Original subtitles

Gentlemen,

the session is called to order.

Let me remind you what our objective is.

Our Plan requires

that those tiny little people on those tiny little islands

vanish from the map.

As a people, I mean of course!

Of course.

A target to be riddled with holes!

I haven't finished.

Look.

Look at those islands

in the Caribbean,

the first and last pearls

in our colonial crown.

Look at them.

Priceless jewels

of strategic importance.

So do your job, gentlemen!

Remember the Plan!

The Plan!

YES TO FRANCE NO TO INDEPENDENCE

INDEPENDENCE = DICTATORSHIP

VOTE FOR JUSTIN, YOUR DEPUTY

Yes to France!

No to independence!

Vote for Justin, your deputy!

The Maroon People of Liberty

JUSTIN - TO AVOID INSECURITY

My brothers, today is election day.

Our votes won't change a thing.

No use going to vote.

Stop talking nonsense!

We're going to vote!

Shut up, you liar!

Don't listen to him!

Nothing will keep us from voting!

Vote received.

Vote received.

Vote received.

Mr. de La Pierre, planter,

5,000 acres of sugar cane.

Vote received.

Mr. Belleville,

importer of 800 tons of salt cod.

Vote received.

The Widow Smile,

a retired schoolteacher,

Cross of the Legion of Honor,

twice decorated by the Ministry of Education,

knight of Social Merit.

Vote received.

Mademoiselle Snowflake, pharmacist, 2 million francs a year.

Vote received.

Sister Marie of St. Joseph of Cluny of Jesus,

40 years in the service of God in the colonies.

Vote received.

- Mr. Victor. - Vote received.

- Mr. Eric. - Vote received.

The sun is down, it's too late to vote.

Citizens one and all,

see you at the next elections!

Amen!

The man elected as our deputy

is the honorable Mr. Justin!

Look at them!

They're laughing inside.

They're thinking, "We fooled them again.

They're as foolish as rats!"

He is born,

the Divine Child.

He is born,

the Divine Child.

Let us all sing

of His coming!

Little Jesus was born in a stable,

at midnight,

in Bethlehem.

Outside,

the cold north wind

and the snow were blowing!

He is born, the Divine Child.

Let us all sing of His coming!

I have the same problem. Many of us are in the same fix.

I have four kids. This is my eldest daughter.

I have a big problem, their school books cost a lot.

I can't afford to buy them.

I have good news for you.

Family allowances will soon be re-evaluated.

You know our government insists on fair family policy.

I'm here to help you. Trust me. I too am a woman.

That's not all! That's not all!

I'd like to be somewhere else.

But I am an overseas social worker.

My job is to help the unfortunate and this island

is full of human misery.

So many of them! They multiply like rabbits!

"Multiply, sayeth the Lord." That applies to mice, flies and men.

Since you're a social worker, let me ask you...

Do you know the true history of our islands?

In the year of grace 1640, Jean Aubert brought sugar cane

to the French islands of the Caribbean.

GOD AND THE KING PROTECT THE KINGDOM

What a pretty present!

In the year of grace 1640, Jean Aubert

brought sugar cane to the French islands

of the Caribbean.

Their geographical location and the soil

were ideal for planting...

- And harvesting that reed! - That graminicea!

Fertility!

The colonists created plantations

and 15 years later, Minister Colbert could announce...

Increased amounts of sugar imported from the islands.

Increased number of refineries. The kingdom of France

formerly a major importer of sugar

is now beginning to export it!

- But one problem - among others

threatens this building prosperity!

These reeds require large numbers of laborers

able to endure the relentless heat of the tropical sun all day long!

Attempts to adapt French peasants, sailors,

and white volunteers prove to be disappointing.

As for the Caribbean Indians,

they are almost exterminated,

and even less fit for use!

So, like Spain which,

since 1511, has been shipping African slaves to their colonies,

we French

join in the dance!

Ebony becomes the most important cargo in shipping

from France to the West Indies via Africa!

1673: the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique is founded.

1673: the Compagnie du Sénégal is founded.

A royal monopoly of the slave trade on the African coast

from Cape Verde to the Cape of Good Hope!

The need for laborers continues to increase.

