When my father's father's father had a difficult task to accomplish,
he went to a certain place in the forest, lit a fire...
... and immersed himself in silent prayer.
And what he had to do was done.
When my father's father was confronted with the same task,
BASED ON A LEGEND
he went to the same place and said:
"We no longer know how to light the fire
but we still know the prayer. "
And what he had to do was done.
Later...
- Rachel. The adulteress. - The Spaniard.
He too went into the forest and said:
"We no longer know how to light the fire.
We no longer know the mysteries of prayer,
but we still know the exact place in the forest where it occurred.
And that should suffice. "
And it did suffice.
Mum walks in her sleep, Dad just lies stilll
I'm looking for someone called Simon.
- He went to town. - And someone else called Rachel.
Madam is absent. What is it for?
Do they know you?
- Will they be long? - Do they know you?
You should say "Mr" and "Mrs". No first names.
- We're not characters in a novel. - Maybe you are!
I heard they have a story for sale.
- Do you buy stories? - Exactly.
Sir?
But when I was faced with the same task,
I stayed at home and I said...
BOOK ONE
"We no longer know how to light the fire.
We no longer know the prayers.
We don't even know the place in the forest.
But we still know how to tell the story. "
No, no, no...
Painters will not reveal the secret of suffering.
- Are you the art teacher? - Exactly.
Vaché, Jacques. Book broker.
Dad says it's essential that I learn to draw.
Essential for what?
To master the arabesque.
What do you do at the moment, Miss?
I'm in my last year of high school. I'm doing history.
1789, 14-18... In October, we do the Russian Revolution.
Can I borrow this?
Come and see me when you've done the Russian Revolution, Miss...
Marinette Duras.
- Can I borrow this? - Raphael again. Delphine?
I would like to know why Luther's soldiers
tore these paintings with their spears.
Let me tell you.
They're the least Christian of all Europeans.
Why would the Church have chosen Italy, if not to organise and control?
Exactly.
- The art teacher... - Or bookseller!
My wife will pay you tomorrow.
- Either or. - I'll take these two.
89 francs.
Either or.
- But what? - I don't know.
Let me tell you, children.
Painting will not show you the path
to an external vision of the world...
Look. The Women of Algiers.
To the almost jealous contemplation of the face and of the human gesture,
in the light one must compose...
No, painters will not tell you the secrets of suffering...
...to illuminate them
with all the harmonies of the most distant suns
and the most vivid shades.
Hello, Monsieur Rigaut. So, how's life?
Like... soap.
Monsieur... Monod.
It's... melting... away.
Is not the voice of friends sometimes haunted
by an echo of the voices that preceded us on Earth?
Does the beauty of women of another age
bear no resemblance to that of our friends?
It is our duty to understand that the past calls for redemption,
an infinitesimal part of that which is perhaps within our power.
A mysterious encounter exists between past generations and our own.
We were expected on earth.
Angelica...
Angelica!
It is because it is the question of origin...
... because today fear returns when faced with the possible.
Our age is in search of a lost question, as if weary...
It is because it is the question of origin...
... because today fear returns when faced with the possible.
Our age is in search of a lost question,
as if weary of all the right answers.
IN SEARCH OF GOD
Madam!
- What is it now? - We didn't understand the last lesson.
What exactly is romanticism?
School is over.
Please, Madam Monod.
It's very important.
Please, Madam Monod.
It's very important...
- We're begging you. - We won't bother you after.
We give you our word.
The given word.
"The given word
that made him in his own eyes like those impeccable men..."
Lord Jiml
"...who never fall out of ranks!"
"The inspector's words: 'Romanticl
Romantic', which seem to echo across these distant lands
THE LAW OF SILENCE
that now will never give him up to a world
indifferent to his failings...
... and to that passionate and clinging affection
which, in the bewilderment of a great grief of eternal separation,
refuses him the dole of tears. "
And the Baron de Hulot's, "Can I take her?"
- Cousin Pons! - Cousin Bette.
Exactly.
Thank you, Madam.
May I bother your husband?
