Original subtitles

- Have you got that? - Yes.

"... in the depths of nights serene, the mournful sea. "

- Have you started English? - This year, sir.

"Voler"?

Fly, flew, flown.

"Voler"?

I know... Don't tell me.

Take, rob... steal...

How are you?

I knew you would be here.

Hello, Henri.

Hello, Henri!

Please don't pretend. It's embarrassing.

You don't recognise me, do you?

Of course I do, but...

I can see you don't. I had a beard, but still!

You don't.

Chez Roger?

The restaurant in Soho?

Tripe on Tuesdays? Set menu?

Little red-haired waitress?

It's coming back to me.

Dehousse!

Albert Dehousse.

- Sorry, old man. - How are you?

- Fine, and you? - Fine.

Our friend Dehousse. From London. Remember?

Good to see you again after all this time.

Remember the tripe?

Thus, on 16th May, 1945, nine months after the Liberation

and two weeks ahead of his plan, Albert joined the French Resistance.

At the same time,

he joined the small group of Nervoix's friends

who dined together,

at the Petit Versailles on Boulevard Magenta.

Excuse me.

Your name...

It rings a bell.

My name?

Don't you have family up north?

I'm sure I met some Dehousses up north.

Somewhere near Cateau-Cambresis...

...or Hazebrouck?

No, I have no family there.

Or was it a file on my desk at Lille Town Hall?

You worked at Lille Town Hall?

Yes, before the war.

Oh, that's it. An application for a war widow's pension.

Don't try to remember it. "Dehousse" is a pseudonym.

I opened the phone book at "D" and picked "Dehousse".

You know how it is at times like that.

My real name's Rozinsky.

My grandfather, a Polish Jew...

Good God. I'm sorry.

- Don't worry. - Forgive me.

Forget it.

- How do we pay? - It's on me.

Please, I insist.

If he were in London,

I would have met him.

Even if I didn't, it's easy to verify.

There weren't many of us.

I met him in London

in late 1942 or early 1943.

He worked in broadcasting with Nervoix.

We didn't stay in touch.

I heard he was parachuted into France.

I think he invented the expression,

"There are those who discuss the war

"and those who fought it. "

Not bad, eh?

Where do you live, Dehousse?

Near the Army School.

- It's handy. - Of course.

Remember that clerk at Seymour Place?

"Double-spacing for the General"?

Theeten.

- Thank you! - Good night.

Lieutenant!

It's for you!

Look! They've sent for you!

It's the Ministry.

- What ministry? - The Ministry!

They've sent a car for you.

- Mr Dehousse? - Yes.

A summons for you.

Can I pack a bag?

You won't need it.

Come quick! Bring Etienne!

Wait there.

You meet in a restaurant, the Petit Versailles?

I go there sometimes.

It's decent. The food, I mean.

I've heard a lot about you.

My friend De Vaincourt spoke of you recently.

Do you know him?

He likes you. Others do, too.

You're popular in Resistance circles.

I can explain.

Discretion is good.

Let's get to the facts. I have three names here.

The Provisional Government needs men for high positions.

Reliable men, of course.

I need to have your opinion.

Is that why you sent for me?

It's not like informing on someone. It's for the good of the country.

I give you my word nobody else will ever know.

- May I? - Go ahead, please.

Wheiler.

Royer.

Ronsin.

I didn't catch the last two.

Pierre-Andr� Royer?

A very good man. Very able.

But he's a little too close to Mr Jo, perhaps.

I don't mind scrap merchants but others might.

Thank you. You've confirmed our suspicions.

Sorry. Cigarette?

Only acquired ones. English taste.

Only English ones.

What about him?

- Excellent. - Political?

- Nervoix recommends him. - Isn't Nervoix political?

Yes, but Dehousse isn't.

He's not with any group.

If Nervoix recommends someone who's not in his clique,

he must have quite a record.

Not a communist, not a Gaullist... He must have one flaw!

Is he queer? A morphine addict? An actor?

They started by asking his opinion and picking his brains.

He was an expert on Resistance groups.

He knew each member's politics, the internal rivalries, and so on.

It wasn't always a bed of roses!

The anti-Gaullists traded on every disagreement, every dirty trick.

So Dehousse went through the newspapers

and reported everything that might be seized on as a weakness.

How did he end up at the Ministry?

Eventually, the department head, Major Ballin, gave him an office.

