VIPER IN THE FIST
This old lady collapsed in a Paris street one day.
She gave my address. We hadn't met in 28 years.
Her pulse is weak.
Can you look in her bag for her doctor's number?
This lady was my mother.
Birth is a lottery.
To this day l wonder Was l lucky or not?
Luck makes us kings or potatoes.
Luck had me born at La Belle Angerie,
the age-old seat
of the famous Rezeau family.
though our fame barely extended beyond the shire.
Scions of this worthy stock
were me and my brother, Freddy.
l'm the small one.
Come! Grandma's waiting.
Fine!
She's stone deaf.
We didn't know it, but on Christmas Eve, 1926
our childhood ended.
That'll be the vicar.
Merry Christmas, Madame Rezeau!
Thank you, Vicar.
l think you'll like it.
My last Christmas in this house, no doubt.
- Merry Christmas, Madame. - And to you.
You'll outlive us all, Madame Rezeau.
The bottle's for you, Vicar.
- How nice. - We brought apples
and honey for the young sirs.
- l knitted you a scarf. - Thank you all.
Children, take your presents
and go to the kitchen. There's truffled turkey.
Miss Chilton, where are my grandsons?
Freddy, the big parcel's yours. Jean, the long one.
Pink for Miss Chilton. And now to dinner.
- What's the rush, Grandma? - Life is short, very short.
Especially at the end.
Thank you, Grandma!
Long trousers!
Eat your heart out, Tosspot!
Super, Grandma! A real bow!
Dinner time!
Vicar, please,
dry your eyes.
This turkey proves that God exists.
Bless us, Lord.
Dear Grandma had fought to keep us with her
when our parents moved to Saigon 7 years ago.
l almost forgot.
From your parents.
Super!
''Ferdinand and Jean Rezeau,
La Belle Angerie, Morbihan, Brittany.''
- Funny stamp. - It's Indochinese, you oaf!
No ''oafs'', Jean.
Sorry.
Are your son and his lady wife still in Saigon?
They seem to like it.
May we have... A leg.
...the pleasure of seeing them soon?
Who knows?
l'm in no hurry to see my son's dotty wife.
Some present!
What's Merikrismas?
You know that.
- Why in English? - It sounds smarter.
l've lost my head for wine!
Sorry, children. l feel dizzy.
Please excuse me.
Is Grandma ill?
She has reached the age when God recalls his flock, dear boy.
- She won't die, will she? - No, dear.
Have some more of this exquisite turkey.
l bet she dies as fast as she lived.
Up in my battlements, l felt closer to heaven.
Please God, don't let Grandma die yet.
Let's make a deal.
l won't eat any chocolates
and you won't take my Grandma.
lt's freezing.
l'll just eat a small one to keep me going.
Delicious!
Grandma, dear Grandma.
For years, l wondered if my eating that chocolate
had killed you.
Here it comes!
A few months later,
fresh from the boarding school Grandma had chosen for us,
we waited impatiently for our new life to begin.
What's she like? Do you remember?
Vaguely. She was...
Pretty?
Any mother is one up on a grandma.
Hands out of pockets!
- Jacques! - Thérèse!
Mother!
lt's not her.
There, maybe?
- My children! - Your father, boys.
Paule, come! They're here!
My children!
- Mother! - Let me out.
Kissing can wait.
- Back, back! - Paule, really.
The luggage.
She thinks l'm a housemaid!
Your mother's just tired.
Say hello to your brother.
- Marcel! - What brother?
You're my brothers?
l'm Freddy. He's Tosspot.
- No, l'm Jean. He's Milkie. - You're Marcel?
l'm your Aunt Thérèse.
Children! Take a suitcase each.
Dear old Belle Angerie!
- It hasn't changed. - No. Grim as ever.
Leave those to me. They're fragile.
Open up my father's study. l'll make it my laboratory.
Don't just stand there, girl. Help.
- What's your name? - Fine speaks only ''Finnish''.
Madame... asked you... your name.
The vicar commended her to your mother-in-law.
She was in a home for deaf mutes.
Promising!
What a gloomy dump!
lt's not. It's fun.
That pond's good for swimming.
And trout. l shot one with my bow.
- You fish with a bow? - Don't the Indochinese?
Marcel, from now on your name is Cropette.
Who, me?
Why not ''Chinaman''?
- Why Cropette? - l don't know. l like it.
And l decide 'cause l'm the oldest.
Rezeaus always have nicknames.
What's Papa's lab?
