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A MELS RESTORATION PRESENTATION
The digitization of this film preserves
all the attributes of the original work.
It was achieved thanks to
The Memory of Quebec Cinema
I can’t choose!
I can’t choose!
How can I?
Pierre and Marie Lemieux died
leaving behind three embryos frozen in liquid nitrogen.
Antoine Larivée?
We’re closed.
It won’t take long.
Forget something?
Pierre Lemieux…
Remember him?
The photographer?
He’s my son.
Evening.
Is this where you keep his embryos?
Baby on board
Why are you here?
Destroy them.
Can you help me?
As a civil servant, my powers are limited.
And your lawyer?
I haven’t spoken to him.
A lawsuit, all the media… it would take years.
- I don’t want that. - We don’t either.
But my brief to the minister may not satisfy you.
I’ll wait and see.
Go ahead.
I’d rather not.
Looking for Eternity
Subtitles by Robert Gray (Kinograph)
Let’s go.
What?
99.3°
This is no time to sleep.
I’m ovulating!
Terrific.
Can’t make healthy kids with sleepy sperm.
I’ll make coffee.
Lots of coffee.
Then he’ll be speedy, like his mom.
Am I wrong to tamper with fate?
Pierre resists…
says nothing, but I sense it.
Routine is crushing any sense of joy.
It’s different for Pierre.
Sometimes I feel alone in wanting this baby.
Has my desire become mechanical?
Stop asking questions, just keep on…
like closing a gate against a flood.
I’m afraid real desire’s gone, submerged by obsession.
Your daughter-in-law’s diary…
Keep it.
You may find it useful.
I want them to be left in peace—that’s all.
Had they lived together long?
8 years. They’d just bought the house.
- That’s it. - Only 2?
- Her first time? - No, her third.
Poor girl.
- Can you check this? - Sure, take these.
She’s here.
- Hélène Dubreuil. - Antoine Larivée. My pleasure.
May I?
Take your time.
Please…
It’s always full. We can’t meet the demand.
Fertilization by several sperm…
The embryo wouldn’t have survived.
Do you have a pen?
Here.
Why not do that to the Lemieux embryos?
Because they’re viable.
Are you serious?
Do I look like I’m joking?
Is the minister afraid of publicity?
Aren’t you?
Depends.
Yes, sir?
- I’m here for the…sample. - Right away.
Maryse, a client for you.
I’ve written five times
requesting a policy for unclaimed embryos.
Have you?
The bureaucrats never answered.
Put a bomb under them, they’d just cross their legs.
You created the problem, not us.
Now hold on a sec.
If we decided on our own, we’d be accused of abusing power.
If we ask the politicians
they say we’re trying to wriggle out of it.
What do we do?
Think before acting.
Easy to say.
We have 177 embryos stored in liquid nitrogen.
Has the number been increasing?
No, it’s remained stable for a year.
Most embryos are reimplanted.
Others take their place.
Meanwhile, anything can happen.
Some couples separate.
The woman may want them, the man says no.
Human beings are so predictable.
And what should we do?
Who do they belong to?
Answer that and the Lemieux case is solved.
If it were so simple I wouldn’t be here.
Your methods change everything… maternity, the origin of life
our genetic integrity.
Don’t expect an answer tomorrow.
I just want the ministry to define a policy.
I need a list of couples with embryos here.
Names, addresses, medical files
the contract they signed authorizing treatment.
But that’s confidential.
Normally, but not now.
I’ll have to consult the team, the ethics committee…
That won’t be necessary.
Signed by the minister! I don’t have much choice.
That’s the way it is.
I’d ask your discretion and full cooperation.
Excuse me.
Thanks.
This just arrived.
- You’re not going to read it all? - Labbé, Lefort…
Lemieux: 73.
We’re
Finish what you’re doing and
then come back.
He’s going to have your hair
your eyes.
Your skin.
Your mouth.
You’re generous this year, my beauty.
Damn.
- That’s all. - Not enough?
That thing’s so big.
Don’t worry, makes the harvest easier.
Harvest?
You ought to come visit.
Yeah, right on the water.
25 minutes at most.
Hold on a sec.
- Pierre Lemieux? - That’s me.
Sign here.
Paul?
I was afraid you’d gone.
I’ll work late more often.
Next time it’s your treat.
Alright.
Some Wyoming conifers came.
Extremely rare, and absolutely gorgeous!
Of course they arrived at 5 p.m.
Will they survive our winters?
It’s cold in the mountains too.