- An office? - Here at the Ministry.

All right.

Naturally, within our means, we'll pay you for your time.

Money?

You're joking. It's enough to be working for the cause.

But I'd like an office on the courtyard.

The street side is awfully noisy.

Come to dinner on Thursday. General Boquillon will be there.

I won't name the station, but it was in the occupied zone.

It was as cold as ice. It was bitterly cold.

It was very cold. One of those bad winters.

I'm at the station. No train in sight. They're coming.

I'm stuck there with the suitcase.

What was in it?

Explosives. It's stuffed with explosives.

They'll never believe me.

Let me introduce you.

Captain Malbert...

My cousin, Servane de Lhemini�re...

General Boquillon has been delayed. We won't wait for him.

He'll join us for coffee.

What's your story, Dehousse?

When did you first go underground?

I think he prefers not to talk about it.

Aren't we too young to play at being war veterans?

No, Mr Dehousse. You won't get off so lightly. Tell us.

There must have been a crucial day, a turning point.

Actually, it was an evening.

On a station platform.

You're going to be disappointed!

Anyway...

I can't name the station for obvious reasons.

It was in the occupied zone.

Bitterly cold. One of those bad winters.

We had our share of those.

There I was on the platform with my suitcase...

What was in it?

I'll let you guess.

In the trade we called it "household linen," or "babywear".

So I was waiting...

...no sign of the train, these people coming,

when suddenly, out of the blue, this huge locomotive appears...

So there you have my story.

Not too disappointed?

Can I ask you a question?

Do you ever make the first move?

I beg your pardon?

You looked at me all evening. I smiled and you smiled back.

Don't a man and a woman who are strangers

smile like that for a reason?

It didn't occur to me.

I thought you were with...

So? I don't have to tell him that we're going to bed.

Which excuse do you think he'd prefer?

I have a headache or I'm tired?

A headache, I think.

Dehousse, there you are.

- General Boquillon's here. Come on. - Now?

I know it's late.

General de Lattre is to be recalled and replaced by General Koenig.

He needs someone

to run the intelligence and propaganda service,

somebody reliable and beyond reproach.

I gather that you're not part of any group.

You're discreet and efficient.

The High Command has chosen you.

- Me? - Yes, you.

Civilians serving in Germany rank as army personnel.

You will wear an officer's uniform.

What rank?

Lieutenant Colonel.

Germans don't understand anything lower.

This is it.

GERMANY 1945

"Disillusioned with love and jazz,

"which was only African music in disguise,

"the Captain returned to his roots - Mozart and the French army.

"One day in the summer of 1945,

"while travelling back to France, he thought he was having a vision. "

Magic, Albert! Magic.

Apart from his sales route on his bike,

and his train ride to Paris,

Albert had never travelled.

Now he was travelling, in uniform, amid the ruins of war.

Not a picture-book war, but a real one with real armies, real ruins,

a real defeat, real corpses.

He couldn't help being thrilled.

Faster, faster!

Look at them. The master race!

To Albert's delight,

it was all there -

tree-lined streets, rococo architecture

and thermal waters.

But his guide book omitted the main thing -

the French occupation.

Roughly, what this meant was,

"They occupied us for four years. Now it's our turn. "

Welcome, Colonel. My name is Ernst.

At your service.

This is mine, all mine.

Do you need the car, sir?

No, thank you. Dismissed.

Attention!

At ease, gentlemen.

Major Leguen, acting unit commander.

His face didn't fit.

Didn't fit? In what way?

All the rest of us

had served in Syria, Africa, Italy...

Meyer had flown bombers from England,

Boutin had been at Narvik in 1939.

We didn't know anything about him. He just turned up.

We were idle and wanted to remain so.

He was a fly in the ointment.

What did your work consist of?

Psychological Operations, of all things!

Meaning what?

Some propaganda,

but mostly flushing out collaborators who had fled to Germany

and were posing as former POWs or work camp inmates.

Check again.

Always double-check every detail.

Would you like a game, sir?

I haven't played for so long...

Come on, sir. Just for fun.

I don't have the right shoes.

I'll lend you mine!

40-love.

No need to score.

I like to.

That was out!

I thought it was in.

Have you had enough, sir?

It's OK.

I'm sorry.

I'm giving you a poor game. I miss every shot.

I know someone who didn't!

Sorry. That was stupid.

