1 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:48,399 Very early in my life it was too late. 2 00:02:48,434 --> 00:02:51,525 At 18, it was already too late. 3 00:02:51,567 --> 00:02:53,795 At 18, I aged. 4 00:02:53,834 --> 00:02:56,323 This aging was brutal. 5 00:02:56,367 --> 00:02:59,799 This aging, I saw it spread over my features... 6 00:02:59,834 --> 00:03:02,027 one by one. 7 00:03:02,067 --> 00:03:04,499 Instead of being frightened by it... 8 00:03:04,534 --> 00:03:06,965 I saw this aging of my face... 9 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:09,057 with the same sort of interest... 10 00:03:09,100 --> 00:03:11,623 I might have taken, for example... 11 00:03:11,668 --> 00:03:13,896 in the reading of a book. 12 00:03:13,934 --> 00:03:16,560 That new face, I kept it. 13 00:03:16,601 --> 00:03:18,692 It's kept the same contours... 14 00:03:18,734 --> 00:03:21,292 but its matter is destroyed. 15 00:03:21,335 --> 00:03:24,323 I have a destroyed face. 16 00:03:25,868 --> 00:03:27,834 Let me tell you again. 17 00:03:27,868 --> 00:03:29,766 I'm 15 1/2. 18 00:03:29,801 --> 00:03:33,029 It's the crossing of a ferry on the Mekong. 19 00:04:31,735 --> 00:04:33,428 Look at me. 20 00:04:33,468 --> 00:04:35,435 I'm 15 1/2. 21 00:04:58,169 --> 00:05:00,657 It's the crossing of the river. 22 00:05:00,702 --> 00:05:03,430 When I go back to Saigon... 23 00:05:03,469 --> 00:05:05,731 it's as though I'm on a journey... 24 00:05:05,770 --> 00:05:08,234 especially when I take the bus. 25 00:05:08,268 --> 00:05:11,723 That day, it's the end of the school holidays. 26 00:05:11,769 --> 00:05:14,361 I don't remember which one. 27 00:05:14,403 --> 00:05:17,233 I went to spend it in Sa-Dec with my two brothers... 28 00:05:17,269 --> 00:05:19,861 in my mother's tight house... 29 00:05:19,903 --> 00:05:22,233 behind the bush school... 30 00:05:22,269 --> 00:05:25,463 in the horror of the Sa-Dec house. 31 00:06:02,470 --> 00:06:03,992 The big pieces are mine. 32 00:06:10,803 --> 00:06:13,860 Why yours? 33 00:06:13,903 --> 00:06:16,392 Because that's the way it is. 34 00:06:16,437 --> 00:06:17,732 I wish you'd die. 35 00:07:33,205 --> 00:07:34,637 Paul? 36 00:07:39,038 --> 00:07:40,334 Paulo? 37 00:07:46,705 --> 00:07:48,694 Paul, come to bed. 38 00:07:50,839 --> 00:07:53,430 You mustn't be afraid anymore. 39 00:07:53,471 --> 00:07:55,959 Not of Pierre, not of anything. 40 00:07:57,138 --> 00:07:59,001 Never again, you know. 41 00:08:00,071 --> 00:08:01,628 Never again. 42 00:08:21,339 --> 00:08:23,860 He came back? 43 00:08:23,904 --> 00:08:25,734 I see him on the balcony... 44 00:08:25,772 --> 00:08:28,237 sleeping in the night outside... 45 00:08:28,271 --> 00:08:29,737 doesn't want to go to his room. 46 00:08:29,772 --> 00:08:31,329 He's too scared of Pierre. 47 00:08:33,805 --> 00:08:36,704 Me, it's when he's outside that I'm afraid. 48 00:08:38,606 --> 00:08:40,298 I'm afraid he'll leave like that. 49 00:08:40,338 --> 00:08:41,804 He'll get lost. 50 00:08:41,839 --> 00:08:44,203 It can happen with that kind of child. 51 00:08:44,239 --> 00:08:46,501 That's not true. 52 00:08:46,539 --> 00:08:48,061 You're not afraid for Paul. 53 00:08:48,105 --> 00:08:50,401 You're only afraid for Pierre. 54 00:08:50,439 --> 00:08:51,928 Why is it that you love him so much... 55 00:08:51,973 --> 00:08:55,166 and not us... never? 56 00:08:56,905 --> 00:08:59,428 I love all three of my children the same. 57 00:08:59,472 --> 00:09:01,870 That's not true. It's not true! 58 00:09:01,906 --> 00:09:04,736 Answer! Why is it that you love him so much... 59 00:09:04,773 --> 00:09:06,137 and not us? 60 00:09:10,772 --> 00:09:12,170 I don't know why. 61 00:09:21,273 --> 00:09:22,466 Yesterday... 62 00:09:23,773 --> 00:09:26,068 I wrote to Saigon... 63 00:09:26,105 --> 00:09:28,469 to ask for Pierre's repatriation. 64 00:09:28,506 --> 00:09:29,665 What? 65 00:09:29,706 --> 00:09:31,672 I'm sending him back to France. 66 00:09:31,706 --> 00:09:33,434 You're happy? 67 00:09:33,472 --> 00:09:36,496 He stole at the opium den again. 68 00:09:38,373 --> 00:09:40,531 I can't pay any longer. 69 00:09:41,873 --> 00:09:42,861 It's over. 70 00:09:46,006 --> 00:09:47,835 It's not possible anymore. 71 00:09:56,573 --> 00:09:59,301 Mom, hurry up, or I'll miss the bus. 72 00:11:12,974 --> 00:11:14,463 Bye, Paulo. 73 00:11:32,908 --> 00:11:35,101 Take care. 74 00:11:35,142 --> 00:11:36,801 Yes, Mom. 75 00:11:36,842 --> 00:11:38,569 When are you coming back? 76 00:11:38,608 --> 00:11:41,073 For Mardi Gras. I already told you. 77 00:11:41,107 --> 00:11:42,936 Oh. I forgot. 78 00:11:59,241 --> 00:12:01,037 So that day... 79 00:12:01,075 --> 00:12:03,303 I'm going back to Saigon. 80 00:12:03,342 --> 00:12:08,104 I'm wearing my cabaret shoes and my man's hat. 81 00:12:08,142 --> 00:12:11,596 No woman, no young girl wears a man's fedora... 82 00:12:11,641 --> 00:12:14,607 in that colony in those days. 83 00:12:14,641 --> 00:12:16,937 No native woman, either. 84 00:12:16,975 --> 00:12:19,771 That hat, I never leave it. 85 00:12:19,809 --> 00:12:22,775 I have that, this hat. 86 00:12:22,809 --> 00:12:25,706 That all by itself makes me whole. 87 00:12:25,741 --> 00:12:27,832 I'm never without it. 88 00:13:35,176 --> 00:13:36,665 So it's the crossing... 89 00:13:36,710 --> 00:13:38,972 of one of the branches of the Mekong... 90 00:13:39,010 --> 00:13:42,702 on the ferry that's between Vinh Long and Sa-Dec... 91 00:13:42,742 --> 00:13:46,140 in the great plains of mud and rice... 92 00:13:46,176 --> 00:13:48,233 of southern Indochina... 93 00:13:48,276 --> 00:13:50,265 the plain of the birds. 94 00:15:31,945 --> 00:15:35,070 Excuse me, mademoiselle. Do you smoke? 95 00:15:37,945 --> 00:15:39,275 No, thank you. 96 00:16:00,945 --> 00:16:02,468 I'm sorry. 97 00:16:02,512 --> 00:16:04,171 It's so surprising... 98 00:16:04,212 --> 00:16:07,804 a young white girl on a native bus. 99 00:16:21,112 --> 00:16:24,510 I like your hat. It's original... 100 00:16:24,546 --> 00:16:27,534 a man's hat on a young girl. 101 00:16:32,046 --> 00:16:33,511 And you're pretty. 102 00:16:33,545 --> 00:16:36,034 You can do anything you like. 103 00:16:41,546 --> 00:16:42,909 You're who? 104 00:16:46,812 --> 00:16:50,176 - I live in Vinh Long. - Where in Vinh Long? 105 00:16:50,213 --> 00:16:54,578 On the river just outside. The big house with the terraces. 106 00:16:54,613 --> 00:16:56,704 The blue stone one? 107 00:16:56,746 --> 00:16:58,143 Yes. 108 00:16:58,179 --> 00:17:00,270 It's a Chinese house. 109 00:17:00,313 --> 00:17:02,676 I am Chinese. 110 00:17:03,812 --> 00:17:05,779 Chinese. 111 00:17:05,813 --> 00:17:08,677 He's from that financial minority... 112 00:17:08,713 --> 00:17:11,440 that owns all the popular housing of the colony. 113 00:17:11,479 --> 00:17:13,206 He's back from Paris... 