Original subtitles

(AeropIane approaching)

(AeropIane approaching)

(Radio) Following their successful invasion of the Soviet Union

there's an increased deployment of German troops to the Eastern front.

The so-called Resistance groups received another blow yesterday.

Three terrorists were shot dead...

(Woman) Good morning, Monsieur ChaveI.

- Good morning. - Morning.

(Woman on PA) The train from Paris is arriving at 08:35.

We apologise for the delay.

(Man on PA) The train will be leaving from platform seven.

- Good morning. - Good morning, Monsieur ChaveI.

- Good morning. - Good morning.

- Thank you. Good morning. - Good morning.

The new German financiaI reguIations, monsieur.

JuIes. Check, pIease.

Right away, Monsieur ChaveI.

(YeIIing)

(Screaming)

(SoIdiers yeIIing)

- We need one more. - We need one more!

(Grunts)

Why me? I'm a Iawyer.

Let me go! Who's in charge?

Let me go! It's a mistake. I'm an ordinary man.

(SoIdier) Come on. (2nd soIdier) And you.

(Siren waiIing)

(SoIdier) Forwards! Move it! Come on!

Come on! Out!

Do as you're toId, come on.

Where are we?

This is ridicuIous. There's been some mistake. Who's in charge?

Come on, you! Forwards when I teII you!

There's been some mistake. I'm a Iawyer.

I want to see someone in charge. I demand to speak to that officer.

Ah!

QuickIy, quickIy.

(SoIdier) In you go.

And you.

Hey, Breton, what time is it?

- 8:50. - 40.

It's 8:40. It's pretty, your antique,

but it doesn't keep good time any more. It's 8:40.

You shouId know that a piece of rubbish from a market staII is bound to sIow down.

It's not made to Iast.

8:50.

Ran into some troubIe?

(Gasping) Yes.

Who... Who's in charge? I need to taIk to someone.

- Save your breath. - I've done nothing.

- There's no reason for me to be here. - No reason for any of us.

What's the matter? Don't teII me you don't know what's going on.

Every now and then they run out and grab a few peopIe off the street.

Then they keep us in coId storage... tiII needed.

Very simpIe. Any resistance, sabotage, troubIe...

the Germans shoot a few hostages to restore Iaw and order.

Then they round up a few more.

They think it works quite weII.

- (Laughs) There must be some way. - Let's see. Do you know anyone usefuI?

- Hauptführer? - No.

Even a coIoneI couId heIp.

Nothing going on?

So far.

(BeII toIIing)

This is where they do it.

They march down the yard, and round the back.

And then you hear the shots.

You and I must be the onIy professionaI men in here.

Lorry driver, shop assistant, tobacconist...Iabourers.

MicheI Mangeot caIIs himseIf a cIerk

but was unempIoyed when they picked him up.

I myseIf was mayor of Bouges

but I don't think the three-coIoured sash wouId Iook its best with this.

There must be something we can do, even here.

The Iaw exists to protect the innocent.

My son wouIdn't agree with you.

He beIieves money pressed into the right paIm aIways does the trick.

Everyone back inside!

Time for sIops.

(Guard) HaIt!

If onIy I couId Iet someone know, make contact.

My son probabIy thinks I'm dead. He'II have soId the famiIy siIver.

(Guard) Move on.

HaIt.

The IocaI shooting gaIIery.

You ever kiII a man?

No. No, I've never kiIIed anyone.

I've never faced a man with a gun either.

(Guard) Move on!

(BeII chiming in distance)

(Man) OK. Are you ready for this?

Your socks. Raise you two buttons and a shoeIace.

(2nd man) I'm in for two cigarettes.

Two cigarettes... and I'II raise you my waistcoat.

- I see that. - FuII house. Threes and nines.

I'm finished. I'm hanging on to my trousers.

Me too.

Four tens. I win.

It seems caIm.

GeneraIIy is.

EarIy on.

- Were you here when they shot the others? - Yes.

They do it in the morning. Seven o'cIock.

- You saw the pIace? - Oh, yes.

Wooden posts and a...a stone waII.

It's not much of a waII now.

BuIIet hoIes aII over it. TerribIe.

AII chipped.

They must be Iousy shots.

Good enough, though.

(Train whistIe)

I've never reaIIy been out of Paris.

FontainebIeau. I went there one summer.

For the day. With my mother and my sister.

It was nice.

I'd Iike to have traveIIed a bit.

- I suppose you've been aII over. - Mm? No, not reaIIy.

Just in the army, but I didn't get further than the barracks at MarseiIIe.

They wouIdn't take me.

I don't want to go anywhere again. Just to St Jean de Brinac, my home.

It's about...

It's just...about an hour outside Paris.

Nice pIace, is it? I bet you've got a reaI mansion.

Mm. Funny oId pIace, reaIIy.

The staircase. I couId do you a drawing with this pen if you Iike.

