"EXTERMINATING ANGELS" "The lampposts are in need..." "The lampposts are in need of their long scarlet coats." "Roger." "Stat." "My grandmother." "I have to go see her." "What's the matter?" "I've got to see Grandma right now." "She's dying at the hospital." "I haven't been to see her." "Your poor grandmother died ten years ago." "Go back to sleep and leave me alone." "I have to go." "I have to go to the hospital." "She raised me." "She loves me more than my parents." "François..." "François." "Grandma!" "This is unbelievable." "I was just coming to see you." "Don't be afraid." "I'm not afraid." "Your wife is right." "I am dead." "You know that." "Is this a dream?" "I came to warn you." "You have to watch out for yourself." "You've always been too curious... but this time you might set off the infernal machine." "What are you talking about, Grandma?" "From where I am, it's difficult and dangerous to help you." "Damn it, stop muttering to yourself." "I need my sleep." "The great white walls are inundated in a vast tragic happiness." "Three times." "The blood of airports can no longer bear the snow flooding the blue grass." "One time." "I repeat: the blood of airports can no longer bear the snow flooding the blue grass." "One time." "You're in a bad mood." "I'm fed up." "I'm ashamed of what I do." "This one will be too easy." "Why bother with him Upstairs?" "You and your "why"!" "How should I know?" "Mind your own business and obey orders without arguing, period." "And if I don't obey?" "You know what'll happen." "We're not angels anymore," " but we're not witches, either." " Yeah, right." "Fallen angels, doomed to obey." "Cut the crap and get to work, old girl." "Don't treat him too cruelly." "François is an odd mixture of intelligence and foolishness, but he's a child." "Observe this young woman." "Listen to her." "She'll inspire you." "She'll make you famous." "So, how was I?" "Lovely." "Amazing how far you went." " Was I wrong to?" " Not necessarily." "I repeat: you were lovely." "When I came to your door, I was so scared I wanted to run." "I love your films." "I wanted to try out for you even if I had no expectations." "Only five of you are up for the part." "I was preparing a thriller." "I normally run screen tests using the hardest scenes." "This time, I'd chosen two scenes." "One was pretty erotic, the one Virginie had just done." "You know, I'm a blueblood." "I was raised to see sexual pleasure as taboo to a decent woman." "Obviously, the words were never said openly." "So I never had an orgasm until today." "When my boyfriend wants me, he jumps me and it's over in a flash." "I don't know why I'm telling you all this." "Am I boring you?" "Not at all." "So when I came to your door, I wanted to run." "Why do you do your tests here?" "I couldn't use the office;" "your place or mine." "Why the erotic tests first?" "To give you a chance to bow out." "You said if I was embarrassed," "I should sublimate it and turn it into pleasure... then let the feeling carry me... and go even further." "I obeyed again." "Then my mind went blank and I totally forgot about you." "I kept going." "I know you didn't ask for that, but the truth is I felt real pleasure." "Extremely intense pleasure, even." "I never imagined anything so intense." "Even in my dreams." "So it was your first orgasm?" "I just said it was." "Why is that?" "Rubbing myself in front of you was already an exciting taboo." "Plus, I don't know you." "That makes it stronger." "I could fantasize about you, knowing you wouldn't touch me." "I pictured you... aroused... and burning with the desire to take me... while I felt perfectly safe." "You might have been wrong." "You're not a rapist." "What do you feel now?" "I don't know." "Shame?" "No." "The feeling of having been lured... into lewdness?" "No, and it would have been your fault." "I came for a test." "I knew just what I was doing." "And it was all very exciting..." "A learning experience... a bit like a revelation about my forbidden self." "Are you sorry?" "Not for now." "At least I'm glad you had pleasure, however unexpected." "Promise me that what I've said remains our secret." "I promise." "Now, if you're not too tired, we'll move on to a dialogue reading." "It's a hard scene." "Another actress was slightly better, and I made the film without Virginie." "But I was haunted by what she had confided in me... especially since I ran into her two years later." "She gave me a cold look and accused me of having traumatized her." "Why this complete change of attitude?" "During the screen test, had this young woman made things up to get the role?" "As a filmmaker, I take actors' talk and moods with a grain of salt, but I was sure at the time that Virginie