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Downloaded from
YTS.MX
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In collaboration with
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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX
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This restoration was funded by the Centre
National du Cinéma et de l'image animée
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as part of the support plan
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for the restoration and the digitization
of the film heritage.
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With the support of
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I dedicate this film
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00:00:31,241 --> 00:00:35,370
to the memory of my dear young wife,
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Ida Danis, dead at age 27.
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THE WHEEL
12
00:00:46,047 --> 00:00:50,343
Tragedy of Modern Times
in a Prologue and Four Acts
13
00:00:50,510 --> 00:00:54,097
Assistant: Blaise Cendrars
14
00:00:54,264 --> 00:00:58,393
Cameramen: BUREL, Bujard, Duverger
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00:00:59,102 --> 00:01:00,770
Scenario by Abel Gance
directed by the author
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00:04:56,964 --> 00:05:02,345
PROLOGUE
a scarlet twilight
17
00:05:31,499 --> 00:05:36,462
The engineer Sisif, returning from work,
18
00:05:36,629 --> 00:05:43,845
was fortunately on hand
to direct rescue operations.
19
00:05:50,017 --> 00:05:53,437
"Shut the safety locks,
20
00:05:53,604 --> 00:05:57,608
you chicken-hearts!
21
00:05:57,775 --> 00:06:05,533
45 seconds to block track 4 for the 2020!"
22
00:06:13,833 --> 00:06:23,832
"Close the 24-14 and 17
and all the full stop signals."
23
00:08:32,471 --> 00:08:36,183
"The track is still open!
24
00:08:36,350 --> 00:08:44,650
The semaphore is open for the 2020
which is going to collide with all this!"
25
00:08:53,576 --> 00:09:02,251
"An axle is jamming the semaphore switch.
The express is headed right for us..."
26
00:10:29,296 --> 00:10:33,425
Rescue train.
27
00:11:27,688 --> 00:11:29,940
Suddenly, at nightfall,
28
00:11:30,107 --> 00:11:35,529
Sisif remembered that under the rose bush,
next to the track...
29
00:12:06,727 --> 00:12:13,192
"She would make a nice sister
for my little boy!..."
30
00:12:16,403 --> 00:12:18,781
"Charming?"
31
00:12:45,557 --> 00:12:47,601
Sisif, taking the child,
32
00:12:47,768 --> 00:12:50,020
unwittingly plucked
33
00:12:50,187 --> 00:12:54,900
the rose of the rail
hidden by the child's dress...
34
00:12:58,946 --> 00:13:01,031
...and these words were written:
35
00:13:01,198 --> 00:13:02,992
"Happily there will always be
36
00:13:03,158 --> 00:13:04,493
a rose in the Wheel..."
37
00:13:27,850 --> 00:13:32,146
Sisif had a son, Elie, whose mother
had died bringing him into the world.
38
00:16:58,477 --> 00:17:00,521
In the morning.
39
00:17:59,454 --> 00:18:02,249
The inventory of objects
found in the accident.
40
00:20:10,043 --> 00:20:11,878
Dear Madame,
41
00:20:12,045 --> 00:20:13,255
...finding myself obliged
42
00:20:13,422 --> 00:20:14,673
to leave England...
43
00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:17,884
you know how poverty
44
00:20:18,051 --> 00:20:22,347
has affected me and my little Norma
45
00:20:22,514 --> 00:20:26,935
since the death of my poor husband.
46
00:20:27,102 --> 00:20:31,273
I should find... a modest position...
47
00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:35,068
hope to raise... daughter...
48
00:20:46,288 --> 00:20:48,582
The father dead,
49
00:20:48,749 --> 00:20:52,252
the mother killed in the accident,
50
00:20:52,419 --> 00:20:54,463
no one the wiser.
51
00:20:54,629 --> 00:20:58,049
What would become of this orphan
52
00:20:58,216 --> 00:21:00,427
as a state charge?...
53
00:22:05,617 --> 00:22:12,999
"How about you, Sisif, no statement?"
54
00:22:16,336 --> 00:22:17,295
"I do have one!"
55
00:22:26,888 --> 00:22:30,308
"While all these bigwigs
56
00:22:30,475 --> 00:22:34,437
were running around
and yelling,
57
00:22:34,604 --> 00:22:38,650
I prevented the 2020
from crashing
58
00:22:38,817 --> 00:22:42,028
by releasing the semaphore."