- Increase! - Increase!

Increase!

The Crown uses every expedient to satisfy that need!

The slave trade is consigned to Mr. Oudiette

who promises to furnish 800 slaves a year

for sale by private contract!

But in 1679,

the Compagnie Générale du Sénégal is recreated!

It quickly resumes the slave monopoly!

It promises to ship 2,000 slaves a year to the islands!

2,000!

And so it does for eight years!

There are so many...

many...

mouths to feed, bodies to clothe

and minds to shape,

so many that the only solution is exportation.

Sorry, I mean immigration...

Or else shut off the taps of fertility!

The Pope said that

God is the only plumber qualified in matters of...

of taps.

The Pope said. I know...

But Papal Bulls die in political arenas.

Anyway, the answer is no birth control, plus emigration!

Meaning Work, Family, Country!

Paid vacations.

Four seasons.

The River Seine.

July 14th with its accordions, marches and drums...

In short, happiness under the skies of Paris!

To do this without problems,

we create Mubidon, an emigration service,

a floodgate to regulate the flow.

By regulate, I mean

to increase or restrict importation of laborers

according to the Plan's demands.

The discussion is open.

To increase emigration

and attract them like flies,

what we need is not honey, but...

A tremendous advertising campaign.

Loudspeakers everywhere. In tree branches.

On church steeples.

Inside every flower.

Around the necks of goats and oxen!

We must persuade

roosters to replace "cock-a-doodle-do" with...

"Go to Paris!"

"Go to Paris!"

We could placard the walls of the cities,

the cliffsides, the grasslands

and the ocean blue

with visions of the thighs

of a redheaded hoofer at the Folies Bergère!

Or rather...

visions of St. Bernadette...

chapels...

cathedrals...

and snowflakes!

Yes, snow.

In the tropics, they dream of snow.

It's a longing they develop in early childhood.

They hear about it in catechism

and see it in pictures.

Promise them snow they can touch,

real snow...

and their naive souls will fill

with an overwhelming longing!

Add as a bonus a basket full of stars, if you like,

but don't forget the Plan!

The Plan!

- Look at that man! - How sad he looks!

- His cheeks... - Two limp balloons!

- His legs... - Two weary sticks!

What a poor wretch!

Whereas us...

See how beautiful we are!

Look at us, happy and elegant,

with wallets and stomachs full!

Why? Why? Why?

I've just come back from Paris!

And him?

I have a rough time of it here.

Yeah, we have a rough time of it here!

Why?

He doesn't want to go...

to Paris!

Why?

Give me your attention one and all!

We must remind the population

that, considering its birth rate,

the island will soon be unable to feed everyone!

For 300 years, our great, generous nurse, Mother France,

has given her breasts to us, her little babies.

But not even a mother's nipples can function like

a perennial spring!

Mother France is weary of nursing

all the mouths that keep breeding and breeding,

so she has decided

to welcome you

to her bosom,

where you will enjoy the good life...

The good life!

For everyone!

There is work!

For everyone!

Education!

For everyone!

Leisure!

For everyone!

For everyone!

Everything is arranged to help you cross

the ocean!

You don't have to swim like a toad,

like a duck or a tuna!

You don't have to swim!

All you have to do is get a boat ticket!

Or take to the air!

All you have to do

is get a ticket and take a plaaane!

Boat tickets! Plane tickets!

To Paris!

What's more, as soon as you arrive

in Paris,

as a bonus,

there is housing

guaranteed!

It's better than the gold of the Incas!

It's as if heaven itself

dropped into your arms!

And as another bonus, you receive

a warm welcome from our French brothers!

French brothers!

French brothers!

- The Lido is waiting for you. - With its palms.

- Its beaches of fine sand. - And its sunsets.

Unique in the world!

Marijuana? Cocaine?

The Lido with its rejuvenating waters!

- Its midnight swims! - Its musical porpoises!

- Water skis! - Sailing!

- Rowing! - Speedboats!

- Fishing! - Underwater sights!

- And of course... - No niggers around.

- We guarantee it! - Too bad!

Except of course...

- To cook. - Clean the toilets.

- Run elevators. - Haul garbage.

And provide a wild time.

For nigger-lovers!

