Original subtitles

I'm Otto, yes!

What does he say?

He says you won.

Won what?

The competition in Paris.

- The Cube? - Yes.

He asks what the building will be used for.

Do you think they'll pay for everything?

Of course.

Even the minibar?

Yes, otherwise we will pay.

This is no longer a problem.

- He asks for 50,000 francs? - Yes.

There was never a marriage.

Nor a niece.

There is an error. It says 25 instead of 2.5.

This is not an error. I asked for 25 million.

In fees?

They will find it excessive, especially without an agency.

Anyone can have an agency.

You have a vision.

They will take it for a provocation.

In my opinion.

There will be a negotiation.

You know them, they love to chat.

You need a margin, and I prefer to negotiate from the top.

But 25 million francs, it's madness.

Listen to me carefully.

The Cube is estimated at 1.3 billion francs.

We are asking for less than 10%.

It's very reasonable.

Look at.

You must not cede your rights to them.

What does that mean?

The copyright must belong to you.

If anyone photographs the Cube, he owes you royalties.

But the Cube will be part of the urban landscape.

Yes.

But nonetheless that it is an original work.

With copyright.

Why would it be different? a sculptor or a visual artist?

- Is it legal? - There is legal uncertainty.

Look, you drew the Cube.

You created it.

It's your work.

Why should you give in your copyright?

No one ever had to ask that.

Never.

Nobody has ever won yet such a competition.

Please excuse me,

but despite the admiration that I have for your work,

what you offer is impossible for me.

The Cube is my life's work.

All my work, my research, my very life,

led me to this drawing.

I say it modestly but if we collaborate,

there must be a hierarchy between us.

I understand.

My wife has to modify the model.

Glass facades must be absolutely smooth.

Okay, but we will never have a perfectly smooth surface.

We will have to find a way.

There will always be gaps, it is inevitable.

In my church in Stavnsholt, the altar is monumental.

For each side, I created a plate of 4m² absolutely smooth,

from four separate samples.

Does your altar measure 4m²?

On the face of it, yes.

We have to fill two hectares vertically.

- I know, I drew it. - Of course.

If it is possible in the laboratory,

it is possible on a large scale.

This is the principle of experimentation.

It's up to us to find the solutions.

Let's not give up before having started.

- It will be complicated. - Yes, but I like the challenge.

So it's possible.

Of course.

I did a lot of tests and there is only one solution,

it's the glued glass, with silicone glue.

There is no fixation, no visible join.

This is exactly what I want.

My builder told me that it is impossible.

- Who is it ? -Paul Andreu.

I like it but I feel that he takes refuge behind technique.

We know each other very well. Tell him to call me.

I would be delighted to invite you to Boston see the tower.

It's going to be complicated.

For what ?

Because Subilon wants to start the construction site as quickly as possible.

The Cube will be there for centuries,

but you have to start right away.

We have a Chinese saying.

- What does that mean? - If it's urgent, take your time.

That's very fair.

Otherwise, what do you think? of my Pyramid?

I think she will be great.

You wanted to meet me.

And on the phone, you told me about solutions.

They interest me more than the problems I already know.

You have a problem with the glass glued?

Indeed, yes.

News travels fast.

Today, it's glass.

Tomorrow it will be something else.

Elevators, security access.

Not to mention marble.

No, marble is too important. I identified varieties in Tuscany.

Never mind. If you keep your current team,

you will be trapped in a power struggle

which will always be against you,

whatever the subject.

And so?

What do you suggest?

With Subilon, you will achieve nothing.

Do I have a choice?

Of course.

You could argue a mood incompatibility.

And I'll take care of the rest.

I have financial proposals to make and support among elected officials.

I built all the towers of Defense.

I want to do it the largest business district in Europe.

Bigger than the City of London.

And your Cube will be its cornerstone.

His manifesto.

If you entrust me with your project,

I will help you build your Cube

exactly as you imagined.

Do you see who it is?

I imagine so.

Quite. This is what I want.

Exactly.

