25.000
Argos, Svenskfilmindustri, Sandrews, Anouchka...
...present in light and shadow...
...one of the 121 French language films of which only 3 or 4 get made
MASCULIN FEMININE
Never do...
...two glances meet...
...no trace...
...of life, silence...
...emptiness...
...burning...
The light dims
Nowhere...
...does the setting of this story...
...without end...
...tell of the monotony...
...tell of the toil...
...every day...
Nameless this boy from Marseilles...
...tells it twenty-four hours a day...
...tells it with others...
...sharing life...
...unable to be alone...
No trace anywhere...
Excuse me, but aren't you Madeleine Zimmer?
Yes, why? Do you know me?
I've seen you here before
Could be
A friend of mine, Robert Poiccard...
...knows someone called Dumas who knows you
Yes, Marcel
He said this Dumas might find me a job
- On the magazine? - I didn't know he worked on a magazine
If it's Marcel Dumas you mean, he does
Do you work for this magazine, too?
I used to be in the picture department, but now I want to be a singer
Why, are you looking for work?
Well, I've just finished my military service
Did you enjoy it?
Sixteen months without comfort, money, love or leisure
Subjected to absolute authority twenty-four hours a day
Just like modern society, in other words
Sixteen months which confirm that for a young Frenchman...
...even relative freedom is difficult to achieve...
...in the face of established authority when he's had the wrong education
Sixteen months of obedience likely to become permanent...
...since the military and industrial systems co-exist happily
Discipline and finance share the same logic
It doesn't sound much fun. Now you're at a loose end?
Not exactly, but I'd like a change
I often have to work under adverse conditions. I'm at Napthachemicals now
What's that?
It's the big white building near Citroën's
I've met some great guys there; the working class in Paris is O.K.
They talk a lot; maybe that's what's wrong with the Party
There aren't all that many militants, really
Working conditions are to blame
The bosses have cut down on breaks, to step up production
So a worker isn't his own man any more
It's work, eat, sleep, and that's my lot, thank you
I'm meeting Marcel here, actually; what's your friend called?
You're a bitch!
I'm sick of your insults!
That's your look-out, you slut; you don't know what you want
Yes, I do!
Let go of Patrick, I'm taking him!
Find someone else to slave for you
- Everything O.K.? - No
- What's wrong? - Everything's wrong till ten o'clock
- It's five past ten now - Everything's O.K., then
Still on night shift?
Haven't you seen the papers? We're on strike
- With union backing? - The communists, anyway
What do the anti-communist creeps say?
I know... the same as the Catholics
While I think of it, sign this
"The undersigned, deeply concerned at the imprisonment...
"...of eight members of the world of arts and letters in Rio de Janiero...
"...for expressing their disagreement with official policy...
"...protest against this violation of freedom of thought in Brazil...
"...and demand the liberation of the eight prisoners"
Last week it was Madrid. What next?
Athens, Baghdad, Lisbon
What do you earn now?
HUMAN LABOUR
MAKES THINGS RISE
FROM THE DEAD
Have you asked about the room?
I can't; I was meaning to tell you
Still sleeping in your car?
Yes, I'm still at Soissons
Did you see me the other day in the Place Clichy? I shouted
Yes, but I was with my cousin
- Making out? - It's pretty heavy going
Have you seen that girl again?
Madeleine? I can't be bothered with her any more
Given up screwing, have you?
- The Sports Palace? - The other side of town
- What are you doing? - Putting myself in his place
Nothing happened
So to put yourself in his place doesn't make you understand someone
Watch this
May I take some sugar?
Not bad
What, her breasts?
I'll try
May I take some sugar?
Fantastic!
- I'm off - See you on Friday
Paris today; what do young girls dream about?
But which girls?
The checkers at Simca who are too tired after work to make love?
Eighteen-year-old manicurists and hairdressers whoring in posh hotels?
Schoolgirls who know their Bergson and Sartre and nothing else...
...because their parents shut them up at home?
The average Frenchwoman doesn't exist
Marcel told me it was all right
- How about the pay? - He said he'd see on Tuesday
It's the twenty-third today
So what?