We need to get this roof fixed.
Shit! For God's sake!
What makes a house stand and its roof strong is the truth.
Monsieur Simon, please call Monsieur Paul.
Eric, Madame Donnadieu is downstairs.
Anne...
Anne, listen to this for Sunday.
"If France is to know a resurgence of religion
it will be in the joyous magnification
of the heavenly instinct in everyone. "
Making sentences is relatively easy.
It's undoing them that's troubling.
- Clémence, tea. - Yes, master.
False words are dead weights we carry for years.
You can't fool me, Anne. That's Mallarmé.
I won't say. But beware, Eric. I know you.
No, thank you.
Please.
What is it, Madame Donnadieu?
What is it?
Five days ago, I learned that flesh may be sad.
Who told you such nonsense?
My body. I didn't know that.
What are you talking about?
Shitl
- Are you having fun? - No, you're having fun.
- I'm working. - Little devil!
- What are you talking about? - My husband, my God!
Your God, Madam, or your husband?
HIGH ABOVE
Pull yourself together.
- Clémence, you offended the Lord. - It was him.
During the choral, I seemed awkward.
HERE BELOW
The Church often says God's laws are the same as those of love.
You seem terribly smarter than I am. Alas, I do not see.
What if you started afresh, from the beginning?
WE WERE EXPECTED ON EARTH
Stop acting like an idiot.
Ondine, come on!
- Five minutes, please. - Yes, sir.
- Miss? - Sir?
Why not this one?
Why not become the dress or something else?
Not this time, Max. Leave, victim!
Where is this Rachel?
Bastard!
Putting yourself out of misery is no worse
than continuing to live in resignation.
Rachel Donn... adieu!
Simon.
- Quick, a doctor! - But I'm the doctor!
I'm the art teacher's new girlfriend.
Or bookseller.
Doctor Vallès. We need a fourth man. The good soldier left.
- Rachel! - Donnadieu.
Simon.
- We said the garage, Simon. - Paul said to sign tonight, or never.
NOW, YES, IT IS I WHO MUST GIVE IN, NOW I AM IN LOVE
The fucking bankers want it. We have to hurry.
This way, Monsieur Lombard.
- I have to talk to Rachel. - Are you out of your mind?
- You're out of your mind, Simon. - It would never happen to me.
The tennis player.
- Sir. - The tennis player.
- Max Mercure. - Stefan Elbaum.
The tennis player.
Here for the championship?
I work in communications. Things are moving like lightning in this field.
Employees waste their time making a living,
and consumers waste their lives gaining time.
My name is Abraham Klimt.
I bear the name Abraham Klimt.
The brother and sister.
Let's go.
Yes, Lieutenant.
If there is a war.
My parents named me Abraham Klimt.
Identifying myself with no one in this story
in which honour and shame are very different
from how we perceive them today,
and placing myself in the realm of ordinary humanity.
For this reason, I feel a strange loathing for crudely stating
what the spectator has probably already discovered for himself.
Such disgust may seem ridiculous were it not for this thought
because of the imperfection of cinematographic language.
There is always something dirty, degrading even
in exposing the naked truth.
But it didn't last.
- Her arse is bigger. - She's forbidden to speak or write.
Heat up the soup. It's five o'clock.
And the preacher knew itl
Rachel came to see him two or three days after.
- After what? - After what?
Lmagine someone who, using the only weapon available to him,
wages war against God.
- That person mustn't believe... - In who?
In God.
On the contrary... where would be the courage?
- I'd call it madness. - Madness, if you prefer.
I think it's someone who saw God,
as they say, "as plain as the nose on your face",
and thus saw him in all his simplicity, or even his vulgarity.
BOOK TWO
- Which one is she? - There she is.
What sloppy work!
Dear friend.
Forget about it.
Something's up. A storm's brewing.
No, Simon. Careful.
It's not your fault.
- What do I do? - Sit in a corner.
Anyway, you're in all of them.
Learn their lines.
- It's tough being human. - Oh, woe is me.