He's an expert on Diptera cotypes.
What are diptercotypes?
He doesn't even know that!
The Rezeaus belonged to the true-blue bourgeoisie
who never had to earn a living.
His wife's wealth allowed father to put all his energy
into his life's work: flies.
He'd brought back 50 new species.
Care of his children could wait.
- The boys' bedroom? - Upstairs on the left, ma'am.
What are these flowers?
Fine can do all the cooking and cleaning.
Give the other servants notice.
l'll keep Blaise on for the outdoor work.
Blaise, move this stove to my room.
Children don't need heat in winter.
Remove the pillows. They deform the spine.
The eiderdowns, too.
One blanket will be ample.
l'm taking charge of your purses,
tie pins, gold chains, fountain pens...
Your grandmother spoiled you rotten.
With our expenses, it's absurd to accustom you to luxuries.
- What's that? - My bow.
From Grandma for Christmas.
Dangerous. Confiscated.
You'll clean your own rooms. l'll inspect them often.
Woe betide you if l find a cobweb.
You'll sleep apart, of course.
Jean, you will sleep...
there!
Cleaned out, it will do very well.
l'm not having a rumpus every night.
Make way.
l don't like those shifty looks. Look me in the eye.
l'll know what you're thinking.
Is that how you imagined her?
She's got a tongue like a kick in the pants.
When do we go back to school?
The fruit of this haul was locked in a wardrobe drawer,
the master key to which
nestled permanently in Madame's bosom.
Bless us, Lord...
The ritual of meals
soon became our mother's favorite theatre of bossiness
and carping.
Remind Fine to set the butter dish.
Wait! l put it away.
No butter for the boys. It stunts their growth.
And by the way,
Miss Chilton
no more coffee and milk for their breakfast.
Soup is healthier.
Marcel may have milk. He has enteritis.
Dear boys,
l must tell you of some decisions
your mother and l have made.
Our finances, hard hit
by bad bonds and devaluation,
oblige us to tighten our belts.
Not to mention your mother's profligacy.
Decision A, installing electricity will have to wait.
The mad dash for progress
is bad for your souls.
indubitably. Decision B, Freddy and Jean
quit boarding school.
- Crumbs! - Yes, crumbs.
Try to keep quiet!
Send their uniforms back to Nantes tomorrow.
To Nantes.
Later.
We'll turn the upstairs parlor into a schoolroom!
Prayers at five,
breakfast at six.
Curious!
l wonder
how this PoIyphenus got here.
Curious!
After lunch, 1/2 hour recreation.
Forfeited for any misbehavior.
At mealtimes, we speak English.
In my youth, we spoke Latin but since we have
Miss Chilton here we'll move with the times.
Jean! Sit up!
The back of the fork is enough.
l must pin this PoIyphenus.
Potassium cyanide softens the flesh. Remember that!
By the evening,
we'd lost all desire to call this woman ''Mother.''
Oddly, all her love, attention and respect
were lavished on a stamp album
that occupied her every moment.
She was quick to detect and ruin any fun,
finding new ways to bully us each day
Thus, watched by the skeptical gardeners,
our recreation time was abolished.
Tosspot! Use the flat of the hoe to dig up
dandelion roots.
Milkie, sweep that rake wider.
Marcel, that's acceptable.
Here, have this.
Those buns were our Christmas present!
No whispering, you two!
Miss Chilton stood by her promise to Grandma to protect us.
Problem, Miss Chilton?
She loved us. Mother couldn't abide that.
Cut them out. All the crucifixes.
Good girl.
To the kitchen.
Freddy's ill, madame... Mother.
Oompahs are awful for him.
- Oompahs? - Beans.
Jacques? My word!
Tosspot, no recreation for a week.
Colic never killed anyone.
A surfeit of beans, no doubt.
Nonsense. The boy's a milksop.
All he needs is a laxative.
May l suggest we put him to bed in my room?
Hearing Freddy's moans, l knew my pride would conquer my fear.
I'd end up pinned like father's flies
If I didn't empower myself.
Sit there.
This castor oil will cure you. It never fails.
Grandma gave us laxative chocolate.
Grandma, grandma...
Open your mouth.
Loathsome child!
l can't condone your methods.
Nor l yours, girl.
Madame! l'm not a housemaid.
Whatever you may or may not be,
l pay you to look after my boys, not turn them against me.
Their grandmother taught you well.
She was expert at dividing people.
If my children are no use to me, l know whom to thank.
In that case, Madame,
l have no more business here.
That's what l said.