What about the twenty-third?
You said we could go out on the twenty-third
I never said that
I think you're an awful liar
I don't agree
- Why "Ha-ha"? - I don't know; don't you ever lie?
Never?
Well, sometimes, naturally, but not often
How come?
With you, sometimes
Why do you lie to me?
Don't I appeal to you?
It isn't that
Do you think my nose is too big?
Not at all
Why do you want to go out with me?
Because you're pretty, because of tenderness...
Doesn't anything else about me interest you?
Yes, everything
Your hair, eyes, nose, mouth, hands...
By going out, you mean sleeping with me?
Tell me the truth
How old are you?
Twenty-one
Are your parents alive?
- Do you see them often? - Now and again
- Do you often go out with girls? - Now and again
Yes, I'd really like to sleep with you
- How about you? - I've never thought about it
But now that I've asked you?
Why did you say we'd go out on the twenty-third?
That was a lie
Why? I believed you
I know it wasn't nice, but...
Do you sometimes go out with girls at night?
I told you I did
- What kind of girls? - Girls I like
Girls like me?
Have you been with whores, too?
Once in a way; but I find them cold and depressing
- I don't want to know - I didn't mean anything
Why say it, then?
I don't know; it's what I think
What do you do when you're alone in the evenings? What about tonight?
I've a whole lot of photographs to sort for the magazine
- What kind of photographs? - Some fashion shots we took
You said you were trying to become a singer now
I can do both, can't I?
I still sort and classify photographs
- Of you? - No, never
Are you going out with somebody tonight?
I saw you with a big, tall bloke the other night
I just happened to run into him
That's not true
It is true... it is
- Where did you go? - Just to a café
- What did you talk about? - My record
Are you afraid I'll make love to you?
- Is that why you won't go out with me? - Could be
Why should you be afraid? I think you're lovely
It makes me uneasy
I think you have very classy breasts
It's important, you know
Look me in the eyes
What are you thinking of at this very moment?
Nothing
You have to be thinking something. Now, looking at me?
- I'm looking - But what are you thinking?
What is the centre of the world for you?
The centre of the world?
Our first real conversation, and you ask such amazing questions
It's quite an ordinary question. What's your answer?
Love, I suppose
That's odd. I'd have answered: Me
Does that seem funny to you?
Don't you feel you're the centre of the world?
Yes, of course, in a way
In what way?
Living, being, seeing with your own eyes...
...speaking with your own mouth, thinking with your own head
Do you think one can live alone? Always alone?
No, I don't think one can, it's impossible
Without tenderness you'd shoot yourself
Look me in the eyes
Would it please you if I said I might love you some day?
Of course it would
The coming December elections raised great hopes on the Left
I was now twenty-one. Robert and I stuck posters everywhere
Meantime, I made progress with Madeleine
She introduced me to Elisabeth
Robert was interested in Catherine...
...probably a virgin, but good militant material
Great guns in Vietnam, eh?
Killing lots of communists there?
Burning the place with napalm? Terrific!
Peace in Vietnam
PHILOSOPHER AND FILM-MAKER SHARE A GENERATION'S OUTLOOK
Paris, 25 November, 1965
I have a blue coat; Elisabeth's is trimmed with white
I share her flat opposite the elevated Métro
It's cold out
We lunched in a snack bar on Rue Marbeuf
Paul kissed me for the second time
Elisabeth is a bit jealous; I don't care
My first single comes out tomorrow; I hope it sells
If so, I'll buy a Morris-Cooper
I'm glad Paul's in love with me; I'll sleep with him eventually
I hope he doesn't become a nuisance
- Did you see? - No. What'll we do?
I'm going on to the Etoile
- Let's go to the Palladium - No, I'm tired
I'll go as far as Montparnasse with you, then
- How about it? - I don't feel like it
You can be a real nigger bastard when you try
No comment. No comment, I said
That's enough; now shut it!