"...of certain things, the existence of which
is neither demonstrable nor plausible,
but which, because pious and conscientious men
treat them as if they existed,
approach being, and the possibility of being born..."
Does she kiss him?
Listen, as far as I can see,
he saws her arse in half.
Yes, but does she kiss him?
Listen, as far as I can see,
he swallows her breasts.
Yes, but does she kiss him?
Listen, as far as I can see,
she takes his head in her hands,
puts her mouth near his...
...but it may not be to kiss him.
We are not able to free ourselves.
There is no doubt about it.
And we call that "democracy".
The Communist Manifesto was published the same year
as "Alice in Wonderland".
The Ascension is an old idea.
It existed 2,000 years before Christ.
- And Baghdad. - During the war, everyone,
Russians, Americans, French, Germans, Chinese,
they all forgot the 32 temples.
- The ziggurats. - Exactly.
Are they prettier than the pyramids?
We are not in Egypt, Miss. They're not tombs...
...but stairs for the gods, so they can come back down to Earth.
What erudition!
Erudition is not the acquisition of knowledge, but an adventure.
- Another red. - There's none left.
Tomorrow night.
I have to be in Calcutta on Saturday.
You have to be sure of what you want.
With the communists, I'll go to my death, but not one step further.
Gentlemen.
What are you looking at?
I'm looking at them.
Before, in Russia they were called souls.
And if the stairs are destroyed, the gods won't come down?
No. Good evening, Madame Donnadieu.
Good evening, Monsieur Monod.
Angelica.
She's dead.
Perhaps her image is not.
Oh, woe is me!
Benjamin, tell him to beat it.
- Get going, sir. - It was a Viviane Romance film.
- Sir. - Sir.
- Madam.
- How are you, Rachel? - You're early.
Quarter-finals.
The eye is not satisfied with what it sees.
The ear is not satisfied with what it hears.
What has been will be.
A big blonde, like in a Peter Cheyney novel.
Nelly Deblue. That's me.
- The bank agreed. - Great.
Quarter-final. Semi-final.
Beat it!
Abraham Klimt. Publisher.
I'm trying to find out what happened the afternoon of July 23rd, 1989.
I'm not sure it can be considered a story.
BOOK THREE
- But it happened here. - Your art teacher was spyingl
Or bookseller. God bless his soul.
What happened to him?
He was a communist, so he was finished off.
I think I got it. It was...
I remember.
Or I recall...
Wasn't it the day I met Stefan? I said "farewell" instead of "hello".
Exactly, honey.
The fucker!
He compared Rachel's arse to that of the minister's wife.
It's Rachel who interests me.
There are pages missing from the book. My job is to look for them.
She was your friend?
I remember.
We were early. Madame Monod was too.
- Rachel was on the platform. - No, she was swimming.
That's not true. She was walking in the water.
Sir?
You sell images.
THE PAST IS NEVER DEAD
You should know whether some things are impossible to see.
Stefan, stop.
IT ISN'T EVEN PAST YET
Nothing particular?
Lmpossible to see.
What's your book, exactly?
Neither content, nor form.
I always felt that Simon loved Rachel less than she loved him.
Sir.
I don't think you can say it exactly like that.
I don't think I'm coming.
An occasion like this! Don't be an idiot, Simon.
Tonight I have to ask Rachel.
We had other plans.
Tonight.
- Why not tomorrow, Paul? - Tonight.
I don't know.
Take Rachel. She'll be with Josette.
- How are you, Rachel? - You're early.
Rachel, when from the Lord!
ALL IS IN ONE
I wanted it to be a surprise.
What's more, it'll be five in the morning.
Not sure.
As a first assistant, you're useless, Max.
If she goes too, I'm done for.
Trust me, sir. You don't want a woman like any other.
The surprise is awful. You're leaving.
Why desire if you need a body?
This is our first little war. We've been waiting for it.
I'll tell the poppies. They'll blush with emotion.
More like shame. Because Simon is leaving Rachel.
Three or four hours, little lady. Make up your minds.
I don't think Rachel really loves you.
- Did he say war? Or whore? - So?
