Original subtitles

A MELS RESTORATION PRESENTATION

The digitization of this film preserves all of the attributes

of the original work.

It was achieved thanks to

The Memory of Quebec Cinema

If Bergman Filmed Death in Venice

You don't need make-up!

I made it. - Let me see.

Where do you work?

The animation department. I'm just an assistant.

DREAM LIFE

With Véronique Le Flaguais. - Liliane Lemaître-Auger.

Produced by the Coop.

One can at a time!

Action!

If it's good for her, it's good for us!

We've been waiting for two weeks.

Always ready, always clean, always fresh!

Groovy!

It's so groovy!

I did art school for this?

That bike's no good.

It's a piece of junk.

Fucking tickets! There!

I'd like to mount them, but I'm not equipped.

Why not make a animated film with them?

It's not the same thing.

It would make a good satire of consumer society.

You're right.

It could be beautiful.

Why beautiful?

Do you like what you do?

What I do for myself, yes, but not what I do for a living.

Well, you have a dream.

I've wanted to paint since I was this big.

I don't get painting. It's nice, but so old-fashioned.

Old-fashioned? What do you mean?

I don't know...

I always wanted to write, but...

that's old-fashioned too.

Nobody reads anymore.

You do it for yourself, not others.

OK then, I have no talent.

Come on, everyone has talent.

We women don't use our imagination.

Writing only for myself doesn't interest me.

I'd like to move out.

When I go home,

it's to a boring, bourgeois home.

It smells of cabbage soup, my dad loves it.

I bet he's sitting alone, with his paper and tv.

I don't feel at home there.

Sometimes it's like we lived in different cities.

And we're off. - Yeah!

I had a good teacher. - What's Yves like?

Yves? A lot of fun.

He has dark hair,

a mustache. - The nut behind us honked again.

Dark mustache, dark hair. He's handsome.

He wears funky glasses.

He's intellectual. - I'll rape his eyes.

He's great.

Very intelligent.

He is? - For sure.

Look at those chicks!

Chat'em up!

Hi, how's it going? Where are you off to?

You could answer at least.

What's so funny?

They're mummy's girls, real shy.

Or daddy's girls, maybe.

Why are you so stuck up?

Can't you talk?

They seem kind of out of it.

You could answer me. - Cut'em off!

Say something, anything.

C'mon, you goddamn slut!

You whore! Can't you talk?

C'mon, aren't you interested?

Even a tiny bit?

They think they're hot shit!

Well, I'd rather do this.

Don't drive off, the light's red.

It's red! - My way's better!

Like to get sucked off by a punk?

Just for kicks.

Do we follow?

Sure, don't lose them.

Hi, Miss. - Hello.

Serve many hot dogs? - What?

An order of fries. - OK.

Two cokes. - I have orange.

Do you get many chicks like them? - I serve everybody.

What's wrong?

You know what?

I think I'm in love.

That's news.

Even he doesn't know.

Really?

I hardly know him.

He's married, with kids. It's insane, I know.

I've been there.

That's him in the sunglasses.

He looks snobby. - No.

I bet it's just an image.

He's sure handsome.

Think so? I hadn't noticed.

It's true, I swear.

She's thinking about him again.

It'd be neat if it worked out.

What am I doing?

Virginie?

What if he walked by,

by chance?

Think he'd join us?

I don't know.

He'd pretend not to see us.

We should take off somewhere.

Take off?

We should take off somewhere.

Take off?

What for?

Discover new countries, meet different people.

Yeah.

We could discover lots of new stuff with him,

you and me.

We could rent a place by the sea.

Escape!

Vacation!

Always!

Together!

A real life!

Wouldn't we get bored?

We could read, write, play music, all kinds of things.

The water was great!

It was a blast!

Going swimming is work.

I usually never do this.

It feels so good! It's great!

I need gas.

My Beetle!

My money!

Let's go to your pad.

Can you take these?

Do you have the keys?

It's crazy to be in love like this.

I see him everywhere.

Maybe he's not so special.

I even hear his voice.

Pool water's bad for your hair.

It dries it out.

Sometimes I want to get married.

Have you flipped your lid?