Blond boy, you want my seashell?

Bungalows of all types.

- With two views. - Both sea and mountains!

- Reasonable prices! - Servants included!

- Quiet! - And peaceful!

The bungalows, resembling Caribbean huts...

are surrounded by barbed wire to keep out natives

and dogs!

Hey, Mister! My sister, 15 years old! Good!

Luxury cathouse port side! Stand by to screw!

- Come and see! - Come and see!

For a trifling sum of a few dollars,

come and get your eyes full!

See a woman dying in agony!

A boy dying of boredom!

And to top it off, the biggest surprise of all...

Come and see!

And you'll get your eyes full!

Genuine cane cutters cutting genuine sugar cane!

Keep moving!

Let the tourists by!

And the game goes on!

A washing machine!

A television set!

A camera!

A bed lamp!

The latest refrigerator!

A coffee mill!

And a boat or plane ticket

for anyone who guesses what famous monuments,

pictures or statues

are represented here!

Figure... No. 1!

The Marseillaise.

Figure No. 2!

The Spirit of the Bastille.

Figure No. 3!

The Mona Lisa.

Figure No. 4!

The Thinker!

And to close our album, figure...

No. 5!

The Eiffel Tower!

There you are!

All those wonders,

and others even more magnificent,

will be yours to see in flesh and blood

if you go to...

Paris!

So,

as I was saying,

citizens

one and all,

you must triple-lock your ears

to the demagogical blahblah...

to the liars

who dare to spread the rumor that happiness

does not grow on trees

in France!

Why would I...

Why would I,

a man of modest origin...

With some of you I played barefoot

and bare-chested, with holes in my pants...

Why would I, a man of modest origin,

spend 10 months out of 12 over there, in France,

if life wasn't a bed of roses there?

What's more,

I will furnish proof

for what I say!

Mademoiselle Hummingbird,

the lyric soprano,

sang at the Opera

for the Shah!

An opera has been written for me...

An operaaaa!

Mr. Emmanuel Butor!

Three times champion of Europe!

Bantam-weight.

I thank my manager, Mr. Bilibibi.

Without Mr. Bilibibi, I would still be

a poor little mechanic back on my island.

I hope to win the world championship.

Mr. Bilibibi says I've got a very good chance.

Excuse me, I've got to keep on training.

There's nothing like sports.

Mr. Edouard Goncondor,

who won the Prix Fémina of Literature!

My pen is a camera!

It records and disgorges

images that are cold and neutral.

No, they are throbbing...

or rather throbbing with raw truth.

An artist is a radar

that receives signals of the universal code!

I am also a painter, a sculptor,

a filmmaker,

a choreographer, a singer,

and a poet as well!

To convince you once and for all that France gives

everyone an equal chance,

here is Mr. Gaston Monerbourg,

a famous personality

of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Republics!

I am...

living testimony...

that the threefold motto,

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,

is not an empty slogan

but a genuine reality worth its weight in gold!

Because I, Gaston Monerbourg,

for many many years,

I was...

a very important person in the French Republic.

Why haven't I become President yet?

There's still time!

And yet all of them: Mademoiselle Hummingbird,

Mr. Monerbourg, Mr. Goncondor and Mr. Butor,

are children of this island.

I could also mention a renowned surgeon,

a cabaret dancer,

a 100-yard runner,

a Dior model,

an eminent lawyer,

and a hilarious entertainer,

to prove to you that life is beautiful over there!

People...

They're glib talkers...

But I've a hunch we should stay put here.

Don't let them fool you.

Stay here? Nothing doing!

The winters there freeze your bones.

But if I get work, I don't care!

Mama, I'm going anyway!

Did I enlist?

No, the army enlisted me!

Yes, France, sir!

With a little luck, I'll get stripes

and some money.

Who dares call me a mercenary?

Too much poverty here for me. I'm old before my time.

I'm leaving too.

Mireille, the dishes! Mireille, the washing!

Mireille, the ironing! Mireille, the children!

I'm fed up.

I'm leaving too.

I hear that as a maid in France,

I can manage. What do you think?

I had a shop.

But they put a supermarket in front!

So, I'm packing up too.

I'll find work in Paris.