had spoken in earnest." "Those confidences made me want to make an experimental film about taboos and pleasure." "I had a producer." " Hello." " Hello, sir." "Please sit down." "Young lady, I may frighten you." "Listen" "My name is Olivia." "Olivia, I'm doing a film about female pleasure and transgressing taboos." "I need actresses willing to be arousing on camera." "Meaning?" "What is arousing in life?" "We're aroused when we dare do little erotic things that we've banned from our minds, but which we're still dying to try, like masturbating for a stranger in a hotel room... in a school or street." "In the film, I'd need the actresses' connivance about their desires, their secret experiences." "It leaves room for improvisation." "That frighten you?" "No." "I mean yes, a bit." "Do I have to do tests?" "Yes." "What kind?" "Ones involving the key scenes." "Meaning?" "Probably rubbing yourself, and, not being a lesbian, making love with a woman for the kick of it." "You try to be arousing, but there's no sex with a man." "What does "arousing" mean?" "That I have to have an orgasm?" "At least create the illusion as authentically as possible... especially for the rising pleasure." "What are you testing?" "An actress's sensuality." "Some girls are exciting, others no- especially on screen." "Excuse me for being so blunt." "Even if I do erotic scenes for you, that doesn't mean I'd repeat them in front of a crew." "Then why do it for me?" "But you're right." "Girls often have last-minute qualms." "That's why I have to test an actress's potential exhibitionism." "Hence, the video tests." "Is there any dialogue in your film?" "Sure, and difficult dialogue, at that." "I can't allow myself to make a porn movie, nor can my actresses- we're all on a high wire." "What I'm out to capture... is the grace of the pleasure on their faces and their bodies." "Pleasure..." "To express it, you have to know what it is." "Why not take porn stars and teach them how to act?" "They take no delight in transgression." "I think I know what you're looking for." "My boyfriend once took me to a swinger's club." "I hated the place... but at one point I saw two girls." "They were lying on the floor, and one was kissing the other girl's pussy... so I stopped to watch them." "I could see the mounting pleasure in the girl who was being... licked." "She was very beautiful." "I was fascinated by the way her body moved before and during the orgasm." "It was beautiful." "I suddenly realized I was very excited and envious of her... yet I'm no lesbian." "To be frank, just talking about it excites me a little." "Isn't that the kind of excitement you want to film?" "By making a real film..." "I'll try to create sensual tension, mixed with poetry and suspense." "It's never been done." "Will it be shown in theaters?" "On TV?" "Both, I hope." "I've never made love with a woman." "Actually, I have- when I was 13, with a girl my age." "I don't think it would thrill me now." "At the same time," "I'm tempted to do it, but I'm afraid of how my family would take it... especially my father." "Your idea is very interesting." "It's original and involves us all." "What's more, you listen to us, you care about us." "We immediately feel like confiding in you... but to be honest, doing sex scenes scares me." "I don't dare." "I'm sorry." "Good-bye." "Too bad for my film." "No." "Really, no." "...a stranger in a hotel?" "No." "Not even as a screen test?" " No." " No?" "...a woman for the pleasure of the experience?" "No." " Honestly?" " No." "For the thrill of breaking taboo?" "No, no, no." "No." " No?" " Excuse me." "In a hotel, for instance?" "No." "Are you a lesbian?" "No." "In front of the camera?" "No." "Sir?" " You're the filmmaker?" " Yes." "My name is Julie." "I heard you were preparing a film." "Can I speak to you?" "Yeah, let's sit down." "I'm getting discouraged." "Why?" "The actresses are all scared by the tests or the project." "I can understand them, but it's my current project." "I have nothing else going." "You know, your tests- you can do them with me." "I swear you can." "I've heard about you." "You do serious work." "I trust you." "Besides, I have nothing to lose." "Was I good?" "No, I can tell from your face." "If I'd had the initiative, I'd have been more intense." "Don't say a thing." "You'll see." "I use this to make myself come." "Here goes..." "After that, you should give yourself a rest." "I can do it right away." "Once, when I was 12 or 13..." "I put it in so far I couldn't get it out." "I had to get my mother to help me." "She pretended not to understand." "How did she go about helping you?" "How do you think?" "It's starting." "With my ball, it starts right off, sometimes too fast." "You