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1
00:01:06,410 --> 00:01:09,510
-- Zakarian, Hagop.
-- Yes, sir.
2
00:01:09,510 --> 00:01:13,140
Zakarian, Araxi, n�e Bouloutian.
3
00:01:13,710 --> 00:01:16,960
Anna and Gayan� Bouloutian.
4
00:01:16,960 --> 00:01:21,130
Zakarian, Azad,
son of Hagop and Araxi Zakarian.
5
00:01:21,210 --> 00:01:28,080
STATELESS
6
00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:20,910
I remember my 20th birthday dance
and the signet ring of real gold
7
00:02:20,910 --> 00:02:23,910
which still weighs down my finger
with a few tons of love.
8
00:02:23,910 --> 00:02:28,780
Mayrig, Anna, and Gayan�--
all my mothers,
9
00:02:28,780 --> 00:02:32,880
and you, my father,
my old soldier of the difficult years.
10
00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:35,840
I remember the happiness
we shared at being together
11
00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:39,210
on Rue Paradis
that promised us eternity,
12
00:02:39,210 --> 00:02:41,460
even though
each of your white hairs
13
00:02:41,460 --> 00:02:44,810
foretold a springtime grave.
14
00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:49,440
Good, it's very good.
15
00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:51,110
I just want to remind you
that that last scene
16
00:02:51,110 --> 00:02:54,380
was witten in three tempos,
like a waltz.
17
00:02:55,600 --> 00:03:00,520
First tempo:
surprise at the outrageous present--
18
00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:04,340
a signet ring "of real gold,"
as they say in poor families.
19
00:03:04,340 --> 00:03:06,710
Second tempo:
while admiring your ring,
20
00:03:06,710 --> 00:03:09,010
you realize
that your mother no longer wears
21
00:03:09,010 --> 00:03:11,770
her big, old-fashioned wedding ring,
the one the never took off.
22
00:03:11,770 --> 00:03:14,230
Your father's ring
has also disappeared from his finger.
23
00:03:14,230 --> 00:03:16,860
From this, you can guess
the price of your signet ring.
24
00:03:16,860 --> 00:03:19,340
Third tempo:
this is the moment of thanks.
25
00:03:19,340 --> 00:03:21,260
You're afraid of spilling out
26
00:03:21,260 --> 00:03:23,260
just any of the words
which are choking your throat.
27
00:03:23,260 --> 00:03:25,630
So, in place of those words
that escape you,
28
00:03:25,630 --> 00:03:27,390
to break your bashful silence--
29
00:03:27,390 --> 00:03:28,910
Give me the playback!
30
00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:33,380
You grasp
your mother in a romantic waltz,
31
00:03:33,790 --> 00:03:38,300
sweeping... majestic.
32
00:03:41,460 --> 00:03:44,330
Give me slow motion.
33
00:03:45,140 --> 00:03:47,670
Be more supple...
34
00:03:48,780 --> 00:03:51,670
...relaxed, happy.
35
00:03:51,670 --> 00:03:53,550
You see?
36
00:03:53,550 --> 00:03:55,550
Follow the three-quarter time,
37
00:03:55,550 --> 00:03:59,470
the tempo of shyness that's going
to transform embraces into a waltz.
38
00:03:59,470 --> 00:04:01,960
Otherwise, it's a boy
who just received a gift
39
00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:04,560
and is going to dance
with his mother to thank her,
40
00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:08,310
and that street used
as a ballroom becomes laughable.
41
00:04:08,310 --> 00:04:11,010
You understand?
But it'll be all right, it's okay.
42
00:04:18,220 --> 00:04:20,220
-- Good morning, Pierre.
-- Good morning, Eve.
43
00:04:20,220 --> 00:04:22,100
Is it looking good?
44
00:04:22,100 --> 00:04:24,100
If we had eight more days,
it would be better.
45
00:04:24,100 --> 00:04:26,100
That's the classic answer.
46
00:04:27,150 --> 00:04:29,240
-- Ready to go?
-- Whenever you want.
47
00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:31,240
Jean-Paul,
we're ready when you are.
48
00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:34,030
Eve, just five seconds,
and you're on.
49
00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:37,470
Five, four, three...
50
00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:39,470
And so here we are.
51
00:04:39,470 --> 00:04:42,800
We have just watched a scene
from The Signet Ring by Pierre Zakar,
52
00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:46,410
and when the curtain falls
on an improvised dance,
53
00:04:46,410 --> 00:04:48,410
the hero of the piece
is 20 years old.
54
00:04:48,410 --> 00:04:52,810
Pierre Zakar, you called yourself then
by your real name, Azad Zakarian.
55
00:04:52,810 --> 00:04:56,300
In the 20 years since,
your plays have been seen
56
00:04:56,300 --> 00:04:57,920
on stages all over the world:
57
00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:01,960
The Man from Nowhere,
Rendezvous in Syracuse,
58
00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:03,960
The Stateless One, The Green Fish.
59
00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:07,760
What else... Elektra
or The Phoenician Woman.
60
00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:11,980
And your latest piece
you've entitled The Signet Ring,
61
00:05:11,980 --> 00:05:16,510
probably after a ring which,
it is said, has never left your finger.
62
00:05:16,510 --> 00:05:20,960
So can't we ask ourselve
if The Signet Ring
63
00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:23,790
isn't more than anything else
an autobiographical work?
64
00:05:23,790 --> 00:05:25,130
I hope not!
65
00:05:25,130 --> 00:05:28,190
But why this wish to erase yourself?
66
00:05:29,470 --> 00:05:32,670
You can't know how much
the word "me" weighs down a story.
67
00:05:32,670 --> 00:05:34,810
The "me"s are
unbearable in a work.
68
00:05:35,770 --> 00:05:37,960
So, when you use "I"...?
69
00:05:38,810 --> 00:05:40,440
It's someone I've known well,
70
00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:42,440
but who is no more important
than the other characters.
71
00:05:42,830 --> 00:05:46,600
Me, I'm the narrator
who remembers and tells the story.
72
00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:49,600
So, Pierre Zakar,
I will pose a question
73
00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:51,600
that may have already
been asked hundreds of times,
74
00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:53,470
but no matter,
it'll be just one more time.
75
00:05:53,470 --> 00:05:57,530
I would like you
to explain why, at age 20,
76
00:05:57,530 --> 00:06:00,280
having earned
a superb degree in engineering
77
00:06:00,280 --> 00:06:02,750
that assured you
security for all of your days,
78
00:06:02,750 --> 00:06:06,760
why, suddenly,
did you decide to drop everything
79
00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:09,920
to turn to that most uncertain
of careers, the theater?
80
00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:13,550
These things
never happen "suddenly," you know.
81
00:06:13,550 --> 00:06:17,230
Sometimes you have to go way back
to turn up a bolt from the blue
82
00:06:17,230 --> 00:06:20,490
that haunts you and finally
throws you for a loop one day...
83
00:06:20,490 --> 00:06:22,490
the way life works.
84
00:06:23,870 --> 00:06:26,120
And your own bolt from the blue?
85
00:06:30,060 --> 00:06:32,700
Greta Garbo in Queen Christina.
86
00:06:32,700 --> 00:06:33,710
QUEEN CHRISTINA
87
00:06:33,710 --> 00:06:34,910
I was then years old.
88
00:06:34,910 --> 00:06:38,350
It's a film by Roulben Mamoulian
He's an Armenian.
89
00:06:38,350 --> 00:06:41,120
-- You haven't seen this film?
-- I've never been to the movies.
90
00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:42,320
Come on!
91
00:06:48,170 --> 00:06:50,380
-- Good morning, Carole.
-- Good morning, Eve.
92
00:06:50,380 --> 00:06:52,330
-- How's it going?
-- Very well.
93
00:06:52,330 --> 00:06:54,330
So, what do you think of the play?
94
00:06:54,330 --> 00:06:55,980
Very good, as usual.
95
00:06:55,980 --> 00:06:58,840
I just think you talk a little too much
about those hard times,
96
00:06:58,840 --> 00:07:00,080
the immigrant family.
97
00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:01,320
I don't know
if you're aware of it,
98
00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:02,990
but that's the subject
of my play, my dear.
99
00:07:03,230 --> 00:07:05,500
Oh, really, Pierre,
I know your play.
100
00:07:05,500 --> 00:07:07,500
I'd simply like
for you to be careful--
101
00:07:07,500 --> 00:07:09,500
I'll take off
since I have a ton of things to do.
102
00:07:09,500 --> 00:07:11,340
-- Pierre, thank you. Good-bye, Carole.
-- Good-bye.
103
00:07:11,340 --> 00:07:12,640
See you soon.
104
00:07:12,650 --> 00:07:15,160
I'd just like you
to be careful about...
105
00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:18,540
I'm afraid that a certain audience
wouldn't like that.
106
00:07:18,540 --> 00:07:21,360
But it's precisely to warn those people,
so they won't come.
107
00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:22,510
It's more honest, isn't it?
108
00:07:22,510 --> 00:07:23,920
All right, all right.
109
00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:25,820
Before I forget, your mother called.
110
00:07:25,820 --> 00:07:28,520
Your father arrives tomorrow morning
to attend your opening.
111
00:07:28,700 --> 00:07:29,900
He's coming alone?
112
00:07:29,900 --> 00:07:32,840
Yes, one of the two has to stay
to take care of the store.
113
00:07:33,050 --> 00:07:37,080
I got him a great suite
at the Royal Elyse�s.
114
00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:40,270
You can very well
do that for your father.
115
00:07:41,370 --> 00:07:44,280
Of course I could "very well do that for my father."
116
00:07:44,810 --> 00:07:48,060
He doubtless would have preferred
the tiniest room in his son's house
117
00:07:48,060 --> 00:07:50,840
to the chandeliers
and gold leaf of a grand palace.
118
00:07:51,420 --> 00:07:53,550
But Carole
had decided otherwise for him.
119
00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:56,890
Carole took care of everything.
120
00:07:56,890 --> 00:07:58,890
Carole, everywhere at once,
121
00:07:58,890 --> 00:08:01,500
freed me gracefully
from the daily chores,
122
00:08:01,500 --> 00:08:04,800
keeping to perfection her house,
her children, and her husband.
123
00:08:05,070 --> 00:08:07,210
Carole, who made
all my friends envious,
124
00:08:07,420 --> 00:08:11,340
found in me only one good quality,
that of having married Carole.
125
00:08:13,870 --> 00:08:17,240
But... had I married Carole?
126
00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:23,050
In hindsight, I know now
that one never marries Carole,
127
00:08:23,660 --> 00:08:25,550
it's Carole who marries.
128
00:08:26,490 --> 00:08:29,180
I had met Carole
at the Royal in Evian.
129
00:08:29,790 --> 00:08:32,200
It was the year
we lost Aunt Gayan�.
130
00:08:33,070 --> 00:08:35,320
Gayan�, my grand lady,
131
00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:39,870
who faded slowly
and as modestly as she had lived.
132
00:08:40,560 --> 00:08:44,640
I had treated my mother and father
to three weeks of rest at Lake Leman,
133
00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:48,250
promising that I would
join them as soon as I could.
134
00:08:53,530 --> 00:08:54,810
Azad!
135
00:08:59,610 --> 00:09:01,790
I thought you weren't coming.
136
00:09:01,820 --> 00:09:04,970
You know this is the last day
of the season, that the hotel's closing?
137
00:09:05,230 --> 00:09:07,630
Yes, Mayrig, I know.
But I couldn't come any sooner.
138
00:09:07,980 --> 00:09:09,470
Tell me, how was it?
139
00:09:09,470 --> 00:09:10,720
Magnificent!
140
00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:13,900
The room is sumptuous,
the food is excellent.
141
00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:16,160
You know,
the chef asks me every day,
142
00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:18,920
"So, when is your son coming?"
143
00:09:24,620 --> 00:09:25,930
And Papa?
144
00:09:26,140 --> 00:09:27,930
He stayed three days.
145
00:09:27,930 --> 00:09:31,130
When he saw the prices posted
in the room, he left right away.
146
00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:33,560
It's true, it costs a fortune.
147
00:09:33,560 --> 00:09:35,800
I called you in Paris to tell you
148
00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:37,800
that three or four days
were more than enough.
149
00:09:38,090 --> 00:09:40,890
But they told me
you couldn't be reached
150
00:09:40,890 --> 00:09:42,460
and that I should wait for you here.
151
00:09:42,460 --> 00:09:45,020
Mayrig, someday it would
be good for you and Papa
152
00:09:45,020 --> 00:09:46,890
to admit that I'm an adult,
153
00:09:46,890 --> 00:09:50,090
totally responsible for my action
and very aware of what I can spend.
154
00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:53,680
Do you remember
the box on the counter?
155
00:09:54,190 --> 00:09:56,110
It had all the family's money in it.
156
00:09:56,110 --> 00:09:58,860
You would tell me,
"Take what you need."
157
00:09:58,860 --> 00:10:01,500
And then you would leave me alone
with that moneybox,
158
00:10:01,790 --> 00:10:03,900
whose exact contents
nobody knew.
159
00:10:04,560 --> 00:10:07,230
Yes, but even with
all that was in that box,
160
00:10:07,230 --> 00:10:10,560
we wouldn't have been able
to pay for one day at this hotel.
161
00:10:13,230 --> 00:10:16,270
But look... people are crazy!
162
00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:23,960
They want to be delivered
to the hotel by helicopter!
163
00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:25,960
No, it's unbelievable.
164
00:10:27,610 --> 00:10:29,290
But how did you get here?
165
00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:33,500
Oh, a little way by train,
a little way like everybody else.
166
00:10:34,810 --> 00:10:39,070
Azad, I knew I had a son
who's a little bit crazy.
167
00:10:39,070 --> 00:10:41,770
And you've found out
he's a liar, too.
168
00:11:18,380 --> 00:11:20,940
I just picked this up.
I suppose it's yours?
169
00:11:20,940 --> 00:11:23,040
I'm sorry, thanks a lot.
170
00:11:23,100 --> 00:11:24,730
The pages
have no value in themselves,
171
00:11:24,730 --> 00:11:26,810
but my puzzle would be
seriously incomplete without them.
172
00:11:27,660 --> 00:11:30,120
I don't know
what the puzzle will be called,
173
00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:33,790
but I hope it is as successful
as Rendezvous in Syracuse.
174
00:11:34,670 --> 00:11:36,540
I love that play.
175
00:11:36,890 --> 00:11:38,540
The ending bowled me over.
176
00:11:38,540 --> 00:11:39,960
I was in tears.
177
00:11:40,540 --> 00:11:42,540
This one, how does it end?
178
00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:44,560
Two possibilities.
179
00:11:44,560 --> 00:11:47,960
One, it has a long, long run
and brings in a lot of theatergoers.
180
00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:51,360
Second version:
it runs for 30 shows and then closes.
181
00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:55,020
It'll run for a long time, you'll see.
182
00:11:55,640 --> 00:11:56,890
Good night.
183
00:11:57,870 --> 00:11:59,040
Thank you.
184
00:12:41,180 --> 00:12:43,070
Azad, you've been there?
185
00:12:43,470 --> 00:12:45,050
I don't know
what's the matter with me.
186
00:12:45,150 --> 00:12:47,260
I've never slept so much in my life.
187
00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:49,390
It must be the lake climate.
188
00:12:49,550 --> 00:12:51,880
You're at least
40 years behind in your sleep.
189
00:12:53,150 --> 00:12:56,940
One day, I must have been ten,
190
00:12:57,440 --> 00:12:59,870
Madame Delmas,
our grocer, told me,
191
00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:04,010
"At night, your parents
always forget to turn off their lamp."
192
00:13:04,990 --> 00:13:07,680
I didn't dare tell her
that underneath that lighted lamp
193
00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:10,650
was that night's lace work.
194
00:13:10,650 --> 00:13:13,210
That was a long time ago!
195
00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:20,300
The conductor is saying hello.
196
00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:24,480
You know there were
12 musicians until yesterday?
197
00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:27,710
Twelve musicians! But that
must have been splendid, Mayrig!
198
00:13:27,710 --> 00:13:31,080
Oh, Azad, stop!
You're always joking!
199
00:13:31,310 --> 00:13:33,690
I didn't mean
it was the Berlin Philharmonic.
200
00:13:38,560 --> 00:13:40,220
Stop it. It's ridiculous, Azad.
201
00:13:40,220 --> 00:13:45,400
Mayrig, we're alone.
The hotel is closing down for the year.
202
00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:47,390
There is no one else here.
203
00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:38,320
-- Good night, Azad.
-- Good night, Mayrig.
204
00:14:38,620 --> 00:14:40,730
And if you go out,
put on that sweater.
205
00:14:40,730 --> 00:14:42,410
There's a terrible wind!
206
00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:55,820
Take care of your manuscript.
I won't always be there to look after it.
207
00:14:57,900 --> 00:14:59,980
I learned her first name
upon returning to Paris
208
00:14:59,980 --> 00:15:02,570
from a postcard
the hotel forwarded.
209
00:15:03,020 --> 00:15:05,560
She was in Stresa
on the shores of Lake Maggiore.
210
00:15:06,170 --> 00:15:09,680
She wrote: "One lake after another,
but they don't look the same.
211
00:15:10,110 --> 00:15:13,500
Here there's no blue pages
on the park grass."
212
00:15:13,980 --> 00:15:15,900
It was signed "Carole."
213
00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:23,820
A few months later, I ran
into Carole at the opening of my play,
214
00:15:23,820 --> 00:15:25,130
The Stateless One.
215
00:15:25,130 --> 00:15:27,130
She had just divorced.