114 00:17:13,246 --> 00:17:16,269 where he undertook some business studies. 115 00:17:16,313 --> 00:17:17,540 He's the one... 116 00:17:17,580 --> 00:17:20,603 who was crossing the Mekong that day... 117 00:17:20,646 --> 00:17:22,407 towards Saigon. 118 00:17:23,513 --> 00:17:27,445 If you want, I can drive you to Saigon. 119 00:18:04,514 --> 00:18:06,377 Do you know her? 120 00:18:06,414 --> 00:18:08,403 She's the administrator's wife... 121 00:18:08,447 --> 00:18:10,743 Mrs. Stretter, Anne-Marie. 122 00:18:13,413 --> 00:18:14,879 Do you want one? 123 00:18:14,913 --> 00:18:16,742 Yes, thank you. 124 00:18:29,113 --> 00:18:31,477 Is it true, that story about the young man... 125 00:18:31,514 --> 00:18:34,344 who killed himself for her? 126 00:18:34,380 --> 00:18:35,368 Don't know. 127 00:18:43,180 --> 00:18:44,703 Yes, it's true. 128 00:18:45,881 --> 00:18:48,847 On the marketplace at Louang Prabang... 129 00:18:48,881 --> 00:18:50,642 the day she left. 130 00:18:50,681 --> 00:18:52,375 He was her lover. 131 00:19:32,814 --> 00:19:34,804 The smoke doesn't bother you? 132 00:19:34,849 --> 00:19:36,314 I mean, in here? 133 00:19:36,348 --> 00:19:37,837 No, not at all. 134 00:19:55,648 --> 00:19:57,773 You're at Saigon High School? 135 00:19:57,815 --> 00:19:59,905 Yes, but I sleep elsewhere... 136 00:19:59,948 --> 00:20:03,312 at the Lyautey Boardinghouse. 137 00:20:03,348 --> 00:20:04,712 Do you like studying? 138 00:20:04,748 --> 00:20:06,839 Yes. I find it interesting. 139 00:20:11,115 --> 00:20:12,547 What grade are you in? 140 00:20:12,583 --> 00:20:14,548 11th. 141 00:20:14,582 --> 00:20:16,605 And you're... 142 00:20:16,648 --> 00:20:18,671 uh... 17. 143 00:20:18,715 --> 00:20:19,874 And you? 144 00:20:21,182 --> 00:20:22,943 32... 145 00:20:22,982 --> 00:20:24,846 and jobless. 146 00:20:24,883 --> 00:20:26,940 And Chinese, what's more. 147 00:20:29,782 --> 00:20:33,112 What's more... yes. 148 00:20:35,683 --> 00:20:38,672 You look so beautiful when you say that. 149 00:20:57,683 --> 00:21:00,410 Since my mother's death, my father has lived on his cot. 150 00:21:00,449 --> 00:21:02,210 He never leaves his opium pipe... 151 00:21:02,249 --> 00:21:05,045 and he nearly doesn't eat anymore. 152 00:21:05,083 --> 00:21:07,742 I never guessed the depth of their fondness. 153 00:21:07,783 --> 00:21:09,578 There it's been 10 years... 154 00:21:09,616 --> 00:21:12,242 that's he's taken care of his business like that... 155 00:21:12,283 --> 00:21:14,248 from his bed. 156 00:21:14,282 --> 00:21:17,248 He stares at the river, you see. 157 00:21:17,282 --> 00:21:18,270 I see. 158 00:21:21,283 --> 00:21:23,942 Yes, I miss Paris... 159 00:21:23,983 --> 00:21:25,176 the parties, 160 00:21:25,217 --> 00:21:27,683 the evenings in Montparnasse... 161 00:21:27,717 --> 00:21:29,113 the coupole. 162 00:21:30,549 --> 00:21:32,515 Do you know the coupole? 163 00:21:32,549 --> 00:21:34,175 I went to France once. 164 00:21:34,217 --> 00:21:37,012 It was in the north, near the Belgian border. 165 00:21:37,050 --> 00:21:39,710 I only know here... the Mekong, Saigon. 166 00:21:39,750 --> 00:21:40,841 You like Saigon? 167 00:21:40,884 --> 00:21:43,281 Yes, I like Saigon. 168 00:21:43,317 --> 00:21:46,680 I like Saigon, too. Cholon above all. 169 00:21:46,716 --> 00:21:49,274 Cholon, it's like China. 170 00:24:56,853 --> 00:24:59,513 That's it. It's here. 171 00:25:43,087 --> 00:25:44,348 Good-bye. 172 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:36,687 You got here earlier than usual. 173 00:26:36,721 --> 00:26:40,278 I met someone on the ferry. He drove me here. 174 00:26:40,321 --> 00:26:42,151 A Chinaman. 175 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:49,584 Helene is the only other white girl... 176 00:26:49,621 --> 00:26:52,178 in the boardinghouse. 177 00:26:52,221 --> 00:26:54,085 Helene, she is immodest. 178 00:26:54,121 --> 00:26:56,586 She doesn't realize. 179 00:26:56,621 --> 00:26:59,678 She walks naked in the dormitory. 180 00:26:59,721 --> 00:27:02,585 She doesn't know that she's very beautiful. 181 00:27:02,621 --> 00:27:03,746 She's innocent... 182 00:27:03,788 --> 00:27:06,276 lingering on in youth. 183 00:27:08,921 --> 00:27:12,547 Hey, I forgot to tell you something. 184 00:27:12,589 --> 00:27:13,646 There's a girl... 185 00:27:13,689 --> 00:27:15,552 the assistant mistresses found her... 186 00:27:15,589 --> 00:27:17,486 she was a prostitute every evening... 187 00:27:17,521 --> 00:27:19,044 behind the wall. 188 00:27:19,088 --> 00:27:20,553 Nobody noticed anything. 189 00:27:20,588 --> 00:27:22,554 - Who? - Alice. 190 00:27:22,588 --> 00:27:24,850 Alice? Who's she going with like that? 191 00:27:24,888 --> 00:27:27,514 Anybody, people walking by. 192 00:27:29,822 --> 00:27:32,083 It's always appealed to me. 193 00:27:32,121 --> 00:27:33,314 What? 194 00:27:34,388 --> 00:27:36,819 To go with men you don't know. 195 00:27:36,855 --> 00:27:39,822 You don't even see them. Nothing. 196 00:27:39,856 --> 00:27:41,788 You'll never know their face. 197 00:27:43,355 --> 00:27:45,322 Do you think we're all like that? 198 00:27:45,355 --> 00:27:48,809 Yes. The assistant mistresses, too. 199 00:27:48,855 --> 00:27:51,617 Every woman. 200 00:27:51,655 --> 00:27:53,245 Actually, I'd rather be a prostitute... 201 00:27:53,288 --> 00:27:55,220 than take care of lepers. 202 00:27:57,022 --> 00:27:59,681 What are you talking about again? 203 00:27:59,722 --> 00:28:01,188 That's what everybody says here. 204 00:28:01,223 --> 00:28:02,586 They say they want us to study... 205 00:28:02,622 --> 00:28:03,882 but it's not true. 206 00:28:03,921 --> 00:28:05,046 They take us into boarding... 207 00:28:05,088 --> 00:28:07,078 so they can send us to the lazarets... 208 00:28:07,121 --> 00:28:08,348 with the lepers, the plague-stricken... 209 00:28:08,388 --> 00:28:10,321 the cholera-ridden. 210 00:28:10,356 --> 00:28:12,345 I'd rather be a prostitute. 211 00:28:20,155 --> 00:28:23,122 They'd be lucky, those men. 212 00:32:15,159 --> 00:32:17,250 I'm the matador. You are the bull. 213 00:32:17,292 --> 00:32:20,122 Eyes on one level. Shoulders straight. 214 00:32:20,159 --> 00:32:22,489 1... 215 00:32:22,526 --> 00:32:23,786 2... 216 00:32:23,825 --> 00:32:25,485 3... 4... 217 00:32:25,526 --> 00:32:27,287 5... 6. 218 00:32:35,892 --> 00:32:37,552 Look over my left shoulder... 219 00:32:37,593 --> 00:32:41,082 back out, arms locked, bottom in. 220 00:32:41,126 --> 00:32:43,183 And 1 and 2 and 3 and 4... 221 00:32:43,227 --> 00:32:45,056 and 5 and 6 and 7 and 8. 222 00:32:45,093 --> 00:32:47,025 And 1 and 2 and 3 and 4. 223 00:32:47,060 --> 00:32:49,548 5, 6, 7, 8. 224 00:32:49,593 --> 00:32:53,048 It happened very quickly that day, a holiday... 225 00:32:53,093 --> 00:32:54,422 a Thursday. 226 00:32:56,126 --> 00:32:58,092 He came that Thursday afternoon... 