59
00:23:00,714 --> 00:23:06,177
"In short, you have
nothing interesting to say!"
60
00:23:08,847 --> 00:23:09,931
"I do!"
61
00:23:13,852 --> 00:23:18,565
"We others aren't used to seeing flowers
62
00:23:18,732 --> 00:23:23,778
between the tracks, and yet, gentlemen..."
63
00:23:26,865 --> 00:23:30,410
"On the track... I found..."
64
00:23:34,289 --> 00:23:35,373
"this rose!..."
65
00:23:55,226 --> 00:23:56,811
"That's Sisif!
66
00:23:56,978 --> 00:24:02,567
The best engineer on the line.
Stubborn as a mule, but indispensable!"
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00:24:11,785 --> 00:24:15,580
"Very good with his hands.
68
00:24:15,747 --> 00:24:19,292
He invents little improvements
69
00:24:19,459 --> 00:24:24,255
for the engines for our patents office.
70
00:24:24,422 --> 00:24:27,676
Hush! Keep it to yourself!"
71
00:24:39,646 --> 00:24:43,024
Dear Madame,
72
00:24:43,191 --> 00:24:46,987
...finding myself obliged...
73
00:24:47,153 --> 00:24:49,739
to leave England...
74
00:25:00,667 --> 00:25:07,716
The only proof of Norma's presence
in the accident disappeared.
75
00:25:48,256 --> 00:25:53,261
"Would you like me
to give you a little brother?"
76
00:26:11,905 --> 00:26:16,409
"She can't talk like everybody else."
77
00:27:40,201 --> 00:27:42,912
And seeing this toy accident,
78
00:27:43,079 --> 00:27:45,832
a mirror image in miniature
79
00:27:45,999 --> 00:27:50,170
of the previous day's catastrophe...
80
00:27:56,467 --> 00:28:02,015
Sisif sensed that the Wheel of Life
81
00:28:02,182 --> 00:28:09,147
would grow heavier with the fate of Norma.
82
00:28:36,549 --> 00:28:38,343
The years pass and pass...
83
00:28:38,509 --> 00:28:42,722
The two children grow up,
believing they are brother and sister.
84
00:28:48,853 --> 00:28:50,980
But the Wheel turns... turns.
85
00:29:17,757 --> 00:29:26,140
THE WHEEL
First Part
86
00:29:28,393 --> 00:29:34,232
THE ROSE OF THE RAIL
87
00:29:35,275 --> 00:29:36,776
"I know that Creation is a Great Wheel
88
00:29:36,943 --> 00:29:39,237
that cannot move without crushing someone!"
VICTOR HUGO
89
00:29:40,238 --> 00:29:45,702
15 years passed.
90
00:29:46,661 --> 00:29:56,660
At the railwaymen's canteen on payday....
91
00:31:12,205 --> 00:31:15,958
The engineer Duterne drinks wine.
92
00:31:16,125 --> 00:31:19,754
The engineer Chaume drinks water.
93
00:31:19,921 --> 00:31:23,216
The fireman Sarment drinks beer.
94
00:31:23,383 --> 00:31:27,387
The fireman Léger drinks vermouth.
95
00:35:30,421 --> 00:35:38,596
"What's gotten into poor Sisif?"
96
00:35:55,780 --> 00:35:58,991
"Feeling sorry for a fool
97
00:35:59,158 --> 00:36:02,620
who gambles his money away?
98
00:36:02,787 --> 00:36:05,081
Look at him!
99
00:36:05,247 --> 00:36:10,127
He thinks he's some barroom Christ
100
00:36:10,294 --> 00:36:12,588
with a halo..."
101
00:37:13,566 --> 00:37:23,565
Sisif, engineer 1st Class,
drinks huge quantities of alcohol.
102
00:38:09,538 --> 00:38:18,255
Me, Machefer, fireman for a drunk
like him? I'd be risking my life.
103
00:38:44,740 --> 00:38:47,576
THE PAVEMENT VIRGIN
104
00:40:21,837 --> 00:40:28,719
Sisif lives nearby in a small house...
105
00:40:33,098 --> 00:40:39,021
...surrounded by rails...
106
00:40:51,700 --> 00:40:54,453
...and capped in smoke...
107
00:41:30,155 --> 00:41:35,160
...in the company of his son,
Elie, a violinmaker...