216
00:15:27,530 --> 00:15:30,330
She had come with the
"I don't know anymore who" line.
217
00:15:30,540 --> 00:15:33,260
We met again without the
"I don't know anymore who."
218
00:15:34,140 --> 00:15:36,760
And things developed
in the most natural way.
219
00:15:37,180 --> 00:15:39,770
She went with me
that day to a famous tailor
220
00:15:39,770 --> 00:15:41,790
who dressed
all the Parisian arts in-crowd,
221
00:15:41,980 --> 00:15:44,960
or, more precisely,
it was I who followed Carole.
222
00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:49,760
She had gently suggested it,
as she said, "To change my look."
223
00:15:50,700 --> 00:15:55,450
During my childhood,
I'd developed serious preferences
224
00:15:55,450 --> 00:16:01,070
for poplin, zephyr,
broadcloth, oxford, or cotton crepe.
225
00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:05,400
Incredible. Mr. Zakar, you speak
like a true specialist in dress shirts.
226
00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:07,870
May one ask where
you acquired that expertise?
227
00:16:07,870 --> 00:16:11,050
It's a long story.
Maybe I'll tell it someday.
228
00:16:12,140 --> 00:16:14,800
For your suits,
are these three all right?
229
00:16:15,930 --> 00:16:18,520
Madame found these a bit austere.
230
00:16:18,890 --> 00:16:20,200
They're my usual colors.
231
00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:23,770
Very good. Please follow me,
and we'll take your measurements.
232
00:16:26,730 --> 00:16:29,450
Dark gray, dark blue, iron gray.
233
00:16:29,450 --> 00:16:31,560
Let's brighten those
at least with a dash of color,
234
00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:32,840
with these bright ties.
235
00:16:35,710 --> 00:16:38,810
Oh, sorry, Pierre.
I'm being ludicrous. It's ridiculous.
236
00:16:39,050 --> 00:16:43,340
I don't know what got into me.
I just talked to you as if I were your wife.
237
00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:46,880
Three months later,
we were married.
238
00:17:29,290 --> 00:17:32,090
Papa, I tould you
to take the sleeper car.
239
00:17:32,360 --> 00:17:35,340
You know, even in bed,
I cannot sleep on a train
240
00:17:35,340 --> 00:17:37,000
with the other passengers seated.
241
00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:39,000
We were only three
in the compartment.
242
00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:41,370
The main thing
is to be able to extend one's legs.
243
00:17:41,370 --> 00:17:42,270
Give me.
244
00:17:45,500 --> 00:17:47,500
Anyway, I told your mother,
245
00:17:47,500 --> 00:17:50,160
"Above all,
don't give him my arrival time.
246
00:17:50,330 --> 00:17:53,600
He'll show up at the station,
and with all he has to do today--"
247
00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:56,200
Papa, it wasn't Mayrig
that gave me your arrival time.
248
00:17:56,400 --> 00:17:58,030
There's only one morning train.
249
00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:00,720
But anyway, Azad,
I know your address.
250
00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:03,660
-- I still know how to take a taxi.
-- Well, that's the thing.
251
00:18:03,660 --> 00:18:07,210
I think that, in regard to the address,
Carole has a surprise for you.
252
00:18:16,270 --> 00:18:19,530
Carole resorted to
sumptuousness to make us all forget
253
00:18:19,530 --> 00:18:21,840
we weren't having
my father stay at our house.
254
00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:24,760
First bedroom.
If you would follow me.
255
00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:40,410
Your second bedroom
and the two bathrooms this way.
256
00:18:40,410 --> 00:18:42,410
No, thank you,
I think that's enough.
257
00:18:42,410 --> 00:18:45,150
Very well, sir.
I wish you a good stay, gentlemen.
258
00:18:49,740 --> 00:18:51,130
Put it there.
259
00:18:53,450 --> 00:18:54,830
Thank you, sir.
260
00:18:55,790 --> 00:18:57,530
Well, then, sit down, Papa.
261
00:19:07,420 --> 00:19:10,120
Tell me, Azad,
did you let them know I was alone?
262
00:19:11,370 --> 00:19:13,690
Evidently,
Carole went a little overboard,
263
00:19:14,410 --> 00:19:16,670
but when it concerns you,
she's always excessive.
264
00:19:18,650 --> 00:19:19,950
Do you want something to drink?
265
00:19:20,030 --> 00:19:21,850
No, nothing at all, thanks.
266
00:19:24,490 --> 00:19:26,960
How are the children?
When can I see them?
267
00:19:27,900 --> 00:19:30,010
They have
a few days vacation from school.
268
00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:33,260
Carole took advantage of it
by sending them for some fresh air.
269
00:19:33,930 --> 00:19:36,480
In Normandy, at her mother's.
270
00:19:38,220 --> 00:19:41,160
Of course.
It'll do them a lot of good.
271
00:20:09,260 --> 00:20:10,810
It's for Carole.
272
00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:13,320
It's superb, this silk shawl.
273
00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:15,530
Mayrig's hands
did the rest, right?
274
00:20:18,620 --> 00:20:20,510
This is for our little man,
275
00:20:21,130 --> 00:20:25,040
and this robe
is for our little Charlotte.
276
00:20:33,150 --> 00:20:34,600
And this is for you.
277
00:20:35,980 --> 00:20:38,860
You're spoiling me
with beautiful silk shirts.
278
00:20:38,860 --> 00:20:40,860
I must be on my third dozen this year!
279
00:20:41,710 --> 00:20:43,850
Your mother is afraid
you might order them elsewhere.
280
00:20:44,190 --> 00:20:46,030
It would make her sick.
281
00:20:48,700 --> 00:20:50,010
Some baklavas.
282
00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:54,360
Some bourmas.
283
00:20:58,060 --> 00:20:59,470
This, you mustn't touch.
284
00:20:59,790 --> 00:21:02,890
It's for Adrian and Charlotte.
They like this.
285
00:21:10,140 --> 00:21:14,010
And this... your favorite, dolmas.
286
00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:26,440
Azad! What's the matter with you?
287
00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:28,080
Why are you talking that way?
288
00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:30,620
It's because I have
my mouth full, Mayrig.
289
00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:33,770
No one but you can make
grape leaves so rich and delicious.
290
00:21:34,120 --> 00:21:37,260
It was Madame Zepur who
harvested them from the first sprouts.
291
00:21:37,450 --> 00:21:39,900
They were all very delicate and transparent.
292
00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:42,060
That's why they melt in your mouth.
293
00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:45,440
But tell me,
aren't you a bit nervous about tonight?
294
00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:49,100
Mayrig, tonight
will be like any other night,
295
00:21:49,100 --> 00:21:52,960
with six billion people on earth
who will be going to bed or getting up,
296
00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:55,160
laughing, crying, or dying.
297
00:21:55,500 --> 00:21:59,120
And, somewhere, a few hundred people
are going to see another play.
298
00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:00,910
It's called a "non-event."
299
00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:05,480
When you say simple things in
a complicated way, it's because--
300
00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:07,470
It's because I'm terrified!
301
00:22:08,300 --> 00:22:10,730
But nothing can go wrong
because you've sent me Papa.
302
00:22:12,360 --> 00:22:14,190
I'm taking him to lunch at Maxim's.
303
00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:16,510
Carole will join us.
304
00:22:18,590 --> 00:22:21,930
Good.
Of course we'll telephone you.
305
00:22:22,990 --> 00:22:25,390
Thanks for all the wonderful things
you sent us.
306
00:22:26,910 --> 00:22:30,590
Okay, a big kiss, Mom.
Good-bye.
307
00:22:42,990 --> 00:22:46,200
My father had always sensed
when I secretly wanted to be alone.
308
00:22:46,430 --> 00:22:50,120
After lunch, he had disappeared
under the elegant pretext
309
00:22:50,120 --> 00:22:54,570
that as a bachelor
and Parisian, he would visit the city.
310
00:22:54,970 --> 00:22:56,890
THE SIGNET RING
311
00:23:11,020 --> 00:23:14,120
I knew that he would spend
his afternoon on the boulevard,
312
00:23:14,330 --> 00:23:19,500
contemplating his son's name
written up in lights.
313
00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:42,270
No, no one.
314
00:23:42,270 --> 00:23:45,390
But this gentleman insists.
He says he's your childhood friend.
315
00:23:48,780 --> 00:23:50,640
Alexander Pages.
316
00:23:51,120 --> 00:23:52,960
Alexander of my seventh year.
317
00:23:54,220 --> 00:23:59,820
A simple calling card had just
sent me back more than 30 years.
318
00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:04,980
It was snowing
in Marseille that day,
319
00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:08,300
one of those snowfalls that,
in the inhabitants' memories,
320
00:24:08,300 --> 00:24:09,500
happened only every 40 years.
321
00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:12,890
It was Aunt Gayan�
who came for me.
322
00:24:23,550 --> 00:24:26,360
-- Here, quickly, put this on.
-- But I'm not cold.
323
00:24:27,020 --> 00:24:28,480
You don't feel the cold right away.
324
00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:32,800
It penetrates quietly into your bones,
and before you know it, it's too late.
325
00:24:33,150 --> 00:24:34,760
I said I'm not cold.
326
00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:35,920
All right.
327
00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:40,620
Madame!
328
00:24:41,290 --> 00:24:42,750
Good day, madame.
329
00:24:42,810 --> 00:24:46,510
I'm Alexander's mother.
This must be your son, this big boy?
330
00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:48,300
This is not my mother, madame.
331
00:24:53,900 --> 00:24:55,630
"This is not my mother, madame."
332
00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:58,410
I could have added,
"It's my Aunt Gayan�,
333
00:24:58,410 --> 00:24:59,600
but she's like my mother."
334
00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:01,470
I didn't say it,
335
00:25:02,090 --> 00:25:05,280
our of cowardice
because of her tight cloth coat
336
00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:06,910
as compared to one of silver fox.
337
00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:09,790
Come on, get in, Alexander.
338
00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:13,320
I fostered the belief
for an instant that I, too,
339
00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:16,400
had a maid
and a cook to fetch me.
340
00:25:21,230 --> 00:25:25,720
I walked without tilting my head
to avoid Gayan�'s unbearable smile
341
00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:28,540
in light of my ingratitude,
which she hadn't even noticed.
342
00:25:30,590 --> 00:25:32,670
Aunt Gayan�,
I have to tell you something.
343
00:25:32,990 --> 00:25:35,980
Can't it wait till we get home?
You'll get cold if we stop.
344
00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:37,960
No, it can't wait till we get home.
345
00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:40,730
What I have to say
is something terrible.
346
00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:42,840
It must be kept a secret.
347
00:25:45,900 --> 00:25:46,810
Tell me.
348
00:25:50,350 --> 00:25:51,720
What did you want to tell me?
349
00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:53,240
I wanted to tell you that...
350
00:25:55,130 --> 00:25:57,420
...you were right.
I think I am a little bit cold.
351
00:25:57,520 --> 00:25:59,260
You see, I told you.
352
00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:01,960
Come on, run, we're here.
353
00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:10,990
She didn't say why
she wanted to talk to me personally?
354
00:26:12,110 --> 00:26:13,400
But how did she seem?
355
00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:15,600
She didn't have time to seem.
356
00:26:16,730 --> 00:26:18,640
As soon as she knew
I wasn't his mother, she left.
357
00:26:20,330 --> 00:26:23,070
Tell me, Azad, have you had
any problems with a schoolmate?
358
00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:24,970
No, I have no problems.
359
00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:27,920
Maybe you said something hurtful,
360
00:26:27,950 --> 00:26:29,440
and it's a mother
who wants to complain.
361
00:26:29,850 --> 00:26:31,660
No, I didn't say anything hurtful.
362
00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:33,600
You sure?
363
00:26:34,220 --> 00:26:36,680
Yes. Very sure.
364
00:26:37,120 --> 00:26:39,040
Tomorrow, you just have
to pick him up from school.
365
00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:40,830
Then you'll see
what she wants from us.
366
00:26:42,830 --> 00:26:45,580
The next day,
it was Mayrig who came to get me.
367
00:26:45,930 --> 00:26:48,970
There we were
with our formless fears,
368
00:26:48,970 --> 00:26:52,460
like two passengers lost in first class
with a second class ticket,
369
00:26:52,460 --> 00:26:55,370
terrified of being
unmasked and humiliated.
370
00:26:56,750 --> 00:26:59,230
And Mrs. Silver Fox arrives.
371
00:26:59,230 --> 00:27:01,930
Don't turn around yet,
but there she is.
372
00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:08,010
She had changed animals
to cover herself with.
373
00:27:08,170 --> 00:27:11,180
She needed several pelts
to cover all of her.
374
00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:24,430
-- Mrs. Zakarian?
-- Yes, madame.
375
00:27:24,430 --> 00:27:26,220
I'm Alexander's mom.
376
00:27:26,220 --> 00:27:28,000
I'm getting together
some of his schoolmates
377
00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:30,460
for a little tea party
this Thursday afternoon,
378
00:27:30,460 --> 00:27:33,500
and we'd be delighted
to have your son be one of them.
379
00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:36,860
Thank you, madame.
It's kind to have thought of him.
380
00:27:37,100 --> 00:27:38,400
Thank you very much.
381
00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:41,710
So, let's say 3:00, then?
382
00:27:42,700 --> 00:27:45,930
I nearly fainted,
with all her perfume choking me.
383
00:27:46,910 --> 00:27:49,500
We live at 412 Rue Paradis.
384
00:27:49,500 --> 00:27:50,860
Thank you.
385
00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:54,250
There were at least
two or three thank-yous too many.
386
00:27:54,510 --> 00:27:56,480
But then again, that was Mayrig,
387
00:27:56,600 --> 00:28:00,840
exaggerating the least kindness
in order to thank again.
388
00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:04,170
The preparations commenced
389
00:28:04,170 --> 00:28:06,410
the Sunday before
the little prince's tea.
390
00:28:08,360 --> 00:28:12,600
It was decided in the family council
that my offering to the queen mother
391
00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:15,980
would be the king
of oriental pastry -- baklava,
392
00:28:15,980 --> 00:28:18,670
which, if made
according to the rules of the art,
393
00:28:18,670 --> 00:28:21,280
takes at least
a good half Sunday to prepare.
394
00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:09,310
Gayan�, the syrup!
395
00:29:21,630 --> 00:29:25,260
Two or three days beside the window
to glaze the sugar around each piece,
396
00:29:25,260 --> 00:29:27,440
and it will be perfect for Thursday.
397
00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:32,320
The glorious day had arrived.
398
00:29:33,180 --> 00:29:36,400
During the week, they washed me
in stages and separately...
399
00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:39,690
the head, the face,
the neck, the arms,
400
00:29:39,690 --> 00:29:42,220
descending bit by bit to the feet.
401
00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:46,270
The all-in-one cleaning job
was reserved for Sundays.
402
00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:51,150
But that Thursday, the Sunday bath
was advanced three days
403
00:29:51,150 --> 00:29:53,150
in honor of the prince's tea.
404
00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:09,680
I could only fit 17.
Is that enough?
405
00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:11,200
Yes, that's fine.
406
00:30:12,700 --> 00:30:15,760
There, a brand-new shirt!
407
00:30:18,250 --> 00:30:21,680
Of course, when they serve
the baklavas, you don't take any.
408
00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:24,560
You say you have plenty at home
and that all those are for them.
409
00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:27,370
Of course! I'm not going
to eat what I've just given them.
410
00:30:29,230 --> 00:30:30,720
Azad, put on these long socks.
411
00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:32,730
You're not going
to put long socks on me?
412
00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:35,400
Of course.
You know how cold it is outside?
413
00:30:35,710 --> 00:30:37,360
But I won't be outdoors.
I'll be inside.
414
00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:39,950
But before you're inside,
you'll have to be outside.
415
00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:41,740
It's less than two days
since it snowed.
416
00:30:41,740 --> 00:30:43,740
But it's stopped snowing
In fact, it's wair outside.
417
00:30:43,870 --> 00:30:46,480
Exactly! When it's very fair,
that means it will snow again.
418
00:30:48,410 --> 00:30:49,320
Put those socks on.
419
00:30:49,950 --> 00:30:51,610
But what will people think?
420
00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:53,930
They'll think that you have
a family that wants to protect you
421
00:30:53,930 --> 00:30:57,340
from winter illnesses
and poultices on your chest.
422
00:31:02,010 --> 00:31:06,620
Alexander's mother had told us,
"We live at 412 Rue Paradis."
423
00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:10,600
She had said 412
as one would have announced
424
00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:12,640
the Duke and Duchess of Alexander.
425
00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:16,380
That numerical arrogance was due
to the geographical placement
426
00:31:16,380 --> 00:31:20,250
of the house
in the noble part of the street.
427
00:31:20,940 --> 00:31:22,570
If they offer you a dish,
the first time--
428
00:31:22,570 --> 00:31:23,710
I know, Mayrig.
429
00:31:24,140 --> 00:31:26,750
The first time, I say,
"No, thank you, madame."
430
00:31:26,750 --> 00:31:28,360
The second time, too.
431
00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:30,300
Not until the third time,
432
00:31:30,300 --> 00:31:33,690
if the mistress of the house insists,
do I accept.
433
00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:38,140
Keep this package upright
because of the syrup.
434
00:31:38,140 --> 00:31:40,110
If they thank you, you say,
"It's nothing, madame.
435
00:31:40,110 --> 00:31:41,840
It's just a secialty of our house."
436
00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:43,020
Go on, then.
437
00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:45,680
How do I get home?