Don't. It's your house, not mine.

My father owned it, Iike his father before him.

I may retire there one day.

What was your father's job?

He was a Iawyer, Iike his father before him.

I suppose it's aII right. Seems a bit dusty to me.

Oh... (Sighs)

You can reIy on the Iaw.

It's not Iike famiIy or friends. The Iaw never Iets you down.

UnIess you're on the wrong side of it.

(ExpIosion, machine-gun fire)

I thought you said it was too earIy for troubIe.

- (Siren waiIing) - (Officer, outside) Come with me!

Come with me! Move!

What time is it?

HaIf past six.

- I thought it was Iater. - It is. It's twenty to seven.

Your piece of junk is fast.

Look out!

I have an announcement.

Outrages were committed in the city Iast night.

The second-in-command to the miIitary governor was murdered.

AIso, a girI on a bicycIe.

We do not compIain about the girI.

Frenchmen have our permission to kiII Frenchwomen

if they wish to.

Do not bIame us for the consequences.

BIame your own so-caIIed Resistance.

My orders are...

that in this prison,

one man in every ten...

is to be shot.

You are 30. Your contribution then is...three.

We are quite indifferent as to which three.

This time...

choose for yourseIves.

The execution wiII take pIace at seven tomorrow morning.

WeII, what do we do?

VoIunteer?

We couId draw Iots. UnIess it's feIt we shouId go by age, oIdest first.

That wouIdn't be right.

We've Iived our Iife. It's the way of nature.

Not aIways.

We'II draw Iots. SureIy that's the fairest way.

How do we do it? FIip a coin?

We can't get an even chance with a coin.

The onIy way's a draw.

You can use this Ietter.

The backs are bIank.

But why three Iives for one? It's not fair.

I don't go aIong with it!

We...we must demand to see a superior officer.

That's no good. You can see the marked ones.

We need a shoe to put them in.

Krogh's got the biggest feet.

- Who's going first? - AIphabeticaI order.

- Going backwards. - You wouId say that.

For God's sake, do we have to squabbIe over this?

OK... Nobody here before V?

Nobody?

OK. Here goes.

That's it.

Tough Iuck on Voisin, but it's improved the odds.

AII right, who's next?

U, T, S...?

The heII with this! We've aII got to take a sIip. Let's get on with it.

Two.

- Ha! - Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

Eight... Nine...

Who's the tenth man?

Mangeot, you next.

Ten.

EIeven.

TweIve. Thirteen...

Fourteen.

Fifteen...

Sixteen. Seventeen...

Eighteen. Nineteen...

Twenty.

Twenty-one.

Twenty-two...

- May I join you? - Twenty-three...

Twenty-four...

Twenty-five, twenty-six...

Twenty-seven...

- You Iooked! - I did not Iook!

He didn't.

(Gasps)

Come and sit with us, Monsieur ChaveI.

I didn't agree to this draw.

Come and sit down. You can't do anything about it.

But why...?

- I'm an innocent man. - Look at it this way.

If it's not now, it's another time.

None of us Iive forever.

You can't make me do this!

It's not up to us, is it?

You can't make me do this!

I'II give 100,000 francs to anyone...

who'II take this.

100,000 francs.

PIease.

100,000. PIease, 100,000 francs!

I'II give 100,000 francs. PIease!

No one's going to give his Iife for money he'II never enjoy. It's obvious.

I'II give you everything I've got. Everything.

My Iand, my house, everything. PIease.

- Nobody wants to die. - Rich or poor. So just shut up!

TeII me more.

Maybe I'II take your offer.

100,000 francs,

my Iand, my house, everything I've got.

- How rich are you? - Don't Iaugh at him.

I'm not Iaughing, I'm doing a deaI.

You'II take my pIace?

- I'II take your pIace. - What use is his money when you're dead?

I have a mother and a sister. I can make a wiII.

I don't Iike this. We can't buy our Iives. Why shouId he?

If you've got money, you can do what you Iike.

Buy another man's Iife? Why not?

- It's not fair. - Why isn't it fair to Iet me do what I want?

I'm going to die a rich man.

Anyone who thinks it isn't fair can rot in heII.

Come here. Sit down.

How much money is there?

300,000 francs, approximateIy.

ApproximateIy?

- WeII. And the pIace? - The orchards, the farmIand, the house...

- What about Paris? - The office is rented.

- Any famiIy? - No, none.

Right. You're a Iawyer.

You better draw everything up properIy.

Make me out a - what's it caIIed?

- Deed of gift. - Right. Make it out to me. MicheI Mangeot.

MicheI...Mangeot.

''I, Jean-Louis ChaveI...

''of St Jean de Brinac...

''give aII stocks and shares, aII money to account

''and aII furniture...

''and contents of St Jean de Brinac

''and the freehoId of said property...''

I need, er, two witnesses.

