Original subtitles

Yes

What is it?

- A package, sir - What is it?

I don't know, Monsieur

Belkis!

- Yes, sir? - Who brought this box?

- Arider, Monsieur. - When?

Tonight, just now

A man or woman?

I don't know. It was dark

Did this person of unknown sex say anything when leaving the package?

Yes, sir. That it would help with your work

The book I'm writing on Delacroix?

Probably, sir. I don't know

Had you ever seen them before?

No, Monsieur

But it's someone who knows me?

I don't know, Monsieur

Belkis?

Yes, Monsieur

Have you anything for toothache?

There are dentists in Marrakech, in the medina

who pull out your teeth with pliers

GRADNA (Ks Gradiva who is calling you)

The package you were given last night contained a box of slides

Yes, Monsieur

- You knew that? - No, Monsieur

They were exactly the same make as I use in my machine

How could someone know the requirements of a projector

so old-fashioned? - I don't know, sir

Do people come in while I'm away?

I don't know, Monsieur

It's said...

that long ago, the Pasha of Tazert, in the morning...

his eyes still dreamy, would impale the female parts

of the little concubines

whose nightly service hadn't entirely satisfied him

It seems like the pain I'm suffering ...amuses you

Haven't you got a heart?

Well?

I don't know, Monsieur

Calm down

That's fine

We'll have a proper look later

Gently, gently

Voila! And now I'm here

And I'm 'writing

I'm writing...

that I'm not here

That I'm wandering through the labyrinth of the medina

looking for...

looking for an object, a little...

lost...

Unless, once again, it concerns my double

Can I help find what you want?

Yes. Listen...

I was supposed to meet a woman here. A young blonde woman

I'm surprised she's not here

If a young blonde woman had come in Monsieur

I think I'd have noticed

May I ask this person's name?

In all honesty, I don't really know

Ah, I see

In any event, I can show you some gifts for young ladies

Silver Berber necklaces, slave bracelets, indiscreet jewelry...

Right now, I'm looking for a woman, not gifts

I can help you there as well

I know excellent houses of pleasure

I'm meeting a specific individual

Specific and nameless

Listen, while you're waiting, I can show you authentic harem items

from gentle to most cruel

Executioner's axes a century old

as well as instruments for more intimate torture

If you know what I mean

A century...?

That's not so old

All the more interesting

The fact that it's so near to us makes things more exciting

I can even get you into private performances

of a somewhat... special nature

No, I'm already late for my rendezvous. Thanks

Here, my friend. For God's grace

Thank you

Tell me, did anyone go into this shop just before me?

No, sir, only you in the last half an hour

You didn't see a young blonde woman just before me?

Alas, sir, my eyes died centuries ago

But man or woman, blonde or brunette, I'd have heard

No one's gone in, you can trust me

I made a mistake then

They're fakes, of course

You're an expert?

A bit, a bit

I know an antique dealer who'll sell you

genuine Delacroix drawings

Since you're interested

How do you know what interests me?

The blind are gifted with second sight

Come with me. You can trust me

I don't know the exact address, but I'll find it. Let's get a taxi

- This isn't a taxi! - It's a taxi, trust me

His cab sign is being fixed at the electrician's

I recognized it right away from the sound of its motor

- The motor's off... - It is now

But I heard it when it pulled up and parked

Put on my dark glasses

The antique dealer is an important and very secretive man

He doesn't like anyone knowing exactly where his treasures are hidden

They're completely opaque, these glasses

Oh, I wouldn't know

I'm totally blind, you know

As for the beautiful blonde lady you saw enter the shop

they say that the Medina

harbors the ghost of a lovely golden-haired girl

beheaded at the beginning of the last century

for having been seduced by a Frenchman passing through

Perhaps you noticed that...

her graceful steps made no sound touching the ground?

That's quite possible, maybe

Well, maybe it's her that you saw

In any case you'll easily find in all the souvenir shops

the axe the executioner beheaded her with

Many different models exist, in different shapes

to satisfy connoisseurs varied tastes

Some stories say it wasn't an axe at all

but a saber or even a simple dagger

All are available in the souks, with certificates of authenticity

Right... We're here

Give me my glasses

Go up the steps just in front

The door's ajar. Push it. Turn right

A young servant girl, very discreet, 'will meet you

I'll wait in the taxi, which you'll need to get back

You can pay later

Could I...

listen, Justine...

you're still so young

You needn't be so melodramatic. I'll show you

Sometimes it's even very...