438
00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:49,390
Don't worry, I'll be waiting for you.
Have a great afternoon.
439
00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:56,200
After the silver fox lady's invitation,
440
00:31:56,460 --> 00:31:59,980
I knew very well that I would not
emerge unscathed from these revels.
441
00:32:00,510 --> 00:32:03,520
I was not a friend
of her son Alexander,
442
00:32:03,710 --> 00:32:05,610
and he wasn't a friend of mine.
443
00:32:06,890 --> 00:32:09,120
So what was
the meaning of this farce?
444
00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:19,740
Well, come in, young man.
445
00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:25,320
If you would
please give me your coat.
446
00:32:25,580 --> 00:32:28,410
This is a little specialty
of my country.
447
00:32:34,060 --> 00:32:35,340
Ready, set, go!
448
00:32:56,640 --> 00:32:59,800
It's Miss Zakarian.
449
00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:07,070
Yes, miss,
if you would please enter.
450
00:33:07,070 --> 00:33:09,200
Travajda, the Arab woman
451
00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:11,290
Travajda bono
452
00:33:11,290 --> 00:33:14,140
Dip your finger in the soup bowl
and tell me if it's hot
453
00:33:14,140 --> 00:33:17,820
The original version said,
"Dip your ass into the soup bowl,"
454
00:33:17,820 --> 00:33:21,450
but at Alexander's
they said "finger" and thought "ass."
455
00:33:21,450 --> 00:33:23,470
And tell me if it's not
456
00:33:23,470 --> 00:33:24,430
To your rubber bands!
457
00:33:32,060 --> 00:33:33,390
Listen to me, Alexander,
458
00:33:33,390 --> 00:33:35,450
there's something that I've been
wanting to tell you for a long time.
459
00:33:43,390 --> 00:33:44,750
Don't touch anything!
460
00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:03,770
It's very nice, your train,
461
00:34:03,770 --> 00:34:05,690
but it won't arrive on schedule.
462
00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:09,850
Master's tea is served.
463
00:34:12,860 --> 00:34:15,660
So, everything's all right, children?
You have everything you need?
464
00:34:15,660 --> 00:34:17,320
Yes, madame!
465
00:34:18,010 --> 00:34:20,730
Thomas, you'll tell your mother
that I haven't forgotten,
466
00:34:20,730 --> 00:34:23,480
I'll send her Rose as soon
as she finishes with me, okay?
467
00:34:23,580 --> 00:34:24,830
How are you, sweetie?
468
00:34:24,830 --> 00:34:27,040
So, Arnaud,
your little brother didn't come?
469
00:34:27,040 --> 00:34:28,860
He's in bed with the flu.
470
00:34:28,860 --> 00:34:31,900
Well, this is the season for it, right?
471
00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:37,290
I ought to pull your ears, hmm?
Shouldn't have done that.
472
00:34:37,290 --> 00:34:39,130
I understood the allusion:
473
00:34:39,130 --> 00:34:41,920
my box of baklava
had arrived well at its destination.
474
00:34:41,920 --> 00:34:43,880
With everything that I must do,
I'll never find the time.
475
00:34:43,880 --> 00:34:47,240
There, I'll leave you, children.
Have fun and behave, okay?
476
00:34:47,240 --> 00:34:49,240
Yes, madame!
477
00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:53,520
Oh, boy, meringues!
478
00:34:58,440 --> 00:34:59,800
No, thank you.
479
00:35:00,110 --> 00:35:03,240
My polite Eastern refusal
was the last,
480
00:35:03,660 --> 00:35:06,540
because there were
no second or third chances for me.
481
00:35:06,540 --> 00:35:11,280
They had undoubtedly thought
that I really didn't like them.
482
00:35:12,110 --> 00:35:15,000
How about that, guys?
Zakar doesn't like the meringues.
483
00:35:15,230 --> 00:35:17,000
He prefers rahat-loukoum.
484
00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:19,310
And Ali Baba's couscous.
485
00:35:19,310 --> 00:35:21,280
They were mixing the East with Africa.
486
00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:24,670
The ailing locomotive
had been forgotten,
487
00:35:24,670 --> 00:35:27,120
and our dear Alexander
had once again
488
00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:29,130
found his little spoiled-boy cruelties.
489
00:35:30,510 --> 00:35:32,410
I had resisted
their petty meanness
490
00:35:32,410 --> 00:35:36,000
by thinking with secret jubilation
of my coming triumph:
491
00:35:36,220 --> 00:35:38,490
the arrival of my sublime baklavas.
492
00:35:38,730 --> 00:35:41,720
Well, my friends, a bit of patience.
493
00:35:41,720 --> 00:35:45,040
Crush and chew
your insipid meringues
494
00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:49,390
and drink your fruit juice whose taste
has been obliterated in water.
495
00:35:50,190 --> 00:35:52,640
My hour of glory approaches.
496
00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:54,780
-- Joseph, have you served everything?
-- Yes, sir.
497
00:35:57,920 --> 00:35:59,370
Then we're done!
498
00:36:44,560 --> 00:36:46,410
I'd like my coat, please.
499
00:36:46,570 --> 00:36:48,300
Wait for me in the hallway.
500
00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:02,700
At first, I had naively concluded
that the "Alexanders"
501
00:37:02,700 --> 00:37:06,080
had been purely
and simply robbed by their servants,
502
00:37:06,080 --> 00:37:08,000
who were
gorging themselves in secret.
503
00:37:08,430 --> 00:37:10,030
As I descended the stairs,
504
00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:14,120
it seemed unthinkable
that the butler and chambermaid
505
00:37:14,120 --> 00:37:17,950
would permit themselves to swallow
more than half a box of pastry
506
00:37:17,950 --> 00:37:20,000
without the permission
of the mistress of the house.
507
00:37:20,860 --> 00:37:24,620
More so since I recalled
very clearly having seen the butler
508
00:37:24,620 --> 00:37:28,010
go up to Alexander's
mother's room with my package.
509
00:37:29,530 --> 00:37:33,950
Much later, I imagined what
followed as though I had been there.
510
00:37:34,540 --> 00:37:38,140
Madame, the little Armenian boy
brought a package.
511
00:37:39,280 --> 00:37:40,760
A package of what?
512
00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:42,250
I don't know.
513
00:37:42,410 --> 00:37:46,170
It is a square package.
It seems to me it's a metallic box.
514
00:37:47,660 --> 00:37:49,130
Well, then, open it, Joseph.
515
00:37:57,230 --> 00:37:59,720
So? What is it, Joseph?
516
00:38:00,750 --> 00:38:02,780
It's a sort of cake, madame.
517
00:38:04,510 --> 00:38:08,220
The sides are all black,
it's soaked in sugar...
518
00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:12,360
...and it smells of cinnamon.
519
00:38:12,810 --> 00:38:15,740
Good Lord, how awful!
God knows how all that was made.
520
00:38:16,190 --> 00:38:18,540
Well, if you're brave enough,
share it with Martha.
521
00:38:18,540 --> 00:38:20,970
One never knows, maybe it's edible.
522
00:38:48,540 --> 00:38:50,330
Well, tell me about it!
523
00:38:50,330 --> 00:38:54,110
You know, they liked the baklavas
so much that not one was left.
524
00:38:54,120 --> 00:38:57,920
As Aunt Anna says, they were so good,
they ate their fingers along with them.
525
00:39:04,060 --> 00:39:06,540
-- Let him in.
-- Yes, Mr. Zakar.
526
00:39:11,210 --> 00:39:12,410
Oh, Pierre!
527
00:39:13,680 --> 00:39:15,680
You know,
you haven't changed a bit?
528
00:39:16,110 --> 00:39:17,710
Well, we've grown up.
529
00:39:17,710 --> 00:39:20,430
Let's say you
in height and me in width.
530
00:39:21,870 --> 00:39:23,880
Tell me, you remember me anyway,
don't you?
531
00:39:24,650 --> 00:39:26,140
Of course.
532
00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:31,130
I have, of course,
followed your entire career,
533
00:39:31,130 --> 00:39:35,920
but why would I suppose that
Pierre Zakar was my friend Zakarian
534
00:39:35,920 --> 00:39:37,450
from Saint Hillaire Grammar School?
535
00:39:37,770 --> 00:39:39,320
It's my son, you know?
536
00:39:39,320 --> 00:39:41,420
He reads all your plays,
he's read all about you,
537
00:39:41,420 --> 00:39:42,810
he can quote you by heart.
538
00:39:42,810 --> 00:39:46,040
It's he who told me, "But, I swear,
Papa, you went to school together."
539
00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:50,110
Have a seat.
540
00:40:02,700 --> 00:40:04,680
You do remember me, right?
541
00:40:04,810 --> 00:40:07,240
Yes, absolutely sure, yes.
542
00:40:10,880 --> 00:40:13,530
It's that... I know him.
543
00:40:13,530 --> 00:40:16,720
What's his name... Jacques...
544
00:40:19,020 --> 00:40:20,190
His name is
on the tip of my tongue.
545
00:40:20,190 --> 00:40:21,870
I go to see all his films,
all his plays.
546
00:40:21,870 --> 00:40:22,920
He's very good.
547
00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:26,280
Now, what's his name?
I saw him the other day in...
548
00:40:26,560 --> 00:40:28,990
He was with...
Oh, help me, I...
549
00:40:29,660 --> 00:40:31,160
His name is Jean Anouilh,
550
00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:35,160
and he hasn't acted in his films
or plays nor in anyone else's.
551
00:40:38,780 --> 00:40:41,850
In any case,
he really resembles him, right?
552
00:40:44,110 --> 00:40:47,370
-- Who?
-- Well, the other guy!
553
00:40:48,220 --> 00:40:50,730
I shouldn't take
too much of your time, right?
554
00:40:51,210 --> 00:40:55,660
As you may have noted on my card,
I inherited my father's shop.
555
00:40:55,660 --> 00:40:58,700
He left us suddenly,
quite suddenly, poor man.
556
00:40:58,970 --> 00:41:02,430
That night, the whole family
was at his birthday dinner.
557
00:41:02,430 --> 00:41:06,970
We had just started on some seafood
that I can't even describe.
558
00:41:06,970 --> 00:41:10,320
The sea urchins were this big,
stuffed with red caviar.
559
00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:16,600
The mussels were so big and plump,
you'd think they were scallops.
560
00:41:16,600 --> 00:41:20,560
And what's more, all of Rue Paradis
could smell our salted codfish.
561
00:41:20,780 --> 00:41:24,620
In short, my poor father
was happy, full of plans.
562
00:41:24,840 --> 00:41:28,110
The next day, boom! He's gone.
563
00:41:28,510 --> 00:41:30,510
So what can one do but face it, right?
564
00:41:30,760 --> 00:41:32,700
Anyway, what can you do?
That's life.
565
00:41:32,700 --> 00:41:37,240
In one night, you find yourself,
just like that, in charge of 50 workers.
566
00:41:37,870 --> 00:41:39,390
End of the month,
567
00:41:39,390 --> 00:41:42,730
you have to work on accounts payable,
the company's expenses.
568
00:41:42,730 --> 00:41:44,410
That's just the beginning.
569
00:41:44,410 --> 00:41:46,140
You know the drill, surely.
570
00:41:47,230 --> 00:41:51,040
Well, all in all,
I don't complain too much.
571
00:41:55,310 --> 00:41:56,940
I still have my mother.
572
00:41:58,000 --> 00:41:59,480
Do you remember my mother?
573
00:41:59,820 --> 00:42:01,340
Yes, very well.
574
00:42:05,450 --> 00:42:08,920
I won't tell you
how much she worries me.
575
00:42:09,360 --> 00:42:11,790
She can't handle old age.
576
00:42:11,790 --> 00:42:13,850
She, who was so happy,
so full of life,
577
00:42:13,850 --> 00:42:18,570
now she sits in an armchair,
talking about her wrinkles for hours.
578
00:42:19,070 --> 00:42:22,200
Twice already, she's had...
579
00:42:22,590 --> 00:42:23,230
But...
580
00:42:24,570 --> 00:42:27,950
Each time, it fell again,
worse than ever.
581
00:42:27,950 --> 00:42:31,560
Things aren't looking good.
She gets worse each day.
582
00:42:35,180 --> 00:42:36,140
That's it.
583
00:42:36,140 --> 00:42:38,940
Otherwise,
well, I have my routine... married.
584
00:42:38,940 --> 00:42:40,320
You know to whom?
585
00:42:40,320 --> 00:42:43,530
To Regis' sister.
Regis, remember him?
586
00:42:44,570 --> 00:42:48,120
Yes, Regis.
Regis Chocolates for Diabetics!
587
00:42:50,590 --> 00:42:53,720
Anyway, the routine...
married, two children.
588
00:42:53,720 --> 00:42:57,180
A girl and a boy.
Here, look at him.
589
00:42:57,740 --> 00:43:01,340
It's not because he's my boy,
but he is really brilliant.
590
00:43:01,340 --> 00:43:03,660
He just barely failed
his college entrance exams.
591
00:43:03,660 --> 00:43:05,260
For the third time. Here
592
00:43:12,410 --> 00:43:14,960
-- The mail, Mr. Zakar.
-- Yes, give it to me.
593
00:43:19,290 --> 00:43:20,990
Continue.
594
00:43:21,930 --> 00:43:23,500
Well, listen, it's...
595
00:43:23,500 --> 00:43:29,880
Generally, it can be said that our town
has changed a lot, you know.
596
00:43:30,810 --> 00:43:32,700
Concrete has killed
all that was picturesque.
597
00:43:32,700 --> 00:43:34,280
It's no longer the same.
598
00:43:36,410 --> 00:43:39,000
Last week,
we lost Monsieur Noblet.
599
00:43:39,610 --> 00:43:41,310
You remember him, surely.
600
00:43:41,790 --> 00:43:43,760
He was our school principal.
601
00:43:45,660 --> 00:43:46,890
Well.
602
00:43:48,680 --> 00:43:51,450
All his students went to the funeral.
603
00:43:52,440 --> 00:43:54,810
Lots of successes in our class:
604
00:43:54,810 --> 00:43:58,560
Mercier, Martin, Delfour.
605
00:43:58,880 --> 00:44:02,960
He's Delfour Bathrooms,
the old family business.
606
00:44:04,590 --> 00:44:08,090
Bonifay became
president of the PTA.
607
00:44:08,430 --> 00:44:10,430
You know, last year it was me,
608
00:44:10,430 --> 00:44:13,530
but I told them,
"Not always the same ones!"
609
00:44:16,430 --> 00:44:19,520
By the way,
it's hot in here, isn't it?
610
00:44:23,560 --> 00:44:29,480
Pierre... between us childhood friends,
I won't beat around the bush.
611
00:44:29,480 --> 00:44:32,800
As I say, straight to the point.
612
00:44:32,800 --> 00:44:35,870
It's about my son.
Imagine what he's gotten into his head!
613
00:44:35,870 --> 00:44:37,320
I'll give it to you fast.
614
00:44:37,320 --> 00:44:40,360
Slow is okay.
He wants to be an actor.
615
00:44:44,410 --> 00:44:47,100
I told him, "Let me handle it."
It seems he wrote you.
616
00:44:47,100 --> 00:44:48,300
Nope.
617
00:44:48,350 --> 00:44:50,440
Rest assured,
the best thing your boy can do now
618
00:44:50,440 --> 00:44:54,480
is wait bravely
for Papa to bail him out.
619
00:44:57,450 --> 00:44:59,470
But how did you know
he wanted to be an actor?
620
00:44:59,920 --> 00:45:01,690
They usually do.
621
00:45:02,280 --> 00:45:05,770
Mrs. Sedro?
You can come fetch the mail, thanks.
622
00:45:07,160 --> 00:45:10,320
Personally, I would prefer
that he come into my business.
623
00:45:10,320 --> 00:45:12,750
And someday you'll leave him
everything like your father did for you.
624
00:45:12,750 --> 00:45:13,760
Well, yes, exactly.
625
00:45:13,760 --> 00:45:16,910
Only it doesn't seem right
to go against a vocation.
626
00:45:16,910 --> 00:45:20,350
His mother, his sister,
everyone were... all with acting bugs!
627
00:45:20,920 --> 00:45:24,430
Confidentially,
I'm somewhat persuaded
628
00:45:24,430 --> 00:45:27,150
that there's money
to be made in that business.
629
00:45:27,150 --> 00:45:29,900
You've heard what they paid
Belmondo or Depardieu or Brando.
630
00:45:29,900 --> 00:45:33,630
Precisely. I even thought they
were mistaken by a couple of zeros,
631
00:45:33,630 --> 00:45:35,740
the salaries were so enormous!
632
00:45:35,740 --> 00:45:40,160
So I ended up telling him, "You want
to get into that business, son?
633
00:45:40,160 --> 00:45:42,380
"Well, then, do it!
634
00:45:42,380 --> 00:45:49,320
Hey, do it, but listen, you'll need
someone to give you a leg up."
635
00:45:49,600 --> 00:45:50,560
Oh, pardon me!
636
00:45:50,560 --> 00:45:51,950
-- Sorry.
-- No, it was me.
637
00:45:54,030 --> 00:45:55,530
Thank you, Mrs. Sedro.
638
00:45:57,710 --> 00:45:59,710
-- Excuse me.
-- Yes, of course.
639
00:45:59,950 --> 00:46:03,020
Yes, so I told him, in this business,
640
00:46:03,020 --> 00:46:06,110
you need someone
to give you a little boost, right?
641
00:46:06,110 --> 00:46:09,630
And without thinking
at all of you, I said,
642
00:46:09,630 --> 00:46:12,560
"Someone like Pierre Zakar,
for example."
