THE BURNT ROSE
THE PAST
In an ancestral manor house, two men reflect on their past...
They await a doctor's verdict.
The gallery was always packed since Frederic Lansac had become a star painter.
I split my time between the beauty institute which Frederic and I owned
and the art gallery, where I was the master of ceremonies.
Moira...
It all began with her.
My dear Moira.
- It's been so long. - Travelling, my dear...
I simply had to see India...
God. Such suffering and poverty.
Yes, how terrible.
But you're still the same... all the charm of Paris.
And you're still such a flatterer...
Albert. I would be so happy...
Imagine what the Vincis will think...
A Lansac in our living room.
Please, Albert...
Things are looking good?
Very good. I'll start again by the end of May and then...
- End of May? - Yes, I'll do something on India, too.
We'll take the Lansac. My wife likes it so much.
A good choice.
- A good investment, too. - Really?
Take care of this gentleman, please.
- Let me meet him. - Who?
Lansac, of course. You're good friends, aren't you?
Not right now, sorry.
We're planning a new exhibition in June...
Those two Richmond paintings you can't get rid of... Are they still for sale?
Yes... but why do you ask?
I've made up my mind. They'll suit my Louis XV décor.
Now, about Lansac...
It didn't take her long to get what she wanted.
A /over who would make her friends jealous...
A man who filled the gossip columns...
The Great Lansac...
Lansac the genius...
Lansac the rogue.
Stop fidgeting, for God's sake. I can't work like this.
You were nicer last night...
Go get the clothes at Renoma.
Yes, two months ago... You didn't know?
Yes, I'm having a fancy dress party on Friday...
I'll introduce you to Frederic Lansac.
Yes, the painter.
You know I've always been attracted to famous people.
Come as a marquise. You'll look great...
He must have finished examining her by now.
This waiting is unbearable. I must know.
I accepted the invitation and I had to hire a costume.
That's how I met Anne.
Anne, who became...
Anne, whom I loved at once.
We forgot about Moira 's party.
We wanted to be alone.
I'd never felt like this before.
These films are great.
These vampires, all that blood... Wonderful.
Where's your mysterious Frederic?
Oh, he'll come. Artists, you know...
Yes, it's me.
Impossible.
I have work to finish...
Another canvas for your private museum, I suppose...
I've told you I can't...
Apologise to your guests...
I left my old life behind...
I devoted myself to Anne only.
She became my exclusive model,
she inspired my best work.
I felt real love for the first time in my life.
We left for the country where I owned a château
and I wanted to surprise her.
Private Property. Keep Out. No Trespassers.
Baron Frederic de Lansac... 1712 to 1786?
My great, great, great grandfather.
He was a baron?
But my great great grandfather was a gambler.
He lost the title in a dice game.
A shame.
Baroness Anne de Lansac sounds good.
You grew up here?
Until my parents died.
Left to myself, I decided to travel.
You knew Wilfried then?
I met him in Brazil. He was giving a conference...
about flora in northern countries...
I was his only audience.
- You were already interested in plants? - Not at all...
I just wanted to hear someone speak French.
By the time we finished talking I'd begun to share his passion
and the next day we left for Paris together.
The rest is history...
ls there a ghost?
I think so but he must be asleep right now...
I want to live here, Frederic...
You'd soon get bored. No neighbours, nothing to do...
I don't need anyone else.
I really want to...
Welcome to your domain, Madame...
I'll tell the ghost the good news...
Calm yourself, my dear...
There's nothing to fear, darling.
They've lived here for a long time...
My parents took them in out of pity.
When I left, I allowed them to stay to take care of the place.
I had forgotten about them.
No one knows where they come from.
My father found them in the village one night...
some children were throwing stones at them.
My mother decided to take them in.
What are their names?
I'll tell them to go before we move in.
Where will they go?
No, Frederic. Let them stay.
I just wish they weren't so ugly.
Beautiful Anne...
Hurry,
I must know.
After our wedding, we threw a huge party at the château.
The climax was to be a grand sound and light show.
Come, Frederic.
Please...
Our guests are coming...
Please, be sensible... You were never prettier.
I'll be pretty as long as you love me...
You make me happy...
S0 happy that sometimes I'm afraid...
- Afraid that something... - Nothing and nobody
can destroy what we mean to each other.
Nobody.
I got no invitation to your party... I suppose you forgot...