108
00:42:05,149 --> 00:42:10,279
...and Norma,
whom Elie believes to be his sister...
109
00:43:57,469 --> 00:43:59,221
THE PAVEMENT VIRGIN
110
00:46:57,566 --> 00:47:01,236
"That cheat Jacobin is a real bastard!
111
00:47:01,403 --> 00:47:06,575
The other day
he was giving your daughter the eye..."
112
00:51:47,355 --> 00:51:50,358
"It's time for the 6:07.
113
00:51:50,525 --> 00:51:53,987
Go on... Duty first!"
114
00:52:35,028 --> 00:52:44,412
"If any of you so much as looks at my
daughter... take this as a warning!"
115
00:53:38,800 --> 00:53:43,430
Secret report on first class engineers.
116
00:53:43,596 --> 00:53:47,100
Sisif: Conduct for the past year
117
00:53:47,267 --> 00:53:49,853
absolutely incomprehensible,
118
00:53:50,019 --> 00:53:52,522
gambling, drinking,
119
00:53:52,689 --> 00:53:57,402
fighting, without any visible reason.
120
00:53:57,569 --> 00:54:01,406
I draw your attention to his case,
121
00:54:01,573 --> 00:54:03,700
Mr. Inspector.
122
00:54:17,505 --> 00:54:20,300
"Why am I angry with Sisif?
123
00:54:20,467 --> 00:54:22,510
I have no idea!
124
00:54:22,677 --> 00:54:26,639
And it's worse than if I had a reason."
125
00:55:27,575 --> 00:55:29,452
"Rail, wheels, smoke,
126
00:55:29,619 --> 00:55:31,538
how gloomy it all is!
127
00:55:31,704 --> 00:55:34,749
This hectic modern life exasperates me."
128
00:55:42,465 --> 00:55:48,721
How I wish I had been a violin maker
centuries ago, and married
129
00:55:49,973 --> 00:55:59,190
to a pretty woman like you.
130
01:00:36,592 --> 01:00:41,639
Mr. Jacques de Hersan, civil engineer
and inspector of construction materials.
131
01:00:41,806 --> 01:00:45,852
High social situation.
Large personal fortune.
132
01:01:13,796 --> 01:01:17,216
Every day for the past six months,
133
01:01:17,383 --> 01:01:23,139
Hersan had been vainly prowling
around Norma.
134
01:03:36,939 --> 01:03:44,947
"When will you allow me
to ask your father for your hand?"
135
01:04:01,380 --> 01:04:02,465
"The three of you
136
01:04:02,631 --> 01:04:05,509
are strangled by poverty.
137
01:04:05,676 --> 01:04:09,221
Your father sinks into the abyss
138
01:04:09,388 --> 01:04:11,974
a little more every day.
139
01:04:12,141 --> 01:04:13,976
Our marriage, Norma,
140
01:04:14,143 --> 01:04:17,605
would make you all happy."
141
01:07:32,424 --> 01:07:37,346
My dear Sisif,
the patent office
142
01:07:37,513 --> 01:07:41,016
is asking for the plans
143
01:07:41,183 --> 01:07:45,854
to the slide valve
vaporization process
144
01:07:46,021 --> 01:07:49,900
I had promised.
Get them ready.
145
01:07:50,067 --> 01:07:54,822
I'll come by tomorrow
with the 300 francs
146
01:07:54,989 --> 01:08:00,327
agreed upon
for this invention.
147
01:09:00,387 --> 01:09:02,598
THE PAVEMENT VIRGIN
148
01:10:09,748 --> 01:10:13,544
"Elie, didn't I forbid you
149
01:10:13,711 --> 01:10:18,799
from spending your days with your sister?"
150
01:11:16,148 --> 01:11:20,444
"You must get away from here, Norma,
151
01:11:20,611 --> 01:11:25,949
far, far away and never come back."
152
01:12:23,757 --> 01:12:30,556
"Have you gone mad, Papa?
What has she done?"
153
01:15:08,755 --> 01:15:16,930
"An old worker's hand,
like those of the comrades..."
154
01:15:21,351 --> 01:15:24,229
"That's all?"
155
01:15:30,068 --> 01:15:35,699
"Then... you don't see clearly..."
156
01:16:14,905 --> 01:16:19,284
That evening...
as usual.