No, not you. I want Iiving men as witnesses.

Perhaps you couId. There's my pen.

- It's a very odd document. - Give it here. I'II sign.

Better have somebody respectabIe if this is to be taken seriousIy.

Right.

Now my wiII.

To my mother and sister equaIIy.

I want something to show the neighbours what sort of man I was.

You keep the documents. They'II Iet you send them off when they've finished.

(Coughs)

I'm a rich man.

AIways knew I'd be rich one day.

(Mangeot) ChaveI...

TeII me about my house.

It's about a miIe outside the viIIage.

How many rooms?

There is the drawing room, the dining room,

six bedrooms, my study...a kitchen...

- TeII me about the kitchen. - The housekeeper didn't compIain.

Where's she?

I don't know. Maybe she Ieft, shut everything up.

Garden?

Oh, yes, there's a fountain and some roses.

- Can I grow vegetabIes? - Oh, yes.

Some fruit...

appIes and pIums, and there's...

there's a beautifuI waInut tree.

WaInut tree.

Yes.

How oId's the house?

It was buiIt in 1780.

Pity.

My mother has troubIe with her Iungs.

I'd have Iiked something modern.

(ChuckIes)

(Guard) Lights out!

Mangeot...

it's no good. I must have been out of my mind. We'II caII it off.

Look, I don't want this any more.

Waiting in Iine for the bucket Iatrine,

eating sIops, coughing my guts up day after day.

Then, if I'm Iucky, back on the streets.

I'm going out in styIe. Your styIe.

Mangeot, Iisten to me.

I won't Iet you do it.

I don't want to die, God knows, I don't want to die.

But I can't. You've got a famiIy.

Yes.

And in my famiIy, when we say we're going to do something, we do it.

It's too Iate. We did a deaI.

What time is it?

- Six minutes to seven. - Four minutes past.

(Door opens)

Come on!

(BeII toIIing)

(Door sIams)

(Officer) Ready?

Aim!

Fire!

(Cheering)

What do you want?

You won't find anyone there. They cIosed down years ago.

It's a nice ring. Thank you.

Thank you.

(BeII rings)

(Horse neighs)

Why does every passing tramp have to ring this beII?

- Sorry. - It's aII right.

- You need food? - I don't want much.

I haven't much in the house. Where are you from?

I was in Paris, but there's no work, so I thought I'd head south.

- Don't bring in dirt. I've scrubbed that step. - I'II take my shoes off.

There's some food in the kitchen.

(Laughs nervousIy)

Which...which way do I go?

Where's...?

Where's what?

Your mother. Er...

Where's your mother?

- How do you know about my mother? - Your brother toId me.

- You knew MicheI? - Yes.

When? Were you with him in prison?

Yes.

Terese!

- Mother doesn't know. - About his death?

The other business. She thinks he made a fortune.

- What's your name? - Jean Perrette.

Did you know the other one?

Oh, yes, I knew him.

- Who is this? - Somebody who knew MicheI.

- You knew MicheI? - Yes.

He said I shouId Iook you up if...

WeII, we aII said that kind of thing.

He was a wonderfuI boy.

He bought aII this for his oId mother.

SiIIy boy.

I was OK where I was.

We had three nice IittIe rooms in CIichy. Cosy.

Here, we're cut off from the worId.

It's too much for an oId woman.

I thought he'd Ieft enough so you'd be comfortabIe.

There's things money can't buy.

He's hungry.

WeII, give him some food.

If he wants food, he shouId ask. You'd think he was a beggar.

I'm not begging.

I can pay for food. I have a few francs.

ShouIdn't be so free with your money.

It won't get you anywhere.

Look at those socks!

There's some bread and cheese.

- TeII me about him. - MicheI? Everybody Iiked him.

I didn't mean MicheI.

I mean the other one, ChaveI.

I Iooked at that name on the documents.

Jean-Louis ChaveI.

I've got a feeIing he'II be back.

He won't be abIe to resist seeing what's happened to his beautifuI house.

We're aIways getting strangers at the door,

hungry, Iooking for a meaI.

But every time that beII starts to jangIe I think to myseIf,

''Maybe this time that's him.''

- And if it was? - I'd spit in his face.

That's the first thing I'd do.

And then I'd kiII him.

If it wasn't for her, I'd set Iight to the pIace.

What a fooI MicheI was. Did he reaIIy think I'd rather have this than him?

HaIf of me's dead.

The night they shot him, I feIt the pain.

I sat up in bed and I feIt this pain.

It wasn't at night, it was in the morning.

- Not in the night? - No.

What did it mean, that pain I feIt that night?

Nothing. It's often the way.

We think there's a meaning, then we find the facts are wrong.

You wake up with a pain and you think that...

but things don't fit.

TeII me what ChaveI Iooks Iike.

He was just an ordinary man, Iike the rest of us.

- Ordinary? - Yes...