227 00:32:58,126 --> 00:32:59,592 to the boardinghouse. 228 00:32:59,627 --> 00:33:02,457 He came to wait for her with the big black car. 229 00:34:23,161 --> 00:34:25,184 It's early in the afternoon... 230 00:34:25,228 --> 00:34:27,387 the time of the siesta. 231 00:34:27,428 --> 00:34:29,394 It's in Cholon... 232 00:34:29,428 --> 00:34:31,894 in the alleyways of Cholon... 233 00:34:31,928 --> 00:34:34,552 in the smell of soup, roast meat... 234 00:34:34,594 --> 00:34:37,890 jasmine, dust, charcoal fire... 235 00:34:37,927 --> 00:34:41,416 in the smell of the Chinese town. 236 00:34:52,428 --> 00:34:53,519 Please. 237 00:35:15,928 --> 00:35:18,894 I... I didn't choose the furniture. 238 00:35:18,928 --> 00:35:21,917 It's... it's my father, bought me this. 239 00:35:24,361 --> 00:35:27,328 Young, rich Chinese have mistresses... 240 00:35:27,362 --> 00:35:30,351 and they call this the bachelor's room. 241 00:35:32,495 --> 00:35:34,222 Do you have many mistresses? 242 00:35:36,862 --> 00:35:41,318 Do you like the idea of me having mistresses? 243 00:35:41,362 --> 00:35:43,123 Yes, I do. 244 00:35:50,329 --> 00:35:52,158 So you followed me here... 245 00:35:52,195 --> 00:35:54,320 as you would have followed anyone. 246 00:35:54,362 --> 00:35:56,487 I wouldn't know. 247 00:35:56,529 --> 00:35:59,518 I've never followed anyone into a room yet. 248 00:36:05,362 --> 00:36:09,089 I'm... l'm afraid... 249 00:36:11,863 --> 00:36:14,193 I'm afraid of loving you. 250 00:36:17,396 --> 00:36:20,020 Listen, we'll leave. We'll come back some other time. 251 00:36:20,062 --> 00:36:22,654 Well, I'd rather you didn't love me. 252 00:36:26,462 --> 00:36:29,622 I want you to do as you usually do with other women. 253 00:36:33,163 --> 00:36:34,890 Is that what you want? 254 00:36:43,996 --> 00:36:45,189 Yes. 255 00:37:13,129 --> 00:37:15,288 I know you'll never love me. 256 00:37:18,663 --> 00:37:19,651 I... 257 00:37:20,796 --> 00:37:22,921 I don't know. 258 00:37:22,963 --> 00:37:25,896 I don't want you to talk. 259 00:37:25,930 --> 00:37:27,725 Just do as usual. 260 00:38:08,730 --> 00:38:11,924 He tore the dress off. 261 00:38:11,964 --> 00:38:15,590 He tore the little white underpants off... 262 00:38:15,631 --> 00:38:18,120 and he carried her like that... 263 00:38:18,165 --> 00:38:21,062 naked, to the bed. 264 00:38:59,131 --> 00:39:01,654 Once on the bed... 265 00:39:01,699 --> 00:39:03,858 fear overcomes him. 266 00:39:03,899 --> 00:39:05,194 I can't. 267 00:39:05,232 --> 00:39:06,891 He says it's not true... 268 00:39:06,931 --> 00:39:08,658 that she's too little... 269 00:39:08,698 --> 00:39:11,358 that he can't do such a thing. 270 00:39:11,398 --> 00:39:13,023 So... 271 00:39:31,232 --> 00:39:34,721 So she's the one who does it. 272 00:39:34,765 --> 00:39:37,060 Her eyes closed... 273 00:39:37,098 --> 00:39:40,553 she undresses him... 274 00:39:40,599 --> 00:39:42,758 button by button... 275 00:39:42,799 --> 00:39:44,287 sleeve by sleeve. 276 00:39:46,266 --> 00:39:47,425 The skin. 277 00:39:52,765 --> 00:39:54,526 The skin. 278 00:40:06,265 --> 00:40:10,096 The skin is of a sumptuous softness. 279 00:40:11,099 --> 00:40:13,565 The body is hairless... 280 00:40:13,599 --> 00:40:16,065 without any virility at all... 281 00:40:16,099 --> 00:40:19,793 other than that of the sex. 282 00:40:19,833 --> 00:40:21,991 She doesn't look him in the face. 283 00:40:23,099 --> 00:40:25,224 She touches him. 284 00:40:25,266 --> 00:40:29,062 She touches the softness of the sex... 285 00:40:29,099 --> 00:40:31,065 of the skin. 286 00:40:31,099 --> 00:40:34,793 She caresses the golden hue... 287 00:40:34,833 --> 00:40:36,730 the unknown novelty. 288 00:42:26,934 --> 00:42:29,423 I still see the place of distress... 289 00:42:29,468 --> 00:42:31,331 shipwrecked... 290 00:42:31,368 --> 00:42:32,833 the distempered walls... 291 00:42:32,868 --> 00:42:36,562 the slatted shutters giving up to the furnace. 292 00:42:36,602 --> 00:42:37,760 The soiling of the blood. 293 00:42:57,235 --> 00:42:59,167 I remember well. 294 00:42:59,201 --> 00:43:01,429 The room is dark. 295 00:43:01,468 --> 00:43:02,798 It's surrounded by... 296 00:43:02,835 --> 00:43:06,131 the never-ending clamor of the town... 297 00:43:06,169 --> 00:43:07,895 carried away by the town... 298 00:43:07,934 --> 00:43:10,264 by the flow of the town. 299 00:43:10,301 --> 00:43:13,062 My body was in that public noise... 300 00:43:13,101 --> 00:43:15,659 this passing by from the outside... 301 00:43:15,702 --> 00:43:17,759 exposed. 302 00:43:18,768 --> 00:43:23,632 The sea, I thought... 303 00:43:23,668 --> 00:43:25,861 the immensity. 304 00:43:37,902 --> 00:43:40,459 What are you thinking about? 305 00:43:44,302 --> 00:43:45,461 They're dead. 306 00:43:58,135 --> 00:44:00,033 Did it hurt you? 307 00:44:01,703 --> 00:44:02,964 No. 308 00:44:09,802 --> 00:44:10,893 Are you sad? 309 00:44:13,903 --> 00:44:15,698 Yes, I guess. 310 00:44:15,736 --> 00:44:17,599 A little. 311 00:44:17,636 --> 00:44:19,159 I don't know. 312 00:44:23,969 --> 00:44:27,766 It's because we've made love during the daytime... 313 00:44:27,803 --> 00:44:29,928 in the dead of the heat. 314 00:44:30,936 --> 00:44:32,731 No. 315 00:44:32,769 --> 00:44:34,235 It's me. 316 00:44:35,604 --> 00:44:37,832 I'm always a little sad. 317 00:44:40,102 --> 00:44:41,591 I'm like my mother. 318 00:44:43,369 --> 00:44:44,801 When I told her I'd be a writer... 319 00:44:44,836 --> 00:44:46,825 she shrugged. 320 00:44:46,870 --> 00:44:48,836 She said it's not work... 321 00:44:48,870 --> 00:44:50,734 it's a childish idea. 322 00:44:50,770 --> 00:44:54,223 She wants me to do maths, my mother does... 323 00:44:54,269 --> 00:44:55,667 to earn money. 324 00:44:57,237 --> 00:44:59,226 What do you want to write? 325 00:44:59,270 --> 00:45:00,395 Books. 326 00:45:00,437 --> 00:45:01,733 Novels... 327 00:45:01,770 --> 00:45:03,736 about my elder brother... 328 00:45:03,770 --> 00:45:05,235 to kill him... 329 00:45:05,270 --> 00:45:07,236 to see him in pain... 330 00:45:07,270 --> 00:45:08,997 to make him die. 331 00:45:10,270 --> 00:45:13,725 About my younger brother to save him. 332 00:45:13,769 --> 00:45:15,759 And about that... 333 00:45:15,804 --> 00:45:19,100 about my mother's sadness. 334 00:45:19,137 --> 00:45:21,262 About the lack of money, about shame. 335 00:45:22,704 --> 00:45:24,567 I know the bad luck with your mother... 336 00:45:24,604 --> 00:45:26,536 and the tragedies she's lived. 337 00:45:26,570 --> 00:45:29,161 How do you know? 338 00:45:29,203 --> 00:45:31,294 Through the servants. 339 00:45:31,337 --> 00:45:32,598 Through my driver. 340 00:45:33,704 --> 00:45:36,193 You know everything through the servants. 341 00:45:39,570 --> 00:45:42,161 I know about your elder brother, too. 342 00:45:42,203 --> 00:45:46,659 I met him in the opium dens along the riverside. 