"It's really too dangerous." "It's not what we had planned." "It'll be a simple, quick shoot." "We'll go to the South this morning and be back by the evening." "But what for?" "Why take such risks?" "Catherine will go to the South with Rabih Mroue, our favourite actor." "They will go through the post-war region and we will film, it's as simple as that." "I thought she was just coming to attend a gala." "We'll be back for the gala, she'll be on time." "I want to see." "I don't understand." "What do you want to see?" "They are already rebuilding." "I don't think you'll see what you imagine." "Also, it is a minefield, in every sense of the word." "There are cluster bombs, UNIFIL, the army, Hezbollah, the border with Israel." "What do you want to see?" "Mlle Deneuve, you are very well known." "Film shoots need planning." "There are measures to be taken, you need a bodyguard, and I don't know how we can protect you." "I want to see." "I want to see" "Where are we going?" "To the suburbs, the South and the border." " Will you be with us?" " Ye, in the car in front of you." "Will you be shooting?" "Yes, nearly all the time." "Catherine and you." "Don't worry, it'll be OK." "Here she is." "Let's go." "Catherine, this is Rabih." " Good morning." " Welcome." " You'll get in the car together." " OK." "We'll give you some time to get to know each other, and we'll get in the car just in front of yours." "Thank you." "Can you get into the car in front?" " I have to stay close to Mlle Deneuve." " It's the car just in front." "He's my bodyguard." "He's over there." "Welcome to Beirut." "Thanks." "I didn't get your name, there was a lot of noise outside." "Rabih..." "The letter "R" is rather difficult in Arabic." "It means "spring" in Arabic." "But I don't like my name, because of that, but it's OK." " You arrived yesterday?" " Yesterday evening." "Do you mind if I smoke?" " Not at all." " Everyone here smokes." "Yes, nearly everyone." "I only smoke in the evening." "I mean, here no one will stop you from smoking anywhere." "What's this big grey building?" "It's Burj el Murr." "What?" "It's the Murr Tower." "It's the name of..." "There's nothing there, it's concrete." "Yes, it's a war monument." "They say it's a monument." "In fact it was an unfinished building." "And during the war, there were many battles there." "It has a long history in the civil war." "And it's going to stay like that?" " It won't be renovated?" " No, they say it's like a symbol." "I believe it should really remain in this state, like a monument, for all the Lebanese." "A memorial." "I apologise for my poor French." " Don't, it's OK, it's very good." " It's OK?" "Good." "We understand each other." "Red light, green light, it makes no difference here, huh?" "I should have put on my seat belt." "You should have reminded me." "It's OK, it's not that serious." "Considering what's going on at these street crossings, I'd say it is!" "Isn't it compulsory here?" "It is, but nowadays, nothing is compulsory any more." "After the war and all that, it's a little chaotic everywhere." " But offcially, you have to wear seat belts." " Yes, sure." "But if you don't put it on, no one says anything." "But before the last war, you had to." "If not, you were fined." "And when will you get back into good habits?" "Who?" "Me?" "Not you personally, but the people in Beirut and here." "Stopping at traffic lights, putting on their seat belts..." "I'm not obsessive about keeping rules, but it's dangerous this way." "And the buildings over there, was that the last war?" "No, those are ruins from the war before." "The town is still full of traces of the civil war." " Not destroyed, not renovated?" " No, that's how things are." "Why do you want to go to South Lebanon?" "Because I'm so close..." "I feel it's impossible to stay on the edges." "Had it been much further..." "But since it could be done, I wanted..." "I want to see." "Me too, I want to see." "You want to see again, I imagine." "You know, we only saw images on TV..." "And it always seems..." " It always seems unreal..." " Unreal?" "Yes, since Beirut is getting rebuilt, I wanted to see." "I'm not sure I'll understand much, but I want to see." " It's good you've come to Lebanon." "What did you say?" "It's a good thing you're in Lebanon, in Beirut." "It's not obvious what's here these days." "It's for a very short stay, unfortunately." "Perhaps, some other time..." "I've been wanting to come for some time, quite a long time." "There." "We've reached the suburbs." "And what's in the suburbs?" " It's the area that was..." "The most hit?" "Yes, the most hit during the last war." "I think the people recognise you." "No, I don't think so, no..." "It's true." "This is the last street where you can still see bombed-out buildings." "The other buildings have already been..." "Everything was pulled down?" "Yes, they were totally destroyed