See what your mother will do to you.
After nurturing us for six years, she left by night,
taking what was left of the angels in us.
Come in.
Feeling better?
l want to empty my bucket. It stinks.
But the dark scares me.
l'll come with you.
You saw Miss Chilton go?
We couldn't even say goodbye. l'm scared for us.
Have some chocolate. l forged the key and pinched it.
We can help ourselves now. How about that?
- Quiet! - What's the matter?
- It's OK. Cropette's asleep. - So?
- l don't trust him. Do you? - Me neither.
- This chocolate's good! - She'd die if she saw us.
She's locked up the loo paper! Key-brained cow!
Wiping your bum on La Croiix is a lark.
- Isn't it sacrilege? - She cut out the crucifixes.
If the sow believes in God l don't.
What a sow she is!
- And a freak. - A freak and a sow.
Freak, sow.
Freakso!
Freakso. Not bad!
Freakso! Freakso!
Filthy Freak...
With Miss Chilton gone,
Freakso could make all the changes she wanted.
Children, this is Father Volitza.
He's replacing Miss Chilton.
Father is Polish.
Poland! A great Catholic nation, though Slavic by race.
Father Volitza
was in Africa a missionary in Ubangi-Shari.
- What's that, Father? - A lion's claw.
- Did you kill it? - It was terrorizing our parish.
You're a hunting man?
l fancy myself a decent shot.
After mass on Sunday, l'll take you out shooting.
l should warn you there's more fur than fowl here.
Father, you'll say mass every morning.
At five, l suggest. Before breakfast.
Five in the morning?
The Rezeau family was the envy of its neighbors
by virtue of having its own private chapel.
We had mass, low and high, matins, vespers, the lot.
Nice.
Good shot, Papa!
She's a hefty one!
Seven kilos, seven-twenty.
''Little Milly promised me
three hairs from her bottie to knit a rug.''
Oops! Sorry, Father.
''But the hairs came unstuck
the rug ran amuck, and now Milly's bottie's all bare.''
''Little Milly promised me
''three hairs from her bottie to knit a rug.
''But the hairs came unstuck the rug ran amuck
and now Milly's bottie's all bare.''
Didn't you hear the bell?
What bell?
There's only one. Ours!
l've been ringing it like mad!
Don't tell me nobody heard it.
We were out past Offres Gully.
l didn't ask you, boy.
l'm sure you did your best to distract your father.
No shooting for you next time.
Damn it, Paule!
Can't you ever bloody well leave us alone?
- Come again? - Damn pest!
Shove off to your room!
Poor Jacques, look at you. In front of the children.
You must be unwell.
Take that to the kitchen. l'm getting changed.
Come on, boys. Wash your hands.
Get a move on!
As for you...
l remember. Vengeance on Freakso!
l'll never forget.
They say a mother's love stays with you. But a mother's hate...
l hate, you hate, he hates, we hate, they hate.
The only verb that mattered. l mastered it fast.
Vengeance! Vengeance on Freakso!
l say, Paule,
summer's coming. We should draw up our guest list and itemize costs.
As if we had any money!
Remember "pistoleying, '' Mother?
l fought you on your favorite battlefield, the dinner table.
Shooting you with my eyes. Defying you for as long as I could.
My hands on the table. Impeccably mannered.
Unimpeachably behaved.
l can stare at you, Freakso. l'm allowed to.
lt's all l do. Stare at you
and talk to you inside me.
"Freakso! Look at me!''
"Freakso! Get this!''
At Jean's christening, Father was busy at the Senate.
Then we left for Saigon.
There, l've caught your eye.
Ugly mother!
If you knew how l hate you!
You're ugly, Mother!
l give a tiny smile,
barely visible to anyone but you.
l won't lower my eyes because it annoys you
and because Milkie is watching.
Toady Cropette is watching too. Scowl away,
Viper-eyes! l know all about vipers.
Freddy, sit up!
The back of the fork, l said.
We thank thee, Lord. Amen.
You pistoleyed her for 140 seconds!
And she cracked first.
This Brittany air has done you such good!
Your complexion is clear and smooth...
You're ravishing.
What are you after?
- Your skin's so soft... - Please!
Forgive me.
l had no intention of...
l'm sure you had no ''intention'', as you call it.
You feel obliged periodically to do your marital duty.
In future, dear fellow there is absolutely no need for you
to remind me we're husband and wife.
l have no more desire for debauchery than you do.
But divorce would be disastrous for the boys.
l'm sure.