Well, you're here anyway...
- And I'm glad to see you... - Keep away from me.
Moira was furious.
Anne backed away from her former friend.
Then it happened...
Look out, Anne.
It's a miracle your wife's still alive.
Her body and her face have suffered severe burns.
She'll never walk again.
Her eyesight will be severely impaired.
And her face...
Her face...
is badly disfigured.
She'll wake up soon.
THE PRESENT
The manor has become a tomb.
Anne Lansac had her death announced.
Frederic is a broken man.
The time of suffering begins...
It was a terrible shock for Frederic, losing his wife like that...
She was such a beautiful woman...
Very beautiful...
Frederic has shut himself away from the world.
- I hope you'll enjoy it here, Mr...? - Rorner
Careful.
Don't touch that one, it's very dangerous.
Come on, I'm listening...
Do what an old friend is supposed to do...
Frederic, pull yourself together.
Frederic, make an effort...
I know it's tough but you should try...
It's all over now.
There's no Frederic...
Frederic is dead.
Lansac... The great Lansac...
can't even hold a brush...
can't squeeze a tube of paint...
can't even paint his wife... because you don't paint monsters.
I need you.
I'm going away for a while. I want you to run the institute.
What about Rorner?
I don't really trust him...
and you're my partner, aren't you?
I can't leave Anne...
I'll get a nurse to stay at the château.
Impossible.
She wants people to think she's dead.
She wants to see no one.
That girl won't talk.
She's totally devoted to me.
Anne will never agree.
You can't spend the rest of your life in this room.
In this castle with a woman who's no longer your wife.
You wallow in self-pity without trying to see further than...
My plane leaves at five tomorrow.
I'd like to see you at the institute before I go.
Take this plant to Mr Lansac's car.
Be careful. Hold it like this...
It's highly dangerous.
- What is it? - A new hybrid.
Mr Lansac hasn't named it yet.
He wants to study it at home before we use it at the institute.
The thorns at the heart of this plant
secrete a deadly poison.
Did you just get back?
Don't touch that plant.
See those thorns in the centre?
One touch and you die.
Understand? You die.
Pick it up.
Take it to the little greenhouse.
And warn Igor.
Careful, now...
Go now, go...
There... It's done.
Each day you make me suffer a little more.
- But, Madame... - Enough.
Get out. Leave me alone.
- Anything else I can do? - Yes. Get out.
That girl's a nuisance. I can't stand her anymore...
You're overreacting.
You fancy her? So go and console her.
But... Anne.
Stay away from me. Don't touch me.
- But why? - Stay away, go run after her.
Why does she hate me so?
It's not you that she hates, Agnes. It's what you represent.
The image of her lost beauty.
Give it time.
It's hard for her.
You have no idea how hard it is.
She's lost everything, Agnes...
Everything...
Why did you leave me?
You're beautiful...
I love you, Anne.
I'm sorry about yesterday. I was hateful.
- It's all right, Madame. - My husband said I was very unfair...
He thinks you're very dedicated.
It's just my job, Madame.
No, he's right. I promise I'll keep my temper from now on.
Dear Agnes... so sensitive, so pretty...
What a strange plant.
I had never seen it...
My husband brought it here last night. It's very rare.
By the way, could you water it, please?
Spread the leaves. The water must get right inside.
At the heart...
Don't worry, the leaves aren't delicate...
Yes, there...
That's it.
Agnes... so sensitive, so pretty.
I wanted to go to your wife's funeral, but Wilfried advised me not to.
Yes, he was right. I didn't want anybody to attend.
I understand your grief. She was so pretty...
Her face was fascinating.
Fascinating, indeed...
She stood between us, Frederic. She had to die.
I killed her so that our love would remain intact.
Frederic, her beauty was something I couldn't tolerate...
I couldn't stand the sight of her face... her body...
She was beautiful... so beautiful...
- Yes sir? - I want to see Professor Rorner.
- He's in the solarium. - I'll find the way.
You must operate this week. The police are after me and I can't...
- Quiet. I told you not to come here. - Yes, but I can't wait.
- So when can you operate? - Not so loud.
Come to my house tonight.
And don't come here again... It's too dangerous.
There...
The mould is ready.
I'll operate Friday evening.
That job at the institute's a smart cover...
- Nobody would ever imagine... - Be quiet.
Come back Friday evening.