I'm leaving too!

My bit of land is no good to me anymore.

How can I sell my vegetables with their potatoes around?

I took an examination. I'm a nurse.

But not in a hospital here.

No jobs here, they told me.

I'm 20. I'm going alone.

I have a cousin there.

I'm a little scared, but what can I do?

No honest work here for a girl like me.

I have a law degree.

But here they starve guys who don't speak their language.

I was born under an unlucky star.

Unemployed for 2 years now.

But I've a hunch we should stay put here.

Eugène, take your sister's hand.

And the pictures...

Relax, the plane leaves at 6 o'clock.

- Eugène, did you get the flowers? - Yes, mama.

Careful with the bags.

Let's go!

They're headed for other skies,

grey and sad.

But my feet are like roots in the soil here.

Good-bye head scarves!

Good-bye madras scarves!

Good-bye house...

of my youth!

Good-bye poverty!

Good-bye sunshine!

Good-bye sea!

Good-bye anger!

Good-bye fear!

Good-bye unemployment!

Great King...

Black King!

This is for you...

This blunderbuss!

And necklaces of jade...

for your wives!

Friend!

Friend!

Slaves there!

Don't let them fool you!

Slaves...

for my cousin, your King!

He is very powerful!

For great white king!

And parrot for his Queen,

my cousin!

Ask him for lots of money!

Marie-Antoinette!

Come closer, gentle ladies and noble sirs!

These are the latest items,

straight from Senegal, Angola,

Zanzibar and Mozambique!

Take your pick, noble sirs!

600!

700!

1,000! Going, going, gone! Sold to this noble sir!

Lot No. 95! A Mandingo Negro! 550 livres!

600!

Hurry, come, gentle ladies and noble sirs!

Hurry!

Fresh merchandise! Strong Negroes!

Fertile Negro women! Negro boys and girls!

Sturdy arms for plowing and harvesting!

Come, hurry, gentle ladies and noble sirs!

We must check the teeth, feel the arms and legs,

inspect the ears and eyes.

All items must be healthy!

Although they're not men quite like you, you, or me...

they do have souls to be saved!

810! Going, going, gone! Sold to the noble sir!

And now for No. 16!

No. 16! A Wolof Negro! Starting price: 500 livres!

550!

600!

I cross the seas by the millions in slave ships,

branded with hot irons,

locked up between decks. The hatchways have bars.

I am chained in the bottom of the ship.

No space to lie down, day or night.

The dead and dying are dumped overboard.

My people are dispersed.

My arms turn the millstones.

I am auctioned off with cattle.

The sun burns into my head.

The whips whistle, the dogs howl.

I am a crouching volcano.

Great White King!

Greetings!

Greetings, Great Black...

King!

GOD AND THE KING PROTECT THE KINGDOM

Ship spices,

ship sugar,

tobacco,

cotton,

rum...

to Saint-Nazaire,

to Nantes

and Bordeaux.

Clean out the hold!

Inspect the chains!

Hoist the sails!

Head for the Gulf of Guinea!

At the end of the 1500s,

Spain loses her monopoly of the West Indies.

In 1609, England moves into Bermuda...

St. Christopher in 1623, Barbados in 1625,

and then the Leeward Islands.

France follows in England's wake:

Guadeloupe is occupied in 1626,

Martinique in 1635.

Holland invades the southern Caribbean:

Curaçao, St. Eustatius and Tobago

are taken between 1630 and 1640.

Even Denmark gets her claws into St. Thomas in 1671.

On the North American coasts,

the French, English and Dutch arrive.

Colonial expansion,

while slowly wiping out the Indians,

gives the slave trade a powerful new impetus.

Western Europe is like a hungry wolf.

Slavery continues to spread like a flood.

King Sugar of the Americas...

reaps great profits in Europe

and absorbs thousands of Negroes.

The slave trade runs wild.

Fortunes are won and lost according to profits

on sugar, tobacco and slaves.

In France, the merchants of the major Atlantic ports

make a regular profit of 300%.

Factories were built, private fortunes amassed,

public treasuries were filled, cities modernized,

and the merchant class rose to power.

Those were consequences in Europe

of 300 years of the Negro slave trade.

