The news from the Eastern Front is bad.
But the Germans say they'll reach Moscow by Christmas.
Do you really think so?
And you ... Mr. Ambassador?
The story of Clothilde happened a very long time ago.
When I say time ...
I don't mean the number of years ...
I mean that since that time the world has changed.
France and England no longer live at the slow pace of horses.
France and her Treasury no longer represent the greatest bank in the world.
America is arming Russia.
Germany will devour everything, even her own downfall.
In those days ...
When was it, already?
Do you know Africa?
The Hotel Sheppard in Cairo.
Here it's different.
Do you have your credentials? Later on.
It's a godforsaken place here, did they warn you?
You'll have nothing to do.
Call me Vaudable, and I'll call you Rochelle, since it's your name.
The prison is quite medieval. What are they saying in town?
- In town? - In Paris.
Suzan Langlen won in two sets: six/four, six/one.
Is this your first appointment?
And here!
Bad luck.
Here are two repatriation requests
and also ...
a letter from the Saint Vincent de Paul Sisters ...
...who claim ... - What is your name?
- Mademoiselle Henry. - No, your first name?
Marie-Rose.
The Sisters of Saint Vincent de Paul have an infirmary in their convent.
They want aid from the Ministry.
Mr. Vaudable has the number to decode the cables sent by the Foreign Office.
Isn't that the privilege of the First Counselor?
There is no Counselor. We are only us three.
Where can one hire good horses?
Only at the British Club.
Are there often incidents?
Rarely. A few assassinations. Never Europeans. And we do dispose of
two policemen and a Foreign Legion dispatch less then 20 miles from here.
Are you staying at the official residence, or will you be living in town?
No, the official residence.
Put it down there.
l got everything very quickly, for there was nothing here that I really wanted.
The first day already I had domestic servants, an office, personnel,
all the elements of my plan. All that was missing was a mistress.
All around me conscientious objectors from all over, political refugees ...
A heap of human wrecks of the recent conflict,
hoping for a nationality or at least a passport.
All these failures didn't form a population and even less a nation.
They seemed to be waiting for a train that never came.
Would you please excuse my asking?
New faces are so rare - and sympathetic faces.
Have you already been warned?
Warned?
I see, you've just arrived.
You should have been told.
- What about? - Here no one talks to Massard.
Why not?
Oh, he's the black sheep of our little society.
Who is that woman?
Only a woman looking out into the night.
You like it here?
And you?
I let myself be ...
How does one go about it?
I follow my instincts.
I think I understand.
Why always try to understand?
Why?
- Good evening, Madame de Watteville. - Let me introduce you to Mr. ...
Julien Rochelle, Attache at the French Embassy.
Captain Durieux, of the Foreign Legion.
- You are our guardian angel. - Too kind of you.
Are you here alone?
Everyone is alone here.
I mean, more than elsewhere.
''The Ministry of the Interior gave orders to shoot at wine growers.''
Pass me number 16 in town, please.
- It is him. - It is her.
I'm coming.
It’s serious ...
but far away.
What do you think about the weather?
Yes, I know, it's hot.
It all happened very fast,
without useless words, smoothly.
On Clothilde's side never the slightest reproach, criticism,
brooding, quarrel, annoying question.
She didn't think that having given herself to me
gave her any rights on me.
The days passed like in a dream, like in old movies
where the wind tears off the calendar leaves.
Clothilde ... this old-fashioned name enchanted me.
In this vacant kingdom, she appeared to me like an extra holiday.
The ideal woman,
adaptable, of good company and a good companion,
lover and friend, lady and mistress,
always free, never a weight,
and that perfect equilibrium so agreeable to egoists.
- What's he saying? - He's calling the faithful.
It’s the end of the Western World,
but this time the East has nothing to offer.
You weren't going to think of the future.
As little as possible.
Is it true that you are married to a strange French officer
serving as a mercenary in Siberia?
Who told you that?
Rumors.
Do you want to tell me about it?
No.
Why?
Are you afraid of your past?
My past isn't dead. That's all!
l thought ...
Don't think anything.
Let yourself live.
What are you thinking about?
About nothing.
In Africa nothing can be learnt faster than the art to let yourself live.
It wasn't love yet - it just was happiness.
On my side, lucidity hadn't yet killed comedy.