It might solve my problems.

That's too easy.

You can stop thinking about love.

Ah, love!

Someone who loves you to death.

It's a solution. It's the solution!

But it's boring.

But it's boring.

It's like a force, a current...

It's stronger than me.

For once it's not men who decide. Keep it up!

Was the first time you had sex special?

I know some say that. No, not me.

You?

It happened in the States.

That's funny, me too!

Was he American? - Yes.

And Jewish, too.

Jews are fun. - Yeah, they are.

And you? - No, he was a good Québecer.

He was there for the summer.

What was he like?

He was a riot. The sporty type, sort of.

He'd jump me, no necking or anything.

and that was it.

Mine was an intellectual, loaded with hang-ups.

He'd read too many books.

With him, we had to talk before and eat afterwards.

It was freezing, huh?

I'm always warm in bed.

You sre talk a lot!

I do? I never realized.

Know what I dreamed?

No.

I dreamed of a dragon.

It was all green,

and purple.

It was all slimy,

covered in boils.

A kind of prehistoric monster,

with horns.

It was chasing me.

And crying.

Losing scales.

It was tearing me apart.

It sank into the quicksand.

It was staring at me,

like a dog

that looks at you mournfully when you hit it.

"It's not fair."

I ran away, I kept tripping.

I couldn't see.

It kept getting closer.

At one point, I woke up,

for real.

I saw it, right there.

I could see its eyes, like two balls of fire.

Then I fell asleep again.

I was soaked.

There was hair everywhere.

I was still running.

At one point it leaped on me from behind a rock.

And we rolled down a huge sand dune.

You first.

Mom?

Mom, this is Isabel.

Hi. - Hello, Isabel.

I have a good sugar pie.

Paul, Isabel.

A sugar pie?

Thanks.

Did you read the paper?

Those bastards! I knew it.

What do you mean?

The Gordon Bill?

The scum have no idea.

Let's not go into this.

Course, Missie is an artist.

Things are going down. You're in for a big surprise!

Like you'd know!

You don't need to be a genius to see it.

What'll happen?

Tell us.

Every time we talk politics, it ends in a fight.

Screw politics. Don't you have enough problems?

Can't you see, we all have the same problems!

Not hard to figure out.

All women are interested in is their feelings and their crotch.

Christ, I've had it, I'm splitting.

Please, Paul!

Have some pie. - Thanks.

Family life's not for me.

You're so aggressive with him.

Will politics solve our problems?

Politics are useless. - Come off it!

My dad was always ranting about politics.

And your mom? - She listened.

Never said a word.

Never took time to think of herself.

OK

Hi!

Going fishing? - You bet!

Silly!

How are you? - Fine.

Yves? - He's asleep.

Asleep? Let's wake him up!

Here we are.

You'll sleep in here.

Where'll you sleep?

Oh, somewhere.

I'll get some wood.

Don't turn the radio on!

We're here to escape noise.

What's this stuff?

That stuff is lentils.

Don't you like them? - How do you cook them?

In water, it's simple as pie.

You soak them?

They're very healthy. They're loaded with iron.

They make you fart.

It's way better than meat.

If you knew the crap they use to color it.

You're exaggerating.

Seriously, are you a natural food freak?

Absolutely. A healthy diet is important.

We have to be careful what we eat.

I mean, we are what we eat.

It's true. It affects your brain and everything.

Lucky I brought some ham.

What about steak? Steak's good.

Sure, but you don't know what you're eating.

That ham... There's nothing worse, it's disgusting...

it's garbage, it's gross...

Sure, lay it on.

It's totally disgusting.

It grosses me out.

And the sodium they put in it...

It gives you cellulite.

You're obsessed!

We used that as a coffee filter.

Listen to this:

Sexual abstinence leads to insanity.

Trying to talk us into something?

I'm not trying to talk you into anything.

If you take it like that, I'll just read.

We don't care what's good for our health.

What we want is change.

Explain yourself. Change what?

So many things need to change.

Life. Love. Friendship.

Take love. People talk about doomed love.

I don't see it that way.

They say love is possession.

You think you're not possessive?

Definitely not.

