Original subtitles

THE GREEN RAY

MONDAY, JULY 2nd

Don't you think it's hot then, too?

You mean in August?

No, it's bearable, nothing like Cairo...

I mean, give me 2 or 3 weeks warning and...

One moment, please.

Delphine, it's for you!

Hi, you OK?

That's terrific! Are you pleased?

Then all three of us can go.

What are you trying to tell me?

You're dumping me, is that it?

2 weeks before our vacation, that's rough.

What am I supposed to do?

That's really... I think that's rough. Sorry!

Good-bye.

TUESDAY, JULY 3rd

Manuella!

Hi, Delphine. How are you?

My eyes hurt.

Can we go elsewhere? It hurts my eyes here.

Sorry, but let's move into the shade.

What's the matter?

Something wrong?

There sure is.

What's happened?

Caroline told me last night she's not going on vacation with me.

- What'll you do? - I don't know.

Go with someone else.

There's no one. Not for the moment, anyway.

You'll find people.

In 2 weeks? I doubt it.

Sure you can find

people in 2 weeks.

Who?

I don't know.

You going with anyone?

With Antoine.

There is a guy who'd love to go with you.

Who?

He's got a big vacation house for you.

Who is it?

Raoul.

Are you out of your mind? Raoul!

Listen, he's really charming.

OK, then go alone.

It's rough, going alone.

You're sure to meet people there.

Where? You don't realize...

I don't know.

Go to my grandmother's in Spain.

- Yeah, sure. - No joke.

She has a big house on the beach. She'll rent you a room.

In a city?

In a small village.

I'll have to think it over. Alone in Spain!

You'll meet tourists.

I'm not the adventurous type.

That's just it: This year you have to try.

You could meet a guy you'll like.

How about this one?

He should appeal to you. He's handsome.

A little dirty, maybe, but he's magnificent.

Look at those calves!

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4th

Orange juice, grandpa?

- Weird, no? - What is?

- Weird weather for July. - Sure isn't warm.

What do you do on vacation?

Nothing. I'm retired, on a pension.

So I keep house. That's all I have to do.

Don't you ever leave Paris?

Never.

I used to go to the mountains for 2 months,

just this side of the Swiss border.

Have you spent a lot of Augusts in Paris?

I started taking vacations very late,

because I was a hard worker.

When I saw the sea for the first time I was around 60.

You don't get many vacations when you work alone.

I was a cabbie, which didn't give me any 2-month vacations.

Later I took long vacations

at someone's place in the country.

I took care of the livestock, and I tended

the garden, and I stayed 2 months.

You liked the Alps?

- No, I didn't. - Why not?

I'm so used to driving in Paris,

those ravines scared me.

- A Parisian! - A real Parisian!

- Paris is nice. - It's nice in Paris.

There's everything you need here for an outing: A big park...

It doesn't have nature, or the sea.

We don't have the sea, but there's the Seine! Same thing.

No, that's not enough.

- Sure it is! - To me, the Seine...

Who needs the sea?

I get into water up to my ankles and I'm scared. I can't swim.

THURSDAY, JULY 5th

And in summer?

Sure, sometimes it rains, but it's nice too.

We mostly go there because Alaric hates heat,

so we prefer places that aren't too hot.

How do you go? Where?

We go camping.

What if it rains?

You go to a bed-and-breakfast place if you can.

But it won't rain all the time.

We go in July-August. Isabelle...

knows better than I...

if it rains or not. I've gone in July

and the weather was fine.

If we're lucky, maybe it'll be nice this time too.

So you just show up there with the tent and everything?

Sure, why?

You're allowed to camp anywhere there. Not like in France.

Camp grounds are rare.

The West coast is unspoiled, easy to camp in.

Are the people nice? Can they...

Don't you camp on someone's land?

We ask permission of whoever's around.

And the people are nice?

Very nice. No problem.

He knows a lot of them.

We have addresses, everything.

He knows a lot of people we can go to.

There's always somebody...

We know people everywhere. Besides, there's Isabelle.

Dublin's not the best part, huh?

You glad to be going, dear?

Have you ever been to Ireland?

No, not yet.

You like foreign places?

No, I don't.

But Ireland's a foreign country.

I don't want to go to a foreign place.

Then why do you want to go to Ireland?

Because it's a pretty country.

How do you know it is?

Isabelle told me about it.

Oh, well, if Isabelle told you!

It's rainy there. That scare you?

Delphine, come see us

in Dublin this summer.

Mom visited us, Claude and Dominique are coming.

The whole family, except you.

I don't know.

In summer I prefer warm countries, get some heat.

I want the sun, and all...