We are taught to forgive our enemies.

I can't forgive him.

And one day, I know I'II see his face.

- I think I shouId be going. - Where are you going?

What did you do before?

I was in the civiI service. Nothing speciaI.

Ministry of education.

- Don't you have any famiIy? - No.

We couId do with some heIp. This pIace takes a Iot of cIeaning.

- And there's the garden. - I don't...

Beneath you, is it?

No.

There wouIdn't be any probIem with wages. We're rich.

Yes, I think I couId stay for a whiIe.

I'II get you some socks. He won't miss them.

There's pIenty to do, as you can see, but the main thing I'II be paying you for

is to keep an eye out for him.

I don't know what he Iooks Iike.

You do.

You can sIeep in here.

This is the maid's room.

I suppose so.

Not much of a room, is it?

You shouId see his. I can't bear to go in there.

- It's onIy a room. - It's fuII of him.

The smeII of his coIogne, the poIish of his fine shoes.

There's a bowI of potpourri on the chest. I wonder who put that there.

His mother...probabIy.

What are you doing?

I nearIy feII over it. I thought I'd cIean it up.

It's a dust trap, aII that fancy carving.

StiII, it's a nice frame.

Maybe you'd Iike to hang it somewhere.

- WouId you Iike that? - Why not?

Erm...

Here.

Is this where it went?

Very good. Yes, that's where it went.

I'm going to market tomorrow. Anything you want?

A razor?

Shave that beard off, see what you Iook Iike.

No, I Iike my beard.

You ought to hire a cart from the viIIage.

It's a Iong waIk, carrying aII that.

I can't ask them in the viIIage.

That's his territory.

- He never had much to do with them. - How do you know?

I heard him teIIing your brother.

He said the peopIe here never feIt at ease with him.

I'm not surprised.

Or maybe he said he never had much to do with them.

You see, as he grew up, he grew away from them.

Or so he said.

They seem to have taIked a good deaI.

Yes.

I think MicheI feIt he was Iiving his whoIe Iife that night.

''TeII me about my house,'' he said, ''my garden.''

- Why are you bothering with the bushes? - They're raspberries and redcurrants.

They're aImost ripe. It's crazy buying aII that stuff from the market.

If we cIear this garden, we couId...

you couId grow aII you need.

Making yourseIf at home, aren't you?

Sitting here.

Stuck in the kitchen.

What's the point of being rich? We shouId have reaI servants.

Not tramps who come in off the road.

Does it need saIt?

No, it's fine.

Stuck!

- Can't even get to Mass. - Why?

It's too far.

Even cIimbing the stairs is Iike cIimbing a mountain for me some days.

Once...

on the 14th of JuIy...

I was dancing in the streets.

I danced aII night.

Eight o'cIock, we opened up the shop and I worked in it aII day

and I didn't even feeI tired.

Your father used to say that I was Iike a butterfIy.

ButterfIy.

We couId heIp you.

You couId Iean on us.

We'II see.

(BeII toIIing)

Don't you want to go in?

I've got nothing to say to God any more.

Mother wanted to know why I didn't go to church any more.

ToId her I'd Iost my faith.

But it's the hate that keeps me away.

I can't drop my hate at the church door and pick it up an hour Iater on the way out.

It goes on and on.

AII day and aII night.

It's aII there is.

CouIdn't you try going out once in a whiIe?

See something new.

PeopIe Iike us don't do that sort of thing.

We did go to FontainebIeau once, with MicheI.

That was a IoveIy day.

Mother Iikes to pretend but we were as poor as heII.

ChaveI made a good Iiving.

He must be a hard, caIcuIating sort of person.

Why do you say that?

You don't become a rich Iawyer by accident.

You know he inherited that Iaw practice?

AII he ever wanted to do was hurry back to his house and garden.

Just Iike a faiIure,

afraid of...being found out.

You sound as though you hate him too.

Hm?

No.

No, I despise him, just for what he did.

Hey, Iet's go here. This way.

His parents.

Both died the same year.

Where did you get those?

They make you Iook Iike an oId man.

I found them in the market.

I won't be fobbed off with rotten food now. I can see what I'm doing.

It was a bit thin in the market this morning.

Thought we couId get a rabbit or something.

Here's your change.

And the Iist. You'd better check it.

- I trust you. - Your mother doesn't. Here.

That's strange. Your writing Iooks famiIiar.

It's very ordinary writing. Quite characterIess.

Strange.

It's Iike that feeIing you get when you think you've been somewhere before.

Oh, weII.

CouId you put the change in the drawer?

I'm sorry, I...

I couIdn't sIeep so I came down to get myseIf some water.

I thought I heard a noise, a bird faIIing down the chimney.

- Maybe it was a rat. - No rat's been here for three years.

Why don't you cIear aII this stuff out?

I couIdn't bear to touch it.

But have anything you Iike if it fits you.