Enough! She'll obey!

We paid for her

I expected you. I was warned, of course

Please share our modest meal, as you haven't lunched

It's nearly over...

Oh, that's right, I forgot. A little dental problem

We'll look into that as well

I'm a bit of a surgeon too. In this business, it can be useful

Claudine. Come here

Let's look at these watercolors you're so interested in

You're to show us the jewels from our secret stock

Madame Elvira will take care of the girl

Persuasion is her least deniable speciality

Would you prefer a gentler method?

For me, personally, yes, of course

Go on, show the way, and don't meddle in this

Training cell number 7

The severe method

No permanent marks on the more interesting areas

Don't worry. We won't damage your fragile little virgin

We'll give her back intact, smiling, accepting everything obediently

You're charming and pretty but don't think your youthful appeal...

will shelter you from your fate

Doctor Anatoli is a sentimentalist

Unfortunately I'm the mistress here

We have here, among other things, a school of dance and drama

A finishing school for young girls

destined for careers in cinema, fashion, deluxe commerce or escort service

as well as models for photographers or painters

These young ladies must be rehearsing an improvisation

Learning to scream, it seems, is one of the most difficult things

All these drawing show just how far Delacroix

was sensually attached to his graceful model

whom he was doubtlessly ravishing between poses

Something bothers me about their authenticity

There's no other example of this kind of erotic detail

in his other Moroccan sketch books

The nearly scandalous nature of these sketch books

kept them sheltered from prying eyes

Either by the artist himself

or by the pasha who coveted the beauty

believing he had rights over her

unwilling to see her in the arms of another

A Frenchman, moreover

No one's ever mentioned this Moroccan affair of Eugene Delacroix

You'll be the first to do so, my dear John

The rediscovery of the two missing sketchbooks

will shake up the whole art world

Harder!

Harder!

Harder!

How do you know my name?

Every expert knows your name and works, Monsieur Locke

- I've never published - You were just getting ready

And as you're on the trail don't tell me it's by chance

that you've set up your research laboratory

on the exact spot...

where the final drama took place

And what place is that?

Tazert's old Casbah, half in ruins today

What could one do there, other than research our Eugene's Gradiva?

- You call her Gradiva? - Her name was Leila

but notice the care with which the artist

painted her foot in its peculiar position

The young Delacroix might well have seen the bas-relief

allegedly Pompeian, in the Vatican museum

and made the connection himself with the beloved little foot...

of his graceful model

Harder

And what do you mean by "final drama"?

Don't play the fool, Mr John Locke

You surely know better than any of us about this distressing story

It's clearly not about the eruption of Vesuvius

but rather the execution of the very seductive Leila

Punished for having loved a passing foreigner

That's something else

Some of Fernand Cormon's studies for his "La Favorite Déchue"

I thought you were going to say it was a sketch

done on the spot during his beloved mistress' execution

Don't joke, Monsieur

These horrible things happened

And probably still do

I'll give you a painkiller

to relieve your toothache and bring prolonged relief

It's in a very sugary drink to avoid any hypoglycemic vertigo

Remember, you've not eaten since morning

Then you'll rest in a discreet hotel that's part of our establishment

No, don't worry. It'll pass

Sweet Claudine will take you to the hotel

It's a bit unusual but our very best room

Here's the key to your room

It's number 13

I hope you're not superstitious

Go on John, it's for the best

You're not armed?

No, of course not!

Your first time here?

Yes, it's my first time

But...

Then take this, as an identification symbol

Don't go anywhere without it

Nine...

Ten...

Eleven...

Twelve...

No, let go of me!

I didn't do anything wrong!

Where was I?

What are you doing?

As you see, I'm writing

And to whom, if you don't mind me asking?

Oh, I don't know. To myself, in a sense

I'm 'writing my memoirs. I'm telling my own life story

That makes no sense

You're much too young

You've not lived

No, an old soldier...

writes his memoirs about meeting de Gaulle...

-...or Winston Churchill - No. That was in another time

One wrote about one's past life. It wasn't at all creative

The thing then was to lie

so as to arrange things to one's advantage

"We set out as 500..."