643
00:46:12,560 --> 00:46:13,980
And what do you find out?
644
00:46:13,980 --> 00:46:18,000
Pierre Zakar, he's Zakarian
from school, your classmate.
645
00:46:18,000 --> 00:46:21,180
Exactly. Actually, better than that...
a childhood friend.
646
00:46:21,530 --> 00:46:25,960
So I took the bull by the horns,
caught the first plane to Paris,
647
00:46:26,040 --> 00:46:27,630
and here I am.
648
00:46:33,630 --> 00:46:38,010
I almost forgot to tell you,
by the way,
649
00:46:38,010 --> 00:46:44,080
that I am very tied in
with the financial groups in my area.
650
00:46:44,080 --> 00:46:47,960
Whether they're the soap makers
of Marseille or the sugar refiners,
651
00:46:47,960 --> 00:46:49,530
they all listen to me.
652
00:46:49,530 --> 00:46:51,530
You understand what I mean?
653
00:46:52,000 --> 00:46:56,920
So if one day, to produce a play,
you have a need for capital...
654
00:46:57,800 --> 00:46:59,370
Well, I don't have to say more.
655
00:46:59,370 --> 00:47:00,960
You know what I mean.
656
00:47:03,680 --> 00:47:06,400
Can I open the window a little,
just for a moment?
657
00:47:06,400 --> 00:47:07,440
-- Of course.
-- Excuse me.
658
00:47:07,440 --> 00:47:10,890
There was something pathetic
about this Alexander of my childhood.
659
00:47:10,890 --> 00:47:16,040
Sweaty, gesticulating,
mortgaging the past for the present gain,
660
00:47:16,040 --> 00:47:17,850
going so far
as to throw in some corruption
661
00:47:17,850 --> 00:47:20,140
in aid of his slightly disgusting son.
662
00:47:23,900 --> 00:47:26,110
Childhood has its odors.
663
00:47:26,110 --> 00:47:28,090
Mine suddenly fetched me a whiff
664
00:47:28,090 --> 00:47:32,300
of cinnamon and of crushed nuts
with an aftertaste of baklavas.
665
00:47:33,530 --> 00:47:34,970
Tell me, Alexander...
666
00:47:36,840 --> 00:47:39,900
Why did you invite me
that Thursday to your tea party?
667
00:47:41,690 --> 00:47:43,340
What tea party? When?
668
00:47:44,170 --> 00:47:46,840
Think back.
We were in the sixth grade.
669
00:47:49,290 --> 00:47:52,810
Oh, then... I don't remember
anything from back then.
670
00:47:52,810 --> 00:47:53,870
It was such a long time ago,
671
00:47:53,870 --> 00:47:55,870
and then I had
so many parties at the house.
672
00:47:56,410 --> 00:47:59,230
Of course. That's the ticket.
673
00:48:01,020 --> 00:48:03,690
So, what do I tell
my big guy?
674
00:48:04,750 --> 00:48:07,100
Tell him that it's time
for him to pass his entrance exams.
675
00:48:07,100 --> 00:48:09,100
Even if just barely.
676
00:48:09,420 --> 00:48:11,000
At any rate,
I can't do a thing for him.
677
00:48:11,000 --> 00:48:13,000
I'm leaving for
the United States in a few days.
678
00:48:15,760 --> 00:48:17,560
And when do you return?
679
00:48:17,740 --> 00:48:19,390
Not for five years.
680
00:48:19,390 --> 00:48:20,600
Five years?
681
00:48:22,490 --> 00:48:25,240
Well... five years.
682
00:48:26,090 --> 00:48:27,840
No way, huh?
683
00:48:28,330 --> 00:48:30,480
No, there's no way.
684
00:48:31,120 --> 00:48:33,240
It was the absolute truth.
685
00:48:33,360 --> 00:48:36,030
I just exaggerated
the time I'd be gone.
686
00:48:36,430 --> 00:48:40,080
This trip excused me from dealing
with this man from another time
687
00:48:40,080 --> 00:48:43,420
who'd come to buy a slot
for his son with a little baksheesh.
688
00:48:43,610 --> 00:48:46,680
Come to think of it, he would've liked
to add that to his list of oriental words:
689
00:48:46,680 --> 00:48:50,190
baksheesh, couscous,
loukoum, Travajda la moukere.
690
00:48:50,190 --> 00:48:51,550
Well, then.
691
00:48:54,120 --> 00:48:56,080
Thanks for seeing me despite...
692
00:48:56,080 --> 00:48:57,850
Congratulations for everything.
693
00:49:04,910 --> 00:49:08,000
But, tell me,
what happened at that party?
694
00:49:08,410 --> 00:49:10,430
Oh, nothing important.
695
00:49:11,370 --> 00:49:14,190
That day, you broke
your brand-new locomotive.
696
00:49:17,400 --> 00:49:19,550
Well, those were
the good times, right?
697
00:49:20,970 --> 00:49:24,120
Well, happy to see you again,
and have a good trip.
698
00:49:24,560 --> 00:49:27,050
When I shook his limp,
humid hand,
699
00:49:27,050 --> 00:49:29,370
his face was that
of the seven-year-old
700
00:49:29,370 --> 00:49:31,390
looking at his broken train.
701
00:49:32,080 --> 00:49:34,430
He was sad about his locomotive.
702
00:50:04,860 --> 00:50:08,410
All the in-crowd jackals are there,
behind the curtain,
703
00:50:08,410 --> 00:50:10,320
ready for the carnage.
704
00:50:10,480 --> 00:50:12,300
The regular public
would have to attend
705
00:50:12,300 --> 00:50:14,300
before the true verdict
could be known.
706
00:50:14,620 --> 00:50:17,480
In tonight's crowd are those who've
come because it's the place to be.
707
00:50:17,480 --> 00:50:19,920
There are the prototypical celebrities
who bustle about too much,
708
00:50:19,920 --> 00:50:23,020
conspicuously kissing each other
and calling back and forth loudly.
709
00:50:23,640 --> 00:50:26,040
There are those
who hope it will be a flop,
710
00:50:26,700 --> 00:50:28,040
those who've gone out of town
711
00:50:28,040 --> 00:50:31,530
and given their seats
to their maid or manicurist.
712
00:50:31,800 --> 00:50:35,070
Hairdressers
have invitations of their own.
713
00:50:36,780 --> 00:50:40,270
Ah, Georgette Sylva,
stuffed into her premiere gown.
714
00:50:42,000 --> 00:50:45,340
Don't know if she is writing anymore
or for whom she's written,
715
00:50:45,340 --> 00:50:47,320
but nobody better forget about her.
716
00:50:47,320 --> 00:50:49,640
A living replica
of a Jean Cocteau character,
717
00:50:49,640 --> 00:50:52,380
she carries with her
a veritable cabinet full of makeup
718
00:50:52,380 --> 00:50:55,530
for restoring her facade
prior to curtain time.
719
00:51:02,650 --> 00:51:05,450
Carole, in the loge with her guests.
720
00:51:09,760 --> 00:51:12,860
My father,
in the first ten orchestra rows.
721
00:51:15,280 --> 00:51:19,050
Mr. and Mrs. Chambord-Martin,
who always arrive in threes.
722
00:51:25,770 --> 00:51:28,830
The critic Louis Maury,
who speaks to no one
723
00:51:28,830 --> 00:51:30,810
to underscore
his independent judgment.
724
00:51:31,960 --> 00:51:35,130
Albert Saint-Maxen who,
with a farmer's stubbornness,
725
00:51:35,130 --> 00:51:37,760
introduces his son ten times
in the same evening.
726
00:51:38,520 --> 00:51:40,490
The son is a clod.
727
00:51:41,070 --> 00:51:43,280
Stupidly serious, stupidly jolly,
728
00:51:43,280 --> 00:51:46,670
he's convinced that reaching
the age of 20 is a sign of intelligence.
729
00:51:49,760 --> 00:51:53,340
And there is the precious F.F.,
Fran�ois Fortville.
730
00:51:54,300 --> 00:51:58,440
Once a week on the television,
at an hour when everyone's sleeping,
731
00:51:58,860 --> 00:52:03,390
he pours out a stream
of uninterrupted pithy platitudes,
732
00:52:03,390 --> 00:52:07,160
each word attached
to a string of ringing, qualifying,
733
00:52:07,160 --> 00:52:09,290
superlative,
and comparative adjectives--
734
00:52:09,290 --> 00:52:11,610
blithering sounds
no one listens to,
735
00:52:11,610 --> 00:52:13,120
but that wind up
giving the impression
736
00:52:13,120 --> 00:52:14,750
that he has something to say.
737
00:52:14,750 --> 00:52:16,250
Ah, there.
738
00:52:16,380 --> 00:52:19,130
Georgette Sylva
has completed her reconstruction.
739
00:52:19,470 --> 00:52:21,720
There really wasn't enough time
to scrape off the old application,
740
00:52:21,720 --> 00:52:24,170
but the new layer
will hold for three acts.
741
00:52:24,540 --> 00:52:26,540
The curtain can go up.
742
00:52:27,500 --> 00:52:29,840
Let's go.
Break a leg, break a leg.
743
00:52:51,070 --> 00:52:53,480
From all these good wishes
for my success,
744
00:52:53,480 --> 00:52:55,480
there springs the smell of latrines.
745
00:52:57,840 --> 00:53:00,250
"Break a leg" for tonight.
746
00:53:03,290 --> 00:53:07,520
"I dip my pen
in Cambronne to tell you...," etc.
747
00:53:07,520 --> 00:53:10,430
"I have stepped on that four-letter word
to bring you luck. Fondly..."
748
00:53:32,300 --> 00:53:33,770
What is it?
749
00:53:37,680 --> 00:53:39,680
Oh, no, miss,
this is not a good time.
750
00:53:41,290 --> 00:53:42,750
Excuse me...
751
00:53:43,880 --> 00:53:45,610
...just a moment of optimism.
752
00:53:45,610 --> 00:53:47,960
I forgot that I'm one of those
for whom it is never a good time,
753
00:53:47,960 --> 00:53:49,440
whatever time it is.
754
00:53:53,600 --> 00:53:55,440
Was it very important?
755
00:53:56,430 --> 00:53:58,410
I just realized that it isn't.
756
00:53:58,750 --> 00:54:01,880
I only wanted to be the first to
tell you that your play was very good.
757
00:54:01,880 --> 00:54:03,820
You see, it was pure vanity.
758
00:54:03,820 --> 00:54:08,080
No, it isn't vanity
It's more like colossal nerve.
759
00:54:08,620 --> 00:54:10,880
You're talking
about a play opening right now,
760
00:54:10,880 --> 00:54:12,800
and you're not even in the theater.
761
00:54:13,550 --> 00:54:17,000
I saw your play 14 times in little bits
and 8 times in its entirety.
762
00:54:17,200 --> 00:54:20,110
That's impossible. Rehearsals were
closed to the public and press.
763
00:54:20,880 --> 00:54:23,740
Then you're right.
It really is colossal nerve.
764
00:54:52,990 --> 00:54:54,680
Paul, a beer, please.
765
00:54:54,680 --> 00:54:56,680
-- Draft?
-- If you like.
766
00:55:09,980 --> 00:55:11,610
I'm sorry for earlier.
767
00:55:11,920 --> 00:55:14,970
Oh, no, don't apologize.
It's me, I...
768
00:55:15,550 --> 00:55:20,190
It was silly of me to congratulate you
for a play that hadn't opened yet.
769
00:55:24,300 --> 00:55:26,300
Don't you go to your openings?
770
00:55:27,210 --> 00:55:28,730
Never.
771
00:55:33,200 --> 00:55:34,960
Yes, I'd like some.
772
00:55:35,520 --> 00:55:37,800
-- You're an actress?
-- Oh, no!
773
00:55:38,570 --> 00:55:40,840
Then you've written a play,
and you want my opinion?
774
00:55:41,130 --> 00:55:44,000
I'm absolutely incapable
of writing any kind of play.
775
00:55:44,860 --> 00:55:46,400
You're a journalist.
776
00:55:47,370 --> 00:55:48,990
Very, very little.
777
00:55:48,990 --> 00:55:51,400
What does that mean,
to be "very, very little" a journalist?
778
00:55:54,080 --> 00:55:56,590
My name is Astrig Setian,
and I write for an Armenian newspaper
779
00:55:56,590 --> 00:56:00,060
that is published once a month
and has 6,500 subscribers.
780
00:56:00,360 --> 00:56:05,450
But statistics don't tell you
how many actually open the paper.
781
00:56:05,980 --> 00:56:07,550
What's the name of the newspaper?
782
00:56:07,550 --> 00:56:09,550
Horizons. Plural.
783
00:56:11,240 --> 00:56:12,620
Horizons.
784
00:56:13,680 --> 00:56:15,850
A moving name.
785
00:56:16,440 --> 00:56:19,770
In one short and simple word,
there's a promise,
786
00:56:19,800 --> 00:56:22,910
an ambitious undertaking
which seems to say, "Read me."
787
00:56:26,680 --> 00:56:28,520
Here, take it.
788
00:56:32,040 --> 00:56:35,500
My father founded the paper.
789
00:56:35,500 --> 00:56:40,160
He says that the horizon is a symbol
of inaccessible knowledge.
790
00:56:41,240 --> 00:56:45,660
He added the "s"
because Armenian is lyrical.
791
00:56:47,600 --> 00:56:48,960
Do you read Armenian?
792
00:56:49,950 --> 00:56:51,560
Do you write it?
793
00:56:51,560 --> 00:56:53,560
With some spelling errors.
794
00:56:58,640 --> 00:57:00,680
The Armenian alphabet is beautiful.
795
00:57:01,340 --> 00:57:03,870
38 unique letters
796
00:57:04,510 --> 00:57:07,800
which transmit 1,600 years
of the memory of a people.
797
00:57:07,880 --> 00:57:10,300
And there's nothing stronger
than that memory
798
00:57:10,300 --> 00:57:13,260
because it draws whoever strays
a little back to their roots.
799
00:57:13,950 --> 00:57:15,520
Was that your case?
800
00:57:20,360 --> 00:57:22,830
I'm sorry.
I didn't mean to be indiscreet.
801
00:57:24,140 --> 00:57:27,210
Not at all. I didn't answer
because I was just thinking
802
00:57:27,210 --> 00:57:29,340
of a personal experience.
803
00:57:29,360 --> 00:57:32,540
You see, at the beginning
of The Signet Ring,
804
00:57:33,790 --> 00:57:37,200
there's the classic situation -- an author's
search for a subject for his play.
805
00:57:38,140 --> 00:57:41,800
He cooly examines
his past to see if, by any chance,
806
00:57:41,800 --> 00:57:44,590
there's not some little memory
lingering here or there he can use.
807
00:57:44,590 --> 00:57:46,990
He reverses the hourglass
808
00:57:46,990 --> 00:57:51,390
and, little by little,
this past gone cold,
809
00:57:51,400 --> 00:57:52,910
a little faded,
810
00:57:53,680 --> 00:57:58,250
this past flows back with a half-century
of a humble family's life,
811
00:57:59,120 --> 00:58:01,580
with their enduring smiles,
812
00:58:01,580 --> 00:58:03,580
their family gatherings.
813
00:58:04,400 --> 00:58:08,760
And then through
this absolute love, all of a sudden,
814
00:58:09,790 --> 00:58:12,350
the cathedral bells
of the world's first Christian people
815
00:58:12,350 --> 00:58:16,670
begin to peal in his head
to remind him that he is Armenian.
816
00:58:21,920 --> 00:58:24,750
And in the space of one play,
817
00:58:24,750 --> 00:58:27,230
Pierre Zakar once again
becomes Azad Zakarian.
818
00:58:29,960 --> 00:58:32,300
It's something like that,
the memory of a people.
819
00:58:35,640 --> 00:58:40,460
On parting, Miss Setian
spared me the clich� "Later, maybe,"
820
00:58:40,460 --> 00:58:44,430
which obliges you to write down
a telephone number you'll never call.
821
00:58:44,430 --> 00:58:47,440
With discretion and simplicity,
822
00:58:47,440 --> 00:58:50,360
she had shared
my first-night anxieties
823
00:58:50,360 --> 00:58:52,270
along with her ham sandwich.
824
00:58:52,430 --> 00:58:55,680
Rats! I forgot to pay the bill.
825
00:58:56,200 --> 00:58:58,800
I ate and drank
at Miss Setian's expense,
826
00:58:58,800 --> 00:59:01,370
and I didn't have time
to correct my boorishness.
827
00:59:11,280 --> 00:59:15,440
I have just one word for you:
fan-tas-tic!
828
00:59:17,560 --> 00:59:19,660
Gonzague had said only one word,
829
00:59:19,660 --> 00:59:23,280
but he had divided it into
three syllables with such jubilation
830
00:59:23,280 --> 00:59:26,800
that I immediately understood--
they didn't like my play.
831
00:59:29,820 --> 00:59:31,290
Okay, we'll meet at Fouquet's.
832
00:59:31,290 --> 00:59:33,290
I've reserved a private room.
See you in a minute!
833
00:59:41,070 --> 00:59:43,950
-- I forgot my father.
-- You forgot him where?
834
00:59:45,660 --> 00:59:48,270
I told him to meet me somewhere,
but now I don't remember where.
835
00:59:48,270 --> 00:59:50,670
Here, take the keys. I'll join you.
836
00:59:54,800 --> 00:59:56,650
Are you thinking
of taking him to Fouquet's?