SiIIy to Ieave it rotting here.

Poor thing.

Imagine being the mother of a monster Iike that.

You know, there was a point that night

when he tried to caII it off. He didn't want to go through with it.

- But your brother refused. - Once.

- He reaIIy tried. - He acted the coward, I agree.

But anyone can pIay the coward once.

Many of us do, in fact, and you forget about it afterwards.

It's just that in his case, it was so...spectacuIar.

You mean he was unIucky.

Everyone's tested at some point. It can happen any time.

And then you discover what you've been aII your Iife, what you are.

Do you know what you are, reaIIy?

No.

But I wiII one day.

And I know what he is. He's a murderer.

AII I want is him in front of me, and me with a gun.

I suppose afterwards you'II go to confession and you'II feeI happy again.

No.

But perhaps I wouIdn't feeI so tired. And oId.

And afraid of peopIe. I couId start Iiving.

Can I get you some water?

There's no need for that.

I can't sIeep anyway.

Are you tired?

- Want a Iift? - No, thank you.

You're MademoiseIIe Mangeot, aren't you?

My name is Roche.

This is Monsieur Perrette.

- I've seen you in the market. - He's heIping us.

You want to be carefuI. There's a Iot of strangers, funny peopIe.

He's a friend.

You haven't got much to say. Maybe I shouId Iook at your papers.

You sound Iike a poIiceman.

It's my business to keep an eye on things, from Resistance days.

- The war's over. - Don't you beIieve it. It's just beginning.

CoIIaborators creeping out from their IittIe nests.

He was Iocked up by the Germans and knew my brother.

- And you knew ChaveI? - Yes.

- You two must have been friends. - When we were kids.

Later, weII, he was from the big house. My famiIy are just farmers.

- What was he Iike? - Kept himseIf to himseIf.

Afraid of the girIs, scared of taking risks.

Why don't they Iike us in the viIIage?

It's just that they didn't beIieve your story.

They couIdn't beIieve a man wouId die for money.

They thought the Germans must be mixed up in it.

He did it for you, of course.

You won't have any more troubIe. I'II have a word.

We're having a ceIebration on Sunday.

Start of the hunting season. There'II be dancing. Come aIong.

Maybe.

Go on.

- WouId you Iike an apéritif? - Oh, no.

Didn't do that in Paris. CouIdn't afford to.

A gIass of wine. I can afford it. I'm paid a fair wage now.

Oh!

Thank you.

It's reaIIy strange, sitting here Iike a Iady of Ieisure.

Do you ever think about the future, what you'II do?

I mean, er... You'II want to get married one day.

There's not much to choose from round here.

There's Roche, the great Resistance hero.

- And then there's you, of course. - Ah, yes.

No. You'II be off, back to your own sort.

Find a job and a girI who works in the civiI service.

- Knows about things. - I'd Iike to stay here.

Maybe we shouId go to that dance Roche mentioned.

I'm not too keen on those things. You go.

I wouIdn't go on my own.

But it wouId have been nice.

(.' Accordion pIaying)

(Terese singing, ChaveI whistIing)

She's gone to bed.

They seemed friendIy.

Maybe they don't hate us.

Of course they don't hate you.

WeII, good night.

You don't have to use the back stairs.

You're not a servant.

- Terese? Is that you? - Yes.

- Good night. - Good night.

I think we shouId eat in the dining room tonight.

There's no need to behave Iike Gypsies. It's our house.

- (Wheezing) It'II need cIeaning out. - I'II do it.

(Mother coughing)

Ah, yes.

I'II get some water.

Look.

His whoIe Iife's in here.

Him in his cradIe.

The christening.

That oId priest's stiII in the viIIage.

And here...is Jean-Louis at his first communion.

That priest again.

He caIIed on us, Iet us know ChaveI used to have him for dinner at Christmas.

Mother Iet him know there wouIdn't be any more grand dinners.

What a bunch.

Mean. Hard eyes.

No wonder he turned out the way he did.

Can you imagine them doing something human, Iike dancing or kissing?

Can you imagine them in Iove?

- How wouId they show Iove? - I suppose they...

expressed it just Iike you...

and me.

(DoorbeII jangIes)

I suppose that's your admirer Roche, come to pay his respects.

Open up, or Mother wiII start yeIIing.

Yes.

(Thunder roIIing)

- Who is it? - Jean-Louis ChaveI.

- Who? - ChaveI. Open the door. It's wet out here.

Who is it?

ChaveI.

- I'm sorry, can't you hear me? - He says it's Jean-Louis ChaveI.

(Impostor) PIease.

Let him in.

Eh?

I apoIogise for breaking in on you Iike this.

- What do you want? - SheIter. Something to eat.

You're ChaveI? Jean-Louis ChaveI?

Yes, I'm ChaveI.

I knew you'd come one day.

I hope you'II aIIow me to...

Oh!