Women were possessive because all they had was a husband and kids.

Deep down inside you're possessive,

with everything you touch, with Isabel...

No, I'm not possessive.

It's simply love.

Same difference.

I'd like to change the family system, all our education.

Not bad for a start.

We want to take risks.

Like,

we were talking about it the other day, we'd like to have a child.

Who's going to be the father?

We have someone in mind.

Does he know about this?

We just have to convince him. - It'll be tough, he's married.

Anyway, I want to get to know him, find out where he's at,

learn about his world.

I don't care how long it lasts.

It's a lovely day. C'mon, get up.

It's time to get up.

You in there, rise and shine!

C'mon!

Shake a leg!

C'mon, get up!

What a pain. One minute.

One, two!

One, two. One, two.

One, two.

OK, let's get dressed!

Who put in all that sugar?

What name will we choose?

Chantal. It's pretty, don't you think?

No, it's going to be a boy.

Then, Nicolas.

Do you like Nicolas? - Yes.

Or Éric?

Nicolas is nice.

A father is essential in a family.

The need to identify with him, then reject him, is well-known.

I sentence you each to half your child,

Nico...

las.

Reich says exactly the opposite.

Sexual repression makes people not only ill,

but also incapable of artistic and cultural achievement.

Some say he just wanted to encourage everyone to fuck.

It's happened. Everyone's fucking. But nothing's changed.

People aren't any happier.

That's precisely his point. Orgastic energy!

It's fucking without fulfillment.

Anyway, for me what's most important now is my worl.

I put all my energy in it. I love it!

Still, you have to admit you have sexual needs, like everyone.

Sure.

I'm going for a walk. See you.

Who are you to worry about our sexual problems?

If you don't like kissing...

No.

I don't feel like it.

That's pretty!

What a bargain!

It's weird.

I dreamed I was walking in the city.

People were staring at us.

I realized I was sentenced to death.

At the last minute my father saved me. I was mad at him.

Deep down, I was happy to be a martyr.

I was a kind of star.

It's crazy,

completely insane.

He wanted me to thank him.

I'm seeing things more clearly.

Much more.

That's nice.

Doesn't that look like him?

That's my family.

Pathetic!

My mother's so sure of herself,

just because of her nice clothes and make-up.

She lives only for her husband and children.

What'll she do when she gets old?

She wants my sister to exercise, so she won't masturbate.

Pathetic!

Her...

she watches every spy film there is on TV.

She smokes pot in secret, like all her friends.

Granny, pray for us.

Him...

he always wanted to be a success,

to be someone.

He's all for dictators, the right kind.

He's still scared of Commies.

He's not happy at all.

I've had it with them!

Isabelle Mercier!

You know

we're going through

a very difficult period,

since those events.

It could last a few more months.

For that reason

it's impossible for us

to renew your contract

at the end of the month.

But I'm convinced

that the situation will not last

and that you'll soon be able to join us again.

You must understand

that production

has fallen off

significantly.

Anyway,

you seem to be

a very resourceful girl.

I'm not worried about you.

Neither am I!

Fucking bastard!

I'm tired of speaking English.

Anyway, he always comes back to me.

All the way...

You have to go all the way.

Without her I'd given up for sure.

I adored it. I loved it!

Andrée! How are you? - Isabel!

How are you?

I know Jean-Pierre too. - You do?

You working? - In film.

Really? For how long?

A year and a half too long.

Don't you like it? - I was just fired.

A big film project. It fell through.

Let's find a corner.

You haven't changed!

You've changed! - Think so?

Your hair was short, and you were chubbier.

How's your love life?

And yours?

What do you do?

I'm looking, looking for myself.

I'm drawing, writing a bit.

Get your act together.

I figure if I'm not married at 30,

I'll marry a guy who can be a good friend.

I'm only attracted to married men.

I won't have that problem.

I'll write a paper on that.

"Why young women are so attracted

to men who are off-limits."

See you.

JJ, my little love, you look so sad!

Have you met JJ? - No.

Pretty, huh?

JJ?

Some name for a cat. You could've tried harder.

No, it's for Jean-Jacques.

JJ. - I'd forgotten about him.