can talk to me, tell me I'm beautiful, but I won't answer you." "I don't want to show myself naked." "It's your right." "I asked for nothing." "Good." "Can I stay and talk?" "If you like." "I have two favors to ask you." "Do you mind?" "Try me." "I'm majoring in modern lit." "I have to do a paper on dramatic construction." "Do you have any reference books?" "There are two essays in the complete works of Corneille on the composition of dramatic poetry which are still topical." "The second book is a fine study of classical tragedy." "Can I borrow them?" "If I get them back." "Without fail, next week." "As for the second favor..." "My guy's not enterprising." "Maybe he doesn't like romance." "You mean, sex?" "Teach me how to have an orgasm... just by explaining it to me, I mean." "Young lady, ask your friend." "Maybe I'm not sexy enough for him, not skillful enough." "To do what?" "My vamp act." "And you think I can help you?" "Sure, you see lots of girls every day." "You're the ideal judge." "I can show you what I do for him, and you tell me about my sex appeal." "Anyway, it's 1:30." "Everyone's out to lunch." "We'll be left in peace." "Nobody will come bother you, but you really think I'm the right person for this?" "Who else?" "Here I go." "Can I put on some music?" "Mm-hmm." "# Yeah, yeah, yeah #" "# Come on #" "# Baby #" "# Set me free, yeah #" "# Now, now, now #" "# Sexy lady #" "# From California #" "# Sexy lady, sexy lady, sexy lady #" "# Sexy lady #" "# We're in California #" "# Come on, be free #" "# Come on, everybody, they've still got #" "# Their own way, yeah, their own thing #" "# Oh, we'll be free out in sunny weather, California #" "# Yeah, yeah #" "# I'm so ready #" "# We'll stay out in California #" "# In surf and sea, lady #" "# Outside of the city #" "# Oh, when we go to California #" "# Sexy, sexy baby #" "# Ooh, yeah #" "# Oh, yeah #" "# Come on, be free #" "So?" "Was I sexy or not?" "I'll return your books next week." "I do that for my boyfriend, for him only." "I won't do your film." "That much I understand." "Rebecca?" " Hello." " Hello." " It's nice to see you." " Same here." "Got five minutes?" "Um, two minutes." "What's up with you?" "Nothing." "I decided to quit acting." "I sell clothes next door." "You're one of the few actresses I ever advised to keep going." "Why?" "Because I landed a lead part in a film so soon?" "I was 16 and a half." "I was very young." "Everyone looked after me." "They did my hair, dressed me." "I was the Queen of Sheba." "But I did nothing after that." "I turned everything down... on the pretense I was a great actress... who shouldn't lower herself." "But you have to make a living somehow." "I wasn't going to get up every morning to go to work." "I wasn't going to be like anyone else." "I moved in with a guy... then a girl... then with someone else." "I refused to see things." "Then I really started sleeping around." "What do you mean?" "What's the difference?" "Are you thick or what?" "Maybe." "Explain." "You're 20." "You're beautiful." "You're young." "The world's at your feet." "You use your charms." "But it doesn't last." "You become less beautiful." "Your hold on people starts to weaken." "There's always someone who makes you pay the price." "Not being rich, you end up back at your parents'." "I gradually noticed other actresses... the way they were... almost all of them wacko." "Same with the guys." "Everyone apparently sweet as sugar... but with egos as big as cathedrals." "And me..." "I was getting to be like them... slowly... out of laziness... out of self-deceit." "Why let yourself go like that?" "I've refused to let myself go." "That's just it." "You'd better run, too... and run fast." "I'm fond of you, you know." "Now that I've done your test, I can admit it..." "I've done porn before." "I didn't tell you for fear of being stereotyped." "No, thanks." "There's beer in the fridge." "Help yourself." "How did you get into porn movies?" "Simple." "I was a student." "I first started posing nude... then I started dancing, also nude." "That led naturally to stripping, and then one day..." "So for you, having an orgasm on camera is easy to do." "Don't think that." "We rarely come." "Officially, never." "And you?" "What do you want to know, exactly?" "If it's ever ecstasy?" "Last time, I did a scene with a guy who disgusted me." "Well, I ended up having an orgasm because of that." "It's hard to admit." "We're all a bit weird." "A bit sluttish, too." "The bigger the taboo, the more we like it, of course." "When they hear we do porn, lots of women come to us to ask us what we do exactly, if we really come and how often and if we enjoy it." "To go slumming, to find out." "Even among us chicks, we