Erm...

I think you'd better go.

I can't. They're Iooking for me.

Young men with guns who caII themseIves the Resistance.

- Why? - This is a great time for settIing scores.

Anyone who has an enemy can find himseIf IabeIIed a coIIaborator.

But you have the perfect answer. You were in a German prison,

condemned to death.

They're saying that I was put there as an informer.

It was wrong of me to come here

but a hunted animaI heads for the pIace it knows as home.

I'm sorry. I'II Ieave.

Yes.

You'd better go.

I had another reason for coming. I had a message for MademoiseIIe Mangeot.

From her brother.

Message?

I'm sorry, monsieur, you are...?

You shouId know. You were in the same prison.

I'm Jean Perrette.

Of course.

I thought I recognised your face.

Is this ChaveI?

Oh, yes.

Yes.

It's ChaveI.

I shouIdn't have come back. I'm...

PIease forgive this intrusion.

Forgive.

You have a message from my brother?

He wanted you to know that he Ioved you.

He thought this was the best thing he couId do for you.

I'm sorry, mademoiseIIe, I shouId have reaIised.

I shouId have known that this door wouId no Ionger be open to me.

You don't have to go.

I wouIdn't turn a dog out in this rain. You can stay.

- It's not Iong tiII morning. - You're very kind.

You need dry cIothes.

You'II find everything in your room, as you Ieft it.

I wouIdn't presume! It's not my room any more.

PIease.

Who's there?

What's aII this noise?

My mother's not weII. I won't teII her who you are, she couIdn't take the shock.

Who's this?

Someone who knew MicheI.

Another one wanting a free meaI. And a hand-out.

I wonder that my son managed to hoId on to any of his money at aII.

I said he couId stay tonight.

What's your name?

Er, Toupard, Madame. PhiIippe Toupard.

- You knew my son? - Yes, he taIked about you a Iot.

You must be very proud of him.

I'm starving.

Can you come with me, monsieur?

We have a Iot to taIk about.

(Thunder roIIs)

Who are you? What are you doing?

Look, I don't know what's going on here. AII I want is...a night's sheIter.

No troubIe.

I was on my way to SwitzerIand.

I got myseIf into something, er, rather messy, invoIving the poIice.

I thought it wise to Iie Iow for a coupIe of days.

May I see your watch a moment?

A man in prison had a watch Iike this. His name was...

- Breton. - You're the son he taIked about.

I had to puII quite a few strings, use friends in high pIaces to get him out.

You think he'd be gratefuI. When he found out...

he threatened to kick me out of the house.

CaIIed me a coIIaborator.

(Laughs) Then he had a heart attack.

- What brought you here? - WeII, I remembered the story.

He'd toId us about a man in prison with him,

who bought his Iife. You know, you were there.

I thought it was worth a try.

(Terese) Jean?! Can you heIp me?

Mother's not weII.

She's having her soup in her room.

Monsieur ChaveI.

Oh, no, I wouIdn't dream of it.

(Terese) You found everything? (Impostor) In perfect order.

Fresh, dry cIothes. I am deepIy gratefuI.

You're from Paris, yourseIf, MademoiseIIe Mangeot,

isn't that right?

My parents are from Normandy but we were born in Paris...

my brother and I.

I've forgotten the bread.

You think you can get away with this?

I reckoned ChaveI wouIdn't have the nerve to come home.

I...decided to do it for him.

(Laughs) Everyone in the viIIage wiII know you're not ChaveI.

I had to risk it, just for the night.

I must say, I Iike the man's styIe.

Mm. It's the best soup I've ever tasted.

AII right, what's going on?

What's your game and why are you going aIong with my story?

To heIp her.

She had it in her head ChaveI wouId show up one day.

He became an obsession with her. I thought this wouId cure it.

She couId, er, start Iiving.

Hm.

WeII, I think I was a bit hasty, saying I'd Ieave in the morning.

- I caught a Iook in her eye. - You're forgetting she hates ChaveI.

But I'm not ChaveI.

Not the reaI ChaveI. I'm the ChaveI she's invented for herseIf, not the duII reaIity.

- She spat in your face. - I saw a pIay in Paris once,

by Shakespeare, where the same thing happened.

A king murdered some woman's husband and he was practicaIIy Iifting her skirt.

The actor wiped his face with his sIeeve.

I remember the way he did it.

- Worked rather weII. - You shouId've been an actor.

When you're Iiving off your wits, you Iearn to be different things to different peopIe.

Perhaps I couId Iearn to be Jean-Louis ChaveI.

You won't get the chance.

You'II be gone by sunrise. I'II make you.

- AII this must be rather a bIow to you. - What do you mean?

Anyone with haIf an eye can see you're in Iove with her.

- You must be mad. - No, it's perfectIy reasonabIe.

I mean, here you are, a man who's been Iocked up in prison for three years.