As for acid rain
perhaps they’re hardier than our own.
I’m worried about my little oaks. Their mom’s looking sick.
You seem chipper.
Yup.
I got a call from Soucy.
Aluminec’s looking for ideas for an ad campaign.
Money’s great, I’ll give it a try.
- Interesting concept? - I’ll know tomorrow.
Here.
You’ll see, it’s going to work.
Delicious.
My test results arrived.
Felt really weird.
What’s it say?
Same as the last time. I’m fertile.
I thought I’d forgotten all about it
but it sure took a load from my shoulders.
Funny, huh?
What is it?
I’m cold.
Something wrong?
Well if it isn’t you, it has to be me.
Not necessarily, Marie.
Your results were fine.
Candles, a good muscadet, coq au vin…
Why not champagne?
I’m sorry…
that’s not how I saw it.
You’re acting like you’d won an award…
“Hard-on Hero of the World!”
Take it easy, okay?
Am I supposed to feel guilty?
You’d have preferred it was negative?
I worry it’ll always be like this.
Just the two of us here.
I’m happy with you.
Don’t you care?
It’s not that, but what more can we do?
We’ve been trying for two years… nothing.
Maybe you’re glad it hasn’t worked.
Maybe it suits you.
Does fatherhood scare you?
You’re nuts…
beautiful, but slightly nuts.
Pierre’s indifference kills me.
I want to know for sure.
What if they tell me…
No, I won’t accept that.
- It’s unbelievable. - What?
Of the 69 files I’ve gone through
there’ve been only 16 pregnancies
with only 11 leading to delivery.
That’s a success rate of 16%.
Given an average two tries, that makes 8%…
at $3,000 per.
Can you see going through that?
I’m no judge, I’ve got two kids.
Do they ever see you?
We test methods on cows first.
And the hospital?
I work there part-time. My research is here.
You excite them.
Think so?
This way.
The first stage of embryonic development is incredible.
If I pierce its wall
remove the four cells…
and transplant each to an ovocyte
—an egg from which I’ve removed the genetic material—
we’ll get four copies of the original embryo…
totally identical
by fusion.
Clones.
Exactly.
Identical quadruplets.
By repeating the procedure with each
I’ll get 16.
But no one’s gone beyond stage II—4 clones.
And even that doesn’t always work.
Well?
You’ve done your homework.
Science fiction’s become my favorite pastime.
Have a look.
Stage IV?
Yup.
64 copies of the same embryo.
In 10 tests on 5 species, my success rate is over 70%.
Antoine, line 3.
What’s next, human embryos?
Why not?
Why create human clones if you can’t develop them?
Where will you find women to carry them?
Who says I need women?
Sorry, it’s Denver. Smith from head office.
- I’ll call back. - He says it’s urgent.
Excuse me.
Give me a few days.
I may surprise you.
Sorry.
Push yourself back.
Towards me…
That’s it.
Easy, easy…
Close your legs.
Fine.
The needle.
It’s not that bad.
How’ll you handle labor?
Scope.
Turn on your side.
Don’t move my instrument.
Fine.
Scope.
Your tubes aren’t blocked.
Your cycle is regular.
Come see me in two weeks
when you’re ovulating.
Make love just before
and keep the semen inside you as long as possible.
Really?
I’m serious. In two weeks.
Fine, thank you.
Pierre…
A client’s calling. Will you be out soon?
Yeah, almost through.
It’s a disaster. Out of 150 plants, 8 have taken.
They’re not rooting.
- The auxin level’s fine. - It can’t be that.
The soaking time maybe?
We should try other soils.
With so few specimens?
We have to try.
Look!
Any news?
Despite so-called science, they’re still groping.
My case amuses them, like a lego set.
You’ve got patience.
Patience!
Can you see yourself without kids?
Not really.
At my age, it’s now or never.
Nice meeting you.
What a business! The more you give, the less you get.
- Can I keep them for now? - They’re no good to me.
- How’s Marie? - Fine. She says hi.
- We don’t see you anymore. - We’re pretty busy.
Paul, show the pictures to our client.
You never know.
Thanks.
- I’ll give you a call. - Great.
I’m almost done.
Your mucus isn’t allergic to your husband’s sperm.
That’s a start.
- What do I have? - I don’t know.
Idiopathic infertility.
Pardon?
Unexplainable.
Category 11, class 3.
Do I get my label here or next door?
Know what time it is?
Where were you?
There was no answer at work.
Julie knew nothing.
I went for a walk, I needed to think.
You had time to walk to Toronto!