343 00:45:46,704 --> 00:45:48,500 He smokes too much. 344 00:45:49,704 --> 00:45:52,227 Much too much. 345 00:45:52,271 --> 00:45:54,202 The whites don't know how to smoke. 346 00:45:55,403 --> 00:45:56,835 He's an animal. 347 00:45:56,871 --> 00:45:58,700 He scares me. 348 00:46:00,204 --> 00:46:03,170 He steals from my mother to go smoke. 349 00:46:03,204 --> 00:46:05,568 He steals from the servants. 350 00:46:05,605 --> 00:46:07,798 My mother never says anything. 351 00:46:07,838 --> 00:46:09,030 He's her favorite. 352 00:46:11,670 --> 00:46:14,637 Since my father died, there's no money in the house. 353 00:46:16,471 --> 00:46:18,369 My mother lost everything here. 354 00:46:20,204 --> 00:46:22,068 She made all the wrong choices. 355 00:46:24,271 --> 00:46:26,032 So how do you manage? 356 00:46:28,137 --> 00:46:31,001 We do the best we can. 357 00:46:31,037 --> 00:46:32,594 We're shameless. 358 00:46:34,138 --> 00:46:36,626 We do the best we can. 359 00:46:46,972 --> 00:46:50,927 Did you come here because I've got money? 360 00:46:50,972 --> 00:46:52,461 I don't know. 361 00:46:55,638 --> 00:46:58,127 I came because I liked you. 362 00:47:00,538 --> 00:47:03,266 Would you like me if I were poor? 363 00:47:05,172 --> 00:47:07,604 I like you the way you are... 364 00:47:07,639 --> 00:47:09,126 with your money. 365 00:47:44,972 --> 00:47:46,438 I want to... 366 00:47:46,472 --> 00:47:48,631 take you away. 367 00:47:48,672 --> 00:47:49,797 I'd like to take you away... 368 00:47:49,839 --> 00:47:51,930 leave with you. 369 00:47:51,973 --> 00:47:53,802 I can't leave without my mother yet. 370 00:47:53,839 --> 00:47:56,430 I'm too little. 371 00:47:56,472 --> 00:47:58,802 I can't leave my mother nor my little brother. 372 00:47:58,839 --> 00:48:00,066 Not yet. 373 00:48:14,472 --> 00:48:17,462 I had asked him to do it again and again. 374 00:48:17,506 --> 00:48:20,267 To do it to me. 375 00:48:20,306 --> 00:48:22,534 He had done it. 376 00:48:22,573 --> 00:48:27,698 He had done it in the unctuousness of blood. 377 00:48:27,739 --> 00:48:30,967 I think he's used to it. 378 00:48:31,006 --> 00:48:32,972 This is what he does in life... 379 00:48:33,006 --> 00:48:35,598 Love. Nothing else. 380 00:48:35,640 --> 00:48:37,230 I'm very lucky. 381 00:48:37,273 --> 00:48:42,433 Obviously, it's as if it were a profession he'd have. 382 00:48:42,473 --> 00:48:44,870 He's on me... 383 00:48:44,906 --> 00:48:47,873 he engulfs himself again. 384 00:48:47,907 --> 00:48:51,395 We stay like that, nailed... 385 00:48:51,440 --> 00:48:54,701 moaning in the clamor of the town. 386 00:49:10,440 --> 00:49:12,929 You see... 387 00:49:12,974 --> 00:49:16,202 you'll remember this afternoon all your life... 388 00:49:17,406 --> 00:49:20,202 even if you've forgotten my face... 389 00:49:20,241 --> 00:49:21,729 my name. 390 00:49:25,840 --> 00:49:28,328 Do you think I'll remember the room? 391 00:49:30,274 --> 00:49:32,331 Take a good look at it. 392 00:49:40,840 --> 00:49:42,396 It's like anywhere. 393 00:49:44,207 --> 00:49:46,002 That's it. 394 00:49:46,040 --> 00:49:48,506 It's like always. 395 00:50:23,208 --> 00:50:25,332 I wonder how I found the strength... 396 00:50:25,374 --> 00:50:29,636 to go against the forbidden with this calm... 397 00:50:29,674 --> 00:50:31,640 this determination... 398 00:50:31,674 --> 00:50:34,572 how I succeeded in going all the way... 399 00:50:34,608 --> 00:50:36,801 to the end of the idea. 400 00:50:36,841 --> 00:50:39,831 How could I have taken so much pleasure... 401 00:50:39,876 --> 00:50:43,205 for me alone with this unknown man? 402 00:51:31,442 --> 00:51:32,874 My mother... 403 00:51:32,909 --> 00:51:35,875 she'll kill me if she finds out the truth. 404 00:51:35,909 --> 00:51:37,875 My brother, he'd kill you. 405 00:51:37,909 --> 00:51:39,875 Imagine... 406 00:51:39,909 --> 00:51:41,670 with a Chinaman. 407 00:51:46,775 --> 00:51:48,503 Since I've been little... 408 00:51:48,542 --> 00:51:51,509 she tells me that here in the colonies... 409 00:51:51,543 --> 00:51:54,008 a girl that isn't a virgin anymore... 410 00:51:54,042 --> 00:51:56,008 can no longer find a husband. 411 00:51:56,042 --> 00:51:57,905 Do you think that's true? 412 00:51:57,942 --> 00:52:01,102 Yes. Your mother's right. 413 00:52:01,142 --> 00:52:03,301 It's no longer possible after that... 414 00:52:03,343 --> 00:52:06,366 that dishonor. 415 00:52:06,409 --> 00:52:07,875 For instance... 416 00:52:07,910 --> 00:52:10,375 if I wanted to marry you... 417 00:52:10,409 --> 00:52:13,239 well, it would not be allowed. 418 00:52:13,276 --> 00:52:16,242 We can't tolerate the idea of that. 419 00:52:16,276 --> 00:52:17,401 I'm Chinese. 420 00:52:17,443 --> 00:52:18,807 I'm sorry. 421 00:52:18,843 --> 00:52:21,741 Now that you've done that with me... 422 00:52:21,776 --> 00:52:24,334 marriage between us would be impossible. 423 00:52:26,042 --> 00:52:28,803 Well, then, it's for the best, then. 424 00:52:28,842 --> 00:52:31,832 Chinese... I don't like Chinese very much. 425 00:53:12,177 --> 00:53:13,336 Hey. 426 00:53:15,277 --> 00:53:16,436 Hey. 427 00:53:17,810 --> 00:53:19,208 Can I come into your bed? 428 00:53:19,244 --> 00:53:21,676 No, not now. 429 00:53:23,577 --> 00:53:26,135 I'll tell you about it tomorrow. 430 00:53:39,044 --> 00:53:41,272 What's wrong? What's the matter? 431 00:54:07,645 --> 00:54:09,974 What's she doing in that new car there? 432 00:54:20,944 --> 00:54:22,035 Hello. 433 00:54:55,212 --> 00:54:57,200 Wait. Wait. 434 00:58:08,715 --> 00:58:11,738 Don't be bashful. It's a wonderful report. 435 00:58:20,114 --> 00:58:24,047 She's the sole heiress, and I'm the sole heir. 436 00:58:24,082 --> 00:58:26,048 The date has been set for years. 437 00:58:26,082 --> 00:58:28,241 That's another reason I came back from France. 438 00:58:33,815 --> 00:58:36,304 - You love her? - No. 439 00:58:37,315 --> 00:58:39,712 I don't know her. 440 00:58:39,748 --> 00:58:40,873 For us... 441 00:58:40,915 --> 00:58:43,642 marriages are arranged by the families. 442 00:58:43,681 --> 00:58:47,272 We know that a future together is unthinkable... 443 00:58:47,314 --> 00:58:49,144 so we speak of the future... 444 00:58:49,182 --> 00:58:50,977 in a casual manner... 445 00:58:51,015 --> 00:58:54,277 without any involvement, detached. 446 00:58:54,315 --> 00:58:56,110 And the two families got together... 447 00:58:56,148 --> 00:58:57,637 to hide their wealth away. 448 00:58:58,982 --> 00:59:02,176 It's so much the customs of ancient... 449 00:59:02,215 --> 00:59:03,680 or modern China. 450 00:59:05,315 --> 00:59:08,804 We don't think we could do anything any other way. 451 00:59:12,083 --> 00:59:13,548 He's never had a job. 452 00:59:13,582 --> 00:59:16,047 He says that if he was poor... 453 00:59:16,082 --> 00:59:17,775 it would be terrible. 