lie and boast." "Novelists and filmmakers should look into that side of women more." "Despite appearances, it's almost virgin territory." "I'm trying to, starting with the truth." "What's the truth?" "You're nave." "I ask because you seem to be a sex professional who's smart and sincere." "Sincere!" "We actors are all whores for the role we want." "Ever wonder why girls do these tests for you?" "Are you aware of the role you play?" "I play a role?" "You're not neutral." "How so?" "You're not a playboy." "You're one of the few who listen to us." "You're calm, self-confident..." "On the surface, at least." "You have both charm and childlike innocence." "Do I?" "Don't be stupid." "With you, there's something extra." "You're a father figure." "Me?" ""Me, me"?" "Who else is here?" "Even in the erotic area?" "We feel like we're committing a major transgression." "That makes the orgasm stronger and different." "Just now, I was on my belly dreaming that I excited you, picturing you behind me doing like me, then taking me like an animal." "That made me come hard." "The occasions are rare." "Enough fine talk." "Was I good?" "Yes." "This seems to come too easily to you." "I'll wait to see my video screen." "I'm too used to sex, not uneasy enough?" "Wait for my answer in a few days." "I'll be back for the readings." "Yes?" "Hello, young lady." "Please have a seat." "I have photos for you, and my résumé, too." "Thanks." "Look closely at this girl, let her take you." "Give in to her totally." "I'm right here... by your side." "Go for it." "Are you free for dinner?" "My friend Agnès, the girl with the books, told me all about your film." "So there." "Now you and I will play a game." "What kind?" "Enjoying my secret little pleasures... in a place ill-suited for them." "Where's that?" "Here." "Where you're a regular." "How do you know that?" "Shh." "I invited someone, you know." "Who?" "Afraid of being alone with me?" "Another actress." "She'll be here soon." "A rival?" "Your potential partner." "Then she can join me." "I scare you?" "I don't know." "I'm waiting." "I move closer to the table." "I place my hand on my leg... just above the knee... and slowly move it up the inside of my thigh." "Yes, look around discreetly." "Protect me." "Know what I'm doing?" "I think so." "The waitress is watching you." "So?" "I just rub my finger against my dress fabric... under the table." "Does it feel good even through the fabric?" "Don't let it end now." "Want me to wait for your guest?" "It's weird." "It feels good to wait for an orgasm like this." "I could make it last for hours... even if I'm a little nervous." "The waitress is looking again." "Open your dress." "Move your fingers over the fabric." "Now underneath." "Feel good?" "Very." "Keep caressing yourself- even when she's closer, but discreetly, so I can watch her reaction when she realizes." "Miss?" "A bottle of champagne, please." "Yes, sir." "You're cute." "I'm all wet." "Keep it up." "So you're an actress?" "Mm." "We're going to work together?" "Julie's passed the tests." "I'm doing the same thing under the table." "I don't believe it." "Great!" "Take off your panties, but be careful." "Leave your hands exactly where they are." "A menu?" "I'll just have champagne." "Okay, miss." "Move closer together... and caress each other, but harder." "This is a terrific moment." "Thank you, miss." "Aren't you frustrated to be so close, but bound by a promise not to touch us?" "Don't mind my frustration." "No." "Don't let it end so fast." "It will be better later." "I can take you to the hotel next door." "Let's go." "Do you hear the electrical schools sing and blaze?" "I repeat: do you hear the electrical schools sing and blaze?" "Mm." "You were both really superb." "Come on." "Like this?" "Yes." "Stand here, Julie." "Good." "Make her come a second time." "I'll stand guard." "That was great." "We work and come at the same time." "Life should always be like this." "I never felt pleasure like this." "Me neither." "I was nearly in seventh heaven." "But you've had orgasms before?" "Sometimes." "Only sometimes?" "I'm trying to understand this." "You just experienced something very powerful... so what's different?" "I don't know." "Lots of women never feel anything, even alone- including when they were very young, or so they say." "I think they repress it." "When I'm alone, I do." "I often caress myself." "Sometimes as often as 10 or 15 times a day." "I get so exhausted my day is over with." "I don't feel much with men." "Letting myself go with women is easier." "They know my body." "They know what to do." "And still having taboos in my head adds to it." "What about you, Julie?" "Apart from the ball." "I don't feel anything, just