- Careful, don't kill, but... - Just whip!

- Rub the wounds... - With salt, pimento!

- Use threats of Hell... - To restore...

- Order. - Work.

- Prayer. - On our plantations.

Damn, the colonists got the best ones!

These are too skinny.

They won't last long.

Your Grace...

I need two good Guinea Negroes.

Faster!

My strength is slowly ebbing.

My open veins,

like flooding rivers,

drain my mangled heart.

Chaos of earth and blood.

Africa, my mother...

A great distance of water,

a great distance of days between you and me.

Africa, my mother, face of a million wounds...

My strength is slowly ebbing.

Is it fate,

these long voyages

of no return,

again and again?

Heavens! Droves of Negroes!

Heavens! It's been going on for years!

At first, they came in small numbers,

mainly students and soldiers.

But lately, they pour in helter-skelter.

A real invasion!

All colors and all sizes!

At this rate, Paris won't be Paris anymore.

It'll be Niggerville!

They swarm all over!

What's more, they chatter, they whistle...

They're promiscuous, they shout, they howl and bawl!

Good gracious!

And their cooking reeks of spices!

It stinks up the whole city!

It's a small apartment with kitchen and bath.

It's my son's, but he'll be away for 2 years.

So we thought we ought to rent it.

Who is this? What? Are you French?

From overseas? Oh, I see! I'll have to think it over.

No, sir! No!

Rent the apartment to a nigger, brrr!

What a country!

No one will rent to us.

Yvette, stand straight!

I'm tired.

I'm cold.

Cheer up, children!

But where will we go?

I don't know.

Read Le Coq Gaulois !

Drain of capital abroad!

An economic crisis is coming!

Unemployment threatens!

Dangers lurking everywhere!

Read Le Coq Gaulois !

Capitalism has a leak in its motor!

The cost of living increases, but not the salaries!

Work is getting scarce!

These people are starving for work!

They won't hesitate a second

to sell their strength for a slice of bread!

Enough! Proletarian solidarity

stops with the advantages won by the working class

which are threatened by these foreigners!

Comrades! That's nonsense!

These "foreigners" are brothers in the struggle!

The Party waged a victorious battle

when they were given the right to be citizens!

Unfortunately, capitalism

is sly...

and has distorted our brotherly intentions!

But have faith in history!

It is better for those island populations

to remain a part of our Republic...

Because... Comrades! Have faith in history!

Some day, we will come to power in an orderly,

peaceful, legal, democratic fashion!

Then, no more problems for them!

We will make them a present of freedom!

That's a very serious mistake!

Revisionist!

People have a right to self-determination!

I belong to the Support Committee!

I'm a little Committee biddy!

A nitty-gritty biddy!

I support the struggle of Blacks,

Asians and Whites!

And the Martians too,

if they were invaded by the Venusians!

Likewise, I would support the Venusians

if they were attacked by the Martians!

I am the little Committee biddy!

Sign here

to support the legitimate cause of the people of...

Shit, I forgot!

Shut up, you old bag!

Those niggers ruin our business!

Not mine!

Not mine either!

They're manna from heaven.

After the Arabs, the Spaniards, the Turks,

the Portuguese, the Italians...

Now at last, the West Indians.

And West Indian girls!

Their voices warble! And when they walk...

Wow! It's like the sea!

Like rolling waves!

My customers are mad about them!

They sometimes sleep six in a room!

My hotel is a sardine can!

The sardines pay every day!

If not, they sleep in the street!

My God, they're cute...

my little West Indian birds!

And let me tell you, sir,

they lay golden eggs!

You're lucky!

If they come in my bar, the customers leave.

And if you ask them to go, they start a fight!

Negroes hit hard, my right eye remembers!

Mother France,

against your big breasts,

blue, white and red breasts,

I snuggle up without a worry.

For you, I agree to waste my life.

The good God protects you.

You eat to your heart's content.

Please don't forget me!

Mother France,

deprive me of freedom,

but please keep my fridge and my stomach full!

My country, family, everything...

I left it all to find work in Paris.

My brother,

life is bitter here,

with stone-hearted people.

They look at me like a curious animal.

Sometimes, it makes me furious.