You could’ve called.
What did they say?
That I’m fine.
That’s great.
So what’s wrong?
It means they don’t know why.
More complications.
They may never know.
They may never know?
3 doctors, 2 specialists…
2 years of turning you inside out
and all they can say is they may never know?
Bet they say it’s psychosomatic.
Pierre…
if it’s not you
and it’s not me
maybe it’s the two of us?
Of course!
That’s it.
Your unconscious is allergic to mine.
It’s obvious.
Cupid’s ready, but Freud clipped his wings.
If we weren’t sick before
this’ll sure do it.
Do you want to give up?
Sometimes if you want something too much…
Some women get pregnant right after quitting.
Forget the fairy tales.
Do you prefer this?
If we stop now, we may be sorry.
You’ll try with someone else.
Come off it.
I want more than a baby.
I feel a huge void in me.
It’s like I’m shouting
shouting, but nobody hears.
Half my life is gone, I haven’t even noticed.
Nobody has.
Don’t I count?
What d’you say?
I said it’s late, we should go to bed.
I didn’t even ask how it went.
I’ll know in a few days.
Coming?
Pierre…
There’s one other way.
What now?
They suggest we try in vitro
That figures!
What do you mean?
You know as well as I…
it works one time in ten, and costs a fortune.
What did you tell them?
That I wanted to ask you.
Well now you have.
Alright?
Nothing to say?
My turn to walk to Toronto.
Christ you scared me!
Hi son.
Goddamn rock.
I’m going to wind up alongside my customers.
Why not ease off? You don’t need the money.
I get gloomy loafing around.
It may kill me, but until then
it keeps me alive.
How do you do it?
One wrong blow
and it’s ruined.
That ever happened?
Once. Cost me a bundle too.
You have to know the stone.
That thing’s alive
like wood.
With its lifelines
its veins.
Forget them and you’re done.
You start with the nose
—the hardest part—
remembering the veins, and…
You’ve heard this before.
I like when you talk about it.
A chip off the old block.
Watch out…
the wonder of it never lets you go.
Cleans out the lungs.
Is Marie here?
She’s in the garden with mom.
What about you?
- How’s work? - Good…
very good.
So what’s bugging you?
Is it that obvious?
What makes you gloomy?
That’s my business.
I don’t even tell your mom.
What if you could start all over…
But you can’t.
Once you start, you have to keep on.
You have no regrets?
What would it give me?
Having five kids… wasn’t it a burden?
Ask your mom, she took care of you.
I’m asking you.
I loved you all as best I could.
Including you.
No more or less.
What is it?
I wish I’d taken this up.
Isabelle!
Fast, some blood. It’s leaking.
Goddamn Antoine. Bloody vampire!
You must’ve been homesick.
- I knew you needed me. - Perfect. Hold this.
- Gimme a lab coat. - No time!
Damn thing keeps breaking.
Not like management, huh?
- It’ll cost them a new suit. - So? They’ll write it off.
- You have it? - Sure.
Hold this end.
- Put it in! - Yeah, yeah.
Understaffed.
There, that’ll do it.
Thanks love, that’s fine.
Clinic’s closed, get some rest.
- I’m unplugging the phone. - Anyone I know?
Did I ask you?
Lucky guy.
Been here long?
No, I just flew in.
How’d you do that?
Guess.
Incredible. Organogenesis has begun.
The nervous system is developing…
heart’s growing.
Do that with human eggs, a Nobel Prize is in the bag.
Don’t get carried away.
No one else can do it.
The process can interrupt at any time.
Here.
You used to be cockier.
About my “discoveries”?
I need more time and a lot more embryos.
Yours.
What?
Your request.
After what I’ve seen here
Technogen will cough up.
Hold on, I never called this a priority.
Don’t confuse real work with puttering around.
It’s decided.
What is this?
You telling me how to do my research?
Smith didn’t say?
He just mentioned a visit
didn’t tell me who.
I’m used to meddlers.
Technogen’s expanding in the East.
I’m the new managing director.
Then…
I’m your boss.
What are you afraid of?
Your table’s ready.
Do you have a pen?
Do you eat them or collect them?
What will the minister do with your proposals?
I don’t even know what they’ll be.
You must have some idea.
It’s too early.
We’re still examining the files and research protocol.
It must be boring.
Nothing better to read?
It’s fascinating.
You surprise me.
After 20 years of research
suddenly you start gambling.
Suddenly…
If you’d heeded Mr Lemieux, no one would care.
But we wouldn’t have met.