It was still true ...
and already false.
They delivered a new chain for your motorcycle to my house.
Arabs adapt to every situation.
Do they think we're married?
They don't think anything we think. They contemplate time.
And time to them, it's us today. That's all.
Attention!
The charming Captain Berta has a hand of iron.
- I thought the world had changed. - Only in your head.
One sees horror everywhere.
Everywhere where order reigns, everywhere where disorder reigns.
Occasionally, in the center of Europe, in the center of certain Democracies,
it is possible to find a fragrance of tolerance.
A conquest against nature. Barbarism is a permanent threat.
We can forget the ideas of the French Eighteenth Century.
Liberty and individuality are two luxuries that are dying out.
The sweet scent of tolerance.
A nice name for a woman: Tolerance.
l thought you were indifferent.
lf the rebels commit just one more attempt in town,
England will interfere. And ever since Fachoda ...
when England interferes ... They are extremely powerful.
Their Legation counts four members of the Intelligence Service,
whereas we don't even have one Intelligence Officer.
Officially, the Arab Police is in charge of keeping the place quiet.
However, one good raid on your part ...
would give us six months of peace.
Obviously, you don't agree?
Well, gentlemen ...
I have had no luck in my life.
Not one important post. Just the most unrewarding missions.
Maintain peace, without any sort of competent means.
No support from Paris where the Ministers are falling like tenpins.
Peace ... the peace of graveyards.
The only peace is in graveyards.
By the way, your friend, Madame de Watteville ...
Clothilde ...
What do you want to tell me?
You see, here, like everywhere else, child's gossip is blown on the ground
and where the wind carries it.
- You see what I mean? - No.
Here, a woman alone, of an uncertain background,
American,
a husband at the end of the world ...
You're not saying anything. I guess I shock you?
Yes.
l like you.
What are you thinking about? Nothing? You are right.
For 22 years, I've been walking the same way
from the office to the cafe and back.
It might seem ridiculous to you, but it's the only thing I’m interested in.
I know each stone, each reflection ...
the puddles, during the rainy season,
the children growing up.
Do you know the old woman from Toulouse who used to follow the Legion?
She'd always be there.
The best ones are dead, she'd say.
It’s their motto.
She, too, is dead.
All the rest, politics,
social fashions, women's fashions ...
It’s all so fugitive
and absurd.
I’ve always liked hopeless cases.
Pass me number 16 in town, please.
This is Mademoiselle Henry, Secretary at the French Embassy.
Is Mr. Rochelle there?
No, he isn't here.
Do you wish to leave a message for him?
I haven't seen him for two days.
lf you see him,
tell him that the Consul is giving a reception tonight for several notables.
Today is the day of the ''Lamb Celebration''.
You're neglecting your career.
It’s been how long since you haven't heard from your husband?
A long time. We are terribly married.
Terribly? He is in Russia and you in Africa!
Do you still love him?
You don't love him any more?
You never lie?
Not in words.
- Who were you talking to? - To no one.
- You're lying. - Yes, I’m lying. Why not?
You gave someone a sign.
So you belong to the second office too?
Was it Massard?
You know Massard?
Here nobody knows him.
But you know him.
I don't do anything like the others.
Three o'clock ... Hungry?
- Perhaps. And you? - For you.
What are you thinking about?
Nothing.
In love nothing doesn't exist.
There is no nothing in love.
Clothilde was keeping a secret from me, a worry,
an unknown pain.
l was worried.
Very slowly she took over my life.
Still, I had only seen the bright side of love. I was soon to bear its cross.
l thought that in my arms she had reached the utmost pleasure.
l ignored the fact that for her, there were other pleasures.
I’ll be back.
When?
Very soon.
When I wanted to enlighten myself on Clothilde, I thought of her husband.
Who was he? Did he love her? How had he taken her?
Perhaps she owed him a lot. Too much.
Was it he who opened Clothilde the way to this crazy love?
Siberia is far away.
I’ll come.
You know I can't come back?
I’ll come.
You won't forget me?
One cannot forget a man with whom one went so high ...
and so deep.
I’ll come.
I’ll wait for you.
I’m already waiting.
Is it you?
It’s dawn.
l wanted her to tell me who else but me or what else.
Yes, that's it, what secret.
l wanted to know what was at the ultimate end of passion.