Speaking of which, Jean worries me.
He seems a born rebel. l'm sure he's...
a bad influence on Freddy and Marcel.
Might your strictness not exacerbate...
My strictness?
Am l too harsh?
Do l like being harsh?
Do l like being hated by my children? Do l enjoy it?
Yes! l think you do!
l beg your pardon!
That's unjust!
Too unjust!
Paule, dear!
What's wrong?
Father Volitza!
What's the matter?
Get Doctor Lormier! Take the car! Quick!
l've given her morphine.
lt's a liver attack.
Avesical calculus, l fear.
We'll need X-rays.
What's a vesical whatsit, Papa?
A stone in the bladder.
Atrociously painful.
You piss grit.
My little Paule.
l prayed to you, God,
to spare my Grandma
and you didn't.
Never mind. But you must admit
you messed up badly that day.
How would you like to make up for it now...
by calling my mother to you
and keeping her forever?
l think that's about it.
Oh yes!
If you take her, l'll always believe in you.
I'll even become a priest.
Well, maybe not.
Thérèse, dear!
How is she?
Now's your chance to send the boys to boarding school again.
Mother always wanted it!
Too expensive. Paule won't hear of it.
Have you no power over her?
Sister dear, must l remind you? Her wealth belongs to her.
We live off her dowry. Before the war, it was a tidy sum.
Now it barely covers the basics.
Why not sell the farms?
They've been in the family 100 years!
Have you considered getting a job?
Never! No Rezeau ever worked for his living.
Even for the boys' sake?
You'll be saying we torture them next!
Paule has a firm temperament.
She's firm but she does her best.
Freakso had an assortment of smiles up her sleeve
to smear on her face like syrup.
But this was a smile
l'd never seen before.
l'd never been given it.
This chandelier was like our own private sun.
lt shone once a year, at the gathering
of the Rezeau clan and all their ilk.
A parade of smug worthies doused in spittle and holy water
Hello, Aunt Thérèse.
- Having fun, Freddy? - Enormously.
Look at her.
Tougher than Christ! Arisen in two days.
Come, get me a drink!
Who's it from?
Your parents, with their regrets.
He's busy at the Senate but she could have come.
''The sage says only what he can prove.''
'Scuse me, Father.
My poor feet!
Your turn to pass the canapés around.
- Is it fun downstairs? - You have no idea.
Always such holes in your socks!
This household's ways are beyond me.
Your parents spend a fortune on a party,
yet buy one suit for the three of you!
We have to scrimp to maintain our social standing.
You think I'm your enemy too,
my poor son?
I'm not your poor son.
Hello, Auntie.
You're quite the young man!
- Loosen your trousers. - What's wrong with them?
Can't have you looking smarter than your brothers. It's not fair.
Slyly thrifty,
Freakso had the idea of one suit for us all.
But to her dismay being too small for Freddy
and too big for Cropette, it fitted me perfectly.
l felt very elegant in it.
Jean! What a scarecrow!
This is the age of Christian rebirth
l wrote in La Croix or else we are doomed.
The family is the pyramid...
Pull up those bags before you serve the canapés.
l read in La Croix you're going to Rome.
Don't stuff yourself, boy.
Gluttony is a wicked sin.
Not a mortal sin, l grant you,
but bad habits
can lead to depravity.
Modern children are spoilt.
Not here, Your Grace.
Don't be impudent to Bishop Leguivec.
He's your father's cousin.
Naughty boy! Go to your room.
Tell Marcel his aunt needs him to keep score at cards.
He's only provoking you to prove his character.
You defied me just now.
When l give orders, l'm obeyed.
You hate me. l know it.
Your grandma and Miss Chilton saw to that.
Wrong, Mother. Grandma never mentioned you
and Miss Chilton made us pray for you, morning and night.
You made yourself hated.
You're not the strongest yet
but you're a plucky boy, l admit.
You hate me, yes,
but I'll tell you this.
Of all my sons, you resemble me the most.
Now beat it!
- Is Mother poorly? - Just powdering her nose.
Oh, good.
As l was saying, this Leftist Coalition will bring chaos.
Herriot had the impudence to declare to the Radical Congress
''Europe's wealth is sealed by a communion wafer.''
Tosspot!
Come up! It's my turn!
Your wife's a plucky woman.
She dared to inject herself.
Her bladder's no more than a sack of sand.
She needs an operation urgently.
Her beauty amazed me.
If she''d open her eyes,
l could hate her again.
The viper with her eyes shut
seemed harmless.