A cow embryo that’s been developing
in vitro
The cells have started to specialize
liver, skin, stomach.
That’s the heart…
the central nervous system.
Next to this Newton’s apple is small beer.
And what’s the point?
How do we treat cancer?
We kill the diseased cells and hope the rest recover.
7 times out of 10 it fails.
Witchcraft was as effective.
You want to create replacement cells?
Don’t you worry about aging?
In the future
we’ll create 100 copies of the same embryo
reimplant one in its mother
and grow the others in vitro
We can obtain the cells we want— liver, skin, stomach…
Then we freeze them.
At 50, you could become 20 years younger
or heal a tumor with your own cells.
The ancient dream?
Yeah.
I can see the headlines…
Biologist Realizes Faust’s Dream.
Only we act first and invent reasons later.
It’s so stuffy in here.
And no one will stop you?
The first test-tube baby is scarcely 10
and already 500 clinics offer the service.
Nothing can stop it now.
If I perfect my method and the media finds out
there’ll be no limits.
We’ll produce humans
and program them the way we want.
The sex, blue eyes, an athlete’s build…
That’s why Technogen supports you?
But they’re impatient for their dividends.
No comment?
I wonder what Marie Lemieux would say to this.
You’re insane.
Anything but.
I’m all too sane.
Some need drugs or fast cars… I need this.
The race is out of control.
Doesn’t matter what you do, just be first.
Already the French and Australians
are blindly tampering with the sex of embryos.
A grandmother in South Africa
carried to term her daughter’s embryo.
If this ever made sense, we’ve forgotten.
I’ve lost all bearings.
I want to go home.
So be it, Mme Bureaucrat.
I don’t feel very pretty.
With a little fantasy, you’re okay.
Need anything?
Life’s unfair. If only we could switch roles.
I’ll visit every day.
Here.
Being Born
My body aches.
My womb is churning
under the onslaught of foreign substances.
Is this the womb I long to see with life?
Docility sets in with age.
Pierre, not this.
They’ll put me to sleep.
I may never wake up.
Pierre, I…
Two liters, we’re ready.
No adhesion.
One…
two
four, five eggs.
They’ll be easy to remove.
Here for a sample? Just one second.
Genetics: Is anyone in control?
Well lookee here.
Technogen prospers, and so do you.
This would be perfect for my second lab.
Good news.
We’re doubling the stakes.
You’ll get all the cow embryos you need.
And I’m creating four new posts.
Two research assistants and two technicians.
24-hour operations.
You can slow down…
supervise things.
You could use a rest.
So what do you say?
Got a pen?
There’s one condition: that old…what’s his name?
Yeah, Lemieux.
You tell him you’re destroying the embryos.
That’s it?
Well there’s no point just wasting them.
So you quietly bring them back here
and try them in your artificial womb.
If it works, I’ll hire your assistants.
You forget two things:
there’s an inquiry underway.
I spoke to the minister.
We “destroy” the embryos, Lemieux’s happy…
the ministry closes the case.
I see.
And the second thing?
The embryos aren’t yours.
Technogen doesn’t own the hospital.
Stop quibbling.
If you’re careful, who’s to know?
What’re you drawing?
How old is your wife?
45, why?
Here’s what we’ll do.
You book her at the clinic
and we remove her ovaries— she’ll be spared menopause
and I can have her eggs.
They’re old, but they should do.
We take 5 grams of your sauce
mix it with her eggs
we’ll have plenty of embryos.
Technogen will repay you.
Look, it would make a great lab.
Feeling better?
Can we see them?
Sit down.
It didn’t work.
No eggs were fertilized.
Why not?
It’s only a hypothesis.
What hypothesis.
We had 5 eggs.
That’s a lot.
It may be your sperm.
There may be a defect in their heads
so they can’t penetrate the egg.
A spermogram can’t detect the condition.
It’s only a hypothesis.
It’ll take a second test.
What kind of test?
I expose half your eggs to another man’s sperm.
An anonymous donor of course…
Removing them will be simpler this time.
Your genital organs are normal.
We can use ultrasound.
It might be painful, but you’ll be awake.
Marie!
We could’ve saved it.
We could’ve saved it.
Die! Die!
Why’d she do that?
The earth opens and swallows me.
I look up from this pit; it’s pouring.
Water streams down, soaking me to my core.
I call Pierre. He doesn’t hear.
Since he joined me in the depths of night, we’re lost.
Come quick, I’ve got something.
All their subsidies are clean
their products authorized.