I've always wanted to tell the world I love my husband.
To shout it out as if it were a mission or a crime.
- A crime? - Now it's done.
Go, Simon. Hurry.
There may be women waiting for you.
Come and see.
No, it's your idea.
What is that face thinking?
About kissing that mouth.
Run, Simon. Fast.
Tomorrow, when you wake me, again I'll be blushing with pleasure.
A MAN IS THE SHADOW OF GOD FOR THE WOMAN WHO LOVES HIM
I found this for you. And this for your husband.
The law of silence.
Pity we don't hate each other. I'd be happy to see you gone.
It's not a bad translation of I Confess.
I'll take the Lancia.
Third place in Monte Carlo.
These cars have won the 1000 miles.
BOOK FOUR
Something's wrong. There's no lizard.
Hello, Monsieur Benjamin. Anything new?
A batch of horror films.
Is it true that Rachel and Simon fought for the first time?
Monsieur Straub always makes two negatives.
I want the one where a lizard crosses the screen at 18 minutes.
Mummy, what's a negative?
When life begins, you get the positive. The rest is up to you.
Is it true that a man with the colour of your eyes, Madam,
spoke of the sky and of the clouds?
Clouds, sometimes.
All is in One, and the Other is in One.
These are the three persons.
And the Other in One.
Goodbye, Jacquot, Rachel, Nelly, Madame Monod.
Hello, Vallès.
I didn't know we said farewell to say hello.
And goodbye, Madame Donnadieu.
- Because... - It's always becausel
Because this territory belonged to the Dukes of Savoy.
Nothing really changes.
Everything changes. The art teacher...
Or bookseller, Madame Monod.
The sky changes too.
But its variations are less pronounced
than those of trees and water.
OH, WOE IS ME
Clouds sometimes form maps.
But it is usually a dome of mixed hues,
where blue dominates.
During the day, the blue grows pale,
turning white, as it meets the blue of the earth.
After sunset, the horizon will turn orange,
melting upwards into a tender violet.
But deep down, the blue persists. And the night preserves it.
The stars hang like lamps in the immense vault.
The distance between them and the vault is nothing
when one considers what extends beyond.
This depth, which surpasses all colour,
will, in the end, be delivered from the blue.
I'm going home.
Let's play tea party again on Saturday.
I'm joining Rachel for a few strokes.
"A slight detour by way of fear and despair
is perhaps the best path for our presence in the world",
he whispered.
THUS, SLOWLY, THE PAST COMES BACK INTO THE PRESENT
THROUGH THE IMAGINARY PRODUCTION
OF A VISUAL EXPERIENCE
WHICH ALWAYS ATTRACTS MANY GAZES
Wild orgyl
They want to bear the weight of the world
but not the weight of their sins.
Cannibal Man.
For evil to exist, the creature is necessary.
The one God created in his image.
Devil's Daughter.
I don't think it's simple.
There are images and icons.
Did you say ice cream cones?
Let's go. Lock up, Benjamin.
You'll publish a good book.
Pages will be missing in all the right places.
The name parents give their children
which corresponds to no objective knowledge,
is the only existing trace of divine language
- in the simple language of man. - Man also takes from God...
AND THE OTHER
AND THE OTHER IS
AND THE OTHER IS IN
AND THE OTHER IS IN ONE
- I received your letter. - I'll be back.
Benjamin told me about you. The boy from the video store.
Oh yes, the quiff.
I've stayed friends with him. The others disgust me.
And Ludovic died in Dubrovnik.
Did you know the words "go" and "via" are in "Yugoslavia"?
Obviously.
Aude, I'm going to the town hall. Don't forget the flowers.
Rest assured.
In your letter, you said you saw something.
Amiel. You're a relative of...
The famous author of the diary. Exactly.
Excuse me.
No one knows the entire path.
The slightest step can blind us.
I don't have much time. I have to see to the flowers.
This is what I know.
A man was there. I saw him.
Two men, my God.
That's no help. I know about the man with blue eyes.
He doesn't count.
Simon and his Lord.