What are you doing here?
Your mother needs rest.
Come along.
Papa, doesn't Mother look different when she's asleep?
She's better with her mask off.
At my command... handkerchiefs!
Mother dreaded leaving us.
She threatened Papa endlessly.
What would become of her empire?
Boys! No monkeying while your mother's away.
What does Finnie want?
- What's the date? - June 21st.
Fine's right. It's the summer solstice!
In a few seconds...
A sunbeam will caress our dear old bas-relief.
See that? The sun kept its tryst with Cupid.
Now we exchange a kiss of peace. It's a family tradition.
Now, now!
Stop it.
Father!
l know my wife's away, but still. Let's eat!
Please
a few moments' silence to wish your mother well again.
Well, since the frogs are a-wooing and the air is sweet
tonight I'll show you paradise.
Ready?
Here we go.
Here we are, now...
at the reception of the Emperor of Annam by General de Rosny.
A great man, General de Rosny.
Humane but not soft on the niakwés.
Niakwés?
Our name for the natives.
''Peasant'' in their lingo.
As they're all a bit soft in the head
we call them all niakwés.
- Are they friendly? - l never knew for sure.
Who's that with Mother?
The Cholong District Officer, l think.
What was his name? Remember, Marcel?
No idea.
Dash! It's on the tip of my tongue.
I've got it.
De la Mignardière.
First name...
No, it's gone.
Here we are leaving Saigon on the ''Colbert''.
Strange! In this past life
she seemed so different.
But that scarf looked familiar,
Who did she wave to? l had to know.
Sit there.
Watch closely...
the lips... of my mother.
Okay?
There, now.
She said ''Marcel''?
Isn't it odd? Mother named Cropette after that man.
You mean to say Cropette is...
the fruit of a love affair between those two?
Mother in love?
My mother in love.
Love was a mystery to me.
lt took me time
a long time, to reacquire a taste for love.
Got you!
l'm sure...
it's a Stretomenia sinensis
not a Stretomania orientalis
as that nitwit, Chadnown, declared last month.
Hear that, boys?
Which of the two names
will go down as the proper nomenclature?
The issue must be resolved forthwith!
Hear that, boys?
It's not the same.
Good news, boys! l have here...
three subspecies of Diptera unknown to man
until now.
l'll report them to the Museum
by registered letter
and pip Chadnown to the post!
What's more, I'll name them
Ferdinandis, Johannis and Marcellis Rezeau.
You'll be immortalized in science.
Think of it! Millions of flies named after us.
l was happy, but aimlessly.
l missed her acid voice.
Hate, even more than love keeps you busy.
Children,
your mother is dying.
She may not last the week.
Death to Freakso!
She's exhausted.
The doctor gives her about 3 days but with her willpower, who knows?
- Should she receive the last rites? - It's up to you.
Buoyed up with wicked hopes
of orphanhood, we came to bid farewell.
How is she?
Go on, children. Kiss your mother.
What are those mops of hair?
Father, you've been slipshod.
Just to be on the safe side l'll give you the last rites.
l'm not dying!
What's this contraption?
l'm hungry
l'm thirsty!
Bring me some ham.
My shroud isn't woven yet!
Inevitably, she would live.
While she convalesced we laid our defenses.
We have 118 francs.
Fine pledged 4 pots of jam.
it'll keep us going after the hag gets back,
but we need a plan.
Cropette, keep in with her.
You can help us.
Report back any info useful to the war effort.
- Like a double agent? - Right first time!
l've written this treaty to seal our pact.
- What is it? - The Lions Coalition.
Loyalty, secrecy.
United we stand
dead or alive!
Your turn, Cropette.
- Are you in or out? - Can't we just spit?
This is better than beans!
Butter, Father?
Oh, hell.
You're mad to come back alone!
Her first frontal assault was a flop.
Father, the boys are still at play.
What can l say? They need to let off steam.
They're almost young men.
You have to face it although the bloom of youth
is still upon you.
Your sister visited me in hospital.
She invited us to Nantes.
lt's kind of her but l'm too weak to travel.
She's a sweet woman but...
exhausting.
Why don't you go?
You're commendably prudent, for once.
Perhaps l will go.
Why not take the boys?
A few days off would do them good.
Can we see a movie?
Marcel, you'll stay here.
- Why me? - You're still too young.
What's she cooking up?
Come on, Freddy! Always late!
Budge up.
Why them and not me?
l'll make it up to you, poor child.
Father
l've been waiting to tell you in private.