837
00:59:56,650 --> 00:59:58,460
-- What's the problem?
-- Nothing.
838
00:59:58,460 --> 01:00:00,730
I simply thought
the poor man would be bored.
839
01:00:00,730 --> 01:00:02,730
Anyway, do what you want.
840
01:00:06,490 --> 01:00:07,660
Valentin?
841
01:00:11,960 --> 01:00:13,950
You haven't
seen my father by any chance?
842
01:00:13,950 --> 01:00:16,510
But I don't know
your father, Mr. Zakar.
843
01:00:20,730 --> 01:00:22,560
Impossible.
844
01:00:23,400 --> 01:00:24,920
Come with me.
845
01:00:29,680 --> 01:00:32,670
-- Papa, are you here?
-- Yes, I'm here.
846
01:00:32,670 --> 01:00:35,100
Valentin, could you
turn on the lights, please?
847
01:00:41,400 --> 01:00:44,030
Well, Papa. They're about
to close the theater doors.
848
01:00:44,030 --> 01:00:46,030
What are you doing here?
849
01:00:46,430 --> 01:00:49,080
You told me, "At the end of the play,
don't move from your seat.
850
01:00:49,080 --> 01:00:51,080
Let everyone leave.
I'll come get you."
851
01:00:51,950 --> 01:00:54,490
I thought I'd said
something like that, but...
852
01:00:55,690 --> 01:00:56,970
Forgive me.
853
01:00:56,970 --> 01:00:59,310
It's my fault, a night like this.
854
01:00:59,850 --> 01:01:02,680
I could have gone by myself,
but like an imbecile,
855
01:01:02,680 --> 01:01:04,810
I didn't get the name of my hotel.
856
01:01:05,880 --> 01:01:07,870
Sit down for a minute.
857
01:01:24,160 --> 01:01:25,720
Nothing to say?
858
01:01:26,700 --> 01:01:29,020
I've always known
how to share your silences.
859
01:01:30,190 --> 01:01:34,030
Besides "fantastic,"
in one word or three,
860
01:01:34,440 --> 01:01:36,410
you can tell me
anything you please tonight.
861
01:01:36,410 --> 01:01:38,700
I'll point out to you
that you're the one who's pushing.
862
01:01:40,440 --> 01:01:41,880
I am.
863
01:01:43,740 --> 01:01:47,690
At first I had the impression
that people were pointing at me, saying,
864
01:01:47,690 --> 01:01:49,690
"He's the author's father."
865
01:01:50,830 --> 01:01:54,840
So I slumped down
more and more into my seat.
866
01:01:56,110 --> 01:01:59,260
Of course,
no one was looking at me.
867
01:02:03,160 --> 01:02:04,840
And then, little by little...
868
01:02:06,240 --> 01:02:08,680
...I forgot I was in the theater...
869
01:02:11,040 --> 01:02:13,560
...and I went back to our happy times
870
01:02:14,460 --> 01:02:15,950
with your mother...
871
01:02:17,080 --> 01:02:19,950
...our Anna, and Gayan�.
872
01:02:23,640 --> 01:02:26,160
And then, all at once,
I was stricken by panic...
873
01:02:27,020 --> 01:02:29,360
asking myself what
could be interesting about this life
874
01:02:29,360 --> 01:02:31,290
of unimportant people...
875
01:02:32,750 --> 01:02:33,820
who have learned to forget
876
01:02:33,820 --> 01:02:39,120
that somewhere, they may
have had a certain importance.
877
01:02:41,290 --> 01:02:44,010
I had an impression
that we were all there...
878
01:02:44,650 --> 01:02:46,320
unbearable...
879
01:02:47,150 --> 01:02:50,030
with our hearts full of love,
overflowing,
880
01:02:50,640 --> 01:02:52,650
trying to do our best...
881
01:02:53,950 --> 01:02:58,160
with our sorrows...
and our little joys.
882
01:02:59,580 --> 01:03:02,560
Like that waltz with your mother
the night of your signet ring.
883
01:03:07,130 --> 01:03:12,240
The curtain fell there,
the lights came on.
884
01:03:15,920 --> 01:03:17,930
And I found myself
once again in the theater.
885
01:03:28,040 --> 01:03:30,030
Here. This is for you.
886
01:03:30,590 --> 01:03:32,200
What is it?
887
01:03:32,200 --> 01:03:33,820
A little present.
888
01:03:47,760 --> 01:03:50,540
The experts assured me
that it's middle 18th century
889
01:03:51,070 --> 01:03:54,220
and had belonged
to the famous troubadour Sayat Nova.
890
01:03:54,650 --> 01:03:57,560
But you're crazy.
It must have cost a fortune.
891
01:04:00,280 --> 01:04:02,280
Tell me, Papa, I didn't dream this.
892
01:04:02,700 --> 01:04:05,370
You once played well,
didn't you?
893
01:04:06,160 --> 01:04:08,880
Oh, very well... I played.
894
01:04:10,170 --> 01:04:12,890
Each day
before you went to sleep,
895
01:04:12,890 --> 01:04:15,360
instead of a story
about ogres or Cinderella,
896
01:04:15,360 --> 01:04:18,190
you wanted me to play a sad tune,
always the same one.
897
01:04:18,840 --> 01:04:20,430
From time to time I tried to change it,
898
01:04:20,430 --> 01:04:23,740
but you'd immediately wag me
a big "no" with your finger.
899
01:04:25,420 --> 01:04:27,420
And then one night I had to quit
900
01:04:27,610 --> 01:04:29,720
because it disturbed
the next-door neighbor.
901
01:04:30,570 --> 01:04:32,560
Do you remember that tune?
902
01:04:33,200 --> 01:04:34,920
Sure.
903
01:04:36,400 --> 01:04:38,400
It was a lament.
904
01:04:39,660 --> 01:04:41,210
Play it, Papa.
905
01:04:41,210 --> 01:04:44,800
No. It's been a long time,
I wouldn't know how.
906
01:04:45,210 --> 01:04:47,550
Come on, it's just us.
907
01:06:17,080 --> 01:06:18,650
Superb!
908
01:06:19,720 --> 01:06:23,020
Tell me, Papa.
You still like seafood?
909
01:06:23,690 --> 01:06:27,200
Sure, I love seafood.
But I don't understand.
910
01:06:27,200 --> 01:06:31,020
There's nothing to understand.
I have a huge urge for seafood.
911
01:06:31,020 --> 01:06:33,020
I'll take you to a little bistro,
just the two of us.
912
01:06:33,020 --> 01:06:38,430
We'll gorge ourselves
with all kinds of oysters, clams,
913
01:06:38,430 --> 01:06:42,350
big ones, little ones, fat ones--
a real seafood feast.
914
01:06:42,350 --> 01:06:45,420
Not tonight, Azad.
I'd love to another time.
915
01:06:46,400 --> 01:06:48,920
But you're not going to leave me
alone on a night like this?
916
01:06:48,920 --> 01:06:51,870
Really, Azad, you're not alone.
917
01:06:52,800 --> 01:06:57,080
What about Carole and all your friends
who must be waiting for you right now?
918
01:06:57,080 --> 01:07:00,430
I need to stretch my legs a little,
it'll do me good.
919
01:07:00,430 --> 01:07:02,430
And also
I have to phone your mother.
920
01:07:02,430 --> 01:07:04,380
By now she must be
jumping out of her skin.
921
01:07:04,380 --> 01:07:06,380
Okay, come on,
we'll call Mayrig together.
922
01:07:06,380 --> 01:07:08,720
Azad, I'm sure
you're up to no good.
923
01:07:08,720 --> 01:07:10,720
Papa, listen to me, please.
924
01:07:11,720 --> 01:07:13,800
It may be that
I could've done better tonight.
925
01:07:20,520 --> 01:07:23,530
Valentin, thanks!
You can turn off the lights!
926
01:07:32,200 --> 01:07:34,140
How could they do this?
927
01:07:34,140 --> 01:07:36,990
I work like a dog
screening your press coverage.
928
01:07:36,990 --> 01:07:39,280
I sift out what to publish,
I throw out the junk,
929
01:07:39,280 --> 01:07:41,280
I negotiate exclusives.
930
01:07:41,400 --> 01:07:43,630
And, look, your father
and mother screw it all up
931
01:07:43,630 --> 01:07:46,140
by sneaking
into an article in Match!
932
01:07:51,740 --> 01:07:55,820
A lousy article
in that lousy magazine.
933
01:07:55,820 --> 01:07:58,890
Hiding, of course,
their beautiful apartement
934
01:07:58,890 --> 01:08:02,160
you bought
and furnished for them.
935
01:08:03,760 --> 01:08:05,420
My poor Pierre,
I never understood
936
01:08:05,420 --> 01:08:07,260
why you always hid
those payments from me,
937
01:08:07,260 --> 01:08:09,840
the ones the bank sends
to your parents each month.
938
01:08:10,220 --> 01:08:14,880
I knew all about it from the start,
and I think it's fine.
939
01:08:16,140 --> 01:08:18,460
What I find intolerable
on their part
940
01:08:18,460 --> 01:08:20,350
is coming across
in these photos
941
01:08:20,350 --> 01:08:22,520
as if we had
abandoned them to poverty.
942
01:08:29,580 --> 01:08:32,320
You know how much
I love and respect your parents,
943
01:08:32,960 --> 01:08:35,740
but I'm telling you this
for your own good.
944
01:08:36,030 --> 01:08:40,270
You cannot allow your family
to intrude on your professional life.
945
01:08:41,630 --> 01:08:43,950
And that's it,
I can't do it for you.
946
01:09:04,840 --> 01:09:09,280
Hello, I'd like to talk
to Mr. Zakarian, please, suite 2930.
947
01:09:38,880 --> 01:09:41,500
My father listened to me
without saying a single word.
948
01:09:42,910 --> 01:09:45,390
Under the pitiless eye of Carole,
949
01:09:45,390 --> 01:09:48,220
my words
greatly overstepped my thinking.
950
01:09:48,750 --> 01:09:52,600
I had forgotten that wise old saying
he often repeated to me:
951
01:09:53,320 --> 01:09:55,960
"Speak as if
there were no tomorrow
952
01:09:55,960 --> 01:09:58,250
to take back
what you said the day before."
953
01:10:14,190 --> 01:10:15,980
Good morning, Serge.
Is my father upstairs?
954
01:10:15,980 --> 01:10:17,520
No, sir, he's left.
955
01:10:17,520 --> 01:10:18,970
Did he say when he'll be back?
956
01:10:18,970 --> 01:10:22,640
He checked out, sir.
But he left a letter for you.
957
01:10:23,880 --> 01:10:26,560
He probably caught the 1:45 train.
958
01:10:39,390 --> 01:10:41,020
"My dear Azad,
959
01:10:41,880 --> 01:10:43,870
"When you read these lines,
960
01:10:43,870 --> 01:10:49,240
"I'll have left this stressful city
that crushes and destroys little people.
961
01:10:50,330 --> 01:10:52,440
I am one of those little people."
962
01:10:52,440 --> 01:10:54,440
-- Sir?
-- Mr. Zakarian's bill, please.
963
01:10:55,850 --> 01:11:00,720
"Two times two beds to sleep on,
14 easy chairs for me to sit in,
964
01:11:01,120 --> 01:11:04,270
"so many bathrooms
to wash my old carcass--
965
01:11:04,270 --> 01:11:05,870
"it's way too much.
966
01:11:06,760 --> 01:11:10,650
So I am returning to our house
where we all lived together..."
967
01:11:12,460 --> 01:11:14,920
Mr. Zakarian paid his bill, sir.
968
01:11:14,920 --> 01:11:16,920
How is that possible?
969
01:11:17,130 --> 01:11:19,800
My wife had left instructions
with management.
970
01:11:20,080 --> 01:11:22,540
I'll look for my colleague
who took the payment.
971
01:11:24,670 --> 01:11:27,840
"Do you remember
our house, Azad?
972
01:11:27,840 --> 01:11:31,770
"Our door and our table
always open to a passing friend?
973
01:11:32,800 --> 01:11:36,600
"One day,
some people came and told us
974
01:11:36,600 --> 01:11:38,700
"they were friends of our son.
975
01:11:38,700 --> 01:11:42,170
"So we opened
the doors a bit wider than usual
976
01:11:42,170 --> 01:11:45,680
"and naively thought
the photos were for souvenirs,
977
01:11:45,680 --> 01:11:49,180
"photos to laugh over,
for your eyes only.
978
01:11:50,440 --> 01:11:53,950
"After your phone call,
I bought that magazine.
979
01:11:54,570 --> 01:11:57,200
"I sadly leafed through it,
980
01:11:57,200 --> 01:11:59,530
"thinking that you may
have confused your father
981
01:11:59,530 --> 01:12:03,560
"with a fool grimacing
for his press photo.
982
01:12:04,240 --> 01:12:09,440
"You talked of grotesque pride
that you may have seen in my face.
983
01:12:10,990 --> 01:12:13,840
"That was because, at that moment,
they were talking to me about you."
984
01:12:13,900 --> 01:12:16,060
Good day, Mr. Zakar.
985
01:12:16,060 --> 01:12:20,560
Your father insisted on paying,
assuring us it was fine with you.
986
01:12:20,560 --> 01:12:23,640
He asked
for the exact amount and left.
987
01:12:23,640 --> 01:12:27,450
A half hour, an hour later,
he returned with the amount in cash.
988
01:12:28,590 --> 01:12:30,590
All right. Thank you.
989
01:12:34,720 --> 01:12:37,360
"During your tantrum on the phone,
990
01:12:37,360 --> 01:12:41,130
"you probably didn't dare
remind me of your monthly check.
991
01:12:41,660 --> 01:12:46,190
"So, know this, my son,
that all these sums from the first franc
992
01:12:46,190 --> 01:12:50,490
"are safe inside the cardboard box
you know so well on the buffet shelf.
993
01:12:51,100 --> 01:12:54,080
"That money is yours.
We've never touched it.
994
01:12:55,640 --> 01:12:58,410
"It has served, in our eyes,
995
01:12:58,410 --> 01:13:02,860
"the illusion that we could
stop working whenever we wished,
996
01:13:02,860 --> 01:13:04,860
"thanks to our son.
997
01:13:06,110 --> 01:13:08,520
"In order not to hurt your mother,
998
01:13:08,970 --> 01:13:12,350
"I told her
you'd received me like a prince.
999
01:13:12,350 --> 01:13:15,980
"That's the absolute truth,
reckoning by the square meters
1000
01:13:15,980 --> 01:13:19,610
"of the beautiful suite
Carole reserved for me.
1001
01:13:21,160 --> 01:13:23,640
"That's it, son. I have to go.
1002
01:13:24,430 --> 01:13:26,430
Your old father, Hagop."
1003
01:15:14,320 --> 01:15:19,660
Our Father which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
1004
01:15:19,660 --> 01:15:25,320
Thy kingdom come, they will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
1005
01:15:25,320 --> 01:15:29,260
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
1006
01:15:29,260 --> 01:15:32,300
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
1007
01:15:32,300 --> 01:15:36,720
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
1008
01:15:36,720 --> 01:15:44,540
For yours is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory forever. Amen.
1009
01:15:58,760 --> 01:16:03,150
My father took with him the secret
of my abominable phone call,
1010
01:16:03,150 --> 01:16:05,400
and I will bear
for the rest of my life
1011
01:16:05,400 --> 01:16:09,340
the gnawing remorse
of my stupid, unjust words.
1012
01:16:09,740 --> 01:16:11,740
I had written him:
1013
01:16:12,060 --> 01:16:14,350
"My dear papa
of the happy days,
1014
01:16:14,990 --> 01:16:17,280
"According to our old customs,
1015
01:16:17,420 --> 01:16:20,350
"let me kiss your hand
and raise it to my forehead
1016
01:16:20,350 --> 01:16:22,350
"to show my respect.
1017
01:16:22,590 --> 01:16:25,950
"You see?
I haven't forgotten the old days.
1018
01:16:27,020 --> 01:16:29,450
"I just dozed off for an instant.
1019
01:16:29,790 --> 01:16:31,960
See you very soon,
my dear old papa."
1020
01:16:33,150 --> 01:16:37,150
I had forgotten that "dear old papas"
are as fragile as mimosa.
1021
01:16:38,270 --> 01:16:41,960
That morning, in the mail that Mayrig
hadn't opened for several days,
1022
01:16:42,800 --> 01:16:45,800
I recognized
my handwriting on an envelope.
1023
01:16:47,340 --> 01:16:49,160
My father had left us
1024
01:16:49,800 --> 01:16:52,590
before having read my letter.
1025
01:17:24,430 --> 01:17:27,580
Pierre, stop blaming yourself.
1026
01:17:27,580 --> 01:17:30,970
Your father had already had two attacks
that they kept from you.
1027
01:17:31,600 --> 01:17:33,960
My father came looking
for a little warmth.
1028
01:17:34,800 --> 01:17:38,240
We put him up
in a luxurious, glacial palace.
1029
01:17:38,240 --> 01:17:40,520
He left with a chill in his heart.
1030
01:17:41,050 --> 01:17:43,580
So, you see, there's really
nothing to feel guilty about.
1031
01:17:43,580 --> 01:17:46,620
My poor Pierre,
your grief torments you.
1032
01:17:51,580 --> 01:17:54,460
I would suggest we have your mother
come to Paris for a few days,
1033
01:17:54,480 --> 01:17:56,080
but she would be bored.
1034
01:17:56,080 --> 01:17:58,240
Here she had her friends,
her routines.
1035
01:17:58,860 --> 01:18:00,970
And, well, in our house,
it's unthinkable.