454 00:59:17,815 --> 00:59:19,839 He'd be much too lazy to work. 455 00:59:19,882 --> 00:59:22,872 It's opium that takes away the strength. 456 00:59:22,916 --> 00:59:24,041 No. 457 00:59:24,083 --> 00:59:27,049 It's wealth that takes his strength away. 458 00:59:27,083 --> 00:59:28,708 He does nothing. 459 00:59:28,748 --> 00:59:29,873 Nothing. 460 00:59:29,915 --> 00:59:31,438 Only love. 461 00:59:33,249 --> 00:59:34,715 But it's funny... 462 00:59:34,749 --> 00:59:37,408 because that's the way I desire him. 463 00:59:48,249 --> 00:59:49,875 Do you still love me? 464 01:00:37,516 --> 01:00:39,243 We are lovers. 465 01:00:39,283 --> 01:00:42,909 Every day we go back to the bachelor's room. 466 01:00:42,950 --> 01:00:44,778 We can't stop loving. 467 01:00:46,083 --> 01:00:47,413 This takes place... 468 01:00:47,450 --> 01:00:51,405 in the sleazy district of Cholon every evening. 469 01:00:51,450 --> 01:00:53,007 Every evening... 470 01:00:53,050 --> 01:00:56,016 the little one comes to receive the pleasure... 471 01:00:56,050 --> 01:00:59,846 that makes one scream from this dark man... 472 01:00:59,884 --> 01:01:01,941 this man from Cholon... 473 01:01:01,984 --> 01:01:03,711 from China. 474 01:04:00,320 --> 01:04:01,478 Hi, Mom. 475 01:04:12,187 --> 01:04:13,346 Hi, Paul. 476 01:04:38,686 --> 01:04:43,142 Now and then I go back to the house in Sa-Dec... 477 01:04:43,187 --> 01:04:46,175 to the horror of the house in Sa-Dec. 478 01:04:47,187 --> 01:04:48,652 It's an unbearable place. 479 01:04:48,686 --> 01:04:50,709 It's close to death... 480 01:04:50,753 --> 01:04:52,276 a place of violence... 481 01:04:52,320 --> 01:04:55,650 of pain, of despair, of dishonor. 482 01:04:57,220 --> 01:04:59,186 I forbid you to slam doors! 483 01:04:59,220 --> 01:05:00,743 Do you hear me? 484 01:05:02,920 --> 01:05:04,715 Who drove you back from Saigon? 485 01:05:04,753 --> 01:05:07,151 I told you. A friend. He lives in Vinh Long. 486 01:05:07,187 --> 01:05:08,813 He offered to drop me off on his way through. 487 01:05:08,854 --> 01:05:10,319 He's a friend! That's all. 488 01:05:10,354 --> 01:05:11,820 Who in Vinh Long? 489 01:05:11,854 --> 01:05:13,911 You wouldn't know him. 490 01:05:13,954 --> 01:05:16,078 He just got back from Paris. 491 01:05:16,120 --> 01:05:18,086 A friend. A rich friend. 492 01:05:18,120 --> 01:05:21,245 Not everybody's lucky enough to be poor. 493 01:05:21,287 --> 01:05:23,583 And this... 494 01:05:23,621 --> 01:05:25,019 what's this? 495 01:05:25,054 --> 01:05:27,350 A piece of blue paper. 496 01:05:27,388 --> 01:05:29,479 It's a telegram from the boardinghouse. 497 01:05:29,521 --> 01:05:31,679 Where did you sleep Tuesday and Wednesday? 498 01:05:31,721 --> 01:05:33,243 Where did I sleep Tuesday and Wednesday? 499 01:05:33,287 --> 01:05:34,548 Not at the boardinghouse. 500 01:05:34,587 --> 01:05:36,644 The fans were out of order. 501 01:05:36,687 --> 01:05:38,653 I slept with my friend from Vinh Long. 502 01:05:38,687 --> 01:05:40,653 Is that what you want me to say? 503 01:05:40,687 --> 01:05:42,586 Hit her, Mom. 504 01:05:42,622 --> 01:05:44,144 Don't let her get away with it. 505 01:05:44,188 --> 01:05:45,848 But it's in this family's dryness... 506 01:05:45,889 --> 01:05:48,353 in its incredible harshness... 507 01:05:48,387 --> 01:05:51,842 that I am the most deeply assured of myself... 508 01:05:51,888 --> 01:05:55,286 in the deepest of my essential certainties. 509 01:05:55,321 --> 01:05:57,810 Our common history of ruin and shame... 510 01:05:57,855 --> 01:06:01,015 of love and hate, is in my flesh. 511 01:06:02,487 --> 01:06:05,079 Your daughter looks like a whore. 512 01:06:05,121 --> 01:06:07,053 Hey, dummy, stop that shooting! 513 01:06:07,088 --> 01:06:09,554 I am still in this family. 514 01:06:09,588 --> 01:06:11,554 This is, barring all other places... 515 01:06:11,588 --> 01:06:12,986 where I live. 516 01:06:13,022 --> 01:06:14,487 That was your dress, Mom. 517 01:06:14,521 --> 01:06:16,078 The shoes, you bought them for me. 518 01:06:16,122 --> 01:06:18,087 I've been wearing them for months. 519 01:06:18,121 --> 01:06:21,610 They were on sale, remember? Final reductions. 520 01:06:21,655 --> 01:06:23,883 You do it on purpose. 521 01:06:23,922 --> 01:06:26,319 See what a state I'm in because of you? 522 01:06:26,355 --> 01:06:28,617 It's as though it makes you happy. 523 01:06:32,854 --> 01:06:34,582 If you don't trust me anymore... 524 01:06:34,622 --> 01:06:37,053 just take me out of the boardinghouse. 525 01:06:39,055 --> 01:06:42,078 Besides, I'm not the one who asked to be all alone... 526 01:06:42,122 --> 01:06:44,781 all year long in Saigon. 527 01:06:44,822 --> 01:06:47,583 The mother can be very, very happy sometimes... 528 01:06:47,622 --> 01:06:49,087 the time to forget. 529 01:06:49,121 --> 01:06:51,088 That of washing the house... 530 01:06:51,122 --> 01:06:54,088 may suffice for my mother's happiness. 531 01:06:54,122 --> 01:06:57,020 She plays the piano, she cleans, she laughs... 532 01:06:57,055 --> 01:06:59,146 and everyone thinks... 533 01:06:59,189 --> 01:07:02,348 that one can be happy in this gutted house... 534 01:07:02,388 --> 01:07:04,354 that suddenly becomes a swamp... 535 01:07:04,388 --> 01:07:06,116 a field alongside a river... 536 01:07:06,155 --> 01:07:09,019 a ford, a beach. 537 01:08:39,223 --> 01:08:41,382 My respects, madame. 538 01:08:41,423 --> 01:08:43,083 My mother... 539 01:08:44,423 --> 01:08:46,083 my brother Pierre... 540 01:08:47,423 --> 01:08:49,685 and my brother Paul. 541 01:08:56,757 --> 01:08:58,848 On Saturday night they are busy. 542 01:09:01,024 --> 01:09:03,182 Will you be having a cocktail, sir? 543 01:09:03,223 --> 01:09:06,246 Yes. Three Martel-Perriers and a bottle of rice wine. 544 01:09:20,024 --> 01:09:22,489 We left China when Sun Yat-sen decreed the republic... 545 01:09:22,523 --> 01:09:25,513 and my father just sold all his lands... 546 01:09:25,558 --> 01:09:27,023 to the Japanese... 547 01:09:27,057 --> 01:09:29,023 who had already taken over Manchuria... 548 01:09:29,057 --> 01:09:31,785 all the houses, jewels, and everything... 549 01:09:31,825 --> 01:09:35,313 to go down towards the south. 550 01:09:36,590 --> 01:09:38,056 And my mother... 551 01:09:38,091 --> 01:09:40,057 she'd just lie in the road... 552 01:09:40,091 --> 01:09:42,887 and she can't go on anymore. 553 01:09:42,925 --> 01:09:46,050 The mother and the brothers mustn't know a thing. 554 01:09:46,092 --> 01:09:48,057 It is set by principle... 555 01:09:48,091 --> 01:09:49,556 that he's at my feet... 556 01:09:49,590 --> 01:09:52,056 that I'm with him for the money... 557 01:09:52,091 --> 01:09:54,057 that I can't love him. 558 01:09:54,091 --> 01:09:56,819 This because he's Chinese, because he's not white. 