You suddenIy find yourseIf with a young girI.

Pretty enough, but...

not quite your cIass.

It must be Iike being shipwrecked on a desert isIand.

You shouId have got in there, made a pIay for her tonight.

Didn't you sense the emotion that was in the air?

Thanks to me.

God, I'm tired, so tired.

WiII you turn out the Iight, pIease?

(Door opens)

Mother had an attack in the night. She's very bad.

- Why didn't you caII me? - It wouIdn't have heIped.

She wants the priest.

I said everyone was tested sooner or Iater, everyone.

And then you know what you are.

I am a coward, just Iike him.

We're one of a kind.

When it came to it, I didn't pass the test either.

- Why are you tormenting yourseIf? - I shouId have shot him. I said I wouId.

You can't give a man sheIter, waIk away, find a gun...

- then shoot him in coId bIood. - Why not?

He did to MicheI as good as.

(Sighs)

Er, you needn't think about ChaveI any Ionger. He's gone.

- When? - EarIier this morning.

I wouId have expected...

You toId him to go.

MicheI's reaIIy dead now.

Terese.

You've been so kind to me.

To us.

So understanding. I couIdn't have managed on my own.

CouId you fetch the priest?

Yes, of course.

I wonder where ChaveI wiII go?

SwitzerIand, probabIy.

When I went into Mother, she was frightened. She wanted me to pray for her.

I kneIt there, mumbIing aII that stuff about forgiveness of sins.

I feIt terribIe.

You didn't seem so anxious to forgive him before you saw him.

It's not so easy to hate a face you know as a face you imagine.

I'II fetch the priest.

I'II take the short cut over the fieId.

Yes? Who is it? What is it?

Sorry to troubIe you, Father. It's Madame Mangeot.

Oh, yes. I was expecting something of the kind.

- It's heart troubIe, I suppose? - Yes, her daughter asked me...

Is it raining outside?

- No, it's not. - Good. That's good. That's good.

Can I take that, Father?

She's breathing a IittIe easier now.

Thank you, Father.

Send for me if you need me.

I'II go to the market. I'II be back as quick as I can.

(DoorbeII jangIes)

I'm sorry to break in on you again.

I got as far as the viIIage and I heard about your mother. I'm so very sorry.

- I hope it wasn't me. - She knows nothing of you.

Oh, good. I wouIdn't want to add to her troubIes.

We taIked about her, that night.

The night your brother died.

The night?

- He died in the night? - Yes, of course. In the night.

- But Jean said he died in the morning. - I'm afraid he was Iying.

Why wouId he Iie about that?

Why? To make me Iook worse than I am, I suppose.

I mean, it is worse to Iet a man die after a whoIe night to think about it.

Yes.

He said you tried once to caII it off.

Yes. I didn't have another chance.

- They took him away. - I knew it was in the night.

I woke suddenIy with a pain.

- Why did he say that...? - You don't know this man.

He's a Iiar, and a cheat.

But you bought your Iife.

There are so many things you don't understand.

- Your brother was a sick man. - I know.

He Ioved you very much.

He worried about what wouId happen to you, the money, Germans...

We taIked about that. He showed me your photograph.

He didn't have a photograph of me.

But he... Oh, I know, it was a picture torn out of a newspaper.

Er, a street scene.

A beautifuI girI, haIf-hidden in the crowd. I suppose it reminded him of you.

PeopIe do funny things in prison.

Then he asked me what I wouId give for his bIank sIip.

What?

- He asked you? - I know I'm a coward. I took his offer.

If I'd been guiIty of worse than that, do you think I wouId have dared to come back?

I don't expect you to beIieve me.

Why shouId you? Goodbye and God bIess.

There is just one thing that I think you shouId know.

- Thought you'd Ieft. - I decided to stay.

I had a Iong taIk with the girI. Gave her my version of what happened that night.

(Laughs) It's terribIy unfair.

But that's Iife, isn't it? She's very angry.

She wants you to cIear out.

- She's Ietting you stay? - She hadn't any choice.

I toId her about the decree of the 17th of August. She hadn't heard about it.

You haven't either, have you?

It makes iIIegaI aII changes of property under the German occupation

if one party disputes the deaI.

It's true. I'm not making it up.

So as far as she's concerned, the pIace is mine.

(Laughs)

You can't make use of it. You're on the run, a coIIaborator, wanted for murder.

Ah, yes, you saw the posters.

I'II just have to Iie Iow untiI it's safe to push on to SwitzerIand.

Things wiII quieten down. Even a day's sheIter is a heIp in my situation. Or a week.

Anyway, it's time you Ieft.

- You think I'II say nothing? - I wouId advise you not to.

I wouIdn't want the girI hurt

and as you so very rightIy say, I'm aIready wanted for murder,

so I've nothing to Iose.

Do you think ChaveI wiII show up? Is he the type?

ProbabIy he's on his way here now.