the pleasure of exciting you and her." "I just lied and you didn't realize it." "That's women for you." "Just kidding." "I've had orgasms in lots of ways for years." "When it starts, caresses and penetration don't give the same pleasure." "It gradually spreads throughout my entire body and I come." "Sometimes it feels mystical." "With sodomy, it's something else." "You're into sodomy?" "Sometimes." "You have to take precautions, and then, in no time, you forget everything." "The pleasure is fantastic." "But to have an orgasm you also rub yourself?" "I don't have an orgasm, just immense pleasure- like when I suck off a handsome guy." "I have to run or my boyfriend will murder me." "Not coming down?" "I want to stay a bit." "Me too." "You want to be together without me?" "What she said was interesting." "Take an interest in me." "Know where I'd just been when I met you?" "No." "At my shrink's." "I see him twice a week." "I used to, anyway." "When I met you, I decided to end my therapy and never see my shrink again." "That's both flattering and worrying." "Maybe more worrying than flattering." "Why did you say that?" "My father's a great psychiatrist who studied psychoanalysis." "My mother is a psychoanalyst." "Everybody's a shrink in my family." "Your boyfriend, too?" "Hardly." "We just broke up... the night of the day I met you." " Because of me?" " I don't know." "I don't think so." "Dad bought me a flat." "He gives me an allowance." "He's famous." "He owns several clinics and gives lots of lectures." " Your parents live together?" " No." "He gave my mother a child." "Me." "Other women, too." "He legally recognized me." "He sees me regularly, even if when I was a kid going to see him was quite a ritual." "My existence was kept a secret from his wife, who threatened suicide whenever a skirt walked by him." "Once, when I was seven," "I went to see him at his clinic." "She was there." "My mother introduced me as a casual visitor, and his wife threw herself in a lake 15 minutes later." "My mom and I found a boat, and I jumped in to fish her out." "I used an oar." "Luckily, it wasn't too deep." "My mom had a boyfriend ten years her junior." "When she was with a patient, the boyfriend flirted with me and kissed me all over." "Did that go on long?" "Three or four years, on and off." "Did you tell your mother?" "Yes, when I realized what we were doing." "She didn't believe me and ended up marrying him." "I ran away to see my father." "He rented me a place." "That's how I ended up on my own at 13." "I've led a rough life until now." "How old are you?" "21." "I'll tell you the rest later." "I'm very fond of you." "You're going fast." "My affection comes fast or not at all... and it can last." "True." "At 21, you must have already had many enduring romances." " Yes?" " It's Julie." " I came back." "I'm coming up." " Okay." "It's Julie." "I had a fight with my boyfriend." "You told him about this?" "Tonight was work- it's not his business- but I didn't make him dinner." "He yelled and I left." "Let's go out and bop till we drop." "Great." "Mind if we try a sex club?" "I feel like experimenting." " Sure." " Without me, kids." "Oh, come on." "You really won't come with us?" "No." "See the time?" "You could have called." "So?" "How are you coming?" "What is it?" "You jealous of his wife?" "Mind your own business." "Find your actresses?" "I need a third one." "What do you ask of them?" "If they agree, they take me into their taboo erotic fantasies, and I watch them." "Without touching them?" "No, why?" "What did you do with them tonight?" "Tests." "Erotic ones?" "After which you fucked me like you haven't fucked me in ages." "Look me in the eye." "What are you after?" "Understanding what goes on in their heads... watching them in their pleasure, even when they fake it." "Then I write a script that stylizes what they tell me for the screen." "Always alone with them?" "Who can I use as an assistant, you?" "An assistant?" "Nothing would happen." "You'd be called a manipulator... and accused because you're a man." "I won't turn into a woman." "Listen to me." "These girls are prepared to say what you want to hear and betray you if you don't cast them." "Even if they are good, find others." "They might suddenly back out on a whim or out of emotional blackmail or because of a jealous guy." "Protect yourself, my friend." "I sense you're in danger... and so am I." "Don't be silly." "Come here." "Reminder." "The little blue demons have orders not to attack their loved ones before the slaughter." "I repeat: the little blue demons are not to attack their elders before the slaughter." "Three times." "Help me, please." "Come get me." "I'm alone, all alone since last