I'm a maid. They like me for my cooking.

We're nurse's aids, we clean up vomit in hospitals.

I'm a musician, been out of work a long time.

Me, I'm a streetwalker.

I'm a metal fitter about to be laid off.

I'm OK, I'm a postman.

I'm a teacher, kicked out of my own country.

I don't care, I manage OK.

I did it. I found a job.

I enlisted in the riot squad.

Me, I pimp for my cousin. She hustles for me.

Johnny-the-Black, stickup man. Fork over your cash!

Our statistics

show that many more people leave than return to the island.

In this year alone,

15,000 people came to our offices

asking to leave,

whereas only 100 returns were recorded.

100! That's too many!

Far too many!

We must investigate this phenomenon.

It's likely to become

a hemorrhage!

And since agitators are trying to sabotage our machine...

Things are very bad!

The Plan is as slow as an arthritic turtle!

Production is low!

Laborers are feverish!

Strikes ooze like pus!

Imported labor has the virus too!

Immigrants grab every chance to band together!

Districts fall into their hands!

Negro ghettos foster subversive ideas!

The way they speak, cook,

walk, laugh, yawn and make love...

are all ways to assert their difference!

Instead of solving the problem,

we have only displaced it somewhat!

And the islands

haven't been cleansed of their population yet!

Those people cling to their own poverty.

This is serious!

We need a major decision!

Mubidon has lasted long enough.

We end it now

and create a new organism,

Bonmidu,

tailored according to military norms!

Speed up emigration overseas!

What if some of them hold on to their country like octopuses?

We'll cut off their tentacles!

At least the young ones.

As for the elderly, harmless ones,

we'll allow them to end their lives on their rock.

What if the birth rate

increases and compensates?

They're likely to launch slogans

and proclaim that it's a patriotic duty

to have babies, tons of babies!

We'll cement up women's wombs!

We'll put padlocks on them!

We'll tie up men's penises!

We'll sterilize if need be!

The Pope said that...

Yes, yes... I know.

May I make an objection?

Who will be left to elect me Deputy?

Rest assured.

You will have enough voters!

But who...

will play the guitars

and drums in the casinos?

Who will do erotic dances for our pleasure?

Who will sing folk songs? Who?

Well, Mr. Representative of Employers United...

it's always possible to send musicians,

dancers and singers to the island.

Or perhaps, it's even better

to keep natives at home,

both male and female

who can play music and wiggle their rumps.

Money makes miracles...

and men crawl!

The Plan, gentlemen!

The Plan!

Speed up emigration overseas!

Brothers, don't leave home!

Don't leave!

The struggle is here!

What a circus! What have you done for us?

What do I do for you?

You ask me that?

I'll tell you what I do for you!

It's time to end rumors about me and my work!

You defend our interests, do you?

And factories close! Unemployment increases, we have to emigrate!

- Look, there's a world crisis! - World crisis?

- Isn't that your job? - Know what a world crisis is?

So the only solution is emigration.

Emigration! Shit! Emigration, no!

It's the only solution.

Go to France or you'll all rot here!

I'd rather rot here!

Brothers!

Our country is dying,

and we do nothing about it!

Let's go to the top and tell them off!

It's no use!

Pretty speeches won't change a thing!

But just vegetating here

won't get us a thing!

What do you expect from the men on top?

Our strength is here!

Inside us! We must rely on it!

But they're at the controls! If we don't act now,

the boat will sink

and so will we!

What do you expect from them? The solution is in us!

We're good for nothing.

We always will be.

My son,

weigh your words before judging your brothers.

Examine the situation

and rely mainly on yourself,

on your own strength.

We're the runaway Negroes,

the guerillas on the cliffs and grasslands!

Since the first day, we have never bowed down!

Death rather than slavery!

Our motto is ageless!

We had traitors among us, obedient to Massa's whip.

Some even clubbed their African brothers.

Some accepted their misery out of fear.

But some lifted their heads

as free men and said no!

Free them, Papa! Free all your slaves!

We have too much money!

You're crazy! I'd rather die than give those niggers one bit

of my wealth!

Oh God, why does it have to be this way?