What did he say?

He's playing with a bullet in his chest.

Poor fellow!

Where did Dehousse serve in the war?

Not in the 1st Free French, for sure.

And a bullet in the chest doesn't make you wince like that.

I know because I had one.

Stop being so hard on Dehousse, will you?

If you like being tricked, go ahead.

- Do you have an opinion? - About what?

About me.

I'm a soldier.

Soldiers don't think.

When this is over, maybe, but now I go by the book.

Who lives here?

The General's wife.

She has a party every Thursday from 5:00pm.

- The most famous in Baden-Baden. - Famous for what?

Port, music and women, all guaranteed clean.

The best food too, for the lucky ones who stay to dinner.

Are you coming in?

I haven't been invited.

Besides, I have work to do.

See you tomorrow, sir.

Yes, Meyer.

Like the feet of a skater on the ice!

Head up... waist supple...

You learn very fast.

May I have the pleasure, miss?

Lesson number one. Invitation to waltz.

Don't hold her too tight.

- Isn't this a bit silly? - We must suffer to be beautiful!

Are you releasing them?

We found nothing.

- I'll interrogate them. - It's pointless!

What?

Their statements match. Two years in work camp.

- They're clean. - I'll question them anyway.

Suit yourself... you bloody fool.

Was there something else?

- No. - Thank you.

I don't understand. Their story was rock solid!

Too solid.

What do you mean?

They can read. Can you?

Read this. It's all here.

Places, names... They recited it for three hours.

Even the story about the boy who taught piano.

So?

They simply memorised it all.

Any idiot can do that.

They weren't in any work camp.

If they were in W�rzburg, then I was in Lourdes!

Do you have a light?

Oh, yes. Sorry.

So, is it true what I hear about you?

What is that, madam?

Uncovering that militia network!

It was hardly a network.

Just a few petty crooks. Small fry.

Without Major Leguen's help I'd have been fooled.

Evening, Boutin.

I would like to...

I can't say how much...

- What you just said... - If you can't say it, don't.

Congratulations, sir.

Nice work on Leguen. I mean it.

You were good. But it won't work on me.

I'm the original rotten bastard.

Did you say something, Boutin?

Good evening, Boutin.

She's had a dozen lovers here in Baden.

Tempestuous affairs for them, at least,

judging by the state she left them in.

They say a general's wife had a crush on her.

A bit lesbian, the Military Cross...

She's perfect!

The best thing since mustard gas. It makes you think...

Meyer, you know soldiers never think.

True. Sorry, sir.

You took your time.

To do what?

To say hello to me.

- In Paris you weren't in uniform. - Of course I was.

You must have been distracted.

Since I arrived here,

your accomplishments are the talk of the town.

- I've heard a lot about you, too. - People exaggerate.

Do you really have to?

What?

"Oom-pah-pah". There's already a band.

Oh, yes. Sorry.

I didn't realise.

Shall I drive?

Drive?

The dance.

Please do.

You're right, it's better.

What do you do here?

I drive... cars. I drive officers around.

Officers love being driven by women.

It's long and boring and I don't give a damn about it.

You know, Albert...

...we haven't got a million choices.

You and I can see only two.

We can go on discussing trivia

and say good night before we know what's happened,

or we can pick up where we left off in Paris.

- Remember? - I do.

But we must do it properly.

- Do you agree? - I agree.

What should I do?

What you should have done that night.

Gently...

Through August and September, 1945,

the Psychological Operations Unit was so successful

that the Paris High Command congratulated its leader and staff.

Colonel Dehousse had been a good choice!

His style set a precedent.

Soon, people started talking about the "Dehousse manner".

If you can't say it, don't.

If you can't say it, don't.

Sir?

Weren't you hit in the chest?

Weren't you hit in the chest?

Yes. So what?

I can't see your scar.

Couldn't it have entered through my armpit?

You want me to raise my arms?

I've never done that in my life. I'm not starting now.

Why do some people have it all and others, nothing?

I have to work for everything, including women.

It's so unfair.

I'm going to die in 1953 in Indo-China,

ambushed at Col des Nuages.

I've never had any luck.

They slipped through the net, unseen by anyone.

When they came back two weeks later, they had vanished.

That's what happened. So I heard.

- Have you heard from him since? - Never.

Are you all right?

Do you want to go home?

Albert, do you like being with me?

Why do you ask?