You know what you niggers are? You're killers in the making
And you know it
You just dream of being like those Hollywood whores
All you think of is money; it's written all over your face
They don't even know what it's all about
"Oh, I adore Bessie Smith", they mutter
They don't understand what Bessie's telling them
"Here's my big, black ass!" She's not singing about love
What, then?
It's not about desire or the blues
Nothing like that
Want me to tell you?
She's shouting: Kiss my big, black ass, that's what
Charlie Parker's the same
Look out!
If you told Charlie...
...throw away your sax...
...and you can kill the first ten whites you see, he'd do it
He'd never play another note
What are you staring at?
NOTHING: JUST A WOMAN
AND A MAN
AND AN OCEAN
OF SPILT BLOOD
The sexual organ is purely natural
Yes, obviously, but...
So is sexuality
I don't agree
For me, sexuality involves the skin. I think that's very important
Otherwise, there can be no real contact between two people
You shake someone by the hand, for instance...
...and you know at once if you felt anything
What about the eyes, looking? Isn't that important?
The eyes, looking
Do you think he's good in bed? Paul?
THE MOLE IS BLIND, YET BURROWS IN A PARTICULAR DIRECTION
- I've no time - It will only take five minutes
It's my first record, but you don't care
Yes, I do, really
Let's sit down
Well, what do we do?
Let's go over there; I don't like it here
Say your piece
"Eglantine, madly in love"
"There will always be girls who lie down when asked to sit"
"The duchess was nude; the little prince was dressed as Chaplin"
"Not even a bra or panties, entirely nude"
"Finally, the fleur-de-lys panties had slipped off"
"She had long legs"
"Early the next morning I went into the little garden"
"I've seen all kinds, but never one so willing"
"Quickly I laid her, naked, on my coverlet
"Her arms reached out in the most wonderful..."
"She weighed only a hundred and twelve pounds...
"...but her plump thighs were like satin"
It's nicer over there
What would you like?
I haven't time for anything, thanks
It's not that I want to; I have to
I learned one thing when I lost my wife
It's that you just can't stop; I have to begin all over again
I'm just asking you to be patient
I have to dash
Won't you leave me, let me go?
To you I'm just a girl, I know
Let me set my life aflow
What I wanted to say was: Will you marry me?
Let's discuss it later
Won't you let me know the day
My first true love will come my way?
Won't you let me find at last
The one who'll come to hold me fast?
For you somehow girls must cry
For you somehow I don't know why
For you I'd gladly spend all day
Waiting for you to come my way
Leave me with my unhappiness
I believe in faithfulness
Give me time to dream a while
Like a drink?
I'm sorry about before
Sandie Shaw's terrific, isn't she?
I think it's disgusting, exhibiting yourself like that
How about going? I've had enough of him today
Good idea
Will you pay?
Shall I see you at the baths later?
Would you like to take some pictures with me?
Photographs, I mean
It's 15,000 francs to see my breasts
I've only got 10,000
O.K., but hands off, then
You must be kidding
I want to live with you
You won't come to meet me tonight
The stars are falling, Madeleine
Here we are in the city
lmagine it's written, Madeleine, like:
"Astor, the modern man's cigarette!"
Remember: You were leaving the baths, the same record was playing
5 December, 1965. The stars
I want to live with you, bikini-bronzed
We'll play the machines
Look, it's the airport here
You put on your lipstick, snuggle against me
We've taken off
Hello, control tower here
Boeing 737 calling Caravelle, Paul calling Madeleine
I don't believe your promises, you've lied to me once more
You know what my address is, but there's no letter at my door
For days and days I waited, but it was all in vain
You broke my heart completely when no message came
Guess what happened
I hear running footsteps
What is it? I wonder
I turn round
And a bloke says: "Did I frighten you? Do forgive me"
I wait
But when I go on, so do the footsteps
The guy says: "Did I frighten you? Do forgive me"
All very courteous, but I realize it's a different man
I go on
This time the footsteps go past
But the guy stops just in front of me
I look at him, and it's not the same guy
I mean, it's a third guy
"You're not the same one", I say
He looks at me and says: "Maybe so...