It's not on account of you, I'll go some other time.

But in August I want to see the sea, to swim,

get a tan, and all that.

Right, doll?

You like it too. That's fine! I mean...

I like Ireland.

You want to go?

I'll go too, someday, but not right away.

I must call Jean-Pierre. We'll see.

FRIDAY, JULY 6th

Hi, Jean-Pierre!

Thanks for calling.

I wanted to ask you if I can go to Antibes a while.

I thought you'd be in the mountains.

In that case it's no go, huh?

Yes, I'm OK.

Thanks a lot! All alone in the Alps! You putting me on?

I was set to go to Greece, but it was canceled.

I don't know, maybe I'll go to Ireland with Babie.

So you're going to the Riviera. You don't usually.

SUNDAY, JULY 8th

Regain CONTACT with yourself and others

Group and private sessions

I went to Florence by myself.

Why don't you go on vacation alone?

It's a drag.

I don't want to. I went alone once. I don't like it.

It's great to go alone.

You kidding? I've done it. I went to Nice once.

It was inhuman!

You can meet people.

I didn't meet anyone.

That's how I met Antoine.

Do you meet people in Paris?

Not many.

But you don't want to.

Sure I do.

Why don't you go on a group vacation?

- You crazy? - Why?

Really, Beatrice!

You prejudiced?

What's wrong with groups?

You're nuts! You attacking me? Shit!

It's no attack. But you must escape your loneliness.

You can't go on this way.

No one can live alone forever.

Look how sad you are!

- I'm not sad. What an idea! - You are too!

I'm fine. I'm OK, I'm not sad.

But you're alone, right?

So what? Why are you laughing? It's dumb!

You think it's fun being alone?

It's no fun! But I won't solve it by going with a group!

You solve it by making an effort.

OK, enough!

You get it? It's true!

There were times when I was stalled like you,

when I was sad. It was awful!

Awful! I know how it is, but you must break out of it.

We're your friends. We want to help!

Don't exaggerate! I'm not sad.

You have to push things to the limit to... lance the boil.

You don't know me.

But I can see you.

You see me occasionally for 5 minutes.

What do you mean?

We've discussed it before.

Very little. And you do all the talking.

I've something to express and I express it.

I have a lot of things to express, but I don't express them.

So express! We want you to express yourself.

We're all ears.

I'm sorry. What do you have to say?

I'm not mean, I want to help you, but sometimes you have to be mean

in order to shake people up.

I don't know. If you were brought up

to have your own way...

She's crazy! She's mean! Why's she saying that?

OK, I'm crazy, I'm mean...

How was I brought up?

You need opposition to develop.

Now hold on! I'm fine. Maybe I'm a little lonely right now,

but I'm not completely alone.

There's someone in my life even if I'm not seeing him just now.

And that's important to me. So you just shut up!

So OK.

I didn't know you had someone.

I saw you like this and thought you needed to get around.

Sorry.

I didn't know.

I thought you had no one now, so I figured you had to get around.

I'm willing to be rough to help my friends.

I've been a lot rougher than this.

I even slapped a friend to get her laughing,

to make her stop!

But you're different.

So are you. That's the spice of life.

But you scream things at me and...

I don't know how to deal with you.

You mustn't stagnate.

Listen, Delphine, you know it's all over with Jean-Pierre.

Either you meet someone new or you live with a memory.

- Want a new guy? - I hope to find one.

You waiting for Prince Charming, or will you go looking?

What can I do?

We can consult your stars.

I can make the spirits talk tonight, I can make tables turn.

I never asked the spirits to find me a man. But I can try.

You must have beliefs.

If you don't...

Sure I believe... in the things that crop up in life,

things that happen all by themselves,

things about love.

Haven't you any superstitions?

Don't you believe in luck, in the cards,

in the stars, nothing?

I believe in personal superstitions.

I can believe in things. In playing cards

you find in the street. I find them.

Often?

Sometimes, when I least expect it.

I'm walking along and I find a card.

It always means something.

Last time, going to my sister's, I found a queen of spades.

A bad omen.

Can you read omens?

Some of them.

So on my way to my sister's,

I spotted a... What's more, the card was green.

What's weird is that I'd met a medium, a friend of mine,

who told me green would be my color for the year.

It's really weird, but since then... maybe I'm just noticing it,

I keep running into green things.

On my way to my sister's, what did I see?

A green card by a green lamppost.

And I was wearing green.

Maybe you'll meet a little green man!

The color of hope.

It's a good year.

Let me see the horoscope.

You're Capricorn.

"Unaware that you're just waiting for Prince Charming,

"you're alone and that seems to depress you.

"A vicious circle!