To create breathing,

an opening inside closed offices.

And why?

Because it will be too hot.

This is false.

Paris is not Kuala Lumpur.

You built too many airports in the countries of the South.

If your computers have taken all decisions for us,

my presence here is no longer required.

I take care of the marble.

If they do it again, the damage will be irreversible.

I want you to go back and witness attend and monitor meetings.

They are confusing us.

- Do you want to go to Italy now? - Yes, as long as we do.

- On ? - Yes.

I'm looking for a marble which turns pink at sunset.

So the one in Carrara is perfect.

The more nitrates a stone contains,

the more she reacts in warm colors.

Our Carrara marble is naturally rich in it.

The more nitrates there are in the stone,

the more she reacts to warm colors.

This is the case with Carrara marble.

I didn't know it was due to nitrates.

I would like to cover this facade.

As well as the one on the other side.

How high is it here?

From here to there, it's 111 meters.

Like the pyramid of Giza.

And I also want to cover the floors.

It's going to be 1000 m², right?

1000 m² for each side, it’s 2000 m².

- No more floors? - It'll be almost as much.

You would therefore need between 3 and 4 hectares of marble?

Yes, absolutely.

It's a lot, I know.

That's 5,000 tons of marble.

At least.

Could you extract them?

Of course. We do it often.

Our career is huge.

I'll show you.

The Pietà marble comes from exactly from the career

which we visited this morning.

Michelangelo himself stood in the same place where you were.

600 years ago, Michelangelo was here.

The marble of his Pietà

comes from Carrara.

Precisely from our career.

- From here? - Yes.

- You could have crossed paths. - Well...

wish the Cube the same posterity than that of the Pietà.

Look.

From here we can see very well

that the top of this mountain

in the shape of the Pietà.

You can recognize the shape of the Pietà.

Michelangelo was not such a great artist.

It was all right there,

he didn't invent anything.

To Michelangelo.

At the Cube.

Yours.

We received this. I think it's for you.

THANKS. It could wait until tomorrow.

It was my pleasure to bring it to you.

Are you going to work?

No, I'm going to sleep. I'll look at it tomorrow.

You want to have a last drink in honor of your marble?

It's very nice but I need rest.

- Good night. - Good night.

I'm sorry but I really need to sleep.

It's for you.

- In my opinion ? - The telephone.

This is the man who sent you the fax.

So.

Yes ?

You place the technique before the work. For me, it's the opposite.

Andreu is satisfied with your marble.

Subilon will agree to pay it. This is the most important.

You can let them deal with it.

No.

This marble is perfection, I don't want them to touch it.

You put too much affect into this marble.

- No. - Yes.

You are in love.

You are in love with your marble so you are overreacting.

I don't overreact.

And I'm not in love with my marble.

I'm in love with you.

- Subilon on the phone. - Not now.

He has called several times already this morning.

Think of it as a score...

Think of it as a musical score.

We hear the notes one by one and we discover them gradually.

The fresco will be a symphony of colors which is not understood at once

but by successive touches,

creating a perception, a progressive feeling.

I could call him “Symphony for a Cube”

or “Symphonic Arc”.

Look at.

It's fabulous.

-Otto. - Yes ?

You have to remember it.

We need focus.

- It seems urgent. - Tell him I'm working on his Cube.

And we need to let the ideas...

I can't be bothered like that.

I thought you abandoned me.

I wanted to see the President

and I was told he wasn't there.

Do you think this is also a trap?

Juppé forces us to sell.

But even if you sell all the spaces, we would be far from obtaining 3.5 billion.

And he knows it.

This is why Subilon is so desperate. He quickly made his calculations.

The Cube was not thought out to be profitable.

That was never the idea.

But he can become one.

We need to produce more offices.

Which offices? There were only the CICOM offices.

There is no more CICOM.

But if we add 15 floors,

the spaces created will be able to finance the operation.

We must not modify Cube geometry.

That would call into question all the urban harmony of the project.

The Cube is a cube, Andreu.