Because... you never say so.

- I do sometimes. - Never.

Shall I say it now?

I like being with you. All right?

I like being with you.

So do I.

So that's good.

I want it to go on, but I feel one of us is doing it wrongly.

Which one?

See what I mean?

Some things can always be learned -

education, good manners, useful facts,

what to say, what not to say.

Then there's the rest.

What it feels like to be burned, to be hurt,

to fall in love with a woman,

especially when you can't confide in the woman you love

because your whole life is a lie.

It's complicated.

My father was a P�tainist.

He had a way with words.

One day he announced to us all,

"The people who join de Gaulle are the ones who fail their exams. "

He should have kept quiet.

I left school and joined the Free French in Algiers.

Does that tickle?

Tell me, little Albert... where's your scar?

You have a bullet wound. Don't you?

No.

All those other stories about you - about the Resistance, London...

Did any of it happen?

Is it all untrue?

Yes, it's all untrue.

How long have you known?

Since the beginning, I think.

Why didn't you say so?

I liked it.

I never asked for anything.

It just came.

I never stole anything.

I'm not a thief.

I worked hard to catch up.

"Speak, spoke, spoken. "

Tottenham Court Road, change at Leicester Square,

Piccadilly Circus...

General knowledge, Latin quotations...

"Credo quia absurdum... "

What do they do to impostors like me?

12 bullets.

12, minus one for the coup de gr�ce.

Then it's all over. Lights out.

My son.

He's young like you.

- "The red badge of courage. " - Your son Adolf?

Rudolph.

What's all this?

Your crappy life?

Is this your wife? Mother?

I have one, too.

This is shit.

Shit!

Anybody there? Is anyone there?

Colonel, it's for you.

Wake up.

Meyer?

We have a problem, sir.

Do you need me?

You'd better come.

It's better if you come with me.

We received a complaint this morning about some stolen geese.

I thought maybe our boys did it.

I asked for specifics.

The guy went on about "mit deutschen Soldatenmantel" -

German soldiers.

I got a full description from the farmer.

Sounds like they're SS.

Lieutenant Delavelle, sir.

- Where from? - Dordogne.

Shit.

What's this?

Charlemagne Division, sir. Volunteered 27 th June, 1944.

630th German Army regiment.

How many of you?

Seven, sir.

What the hell do we do?

Can I talk to you, sir?

What will you do with us?

I'll send you to France.

What will they do?

Put us on trial?

Will we be shot?

I don't want to go to France.

How about them?

They don't.

What do we do?

I am Lieutenant Colonel Dehousse.

You chose to join the German Army. You know the consequences.

For the sake of your families and France's honour,

to avoid a public trial I'm going to have you shot.

Your families will be told that you died in action.

Attention!

Form a firing squad.

- Take aim. - Vive la France!

"I, Albert Dehousse, confess that I never belonged

"to any Resistance movement at home or abroad.

"I obtained my rank by false pretences.

"I am a coward and an impostor.

"I give myself up to the law. "

Where were you?

Everything all right?

Lt Colonel Dehousse's life was over. Another life began.

The Army, the Ministry and Resistance associations

agreed not to add scandal to ridicule.

The case was handled very quietly.

Servane visited Albert every day. One day he got a surprise.

Yvette had finally tracked him down.

When she came to Paris to witness the trial,

she naturally stayed with Servane.

Their budding friendship intrigued Albert.

He had some questions on his mind

but he remembered Servane telling him

"You're like a child, Albert. Everything amazes you. "

He kept his questions to himself.

I don't understand. Weren't you sentenced?

Yes, for bigamy.

For bigamy?

I married Servane in Baden-Baden in 1946.

As I hadn't divorced Yvette, they threw the book at me.

Three years.

Feel this light. This warmth.

I've always loved it.

That's what we should keep inventing.

When Death comes, we'll lie to it.

We'll say it's too early. It's got the wrong guy.

You know what?

We'll give it the address of some evil bastard.

That's what.

In the end, only real human beings will be left.

Good people like you and me.

What do you think? Was it good?

Did I look natural?

I met Albert Dehousse in 1961

when he became Minister for Planning.

He would have preferred the Arts but the job was already taken.

Mr Albert Dehousse did great work

for African independence.

...a nursing home racket in Nice.

A property swindle,

unlicensed medical practice.

I am convinced that Dehousse was a Soviet agent.