1036
01:18:01,840 --> 01:18:03,560
But I do think so.
1037
01:18:05,340 --> 01:18:09,950
Carole, for years I've put up
with your dad's giggly mistress
1038
01:18:09,950 --> 01:18:11,600
and their imbecile friends.
1039
01:18:11,600 --> 01:18:13,850
I've laughed at that digestive tube
1040
01:18:13,850 --> 01:18:16,220
stuck to a spinal cord
they call your brother.
1041
01:18:16,220 --> 01:18:19,390
We've welcomed your idiot sisters
and their strings of husbands.
1042
01:18:19,390 --> 01:18:22,280
I think it's about time for me to pay
some attention to my mother.
1043
01:18:22,960 --> 01:18:25,320
And, believe me,
she'll take up less space.
1044
01:18:29,800 --> 01:18:34,240
Air-Inter 703, destination Paris,
1045
01:18:34,240 --> 01:18:37,200
boarding immediately,
gate number 4.
1046
01:19:15,720 --> 01:19:17,470
Good morning, Nazareth.
1047
01:19:26,880 --> 01:19:28,830
I remember each one of you.
1048
01:19:35,260 --> 01:19:37,000
Except you, madame.
1049
01:19:37,000 --> 01:19:38,360
Stands to reason.
1050
01:19:38,360 --> 01:19:41,180
In your day,
we didn't live in Marseille yet.
1051
01:19:41,180 --> 01:19:43,180
Well, there you have it.
1052
01:19:44,120 --> 01:19:47,560
And even if you don't remember me,
Mr. Zakar, it's understandable.
1053
01:19:47,560 --> 01:19:49,920
-- It's been such a long time.
-- I remember very well.
1054
01:19:49,920 --> 01:19:52,240
Didn't your father have a grocery store
in Saint-Barnab�?
1055
01:19:52,240 --> 01:19:53,800
That's right. Absolutely.
1056
01:19:53,800 --> 01:19:55,400
There you are.
1057
01:19:55,400 --> 01:19:56,960
And you.
1058
01:19:56,960 --> 01:20:01,950
You're Levon, the jeweler who
stealthily measured my finger one day.
1059
01:20:01,950 --> 01:20:03,790
Do you recognize your work?
1060
01:20:03,790 --> 01:20:05,210
I do.
1061
01:20:06,140 --> 01:20:09,610
That ring, Mr. Azad,
it's tons of love.
1062
01:20:09,610 --> 01:20:11,790
I know, Levon. I know.
1063
01:20:12,920 --> 01:20:14,140
You remember my wife?
1064
01:20:14,140 --> 01:20:16,140
Don't tell me her name.
1065
01:20:17,500 --> 01:20:19,690
-- Aganouche?
-- Vartanouche.
1066
01:20:19,690 --> 01:20:21,120
I wasn't too far off.
1067
01:20:24,040 --> 01:20:25,580
No, don't get up, don't get up.
1068
01:20:25,580 --> 01:20:28,640
I'm Azani,
the druggist from in front,
1069
01:20:29,080 --> 01:20:32,090
who is no longer a druggist
by reason of retirement.
1070
01:20:32,090 --> 01:20:33,690
Rose, my wife.
1071
01:20:33,690 --> 01:20:34,970
Yes, of course.
1072
01:20:34,970 --> 01:20:38,750
Mr. and Mrs. Azani, whose telephone
helped us out so much.
1073
01:20:39,370 --> 01:20:41,160
Back then, being good neighbors,
1074
01:20:41,160 --> 01:20:43,340
people delighted
in being there for each other.
1075
01:20:43,340 --> 01:20:45,000
Greetings, Engineer!
1076
01:20:45,000 --> 01:20:48,080
You must sew some shirts,
Mr. Zakarian!
1077
01:20:48,080 --> 01:20:50,080
We'll sew them, Mr. Azani!
1078
01:20:50,080 --> 01:20:51,690
We'll sew them!
1079
01:21:04,520 --> 01:21:07,290
You didn't leave
with Carole and the children?
1080
01:21:09,390 --> 01:21:11,630
I needed to stay
a little while with you.
1081
01:21:11,630 --> 01:21:13,680
But I have plenty of company.
1082
01:21:14,010 --> 01:21:16,730
You know you
have work to do in Paris.
1083
01:21:16,730 --> 01:21:19,120
Mayrig, I didn't say you needed me.
1084
01:21:19,120 --> 01:21:21,120
It's me who needs you.
1085
01:21:24,720 --> 01:21:26,840
You remember Dr. Philibert?
1086
01:21:26,840 --> 01:21:29,960
I no longer know whether
it was for pneumonia or typhoid.
1087
01:21:29,960 --> 01:21:34,600
It was pleurisy.
And of the worst kind.
1088
01:21:34,620 --> 01:21:36,140
Nowadays we can cure it quickly,
1089
01:21:36,140 --> 01:21:38,120
but back then,
one could die of it, Mr. Zakar.
1090
01:21:38,120 --> 01:21:40,890
I remember you sounding my chest,
tapping with your finger.
1091
01:21:40,890 --> 01:21:44,300
Dull thud on the healthy side,
hollow on the sick.
1092
01:21:45,610 --> 01:21:47,900
And you weren't easy to sound.
1093
01:21:48,320 --> 01:21:50,280
With my head pressed
against your chest,
1094
01:21:50,280 --> 01:21:54,350
each time I asked you to
"Cough, breathe, say '33',"
1095
01:21:54,880 --> 01:21:56,810
the entire family
leaned toward you,
1096
01:21:56,810 --> 01:21:59,790
coughed, breathed,
and said "33" at the same time.
1097
01:22:00,810 --> 01:22:04,510
So, listening to five chests at once
to find out what was wrong with you!
1098
01:22:05,150 --> 01:22:08,590
-- I thank you for saving my life.
-- It's not me you have to thank.
1099
01:22:08,590 --> 01:22:10,600
We had little
to work with back then.
1100
01:22:10,750 --> 01:22:12,270
They did it.
1101
01:22:12,730 --> 01:22:16,510
It wasn't your pleurisy anymore,
it became their pleurisy.
1102
01:22:17,360 --> 01:22:20,030
The five of them attacked it,
and they won.
1103
01:22:24,780 --> 01:22:26,760
Mr. and Mrs. Nys.
1104
01:22:32,030 --> 01:22:34,570
Our first and only boss.
1105
01:22:34,570 --> 01:22:36,570
I'd rather say
we are friends of the family
1106
01:22:36,570 --> 01:22:38,730
from the first day
you came into our shop.
1107
01:22:40,700 --> 01:22:42,510
-- Good morning, sir.
-- Good morning, madame.
1108
01:22:42,510 --> 01:22:44,460
It's about the sign in the window.
1109
01:22:44,480 --> 01:22:46,250
You're a shirt maker?
1110
01:22:46,250 --> 01:22:47,950
We're three sisters.
1111
01:22:47,950 --> 01:22:52,600
If you lend us a sample, we promise
to make a shirt exactly like it.
1112
01:22:53,080 --> 01:22:55,230
-- Come in, then, madame.
-- Thank you.
1113
01:23:04,300 --> 01:23:06,560
And me.
Do you recognize me?
1114
01:23:08,750 --> 01:23:11,420
Understandable.
I've changed so much.
1115
01:23:11,580 --> 01:23:13,440
I didn't recognize
you because, back then,
1116
01:23:13,440 --> 01:23:15,070
you spoke to me less formally,
my old Apkar.
1117
01:23:15,070 --> 01:23:17,550
Oh, gosh, he did recognize me!
1118
01:23:17,550 --> 01:23:20,380
Back then was back then, Mr. Azad.
1119
01:23:22,380 --> 01:23:23,820
Just a second.
1120
01:23:26,140 --> 01:23:28,410
A couple of seconds to catch my breath.
1121
01:23:28,780 --> 01:23:31,710
You see,
one of my lungs is missing.
1122
01:23:32,360 --> 01:23:34,350
And how are your lungs now?
1123
01:23:34,350 --> 01:23:41,640
My doctor told me that I was
the living prototype of phti... of phtis...
1124
01:23:41,640 --> 01:23:43,710
-- Of phthisiology?
-- Yes, that's it.
1125
01:23:44,200 --> 01:23:46,510
They started
by taking out one lung,
1126
01:23:46,510 --> 01:23:49,500
and just when
the other one was about to go,
1127
01:23:49,500 --> 01:23:53,560
a doctor somewhere invented
a little white antibiotic tablet
1128
01:23:53,560 --> 01:23:55,960
to take with coffee every morning,
1129
01:23:55,960 --> 01:23:58,620
and so I got another chance.
1130
01:24:01,600 --> 01:24:03,950
Mr. Hagop... has he returned?
1131
01:24:04,250 --> 01:24:05,720
Nazareth.
1132
01:24:07,320 --> 01:24:11,980
You see, Mr. Azad,
our little elf Nazareth,
1133
01:24:12,860 --> 01:24:15,870
he went
to your poor father's funeral.
1134
01:24:16,440 --> 01:24:19,420
He carried two
fall chrysanthemums in his arms.
1135
01:24:20,430 --> 01:24:22,510
In his disturbed spirit,
1136
01:24:22,760 --> 01:24:25,530
he doesn't understand
the difference between life and death.
1137
01:24:25,840 --> 01:24:29,240
He only knows that it won't be the same as before.
1138
01:24:30,680 --> 01:24:33,820
All the words he uses
are perfectly good and clear.
1139
01:24:34,880 --> 01:24:37,630
It's when he puts them together
that they don't make sense.
1140
01:24:38,090 --> 01:24:40,330
He seems to come
from a different planet.
1141
01:24:41,160 --> 01:24:43,240
Your poor father used to say
1142
01:24:43,240 --> 01:24:45,610
that with all the fantasy
filling his head,
1143
01:24:45,610 --> 01:24:48,860
Nazareth lived out more
than one glorious destiny at a time.
1144
01:24:48,860 --> 01:24:51,770
One day, he was
a marshal of the Armenian army,
1145
01:24:51,770 --> 01:24:55,800
the next a great lawyer,
an archbishop, or a cardinal.
1146
01:24:57,290 --> 01:25:01,180
One evening, he came dressed
as the emperor of China.
1147
01:25:05,130 --> 01:25:07,680
The next morning,
your father told me,
1148
01:25:07,680 --> 01:25:09,630
"You know,
I dreamed I was the sultan
1149
01:25:09,630 --> 01:25:11,630
of I don't remember what country."
1150
01:25:12,060 --> 01:25:14,400
He added, "You see?
1151
01:25:15,470 --> 01:25:18,000
"We're all Nazareth at night.
1152
01:25:18,000 --> 01:25:19,740
"We have our absurd dreams
1153
01:25:19,740 --> 01:25:23,200
"during those hours
when they disturb no one, in secret.
1154
01:25:24,250 --> 01:25:27,400
"The next morning,
we wake up shirt makers again,
1155
01:25:28,160 --> 01:25:30,720
"without a ripple
in the order of things.
1156
01:25:31,520 --> 01:25:35,610
"Nazareth is the opposite.
He dreams by day.
1157
01:25:37,020 --> 01:25:38,960
That's what bothers people."
1158
01:25:41,930 --> 01:25:45,360
That evening, my mother had
brought out embroidered bed linens
1159
01:25:45,360 --> 01:25:47,200
from Aunt Anna's time.
1160
01:25:47,200 --> 01:25:49,000
To forestall any objections from me,
1161
01:25:49,000 --> 01:25:51,000
she pretended
to have just run across them.
1162
01:25:51,680 --> 01:25:54,110
"Look at that. I'd forgotten these."
1163
01:25:55,550 --> 01:25:58,330
Since that morning with our friends,
1164
01:25:58,620 --> 01:26:01,160
I'd rediscovered
a multitude of pleasures.
1165
01:26:01,550 --> 01:26:04,240
Waiting for sleep that doesn't come,
1166
01:26:04,240 --> 01:26:07,370
I try to separate out each component
of the smell of the past
1167
01:26:07,370 --> 01:26:09,370
that floats through the house.
1168
01:26:09,370 --> 01:26:12,570
Lavender that we picked along
the roads of Provence
1169
01:26:12,570 --> 01:26:14,460
to put in little sachet bags.
1170
01:26:14,460 --> 01:26:18,250
Perfume of cinnamon that evoked
the baklavas of my childhood.
1171
01:26:19,210 --> 01:26:21,850
Wisps of thyme and of basil.
1172
01:26:23,180 --> 01:26:25,870
And then the insinuating aroma
of the incense
1173
01:26:25,870 --> 01:26:28,010
that we burned on Saturdays
1174
01:26:28,010 --> 01:26:30,010
in remembrance
of those who had gone.
1175
01:26:56,040 --> 01:26:57,500
Are you asleep?
1176
01:26:57,630 --> 01:26:59,710
No, Mayrig. Come in.
1177
01:27:05,600 --> 01:27:08,680
I forgot to give you
the sesame cookies you love so much.
1178
01:27:10,780 --> 01:27:12,510
Sit down for a little while.
1179
01:27:16,680 --> 01:27:18,350
They're so good.
1180
01:27:18,350 --> 01:27:20,350
It melts in your mouth.
1181
01:27:21,960 --> 01:27:24,680
It won't ever again be like
when your father was with us.
1182
01:27:40,840 --> 01:27:42,970
Good morning, Mrs. Zakarian.
1183
01:27:42,970 --> 01:27:46,680
My deepest condolences.
I just heard the awful news.
1184
01:27:47,120 --> 01:27:50,220
Thank you, Mrs. Crespel.
That's very kind of you.
1185
01:27:58,440 --> 01:27:59,980
I know how it is.
1186
01:27:59,980 --> 01:28:03,610
When I lost my first husband,
I thought I'd never get over it.
1187
01:28:03,610 --> 01:28:06,760
But what do you want?
Life goes on for better or worse.
1188
01:28:07,360 --> 01:28:09,400
We wind up remarrying.
1189
01:28:18,320 --> 01:28:21,480
Now then, how much
do I owe you, Mrs. Zakarian?
1190
01:28:21,850 --> 01:28:25,500
5 times 230 francs, madame,
as agreed.
1191
01:28:25,500 --> 01:28:27,480
That comes to 1,150 francs.
1192
01:28:27,710 --> 01:28:30,250
Couldn't you take just
a little something off, Mrs. Zakarian?
1193
01:28:30,910 --> 01:28:34,890
I ordered five shirts,
and on my recommendation,
1194
01:28:34,890 --> 01:28:37,870
my brother-in-law and my son
intend to come to you.
1195
01:28:38,280 --> 01:28:40,880
That's worth
a little finder's fee, right?
1196
01:28:41,180 --> 01:28:45,690
Mrs. Crespel, when you ordered,
I gave 20 francs off per shirt,
1197
01:28:45,690 --> 01:28:47,840
which is a discount
of 100 francs.
1198
01:28:47,840 --> 01:28:50,490
When we worked as a family,
it didn't matter so much,
1199
01:28:50,490 --> 01:28:52,380
but now I've had to hire a worker
1200
01:28:52,380 --> 01:28:55,200
because I don't see
well enough anymore for handwork.
1201
01:28:55,200 --> 01:28:58,250
It is not a question,
Mrs. Zakarian, of a discount.
1202
01:28:58,250 --> 01:29:01,040
I'm asking
for a gesture on principle.
1203
01:29:01,040 --> 01:29:05,160
Let's just round it
down to 1,100 francs.
1204
01:29:05,160 --> 01:29:08,080
For you, it's three times nothing,
for me, it's no big deal,
1205
01:29:08,080 --> 01:29:09,660
and everyone is happy.
1206
01:29:11,320 --> 01:29:13,720
We'll make you even happier.
1207
01:29:13,720 --> 01:29:15,240
Here you are, madame.
1208
01:29:15,240 --> 01:29:17,200
You owe absolutely nothing,
it's on the house.
1209
01:29:17,200 --> 01:29:20,140
-- But, sir, I'm not asking for charity!
-- Yes, you are.
1210
01:29:20,140 --> 01:29:23,240
First, you begged
5 times 20 francs off on each shirt,
1211
01:29:23,240 --> 01:29:26,270
and just now, you've put
your hand out for alms of 50 francs,
1212
01:29:26,270 --> 01:29:28,440
and that makes,
if I calculate correctly, 150 francs.
1213
01:29:28,440 --> 01:29:30,960
So I say to you,
put away your begging bowl.
1214
01:29:30,960 --> 01:29:33,720
Everything's free today.
You may take your package.
1215
01:29:33,720 --> 01:29:36,540
You ill-mannered man!
Never again, you hear?
1216
01:29:36,540 --> 01:29:37,800
Never again!
1217
01:29:37,800 --> 01:29:39,550
Never again
will you set foot in this store?
1218
01:29:39,550 --> 01:29:42,440
Well, I should hope so.
We've already generously donated.
1219
01:29:42,860 --> 01:29:45,950
You're a lout!
A lout, sir!
1220
01:29:46,380 --> 01:29:47,960
Enough, Azad.
1221
01:29:49,120 --> 01:29:50,940
Go on, just one more step,
1222
01:29:50,940 --> 01:29:53,520
and you'll be off our premises
with five free shirts.
1223
01:29:53,520 --> 01:29:55,960
I'm takin the shirts,
but you'll be hearing from me.
1224
01:29:55,960 --> 01:29:58,350
My husband will settle
this affair personally
1225
01:29:58,350 --> 01:29:59,600
and in his own way!
1226
01:29:59,600 --> 01:30:03,420
Tell him to sent 1,150 francs
worth of roses to his shirt maker.