If you change it, it's no longer a cube.

You are disfiguring the project to make it your own.

- You are stealing my Cube. - No, I'm trying to save him...

This is false!

You want to damage it by all means.

A project is never set in stone, you know it.

It evolves and we must move forward with it.

Your double game is infamous. You are a thief.

Liv?

- We have to put them on trial. - What time is it?

- We must attack them. - Who ?

They want to disfigure the Cube. Andreu wanted to add 15 floors.

He is delirious.

It's 1 a.m. We...

We have a contract. Tomorrow we attack them.

- Who? - All.

Even Mitterrand walks us.

He no longer answers for anything.

It's as if I don't exist.

But we have a contract. The Cube is inalienable.

- You want to attack a state? - France is being sued.

- They will pay. - They already paid you.

They will compensate us if they do not keep their commitments.

Tomorrow, you take them to court.

We'll see.

No !

You do it tomorrow morning.

If we don't attack, They will eat us alive.

They are cannibals, savages...

I know but it's complicated to attack a state.

You have to sleep and we will find the best...

We attack Andreu and Subilon.

They must understand that their actions have consequences.

They think they're allowed anything and they despise me.

But now we are fighting back.

We have the law on our side. We have all the drawings.

All competition boards are public,

they cannot dispute them.

So the Cube, the little cubes,

and the clouds must be built.

It must be built as planned.

Otherwise it is an obstacle to my work,

an obstacle to my integrity, to my artistic integrity,

to me.

We talked about marble yesterday but never change it!

It's not white, it's gray!

Why didn't you say anything on marble?

What?

What happened?

You thought it would be better not to tell me anything?

What do you imagine?

What are you talking about?

They replaced the marble.

Stop acting stupid.

I didn't know about it.

How could I have known?

I told you to keep an eye on them.

I told you they're plotting behind my back.

You have to watch them but you let them do it.

- This is false. - It was your role!

You were the one who had to do this!

How I do what if I can't trust you anymore?

Don't yell at me, Otto.

I refuse that you talk to me like that.

You need to calm down.

How do I do it? what if I can't trust you?

- Of course you can trust me. - Apparently not.

Clearly not.

You can't say that.

This is unacceptable.

Have you filed a complaint?

No.

See?

You are no longer on my side.

If you're no longer on my side, there is no one left

and I'm completely alone.

- There is no one left. -Otto.

I find myself alone surrounded by imbeciles, of gangsters and thugs.

What's going on?

You see, I'm leaving.

Pardon.

I apologize, Liv.

Yes.

But that doesn't change anything the way you spoke to me.

It won't happen again.

Of course it won't happen again.

But it hurts me when people shout at me.

It breaks something in me. Do you understand?

Yes.

No, Liv, wait.

You ask for forgiveness and I hear you.

But I remain damaged.

Wait a bit, please.

A moment.

I can't live this way.

A project is a single idea.

But a strong idea.

Here, the arrangement of the beams changes depending on the floors.

In this way and that way

to open onto a very beautiful staircase

which runs through the building.

It's beautiful, it works well.

It's very good.

You didn't understand the program.

It's the wrong scale.

And you didn't respect the choice of materials.

You are ready to work in France.

I gave you a good rating despite everything

because I feel a great passion in the project.

That remains the most important.

I congratulate you on your projects

because they each have their own identity.

And that’s essential.

The next step,

it will be to integrate customer requests.

Sir, can I speak to you?

Yes.

You don't want you talk about Paris,

but we want to make a petition against the black bars.

What black bars?

Those who will be in place of your little cubes.

When I saw that they were black, I was very surprised.

Don't think about it.

I signed a document which acts the end of my collaboration.

This is no longer my project.

But they betray your idea.

These bars will be very close of your Cube.

It's not my Cube anymore.

I put that behind me.

His grave should be east of the cemetery.

Where is it?

I think it's over there.

We are coming but we found nothing.

It is perhaps in the square of the indigent?

THANKS.

Who was it?

A great architect.