Their credibility is A-1.
So why does Technogen own a spa?
Diversification of holdings?
My reaction too. I didn’t give it a second thought.
But then I happened to come across the same company.
Guess where?
In the Ministry of Justice data bank.
Spa Jouvençon.
It was in 1981, at the Swiss border.
A truck was stopped loaded with aborted fetuses from Holland.
Jouvençon was extracting the fetal proteins
to inject into its clients.
A sort of high-tech youth serum.
Did it go to court?
There’s no law against it, so no charges were laid.
But it got a lot of publicity.
The Council of Europe banned the sale or donation
of fetuses from abortions
so doctors wouldn’t encourage abortions for profit.
So if fetuses could be grown outside the body
it would be legal to use them
to obtain by-products.
Exactly.
What’s more, they’d be alive.
Your Antoine isn’t as pure as he pretends.
He’s not my Antoine.
You’re terrific.
Would you make me a copy?
You slime.
Great work.
You make me sorry I’m in this field.
If you want to play at suicide, fine.
Poor misunderstood scientist.
But don’t count on us to fund your whims.
Him maybe?
He has the nostrils of a boxer.
Or him?
People would suspect.
Now him…
- How much are your tomatoes? - $1.50 and $2.00.
But for you…
$1 per basket.
For me?
- Then I’ll take two. - Right.
One basket
and two.
You think about it much?
About the idea, yes.
The particular donor, no.
It’s like it was you.
Why not sleep with the neighbor?
I feel trapped.
If we don’t try, I’ll never know if I’m to blame.
If we do, I won’t know if it’s mine.
Loving a child makes you the dad.
But will I love it? I want the baby for me too.
I’m trying, Marie, really…
but it’s stronger than me.
How’ll he feel if I’m always thinking of the other guy.
- How much? - $2 a basket.
I’d never have asked whose sperm it was.
I’d have loved any dad who held me.
I’m 35 years old.
I don’t have time to ask questions.
I wasn’t as lucky as you.
My mom raised me alone— the scandal…
until she cracked under the strain.
I don’t blame her, she did her best.
But her best wasn’t enough.
I won’t be robbed a second time.
I want a family.
I want to know what having a family’s like.
$10 please.
$10? You planning a party?
I could sleep with the neighbor.
It’d be a lot simpler.
But I want a child with you.
Shit!
I don’t want a fatherless child.
I want it to be you.
I love you!
I used to love making love to you.
But we’ve even stopped doing that.
Now we’re going to have a child without making love.
You don’t even need me.
Something wrong?
Pierre Lemieux!
- What did you give me? - Agonists.
A new kind of drug.
Don’t be scared, it does the trick.
Trick?
It blocks the hypophysis, a sort of castration.
It’s a shock to the system, but more eggs are released.
Oxygen.
Oh mamma!
The worst is over.
We’ll give you a sedative.
When did you start using agonists?
What are you doing here?
Is this how you like them?
So what about the agonists?
What’s it to you?
They’ve never been tested.
The Commission approved them.
Sure, for men with cancer of the prostate.
But not in conjunction with large hormone doses.
That’s true.
Your files show that agonists have doubled your pregnancy rate
and the number of embryos here.
You fault us for success?
What you don’t say is that four of your patients almost died
including Marie Lemieux.
One woman had a heart attack.
That’s true.
Is it true that it can bring on menopause 5 years early?
That’s not proven.
But it’s probable, same as for other drugs we use.
- That it causes ovarian cancer? - Also unproven.
Is that all you can say?
Without taking risks, we’d have nothing to offer.
What cynicism.
In this job you need a lot of it.
Enough to risk Marie’s life when her husband was sterile?
She’d have done anything to have a baby.
- Do you warn them? - They wouldn’t listen.
You mean you need them and don’t want to lose them.
Until you’ve invented an artificial womb
and get your eggs from young girls.
Yes, that would be simpler.
I’ve done all those things.
And other things too.
Make up what you don’t know.
The reality will be worse.
Then Jouvençon is true?
What?
Dealing in aborted fetuses…
fetal protein injections for high-tech youth serums.
This one you can keep.
Those bastards.
What if Pierre’s sperm doesn’t work, but the donor’s does?
What then?
We’ll reimplant those eggs, if your husband agrees.
He won’t.
Then we’ll destroy them.
Please, there are other people waiting.
This is my life, they can wait 2 minutes.
Couldn’t you
not tell him…
pretend it was his.
Please.
I know him.
We obtained many eggs…
16 in all.