559 01:09:56,858 --> 01:10:00,313 My brothers devour and don't speak a word to him. 560 01:10:00,359 --> 01:10:03,687 I don't speak a word to him, either. 561 01:10:03,724 --> 01:10:07,179 In my family's presence, he ceases to be my lover. 562 01:10:07,224 --> 01:10:08,690 He doesn't cease to exist... 563 01:10:08,725 --> 01:10:10,691 but he's nothing to me anymore. 564 01:10:10,725 --> 01:10:13,191 He becomes a burned-out place... 565 01:10:13,225 --> 01:10:14,690 an unacceptable scandal... 566 01:10:14,725 --> 01:10:19,350 a reason to be ashamed of, that has to be hidden. 567 01:10:31,692 --> 01:10:34,816 So, what are we waiting for? 568 01:10:34,858 --> 01:10:37,619 I'd like to have a drink at La Cascade. 569 01:10:37,658 --> 01:10:39,318 Your bill, sir. 570 01:10:39,359 --> 01:10:40,881 We'd like to go to La Cascade... 571 01:10:40,925 --> 01:10:42,414 to drink and dance. 572 01:11:40,293 --> 01:11:41,758 What makes you laugh... 573 01:11:41,792 --> 01:11:44,258 that I'm dancing with your sister? 574 01:11:44,293 --> 01:11:45,259 I'm sorry. 575 01:11:45,293 --> 01:11:46,759 You're so badly paired. 576 01:11:46,793 --> 01:11:48,258 Don't pay attention, sir. 577 01:11:48,293 --> 01:11:50,258 He's drunk, that's all. 578 01:11:50,292 --> 01:11:51,259 What? 579 01:11:51,293 --> 01:11:53,350 Can't I laugh or what? 580 01:11:55,726 --> 01:11:58,522 Do you want to fight? 581 01:11:58,560 --> 01:12:00,355 Take care, little buddy. 582 01:12:00,393 --> 01:12:03,484 It'd take two of you to do the job. 583 01:12:03,526 --> 01:12:05,048 Oh, no. 584 01:12:05,093 --> 01:12:07,684 A lot more than that. 585 01:12:07,726 --> 01:12:10,693 Four of me, you mean. 586 01:12:10,727 --> 01:12:14,215 You have no idea how weak I am. 587 01:13:02,661 --> 01:13:04,990 We should leave. 588 01:13:05,027 --> 01:13:07,050 Forgive him, sir. 589 01:13:07,094 --> 01:13:08,992 Forgive us. 590 01:13:09,027 --> 01:13:12,391 I've not brought my children up well. 591 01:13:12,427 --> 01:13:15,120 I'm paying for it. 592 01:13:17,895 --> 01:13:21,122 I'm the one who's punished the most. 593 01:16:01,464 --> 01:16:04,453 How much is what we did worth? 594 01:16:10,830 --> 01:16:13,422 In a brothel, how much does it cost... 595 01:16:13,463 --> 01:16:16,453 to do what you just did to me? 596 01:16:18,464 --> 01:16:21,486 How much do you need? 597 01:16:21,529 --> 01:16:24,155 My mother needs 500 piasters. 598 01:17:01,631 --> 01:17:04,359 I've got your money. 599 01:17:04,398 --> 01:17:05,624 Here. 600 01:17:07,464 --> 01:17:09,657 Where's her office? 601 01:17:09,697 --> 01:17:11,185 It's over there. 602 01:17:14,164 --> 01:17:16,857 You see, we have to let her... 603 01:17:16,898 --> 01:17:18,864 go free in the evening... 604 01:17:18,898 --> 01:17:21,295 not tell her what time to be in. 605 01:17:21,330 --> 01:17:22,853 We mustn't force her... 606 01:17:22,898 --> 01:17:25,363 to go on trips with the boarders, either. 607 01:17:25,397 --> 01:17:28,852 She's always been a free child. Otherwise, she'd run away. 608 01:17:29,898 --> 01:17:33,353 Even I can't do a thing about that. 609 01:17:33,398 --> 01:17:36,363 She's always worked very well in school... 610 01:17:36,397 --> 01:17:38,023 even being so free. 611 01:17:38,064 --> 01:17:41,791 The headmistress accepted because I'm white... 612 01:17:41,831 --> 01:17:44,354 and that for the boardinghouse's reputation... 613 01:17:44,398 --> 01:17:47,421 amongst all the half-castes there must be a few whites. 614 01:17:47,465 --> 01:17:49,931 She let me live in the boardinghouse... 615 01:17:49,965 --> 01:17:51,520 as if it were a hotel. 616 01:17:52,898 --> 01:17:54,864 Other than my French teacher... 617 01:17:54,898 --> 01:17:57,296 nobody speaks to me at school. 618 01:17:57,331 --> 01:18:00,354 It's because of you. 619 01:18:00,398 --> 01:18:01,830 That's your imagination. 620 01:18:01,865 --> 01:18:03,296 No. 621 01:18:03,331 --> 01:18:05,797 There have been some complaints from families. 622 01:18:05,832 --> 01:18:07,797 They say I'm a slut... 623 01:18:07,831 --> 01:18:10,297 and goes to the shady part of town... 624 01:18:10,331 --> 01:18:12,763 to have her body fondled by a Chinaman. 625 01:18:12,798 --> 01:18:13,923 It's nothing. 626 01:18:17,798 --> 01:18:19,787 That's true. It's nothing. 627 01:18:36,231 --> 01:18:38,288 Ooh! It touched her. It's nasty. 628 01:18:39,298 --> 01:18:42,594 Ooh! She sleeps with a Chinaman. 629 01:19:10,266 --> 01:19:14,221 One day you're going to go back to France. 630 01:19:14,266 --> 01:19:15,960 I can't take that. 631 01:19:23,699 --> 01:19:26,529 When are you going back to France? 632 01:19:26,566 --> 01:19:28,862 At the end of the school year... 633 01:19:28,900 --> 01:19:30,297 but it's not sure. 634 01:19:30,332 --> 01:19:33,026 My mother has a lot of difficulty in leaving here. 635 01:19:50,133 --> 01:19:52,564 The stone belonged to my mother. 636 01:19:52,599 --> 01:19:54,827 Take it. 637 01:23:00,936 --> 01:23:03,425 And I said to him that it's too new... 638 01:23:03,469 --> 01:23:05,459 it's too strong... 639 01:23:05,503 --> 01:23:09,025 and I said to him that... 640 01:23:09,068 --> 01:23:13,524 it is horrid to take you away from my body. 641 01:23:13,569 --> 01:23:17,024 l... I said to him that he... my father... 642 01:23:17,069 --> 01:23:21,024 he... he should know what it is... 643 01:23:21,069 --> 01:23:25,296 a love like this... so strong... 644 01:23:25,335 --> 01:23:28,529 that it never happens again in a lifetime... 645 01:23:28,569 --> 01:23:29,728 never. 646 01:23:39,569 --> 01:23:42,536 He wants this marriage with... 647 01:23:42,570 --> 01:23:45,058 this young girl I've never seen. 648 01:23:49,236 --> 01:23:53,033 He shows no mercy for me. 649 01:23:53,070 --> 01:23:55,433 He shows none for anyone. 650 01:23:57,503 --> 01:23:58,968 And you? 651 01:23:59,003 --> 01:24:01,094 Do you want this marriage? 652 01:24:04,470 --> 01:24:06,561 The question is not of wanting... 653 01:24:06,603 --> 01:24:08,626 or not wanting. 654 01:24:20,737 --> 01:24:23,703 I'm nothing without my father's wealth. 655 01:24:26,503 --> 01:24:28,765 He told me... 656 01:24:31,004 --> 01:24:33,562 "I'd rather see you dead... 657 01:24:33,604 --> 01:24:36,695 than know you were with that white girl." 658 01:24:36,738 --> 01:24:38,465 But he's right. 659 01:24:38,504 --> 01:24:40,969 He's right because anyhow I'll leave... 660 01:24:41,004 --> 01:24:43,595 and I have no love for you. 661 01:25:02,170 --> 01:25:03,500 You see. 662 01:25:03,537 --> 01:25:04,764 It's here. 663 01:25:06,205 --> 01:25:08,897 My mother, when I was little... 664 01:25:08,937 --> 01:25:11,062 wanted to erect a dam... 665 01:25:11,104 --> 01:25:13,900 to protect her good-growing land. 666 01:25:13,937 --> 01:25:16,563 She wanted to become rich for us. 667 01:25:19,272 --> 01:25:20,464 She put all the savings... 