to be rebuilt." "Now, it's empty, there are only huge holes." "All the rubble and the stones and so on are thrown elsewhere." "It's right next to the sea." " Rabih!" " Yes?" " You can't park here." " Why?" "We don't have authorisation." "For security reasons." " Go and park where we planned to." " OK." "I don't understand." "I thought we were stopping here." "No?" " I don't know." " Let's keep going." "Let's keep going." "Stop, stop!" " What's the problem?" " OK, we'll stop." " What's going on?" " We have to stop." "We can't shoot this building." "Let's go a bit further to another building." "Julien, we have to stop filming." "We'll start again a bit further on." "Turn off the camera." " Let's go south." " Is there a problem here too?" "Let's stop." "We're going to the South." " I've had it." " Is it OK if we stop shooting?" "OK, that's enough, let's go to the South." "Is it far?" "More than two hours from here." "But the road is beautiful." "I must be back tonight." "My family is from the South, but I was born in Beirut." "I used to spend every summer in the village, at my grandmother's, but I haven't been for a while." " For how long?" " Since the last war." "I haven't seen anything there." " In fact, we're going to see it together." " You had no news from your grandmother?" "No, no, she's staying with us now in Beirut." "She had to leave because of thewar." "It's not inhabited?" "There's no one living there?" "I don't know." "I haven't been there in so long." "Are you afraid of going to the South?" "Actually, I don't feel like going there." "I don't feel like seeing... all the bombings, the destruction..." "I feel like a tourist in my own country." "But with you, it will be different." "Have they started rebuilding?" "In some areas, yes, in some villages, but it takes lots of time." "It's so easy to... deconstruct..." "To destroy?" " Yes." "But it's not easy to rebuild, it takes time." "Why didn't you want to go back?" "For me, it was strange..." "It's interesting now, because of the film... to go there and discover everything again." "Perhaps it's because of the image." "Everyone was there to get some images." " You mean the television, all that?" "Yes, all that, but..." "But now, it's a paradox, since I'll be there with you in order to appear in images." "It's interesting." "We'll see." " Do you mind if I smoke?" " No, not at all." "Oh, I forgot to put my seat belt on." " It's OK, it's not serious." " What do you mean, not serious?" "It's OK." "For now." "Yes, as long as nothing happens, it's OK!" "You're not putting yours on?" "Yes, yes." "It's true, I see that many people don't have it." "There, I've put it on, it's better this way." "So it seems." "And what's all that?" "The posters?" "Yes." "They are posters of the martyrs... of the Islamic Resistance, Hezbollah." "No, that's of the Amal movement, actually." "They're very young." " Yes, very, very young." "We're arriving at myvillage, Bint el Jbeil." "Hello." "I wanted to show you my grandmother's house, but we can't go by car, we have to go on foot." " OK." " Is that OK?" "Yes." "Be careful." "It's somewhere around here." "In fact, this used to be a road." "There was a road here?" "A path?" "Yes." "The road seems to have disappeared." "Rabih?" "Rabih!" "I'm coming, I'm coming." "So?" "I don't know." "I don't know where the house is any more." "I don't know any more." "Everything has changed." "I spent my childhood here, and I can't recognise anything." ""I don't know how to explain it to you." ""There are so many things I'd love to understand, my dear." ""Things that concern me, my feelings for you." ""It has nothing to do with pleasure, it's beyond that." ""I'm not asking you to believe me, but I've never felt so close to you."" "I know that, it's my monologue from Belle de jour." "I've seen it many times, but I actually know it through the Arabic subtitles." " Do you want me to say it?" " Yes." "It sounded lovely like that." "It's funny how you remember bits of films, but how you can forget the first name you had in a film." "It has nothing to do with your interest in the film, or the importance of the film, it's very strange." "Do you say "ma cherie" or "mon cheri?" "Well, since you're saying a text that's mine, that of a woman addressing a man, you have to say "mon cheri"." "Then I have to say "ma cherie"." " Where is he going?" "Sound your horn!" "He took the wrong road." "There are landmines there!" " Stop!" "There are landmines!" "What is it?" " Don't get out of the car." " Slowly, stop the car." "What is it?" " What's going on?" " Don't worry." "What's going on?" "There are landmines, Miss..." "What do you mean?" "Landmines?" "Excuse me." " What happened?" "There may be landmines." "Since this road has not been secured, we decided it would be better to stop." " It's not the right road?" " No." " You took the wrong road." " I didn't