But you're too stubborn to change."

I'm not stubborn. Life is stubborn toward me.

It's true.

In fact he was saying you're retarded!

And it still kept going?

Where's Delphine?

Outside, sulking. I don't get her.

She's always alone. What's going on?

It's because Delphine is sad.

Sad by nature, or what?

Because she broke up with Jean-Pierre.

Who's Jean-Pierre?

- Her fiance. - For long?

I'll sit with her.

She won't talk. Me, I like talking about other people's troubles.

Sure, but she's been alone for 2 years.

So she's a little down.

What's the matter?

Nothing.

Why are you crying?

Leave me alone!

Because of guys?

Not! Let me be!

Because of vacation?

To hell with that!

- Then why are you crying? - For nothing.

You mustn't cry like that.

It's not over what we told her.

We weren't cruel.

Come see my folks: Big house, a garden.

My sister's there, my brothers, the kids.

You'd have the sea and the sun. Do come!

Yes, but... Babie wants me to go to Ireland with Mom.

That's no vacation!

I need a real vacation.

I'm fond of my family, but I can't...

Then come to Cherbourg.

We'll have fun, meet people.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 18th

Cute dog swimming there.

That's Mount Roule over there.

Over there's a place called La Hougue.

That's an offshore oil rig.

And that's the marina, of course.

La Hague is over there.

The other shore is completely wild.

Do you see him?

Do you see that guy?

Hey, look at him!

Don't stare like that!

He's not bad.

He's dark.

- Nice build. - He's eyeing you.

Quit ogling him!

He's looking at us.

He's got the hots for you!

Stop undressing me!

He's your type.

No, he's your type.

You're his type, anyway.

You've got nerve! Cut it out!

- You from here? - Yes.

What's your name?

Edouard.

This is Delphine, and I'm Francoise.

What are you doing here?

We're on vacation.

With your family?

I'm going to Ireland tomorrow.

That's funny, I almost went to Ireland.

I almost went, but in the end, well...

I preferred Cherbourg.

- You a sailor? - Yes. My ship's over there.

- You all alone? - Yep, all alone.

- Busy tonight? - How about you?

Dining with the family.

Can we meet later?

Around 10 or 11?

We can't ditch the family.

Sure we can.

No, we can't!

Why not?

We promised and we must stick to it.

It can be arranged.

Maybe we can meet after dinner, huh?

For ice cream at the bowling alley?

Sure!

We have to go. Bye!

Maybe tomorrow.

I'm off tomorrow.

Well, see you around.

Why'd you leave?

I don't know. I got suspicious.

- Didn't like him? - He's sort of a hustler, really.

- At this rate you'll meet no one. - Sure, but...

A guy who's leaving the next day... he seems weird.

I don't know. In your place I'd have said yes.

- But we're different, Francoise. - You said it!

Here are the pork chops.

Rare,

very rare, however you like them. Help yourselves.

I don't eat meat.

That so?

- Don't like it? - No, I don't.

Doesn't matter. No problem.

- Doesn't matter! - Something else?

No, I'm OK with my salad.

Make her an egg.

I'll add a tomato to what I have.

Help yourself.

A tomato! You should have told us.

We'd have made something else.

She likes vegetables.

You eat eggs, don't you?

Not many.

- You never eat meat? - No, never.

You eat fish?

Not much fish, either.

I eat it sometimes, when there's nothing else.

A little protein's all right when I eat with other people.

And your health? No problems? Everything OK?

Sure, I'm fine.

At home I eat grain products, I eat...

I cook things.

- Dairy foods? - Dairy, yes.

Milk, almonds, stuff like that.

We don't need meat.

Must be a problem when you're at other people's.

Like here.

We can buy her what she likes.

Don't buy anything special for me. It's OK.

- This is fine. - Shellfish?

That's out too.

Lobster? Crabs?

They're animals.

So it's anything animal that...

I don't know, they're animals, and...

I don't think we should.

It's especially red-blooded animals.

So when a pork chop is put in front of you,

what you see is the animal, that it?

But you like green vegetables.

When you pick a lettuce in the garden,

it's alive, but then what? It wilts, so it's dead.

I don't see it that way.

To me, a lettuce

is very far removed, it's much more remote from me

than meat, than an animal.

A lettuce is a friend,

it's lighter, it's...

Vegetables are airier. I don't know, they have...

No blood.

No beating heart.

Maybe I'm not aware of things,

but at my present stage, the way I am now,

maybe I'm wrong.

It's an instinctive thing.

That's how I feed myself.

When I was young,

I felt that way at the butcher's.

Now I buy meat in supermarkets and I don't feel that way at all.

