Original subtitles

Can anyone see him?

These men of the beach.

Who then?

This woman.

Dressed in black.

Do they recognize him?

They look at him.

He returned to S. Thala.

Why?

To see the place where they had loved?

Do you think?

But why see it again?

After so many years.

He still had this room in this hotel?

Did they lose their memory?

Yes.

Their memory is now...

outside.

Ashes.

Yes.

This smell of fire in S. Thala in the evening...

Is it her we think we see on the seashore?

Sometimes...

you could believe...

It was said she had died.

Who knows.

She was once maybe this young girl of S. Thala.

When you think about what it was.

Such a mad love.

Where did they meet?

I forgot it.

One morning. Playing Tennis.

Here. At S. Thala.

She was 18 years old.

He was the son of rich landowners.

He did nothing.

The marriage was supposed to take place in the fall.

Ah yes... there was this ball.

The grand ball of the season. Casino of S. Thala.

That's right.

This ball...

Such a love...

Such desire...

Sometimes, doesn’t the wish to die come to you?

Yes.

It's cold.

The hotel is so big.

We are alone.

Come close to me.

What a desert surrounds us some days.

What are we waiting for?

Here...

He never returned.

Never.

You arrived yesterday morning.

That's right.

You live at the hotel... there.

That's right.

It's not the first time you're coming here.

No.

I mean...

I remember...

That's it.

I remember.

What?

Everything.

All of it.

The light....

What's happening?

The light went out.

Something is going to happen. This is not possible.

I'm lost.

I went over the distance...

the hour...

Where are we?

This is S. Thala.

Until the river.

And after the river?

After the river it is still S. Thala.

I was afraid. The sea was rising.

I was afraid.

Did anyone tell you?

She needs to sleep, or she'll die.

They sleep on the island.

Over there.

I don't recognize you.

She arrived late to this ball...

In the middle of the night...

Her daughter was with her..

The other woman?

Yes.

Dressed in black...

Almost old already.

Ugly.

Skinny.

Do you remember?

Little...

very little.

She comes from the Indies, from the embassies.

She crosses the ball... absent.

Ah yes.

Behind her... the Ganges,

the beggars.

Around her...

this space,

the hunger.

Yes.

Yes... I remember.

He said to the young girl:

" I must invite this woman to dance..."

Yes.

They dance.

Where is the young girl?

Behind the green plants of the bar.

She watches.

The young girl... she knows that she will be abandoned?

Yes.

That she will be killed?

He followed the other woman to the Indies?

Yes.

After her death he left the Indies.

He married. He had children.

You should sleep,

rest yourself.

It's daylight?

Dull weather.

Cloudy.

Don't think about it.

Come near me.

Yes.

What love it was,

what desire...

Three days, three nights that he is here.

You know...

He came here to kill himself.

And then he saw her.

He saw she was still there.

He must have been there a long time.

Yes.

How cold it is.

I made a fire.

Come closer.

It's strange...

Sometimes, I can't recognize you well.

Sometimes also...

I remember things that I did not live.

She never healed?

Never, no.

Yet, it is around the hotel that we see her these days.

Always closer, one could say...

One could say...

Me too, another memory sometimes comes to me.

It seems there are people.

No.

It's only the sand,

the sea.

It's nothing.

Today the air smells like salt, like iodine...

Don't you think?

Yes.

Such an impossible desire...

terrible...

Such a love...

Do you still have this desire to die?

Still. And then I forget. I look.

He loved her still,

through the other woman... the other love.

There were other names before...

Other places...

Before it was S. Thala until the river.

Now after the river, still S. Thala...

There is light, there, on the sea.

This morning, there was a dead dog.

I saw it.

I thought that you'd seen it.

The sea carried it away.

It's raining there, after the light.

Always this smell of algae, of rain.

She loved him more than anything in the world.

Yes.

Until she understood that he left her...

killed her.

What are you crying about?

About it all.

Such desire...

whole...

mortal.

There's another one, you know?

She was naked with her black hair.

She knew all these things very well.

They were still together.

Oh yes!

A German name.

That's it.