"...but the point is you thought you were being followed
"Who by doesn't matter
"If I'd run faster...
"You would have been afraid
"But I didn't and you weren't"
"Listen", I say to this guy...
"...if that's your idea of a joke, I don't think much of it"
He looks at me and says:
"Do you really think it's a joke? Well!
"You just haven't understood", he says
- Coming poster-sticking on Saturday? - You know I can't on Saturday
- Bring her along - Hell, no
Well, it's up to you
But there are no individual solutions, you know
One learns by joining the struggle. You accept too many things too easily
My problems with women are my affair
It's all very simple really: Women, money
It's like a movement of perpetual revolt
I can't accept things like you. That's what makes me a militant
I admire you for it
Join in, then
I'll think about it
- What are you reading? - An article on Bob Dylan
- Who's he? - A Vietnik
- What's that? - It comes from beatnik and Vietnam
"Who are you, Mr. Bob Dylan?"
Old Hitler said it
And old Stalin, too
Now old Johnson says it
There's only one thing to do
And that's to kill them all
Hasn't Madeleine mentioned him? He sells 10,000 records a day
I think I'm going to drop her. I'll find out tonight, anyway
My landlady wants my room for her nephew
Madeleine might let me stay with her
But that bitch Elisabeth?
I'm crazy about freckles!
Catherine's a better bet
Think so? Last Saturday I asked her what make of bra she wore
What a clout I got
That must be an Oh Yes!
"Oh Yes! The bra that boosts"!
Do you know why Camille was such a success?
Give me your hand... with your finger like that
I don't know why I'm joking; actually, I feel miserable
Because of Madeleine?
Do you realize the word masculine comprises mask and ass?
- And feminine? - Sweet nothing
PURITY IS NOT
OF THIS WORLD
BUT
ONCE IN TEN YEARS ITS LIGHT GLEAMS BRIEFLY
Lonely and terrible the night followed by no day
American scientists have succeeded in transmitting thoughts...
...through injections
Man's existence is not determined by his conscience. Rather, the reverse
In the near future, each citizen could well be wearing...
...an electrical apparatus designed to stimulate pleasure...
...and sexual gratification
Give us this day...
...TVand car, but deliver us from freedom
My dear Marquis, you seem so cheerful
Joyous, of nothing fearful
Is it simply satisfaction?
Or is there cause for your reaction?
My voice doesn't match my deep and solemn thoughts
Unlike Boileau
That struck me when I was at school
I don't know why, but it often happens to me
What are they playing at?
Do you often fall in love?
- Can I speak frankly? - Of course
- You don't really mean that - Yes, I do
You look sincere, but I'm sure you're being defensive
Still, it's Madeleine I care about. It's a pity, though
You said it
I'm going to ask you a question, too
Actually, she asked me to; she's afraid...
...of getting pregnant
The idiot. I'm old enough to know better
- Would you be afraid? - No, I've got a thingumajig
- What is it? - An American contraption
An Air France bloke brought it over for Elisabeth
Madeleine won't use it; she's shocked
I can see why she's afraid
- I'm sure this wasn't her idea - Ask her yourself
- Ask me what? - Nothing
My record's number six in Japan
Who is there ahead of you?
The Beatles, France Gall, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra
I didn't know you were warm and lively
"She continues to create a world entirely of her own
"The chiselled, classic beauty of her features...
"...is belied by a mischievous, fun-loving smile
"Instinctively mistrustful of any kind of insincerity...
"...her artistic integrity makes her spurn the 'modern' style"
Stop making fun
Someone phoned for you
The memory's gone, I don't know who. Paul took the call
I told him to let my poor old mum alone
No poor old mum? How dare you, Marquis!
Has he gone mad?
Clear the table
Madame Durand, your daughters are grand
But, Madame Durand, their noses expand
Right. A bath and then bed
Going to listen to that outlandish music?
Then I'm off
It's fantastic
- What's wrong? - I've got a flea
And there's no paper in the bog
There's a copy of Le Figaro
Poor Mauriac!