You're fired.
Yes! l'll leave your madhouse.
l'm sick of your beans and my pitiful wages,
Madame Freakso.
You didn't know the nickname your poor children have given you.
l'll leave you with it.
''Freakso.'' Freak and Sow rolled into one.
Cat got your tongues, boys?
- Homesick already? - Not likely!
Tally-ho!
''Don't want to be nagged?
Stay single, stay single!''
No place like home, eh?
Thank goodness!
l thought so.
They're here!
l'm glad.
l hear your wife recovered quickly and she's a changed woman.
No doubt about it. Her bad temper was physically based.
- The operation worked wonders. - Really?
She'll always be a rough diamond,
but let's say she's become... endurable.
Long may it last.
Remember your cousin Henriette?
And her friend Kitty,
on vacation from Philadelphia.
Hello, Uncle.
Fancy a game of golf?
Rather!
Come, have a go.
Give me the ball.
Take the club.
Hands the other way. Left up, right down.
Hips towards the ball. Golf is all in the hips.
Tummy in a bit...
Eyes on the ball. Lift the club,
up... Eyes still on the ball...
and bring it down, like so.
The hag would die if she saw us.
Henriette! l'm taking the boys home.
They so rarely have fun. Let them stay.
But it's late!
Be a sport. Uncle will take care of them.
Bye, Jacques!
- What time is it, d'you think? - About midnight.
Here's to the Freak.
Here's to the Sow. She'd die if she saw us.
Boring!
Can't you give her a rest?
You go on about her as if you can't live without her.
See that sky, girls!
Saturn has just risen.
That big star, there.
lt's not a star. It's a planet.
Wait till you see what you're going to see!
Ready...
Now look!
The marvel. Saturn and its rings.
l can't see anything.
''Behold the magnificence of God,''
to quote the abominable Voltaire,
who called Him the Great Watchmaker.
- It's hiding behind a leaf. - Yes, demonstrating
how fast the Earth rotates.
About that leaf you mentioned,
it belongs to an oak, Quercus robur,
not to be confused
with Quercus cerris of the hairy acorns.
The things you know!
Papa's all pepped up!
Bedtime.
Thanks, boys.
Good night, Papa.
l'll remember this first cup of cocoa
for longer than my first communion.
Lawks!
One moment.
Boys, get your father.
Your mother's on the line.
Hell! Freakso!
You're through.
About time!
Yes, l'm all right.
Tell the boys that their hiding holes, false keys,
coalitions and potted meat
are down the drain!
How do l know? Cropette.
The stench kept the poor boy
awake all night.
That's your mother to a T!
Dismissing Father Volitza behind my back!
She won't get away with it, believe me.
Still, at least she seems in a good mood.
She gave Marcel a bicycle to make amends.
She's bribed him. But what for?
Stale potted meat!
You silly boys!
Turning us against Cropette,
so that was her plan.
Home at last.
And there's your mother.
Father Traquet is kindly replacing Father Volitza,
who has been recalled to Africa.
l see. l hadn't quite grasped why he left.
Welcome, Father.
What elegance!
Where's Marcel? Too proud to greet us?
Your brother's studying and you will join him.
Your vacation has been long
and, l gather,
largely undeserved.
To work!
''Petrograd''? It's Leningrad now.
Don't interfere!
You're right. Petrograd's better.
''On this rock l shall build...''
my treacheries!
This bodes well.
Your mother put it mildly.
But l was the chaplain
at a reformatory.
l've tamed others, believe me!
Silence!
l forgot to cross myself before class
l said ''Poo'' to Fine and kicked Milkie
for hiding my ''Dick Sands'' book.
This boy is remarkably honest.
God, your father, and l forgive you.
Your turn, Tosspot.
Freakso's new gambit. Public confession.
She made us bare our souls and raided our privacy
What sins do you confess?
l can't remember any.
Must l help you?
Sloth, envy, pride,
lust... Oh yes! Lust,
for a pretty American girl.
Remember, Papa?
Be specific.
That'll do for today.
Don't say you've already
had thoughts of carnal sin?
Don't people of all ages? Even the most...
self-righteous?
From here to Indochina?
Right. Ferdinand?
- l've been very good today. - Pride!
You stole your brother's book.
No reading for a week.
- Aren't confessions secret? - He didn't confess.
We only found out thanks to Marcel.
Both sides spied on each other
Can l come up?
Let me see.
When you think,
- It's obvious. - Quiet!