You're funny sometimes.

Funny?

You're funny. What's bugging you tonight?

Anything wrong?

That girl at the party, Andrée...

Yeah.

When we were kids, we collected holy picures.

They were all hand embroidered.

I remember, once I took one of her pictures

and buried it in the snow.

Must've been a mess when she found it.

I could never steal.

Girls hated going into stores with me cause I'd giggle madly or blush.

We pulled all kinds of stunts.

I'm telling you.

Still, you know,

we were so close, and now we've nothing in common.

It's normal, people change. Thank god!

Yeah, but it's sad.

One day you'll see Jean-Jacques and feel nothing.

I don't know, I'd be surprised.

Are you thirsty? - I'm dying of thirst!

I'll make my specialty,

mystery milk.

Do you foresee an end to war?

Every ascent has a summit.

Is the Yellow Peril real?

The Red Yellow?

What about the Irish problem?

A religious war, centuries old.

Will Québec ever become independent?

What's the role of women? - Is violence the way?

And Women's Lib?

Women are modernizing. Soon they'll equal men.

That's not the problem.

It's the working conditions, the right to abortion,

the fact we're seen as sex objects.

Are you a success?

Clearly, I've reached the goals within my reach.

Do you consider yourself happy?

I think so.

Would you like to act...

...in a film?

A cat has no pride

So what?

Sometimes I feel like a cat. - What do you mean?

I keep going, I hang on. That's not me.

Why so blue? What did you dream?

Get real!

I'll give you this drawing.

You'll like it.

Even if it is old-fashioned.

You know that I've changed my mind.

I saw him.

Who? - Jean-Jacques.

Who else?

I'm getting fed up.

I'm tired of dreaming. I want to live, to do something.

Right on!

I was thinking that at the party.

It was obvious.

I don't see the connection.

You'd gone off with some friends.

A few guys asked me to dance.

They didn't interest me.

And I realized that

I was thinking about JJ too.

You're worse than me.

It's catching, that kind of thing.

It's fun just to fantasize about it.

My dad died when I was 12.

My brother delivered papers twice a day. Mom worked. I had to study.

Life was no bed of roses.

At one point I thought:

Suffering...

that's over with.

You never told me that.

It's not important.

Recently I've been thinking:

I could die any time. And strangely...

I never think about that.

I feel like I'll live forever.

It makes me want to really live life fully.

Glad to hear it.

That guy, grab him, and get it over with!

I can't rape him.

Why not?

It's complicated.

Set your mind to it! - Set my mind to it.

Listen...

At my studio, we'll lay a trap. - How?

I heard you need someone.

I heard you're looking for someone.

This is ridiculous.

I have something to tell you... I wanted to tell you...

May I speak to Jean-Jacques please?

It's Isabel Mercier.

No, only a few minutes. Not long.

OK, I'll wait.

I wanted to tell you...

I want to make love to you,

so bad.

I have something to tell you.

I need you.

I just have to see you.

I'm a bit run down these days.

It'll be better next time.

It doesn't matter.

It's not important.

I'm often free at lunchtime.

I could swing that.

We could go for the weekend.

Friday?

Friday my daughter's having a party.

You can't always do what you want in life.

Why if it isn't JJ!

I'm so sorry.

That's OK. Make yourself at home.

Should I make coffee?

Yeah, great idea.

I'm going to split. - No, I'll go.

Come on, the coffee's ready.

Like some coffee?

No. - Why not?

Have a cup.

Alright.

Do you take sugar? - No, no sugar.

Milk? - No.

No milk.

OK, bye.

Bye.

Will I see you? - Sure.

Well?

You were so right. - What?

It's not just an image.

You're not serious! - It's true, really!

I don't believe it.

Get real!

I'm free, now. Free!

Yeah, let's go to Mexico. - Why not India?

I was kidding, silly!

I'm through dreaming my life away.

It's over.

HAPPINESS

Subtitling: L.V.T. - Paris

This film was restored in August, 2021.

It was done with the following material, conserved at the Cinémathèque québécoise:

Original reversal Super 16mm film

Internegative 35mm DA-88 audio tape

The Memory of Quebec Cinema