When you think that Beaumarchais invented the word Figaro...
...and now it's a synonom for bourgeois; it makes you sick
She's been seeing Robert, obviously
You keep Paul, Catherine
No, come here, Paul
- Do you mind? - Please yourself
I'm going to have a last cigarette
Don't switch the light off yet
Move your backside over, Madeleine
Don't say my backside, say chubby cheeks
Don't say chubby cheeks, say jacksey
No, say my posterior
Sit-me-down
Parson's nose
Fanny
Bum
What do you say for sexual organs?
You say three-piece suite
Can I put my hand there?
Do me a favour!
I've always wondered...
Not so loud, Paul
Love, love... in the man's heart is solitude
And on the face of my naked femininity your face is mirrored
And my love is in the sea, in dreams
And we are faced by death
KIND SLEEP, FREE ME BRIEFLY FROM MYSELF
Here on Earth, the cruelest star, among men less feeling than stones
What are you doing?
Take that string there
You've heard of the Marquis de Sade?
Didn't he say: "Once more into the Republican breach..."?
A nation took up Turenne's sword...
...launching the first army of justice into Europe
For a hundred years this ragged army fulfilled the highest dreams
It drove out a king, crossed the Alps and the Rhine
What have you and I, Monsieur Mitterand, to do...
...with this vast shadow which made Europe dance to the tune of liberty?
I don't believe your promises any more
Too many girls have believed you before
You're laughing at my tears...
DIALOGUE WITH A CONSUMER PRODUCT
You're a friend of Madeleine's?
- Where did you meet? - She used to work on the magazine
What magazine? Miss 19?
What's your job?
Well, I was chosen as Miss 19
Why all these questions, anyway? What are you doing?
- It's a public opinion survey - Changed jobs?
Yes, I wasn't earning enough with the magazine
I've always been interested in sociology
Why do you want to be Miss 19?
I don't particularly; I just had the good luck to be chosen
I've never really known why, but I'm Miss 19 for a year
Why do you say "good luck"?
For me there are all sorts of advantages; it's fantastic
All sorts of things... I have a car, I get fabulous trips
- What did you do before? - I was studying
- What for? - My baccalauréat
Didn't you want to go on?
No, everything changed when I was chosen, you see
You'd rather have your car than your baccalauréat?
I'm happy to say I have both
Do you think socialism has a future?
Socialism, did you say?
I don't really know enough about it
What do you understand by socialism?
I won't try to answer that, or I'll get all muddled
Say you had to choose...
...between socialism and the American way of life
Is there a difference?
Of course, but it's difficult to explain
What do you understand by American way of life?
Everything going at a terrific pace, very free and easy
I was lucky enough to be able to go and see what America was like
What was it like?
Pretty terrific; I really liked it
What was terrific about it? I mean, what in particular?
It's all so different from France, you see
They live and work hard, but everything goes at such a pace
You get the impression...
...that everyone's running all the time, busy with important things
One thing is that women play a more important role there
Does the word reactionary mean anything to you?
It's difficult to explain what it means
To be reactionary is to be in opposition...
...to react against things, not to accept just anything
Is it a good or a bad thing?
Good; I don't like yes-people
Does the Popular Front mean anything to you?
What awful questions!
- What's so funny? - I don't want to answer such questions
- Do you want to have children? - Later, not just yet
Why later?
Because I want to live a little first, to be independent
So children are out
Do you know what birth-control means?
More or less; there's a lot talked about it
What does it actually involve?
Come on, tell me
It's so embarrassing... I know what it is, but...
...I can't...
I'm making a general survey of Frenchwomen, not just you
I see; well, birth-control is...
Do you know any practical methods?
I know some, but I'd rather not name them
Just give one or two examples
Well, there are pills, to use a general sort of term
Or else a diaphragm
Yes, but aren't there other things besides pills?
I told you: A diaphragm
Do you often fall in love?
Certainly not
Don't you like being in love?
Yes, but it isn't something you go looking for
It just happens; and when it does, it's terrific
It's something you can't help, and it doesn't happen every day
Do you know of a war going on just now?