night." "Come!" "Listen, a girl's lying on a bench in my bar." "She came in an hour ago, crocked." "Come get her, and now." " Are you François?" " Yes." "This way." "Charlotte." "Are you her father?" "Nor husband nor lover." "Lucky you." "I'm sick of her coming and making a scene." "Get out." "If I see her again, I'll throw her out." " No, Charlotte." " Make love to me." "No." "Come on." "I want you." " You're drunk." " Fuck me." "We'll both regret it." "Get into bed." "I'm taking a shower." "I'm sorry." "It's okay." "Lie down." "Feel better?" "Mm." "What happened?" "Who'd you fight with?" "No one." "It takes a hefty man to do that." "Was it your ex-boyfriend?" "No, I did it myself." "Don't want to tell me?" "Is it so hard?" "You wouldn't believe me." "You'd lie to me?" "Cross my heart and hope to die." "It's like this" "the devil possesses me at times." "Isn't it drugs, rather?" "I don't take any." "I never have..." "I swear." "Since I was making a racket... the concierge's son, who's a childhood friend, came up." "He has the keys." "He came in and tried to pin me down, but I was stronger than him." "He called his friend, and they both tried." "At first, I was stronger than them... but then the devil abandoned me, and I lost all my might." "Please... never tell anyone." "I won't." "I haven't told you anywhere near my whole life story." "Sometimes, I'm on the verge of despair." "Why don't you go back to your shrink?" "Sit down, Stéphanie." "Have we met?" "Strange, I'm sure I've already seen you somewhere before." "Excuse me." "Yes?" "It's Charlotte." "Am I bothering you?" "I'm in a meeting." "Julie is with me." "We went out again last night." "We've already done three clubs." "We're in a truck with some guys who're playing music." "Why not join us?" " You haven't slept?" " What for?" "We'll do it again tonight." "How do you keep going, on coke?" "We stop at champagne." "You're spending a fortune." "The guys are paying." "For nothing in return?" "We're big girls." "It's Julie." "Come on." "We'll turn you on to some cool stuff." "No, no, no, I'm in a meeting." " With a pretty girl?" " Yes." "As lovely and exciting as us?" "You'd better go home to bed." "Good-bye." "Sorry about that." "I heard about your work for a movie." "You did say you want to leave room for erotic improvisation." "To avoid filming my own fantasies." "I'd like a man, even several men, to take me to a hotel." "An afternoon delight." "I see myself making love to three men, maybe even five." "I understand three." "Why the other two?" "I still have two hands." "Did I shock you?" "Hardly." "Six in a bedroom." "Me in the middle." "If possible blindfolded, so when I pass a man later," "I can imagine it might have been him I had sex with." "Allow me to live out my dreams." "Take me to a hotel room yourself, a hot-sheet hotel." "I'll do the tests with you." "You'd do me a favor." "Well?" "Well, what?" "Will you take me to a hotel?" "Take your camera and let's go." "I'm starting to want you." "Me?" "I scare you." "I can see it in your eyes." "You ask girls to put out, but you won't do likewise." "True, you make me uncomfortable." "You really need to be shaken up." "Let's go." "Hello, hello." "It's us again." "We're never tired of partying." "And Stéphanie persuaded the two girls to join us." "The ghost stars must now flood the green desert seas." "Two times." "Some fun at last." "It's time to cast their red shrouds over the great hollow mountains." "Two times again." "You must be used to seeing girls masturbate." "I'm starting to be." "I'd never done it until now." "Know why I'm doing it today?" "I love to masturbate for you." "I love you watching me." "Film me." "The other girls." "They can come back in an hour." "Let them in." "You sure?" "Don't say anything." "Let them in." "They'll be in for a surprise." "Uhn..." "Don't." "I'll take care of them." "Sit down a second." "Like this?" "What I just experienced is terrific and new." "Film or no film, we'll do it again." "Actually, you've seen me before." "The waitress." "I'm a friend of Charlotte's." "Charlotte's mother thinks I'm a pathological liar." "She may be right." "You in analysis, too?" "That's how I met Charlotte." "Did you think I was beautiful?" "You were all terrific." "So will you cast us?" "I'll be going." "I've almost reached my goal." "I hope so, anyway." "Final act." "You're on." "One of your chicks again?" "Don't." "Keep our life apart." "At this hour, it might be serious." "Yes." "Hello, François." "It's Stéphanie." "It's important." "I'm in love with Charlotte." "I love her." "I had to tell you." "Can I see you tomorrow?" "Come by the office in the morning, early, if possible." "Take care." "It was one of your babes." "I can tell from