Sir, do you know the ten historical propositions on the Old Testament?
The text of Scholem affirms
that the tradition exists concerning truth,
and that this tradition is transmissible.
I'm laughing, because the truth that concerns us now
has many aspects,
but being transmissible isn't one of them.
I don't see what you mean.
You put it very well: "I don't see."
And yet I saw it.
No, heard it. I'd put it that way.
But you weren't alone. There was Ludo...
Please...
Excuse me. You're right.
I was already.
That probably explains it.
I was sitting there. No, a little further.
Another voice test, sir.
The usual psalm.
All is in One
and the Other in One.
Certain customs of high culture have disappeared...
Not bad. Once more.
All is in One
and the Other in One.
And those are the three persons.
And the hair, Max?
Or church hymns from around 1700.
The human ear back then heard accents that no science...
Do you know these hymns, Aude?
Quiet, I'm listening to something.
She is touched by the power of words. Don't look with irony
and especially not with vengeance.
He is a simple man.
He likes the lake with its 32 kinds of wind,
a little money, but nothing extravagant.
Not even a Mercedes. An old Lancia, I think.
You think it's good?
Man of little faith!
Oh, excuse me, Max.
The raincoat, for God's sake.
BOOK FIVE
We're not asking you to live a real life,
to nurture real passions,
to be what this woman is: The truth.
Poor woman.
Five o'clock is a little short.
- Your French is excellent, sir. - Prolong the night, Max.
On Earth, the night belongs to everyone. It accepts no orders.
It is democracy's sole success.
Tonight, we'll improvise.
God keep you!
Lorelei.
I have to find a girl too.
You can leave now.
Monsieur and Madam are not dining?
- Monsieur won't be here. - Thank you, Madam. Goodbye.
Is someone there?
It's me, Simon.
Why are you here?
Did you buy the hotel?
I'm going back. Paul's waiting for me.
AND THESE ARE
I wanted to kiss you.
AND THESE ARE THE THREE PERSONS
Why are you so proud? Rachel.
No. Proud, if I compare myself. Humble, if I judge myself.
Honestly.
Something is wrong.
Tell me what's wrong, Simon.
You're annoying me!
Sorry. Everything's fine.
I'm waiting for you, but you can't see that.
It's irritating.
You were coming back tomorrow morning.
I expected you tomorrow morning. You're messing everything up.
Kissing isn't the end of the world.
There, again.
Differently.
I can't do it differently
because I'm waiting for you, and you shouldn't be here.
Listen, darling...
What kind of a word is that?
- Are you sick? - No.
When I left, something wasn't right.
We played it all wrong.
To tell you frankly, it was your "Simon is leaving Rachel".
No one would have believed you. Ask them.
You were glaring, looking off into a wave.
Your voice didn't even quiver.
Not even.
Not into a wave.
Into the sea. My Simon.
And now I'm quivering. And I did before too.
The water wasn't right either.
It should have been deep blue.
Afterwards, you spoke of the exact colour.
You hadn't left.
You were listening.
We have to start the scene afresh.
I'll take you in my arms.
Don't give me orders.
My love is present.
Can't you understand I'm waiting for you?
I promise I'm waiting.
My God. Buy the hotel, fast!
I'm going to sleep.
Continue...
NEITHER CREATURE
... saying, "My God."
NOR CREATOR
You eat sweets now?
My God, you're like another Simon.
- Exactly. - I don't want another Simon.
- I am your lover. - I have no lover.
You have one lover and he is here.
I have a husband and he's not here.
I'm waiting for him. I'm tired, so I'm going to sleep.
- I can easily be your lover. - Impossible.
Why?
I can't see.
I can't see much, miss.
Keep an indefinite margin open.
And a vision can't be questioned.
The image may come, sir,
once the redemption has occurred. Saint Paul.
According to you, there's no possible image.
Not concerning this.
I told you, I saw nothing.
Or just medieval imagery.
Look at our poor television.
Not even.
I'm tired.
I fear sleep, like a great black hole,
full of a vague horror
leading who knows where.