That doesn't concern me
No, but isn't there one going on somewhere?
I don't know... I don't know...
Well?
She'll be here in fifteen minutes
If she appears at the Olympia, I'll kill her
You're crazy
No, I think it's disgusting; I'll kill her
Let's talk about something else
That's between you and Madeleine
Still thinking about her?
No, I was thinking about my father. It's the mashed potatoes
One day at home we were eating mashed potatoes
Suddenly my father stopped and said: "I've got it!"
"Got what?", my sister asked
He'd discovered why the earth goes round the sun
Of course, Galileo discovered it first
But all of a sudden, just like that, my father...
...had rediscovered why the earth goes round the sun...
...exactly as Galileo did originally
So he stopped eating mashed potatoes and said: "I've got it!"
Me, I made a crack, and got the mashed potatoes in my face
Did I tell you I saw that guy again?
The one we went to Fontainebleau with?
I hadn't heard about that
Surely Madeleine told you we went with him?
- Remember how cross you were after? - Not about that
I thought you were angry about...
Nothing; you'd be hurt
Tell me, anyway
It was nothing
The guy wants to go again this weekend, because...
...he saw you with me and wants to bring his woman
- Poor Paul! - Why?
We're not the sort of girls for you
What bloody business is it of yours?
I repeat: What bloody business is it of yours?
I just mentioned it
I don't care, anyway; Madeleine's pregnant
She isn't; I know her
I don't think you do, really
She takes her temperature before sleeping around
She's very careful
I'm still out of breath
- I've been rushing - It doesn't show
Feel
Well, really!
Oh, come on. He's entitled to that
I met Sylvie at the studio; she gave me a signed copy of her record
Here you are
Something less hip for you
Yes, I'd rather have had Bach's Concerto in D
May I wait until you've finished?
Look, I think I know that woman
She's the one who took a shot at her husband
I don't think it's the same woman
She's hustling
I haven't much money
I have to economize if I'm to see the châteaux on the Loire
How much can you give me?
That's too much
How much do you have on you?
Not much; why, do you have different prices?
It depends on what you want
Let me work it out
Are you German?
I'm not French, and people think I'm German...
...but I hate the Germans
Because my parents died in Germany
Whereabouts?
Never heard of concentration camps?
I'm fed up with people saying things like that
I was ten years old at the time; you, too, probably
Maybe you were, but your father wasn't
I dissociate myself from him
It must be strange, screwing fifty guys a day
I don't suppose it's more than two or three
No, at weekends they do over a hundred in the slums
Who's to blame, then?
- Laughing on your lonesome? - That's why I'm laughing
She looks just like Brigitte Bardot, doesn't she?
No, the sequence doesn't work; I'd marked it already
You don't take it quickly enough
Vauthier's direction says "quickly"
I love sham, I love lies, everything phoney...
...everything secret, caressing, reassuring and false
You've got to go much quicker; the same with the accident bit
After the guy's run over?
Yes, the rhythm's wrong there; it says "in convulsive snatches"
It was terrible, whoever was at fault; and what did I say?
There's one idiot the less
It says "quickly"
He should have been more careful; nobody loves a loser
The same goes for the visit to the housing project
It says "with a sort of wild enthusiasm"
The memory of the marvellous innovation will remain
The play isn't called The Marvels for nothing
She speaks "ardently": A vast area raised by human hand...
...and where there was nothing, endless identical boxes
I think you must try to forget you've rehearsed it, forget it all
Do it as if you were reading it for the first time
Just read it any old how
All right, I'll try
It was constructed, it was perverse
There was no one there. The people had gone, leaving their traces
There was nothing, nothing at all
They were lost and happy, nothing left to desire
Got any change? Neither have I
What are you doing there, Paul?
I'm going for a pee
It's the sub-titled version
Good; dubbing's strictly for suckers
Get lost, punk!
Down with the republic of rat-finks
Don't mess about, Paul
Make your minds up
I love you, you silly oaf
- Have you finished, darlings? - Shut up, Trotskyite!