"but with rapid reinforcements we reached the port 3000 strong"

When in reality...

the poor lads, seeing it was going wrong

disappeared down the side streets

and what he calls the troops arriving at the port

were two baldies and three stubble-heads!

Now, that's all over with

You've got to write your memoirs as soon as possible

and project yourself into the future with an epic 700-page volume

published by Fayard, making you an instant celebrity

It's only after that

you can easily become a romantic singer

admiral of the fleet

subversive psychoanalyst in a mass-market fashion magazine

or... the world's underwater spear-fishing champion, eh?

And us, in your account of the future

We're in there, too?

Anatoli, me, Madame Elvira?

But of course, because it's a true story

I can't make you disappear by magic

An example

If I write that the blonde man who's following and watching me

is just now riding slowly along on a big shiny motorcycle

well. .. It immediately becomes reality

Are you a little mad?

Not at all!

Madness would be...

to allow external events to happen without intervening

Belkis!

Yes, Monsieur?

Who put this photo on my table?

I don't know, Monsieur

Did anyone come in while I was in town?

I don't know, Monsieur. It's a big house

Does anyone beside me have a key?

Yes, of course

- The landlord. - You know him?

No, Monsieur, he lives far away from here

- Where, exactly? - I don't know, Monsieur

Ahhh! " I don't know, Monsieur. I don't know, Monsieur"

Just what do you know'?

What use are you to me?

What are you good for? Well?

For what?

I don't know, Monsieur

Leave me alone ...for now

Please

Yes, Monsieur

Aren't you cold at night in such a light dress?

It's been so long, alas

since my body has felt either hot or cold

This attire, henceforth, is mine for eternity

This was my execution dress

The bloodstains, though, have disappeared

My innocence washed the blood from my wounds

Who are you?

I was a white slave

from Andalusia, where I spent my childhood

and probably before that

even further back still

Why " I was"?

Because " I am" no longer

You're no longer a slave. So they freed you, then?

In one sense, yes

they freed me by the blade

But I'm still a slave

Only now, it's of my past

What do you mean?

That spirits are condemned for all time

to repeat their tragic destiny

Didn't you know that, John Locke?

You know my name

As you know mine

Could you be the one the legend speaks of...

who posed for the French painter more than a century ago?

A century ago, two centuries ago...

or ten centuries and all the centuries of centuries

until time has ceased to flow

Did you know Eugéne Delacroix?

Yes

To my sorrow

l knew him

He called me...

Gradiva

I don't know why

- Now, I have to go. - Will you return to sing...

in the ruins tomorrow night?

There's no tomorrow night

All nights are the same night

The one when the dagger pierced my flesh

You shouldn't question me further

Talking to the dead brings bad luck

Didn't you know that, John Locke?

What are you doing there? Still asleep at this hour!

Get up

Yes, Monsieur. Forgive me

I had a horrid dream

Too much dreaming's out of fashion

Yes, Monsieur. I'll stop it

A young lady friend of yours

Thank you

- I don't want to disturb you - Not at all. Sit down

But you're with a friend

What do you mean? I'm all alone here

You know, I'm not really sure who you are

But I remember quite well meeting you at a friend's party

and found you charming

But where was it exactly?

Come on, it was last night, at Anatoli's

The antique dealer who has the sketches attributed to Delacroix

That does ring a bell

You're a friend of Georgios Anatoli

interested in orientalist painters' love lives. Fascinating

But Georgios is no antiquarian. Who told you that?

He's an art lover and a collector of all sorts of things

And a director as well

Hey, you must come see me perform tonight

You're an actress?

Yes...

a sort of actress

I don't act every day, thank God

Tomorrow I pose for fashion photos by the sea

Essaouira, you know it?

An ancient city the French once called Mogador

Your dear Delacroix stayed there with a ravishing Moroccan, a Leila

Who met a tragic end

Come with me there. I'll show you her grave

- Delacroix never went to Mogador - Oh really!

Sketchbooks were recently found, with scenes drawn in the old town

You said you perform tonight. What theatre?

The Golden Triangle

It's not a typical theatre. And "secret"

But any taximan in the know will get you there. For a tip

Come at ten. Ask for Madame Elvira, the boss

Say you're Georgia's friend and Claudine sent you

And now I've got to run

Lovely to have seen you again. I'm sure you'll love the show

And we can have a drink after

See you tonight

By the way, I forgot...