1227
01:30:03,420 --> 01:30:05,840
That might be a happy ending
for an ugly story.
1228
01:30:09,290 --> 01:30:12,650
This Mrs. Crespel,
trying to snatch a few francs payment
1229
01:30:12,650 --> 01:30:14,650
from needle-torn fingers,
1230
01:30:14,910 --> 01:30:18,410
left me with the souvenir of a promise
to myself which I've always kept.
1231
01:30:18,840 --> 01:30:21,050
I would never again
haggle over the price
1232
01:30:21,050 --> 01:30:22,670
of the labor of anyone's hands.
1233
01:30:23,280 --> 01:30:26,440
Mayrig, I'd better
warn you right now.
1234
01:30:26,760 --> 01:30:29,070
You'll never
get roses from Mr. Crespel.
1235
01:30:29,440 --> 01:30:31,420
I don't doubt it.
1236
01:30:34,190 --> 01:30:36,880
Just now, I was watching you
behind your counter,
1237
01:30:37,450 --> 01:30:40,040
with your air of the dedicated,
respectable seamstress,
1238
01:30:40,040 --> 01:30:42,040
faced with Crespel's pettiness.
1239
01:30:42,040 --> 01:30:47,070
Your face radiated such majesty
that it's obvious you are the lady.
1240
01:30:47,720 --> 01:30:49,210
Stop it.
1241
01:30:50,680 --> 01:30:53,120
You've spouted
enough foolishness for today.
1242
01:30:58,350 --> 01:31:01,200
I believe
all the Mayrigs in the world
1243
01:31:01,200 --> 01:31:04,200
would willingly dress
all the Crespels on earth for nothing...
1244
01:31:05,050 --> 01:31:08,220
just to hear that kind
of foolishness at least once.
1245
01:31:17,360 --> 01:31:20,360
Mayrig has been
with us for a month.
1246
01:31:21,050 --> 01:31:23,520
To convince her to stay,
I had to formally promise her
1247
01:31:23,520 --> 01:31:25,520
that her stay would be provisional.
1248
01:31:26,140 --> 01:31:27,640
When the light is lovely,
1249
01:31:27,640 --> 01:31:31,210
my mother,
with her white hair and black shawl,
1250
01:31:31,210 --> 01:31:33,920
Charlotte and Adrian
with their pink cheeks,
1251
01:31:33,920 --> 01:31:36,000
and the many greens
in our garden,
1252
01:31:36,270 --> 01:31:38,270
remind me
of an artist's masterpiece.
1253
01:31:38,800 --> 01:31:41,080
That's when I see my daily Renoir.
1254
01:31:42,620 --> 01:31:43,930
This particular morning,
1255
01:31:43,930 --> 01:31:48,910
the phones were ringing
off the hook like never before.
1256
01:31:49,740 --> 01:31:52,240
Carole would disturb me
with things like,
1257
01:31:52,240 --> 01:31:55,150
"He's leaving any minute now.
His car's pulling away."
1258
01:31:56,670 --> 01:31:58,840
This time,
the call had been short
1259
01:31:58,840 --> 01:32:01,980
and immediately followed
by a series of door slams
1260
01:32:01,980 --> 01:32:04,840
that announced
the arrival of Hurricane Carole.
1261
01:32:07,720 --> 01:32:10,030
Pierre, I've come
to tell you plainly and calmly,
1262
01:32:10,030 --> 01:32:12,480
either your mother
leaves this house, or I do.
1263
01:32:13,740 --> 01:32:16,840
Well, then, I respond just
as plainly and calmly,
1264
01:32:16,840 --> 01:32:18,170
you go.
1265
01:32:19,880 --> 01:32:22,330
Now, if you want
to give me the solemn reasons
1266
01:32:22,330 --> 01:32:25,180
that have brought you to this blackmail,
I'm ready to hear them.
1267
01:32:26,990 --> 01:32:30,600
I just received a phone call
from your son's school principal.
1268
01:32:30,600 --> 01:32:34,320
When he's just my son, it must be
something more or less unpleasant.
1269
01:32:35,280 --> 01:32:38,540
It's not just unpleasant.
It's extremely serious.
1270
01:32:38,680 --> 01:32:41,290
Your son doesn't want to be known by
the same name as his father anymore.
1271
01:32:41,580 --> 01:32:43,360
What is this idiotic story?
1272
01:32:43,360 --> 01:32:45,050
It's not a story.
1273
01:32:45,050 --> 01:32:48,410
Adrian went to see the principal
and told him, word for word,
1274
01:32:48,410 --> 01:32:50,750
"I no longer want
to be called Adrian Zakar."
1275
01:32:51,560 --> 01:32:52,880
Did he give a reason?
1276
01:32:52,880 --> 01:32:55,310
It was all wrapped up
in gibberish and silliness,
1277
01:32:55,310 --> 01:32:57,070
mixing up pseudonym,
pseudo name.
1278
01:32:57,320 --> 01:32:59,470
He didn't know what
he was talking about.
1279
01:33:00,270 --> 01:33:02,270
And what does
he want to be called?
1280
01:33:03,880 --> 01:33:05,770
Adrian Zakarian.
1281
01:33:09,800 --> 01:33:11,800
You have to admit
that that's his real name.
1282
01:33:17,500 --> 01:33:19,880
Just now, when you came in,
you said it's you or my mother.
1283
01:33:19,880 --> 01:33:21,880
What's my mother
have to do with all of this?
1284
01:33:21,980 --> 01:33:23,930
Your mother
has been here for a month,
1285
01:33:23,930 --> 01:33:27,040
and she's crammed their skulls
with stories about their origins.
1286
01:33:27,710 --> 01:33:30,650
Adrian was proud
to be the son of Pierre Zakar.
1287
01:33:31,440 --> 01:33:33,360
Now he wants
his grandfather's name.
1288
01:33:33,360 --> 01:33:37,150
Charlotte, who understands these
name stories even less than her brother,
1289
01:33:37,150 --> 01:33:40,060
wants to learn Armenian
without even knowing what it means.
1290
01:33:40,410 --> 01:33:42,440
Isn't all that crystal clear?
1291
01:33:47,280 --> 01:33:48,860
Come into my office.
1292
01:33:57,800 --> 01:34:01,600
Tell me, Adrian... is it true
that you want to change your name?
1293
01:34:03,080 --> 01:34:06,510
Don't lie, Adrian!
Your principal just called.
1294
01:34:07,630 --> 01:34:10,440
I don' want to change my name
since it's already Zakarian.
1295
01:34:10,440 --> 01:34:12,360
I've read it in the family documents.
1296
01:34:12,360 --> 01:34:14,460
"Adrian Zakarian, a.k.a. Zakar."
1297
01:34:14,830 --> 01:34:17,120
Zakar, that's Papa's pen name.
1298
01:34:19,420 --> 01:34:21,440
And who gave you these ideas?
1299
01:34:24,190 --> 01:34:28,540
Adrian, who gave you the idea
to call yourself Zakarian?
1300
01:34:29,400 --> 01:34:31,500
Papa's play.
I've seen it three times.
1301
01:34:35,230 --> 01:34:36,810
And you, Charlotte?
1302
01:34:36,810 --> 01:34:38,590
Why do you want
to learn Armenian?
1303
01:34:38,590 --> 01:34:42,800
For fun. With Adrian, we can talk,
and other people won't understand.
1304
01:34:46,220 --> 01:34:48,120
Go out and play, children.
1305
01:34:54,970 --> 01:34:57,530
Papa, will you be mad
if I call myself Zakarian?
1306
01:34:59,390 --> 01:35:01,660
It's the most beautiful gift
you could give me.
1307
01:35:10,060 --> 01:35:11,850
Well, that's just perfect.
1308
01:35:11,850 --> 01:35:13,720
The father will have one name,
his son another.
1309
01:35:13,720 --> 01:35:16,360
His daughter, when she marries
will have yet another name.
1310
01:35:16,840 --> 01:35:19,630
All that's left is for me to take back
my maiden name, and we're done.
1311
01:35:19,630 --> 01:35:21,630
That might not be a bad idea.
1312
01:36:05,160 --> 01:36:08,460
ORIENTAL BOOKSTORE
1313
01:36:35,120 --> 01:36:36,400
Anyone here?
1314
01:36:51,840 --> 01:36:53,640
Good morning, Mr. Zakar.
1315
01:36:55,770 --> 01:36:57,800
Don't tell me your name.
1316
01:36:59,340 --> 01:37:01,450
Miss Astrig Setian.
1317
01:37:01,950 --> 01:37:04,200
Your newspaper is called Infinity.
1318
01:37:04,200 --> 01:37:07,020
No... Horizons, plural.
1319
01:37:07,520 --> 01:37:11,320
Our old bookstore won't
ever forget this illustious visit.
1320
01:37:11,320 --> 01:37:13,040
Nothing illustrious here...
1321
01:37:13,390 --> 01:37:16,540
except these pyramids of books,
recalling 1,000 years of culture,
1322
01:37:17,120 --> 01:37:19,690
humbling all the Zakars
of the world.
1323
01:37:19,690 --> 01:37:22,430
In any event, thank you
for receiving me more kindly
1324
01:37:22,430 --> 01:37:23,930
than I did you on a certain night.
1325
01:37:23,950 --> 01:37:25,210
That was understandable.
1326
01:37:25,210 --> 01:37:28,810
I have neither recriminations
nor the excuse of a play opening.
1327
01:37:29,640 --> 01:37:31,150
What can I do for you?
1328
01:37:31,180 --> 01:37:32,600
Just an address, miss.
1329
01:37:32,600 --> 01:37:34,570
I have a ten-year-old son
and a twelve-year-old daughter.
1330
01:37:34,570 --> 01:37:37,320
I'm looking for a teacher to come
once a week to the house
1331
01:37:37,320 --> 01:37:38,670
so they can learn Armenian.
1332
01:37:38,670 --> 01:37:42,400
From experience, I'd recommend
instead a classroom course.
1333
01:37:42,400 --> 01:37:44,400
What's the advantage?
1334
01:37:44,400 --> 01:37:46,860
You know, the first lessons
are always a breeze.
1335
01:37:46,860 --> 01:37:50,090
They learn to say,
"yes, no, good morning,
1336
01:37:50,090 --> 01:37:51,500
there are flowers in the garden."
1337
01:37:51,500 --> 01:37:54,380
And then along comes
the complex grammar
1338
01:37:54,380 --> 01:37:58,510
with difficult declinations,
exceptions to the rules.
1339
01:37:58,510 --> 01:38:02,670
At the same time,
they're carrying a full load at school,
1340
01:38:02,670 --> 01:38:04,780
final exams to worry about.
1341
01:38:05,260 --> 01:38:08,080
In a group, they're less likely
to become discouraged.
1342
01:38:08,360 --> 01:38:11,130
I understand.
What's the address for this class?
1343
01:38:11,130 --> 01:38:13,480
There are several.
Here's the list.
1344
01:38:18,510 --> 01:38:21,320
I see you teach at Arnouville?
1345
01:38:22,830 --> 01:38:24,810
All the others are excellent, too.
1346
01:38:24,830 --> 01:38:26,030
I don't doubt it.
1347
01:38:26,030 --> 01:38:27,280
But, if it's okay with you,
1348
01:38:27,280 --> 01:38:29,440
Adrian and Charlotte
will go to your class.
1349
01:38:29,630 --> 01:38:31,130
With pleasure.
1350
01:38:33,450 --> 01:38:35,800
Annual Benefit Grand Ball
for the UBESA.
1351
01:38:35,800 --> 01:38:37,310
What's the UBESA?
1352
01:38:37,520 --> 01:38:40,510
It's the Armenian Benevolent
and Mutual Benefit Association.
1353
01:38:41,240 --> 01:38:43,530
I spent my childhood
and part of my adolescence
1354
01:38:43,530 --> 01:38:45,020
in the shadow of those annual balls.
1355
01:38:45,020 --> 01:38:46,760
There was one every Sunday.
1356
01:38:47,210 --> 01:38:49,550
"Under the distinguished patronage
of the Minister of...,"
1357
01:38:49,550 --> 01:38:51,420
which meant he wouldn't show up.
1358
01:38:51,420 --> 01:38:53,920
But, look, this is election time,
so he might come.
1359
01:38:54,480 --> 01:38:57,260
As for
"the exceptional artistic presentation,"
1360
01:38:57,280 --> 01:39:00,200
in my time,
it was always a poetry reading
1361
01:39:00,680 --> 01:39:04,200
by someone with a messy hair
and a face twisted in pain,
1362
01:39:04,200 --> 01:39:08,400
imitating Othello's accents and
thundering out sweet, nostalgic verses.
1363
01:39:08,400 --> 01:39:11,120
There would always be
the same poem by Tcharentz...
1364
01:39:12,380 --> 01:39:15,660
"Of my sweet Armenia,
I love that sun-kissed name,
1365
01:39:15,660 --> 01:39:20,110
"I love the blood-red flowers
and the infinite perfume of roses
1366
01:39:20,110 --> 01:39:23,610
"and the graceful dances
of our Nairian daughters.
1367
01:39:23,610 --> 01:39:25,290
I love..."
1368
01:39:25,850 --> 01:39:28,300
"...the pensive walls,
sad and black,
1369
01:39:28,300 --> 01:39:30,190
"of our thatched
cottages in the night.
1370
01:39:30,190 --> 01:39:34,090
And the rocks cloaked
in the time of our buried towns."
1371
01:39:41,240 --> 01:39:43,400
Unlike the opening night,
1372
01:39:43,400 --> 01:39:46,000
every evening performance
of the Signet Ring was sold out.
1373
01:39:46,840 --> 01:39:48,970
Hello, Alain.
Hello, Virginia.
1374
01:39:50,380 --> 01:39:51,850
Carole should be down there.
1375
01:39:51,850 --> 01:39:55,640
Carole celebrated the 350th show
1376
01:39:55,640 --> 01:39:58,960
by throwing a snobby lunch
at a trendy place.
1377
01:40:00,910 --> 01:40:03,260
Mayrig, your dress is beautiful.
1378
01:40:03,260 --> 01:40:07,020
It's always the same one,
and you always say the same thing.
1379
01:40:07,020 --> 01:40:09,020
Because every time it's true.
1380
01:40:10,680 --> 01:40:14,440
Azad, don't put me
too far away from you at the table.
1381
01:40:14,440 --> 01:40:16,440
If I do something I shouldn't,
1382
01:40:16,780 --> 01:40:18,990
a wink will be enough
to let me know.
1383
01:40:18,990 --> 01:40:20,990
Mama,
you always do the right thing.
1384
01:40:21,520 --> 01:40:23,520
I'll go see where they've placed you.
1385
01:40:30,410 --> 01:40:32,540
Your mother-in-law is very elegant.
1386
01:40:33,640 --> 01:40:35,420
She can fool people,
1387
01:40:35,420 --> 01:40:37,310
especially if she sits
next to her son,
1388
01:40:37,310 --> 01:40:39,710
who, with a wink,
can let her know which utensil to use.
1389
01:40:39,950 --> 01:40:42,810
Hey, they're
at opposite ends of the table today!
1390
01:40:43,920 --> 01:40:47,920
I've seated my guests
according to age, status, affinities.
1391
01:40:48,520 --> 01:40:50,520
It's complicated enough as it is.
1392
01:41:25,880 --> 01:41:27,080
Mama...
1393
01:41:27,760 --> 01:41:32,000
your innate distinction
sets you above stuffy convention.
1394
01:41:33,930 --> 01:41:39,400
So just pick up any utensil you like,
and we'll follow your lead.
1395
01:42:09,230 --> 01:42:11,790
I suppose you're happy
with that one-act play
1396
01:42:11,790 --> 01:42:13,790
you just put on for our guests.
1397
01:42:14,170 --> 01:42:16,970
There was no play, no act.
1398
01:42:17,280 --> 01:42:20,300
I extended my hand
to a very old lady
1399
01:42:20,600 --> 01:42:22,620
somebody wanted to ridicule.
1400
01:42:22,670 --> 01:42:24,620
It's called assistance
to a person in danger.
1401
01:42:24,620 --> 01:42:26,700
You're not going
to make me responsible
1402
01:42:26,700 --> 01:42:29,200
for and incident
that you carefully staged.
1403
01:42:32,650 --> 01:42:34,670
I don't know anything about it.
1404
01:42:38,480 --> 01:42:40,000
You can't possibly think
1405
01:42:40,000 --> 01:42:41,950
that I purposely put you
at the other end of the table
1406
01:42:41,950 --> 01:42:43,600
to keep you away from your mother.
1407
01:42:43,640 --> 01:42:45,200
Pardon me, but after tonight,
1408
01:42:45,200 --> 01:42:47,120
I know exactly
what you're capable of.
1409
01:42:48,080 --> 01:42:49,900
That's monstrous.
1410
01:42:54,010 --> 01:42:56,520
But why, after all,
would I detest an old lady
1411
01:42:56,520 --> 01:42:58,510
who hasn't done anything to me?
1412
01:42:59,130 --> 01:43:01,130
Because that old lady
is the only link
1413
01:43:01,130 --> 01:43:03,050
between me and a past that,
for the last 15 years,
1414
01:43:03,050 --> 01:43:05,050
you've obstinately tried to erase.
1415
01:43:06,520 --> 01:43:08,440
You started with my identity.
1416
01:43:09,520 --> 01:43:11,040
My name was Azad,
1417
01:43:11,720 --> 01:43:14,360
the most beautiful name
in the world because it means "free."