That proves it's a question of awareness.

I think that's wrong.

You eat meat because you don't care what you're doing

or how an animal is killed,

that's wrong!

You cared at the butcher's,

about the blood and the violence...

Absolutely.

And then you stopped caring.

Listen, when I buy 2 or 3 things...

You stopped caring, but you mustn't stop.

Yes, but I also buy things made by people

who live differently from me,

and that doesn't bother me.

If I have to go to a supermarket

and rack my conscience whenever I buy things...

But I'm mostly talking about meat.

We can do without it there,

in France there are lots of other things to eat.

It's a problem of conscience that's easy to solve:

You just don't eat it, you eat other things.

And it's much cheaper.

Meat's expensive. Grains are low-budget.

And for the national economy,

it certainly costs more to raise cattle in a field

than to eat what grows in the field. That's for sure!

But for flavor, I prefer...

Meat's tasteless. When it comes to flavor,

I think even strictly vegetarian pate

tastes like meat and I can't eat it. It disgusts me.

So it's the word "pate".

No, it's the flavor, the impression I get.

It's heavy stuff.

But something's missing.

No there isn't. I like to aerate myself.

That kind of food is, I don't know...

it's airy and light.

Suppose you were offered, maybe,

a leg of lamb cooked in the open air.

On the barbecue there.

By airy, I don't mean the surroundings.

I'm talking about how the body reacts.

Your body is...

you are what you eat.

There's air, and then there's nourishment.

Nourishment helps you live, I think...

Sure, it's all very mystical. You're teasing me!

It's not a plot.

I can't eat flowers, either.

It's a matter of instinct, because...

What's left?

You can eat rice like the Chinese.

I do eat rice,

but I think a flower...

I can't eat one. To me it's poetic, it's a picture.

THURSDAY, JULY 19th

Want to help pick strawberries?

Coming?

Want to swing?

Not really. Swings make me nauseous.

You never went on a swing as a kid?

I told you, it made me sick.

- You don't like rough games. - Swings aren't rough.

You seem pretty... calm.

Do you like to sail?

Boats make me sick too, sweetie.

These currants are good.

Had any before?

Sure I've had currants.

Got a boyfriend?

Yes, I have a boyfriend.

Then why didn't he come with you?

He can't. He's working.

A shame, no?

I don't care, but...

What's his name?

Jean-Pierre.

See him often?

Yes, but he doesn't work in Paris, so I don't see him much.

He's still my boyfriend.

You going to live with him later on?

Yes, someday.

I got stung. It hurts!

Why'd you ask me that?

You scared?

No, I was just asking.

I have a boyfriend too. Boyfriends: I switch.

You staying here long?

Until you throw me out.

You're going to phone him, no?

Your boyfriend.

Maybe.

Anyway, I have others.

You change them like shirts.

These are good, but you get tired of them.

Why'd you ask me that? Who asked you?

Nobody.

I'm curious.

- By nature? - Yes, kind of.

You got plans with him?

You really are curious!

I've no plans now, things just happen.

We can spend the afternoon here.

"Axle": Have to check, I'm not sure.

- What's an axle? - Double axle, in skating.

- In what? - Skating.

- A technical term, no? - Never heard of a double axle?

Stir, stir

the children's soup

Let's get some?

Once more, then finished.

No, sweetie. Slowly.

FRIDAY, JULY 20th

Want to go to the beach tomorrow, go sailing?

Sailing?

OK for the beach, but sailing makes me sick.

You get seasick?

Pisces isn't your sign, then.

No, I'm Capricorn.

- Good at signs? - Sort of. I do some astrology.

Gerard is a Capricorn too, like me.

What's it mean?

It's the sign of the goat climbing the mountain

all the way up.

But it's usually alone.

That's a bit like you.

Don't you think so?

That could be me.

It's true, we haven't known you long but we've the feeling

that every time we suggest something, it's:

"No, I'd rather not, no, not really..."

I'm not difficult. That's nonsense!

What do you like?

What do you mean? I'm not being difficult. I've been sweet so far.

- Oh, very sweet! - I haven't been difficult.

I've done errands, gone for walks.

I've been nice, damn it!

- Washed dishes. - I washed dishes.

- But you always tell me... - What are you blaming me for?

Nothing at all.

We want to please you, do as much for you as we can here.

I'm OK, I feel fine.

What would really interest you?

What are you really dying to do,

while you're here?

Just go for walks.

You're a plant! A plant.

I'm a plant?

SATURDAY, JULY 21st

There's Delphine!

Been out walking?

Where've you been?

Walking, in the pasture.

You're destroying nature.

- A big branch like that! - Pretty, eh?