WeII, if the worst comes to the worst, I've got the gun, haven't I?

Yes, I've got the gun. So don't get any...cIever ideas.

I'd use it on the girI first. You won't forget that, wiII you?

She's very upset about aII the Iies you toId her.

- What Iies? - That her brother died in the morning.

Where is she?

With her mother. No need to disturb her.

Just pick up your bits and pieces and cIear out, quietIy.

Terese, I've got to taIk to you.

No more Iies. I know the truth about MicheI's death.

- I toId you the truth about that. - Did you?

- He died in the night. I feIt the pain. - (Mother) Terese...

Listen, it didn't happen that way.

- Mother needs the priest. - I'm sorry. I'II get him.

Pater noster, qui es in caeIis,

sanctificetur nomen tuum, adveniat regnum tuum

fiat voIuntas tua, sicut in caeIo et in terra...

Yes, it was an easy death. No struggIe.

Of course, you know that you'II have to move out of the house.

Or she'II have to have someone come in from the viIIage

- as a companion. - That's for her to decide.

Yes, I know, but she's very young.

SimpIe sort of person.

She's seen Iife in Paris. She's not just a country girI.

One pIace is a Iot Iike another.

It's aII a question of observation and a IittIe wisdom.

I've spent 50 years in this backwater of a pIace.

And I haven't missed very much, I can teII you.

Of Iife, I mean.

You seem to be a man of some education.

Erm, are you teIIing me that this is none of my business?

- What are you saying? - I'm taIking about human nature.

I mean, you can't sit day after day as I do,

Iistening to peopIe, men and women, teIIing about themseIves

without getting to know something about human nature.

And she's in a state now where she might do something fooIish.

- She's mourning for her mother. - These emotions have things in common.

PeopIe taIk about the sorrow there is in Iust.

But you forget that sometimes there's a IittIe Iust in sorrow too.

You wouIdn't want to take advantage of that, wouId you, my son?

PIease trust me, Father.

I onIy want what's good for her.

That's good.

Very good.

(Dog barking, chickens crowing)

(Terese) Why can't you aII Ieave me aIone?

(Impostor) You are aIone. So aIone.

But you need never be aIone again.

You've hated me for so Iong but it's aII over now.

You don't have to worry about anything...

ever again.

- I'm so tired. - You can rest now, Terese.

I thought I couId trust Jean.

But he Iied to me about MicheI.

(Impostor) You can trust me.

Because I've toId you the worst.

Everything there is to know.

I suppose so.

Terese...

- I didn't know you were there. - Did you see the oId man home?

I think it's time I toId you who I am.

I am Jean-Louis ChaveI.

You're mad.

The man who caIIs himseIf ChaveI is a coIIaborator,

wanted by the poIice for murder.

(Laughs nervousIy) He's crazy!

I don't understand. I don't know any more who's Iying.

He's Iying. Why did you say you recognised me?

Because I was afraid to teII you who I was.

Terese, I knew you hated ChaveI.

When this man came, I saw my chance to Iose myseIf forever.

He couId have aII of your hatred instead.

It's more Iies. Why don't you just cIear out? Go!

What the heII are you doing?

When I was a boy, I used to pIay a game with a friend across the fieIds.

I used to take a torch Iike this or, if it was a sunny day, a mirror,

and I wouId fIash a message.

One message was a sort of joke. ''The Indians are attacking!''

It meant, ''Come at once!''

He's just trying to fooI us.

He stiII Iives across the fieId, my oId friend, Roche. The Resistance man.

It's about now he goes out to his cows so he'II see this Iight fIashing on and off.

The oId code, ''Come at once.''

So he'II know ChaveI is back. No one eIse wouId send this message.

- You're bIuffing. - Roche saw you on the road, at the dance.

He didn't Iook very cIoseIy. He saw a shabby stranger.

This message wiII teII him I'm back.

Drop that torch.

TeII him to drop the torch or I'II fire.

Drop the torch!

(Dog barking in distance)

(CIick)

- Are you hurt? - I'm aII right.

And you reaIIy are ChaveI?

Yes.

But that was another Iie, about the message.

You never fIashed the same way twice.

It's the Iast Iie, Terese.

I promise you.

I had to get him to shoot.

He won't come back now.

- But he'II get away. - No.

Roche and the others wiII pick him up.

You're safe now. (Gasps)

You are hurt.

Terese...

Terese, Iisten to me.

There's an enveIope in my room on my tabIe.

- Get it. You may need it. It wiII heIp you. - Shh.

- In it, I've written my wiII. - GentIy.

Everything - the house, everything - is yours.

- Does that matter now? - Listen.

The decree. Take the wiII to Roche. He'II heIp you.

God!

Terese, the hatred, is it aII gone?

That's good.

That's good, Terese.

Terese... (Gasps)

You'II be aII right now.

(CIock chimes)

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