We used your sperm on half.
None were fertilized.
The others responded to the donor’s sperm.
I’m sorry.
Like to see them?
The donor has your husband’s features…
the same build, color of eyes and hair…
Here…
What now?
Does he agree?
He will.
See you in the morning. Don’t eat.
We’ll reimplant five
and freeze the rest.
Five?
It’s standard procedure.
Don’t worry, the risk of multiple pregnancy is minimal.
The uterus generally retains one or two
and rejects the others.
Andréanne!
Philippe!
She needs rest.
Don’t let her leave.
As a boy, Pierre was always in here.
He could spend hours
sitting on the stairs, watching me work.
I had to chase him out to play with his pals.
He’d be gone for an hour
then slink back, like I’d punished him.
Finally I let him stay.
His mom disapproved ’cause of the dust, but…
deep down
it thrilled me.
There’s no finer feeling for a man
than to be admired by his son.
But…
when I saw the mural…
No, don’t!
Do what you want, son…
but I won’t let you go crazy.
What’re you doing?
Look at me.
You’re just lucky to be here.
What do you mean?
When your mom was pregnant with you, she wanted an abortion.
But back then, it wasn’t done.
Surprised?
I hate stone!
I’ve always hated stone. It’s dirty, cruel, spiteful.
It’s wood that I loved.
I studied with the best… Riopelle, Borduas…
I knew ’em all.
Today they’re in museums.
And what about me?
In fucking cemeteries!
My admirers lie 6 feet under.
There’s no money in wood, so when you arrived
I had no choice.
At first I hated you as much as I hate stone.
Took a while before I softened
to that pasty mug of yours.
The other kids followed.
Today I see you grown up and
it gives me joy.
Don’t ever make me sorry for what I did.
If you want to go nuts, at least wait till I’m gone.
What a fool I was.
I don’t know what happened.
I was so scared he’d lost his grip that I lose mine.
There I was, my son…
coming apart before my very eyes.
Instead of listening
I really laid it on him.
Relax, try to avoid contractions.
Think they’ll take?
We’ll keep you warm this winter.
Great seeing you like this.
You’re not pregnant?
You did it!
- How’s Pierre? - Floating.
He’s possessed. He’s doing two ad campaigns.
- Even preparing a show. - Really?
- Marie’s pregnant. - Dummy!
It’s hardly noticeable.
Let’s go.
- Already? - I don’t want to be late.
You’re all excited.
- Antoine’s not in. - I came to see you.
The Lemieux file is incomplete.
A page is missing.
What do you mean?
Marie noted her appointments in her diary.
For over three years
it corresponds precisely to her medical file
except for the last day.
Where’s her ultrasound?
I don’t know.
Don’t waste my time.
Where’s Antoine?
It wasn’t him.
I removed the report.
Where’s Antoine?
No one knows.
He said he was going on holiday.
There it is. The head’s to the left.
You see the heart beating?
Yeah, I can see it.
Is that the heart?
It just moved its arm.
That’s its arm?
- Well, you have twins. - Twins?
That’s great, Pierre. There’ll be two.
They’ll never be lonely.
Fantastic! Believe me!
There are 3.
What is it?
You have…
quadruplets.
- You said it was impossible. - I know, it’s…
it’s extremely rare.
It’s up to you.
But I advise eliminating at least two.
At your age, a first delivery would be dangerous.
If you don’t miscarry before, the hemorrhage could be fatal.
If you keep all four, I can’t guarantee anything.
You’ll be hospitalized
for your entire pregnancy.
I wouldn’t hesitate.
The sooner, the better. We can operate tomorrow.
Get out of here! Get out!
I can’t.
I can’t.
I can’t choose.
I can’t choose.
How can I?
I was waiting for you.
You did it.
It works.
It’s insane, but it works.
Only one of their embryos didn’t react.
With the other two, I produced 92.
Their children could’ve lived to 150.
I wanted to understand
what we are, how we develop
how we become what we are…
complex, unpredictable, superbly designed
all from one cell a thousand times smaller than a pinhead.
I did it, but it’s still a mystery.
Cells divide and multiply.
They grow and grow, like in any animal.
But it’s not an animal, it’s a person.
I can’t.
Please.
What’ll you do now?
Guess I’m all washed up.
Are they looking for me?
They’ve already forgotten you.
Technogen just listed human embryo banks
on the N.Y. Stock Exchange
and no one even blinked.
THIS FILM WAS RESTORED IN FEBRUARY 2019
The Memory of Quebec Cinema
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