your dumb look." "You're too nice to them." "How can I not be, with all I ask of them?" "You ask them to act." "No more than laughing and crying sincerely." "For some people, acting out sex is different from the rest." "Sex is immoral, understand?" "The girls I have went all the way." "They're crazy and have you under a spell." "You're asking for trouble." "Must you really have them do all that for you?" "I can only film what I know... and drama schools don't teach you to rub off under a tablecloth or make beautiful love to someone." "My project has grown- I want to convey mystical ecstasy as the actresses mount towards orgasm." "You only feel that in love, in real love." "Even then, it's rare." "I was lucky to feel it twice with you." "Let's seek it together, just you and me." "I can't be actor and observer." "You're not the same with me anymore." "I love you." "I feel that I've lost you." "I need you deeply." "It's not the same thing." "Listen closely." "You're headed for a brick wall, and you don't realize it." "With me, as well." "Please, don't answer!" "Don't get melodramatic." "It's just a message." "For me." "You have one new message, received at 3:00 a. m." "It's Charlotte." "Stéphanie just declared she was mad about me." "You know, I like men- I'll do what you want, make love to her for real- but for you." "Only for you." "For your film." "Why are you always so sad?" ""The stars studded the deep, dark sky." ""Amid the night flowers, a slim crescent" ""Shone in the west, and Ruth wondered," ""Immobile, eye half-open beneath her veils" ""Which God, who reaped this timeless summer" ""Had so idly dropped in departing" "This golden sickle in the field of stars."" "Hugo." "Nicely read." "Learn it all by heart now." "Come lie next to me." "Later, I'll tell journalists I became a lesbian thanks to you." "That's not how I love you." "I loved sharing pleasure, but that's all." "François, don't leave me alone." "It's François." "Excuse me." "So you feel lonely with me?" "I take what I get, but remember, if you need a favor or help, count on me." "I won't ask for anything in return." "Talk to you later." "I'm intruding." "Not at all." "Come." "I'm only staying a moment." "I came to see Stéphanie and her new friend." "Stéphanie is like a sister." "I love her." "I never refuse her anything." "She and I come from poor families, but sometimes, thanks to my contacts," "I burn a rich guy, a VIP or someone famous." "Why are you telling me this?" "You threatening me?" "Not at all." "Don't take it that way." "We're just talking." "See you, sister darling." "Have a good time." "Is he a guy you sleep with?" "What's wrong with that?" "It's Charlotte I love." "It's your life, after all, but keep him away from me." "Hello." "I see you're still doing tests." "You betraying us?" "How did you know I was here?" "From the office?" "No, we followed you." "You taking the new girl?" "Why should I answer?" "I should kick you off the film." "We feel cheated." "You girls are something." "What if you get sick or change your mind at the last minute?" "Your lame excuses won't keep us off the film." " I'll jump out the window." " I will, too." "I'll beat you to a pulp." "You haven't done a thing for me." "You did some admittedly unusual screen tests." "Others did and didn't get cast." " It happens in all films." " It's not the same." "We gave up everything for you." "Unfortunately." "Threats, to boot." "I should fire you instantly." "I can only be an actress." "Millions of girls aren't." " Then I will kill myself." " So will I." "So you said." "I don't recommend acting to anybody." "Mind your dad's clinic." "That would be useful." "Never!" "Please don't abandon me." "I need you now." "After the film I can keep doing tests for you." "I'm so attached to you." "I think I'm in..." "You girls wear me out." "I'm out of here." "Frame them like this to play up the light and shadow contrast." "We'll try out three different lights later." "Ladies, this is the producer." "Thanks, François." "Nice to meet you." "You're lovely." "Where is Charlotte?" " In makeup." " Be right back." "You okay?" "Look at me." " Better warm her up a bit." " Okay." "See you in a minute." "I want a very close shot on the kid, and backlight her." "Get a doctor, quick." "It's not a doctor that she needs." "Go on." "Give me a hand." "Uhn!" "Stop!" "I'm the devil's beloved!" "Let go of me!" "Let go of me!" "François, found someone to replace her?" "Not yet." "Do we have to let her go?" "She's always been normal with me." "I won't sign a contract with this girl." "Find a replacement- and quick." "Not one." "Two!" "You're disgusting to treat her this way." "You used her." "And me." "And all the others." "Your film is