- What's obvious? - Nothing, sneak!
l had to tell. It was a confession.
- Rubbish! - l'm on your side.
Prove it.
Go on. Go!
Put the missals in the font.
What do you say to that, mate? Nothing?
See? He doesn't exist.
Push!
He's not pushing.
We'll eat them with jam.
Such were our games. Odious, l admit.
We had loved Grandma's God
but the God that Mother threatened us with
she''d made us hate.
The boys have behaved well since Father Traquet came.
l suggest we take them to the seaside on Sunday.
Father Traquet can show us where he was chaplain.
Good idea.
The sea air will perk us all up.
Time to go, boys.
Look! Over that horizon is America.
lmagine! Steal a boat
and sail straight
to America.
First we have to visit that old fort
there.
REFORMATORY
Forward march!
Silence!
Silence in the ranks!
Silence, l said.
Understood?
l'm off to the farm for Papa's butter!
l sensed Freakso was up to no good.
l knew her inside out by now
l was her.
She was me.
Back already?
l didn't go. Cropette went instead.
You should be outside in the sun.
May l have a word, Mama?
- Can't you see l'm busy, dear? - l'm sorry,
but this can't wait.
You're annoying me!
Nobody orders me around.
1,OOO francs! That's a lot.
You were going to say l'd robbed you.
Next stop, the reformatory. Well, bad luck.
l saw you plant it.
Right now, with my own eyes!
Traquet says the diehards stay chained up for days.
Those who steal bread get flogged.
One bit a guard to the bone.
One had a finger ripped off.
How do they get there?
We all will unless we take drastic action.
As the General l sentence Freakso to death.
Death to Freakso!
We decided on poison.
The Borgias poisoned each other. Why shouldn't we?
What is it, Fine?
What's going on?
Jackass!
- My milk! - Belt up.
Father,
any news of the rascals who soiled the chapel?
investigations point to the Barbeliviens.
Poor peasants
with two boys of 10 and 12,
brought up like yokels.
l rather suspect the children of the schoolmaster at Ploërmel.
Like all teachers he's a Bolshevik!.
l have my own suspicions.
They'll know it was poison.
They'll call it an overdose.
Don't stand doing nothing!
Go and get some piles of firewood.
We're in for a hard winter.
Next time lucky. Accidents happen so easily
Pass me my pen, will you?
lt's beautiful.
lt certainly is.
From Grandma on my 16th birthday
A pen like this is like a wife. For life.
Can we go on the pond?
Ask your mother.
- Did she say yes? - l didn't ask her.
She'll be searching for us. Just what we need!
l can't see her.
- What are you doing? - Practicing.
Children!
Here she comes!
Children!
Stop!
l strictly forbade you
to come this far. Get out, now!
Hurry up and get out!
- Give me the oar. - Come on home!
Hurry up!
Stop pulling...
Help!
Oops! Lost it!
God, make her sink!
l know who's to blame.
Three days may seem harsh for a boating mistake
but l suspect him of worse.
A few days without food and water
may persuade him to make a full confession.
Take Jean to his room
and lock him in.
All right, Jean?
Open your window!
He must be hungry.
The key, please, to see if he's all right.
If he wasn't, he'd tell us.
He's hard as nails, like me.
Jean, answer me!
Stop playing around and answer your father.
Please!
Answer me!
What's this nonsense? Stand back!
He's jammed it shut.
l hope he hasn't come to any harm.
Little Milly promised me three hairs from her bottie...
He's taunting us!
Come out of there!
You dirty little boy! Filth!
The child's insane!
Control yourself. We're Rezeaus, dash it!
We'll put a ladder up.
What guts, Mother!
Convalescent, half-drowned she leads the assault.
I'm proud of us both.
Done it!
It's safe. Shall l go up?
No, it's my responsibility.
Stop it!
l'm all right.
He tried to kill his father after me!
There's only one thing for it.
The reformatory!
Like her, l was now a tormentor
My sweetest memory of youth.
On the train to Paris l read a Socialist paper
lambasting the bourgeoisie,
and interested myself in women's faces.
This one quite attracted me.
Hot chestnuts!
You look lost, sonny.
Where you goin'?
Michel-Ange-Auteuil.
This is Porte Dauphine. Change at Etoile
for the Saint Cloud line. You listening?
Be sure to get off at Michel-Ange...
Auteuil, not Molitor. Got it?
You can't go wrong.
Thanks, my good man.
Looking for someone, boy?
Do the Pluvignecs live here?
The Senator?
What do you want with him?