668 01:25:20,504 --> 01:25:22,800 left after my father's death into it. 669 01:25:25,937 --> 01:25:28,403 People lied to her. 670 01:25:28,437 --> 01:25:31,403 The land registrar agents sold her flood lands... 671 01:25:31,437 --> 01:25:33,903 just to earn their premiums. 672 01:25:33,938 --> 01:25:36,404 Saltwater covered everything. 673 01:25:36,438 --> 01:25:39,562 She lost everything here... everything. 674 01:25:39,604 --> 01:25:41,399 It took her years... 675 01:25:41,437 --> 01:25:42,903 to believe that it was possible... 676 01:25:42,938 --> 01:25:45,404 for people to steal all her savings... 677 01:25:45,438 --> 01:25:47,665 and then never acknowledge her again... 678 01:25:47,704 --> 01:25:48,897 to throw her out. 679 01:25:48,938 --> 01:25:51,905 She would scream. She had fits. 680 01:25:51,939 --> 01:25:53,632 People started to say that she was crazy... 681 01:25:53,672 --> 01:25:55,160 to not believe what she said... 682 01:25:55,205 --> 01:25:57,330 about her money anymore... 683 01:25:57,372 --> 01:25:59,860 to say that she was lying. 684 01:26:01,272 --> 01:26:04,830 We never saw another white person for years. 685 01:26:04,872 --> 01:26:08,326 The whites were ashamed of us. 686 01:26:08,372 --> 01:26:10,837 She had to give everything up. 687 01:26:10,871 --> 01:26:12,337 The upper rice paddy... 688 01:26:12,372 --> 01:26:14,338 she gave it to the servants... 689 01:26:14,372 --> 01:26:17,497 along with the bungalow and all the furniture. 690 01:26:23,373 --> 01:26:24,837 We used to sit here... 691 01:26:24,871 --> 01:26:27,337 with my mother and my little brother... 692 01:26:27,372 --> 01:26:30,338 and we'd watch the sky of Siam... 693 01:26:30,372 --> 01:26:32,702 over there behind the mountains. 694 01:26:44,372 --> 01:26:46,531 You feel cold? 695 01:26:46,572 --> 01:26:48,038 A little. 696 01:27:19,606 --> 01:27:21,765 That evening I know it. 697 01:27:21,806 --> 01:27:24,771 I know only that... 698 01:27:24,805 --> 01:27:29,261 later I will write my mother's life... 699 01:27:29,306 --> 01:27:34,261 how she was killed by the land registrar agents... 700 01:27:34,306 --> 01:27:36,795 robbed by the government officials. 701 01:27:38,673 --> 01:27:40,763 To write... 702 01:27:40,805 --> 01:27:43,772 that's what I see beyond the moment... 703 01:27:43,806 --> 01:27:45,271 in that great desert... 704 01:27:45,306 --> 01:27:47,772 under the features of which... 705 01:27:47,806 --> 01:27:50,897 I see the extent of my life. 706 01:28:10,139 --> 01:28:12,197 Is she beautiful? 707 01:28:12,240 --> 01:28:13,365 She's rich. 708 01:28:17,474 --> 01:28:20,736 The family chose her also because of that. 709 01:28:22,741 --> 01:28:25,831 She's covered with gold... 710 01:28:25,873 --> 01:28:27,702 jade... 711 01:28:27,740 --> 01:28:29,763 and diamonds. 712 01:28:35,240 --> 01:28:38,798 Did you ever sleep with a white girl before me? 713 01:28:44,307 --> 01:28:46,535 In Paris, of course. 714 01:28:48,741 --> 01:28:51,707 Here, no. 715 01:28:51,741 --> 01:28:53,105 Why? 716 01:28:55,741 --> 01:28:57,866 Here... 717 01:28:57,908 --> 01:29:00,635 other than French prostitutes... 718 01:29:00,674 --> 01:29:03,640 it's impossible to have white women. 719 01:29:05,674 --> 01:29:07,833 Totally impossible. 720 01:29:40,175 --> 01:29:43,436 I want you to say it to me once. 721 01:29:46,408 --> 01:29:50,841 You came here so that I'd give you money. 722 01:29:52,675 --> 01:29:56,163 I came here so that you'd give me money. 723 01:30:01,808 --> 01:30:03,671 Repeat after me. 724 01:30:06,175 --> 01:30:09,141 I was thinking about money... 725 01:30:09,175 --> 01:30:11,969 and only about money... 726 01:30:12,008 --> 01:30:15,634 from the moment I saw you on the ferry. 727 01:30:15,675 --> 01:30:17,641 I was thinking about money... 728 01:30:17,675 --> 01:30:19,141 and only about money... 729 01:30:19,175 --> 01:30:22,664 since the moment I saw you on the ferry. 730 01:30:26,675 --> 01:30:28,573 You're a whore. 731 01:30:29,842 --> 01:30:31,740 You're a whore. 732 01:30:36,109 --> 01:30:39,008 I don't find that disgusting. 733 01:30:39,043 --> 01:30:41,235 On the contrary... 734 01:31:04,110 --> 01:31:05,575 You know... 735 01:31:08,609 --> 01:31:10,303 before you... 736 01:31:11,875 --> 01:31:14,501 I knew nothing about suffering. 737 01:31:19,110 --> 01:31:20,905 I would love to... 738 01:31:23,110 --> 01:31:26,564 I would love to take you... 739 01:31:26,609 --> 01:31:29,075 but I'm without strength. 740 01:31:34,576 --> 01:31:37,304 I'm without any strength at all. 741 01:31:42,509 --> 01:31:43,998 I'm dead. 742 01:31:47,610 --> 01:31:50,098 I have no desire for you. 743 01:32:00,243 --> 01:32:03,471 My body no longer wants the one who doesn't love. 744 01:33:16,544 --> 01:33:19,066 Do you know what that's worth? 745 01:33:19,111 --> 01:33:21,010 You want to have us believe... 746 01:33:21,045 --> 01:33:23,533 he just gave it to you for your pretty face? 747 01:33:26,912 --> 01:33:28,741 Why did he give you such a diamond? 748 01:33:28,777 --> 01:33:31,505 Why? Because he's rich. 749 01:33:31,544 --> 01:33:33,840 Your daughter's whoring. 750 01:33:37,778 --> 01:33:39,244 Take it! Sell it! 751 01:33:39,279 --> 01:33:41,268 See if I care about that ring! 752 01:33:41,312 --> 01:33:43,243 You slept with him. I'm sure of it. 753 01:33:43,278 --> 01:33:44,505 Just take a look at her. 754 01:33:44,544 --> 01:33:46,067 She's a disgrace. 755 01:33:46,112 --> 01:33:47,078 What? 756 01:33:47,112 --> 01:33:48,577 You've got to do something, Mum. 757 01:33:48,611 --> 01:33:52,009 What are you saying? Me with a Chinaman? 758 01:33:52,045 --> 01:33:54,011 Nothing happened... nothing... 759 01:33:54,045 --> 01:33:55,739 not even a kiss. 760 01:34:02,379 --> 01:34:05,140 It smells of Chinese. 761 01:34:07,978 --> 01:34:09,968 You slept with him. 762 01:34:12,113 --> 01:34:13,475 Say it. 763 01:34:16,178 --> 01:34:17,610 Say it. 764 01:34:17,646 --> 01:34:19,441 Say it! 765 01:34:19,479 --> 01:34:21,707 You're going to say it, you bitch! 766 01:34:21,746 --> 01:34:23,268 You filthy bitch! 767 01:34:23,312 --> 01:34:26,404 You slept with a Chink. Did you like it? Huh? 768 01:34:26,445 --> 01:34:28,434 Pierre, stop! 769 01:34:28,479 --> 01:34:32,104 Stop it, I say! Stop it! You're going to kill her! 770 01:34:32,145 --> 01:34:34,873 Stop it! Stop it, for god's sake! 771 01:34:34,913 --> 01:34:36,378 You're killing her, Pierre! 772 01:34:36,412 --> 01:34:37,673 Stop it! 773 01:36:58,713 --> 01:37:02,168 I thought my child wouldn't come anymore. 774 01:37:02,214 --> 01:37:04,237 I took a rickshaw. 775 01:37:08,282 --> 01:37:09,941 Did you smoke a lot? 776 01:37:11,714 --> 01:37:13,203 That's all I do. 777 01:37:15,447 --> 01:37:17,436 I have no desire left. 778 01:37:18,714 --> 01:37:20,703 I have no love left. 779 01:37:22,681 --> 01:37:24,341 It's wonderful. 