only possible thanks to us... thanks to our tests, when we fucked for you." "If you dump Charlotte now..." "I swear I'll stop your film." "I'll get back at you." "Who are these nuts?" "Young lady, I make the decisions here." "You're fired." "Both of you." "And you don't say a word in our favor." "Get these crazies out of here!" "Forgive me." "I say nothing more." "I am losing my memory... of good and evil." "I am a cradle... rocked by a hand... in the hollow of a tomb." "Silence." "Silence." "Forgive me, my beloved... but my pain is great... and I'm so afraid." "So afraid." "Help me, Daddy dearest." "Oh, help!" "I'm begging you." "I'm here, my little girl." "I'm here." "Forget about these bastards." "Have no fear." "They'll pay dearly for this." "This is all your fault." "Did she have to rub it in?" "But I was still in charge of a film and a crew." "Luckily, I soon found two replacements." "One of them, Céline, despite my qualms, proved to be a fine actress and a very sweet girl." "Contrary to my fears, shooting went without a hitch." "Later I tried to contact the two other girls, but they had moved away and changed phone numbers." "And, mysteriously, Julie had vanished after her last day on the film." "The film was an unexpected success... but I still hadn't found answers to my questions." "Why does sex lead to such violence and hypocrisy over matters that are no more than a tempest in a teapot?" "And then, as Céline said to me, what is truth?" "In fact, I was probably chasing the wind." "Police." "Good morning." "Sergeant Devigny." "I have a warrant." "I was taken in custody and questioned on charges of harassing Charlotte and Stéphanie." "I had a prison sentence hanging over my head." "The word immediately got out in the profession, and was picked up by the gutter press." "It earned me a sickening notoriety, which my intuition had neither sought nor imagined when it drove me to this film." "The absurdity of it all..." "François..." "Sadly, I heard about what you've been doing all these months." "I'll never forgive you for having betrayed me so badly." "I left before it was too late." "Don't forget- time goes by fast for everyone." "Julie?" "I'm so glad to see you again." "So am I." "A kiss?" "Why did you vanish after the film?" "Well?" "I met someone." "I had to tell him about the film." "He was jealous." "When my scenes were done, he forced me to move, change my phone number, burn all my bridges." "What do you do now?" "I work in computers." "Are you happy?" "The truth is, I ran away." "From what?" "You." "Me?" "When I touched myself in front of you at the beginning..." "I hardly enjoyed it... but then I felt an intense pleasure which was even stronger when I made love with Charlotte." "It's because you were watching me." "You initiated me, and now I miss all that." "And to be honest... at the time, I grew attached to you... very strongly, even." "As strong as that?" "You didn't realize it, did you?" "You never realized anything." "I mean, anything serious- for instance, that you were being manipulated by all those girls... and that you set something off in me." "See what I'm getting at?" "You realize how you hurt me?" "I hurt you?" "That's what I'm trying to say." "Sorry." "I didn't know." "The shoot was hell for me, too." "The shoot..." "Still don't understand?" "What should I understand?" "Tell me." "I can't even hate you." "You never realized I was in love with you?" "Not only for the sex." "It was powerful, deep... so I chose to run to another man and never see you again." "You fell in love with me?" "My God..." "Yet I'm sure you don't even do it on purpose." "It was that powerful?" "Probably for the others, too." "You set off such intense, deep things." "That's why it all ended badly." "You'll never stop being... so clueless." "But even for just that, I'll keep a place for you in my heart." "I have to go now." "Give me your number?" "I'll give you mine?" "We'll meet again." "Their great blue desert is just a chained hell without flames." "Three times." "I repeat." "Their great blue desert is just a chained hell without flames." "What do you want?" "What...!" "Let go of me!" "We finish him off." "Why did you save him?" "Oh, my God." "I'm here, my child." "I'm your neighbor." "Don't worry." "What got into you?" "Why did you do that?" "Are you in love with him?" "What if I am?" "You are both in that void where the dead seek each other." "They never should have put me with you." "We're both lost." "We're ready to set up." "François." "Francois!" "End of the call to order!" "Oedipus will never see beyond the obedience of a jackal or a sphinx." "The vocabulary was too dense." "They carried off all the splendid bodies." "One time." "One last time."