They're cropping the picture; I'll go and complain
Where's the projection box?
"The film should be projected in the ratio in which it was shot
"The ratio of 1:1.85 constitutes a limit which should not be exceeded...
"...in accordance with standards set by international agreement"
We master ideas, which are nothing, but not our emotions, which are all
What's happening?
A man and a woman in a foreign city...
- I don't like it; let's leave - I want to see it
Oh, let's go. All this eroticism is disgusting, anyway
Speak for yourself
Come on, let's go
- Are you staying? - Yes, I am
At movies...
...the screen would light up and we'd shiver
But more often we'd be disappointed, Madeleine and I
The images seemed old and flickery; Marilyn Monroe had aged terribly
We were sad
This wasn't the film we'd imagined...
...the perfect film each of us carried within...
...the film we would like to have made, or perhaps even to have lived
Why do you find discussion so difficult?
The government won't let workers go to university
They're afraid, so they shut us out
It's the lack of money that does it
You need to learn how to say what you want
What was it you were trying to tell me?
- Why do you love Paul, not me? - I don't love Paul; Madeleine does
- Oh, sure. Why? - I don't want to talk about it
Because it's none of your business
- Don't you like going out with boys? - It depends on the boy
Are you going out with someone just now?
Mind your own business
- Where do you want to take me? - To the cinema
- Do you often take girls out? - Now and again
What kind of girls?
Just girls
What's your boy friend like?
I'm not going out with anyone special just now
- So you sleep around? - No, I don't sleep around
You just said you did
I said I'm not going out with anyone special
There's a difference between going out and sleeping with
- Have you any ideas about democracy? - Not particularly
Are you interested in what goes on around you?
Of course, but it depends on what it is
Politics don't interest me, but there are other things
I can't think offhand...
...but there are all sorts of things I'm interested in
Well, I read the newspapers, for instance...
...and if it's an interesting article, I go on; if not, I skip
You don't like being bored?
Why won't you speak about yourself?
Because it's none of your business and I don't see any point in it
What good would it do you?
I'm none of your business
Do you often go with whores?
Now and then
If you can't find a girl?
No, not because I can't find a girl
I can't... I like whores in a way, for lots of reasons
- How much does it cost? - I never pay
About us going out...
- You prefer going out with Paul? - Listen, I don't go out with Paul
The way you look at him, I'd say you were in love
I'm not; don't go on about it
- Are you in love with anyone? - No, why?
Really? No kidding?
Do you think I'm prettier than Madeleine?
No, physically I prefer Madeleine
Madeleine said she'd shown you her breasts; is it true?
I don't remember
That's not true
Did she show them to Paul?
- Like to talk about Paul, don't you? - Don't go on so!
- Don't you like going out with boys? - It depends on the boy
What kind do you like?
No particular kind, but I know right away
- Johnny Halliday? - Not likely!
- General de Gaulle? - No fear!
Who, then? American film stars?
I get the feeling I'd seen you somewhere before Paul introduced you
Maybe in a bar in Montparnasse?
Could be, I'm often around the Montparnasse bars
Doing what?
Talking to friends, playing pinball machines
Don't you like talking about yourself?
Because it's none of your business
- But you're your business - Yes, but I'm not yours
- Why not talk, then? - Because I don't concern you
But I love you, so I want to know what you're like
Well, if it isn't mutual, it's just egoism on your part
- Do you sleep with boys sometimes? - No, why?
- Never? - Mind your own business!
- Have you ever made love? - Mind your own business
- What's the paper? - My lecture to the cell
- What's it about? - The revolution
Why is a workman described as skilled, but not actors or clerks?
I go into that. There are three categories of skilled worker
Being capable of executing a complete revolution, I belong to the third
What is a complete revolution?
Take a piece of complex machinery, for instance
You're given the raw material and the design...
...showing what it should be like when finished
There's no time to lose, so you must be capable...
...of exceptional precision in thought as well as gesture...