Are you dreaming?
What are you saying?
I’m telling myself ... things.
What things?
Mad things.
Tell me!
Never.
You were right not to come to my reception for the ''Lamb Celebration''.
One would have thought a sub-prefecture ball at its worst,
and there was a smell of cooked fat.
You were also right not to come to the office.
There is nothing to do ... and I’ve done it.
Let me accompany you.
The franc is going to the dogs, on the other hand the pound is going up.
There have been riots in Paris, Place de la Concorde.
l don't know why I’m telling you all this.
- Beware! - Of who?
Of yourself of course. Who else?
Even here, one can be revoked.
Please excuse me.
I excuse you.
l love excusing. It’s one of the traits of my nature.
- Where to? - Nowhere.
We often went to the movies.
l loved looking at people talk whom you couldn't hear.
Come on.
Lost in a dream,
a diplomat of which I only had the title.
The events taking place in the world, near or far, didn't reach me.
Clothilde filled the screen.
What is it? What happened?
Tell me.
Do you want to go home? Come on.
- Absinthe. - Two.
I hate prostitution.
What kind?
It gave me the shivers.
The English say: I feel as if someone's walking on my grave.
It’s the legion.
How do you know?
I know it from the children.
The children know everything.
What children?
Tell me about the children.
Tell me about them.
Which children?
The ones who tell you about everything, about the Legion raids and all the rest.
The ones whose gossip is blown on the ground where the wind carries it.
You ask of phantoms what you don't expect of me anymore, don't you?
In bed, I am admitted to your liberation, but I am not the liberator.
Answer!
The closer I come, the more you draw back.
You speak like someone else.
Like the exiled, your husband?
I don't recognize you anymore.
Neither do l.
Leave me!
Never.
My conscience was entering depths that my reason despised,
but that my whole being adored little by little, because of her, and for her.
What role are you playing?
The one you expect of me.
It’s not true. You're lying.
No. lf you didn't want it so, you would leave me.
l can't.
You want me to go towards fantasies that you are scared to death of.
So you're pushing me out to the stage, alone.
I’m going.
I’ll be your witch, but there is a risk.
Which one?
- That one day I’ll be a witch of my own. - I must know!
- What? - Your secrets.
l don't have any secrets,
but I pretend I do. So the others, they bring their secrets to me.
And I give all I have,
even things I don't have.
Aren't you going to finish?
Oh yes ...
This is Ibrahim and Aicha, my friends from the country.
How long have you known them?
For months.
You hadn't told me about them. Why?
It isn't easy to talk to you.
Because you want ...
and then you don't want ...
They're filthy!
You should get rid of their lice.
Stop it!
You know nothing about nothing.
And you're afraid of children.
No, not of children.
Not of children.
All right ...
Tonight I’ll be the other one.
Washed, well-groomed,
without fantasy and without lice.
Tonight.
Coffee, please.
You look as if you're looking for something.
No, I just wanted a coffee.
Give this gentleman a drink.
I’m at your disposal.
White wine.
That night, the old Clothilde, the one ''of before'',
who never spoke, never admitted anything,
had reappeared.
She left me cold.
Are you visible?
Yes, I am visible.
- Fine. - What's ''fine''?
You prefer the other one?
Which one?
The one you're afraid of.
It’s the same one.
Not so sure.
What's the matter?
We're being watched.
By who? I don't see anyone.
You've just smiled like you only do at night.
Ibrahim is as black as a devil
and melts in the mouth.
- Is it true what you just said? - No.
Can you swear to it?
You want to drive me crazy?
lf you want.
Come,
I’ll show you a secret.
To kill her...
the idea was so violent at times that it became reality.
All I had to do was to extend an arm, and push her over-board.
Where are you taking me?
Come in, sir, don't be afraid, don't be afraid.
What do you want from me?
Pass me number 16 in town, please.
Number 16.
Is Madame there?
Gone out?
Where to?
Did Madame de Watteville come by?
Madame de Watteville!
Your friend, Madame de Watteville,
came very early this morning.
When I came at six o'clock, she was already leaving.
I’m very sorry, but you'll have to find some other horses.
- Why? - I’ve had to sell those.
l would have bought them, and it was understood.
