger." "She must be nervous?" "What can you do?" "Maria will see it through." "She can't do anything halfway." "Anna, your mother wants you." "Now?" " Yes, right away." "What's so serious?" " Nothing important, come." "Are you sick?" "No, it's not an illness." "It's a woman's malaise." "malaise?" "I'm a woman again, Anna." "Again." "That's wonderful." "You see I was right to trust nature." "You're in love like a young girl." "I won't blush with Ken anymore." "I don't want to hurt you on such a special day, but it doesn't change anything." "My dear, Anna," "Mother Nature has ruled in my favor." "And you think it won't change anything?" "The age gap hasn't changed." "Do you want me to lose hope?" "He's about to share the same feelings." "I'm happy, Anna." "Happy and proud." "This is the most beautiful morning of my Iife." "I'm happy for you, Mama." "You speak of hope." "What hope?" "But hope is hope." "It doesn't ask questions." "What nature's given me is so beautiful, I expect beauty." "I don't expect anything precise," "I have no expectations." "Are you sure?" "You won't be able to hide what you want from him." "You can't fake it." "When you come to dinner we all see how good you look." "You even wear make-up." "Does it offend you?" " No." "But it's not Iike you, you're natural." "You know why I do it?" "Do you understand?" "I'm so happy." "I feel strong now." "I have confidence." "I'm sorry." "Thank you, Anna." "I understand you, too." "I know you're hurt after what happened with Francois." "I Iove you." "I Iove you." "Now leave me please." "You know one needs calm at these moments." "Thank you." "Thank you very much." "It's the best birthday of my Iife." "You'd make me even happier if you sang something very European." "Are you ready?" "I heard about the Chateau of the Dukes of Savoy." "Ah, RipaiIIe." "It's close to here." "Yes, that's it." "RipaiIIe." "We went a Iong time ago." "Chartreux's gardens and cooking are great." "I don't remember." " That's a shame." "Listen, why don't we all go?" "Let's take the boat." "In the morning or around noon." "early so we'II have all day." "Perfect." "Okay, Ken?" "I agree completely." "will you come, Jeanne?" "You know I hate riding on the boat." "Wasn't it a good idea to take the boat?" "The roads are impossible today." "Tickets please, ladies and gentlemen." "Everything's fine." "Thanks." "What are you reading?" ""Merry knowledge"." "Know it?" "No." "Is it funny?" "Funnier than you think." "Listen." ""Why do warm, wet winds bring with them a taste for music?"" "Do you Iike it?" " Yes." "Did I sing?" "In the beginning, RipaiIIe had seven towers." "There are four left." "See their casteIIated roofs with powder magazines that dominate the facades and their muIIioned windows." "In the 1 4th century, RipaiIIe was for hunting." "It was Bonne of Bourbon who made it into a manor." "Note the phrase, " faire ripaille" has two meanings." "It usually evokes the feasts from Bonne's era." "Some say it comes from Duke Ermite, who lived like a hermit." "It means then the opposite :" "a calm, austere life." "The grass overran everything." "The mildew, too." "Look at the stones' condition." "Necker lived here." " The banker for Louis the 16th?" "And Madame de stael's father." "The Neckers owned this property." "Pomp and decadence of empires." "instability of human affairs." "So Madame de stael walked these grounds?" "Maybe not." "Her property was in Germany." "European at heart." "One day SchiIIer came to town." "She sent him a note :" ""Come dine with us." "It'II be simple." "Just Goethe, you, Constant and me."" "What snobbery." "It's very solid, but the centuries have left their mark." "Like Ken says, "Dig in the soil and dig through history."" "Mama." "I've waited for this for so long." "really?" "You too?" "No... not here." "Tomorrow." "I'II come to see you." "Tonight." " No." "I'II wait for you." "Tonight." "You can't leave me anymore." "Promise me." "Promise me." "Yes, I promise you." "Jeanne." "call Dr. Jacquemond." "A haemorrhage." "A haemorrhage?" "Go get the doctor, hurry." "You're here, Doctor?" "Anna disturbed you." "I'm just indisposed." "Sometimes, we must pay close attention to our bodies." "well?" "She must go to the clinic immediately." "Now?" "I can't leave her here this way." "We think that it's degeneration." "endometrial hyperplasia." "Who knows why cells that were always there suddenly create a malignancy?" "The body is then invaded by estrogen hormones, which causes hyperplasia of the mucous membrane and the haemorrhaging." "And life expectancy?" "Jacquemond, it's really not the right word to use." "She'II be in a coma." "tell her family to come quickly." "He must get here fast." "Mr. Keaton's here." "please tell him to come up." "I'II go." "Miss TummIer knows you're here." "Mr. Keaton?" "There's nothing to do." "I can't believe it." "She was brave." "She suffered so much the past few days." "She was happy to open her eyes wide." "One night, just one." "It would've been so beautiful." "You mustn't cry." "You either, Edouard." "You mustn't stay any longer." "Thank you, Jeanne." "Don't talk about the cruelty of Mother Nature..." "I'm leaving, Anna..." "For me, death has the face of love..." "I'm suffocating..." "I'm suffocating..." "Anna." "Open the window." "Leave the window open."