...visualizing at once not only how to do it, but each stage in the operation
You have each stage clearly in mind, even before you start
You take it up and you know exactly what you have to do
And as you work, your mind can see what must come next
You have already foreseen the necessary tools and phases
This is known as a revolution; this, too, is the revolutionary spirit
THIS FILM COULD BE CALLED
THE CHILDREN OF MARX AND COCA-COLA
MAKE OF IT WHAT YOU WILL
Got a light?
My matches!
Kiss the children
- My matches! - Let this poor Messiah pass
I want to see what he does
He poured petrol over himself and set fire to it
He can't have, he'd have cried out; I heard nothing
He'd put sticking-plaster over his mouth to silence himself
Why would he do it outside the American Hospital?
There's a piece of paper; go and look for yourself
What does it say?
"Peace in Vietnam". He's dead
Kill a man and you're a murderer
Kill thousands and you're a conqueror
Kill them all and you're a god
God doesn't exist
We'll soon see
- Do you love Madeleine? - Don't start that again!
First tell me your name and I'll tell you mine
Let's go far away from here and then we'll talk
I don't want anyone to know I've met you
I don't want them to say you've kissed me
What is it? Can't you go away?
Watch your p's, Madeleine
It's the echo; I can't hear what I'm singing
Watch my baton, Madeleine
Not bad, Madeleine... it was so-so
Did you like it? Was it good?
Could we re-do that tomorrow? I'm not so good there
All right, three o'clock tomorrow
Someone from Radio Europe One is waiting for you
Madeleine Zimmer? Did the session go well?
Very well. I must speak to my secretary
The car, Paul
- What car? - Don't be thick
- How do I get a car? - Use those cool wits you boast about
Shut up!
I'll phone
Your favourite singers?
The Beatles; and for the classics, Bach
Bach seems rather surprising, given the kind of songs you sing
They don't rule each other out, you know
- Any special traits? - Well, I hardly ever wear make-up
And I like flat shoes and short skirts
You like the young look?
In America you see billboards along the highways saying:
"You're in the Pepsi Generation"
I love Pepsi-Cola, really I do
Well, we look forward to your third record
- What about the car? - What car? Did you steal one?
You haven't the guts, you're no Pierrot le Fou
No? Well, I phoned the War Ministry
"This is General Doinel", I said. "Where the hell's my car?"
It may not come; Robert and I have worked the trick before
Long live the French army!
January to March: I continue my survey
Do you like cheese in tubes?
Do you read?
What is a cadre?
What do you think of short skirts?
What do you do at an accident?
Suppose your fiancée took up with a black?
Do you know there's a famine in India? What is a communist?
Do you take the pill?
Or do you prefer vaginal contraception?
Why are society women more often frigid than working class women?
Do you know the Kurds are at war with Iraq?
Gradually I began to realize that such questions...
...often distorted rather than reflected a collective mentality
My own lack of objectivity, even though unconscious...
...was inevitably matched by insincerity in those I questioned
Unaware of deceiving them, I may have been deceived, too. Why?
Probably because such surveys tend to forget their real objective...
...seeking value judgements, instead of observing behaviour
I discovered that all these questions I was asking French people...
...expressed an ideology of the past and not of the present
I had to remain vigilant; I had gleaned a few insights as guidelines
A philosopher is a man who pits his awareness against opinion
To be a aware is to be open to the world
To be honest is to act as though time didn't exist
To see life, to really see it, that is what wisdom means
What happened?
He inherited some money from his mother and bought a flat
Nobody really believed it until Elisabeth and Madeleine saw the flat
It was in a tower block being built at Neuilly
They talked about furnishing the rooms...
...the kitchen, the dining-room and so on
They had a quarrel
I think because Madeleine wanted Elisabeth to live with them
Anyway, Paul apparently wanted to take some photographs
He must have retreated too far and he fell
I can't believe it was suicide; it was a stupid accident
Madeleine Zimmer?
What happened?
It happened exactly as Catherine told you... exactly
Your friend Elisabeth says you're pregnant. What will you do?
I don't know
I'm not sure
I don't know... Elisabeth mentioned curtain rods...
I'm not sure