Doctor Anatoli gave me this for you

It's great for toothaches

- What are you doing here? - Nothing, Monsieur

Waiting for the bus home

The waiter is my uncle. He gave me some water

- You had errands in town? - Yes, Monsieur

- You forgot to tell me? - No, Monsieur

After you left I remembered things we needed

I'm going back, too

Would you like a ride?

I don't know, Monsieur

Come on, then

It's an order

Yes, Monsieur

- You'd rather caress white skin? - What do you mean?

She's meeting you tonight

She kissed your mouth when she left

Not my mouth. My nose

So you spy on me now'?

And it was just a little kiss

Dry and friendly

Monsieur...?

Yes?

Do you tie her to the bed to do things?

That might be quite nice

- What do you think? - I don't know, Monsieur

Nothing else to say?

Be wary of that young woman. She sleeps with your landlord

How do you know'?

- Do you know her? - No, Monsieur

80...? Talk

This morning, just after you left a policeman came

A Commissaire Mahmet or something

Showed me that woman's photo

Asked if she'd been to see you

It was him who told me she was the landlord's mistress

But Why?

What's the connection?

- What's he want, this cop? - I don't know, Monsieur

Do you like me kissing you?

I don't know, Monsieur

I feel a little drowsy... and my vision's blurry

This toothache is exhausting me. I need to think

I'm going to take a little walk to clear my mind

- Prepare dinner for seven. - Yes, Monsieur

She gave you a medicine to drink. It was poison

Since you claim this pretty lady loves me

why would she want to poison me?

She's obeying someone else. And some poisons kill only the soul

- You're talking nonsense. - Yes, Monsieur

No, Monsieur

I feel much better

I'll be able to walk

- ls dinner ready? - Yes. It's waiting

Fine. Let's go

- Shine the torch on me. - Yes, Monsieur

- What's this chain? - I don't know, Monsieur

- What time is it? - Nine o'clock, Monsieur

Call me a taxi. I have to go into town

No, Monsieur

Yes, Monsieur

Please don't go, Monsieur

I have to go

I don't know why

- Are you the taxi I rang for? - Of course

- I don't see a meter - It's being repaired

And you haven't asked me where I want to go

You have to see the show at the Golden Triangle at ten

How did you know?

All taxi drivers work for the police

Didn't you know, John Locke?

What's this about?

Orientalist shows are banned, in principle

But they're tolerated if the theatres collaborate

Like high-class whores

Naked young actresses furnish precious information

on clients' illegal activities

Traffic in fresh meat...

the usual criminal tendencies

And it's the police who pay the taxis?

What do you mean?

The last time you drove me I didn't have to pay

Last time? This is the first time I've driven you, Mr Locke

Are you armed?

No, of course not

Fine, you can go in

I want to speak to Madame Elvira

Welcome, Monsieur Locke

Orientalists are always welcome at our shows

And your presence here is a great honor

You flatter me, Madame

Joujou will take you to your seat

You like my little pupil?

She's been whipped?

Why is that?

Please! It's just make-up

Our actresses are waitresses during intermission

wearing the costumes they performed in onstage

That's strange

They look like fresh welts from a real whipping

Our make-up girl's an artist

It's a shame you weren't here for the evening's first tableau

There were two magnificent black horses onstage

Take Monsieur Locke to Commissaire Mahdi's table

Introduce them with the respect they deserve

Remember what happens if you commit the least mistake!

Yes, Mistress, I remember

You can touch, to see if they're real or not

Those are make-up, obviously. The real ones are on the other side

Much closer to the pubis

When my mistress is very excited she whips my privates

to make me scream

Your skin is very soft

Is it very painful?

Yes, a bit. There, where the strap hit too hard

What did you do wrong?

I broke a glass serving a drink with my hands chained together

That can't be very practical

No, but it's fun. And the orientalists love it

Professor John Locke, Commissaire Mahdi ben Mochrane

Top marks, my girl. You've learned your lesson well

Not too hard on the left side, Commissaire. It's a bit sore

Please

How kind of you, my dear Mr Locke

to have agreed to this interview

- What? But you never... - Oh yes, I did

Admittedly in a somewhat devious manner

to maintain the courtesy and hospitality due visiting foreigners

I don't understand

- What do you want? - It's nothing really...