Very interesting, Mr Romer.
- You mean you... - Yes, I heard it all.
A risky hobby you have...
The law is very severe for surgeons who practise on the side...
- Let me explain... - Explain what?
That the institute is a perfect cover?
That nice Mr Rorner who looks after his plants so gently is really...
...nothing but a filthy butcher who transforms faces on the sly?
You've taken advantage of me, of my name and reputation
for your trade in human flesh.
I don't like it, Romer. I don't like it at all...
- I trusted you... - Please, let me explain.
The word "butcher" doesn't apply...
I was a famous surgeon.
I saved many people's lives.
I had one passion...
Faces...
Human faces have always had a strange attraction for me...
I'm fascinated by this miraculous unity
of lines, of curves...
of wrinkles and colours...
Ten years ago, in tragic circumstances
I had to operate on a child's face.
I wasn't allowed to do it
but I saw it as a new experience.
The child didn't survive.
The parents lodged a complaint. I was struck off and sent to prison.
When I came out, I was finished.
A man who knew nothing but surgery but...
...was forbidden to practise it.
One day...
I agreed to operate on the face of a man I once knew in prison...
A man who was wanted by the police.
I was caught in a vicious circle.
I acquired a certain reputation.
A few months ago, I decided to put an end to what I had become...
The surgeon of the underworld...
Wilfried, your partner, offered me this position at the institute.
I thought my past was behind me...
but this man came and blackmailed me.
I was in a dilemma .
And now, Mr Lansac...
do your duty as a good citizen.
Come with me.
With you? Where?
To my house, to the château.
There's someone I want you to meet.
Someone who'll be delighted to meet you.
My wife.
There's nothing I can do. The tissue is gone.
I brought you here to find a solution.
It can't be done. There is no way.
A graft is possible, but science at its present stage... No.
We would need a complete face... Living tissue.
It would kill the donor.
It's impossible.
You don't imagine that...
I told you it would mean cutting the face off a living woman.
It would be horrible.
It's impossible.
Tell me. It's impossible, isn't it?
You can't... It's... It would be monstrous...
wouldn't it?
THE FUTURE?
The face of a living woman...
The idea grew in the mind of a madman.
Thus began the monstrous search for a future victim at the institute...
Until one day...
My Dear Agnes...
It's been such a long time since I heard from you...
I suppose that you're accustomed to your new life at the château...
Just a few lines to /et you know Paul and I are getting married in early summer.
I'd be very happy if you could get away from your job...
so that I could tell you more in greater detail.
I miss you.
I can't wait to hear from you.
Paul sends his love, too.
Your loving sister, Barbara.
You must answer her...
Tell her that her sister has gone away.
Oh come on. Not that letter again?
I don't see why she shouldn't have gone travelling...
It's not like her...
She's not the adventurous type.
Your sister left a week ago.
A friend of ours needed a nurse...
to travel to Japan with him.
And she accepted that?
No, Paul. Impossible... Not Agnes.
Look. Calm down...
I'm sure that tomorrow you'll get a postcard of the... Yung-Chung.
I'm going there.
To Japan?
No. To the château where she worked.
You'll look ridiculous.
Talk about looking ridiculous.
Gentlemen of the jury, how could this abandoned,
tormented child be guilty?
You can go, I'll lock up.
I'm going back to the château. Fetch her.
Please don't scream.
I won't hurt you.
I don't trust Rorner.
- I'm afraid he won't see it through. - He has no choice.
Don't worry, everything will be all right.
I want to see this woman, Frederic. Bring her to me.
Now? Here?
I want to fix her features in my mind... Her face...
Her beauty...
Go get her.
You killed her. You killed her.
You want me to remain a monster, like you.
Please come in.
What's wrong?
You seem to be afraid...
Something frightened me in the woods. An animal, I suppose...
I'm very sensitive.
Come in and sit by the fire.
To what do I owe my good fortune...
to have a such a pretty guest in this sinister château?
I'm preparing a guide to the area
and I'd like to write a chapter about this place.
Your room is ready.
You live here alone?
My wife died in an accident.
The elements have conspired...
Now you're trapped here...
So it seems...
I think I'll have to spend the night here...
Some more wine?
Don't worry, they're my servants.
One has to get used to them.
I'll show you around the château tomorrow.
Come...
I'll take you to your room.
Come.
I've grown used to the solitude.