For me? No, keep it.

I didn't pick any for you. I don't cut flowers.

You weren't bored?

No, I saw the sea, I saw...

We'd better hurry.

In you go!

With Mommy!

With uncle.

SUNDAY, JULY 22nd

He likes the job, anyway he chose it!

It's always work, work, work!

- Francoise? - What?

I can't stay here. Take me with you.

What's the matter? Don't you like it here?

Sure, it's fine.

- Aren't they nice? - They're very nice.

But I can't stay here all alone.

I'll find something to tell them.

They're smart, they'll understand.

- I'm embarrassed. - Don't worry.

- It'll be nice. - How many of us will there be?

Is this good-bye?

Yes, but I also want to tell you:

- Delphine's leaving. - She angry?

Not at all. But she'd rather the 3 of us went back together.

- I'm not surprised. - It's a pity. She's nice.

Well, after all, she's different from us.

So we're taking her to Paris.

Well, all right.

- Delphine's leaving? - That's right.

But why?

Well, since we're going, it's better.

She'll be all alone in Paris!

Don't ask...

MONDAY, JULY 23rd

You want my photo?

Why not? You're beautiful!

Cigarette?

Jean-Pierre?

It's Delphine. You OK?

I'm in Paris.

Cherbourg was nice, but...

I came back, that's all.

You know how I am.

I wanted to ask you: Can I use your place in the mountains...

WEDNESDAY, JULY 25th

Paulo here?

Hi, Delphine!

Hi, Michel! Things OK?

You on vacation?

Just arrived from Paris. Paulo has Jean-Pierre's keys.

Paulo's in the valley. Be back at 6 p.m.,

with the keys, I guess.

- Want to wander around? - I wouldn't mind.

I'll mind your bags.

- I'll take my white hat. - If you like.

See you, Michel.

- You OK, Paulo? - Fine. Just get here?

I've the apartment keys.

- I don't need them. - Why not?

- I'm going home. - What for?

I'm bored.

You came to air your luggage?

No, I'm all mixed up.

Just give me my bags. I'm leaving.

I don't get it at all.

Just give them to me. It's OK.

Thanks, Paulo. Sorry.

They've aired. They're healthy.

I'm really sorry. You OK?

Whenever you want, the keys are here for you.

THURSDAY, JULY 26th

Back already?

I only stayed one day.

Came back the same night.

You're a little crazy!

I couldn't... I know that resort.

It's rough there by yourself.

I can't take it any more.

What'll you do now?

You have money. So take off again.

But I hate going alone.

It's no fun.

But you can't just stay in Paris!

You always meet someone when you least expect it.

Since I don't expect it, let's see if I do.

Wait and see!

I'm talking nonsense.

I don't know what I want to do.

I really feel out of it.

- Of course you can stay. - Leave me alone!

Stay where? In Paris?

I don't know.

FRIDAY, JULY 27th

Hello, Irene.

How are you?

Getting along. It's funny seeing you here.

What brings you here?

Shopping. I was in the neighborhood, so I stopped by.

What about you?

I was on my way home. I still live in the same place.

I'm on vacation, sort of in transit...

Looking for a place.

I can't get over it!

What've you been up to?

I took the plunge. I got married.

Again!

This time it's serious. I have a little son.

When did you have him?

17 months ago.

He's handsome, right?

He's pretty handsome.

Are you happy?

Yes and no. There are times...

So far it's been difficult, very rough.

It's too long a story to tell you now, but...

I've been on vacation.

You're not working?

Sure I'm working, but this is my vacation.

I still have 2 weeks to go, but, really...

Not going away?

That's just the trouble: I went away,

I came back, I went off again and came back...

Now I feel sort of foolish, here in Paris like an idiot.

The weather's awful and I'd love to get away fast.

The weather'll change.

You know my pad on the Left Bank:

When the sun's out, it's hot.

I have an idea.

What is it?

I'll lend you my brother-in-law's apartment in Biarritz.

He lends it to me every year, but it doesn't suit me.

My husband and I go to Deauville.

- How sweet of you! - Wonderful idea!

It's a beautiful place.

Very nice crowd there, so you never know!

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1st

THURSDAY, AUGUST 2nd

You still reading Jules Verne?

You really like it?

I reread "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"

and it bored me stiff.

Until I picked up this book

and read "The Green Ray",

I found him paralyzing.

But now, I think "The Green Ray"

is amazingly interesting.

I read "The Green Ray". I thought it was very good.

It seemed to me a kind of fairy tale.

The heroine is a fairy-tale heroine.

She's as simple as Cinderella or Snow White.

- Is it a love story? - And it's set in Scotland.