Likely a series of sad coincidences

Second tableau

"La Favorite Déchue " by Femand Cormon

Let's talk straight

Some pretty girls disappeared from and around a mountain village

very close to your residence

One appears to have been raped

and then murdered in a cruel fashion

What's more...

we've found your fingerprints on the handle of a dagger

the blade of which was...

stained with human blood

A woman's, in fact, to be more precise

Thank you

Third tableau

“The Death of Gradiva“ by Edouard Manneret

Drink

I want to have your opinion on my new discoveries

Since you're so interested in Delacroix's horses

I have to show you these sketches

which are very personal, if you know what I mean

I might even be inspired by them for my next performances

You see...?

They're clearly studies for "The Massacre at Scio"

which must have comprised a series of paintings

You've seen this one

You feel unwell, Mr Locke?

Leila

- Gradiva. - No

Our star isn't called Leila, but Hermione

Her clear likeness to the young white slave

who posed for Delacroix

inspired our 'writer to use her in a few tableaux

executions or preliminary torture

more or less connected to her tragic end

of which exist, as you know, many versions

It's late...

I must leave you

I have to go...

to the cemetery as I do every night

to pray at the graveside of that other me

my accursed twin sister

Forgive me, sir

but at times you resemble, in a horrid way, her killer

What does it mean, this story...

about the cemetery and the murdered twin?

- Nothing at all. She's raving. - Tell me more!

Ignore her

Hermione acts strangely these days

She never had a sister, let alone a twin

is on the terrace of the Lost Cats Cafe

Three nights ago, she was attacked backstage

Nothing serious, it happens sometimes with...

...with slightly unstable fans

But she imagines that she met that night

the sadistic criminal sought by the police

who that night stabbed, not her stomach

but that of her double

An imaginary double, of course

Doctor Anatoli, who was her titular lover, before I arrived,

is keeping a close eye on her neurosis

He thinks she may be acting

This criminal, you mention

is it true I look like him?

Who knows? No one's ever seen him

You must get to sleep

Our car will take you home

The blue taxi?

Why do you say that?

There are no blue taxis in Marrakech

As for Mogador

the photographer will pick us up at the Lost Cats Café

at ten on the dot

You waited for me?

Yes, Monsieur

I feared you'd never return

Monsieur?

Yes

If it would give you pleasure...

Yes, go on...

What I meant...

You can whip me, if you want to

All the men do that, with their little bed slave

To punish you for what?

I don't know, Monsieur

They always find a reason

Girls are bad...

and must be whipped sometimes to remind them who they belong to

You'd like that?

I don't know

Monsieur?

Yes?

At night...

What about it?

The song you hear, at night, through the window...

- You know where it comes from? - No. But it's not from here

What do you mean?

It's neither Arab nor Berber

And so?

It's Death, Monsieur, who is calling you

Do you love me?

Oh, yes, Monsieur

Claudine's not here?

She left something important behind

But she'll be right back

Do you model for fashion shoots, too?

Yes. Sometimes I do, for fashion, or...

or other things

But not really

- I'm an actress - Yes, I know

- I saw you onstage last night. - That's right! How awful!

No, but the theatres not my metier either

So, you're in film?

Neither film nor theatre. No, I'm...

a dream actress

Sounds interesting

What does it involve?

As the name suggests, I act in people's dreams

How can you do that?

In the most natural way

The dream world is as real as the waking world

Didn't you know that?

You mean it's just as material, just as tangible?

Indeed, yes

Perhaps even more so

Your questions are strange

In fact, the dream world is just like the real world

It's an exact double, its twin

It has...

characters, objects, words, fears, pleasures, dramas

But everything there is infinitely more violent

Erotic dreams?

All dreams are erotic. That's what's so exciting for actors

It must be a difficult craft

It can be learned

There are schools, exams, diplomas

And the nonprofessionals are quickly eliminated

What's taught in these schools?

All sorts of things

Physical acting, voice training, narratology, psychoanalysis

penal law, orientalist painting, the principal of causality

contradiction as the motor of history

Why penal law'?