1418
01:43:14,360 --> 01:43:16,360
In Armenian, it's a first name.
1419
01:43:16,970 --> 01:43:18,810
I became Pierre...
1420
01:43:19,760 --> 01:43:22,430
like Paul, Henri, or Jacques,
1421
01:43:22,430 --> 01:43:24,430
by the luck of the calendar.
1422
01:43:24,440 --> 01:43:25,760
And on the heels of that,
1423
01:43:25,760 --> 01:43:28,030
you shaved off
the last syllables of Zakarian.
1424
01:43:30,750 --> 01:43:32,970
Our friends
are all from Carole's time.
1425
01:43:34,190 --> 01:43:37,100
Those from before Carole,
those we meet now only by chance,
1426
01:43:37,100 --> 01:43:38,940
still stir fond memories.
1427
01:43:38,940 --> 01:43:42,670
But then I only have to look at you,
smiling and warm,
1428
01:43:42,670 --> 01:43:44,810
to realize
that I'll never see them again.
1429
01:43:46,220 --> 01:43:48,910
I admit you've spared
my father and my mother.
1430
01:43:49,390 --> 01:43:52,780
I could see them,
but only in tiny doses.
1431
01:43:59,630 --> 01:44:01,150
For 15 years without a break,
1432
01:44:01,150 --> 01:44:03,150
you've been working
on my public image,
1433
01:44:04,040 --> 01:44:05,930
my "look," as you call it.
1434
01:44:06,840 --> 01:44:09,180
Well, tonight
I took a good look at that image,
1435
01:44:09,180 --> 01:44:10,750
and I didn't recognize myself.
1436
01:44:12,140 --> 01:44:15,360
And it took you 15 years
to see that I was that woman?
1437
01:44:15,400 --> 01:44:16,920
Oh, yes.
1438
01:44:18,320 --> 01:44:20,040
For all these years,
1439
01:44:20,720 --> 01:44:22,720
I've avoided challenging you.
1440
01:44:24,510 --> 01:44:27,560
From cowardice,
so I wouldn't have to really see you.
1441
01:44:29,230 --> 01:44:33,560
And our busy life had a lot
to do with not facing up to it.
1442
01:44:34,600 --> 01:44:37,680
The plays, rehearsals,
openings in Paris,
1443
01:44:37,950 --> 01:44:40,190
premieres in New York or London,
1444
01:44:40,940 --> 01:44:43,280
social life, joint vacations,
1445
01:44:43,580 --> 01:44:46,360
and then the arrival of Adrian
and that of Charlotte.
1446
01:44:47,530 --> 01:44:50,300
Friends with their
"What would you do without Carole?"
1447
01:44:52,480 --> 01:44:54,410
So I put on a carnival mask,
1448
01:44:55,720 --> 01:44:57,720
and I disguised myself
as a happy man.
1449
01:44:58,140 --> 01:45:00,110
And, okay,
not even for an instant
1450
01:45:00,110 --> 01:45:03,320
did you think of the possibility
that I could also love you?
1451
01:45:03,320 --> 01:45:06,010
Love? My poor Carole.
1452
01:45:06,570 --> 01:45:08,840
Among all our other problems,
1453
01:45:08,840 --> 01:45:11,390
we will never conjugate
the verb "to love" in the same way.
1454
01:45:12,120 --> 01:45:14,960
You've always confused
love and self-esteem.
1455
01:45:15,630 --> 01:45:17,130
Well, then...
1456
01:45:18,400 --> 01:45:22,560
After all that's been said, I will admit
we need to take some time apart.
1457
01:45:27,980 --> 01:45:30,760
I'll go spend some time
in Normandy at my mother's.
1458
01:45:31,660 --> 01:45:33,680
Or Saint Moritz, I don't know.
1459
01:45:33,690 --> 01:45:35,450
Of course you know.
You'll go to Saint Moritz.
1460
01:45:35,450 --> 01:45:36,700
It's more fun.
1461
01:45:36,700 --> 01:45:38,700
Pierre, just one last word.
1462
01:45:44,300 --> 01:45:46,730
I beg your pardon for bringing this down
to a purely material level,
1463
01:45:46,730 --> 01:45:48,300
but for the last two months,
1464
01:45:48,300 --> 01:45:51,310
no payments
have come in from your play.
1465
01:45:51,720 --> 01:45:53,960
That's all right.
I made a large purchase.
1466
01:45:55,520 --> 01:45:59,280
May I, at least in the name of
our children, ask what you've bought?
1467
01:46:01,530 --> 01:46:05,210
I've bought a dream,
a childhood dream.
1468
01:46:07,820 --> 01:46:10,640
My God.
You've gone totally mad.
1469
01:46:12,640 --> 01:46:14,410
You are absolutely right.
1470
01:46:15,950 --> 01:46:18,960
It seems that dreams are celebrations
for madmen and slaves.
1471
01:46:20,160 --> 01:46:22,010
I've bought that celebration.
1472
01:46:23,160 --> 01:46:24,670
I've made a good bargain.
1473
01:46:36,600 --> 01:46:39,100
Carole has been gone
for six months.
1474
01:46:39,690 --> 01:46:41,630
I celebrated
my renewed independence
1475
01:46:41,630 --> 01:46:43,960
by ordering five new suits at once,
1476
01:46:43,960 --> 01:46:45,960
in my favorite colors.
1477
01:46:46,490 --> 01:46:50,120
The children spent Christmas
and Easter vacation with their mother.
1478
01:46:50,480 --> 01:46:53,690
The latest news is that she'll
spend all winter on Maurice Island,
1479
01:46:53,690 --> 01:46:56,960
where it's summer all year long
and the sea is turquoise.
1480
01:46:57,870 --> 01:47:01,080
She told me on the phone,
"I am at Royal Palm,"
1481
01:47:01,080 --> 01:47:03,600
and she added, "to think."
1482
01:47:04,380 --> 01:47:06,830
But a woman who thinks
for more than six months
1483
01:47:06,830 --> 01:47:10,240
in luxurious oasis facing
the most beautiful beach in the world
1484
01:47:10,700 --> 01:47:13,130
is not thinking all by herself.
1485
01:47:13,600 --> 01:47:15,960
There are hard statistics on this.
1486
01:47:16,880 --> 01:47:20,460
Our hearts haven't much to do
with this kind of separation,
1487
01:47:20,570 --> 01:47:23,820
which strictly involves
accountants and lawyers.
1488
01:47:34,880 --> 01:47:37,210
Papa, Y�s hay�r�n gue khossim.
1489
01:47:37,210 --> 01:47:38,890
-- That's great!
-- Did you understand?
1490
01:47:38,890 --> 01:47:41,450
-- Tell me what I said.
-- "Papa, I speak Armenian."
1491
01:47:41,450 --> 01:47:43,660
My turn, Papa. Bard�ze?
1492
01:47:43,660 --> 01:47:44,800
"Garden."
1493
01:47:44,800 --> 01:47:46,200
-- Varte?
-- "Rose."
1494
01:47:46,200 --> 01:47:48,830
Gueu sir�m k�z.
That means "I love you."
1495
01:47:50,060 --> 01:47:52,800
-- Hello, Mr. Zakar.
-- Hello, miss.
1496
01:47:53,470 --> 01:47:55,280
Children, go wait in the car.
1497
01:47:56,000 --> 01:47:57,980
They're making great progress,
aren't they?
1498
01:47:58,240 --> 01:48:00,560
They're adorable,
and very attentive in class.
1499
01:48:00,560 --> 01:48:03,580
I hope that keeps up.
Anyway, we've really tried.
1500
01:48:03,580 --> 01:48:05,080
Right.
1501
01:48:05,690 --> 01:48:07,260
And your mother, how is she?
1502
01:48:07,280 --> 01:48:08,590
She's getting old.
1503
01:48:08,590 --> 01:48:11,020
She wants to go back to Marseille
to be closer to her own.
1504
01:48:11,020 --> 01:48:12,240
That's sad.
1505
01:48:12,240 --> 01:48:13,930
Don't think that.
1506
01:48:13,930 --> 01:48:17,360
Mayrig takes the drama out of death
by talking with great good humor
1507
01:48:17,360 --> 01:48:20,170
about her coming departure
to the Land of Certainties.
1508
01:48:21,020 --> 01:48:23,500
And you?
Do you believe in that land?
1509
01:48:24,380 --> 01:48:27,800
A dramatist never deprives himself
of the slightest chance of eternity.
1510
01:48:28,250 --> 01:48:31,450
A premiere with God in the audience,
what a consecration!
1511
01:48:31,870 --> 01:48:34,090
Thank you again
for Charlotte and Adrian.
1512
01:48:34,600 --> 01:48:36,220
Good-bye, sir.
1513
01:48:37,260 --> 01:48:39,880
Miss Setian,
along with Charlotte and Adrian,
1514
01:48:39,880 --> 01:48:42,890
we would be delighted to have you
over for dinner one night next week.
1515
01:48:44,220 --> 01:48:46,440
And I promise you, this time
I won't forget to pick up the check.
1516
01:48:46,480 --> 01:48:48,440
If you're paying, then...
1517
01:48:49,070 --> 01:48:51,600
I'll be returning to Paris Thursday.
How about Thursday evening?
1518
01:48:53,130 --> 01:48:54,970
Thursday evening.
1519
01:49:02,490 --> 01:49:04,490
I took my mother to her city.
1520
01:49:11,260 --> 01:49:15,900
Going up Rue Paradis,
I saw slices of our life parading by:
1521
01:49:16,620 --> 01:49:20,670
Number 109,
with its room full of pins...
1522
01:49:23,230 --> 01:49:28,380
Number 168, where
the shirt store has a "New Owner" sign.
1523
01:49:35,840 --> 01:49:38,440
Delmas' grocery store is gone.
1524
01:49:41,500 --> 01:49:45,920
Marble and neon have replaced
the austere facade of our pharmacy.
1525
01:49:48,350 --> 01:49:51,230
I prefer the sign in the name
of Mr. Joseph Hugues,
1526
01:49:51,230 --> 01:49:55,600
Pharmacist First Class,
who, all through my childhood,
1527
01:49:55,600 --> 01:49:58,520
was the "almost-doctor
without a stethoscope."
1528
01:50:01,550 --> 01:50:05,720
Toward number 300, finally,
the glorious stretch of Rue Paradis,
1529
01:50:05,720 --> 01:50:07,850
which ceases
being commercial and noisy
1530
01:50:07,850 --> 01:50:10,270
to become high society residential.
1531
01:50:10,650 --> 01:50:14,090
Number 412, Alexander's house,
1532
01:50:14,350 --> 01:50:18,520
the humiliating tea party
and its staff who ate all our baklavas.
1533
01:50:20,520 --> 01:50:23,720
My mother must have wanted
to know where we were going,
1534
01:50:23,720 --> 01:50:26,460
but she remained quiet
during thfe entire trip.
1535
01:50:26,460 --> 01:50:28,460
What number did you tell me, sir?
1536
01:50:29,020 --> 01:50:30,650
588, please.
1537
01:51:01,610 --> 01:51:03,360
Remember, Mayrig?
1538
01:51:03,690 --> 01:51:07,260
More than 30 years ago,
we lived at the other end of the street.
1539
01:51:07,960 --> 01:51:11,950
One day, we passed
this gate as it was opening,
1540
01:51:11,950 --> 01:51:14,410
and you said, "Look, Azad...
1541
01:51:15,580 --> 01:51:18,380
"it's a little like our house,
before we came to France.
1542
01:51:21,740 --> 01:51:23,720
Except the garden."
1543
01:51:26,350 --> 01:51:29,080
I asked what more
we had in our garden,
1544
01:51:30,170 --> 01:51:32,190
and you told me, "Roses.
1545
01:51:32,720 --> 01:51:36,680
"Roses everywhere,
so many roses smelling so sweet,
1546
01:51:36,680 --> 01:51:38,680
they made you dizzy."
1547
01:51:40,720 --> 01:51:42,270
I remember.
1548
01:51:43,040 --> 01:51:45,580
It was returning from
the tea party at our friend's.
1549
01:51:49,150 --> 01:51:51,420
Alexander Pages, wasn't it?
1550
01:51:51,870 --> 01:51:54,490
We walked a long, long time,
1551
01:51:54,880 --> 01:51:57,340
all the way to where
we couldn't walk any more...
1552
01:51:57,710 --> 01:51:59,290
to the sea.
1553
01:52:09,240 --> 01:52:12,490
Tell me, Azad,
whose place is this?
1554
01:52:13,180 --> 01:52:15,100
Your place, Mayrig.
1555
01:52:16,190 --> 01:52:19,310
Mayrig didn't understand.
Not at first.
1556
01:52:20,560 --> 01:52:23,080
She'd fallen behind the times.
1557
01:52:23,080 --> 01:52:26,540
She needed to be left alone
to catch up to the present.
1558
01:52:29,560 --> 01:52:32,570
This basin with the coping on top,
1559
01:52:32,570 --> 01:52:35,760
we had one exactly like it
in front of our house.
1560
01:52:37,500 --> 01:52:39,340
But, tell me now,
1561
01:52:39,340 --> 01:52:42,910
there weren't any roses nor
a fountain when we saw this garden.
1562
01:52:43,070 --> 01:52:45,400
Fountains are like roses, Mayrig.
1563
01:52:45,400 --> 01:52:47,400
In 30 years, they sprout.
1564
01:52:53,240 --> 01:52:56,320
30 years to fulfill a childhood dream.
1565
01:52:57,360 --> 01:53:03,180
What a long journey from that obscure
room in number 109 to number 588,
1566
01:53:03,950 --> 01:53:06,000
where the sun, in golden sheets,
1567
01:53:06,000 --> 01:53:10,440
covered the roses
as it did there, before France.
1568
01:53:22,940 --> 01:53:24,670
Sit down, Mayrig.
1569
01:53:41,370 --> 01:53:44,000
So does this mean this is all yours?
1570
01:53:44,090 --> 01:53:46,000
No, it's yours.
1571
01:53:46,300 --> 01:53:48,490
And, from time to time,
it'll belong to Adrian, Charlotte,
1572
01:53:48,490 --> 01:53:50,490
and to me, if you invite us.
1573
01:54:24,680 --> 01:54:26,920
You know, I would have loved
1574
01:54:26,920 --> 01:54:30,320
for your father, Anna,
and Gayan� to have seen this.
1575
01:54:30,940 --> 01:54:34,430
When she started pursing her lips
to prevent their trembling,
1576
01:54:34,960 --> 01:54:38,410
I knew she was
fighting off the sweet tears
1577
01:54:38,410 --> 01:54:40,170
that would go
slipping down her cheeks.
1578
01:54:41,160 --> 01:54:45,390
So I left the room... to hide mine.
1579
01:54:53,480 --> 01:54:56,520
Miss Anahide,
I entrust our young lady to you.
1580
01:54:56,520 --> 01:54:58,640
Rest assured, sir, I promise you.
1581
01:54:58,640 --> 01:55:00,640
-- Good-bye.
-- Good-bye.
1582
01:55:04,720 --> 01:55:07,160
You didn't have breakfast!
1583
01:55:07,160 --> 01:55:09,160
On the plane, Mama.
1584
01:55:14,430 --> 01:55:16,190
I'll be back very soon, Mayrig.
1585
01:55:16,190 --> 01:55:19,760
You're right not to stay away
too long at my age.
1586
01:55:20,040 --> 01:55:21,760
You never know what surprise
1587
01:55:21,760 --> 01:55:23,980
an old person might have
in store for you.
1588
01:55:24,170 --> 01:55:28,480
The next surprise for you
is that Adrian, Charlotte, and I
1589
01:55:28,480 --> 01:55:31,480
are coming here for a long vacation
with you in your beautiful home.
1590
01:55:32,800 --> 01:55:36,080
We might even bring Miss Astrig,
the Armenian teacher.
1591
01:55:36,080 --> 01:55:39,360
Well, maybe, if she's free.
If she accepts.
1592
01:55:39,360 --> 01:55:41,360
That would be so nice.
1593
01:55:44,860 --> 01:55:47,050
What do you want me to bring you?
1594
01:55:47,050 --> 01:55:50,430
You. And while I wait,
I have the roses.
1595
01:55:51,180 --> 01:55:54,670
In Mayrig's last years,
the difficult ones,
1596
01:55:55,370 --> 01:55:58,410
Mayrig, with her heart
worn out with so much loving,
1597
01:55:59,050 --> 01:56:02,060
how many rose seasons
remaining for her?
1598
01:56:18,220 --> 01:56:20,250
You've forgotten your sweater!
1599
01:56:21,370 --> 01:56:23,180
I've just rediscovered the Mayrig
1600
01:56:23,180 --> 01:56:26,060
of my childhood
and of my adolescence,
1601
01:56:26,060 --> 01:56:30,810
with those sweaters she'd sneak
into my bags at the last minute
1602
01:56:31,400 --> 01:56:33,900
to protect me from imagined chills.
1603
01:56:44,220 --> 01:56:48,010
Now the time has come when,
wherever I may be,
1604
01:56:48,010 --> 01:56:51,470
some day or night,
someone will call and say,
1605
01:56:51,790 --> 01:56:55,640
"Come quickly, sir.
Your mother isn't well."
1606
01:56:56,800 --> 01:56:59,770
Then, at that precise moment,
1607
01:57:00,760 --> 01:57:05,400
I will no longer be
a carefree seven-year-old.
1608
01:57:06,300 --> 01:57:08,300
And I'm sure that, on that day...
1609
01:57:09,290 --> 01:57:11,290
I'll really feel cold.
130404
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