Where am I?
They all say that.
Where am I, my God?
Your flesh is very white.
As if the blood sought refuge in your hair.
I asked you, where am I?
In the arms of your lover. That's where.
How awful.
I'm sorry, Simon. We're being formal with each other? Are you mad?
You are in my house but I arranged it such that it looks like yours.
It was like beginning to see something
but identical from all sides
as if what was almost revealed
hesitated to make its appearance.
It is summer. Nights are short.
Max had warned me I had no chance.
But it's night, Rachel. Don't be mistaken.
Even if I turn on the daylight.
Every object seemed to cast forth a dim shadow in all directions
with no light to explain it as shadow
with no emanation to justify its visibility.
- You're not Simon. - It was not even visible.
Why?
I am in every one of you.
I had a little boy.
He gave his life for you.
- All of you. - All of you?
You're in this little ant too?
Theoretically.
Last night I sought refuge in Simon.
Why Simon?
Because he is weak.
And you are strong. At least, I hope so.
I'm often wrong.
Now I'm asking you: Who? No, where are you talking from?
When you woke up five minutes ago, you spoke my name.
What name? I don't understand, my God!
You see? With a possessive.
And in the kitchen too.
I am thus yours.
Simon, I'm begging you. What's going on?
Sir, please. What happened?
- This is my story. - You slept with me.
EVERYTHING WAS ASLEEP
AS IF THE UNIVERSE WERE A VAST MISTAKE
This is my story.
In one week, I invented everything. On the seventh day, I rested.
That's what you learnt at Sunday school.
But no one told you that while I was sleeping another came.
The eternal one. That he touched everything, that mayhem set in,
that Monday everything had to be done again.
Since then war is everywhere.
Do you know Leopardi?
- The Italian poet? - Exactly.
He spoke very well of that time.
What happened with me?
You went upstairs.
- Yes. - You undressed.
I did too.
I don't know.
I think so.
You looked at the lights outside.
You breathed deeply.
Exactly.
You whispered something.
Probably.
That a slight detour by way of fear and despair...
...let you maintain your position in the world.
- That's right. - I was downstairs.
- I stepped onto the veranda. - On the veranda.
And I came in here.
Simon came in and I fainted. And nothing happened.
And it's daytime, and Simon, you're killing me.
I'll explain again.
It is night time.
Things must be clear between us.
I come back in this room.
So I'll start over too.
I don't understand. Having a lover. This disgust.
I think a lover only wants love, not the other person.
And I like windows wide open, and fresh sheets.
Lord, did you think of Simon?
No, you didn't think of him.
True, I didn't think of him.
That's not very courageous.
It was written that I should be loyal to the nightmare of my choice.
I don't understand such words.
Of course it's not a world where things come easily.
If your head's not round, who will compliment you?
It's nice to love everyone. And me in particular.
To be in everyone's hearts.
This is my body.
But in the meantime,
it's Simon's body. What about him now?
Once, I thought it wise to confuse comedy and tragedy.
If words are your forte, then lies...
Now I wish I could tell them apart.
God protect us from actors.
Visions can't be seen.
God is not a character. Nor you, nor me. No one. Just figures.
Be sure to have used up all that communicates...
And him?
SIMON WILL NOT HAVE LOVED YOU FOR NOTHING
The innovation of Christianity was the resurrection of the body.
I WILL NOT HAVE LOVED YOU FOR NOTHING
The possible exists within the impossible.
And why me?
- I'm average looking. - That is true.
But I only like faithful women.
I see you like difficulties.
You're out of luck.
For faithfulness, I beat all the records.
On the other hand, I can only manage easy things.
Look at my marriage with Simon.
Because I try no one else,
everything seems possible for me.
People expect miracles from me.
One day I will be put to the test.
But I'm average there too. I'm never put to the test.
Someday. But that day is here.
Everything is fast. Everything is slow.
The first creatures on Earth to become aware of time
were the first creatures to smile.
No page is missing, sir.
I DO NOT SEE
An event is that which happens and has meaning.