780 01:37:24,382 --> 01:37:28,677 It's as though we'd never met... 781 01:37:28,714 --> 01:37:32,476 or as though you left months ago. 782 01:37:48,714 --> 01:37:50,772 When are you getting married? 783 01:37:55,382 --> 01:37:57,541 Next Friday... 784 01:37:57,582 --> 01:38:00,377 and leaving... 785 01:38:00,415 --> 01:38:04,404 on the Alexandre Dumas the 12th. 786 01:38:07,082 --> 01:38:09,275 Look at me. 787 01:38:09,316 --> 01:38:14,771 I'm going to die of love for you. 788 01:38:19,849 --> 01:38:21,314 After your marriage... 789 01:38:21,348 --> 01:38:23,315 we'll meet here one time... 790 01:38:23,349 --> 01:38:24,315 just once. 791 01:38:24,349 --> 01:38:26,611 You remember? 792 01:38:26,650 --> 01:38:28,377 You promised me. 793 01:40:47,083 --> 01:40:50,447 You're also selling the rosewood table? 794 01:40:50,484 --> 01:40:52,178 Yes. 795 01:40:52,218 --> 01:40:54,683 I'm leaving everything. 796 01:40:54,717 --> 01:40:57,206 It's all finished here. 797 01:41:02,918 --> 01:41:06,748 The only thing I'll miss are the metal beds. 798 01:41:06,784 --> 01:41:09,876 In France, the beds are too soft. 799 01:41:15,019 --> 01:41:17,916 What's that hat? 800 01:41:17,951 --> 01:41:21,475 Mom, I've been wearing it for months. 801 01:41:23,018 --> 01:41:26,179 - Did I buy that for you? - Who else? 802 01:41:26,218 --> 01:41:28,650 Some days we can make you buy anything we want. 803 01:41:28,685 --> 01:41:31,116 I forgot. 804 01:41:35,018 --> 01:41:36,985 You know... 805 01:41:37,019 --> 01:41:38,951 I wasn't like you. 806 01:41:41,752 --> 01:41:45,616 I didn't study as easily as you do... 807 01:41:45,652 --> 01:41:47,811 and I... 808 01:41:52,518 --> 01:41:54,746 I was very serious... 809 01:41:57,052 --> 01:42:00,246 for so long... too long. 810 01:42:03,952 --> 01:42:05,850 That's how I lost the feeling... 811 01:42:05,885 --> 01:42:07,908 of my own pleasure. 812 01:42:12,653 --> 01:42:15,414 He did a really good thing, truly. 813 01:42:15,452 --> 01:42:17,417 Who did a good thing? 814 01:42:17,451 --> 01:42:19,008 Your friend... 815 01:42:19,052 --> 01:42:21,211 your Chinese friend. 816 01:42:21,252 --> 01:42:22,979 He paid off your brother's debts... 817 01:42:23,019 --> 01:42:25,451 at the opium den. 818 01:42:25,486 --> 01:42:27,418 He also paid for the trip. 819 01:42:27,452 --> 01:42:29,180 He was wonderful... 820 01:42:29,220 --> 01:42:31,344 very discreet, too. 821 01:42:31,386 --> 01:42:33,908 I had underestimated him. 822 01:42:33,952 --> 01:42:36,475 I'm sorry about that. 823 01:42:40,953 --> 01:42:43,942 Do you only see him for the money? 824 01:42:46,952 --> 01:42:48,441 Yes. 825 01:46:54,123 --> 01:46:57,578 It was when the boat uttered its first farewell... 826 01:46:57,623 --> 01:47:00,589 and the gangway had been hauled up... 827 01:47:00,623 --> 01:47:03,588 and the tugs had started to tow it... 828 01:47:03,622 --> 01:47:06,589 to draw it away from the land... 829 01:47:06,622 --> 01:47:08,111 that she had wept. 830 01:47:09,623 --> 01:47:12,589 She'd done it without showing her tears... 831 01:47:12,623 --> 01:47:16,078 without showing her mother or her little brother... 832 01:47:16,124 --> 01:47:18,089 that she was sad... 833 01:47:18,123 --> 01:47:19,589 without showing anything... 834 01:47:19,623 --> 01:47:23,020 as was the custom between them. 835 01:48:11,990 --> 01:48:15,014 He was there. 836 01:48:15,058 --> 01:48:17,989 That was him in the back... 837 01:48:18,024 --> 01:48:21,013 that scarcely visible shape... 838 01:48:21,057 --> 01:48:25,717 that made no movement, crushed. 839 01:48:32,225 --> 01:48:34,213 She was leaning on the railing... 840 01:48:34,257 --> 01:48:37,223 like the first time on the ferry. 841 01:48:37,257 --> 01:48:39,519 She knew he was watching her. 842 01:48:39,557 --> 01:48:41,955 She was watching him, too. 843 01:49:03,991 --> 01:49:07,048 She couldn't see him anymore, but she still looked... 844 01:49:07,091 --> 01:49:10,057 towards the shape of the black car. 845 01:49:20,091 --> 01:49:23,057 In the end, she didn't see it anymore. 846 01:49:23,091 --> 01:49:25,455 The harbor had faded away... 847 01:49:25,492 --> 01:49:27,458 and then the land. 848 01:49:45,592 --> 01:49:46,819 One night... 849 01:49:46,859 --> 01:49:49,824 during the crossing of the Indian Ocean... 850 01:49:49,858 --> 01:49:52,450 in the main room on the big deck... 851 01:49:52,492 --> 01:49:54,958 there had been a sudden burst... 852 01:49:54,992 --> 01:49:56,981 of a waltz by Chopin. 853 01:50:01,493 --> 01:50:03,459 There wasn't a breath of wind... 854 01:50:03,493 --> 01:50:05,082 and that night... 855 01:50:05,125 --> 01:50:08,956 the music had spread all over the black liner... 856 01:50:08,992 --> 01:50:10,958 like an injunction from heaven... 857 01:50:10,992 --> 01:50:12,458 related to something unknown... 858 01:50:12,493 --> 01:50:14,459 like an order from God... 859 01:50:14,493 --> 01:50:16,981 whose meaning was inscrutable. 860 01:50:39,159 --> 01:50:40,625 She had wept... 861 01:50:40,660 --> 01:50:44,456 because she had thought of that man from Cholon... 862 01:50:44,493 --> 01:50:45,925 her lover... 863 01:50:45,960 --> 01:50:47,926 and suddenly she wasn't sure... 864 01:50:47,960 --> 01:50:49,448 of not having loved him... 865 01:50:49,493 --> 01:50:51,459 with a love she hadn't seen... 866 01:50:51,493 --> 01:50:54,084 because it had lost itself in the story... 867 01:50:54,126 --> 01:50:56,092 like water in the sand... 868 01:50:56,126 --> 01:50:59,093 and that she was rediscovering it now... 869 01:50:59,127 --> 01:51:03,560 in this moment of music flung across the sea. 870 01:51:27,093 --> 01:51:28,991 Years after the war... 871 01:51:29,027 --> 01:51:31,289 after the marriages, the children... 872 01:51:31,327 --> 01:51:33,384 the divorces, the books... 873 01:51:33,427 --> 01:51:36,392 he had come to Paris with his wife. 874 01:51:36,426 --> 01:51:38,086 He had phoned her. 875 01:51:40,427 --> 01:51:41,892 He was intimidated. 876 01:51:41,927 --> 01:51:43,916 His voice trembled... 877 01:51:43,960 --> 01:51:45,426 and with the trembling... 878 01:51:45,460 --> 01:51:48,984 it had found the accent of China again. 879 01:51:49,028 --> 01:51:51,391 He knew she'd begun writing books. 880 01:51:51,427 --> 01:51:54,824 He had also heard about the younger brother's death. 881 01:51:54,860 --> 01:51:57,326 He had been sad for her... 882 01:51:57,360 --> 01:52:01,316 and then he hadn't known what to tell her... 883 01:52:01,360 --> 01:52:03,826 and then he'd told her... 884 01:52:03,861 --> 01:52:06,656 he had told her that it was as before... 885 01:52:06,694 --> 01:52:09,319 that he still loved her... 886 01:52:09,360 --> 01:52:11,826 that he would never stop loving her... 887 01:52:11,861 --> 01:52:14,850 that he would love her until his death.