Never you mind, my good woman.
He won't be back from the Senate before 8, anyway.
And Grandmother?
Madame Pluvignec's my grandmother.
Is Madame expecting you... Sir?
No. l've run away from home.
l'll let her know.
She has a weak heart. She mustn't be excited.
What is it?
l presented my credentials
to these grandparents who''d never cared to meet us.
Whatever possessed you, dear boy?
l need two weeks' warning!
l'm utterly swamped these days.
Heavens!
What peculiar clothes!
l was already having second thoughts.
Wire my daughter's house to reassure them.
What's this to-do about?
Naughty boy! We'll sort it all out.
Josette, first a bath.
Urbain go and buy him a decent suit.
So! Where's this young rebel from deepest Brittany?
You say he's been
unfairly punished
and seeks my verdict? Sound thinking.
So here's the fellow.
Young pup! You're a chip off the old block.
Grandfather, l wanted...
l've said it time and again,
Jacques lacks authority and Paule's a callow child.
But you've appealed to me
and l'll set the family to rights.
So l wanted to ask you...
Tell me all about it later. l'm late.
l've just finished chairing the Navy Committee.
A new bronze? Where did you pick it up?
At Galiera, my dear,
at a sale of Russian princes' heirlooms.
Yes, well.
Have my new dress shoes arrived yet?
Bon appétit, friends.
Thanks, Master Jean.
Don't my grandparents ever eat in?
Not often, l must say.
They lead a very social life.
Did you know my mother?
Mademoiselle, l mean Madame Paule?
l entered the Senator's service when she was...
- Ten. - What was she like?
She was never any trouble to me.
She was always at boarding school or in the county
with her grandmother.
We didn't see much of her.
Where was her bedroom?
In truth, she didn't have one.
The few times she came, she slept
on the couch in your grandpa's study.
She never saw her parents?
Not often.
lt was an old-style upbringing.
Children were...
much less pampered in those days.
Alas.
Jean's not in the spare room?
lt's being redecorated, remember?
isn't he adorable?
Not asleep yet, young chap?
So, what's this great injustice that was done to you?
l've forgotten.
You're a funny one!
Stay here
until your father comes for you.
l'm upset about Jean.
If he felt his mother's punishment
was unfair he should have come to me.
l never reject my children.
He didn't explain the issue exactly,
but this injustice,
brother-in-law... You endorsed it.
l must go.
But...
you've promised me.
Make peace.
Stay to dinner?
l wouldn't say...
l won't insist if you want to get on home.
Gérard can run you to the station.
Don't worry.
Stop!
My tree, my battlements, my roots.
Who would fell a tree at this hour?
Madame asked me to.
She had struck at my heart
but l would put roots down wherever l chose.
You can chop down my tree,
you can hurt me all you like,
it's no use now.
In Paris, l understood.
l saw your father and mother.
They're the real monsters.
l was no longer the bumptious child
staring you in the eye.
Sorry l'm late, Mother.
Ferdinand, Marcel. Leave us.
l was ostracized. Quarantined like a sick sailor.
How you must have scared my brothers off me!
for life, perhaps.
They were only cabin boys.
l had launched my ship much further
and my mind was already yonder,
Tosspot!
l have a suggestion, Mother.
What do you want?
To leave you, Mother.
So that's it.
l trust you'll persuade Papa.
Your father...
He's good at ignoring irksome facts.
My crafty son!
Have you any strengths or failings that you didn't get from me?
l turned my back on my past.
l vomited my childhood.
Hate and fury blackened my ink.
l put my rebellion and rage into words.
l won my liberty.
l'm going away to school.
Boarding school.
l've been looking for you everywhere.
Come on.
Everyone's ready for the photograph.
Wait for me.
Wait, Jean.
l'll miss you, you know.
l hope this decision satisfies you.
lt's yours now.
Super!
No need to tell your mother.
Try to be worthy of it.
Live up to your name.
You're a Rezeau.
Never forget it.
- How's this? - Perfect!
Get ready...
We've caught up with the times.
Magic, eh?
Now for this Christmas photo!
We never all met again.
Why was l luckier than my brothers?
Because l was the most hated?
Nobody move!
Again, Blaise.
You, Freakso
suffered so much to make me suffer
l've loved the world with a strength l owe to you alone.
l've gone forward with the viper in my fist.
Hervé Bazin died in 1996.
''Viper in the Fist'' was the first of his world-famous novels.
Translation by Nigel Palmer
Subtitles by CNST, Montreal