You love it there!

Yes, a country I liked a lot.

Have you read it?

When I was a child, but I remember it only vaguely.

You're reading it now?

I've finished it, and although I don't much like Verne,

I found "The Green Ray" extraordinary,

because it's a love story, a romance,

with characters who are...

Searching.

Yes, searching for something.

The Green Ray. You've seen it?

Three times, in fact.

The first time, when I was 8 or 9, at La Baule. Know La Baule?

There's a lovely beach, nearly 5 miles long.

I was with my father, and he spoke to me about Verne's book.

The day was very clear and dry, there were no clouds.

He said, "Maybe we'll be lucky today,"

and I did see it,

just for a split second,

when the sun set on the horizon.

At the final stage

there was a kind of pale green shaft,

like a sword blade, a horizontal beam,

very pretty, but extremely brief.

We won't see it today. Look at the sky,

all hazy and...

Very hazy and gray.

Not a hope.

Know what Verne says?

That when you see the green ray

you can read your own feelings and other's too.

Really? That's wonderful! If it's true,

we'd have heightened perception on seeing the green ray.

That's what happened to his heroine.

Who never sees the green ray,

but who finally reads her own feelings

and those of the young man she's met.

And you, sir, are you familiar with the green ray?

Very much so. I've seen it several times,

perhaps 5 times in my life. It's very rare.

Some summers you never see the green ray

because atmospheric conditions are unfavorable.

Today, for example, is too hazy.

Too cloudy.

As my wife said, the atmosphere must be very clear.

And the reason for this phenomenon

is the diffraction... refraction?

Refraction.

Refraction in the atmosphere.

Shall I explain it in detail?

You see the sun, there.

It is not exactly where you see it.

It's really a little lower,

because the sun's rays curve in the atmosphere,

and the closer the sun is to the horizon,

the greater the diffraction in the atmosphere.

When the sun seems to touch the horizon,

it is in fact already below the horizon.

The solar disk seems slightly raised,

perhaps half a degree.

That's the first reason for the green ray.

The second is that there's also the dispersion of colors,

When light passes through a prism, there's a spectrum,

and the color that's most curved

is blue!

I'd have guessed green.

No, the green is near the blue.

There are red, yellow, green,

blue and violet.

Blue and violet are very weak.

What we can clearly observe are the colors yellow and green.

So when the sun sets,

the disk is slightly raised,

but the blue colors,

the greens, are higher than the reds.

So when the disk sinks below the horizon,

the last ray you see is the green.

- Is the green! - A lovely green.

You're like a scientist

in the book named Aristobulus Ursicloss.

- What a name! - I haven't read it.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 3rd

It's OK, leave it. It's all right.

Feels great.

Haven't been in yet?

No, but I will. I'll have a little dip.

You've got some tan already!

Sure!

You're the one who's tanned.

I don't think so. I can't be tanned already, after all.

Been here long?

Just since day before yesterday.

You know this beach already?

I've been here several days.

- That so! You on vacation? - That's it.

Me too.

- You're German? - No. Guess!

Excuse my French. I speak it badly.

Lots of mistakes.

I understand you perfectly.

I don't know... are you Dutch?

A little higher up.

- Norwegian? Swedish? - Right, Swedish.

And you're French?

Very good. A pretty country, France.

I don't know if I've time to see it all,

because, a trip once a year, on vacation...

You touring all over France?

No, because I came here with a plane,

and then I'm going to Spain.

You're traveling alone?

I love it!

I love to travel alone because you see a lot of things

and meet new people and like that.

You traveling alone?

It's really nice here!

You cold?

Listen, dry yourself. You swim with that bathing suit?

Why not?

Why don't you take it off? It makes you a chill.

Not at all, it's fine.

Don't think so?

You sunbathe with it, too?

But it leaves stripes... marks.

Listen, you...

I'm better with nothing. Look at the beach.

Because... I don't know, I'm used to it.

In Scandinavia we're always half-naked.

You see everything here. It's nice!

It's pretty.

See that good-looking guy?

Where?

That one. He's a good swimmer.

Nice build, too. Don't you think?

You look at guys?

Sure I look at guys. I'm alone on vacation.

I have to find a good one. The best!

You have a fiance?

My fiance!

You don't have a fiance?

- You're lucky! - Why?

Because they're a pain. They're too jealous.

You can't look

right or left, they're always watching you, following you.

Because it's really not good to be alone,

and it's not good to stay with one person too long.

Have you always been alone?

You've been engaged?

I was for a very long time,

and now it's not that way any more.

So what happened?

What happens is that's how it is, I'm alone.

He dropped you?

You walked out on him, then?