She had many lovers,

properties...

Married several times...

Yes... recently... here... at S. Thala.

Yes...

to a doctor.

They met at high school...

"In the light of a blue parasol..."

"barefoot on the stone of the terrace... in a summer dress."

Do you remember?

What a life then!

How does one know not to be dead?

I hear you breathing.

What did the German named one say?

That already,

that since always...

this region of sentiment was not the same for the young girl of S. Thala

Don't come.

Regret nothing.

Say...

I am staying at S. Thala.

Always.

Still here.

After, she married a musician, she had children,

after this ball.

Yes. Somewhere else. For years.

Then a second time...

Do you remember?

Ah yes...

At the exit to the cinema,

this couple she followed.

And this ambulance went to get her from the rye fields...

It was before...

other places...

Yes.

Michael Richardson spent his summers at S. Thala,

The woman from the Indies only came occasionally. That summer...

So much love...

No suffering...

No sign of suffering...

Good evening!

Why did you come to S. Thala?

A voyage.

Do you hear...

that tune?

No. Nothing.

Listen carefully.

I hear nothing.

Nothing.

There was a tune, at that moment...

Do you remember?

That summer...

A tune to dance to...

They played it all the time, here, at S. Thala.

During that ball?

Yes.

So much love.

This ball...

So much desire.

No suffering.

No sign of suffering.

How beautiful you are,

dressed in white.

What a surprise...

A visit I'd like to make to the woman from the Ganges.

How I love you.

How I desire you.

Always the same calm.

Absent...

she stands there in the monsoon's heat, dressed in black...

The embassy's garden looks over the Ganges.

These fences...

The tennis courts.

This smell of flowers?

Leprosy.

Black Night at Lahore.

Michael Richardson, sometimes,

in the evenings, played on the piano

this tune from S. Thala.

Somewhere, does life go on?

Yes.

What is he doing?

You know, he's guarding.

The sea?

No.

The movement of the light?

No.

The movement of the water?

No.

Memory?

Maybe...

Maybe.

Where are you?

I'm here,

close to you.

I can no longer hear the sound of the sea...

What do you hear?

The noise of an ancient...

ball.

They're dancing?

Yes.

Where is the young girl?

Behind the green plants at the bar.

She watches them.

She watches.

What's happening all of a sudden?

This emptiness...

I'm afraid.

It's nothing.

Nothing.

Come near me.

The young girl knows

she will be abandoned.

Yes.

- She will be killed. - Yes.

The young girl understands.

Don't cry.

Don't be afraid anymore.

Who's there?

Who's there?

Michael Richardson...

You were the one.

The man from the Indies.

She's looking for me.

She saw the light,

she's coming.

We only need to wait for her.

Did he recognize you, him?

Yes. It lasted but a second.

Aren't you eating anymore?

Are you sleeping poorly?

It's the anger.

It's nothing.

Against who?

God.

God, in general.

How I love you.

Do you remember?

Yes.

It was a country of sand, of wind.

The fields were behind the sea.

The wind remained... the same.

The wind of S. Thala.

We crossed by train to go on vacation, in the summer.

Yes.

So much love.

There was him... Michael Richardson,

Anne-Marie Stretter,

Lola Valérie Stein,

the little girls, Irina, Sara...

There was Tatiana Karl, and the others...

all the others.

Those from the Indies, these musicians,

all these people... all these parties... and these balls...

How old were you?

18 years old.

Whatever past I had,

whatever love I lived,

I remember.

Whatever past?

Whatever love?

Yes.

Michael Richardson.

The man from the Indies.

You recognized me?

No.

It lasted but a second.

Someone is shouting.

Far?

Near the Ganges.

A woman?

Yes.

In the heat of the monsoon, she goes, she walks.

What is she shouting?

Words with no end...

She's laughing.

Did she let them leave?

Didn't she say anything?

Nothing.

At the end of the ball, she shouted.

I’m sure of it.

But what?

That she wanted to follow them,

in order not to stop seeing them.

Seeing them.

Love...

They didn't hear her shout?

No.

Someone's asking for you.