1789 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

12 septembre 1792 FRANCE BECOMES A REPUBLIC

1802 NAPOLEON REINSTATES SLAVERY

1830 LOUIS-PHILIPPE MAINTAINS SLAVERY

Open fire!

I am...

François Arago,

Minister of the Navy

and the Colonies.

I tell you

that all classes of people in the colonies

must realize

that no one is allowed

to anticipate

the decisions concerning their future

that the government

will take after the country has voted!

Therefore,

the populations in the colonies

must wait,

calmly

and confidently,

for the solution

that the new government

will soon announce

concerning the abolition of slavery!

They're crazy in France!

What will they spring on us this time?

My friends!

My children!

Your freedom will come!

Your good masters have requested it for you!

But wait patiently.

The government needs time to prepare

the indemnities that will be paid

to the former masters,

and to enact a law of freedom!

Therefore,

nothing will change until the law is passed.

My friends!

Obey the orders

of your masters

to show that it is not just anyone's role to give orders!

What's more,

remember this:

in France,

every free man and woman works.

They work even harder than you do,

you who are slaves,

and they're far less fortunate than you.

Our rebellions paved the way!

Don't listen to their books!

The end of our misery has begun with our knives and fire!

Don't listen to their books!

I say no!

Don't listen to those who shout

that our freedom was the fruit

of their republican principles!

We tore that fruit from them!

It has the taste of our blood!

Don't listen to their books or statues!

Listen only to this story!

Solitude! Torrents of fire! Mackendal! Torrents of blood!

Ignace! Torrents of fire! Boukman! Torrents of blood!

Masoto! Torrents of fire! Surprise! Torrents of blood!

Romain! Torrents of fire! Kiwan! Torrents of blood!

Toussaint Louverture! Torrents of fire! Dessalines! Torrents of blood!

Delgres! Torrents of fire!

Torrents of fire, torrents of blood!

We're the runaways, the guerillas!

We're not afraid of dogs or police!

We know the secrets of ravines...

mangroves and mountains!

Before they get us, we'll get some of them!

Death rather than slavery!

As for niggers who oppress niggers,

we'll settle their score!

Those who scorn us

and flatter the white colonists!

Those who fall in combat will pass the torch to others!

The present government

ad interim

of the 2nd Republic

considers

slavery

a violation of human dignity.

By destroying a man's free will,

it suppresses

the natural principle of law

and of duty.

It is a flagrant violation

of the republican dogma:

Liberty,

Equality,

Fraternity.

Don't listen to those

who make a toast, saying...

that freedom is a gladiola offered among roses.

We fought for that freedom!

So, my friend, you're here too!

Life is hard at the bottom.

- How are you? - So-so.

What a life!

Punch with real punch!

Cocoa liquor, decent dancing!

Sausages, pâtés!

Rice with pork and red beans!

This beautiful, pleasant Creole atmosphere!

You're so well organized!

So much work! So many worries!

I can't help it.

I'm here to defend the people's interests

and the future of our beloved little country.

- Here you are! - Thank you, dear.

- To the future! - To the future!

I'm disgusted! Disgusted!

We have to fight and fight!

If this continues,

I think I'll tell my voters I resign from the office

they elected me to!

You're the son of Mr. So-and-so of the Revenue Service!

I know your father, a brave honest man.

And how is your mother?

You've met my wife.

- Hello, Mr. Deputy! - The Widow Smile!

Now, children, do your best for President François!

One last rehearsal, children!

Give Papa François a warm welcome

to help him forget the events that have disgraced our island!

Now, all together!

In our hearts, be our Queen! Hail, May!

We belong to you!

Be our sovereign!

In our hearts!

This land belongs to us!

This land belongs to us!

Vagabonds! They build barricades!

They burn police stations!

They throw burning bottles at policemen!

They stone respectable people!

They loot and break supermarket windows!

They're savages, that's all!

My friend,

independence would not fill our stomachs!

They'd take everything and cut off our heads!

We'd go Communist and they'd drive out Christ!

I make 8 million francs a year! Lose that? No!

The only real freedom is the freedom Jesus alone can give.

Sister, Sister! There he is!

Mr. President,

you have come

in a discreet...

positive...

circumspect manner...

to pay our little town a visit!