We have to know exactly what's legal and what's not

and the penalties

Dreams are strictly monitored by the police

You know, for example, anything involving minors

young boys or prepubescent adolescents is strictly forbidden

And it's a pity

I knew a gorgeous young girl

who wanted to act in a big-budget sado-lesbian dream

The writer agreed, her parents and lawyers agreed

but the producer was intransigent. Invoking his moral responsibility

child labor laws, health risks, and I don't know what

Morals! He didn't give a damn!

In reality he was just worried about his cash

I find that shocking. Don't you?

Yes, yes, of course

But...

Murder... is that permitted?

Happily, yes

Including aggravated murder with unlawful imprisonment and torture

That's all that's left to ban

Mind you, they did try a few years ago

A high-minded government, during an election

That caused a riot in the profession

But, with the threat of a general strike

and occupation of the collective unconscious

the governing powers pulled back

Can you imagine?

Nobody would be able to dream anything anymore

Doctors said that people would die en masse

That's ignoring the rich

who would just relocate their dreams to oneiric paradises

which flourish in the Middle East or the Bahamas

To save face, the government decided

the costliest dreams would lose their full National Health cover

Double standards as usual!

I find it totally unacceptable. Don't you?

Sure. Of course. But...

tell me, these dreams...

-...you invent them for people? - Ah no, not at all, no...

The public don't want that

There are writers who specialize in that

They're called oneirographers

And they earn a pretty good living

Who collects their royalties?

The Writer's Guild, as usual

It qualifies as mental representation rights

But the actors, they too

have government agencies to distribute royalties also

Of course. How stupid of me

In confidence, Mademoiselle Hermione

have you ever acted in my dreams?

Of course

Often, in fact

Particularly, since you've been living in Morocco

In fact, that's why...

you recognized me so quickly last night, and called me Leila

Do you remember?

The sole of my foot raised up...

vertically...

Do you remember, John Locke?

Excuse me. I'm a bit late

We'll pick up the photographer on the way

- Are you tired? - Yes, a bit. It's nothing

I slept very badly last night, that's all

- Did you have nightmares? - That's a big word

I have dreams, like everyone else

Careful. The police are watching you

Yes, I know. It's nothing serious

I don't agree with you

Commissaire Mahdi loaned us his car and driver

Come on dear friend. The sea is calling you

That blind beggar there, isn't he our driver?

You can see he is

Here's poor Gradivds grave

Eight

Nine

Room twelve

Ten...

Eleven...

Thirteen

Fourteen

- Come in, John. I've been waiting - No, I'm sorry. It's a mistake

I can't find my room

But I wasn't trying to force the lock on the door next to mine

Besides, I didn't know that this one was yours

No, don't get upset. It's all going as planned

Come in, since you have no other choice

Come in

You're not working tonight?

Ah no. The photo session's over. Thank God

No, I didn't mean that

But your strange profession as dream actress

That must be more of a night job, I would imagine

Not entirely

But tonight, as it happens, I'm working

Which is to say, I'm performing... right now

What do you mean?

You're sleeping right now, John

In room twelve

And I'm playing--

a character...in the dream you so innocently 'wandered into

In fact, I'm indisputably the heroine

This is absurd!

I'm looking for my room I'm definitely not dreaming

- Prove it to me, then. - Just look at your clothing...

You dream you're Eugéne Delacroix

on one of those amorous adventures he was so fond of

And this adventure is me

But... it goes wrong

Watch out

Okay. So, this is a joke...

I'm sleepy and I should get back

Oh no, John, it's not a joke

Anyway, there is no room 12 in this hotel

which is in the universe of our dreams

In the "real" hotel, in the conscious world

which we checked into, last night

it's obviously room 13 that's missing

As in every establishment

frequented by superstitious American tourists

You even said so when we arrived

Deploring that the hotel in which you'd be sleeping

didn't overlook the sea, unlike this one

Your room is probably just on the other side

That's what I'm saying

We're here on the other side of the real world

I guess you're not armed...

Take this, then, as a sort of talisman

This is a dangerous place

I don't trust blind drivers

And I'm wary of their presents

It's not a present, Monsieur Locke

The dagger is yours

You left this compromising object in a blue taxi

just a few days ago

Remember?

Photo

Clean up

It's Death, Monsieur, who's calling you

Why... little Belkis?

Why did you do this?

I don? know, Monsieur