An old promise I had to keep.
l started roaming through the Arab town
in search of some sort of proof on Clothilde's behavior.
This detective work was taking up all my time.
Suddenly, it seemed to me that the whole world was looking at me differently.
Was it true? Was it false?
The night is the reign of women and Clothilde threw a shadow over my days.
Have you seen the white woman?
Did you see her early this morning, on horseback? Did you or didn't you?
How do you do, Mr. Rochelle.
- Hello. - Are you looking for someone, something?
Nice and quiet, isn't it?
No European dares come here ... at least hardly anyone.
Hardly any woman.
Oh, you're hot, you've been running.
Listen ...
it is the exquisite hour when the sound of choir-boys voices
can be heard coming from the Islamic school.
Listen.
I understand you very well. I myself ...
He hasn't come at all for a week.
The mail is piling up.
l cannot answer for him, I don't have the signature.
And they say in town ...
How old are you?
Fifty.
What a disaster.
That night, Clothilde has spoken about a certain school
where she was picking up children.
Was it true?
Get in the car.
Look at me, there ... What is it?
Have you seen the white woman?
Who gave you that?
Have you seen the white woman? Did she come by here?
Come here!
Where were you?
I’ve been looking for you for 3 days.
Did you see my black horse?
You had promised to take me.
You're not a woman anymore.
I’m not a woman anymore.
What are you then?
- The one you wanted me to be. - That isn't true.
Where is this leading us?
I don't know.
What is at the end? At the end of all this?
Death, perhaps.
You talk like a man.
- I won't be back tonight. - Why?
Do come.
I beg you.
Clothilde, I’m afraid of dying when I sleep without you. Please come.
Are you afraid of me or of my absence?
Of both.
Come.
It’s too late, tomorrow maybe.
What can you see?
Myself.
How do you see yourself?
Upside down.
The Triple Hecate, infernal divinity, queen of the night,
nourished herself by eating her dogs. Clothilde did the same,
she devoured children in her bed.
You also want the children, now?
You look lost.
You are lost.
No one is going to drag you to the court nor to jail.
But the Evangelistic Mission wants to file a complaint.
Does the name Ibrahim remind you of some sort of disorder?
Some of the local families are protected by Consulates,
among which the British Consulate.
Our British friends have influential friends in Paris
who reported your behavior to the Foreign Office in France.
The telegraph announced that you were to take the first boat back.
It all depends on the Chief of Personnel.
Logically, you are revoked without any title or pension.
But he is an old friend. I’ve written to him.
I hope to obtain China for you.
Peking is not Peru, but who cares.
Good day to you.
Bad news?
What's the matter?
I love you.
Words always come to soon or too late.
And then, I frighten you.
She had sworn on both our lives to join me wherever I was
but she never came.
l couldn't recover, ravaged by the sort of love that doesn't forgive.
The first year, l did nothing but wait for her,
and it was my way of being completely faithful to her.
l started having a career,
though I remained totally indifferent towards myself.
Mediocrity goes with promotion.
Docile, punctual, discreet, l was climbing the ladder.
It was the second and third year after Clothilde.
l was alone.
Alone.
Love without love.
The actual absence of love.
l give you the choice:
our Embassy in Mexico
or the head of our officious mission in Siberia.
I’ll take Siberia.
It is not without danger.
Danger doesn't like me, Mr. Minister.
The double game of your Government cannot go on.
- That is not my affair. - Then help us.
Your old machine guns and your opium addicted Colonel are of no use to us.
- Where is he? - In the train up there.
I’ve just arrived from France.
You've been gone a long time.
Don't you want to come back to Europe?
Do you know who I am?
No.
But I would have recognized you.
l have never tried to see her again.
Then it's me you were looking for?
l think so.
Too late.
You know ...
we're both in the same boat,
hoping every day that she's coming
and praying always for her not to come.
Here, I’m paying my debt.
l am not cured.
I’m still waiting.
What will you do after the war?
I’ll manage it in such a way that there won't be an after the war.
You know ...
the only voyages for a person with no illusion,
are to be in trance.
And trances ...
that was her.
We have nothing left.
Wherever our bodies come to rest one day,
in the north or in the south,
the same dog will dig us up.
l met someone in Siberia.
l met a man.
You know who?
l am like him.
l was never cured.
What are you thinking about?
About nothing.