No, it's life.

Yeah, but it's complicated.

You have to profit from a vacation.

Sure, but if you stay in an apartment all day!

We have to go out some evening.

Go out where?

Don't you want to go dancing?

Don't you like it? We'll cruise around...

Cruise?

Cruise? Bruise?

I'm ready for that!

Look there! Terrific guy!

I have trouble finding an ideal guy.

What's your ideal?

What you prefer?

My ideal is romantic.

So money doesn't matter?

Money doesn't matter.

I always think... no, my ideal is romantic.

You like dinner with candles...

No, not candles, none of that stuff...

I always hope that there,

in the hollow of a wave, there'll be a...

How do you tell, when you see,

I don't know, when you see someone go by,

a handsome guy,

how do you know he's right for you?

How do you tell about the guy when he comes over

and talks to you?

How do you tell if you like him or not?

How do you know, maybe you like him.

If you don't look around...

Don't you think I look? I look at people a lot.

But the rest is all hazy for me.

- All crazy? - All hazy.

Why hazy?

I don't know, because I'm not very operational in life,

I'm not functional, I look at people.

But I never do anything special to find someone or something.

Maybe I'm wrong.

You wait for people to come to you?

Like I told you...

A guy won't come to you. You have to do something.

To me that's just talk. "Do something!" I've heard it before.

My Paris friends tell me: Do something, search! It's all talk!

Have you looked?

I really don't believe in searching either.

You have to feel it. Do you feel it? You talk to people?

How do you feel it? They're just as...

Girls as much as boys.

Sure I feel it...

I'm very open to people. I feel it.

I'm receptive, I listen, I'm open.

You're disappointed?

I don't know... Yes and no. If nothing special's happened...

I've never...

I listen to people, watch them live, but...

You can't trust people right off.

Yes you can.

I don't think so.

You don't trust people?

I play with people.

Meaning?

To find someone who's right, who's nice,

you mustn't reveal your own feelings right away.

Then what do you reveal of yourself?

I live, I have fun,

I observe others reactions,

then I decide.

Is it good or is it bad?

It's like a card game:

You can't show what's in your hand right away.

My hand's empty.

You must have something!

I don't have anything!

It's really not sad.

What's the matter?

Why are you crying?

Listen, forget your troubles.

I'm forgetting them. I didn't think of them.

You talk of showing things... I don't know, I don't have anything.

If I had something to show, people would see it, that's all!

What do people do?

Forget it!

Don't be like that!

You can see I'm not like you. I'm not...

Things aren't obvious to me. I'm not normal, like you.

If I had something to give, people would see it.

If I'm dumped, it has to be my fault.

When I make an effort, I try to listen, to talk to people.

I'm very open...

I listen, I watch what's going on.

If people don't come to me it's because I'm worthless and...

Forget your troubles. Forget everything.

Tonight we'll have fun!

And there are the victims!

How are you? What are you doing tonight?

Can we sit with you?

You cold?

- What nationality? - Me?

I'm Spanish.

You speak Spanish?

I speak all languages. You speak Spanish too?

French, yes.

Do you think I'm Spanish?

No, I think you're Swedish.

You're Swedish!

- Certainly not! - Finnish, then.

- So what are you? - I'm German.

- Do you like... - I speak German, too.

- Like flowers? - I love flowers.

This is for you.

- But... I swiped it! - There you are!

What are you doing here? On vacation with your friend?

- You're alone? - We're both alone.

- What's your name? - Lena.

- What do they call you? - Joel.

- And what's your name? - Me? Pierrot.

Pierrot's a circus name!

Sure, a clown.

Right! The white clown.

What's the clown doing tonight?

He doesn't know.

It depends on you. We'll do what you want.

We also don't know...

We can decide together!

Maybe.

Sure!

What do you think, Delphine?

Me? Nothing.

Nothing.

You and your cigarettes!

Where are they?

Here!

It's normal for women. I could put mine there too.

I'll stick with my flowers.

Ja? That's German.

Ya is English.

It's real German.

You speak German?

I no speak German.

They're a riot, Delphine!

You're French. I'm English.

Delphine's sad.

This isn't her day.

- What's wrong? - Who knows!

But we're out to have fun!

You are?

Great! Delphine, too?

Of course!

- What's she think? - What are you doing?

- We could go... - Where?

There's a little bar, with a little band.

Sounds nice.

Hey, Delphine, a band!

I'm a musician, too. And a poet.

"Make France the promised land of hope."

Know what I am?

English, you already said.

No, what I do. I'm a musician, too.

- What instrument? - Piano.

What'll I speak now?

Whatever you like.