Be in my image.
The commandment to mankind has this definitive meaning:
"Let me sanctify myself in you, and sanctify yourself after. "
It's what lovers say.
May I?
Seeing the invisible is exhausting.
And now it's day, I guess.
And now it is day, I guess.
You are deaf.
Rachel.
Cruel.
But I have what I wanted.
You have nothing at all. To love, you need a body.
Without Simon, you don't exist.
You can't just barge in like that.
That is not exact.
This is exact:
In 1932, a Dutchman named Jan Oort studied the stars
which move away from the Milky Way.
As was calculated, gravity pulls them behind.
Studying the position and the speed of these repatriated stars,
Oort calculated the mass of our galaxy.
How surprised he was
to discover that visible matter represented
only 50% of the mass necessary
to deploy such a gravitational force.
What happened to the other half of the universe?
Dark matter was born.
Omnipresent, but invisible.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right
Because their words had forked no lightning
They do not go gentle into that good night
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors...
Rage, rage, against the dying of the light
And you, my father, there on the sad height
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears
I pray, Do not go gentle into that good night
You mean when I love Simon, I overshadow him?
And he overshadows you when he loves you.
When I put my arms around Simon's neck.
I do say "Simon".
Yes, Rachel.
Do these two extended arms,
closing together in an embrace,
until...
Until?
Until the two hands join,
the fingers clasping together.
Isn't this act of love...
Yes, Rachel?
...the act of prayer?
Four o'clock in the morning.
Five o'clock in the morning.
Now for Act Three.
Simon is not here.
I'll wait 15 minutes.
Maybe he went straight to the café.
All is One and One in the Other.
These are the three persons.
I'll ask the minister.
What is your husband's name?
Are you angry?
You tricked me, but I'm used to that.
Does friendship mean nothing to you?
What's that? I don't know that word.
- It's used quite often. - You're annoying me.
What do you mean?
It seems to me it runs deeply through all of us
and brings together different people
making them perfectly equal.
Pierre. Marie.
You see, there is no luck, little lady.
No, I don't believe so.
Yes, maybe... I do believe.
What we believe is an image of the truth.
I told you. I am touched by the power of words.
I have no experience, no burden.
No ambition at all.
This man's battle is not for me.
I'm going.
Events are those which happen and have meaning.
The story only comes into being through the very act of telling of it.
But which curtain-rise calls for us
to deprive ourselves of our dreams?
How dare we upon waking bring them to light,
or into the light?
Everyone is surrounded by invisible dreams.
Music carries us all towards that ray of light
flooding out from under the curtain while the orchestra tunes its violins.
Our hands slide and part,
our bodies brush cautiously against one another.
Each person avoids waking the other from the dream,
avoids making him return to darkness.
Leaving the night of night which is not day.
As we love one another.
You know everyone.
LOVED FOR NOTHING
It's my job.
All my senses tell me nothing happened.
Because of you, since yesterday I have but one word in my mouth.
The word "love".
Oh, woe is me.
My God, I want to suffer like everyone else, even more so,
but I don't want to be resigned.
Resignation is sad.
How can one resign oneself to God's will?
Do we resign ourselves to being loved?
Love the world in me, if you will, but not me in the world.
Please, please.
You really don't want to become immortal?
Lmmortal? What for?
I was told everyone wanted to.
What will I do if I don't die? Life will stop.
I'm not like everyone.
Proud and arrogant...
Proud, if I compare myself.
Humble, if I judge myself.
You told me that once before.
Yes, but I didn't know it was you.
I thought it was Simon who was here.
It's our first little war, and I love you.
How do you know it was me?
Rachel.
Me.
Simon.
OK, let's go.
Yes, Lieutenant.
If there is a war...
We'll be late.
I'll be back late. Don't expect me for dinner.
Come on.
Every man for himself.
Nothing escapes representation more than...
Yugoslavia.
THE SKY DIGS HOLES AMID THE LEAVES OF GOLD
When you increased the cruelty of their lives,
you deprived them of the courage to refuse it.
Only certain things.