After my wife's death I thought to move away, but...
What's that noise?
The storm...?
That room's been empty a long time...
Far too long.
- It was my wife's room. - I'm sorry.
Here's your room.
I hope the storm won't keep you awake.
That room's been empty a long time.
It was my wife's room.
Who are you?
Where's Agnes?
- Where's my sister? - I killed her, for no reason...
except that she was pretty and despised my ugliness.
Now you're going to give me your face...
All is ready...
And you won't really die since I'll look like you.
Hans Rorner?
- I'm no longer... - Sorry, I forgot...
- You've been struck off... - Who are you?
Why these questions?
How careless of me. Sorry, Professor...
Chief Inspector Dorsay.
Do you know this man?
And this one?
Really?
Look closer. Don't you see a resemblance?
It's the same man. Before and after...
Before and after. Heads and tails.
Enough. I already told you I don't know these men.
This man.
His face was altered...
by a great specialist.
A very great specialist.
Come, Professor...
I already told you, I'm not...
A professor, yes, I know... but the ability,
the technique you had... The know-how...
You haven't forgotten that, have you?
You operated on this man.
I can swear I haven't touched a scalpel since my trial.
My life has changed.
I've no connections with my former profession.
Seven years of my life.
Don't you think I've paid enough, Inspector?
Take it easy.
This is just a... routine visit.
The man in the photo was discovered after he'd been shot.
But the fingerprint analysts noticed something was wrong.
The man had a new face.
There were still stitches.
And so you immediately thought of the awful Dr Rorner?
The torturer...
The man who butchers little children...
and old people.
I understand how you feel, Professor but I'm just doing my duty.
A cog in an inhuman administration based on electronic machines.
A face that's been remade? They push a button...
and a few seconds later, out come some punch cards.
Including mine, of course.
They say it's the new way...
One day these damn machines will be sent to question the suspects.
Yes, it's me.
Come over here at once.
The operation is for tonight.
That's impossible.
I can't.
I told you, it's impossible.
Don't forget you have no choice.
I'm sure the police would be glad to learn...
Yes, I understand...
I'll be there.
See you later.
Something wrong?
- You look pale. Nothing serious, I hope? - Not at all...
An unexpected shipment of exotic plants...
I have to go to the institute to check them, set them up...
The temperature change, you know?
My car's parked outside. Shall I give you a lift?
Thank you, that's very kind of you.
I'll come back very late, I'd rather take mine.
Unless I'm under arrest?
Don't be foolish, Professor.
I told you why I came here.
Just an IBM routine...
I must go now. I look forward to seeing you soon.
Don't bother. I'll see myself out.
The operation is for tonight.
Romer's on his way. I'm going to prepare...
I'm scared, Frederic...
What if it doesn't work?
I'd rather die than stay like this.
You'll help me die.
Don't say that. You'll live, Anne.
You'll be beautiful.
We'll go away and forget all this. It'll be just a bad dream.
And I will be your wife again. Kiss me, Frederic.
Kiss me...
I'll be able to look at myself without shivering.
Soon my suffering will be over.
Beautiful...
There will be only two monsters left here.
Burn all those dresses. I never want to see them again.
I want only bright clothes. Worthy of my beauty.
You'll learn to love me again, Frederic.
To desire me.
I will be desirable again.
No chance. There's no chance this will work.
This poor girl will be sacrificed for nothing.
I'm caught in a hellish trap.
On one side that damned policeman playing cat and mouse...
on the other, this monstrous couple.
She's asleep.
The injection has taken effect.
What hideous dreams this monster must be having...
No, I beg you...
Please, have pity.
They've already killed two women, including my sister. Isn't that enough?
You're not like them. They're not human.
I beg you, let me live.
I want to live... To live. To live.
I'm sure it's a success. Frederic?
It's all over.
I'll be like this forever.
That's what you wanted.
You and your monstrous dwarves.
It's you who killed Rorner...
because he was going to make me beautiful again.
I'll kill you for what you've done. I'll kill you.
You're happy now it's failed.
Take me away from here. Take me away.
You planned it all. You want me to be a monster like you.
Take me away.
What's happened, Barbara?
What's happened? Tell me.
- Where's Agnes? - Let's go.
- What happened to her? - Let's go. Now.
I've just killed my wife and one of my servants.
There are two women buried here too...
That's right.
The Lansac château.