Someone's asking for you in the hall.

A woman.

I said that you were in your room.

What’s that?

The fire.

Where is it?

It's far away.

It burns frequently.

It's always burning somewhere.

I don't clearly understand...

You've stopped...

I ask myself

if even at the beginning...

What's that?

The fire.

Where is it?

Far away.

There's something else. I'm sure there's something else.

Talk to me. I'm begging you!

How long has it been going on?

Always.

Are you making fun of me?

No.

I wanted to say...

I've only known it for a few days.

You make me sad.

I want some explanation. I have a right to it I think.

What have you got against me?

Nothing.

Please understand.

It's an event...

of a general order.

You're doing it on purpose!

What?

Do you mean?

Is this serious?

And I was so unsuspecting.

What does it mean?

Nothing.

I know you, you won't do it.

The kids are in the hall.

I'm not going back.

Never?

Never.

Why?

Why?

I no longer want anything.

What is that?

People came here.

Because of the fire.

Let's leave. I can't anymore...

I'm afraid.

How's the weather?

The wind dropped.

A winter weather.

A woman came with children.

They left again.

You don't have anything left either.

She's crying.

Why cry?

- She's crying over you. - Yes.

About the whole thing...

Your hands are black.

It's the fire.

Fire...

You are being looked for.

- Yes. - You will be killed.

We cannot die.

We cannot...

It's true.

Nothing anymore either.

Nothing.

Nothing...

You came here to kill yourself?

And then, you saw that she was still here?

She's been here for a long long time.

And you, you should have known.

You should have known that she was here.

Yes!

Who is he?

He's guarding us.

He's guarding us. He takes us back.

Sometimes he goes over S. Thala.

We know. We're waiting.

Sometimes he gets lost.

I get lost.

I forget the time.

I am afraid.

- He's crazy. - Yes.

When the sea rises, I'm afraid.

She was very young.

A love...

Love...

I still have a room here at the hotel.

They don't have a room anymore. They have nothing.

Nothing...

You lost your memory.

Yes.

- All memory? - Yes.

- Our memory is still here. - Yes.

It is... It is outside now.

Spread out...

Burnt...

Listen!

We are being called.

You're leaving?

What did you say?

She must sleep or she’ll die.

Where is she?

Look...

Someone is walking, on the seashore.

A woman?

Yes.

She's following someone.

The Voyager?

Yes.

Why is she following him?

She follows what moves... what goes.

Doesn't she know who?

No.

Will she never know?

Never.

You are so young...

and I love you so much.

I love you more than anything in the world.

If I asked you...

would you accept to kill me?

Yes.

Are you looking for something?

Can I help you?

You've been here for a long time?

Seventeen years. Why?

Are you looking for someone?

I'm looking.

La Potinière is that way?

There are no more balls. We are in winter.

I can show it to you if you wish.

Please, follow me.

You have some memories, I see...

Do you recognize her?

No.

At that distance, I'm sorry.

Do you recognize her?

Look again.

There is no one.

Would you please repeat it?

Lola Valérie Stein.

Mademoiselle Stein died ten years ago.

I must be making a mistake.

You came.

I thought you had left.

I was looking for you.

We would have left with him.

Or the police would have brought us back.

Where were you?

Did you go and cry?

Did you go and ask?

Yes.

What is he doing?

You know, he's guarding...

The sea?

No.

The movement of the tides?

The movement of light?

No.

The sand?

The wind?

Sometimes he gets lost.

You only need to wait, he always come back.

She... she still recognizes him?

Yes.

You know what? Without him she is afraid.

He... he was always crazy.

She...

She... no... I think...

Before that... before.

She knew other men.

Were you told about it?

Yes.

Here...

in S. Thala.

A ball...

It was other places...

before.

She was eighteen years old.

Michael Richardson.

Here...

in S. Thala.

Yes.

Look, he's leaving again.

He will come back.

Yes... he comes back every time.

Mi...chael... Ri...chard...son...

They are dead now.

Yes?

Yes.

Someone's singing.

Tell me... this tune...

This tune...

Tell me.

No.