Goodbye, Ludovic. Are you off to war?
Yes, Madame Donnadieu.
OCTOBER ELECTROSCOPE SHUDDERED AND SLEPT
Between Denges and Denezy a young woman returns home.
Gentlemen.
We each get by more or less on our own.
What's unbearable
is when seemingly unmerited ordeals fall upon others.
Do you mean Madame Donnadieu? Just a bad dream.
THE THING IN THE HOLE, THAT'S ALL YOU CARE ABOUT
All the perfumes of Arabia won't mask a non-existent stain.
It works.
You're not reading, Simon. Are you sorry about the hotel?
- A garage is different. - No, Paul. Not at all.
It's your fault. You shouldn't have come back to kiss Rachel.
I met you two hours later. But it was my fault.
- Where do I sign? - Next to your name, Simon.
Our wise church discovered if you act as if you have faith,
it will be provided to you for free.
There are bad Providers. You say faithful, I say sick.
The deepest human instinct is to wage war against the truth.
That is the real.
But the truth can be sad. Like your Péguy.
No, Ernest Renan, doctor.
Axiom 1: A property is positive if its negation is negative.
Axiom 2:
Theorem:
There exists an X and X resembles God.
Simon... Donnadieu.
LIKE A NOVEL
So I'll see you all in September.
- Where are you going on holiday? - I guess I'll stay here.
EVERYONE IS SURROUNDED B Y INVISIBLE DREAMS
- Are you not giving us homework? - If you insist.
Shall I drop you off?
Count your pages, children.
We marvel at how many pages we have read,
then agonise over what is left to read.
Still looking for the missing pages?
I hope I didn't discourage you.
Nothing is more charming than such disheartened feelings.
Blind, but not deaf, Miss.
"Thus disappeared all the worlds, the ports and harbours
where the Ariel threw down her anchor,
then cast off to sail the seas..."
"'That was the happiest time we ever had', said Frédéric.
'Yes, perhaps you're right. That was the happiest time we ever had,'
said Deslauriers."
A Sentimental Educationl
"Fine. But what do you think will happen
to Mimi, Gilbert and Dorothy now? Nothing.
They'll go on being Mimi, Gilbert and Dorothy,
just as you and I will go on being us,
and the Quinns will go on being the Quinns.
Murder is only fatal for the murdered
and sometimes the murderer.
'That may be,' Nora said.
'But it's all pretty unsatisfactory."'
"The Thin Man." But it ends better in English.
I'll repeat myself. Everyone has spoken openly, more or less...
...except you. Why?
Don't be afraid. As the Americans say, it's off the record.
Nothing happened.
And this man, in your image?
There is only one man here, me.
Shadows can invade the self.
Nothing happened.
That's not true. What happened is not commonplace.
Your wife told you nothing?
It was me. I made a U-turn and came home.
That's all.
You have to learn to accept love.
I think I love Rachel.
We'll win the 1000 miles with this car!
You see? Out of the mouths of babes...
This gaze chased the futile thoughts from the students'heads.
There is no more to be said about the lives of Simon and Rachel.
The rest occurred beyond images and beyond stories.
- On this side. - What did you say?
Lithuanian caramels, Hungarian bras, Korean lighters.
No, thank you.
Excuse me, sir.
I read your mind.
Not "beyond" but "on this side of images and stories".
On this side.
Maybe you're right.
My God, let him who never erred...
Cast the first stone!
At night, when I get up,
I know it concerns not what is close, nor far,
nor an event belonging to me,
nor a truth that can be spoken.
It is not a scene nor the beginning of something.
An image.
Yes, an instant. But sterile.
Someone for whom I am nothing, and who is nothing to me.
A point, and beyond this point, nothing in the world is foreign to me.
Yes, but devoid of a name. With no biography,
refusing memory, which does not desire to be told.
Present, but not there.
Absent but nowhere else.
Completely beyond the real.
If they say it is related to the night,
I say: "No, the night knows not of it."
What are you talking about, Miss?
If I am asked, I answer:
"There is no one to ask me."