Our little town

is very honored

to receive you

you, the great President!

I, myself

like you yourself, Mr. President...

I would say to you...

in short, I mean...

"Be our sovereign in our hearts!"

Delegates of the administration!

Delegates of the Church!

Delegates of the import business!

Delegates of the Front for a Peaceful Revolution!

Delegates of the little laymen!

Delegates of the planters!

Delegates of the silent majority!

France forever!

France and Martinique

as united as two eyes

on the same face!

We are French! We are French!

This land is ours!

This land belongs to us!

Independence!

Nationalist banners?

Marches?

Shoot at them!

A protest meeting?

Forbidden!

Petitions?

Subversive speeches?

Deport them!

Suspects arrested?

Torture them!

Result?

Excellent.

Now we can negotiate.

The discussion is open!

We have been "assimilated" from head to toe!

We're bursting with gratitude

for beautiful, gentle France!

No use negotiating!

Long alive Assimilation!

The provinces:

Picardy...

- Dordogne... - And Madinina!

Always sisters!

The rivers: La Seine,

La Charente...

- La Garonne... - And River Madame!

Always sisters!

National heroes:

Charles Martel...

- Louis XIV... - And Ti Sonson!

Always brothers!

Your turn!

We are the "Legalists"!

Behold this long list

of citizens

citizens

and citizens

who request

that their endeavor be respected!

We condemn violence!

We condemn violence!

We are...

against independence!

Against independence!

Listen to our suggestions!

And at a table...

a round table,

we and you

will reshape the world!

We want to be free!

Free!

And preserve our union with you!

Listen to us!

Listen to us!

Paris...

is the fairest of them all!

Paris...

is the fairest of them all!

Embrace me, my sweet...

embraceable Paris!

Embrace me, my sweet...

embraceable Paris!

I have two loves...

My country is Paris!

I have two loves...

Paris is my country!

Madame, be my French Queen!

I consecrate you Archbishop!

I ask you, great Treasurer...

and you...

White Madonna...

to protect your little child!

Long live the King of the Island!

I am perched

on the throne of popular enthusiasm!

I've got a firm grip

on the new state!

In my pocket

are the keys to the island

and to the prisons!

I am the King!

Quick, perfume, crystal, sealskin, sable

and plump little women to amuse the King!

Quick, Cadillacs and Rolls-Royces to drive the King!

Mr. President!

Admiral!

Mr. President!

General!

Quick, architects and masons to build jails

to reassure the King!

Above all, sweet lady,

don't forget to feed my Swiss bank accounts!

This country is ours!

This country is ours!

Remember, son, remember!

We have filled furrows

with seeds of promise!

So don't let the thorns crowd out...

the young shoots anymore!

Don't let the patient embers die out!

They are waiting, under our ashes, for the warmth of your breath!

Take your gourd!

Take your hat!

Take your hat to bail out water!

Guadeloupeans, look ahead! The boat's going to sink!

People of Martinique, look behind!

Dominicans, come and join us!

People of St. Lucia, watch out, look up!

Jamaicans on the starboard!

Trinidadians on the port side!

Haitians, come and talk!

Brothers from all around!

Come and give us a hand!

We're the Negroes kidnapped from Africa!

We're the Negroes kidnapped from Africa!

We planted sugar cane and picked cotton.

- We've sweated sweat and blood! - We built the Americas!

Rise up! Now is the time!

We want the fruit of our labors for ourselves!

We must arm ourselves with guns...

compasses and hammers...

hoes, spades and machetes!

Rise up! Now is the time!

You dig the ground! You take away those stones!

You bring water! You bring sand!

Brother, rise up, the dawn has come!

We'll not let it pass us by!

It's dawn, don't be late!

For Cuba, night has already faded!

It's dawn, time to go to work!

For us Negroes of America, the sun never sets!

Negroes of Africa and America, we will fight on!

When the sun goes down, nothing has changed!

Emigration is modern slavery!

In the old days, it was by boat! Today, it's by plane!

We still haven't lost the war!

We're always fighting to change things!

We must all stand and fight!

Negroes of America, we will fight on!

Nothing has changed!

Rise up! Now is the time!

For us Negro slaves, things stay the same!