What do you do, usually? You have friends?

I don't know anyone.

It figures. You on vacation here?

I live here. We met at the Bayonne fair.

- Made friends. - What's Bayonne?

- A big city. - I thought it was a sausage.

No. There's a Bayonne ham.

"Ham is best...

when you've still got zest."

That's cute!

"Ham is best..."

Like a hamburger.

- You from Hamburg? - A hamburger.

Delphine, what do you want to do?

- Wait! - What do you want?

Nothing.

We were a foursome.

We could've had fun together...

Why? I don't want to be with you!

...hear music.

Why make me do things I don't want to do?

I don't know. You reached me.

I'm all alone here.

I'm not the one for you.

We could walk on the sand. I mean you no harm.

I don't want to.

No! Good-bye!

Hi, I'd like to know

the number of the Biarritz station.

25...

...5203. Thank you.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 4th

My book interests you?

Yes... no... I know it. "The Idiot",

Dostoyevski.

- May I sit down? - Of course.

- Almost finished, huh? - Just about.

Like it?

I can never read in stations.

- Don't like stations? - I don't like leaving.

I'm going back to Paris. Don't much want to.

- You Parisian? - That's right.

I've had a few days' vacation in Biarritz.

And you?

Going to St. Jean de Luz for a weekend,

just two days.

Until Monday.

- Then what? - Training.

For what?

I'm a cabinetmaker. It's on-the-job training.

I'm a secretary. Not very exciting.

Why?

Anyway...

stations get people down.

- Is St. Jean de Luz far? - Five minutes away.

Very pretty... a little fishing port.

Know it?

- What've you done here? - Not much.

I saw the North Beach. Know it?

I didn't stay long.

In fact, I've loused up my vacation.

Why? Weather bad?

- What's so funny? - It's not really funny...

I'm supposed to go to Paris,

but... I...

What?

- I don't know St. Jean de Luz. - It's awfully pretty.

Maybe I could take tonight's train.

Sure, a night train!

I mean... I just mean...

Take me with you?

OK, sure!

I'm wary of guys.

I'm crazy. I don't meet any... any more.

I meet guys who run after me to have a drink,

for silly things...

Maybe for sex, and all that.

I turn them all down.

You never run after guys?

No, just you. I don't know why I was so blatant...

I'm not sorry, but it's a risk. I don't know what'll happen.

You've never loved a man?

Because you say all men are in love...

I never said they were.

They're certainly not in love with me.

They chase me a while, I know it's not love,

because... I know what a guy wants from me,

and I know it's no big deal...

I know when a man looks at me,

and it's no big deal, it's something superficial

that he wants from me.

I think it's too futile.

Not many men take a really good look at you.

When one does, I want to...

go out to him, to give.

Yes, I've been in love

three times in my life.

Three times.

Are you in love at the moment?

But I hope to be.

It could happen.

- What's up? - Nothing...

I'm a fool!

- I don't think so. - I do.

I haven't met a guy in a long time.

It's true that I chose...

to be alone until I found someone with whom...

When you go with someone once,

just like that,

you feel more alone afterward.

You go home at night,

you've slept with a guy once

and you know neither one of you cares,

then nobody's satisfied.

That's worse than coping with loneliness.

So it becomes an ethical rule of life.

You live alone for a long time,

you don't see many guys.

It drives you nuts, but in a way...

within yourself,

you stay pure...

you preserve what little energy you have,

you keep on dreaming, and waiting.

It's better to wait than to... than to ruin...

Than spoiling your hopes.

I talk a lot, but I don't expect anything.

I'm fed up!

GREEN RAY

There is one thing... incredible!

- What? - You can't understand...

You couldn't know.

Will you come there with me?

To watch the sun set? Will you?

Working Monday?

I have vacation time left.

Will you spend a few days with me near Bayonne?

You're making fun of me. You're kidding.

- No I'm not. - You are!

Why would I kid you?

Why do you want me to spend a few days with you?

I'd like it.

That's all.

It's simple.

Let yourself go.

Come on...

Be nice...

Don't want to?

- Say you will. - No, wait!

I'd enjoy it.

- We'll wait a little. - What?

We'll wait. Please be patient.

Wait for what?

- Ever see the green ray? - No. What's that?

The last ray at sunset.

Jules Verne wrote a book on it.

I haven't read it.

- Doesn't it bring luck? - Not exactly.

It helps you to know...

- What? - Tell you later.

What do you learn? I'd like to know.

So would I.

I think I get it.

Are you crying?

I mustn't.

Don't cry.

Look!

Wait...

Subtitles: A. Whitelaw & W. Byron

Subtitling by TVS - TITRA FILM