know, sorry." "It's OK, it's OK." " We were busy talking..." " Don't worry about it." "There are a million and a half cluster bombs, they're everywhere." "It's not..." "Careful!" " Careful." " I'm OK." "Thanks." " Let's move the car." " OK." "Yes, but be careful!" "Stay on the tire tracks." " Excuse me." " Be careful!" "It's fine." "It's fine, it's fine." "We were supposed to go that way." " And..." "OK..." " It's not the right road." "Since the cluster bombs are scattered haphazardly, there could be mines anywhere, and a road like this may not be safe." "Yes, of course." " But there were no signs." "It's OK, don't worry." " Is this good?" " Keep coming." "Stop there, it's OK." "I deserve a cigarette." " I might even start smoking again." " It was more scary than dangerous." " Sorry again." " No, it's..." " Do you need something?" " It's OK." " What's happening?" " It's OK." "What do you mean, it's OK?" "What was that?" "It was a..." "How do you say it?" "Ghara wahmiyeh." "What?" " It's a sham attack, an illusory raid." "That's it." "They're Israeli planes flying at very low altitude.That's all." " But it fell..." " It's to take photos." "It's only...jidar el sot." "Breaking the sound barrier, as they say." "Don'tworry, it's OK." "Really, it's true." " Are you OK?" " No." " Do you want us to stop?" " No, but we forgot the seat belts!" " No, no, it's OK." " OK?" " It's OK, it's OK." " You're sure?" "It's far away now." "It's OK." "You didn't put on your seat belt." "You took it off again." "OK." "Is it always to take photos?" "No, sometimes it's to..." "To scare?" " Yes, that's it." "Why aren't we filming?" "We're waiting for authorisation." "We want to know if we can take that small road over there." "The road is off limits, but they may open it just for the film." " For the first time." " Let's hope so." "We also have to set up a tripod, that's a problem." "A tripod along the border seems dangerous to them." " UNIFIL has to give us its authorisation?" " UNIFIL is waiting for Israel's OK." "Their services are in contact and we have to wait." "There's nothing we can do." "Joana, let's see what's going on." "We'll be right back." "Take a rest." "For the tripod..." "Are we going to get the authorisation?" "So I can get the tripod now?" " Has it been taken care of?" "Yes." "Afterwards, we'll go..." "You gave your camera to the young..." " Is it all right?" "Thank you." "Thank you." "We'll start shooting in two minutes." "We'll get Catherine...." " Israel has given its authorization?" "Yes, it's all settled." " Can we also take the little road?" "Yes, it's OK." "Let's go." "We'll be right back." "And is that the border?" "Yes, that's the border." "The small road there is the closest to Israel." "It has an undetermined status for the time being." "What do you mean?" " Normally, it's forbidden to walk there." "We got the authorisation just for the film, maybe because of you being with us." "It's going to be strange to walk there." "It's a bizarre feeling." " Be careful." " OK." "It's a shell crater." "So, what do we do?" "You wanted to see." "I also want to see but I can 't seem to." "Do you see that?" "I told you they are moving the rubble from the suburbs." "They dismantle all the bombed-out buildings and destroy them completely." "They stack the rubble in trucks and empty it here, on the seashore." "They extract the iron scrap, then grind the stones and throw them into the sea." "Do you see?" "We can 't recognise anything." "We can 't distinguish the hall from the dining room, the kitchen from the entrance, the bedrooms from the bathroom." "Just stones, all mixed up." "It's like a town that had to be discarded, hidden, buried under the sea." "It's strange." "It reminds me of an image..." "A town washed up on the seashore, like a whale." "A dismantled monster that can no longer move, a body decaying far from the eyes of people." "In a short time, the town will rest under water, silent, mute." "And we have already begun to forget it." "Yes, I know, you 're right." "Sure, we 'll start all over again." "We 'll rebuild again." "And we'll live again." "But... you didn 't tell me." "Will you come back?" "Catherine, tell me, will you come back?" "Madame Deneuve, it's a pleasure to have you with us." "The dinner will take place here." " Fine, I'll look for my table." "Thank you.Thank you." " You are beautiful, Madame." "Thank you." "Good evening." "Welcome." "Good evening." "Good evening." "The Ambassador, Mr Bernard Emie." " Good evening." "Good evening, Madame." "I'm very glad to meet you." "I'm waiting for a friend, that's why..." "I'm waiting for a friend, that's why..." "It's a difficult time... but these dinners are important to support our Lebanese friends." " Have you been here before?" " No, it's my first trip." " Your first trip?" "Yes." "The Lebanese people are incredibly resilient at overcoming their problems."