157
01:17:42,742 --> 01:17:46,621
My dear Sisif, the patent office
158
01:17:46,788 --> 01:17:49,416
is asking for the plans
159
01:17:49,583 --> 01:17:53,753
to the slide valve vaporization process
160
01:17:53,920 --> 01:17:57,299
I had promised. Get them ready.
161
01:17:57,465 --> 01:18:01,553
I'll come by tomorrow with the 300 francs
162
01:18:01,720 --> 01:18:06,224
agreed upon for this invention.
163
01:18:53,396 --> 01:18:59,444
"Hello... the director of materials
is asking for me?"
164
01:19:06,284 --> 01:19:11,456
"The plans for
the slide-valve process?
165
01:19:11,623 --> 01:19:17,295
I'll be finished with them tomorrow.
166
01:19:17,462 --> 01:19:21,341
I'll work on them all night."
167
01:21:19,209 --> 01:21:20,710
Night.
168
01:22:07,966 --> 01:22:09,926
Daybreak.
169
01:22:53,970 --> 01:22:55,638
My dear children,
170
01:22:55,805 --> 01:23:00,059
I'm making you
very unhappy.
171
01:23:00,226 --> 01:23:04,856
It would be best
if I'm the one to leave.
172
01:23:05,023 --> 01:23:10,320
Don't try to understand
why and forgive me.
173
01:23:10,487 --> 01:23:13,740
I embrace you both
to my poor heart.
174
01:23:13,907 --> 01:23:15,200
Sisif
175
01:26:12,085 --> 01:26:17,048
"You see how misery
is forcing him to leave
176
01:26:17,215 --> 01:26:22,387
and that I have to get married."
177
01:27:51,684 --> 01:27:53,519
"Murderer!"
178
01:28:36,437 --> 01:28:39,440
That day,
179
01:28:39,607 --> 01:28:46,072
as dusk enveloped the fever of the Rail...
180
01:29:19,730 --> 01:29:25,736
"I forbid you from wearing short skirts
and silk stockings, you hear me?"
181
01:31:07,838 --> 01:31:10,216
"You obviously haven't
been working for me!"
182
01:31:18,140 --> 01:31:19,517
"Moreover,
183
01:31:19,684 --> 01:31:23,396
this morning I intercepted and destroyed
184
01:31:23,562 --> 01:31:26,774
a report on your behavior:
185
01:31:26,941 --> 01:31:29,068
gambling, fighting, drinking.
186
01:31:29,235 --> 01:31:31,487
What is going on?"
187
01:31:51,424 --> 01:31:53,217
"What is going on?"
188
01:34:09,061 --> 01:34:13,482
"Listen, Hersan. I'm going to tell you
189
01:34:13,649 --> 01:34:16,318
the most appalling story
190
01:34:16,485 --> 01:34:20,156
that ever happened to a man."
191
01:34:29,206 --> 01:34:36,755
"First of all, Norma isn't my daughter,
as she and my son were led believe."
192
01:35:19,089 --> 01:35:23,427
"For years, I never dared to say anything.
193
01:35:23,594 --> 01:35:26,931
She thinks I'm her father.
194
01:35:27,097 --> 01:35:30,142
It would have caused her
195
01:35:30,309 --> 01:35:34,063
too much pain to know the truth."
196
01:36:55,894 --> 01:37:04,403
"It was the spontaneity and heavenly face
of my little 'Rose of the Rail'."
197
01:38:39,081 --> 01:38:48,424
"I wasn't aware of what was awakening
in me so insidiously..."
198
01:40:41,036 --> 01:40:47,084
FEWER WRINKLES IN FIVE MINUTES
199
01:42:31,063 --> 01:42:33,815
"One day, the veil was torn away."
200
01:45:46,550 --> 01:45:52,764
"I was in love with Norma!"
201
01:46:24,588 --> 01:46:28,300
Sisif caught his breath.
202
01:46:28,466 --> 01:46:31,177
His heart was racing
203
01:46:31,344 --> 01:46:34,139
like a connecting rod,
204
01:46:34,306 --> 01:46:36,975
as the twilight trains
205
01:46:37,142 --> 01:46:42,105
blurred in the phantasmagoric mists.
206
01:46:57,078 --> 01:47:02,918
"You can't imagine the hell
my life became that day."
207
01:48:00,350 --> 01:48:04,187
"And the nights, the horrific nights!"
208
01:50:14,692 --> 01:50:18,780
"Chained to the Wheel of Life, always,
209
01:50:18,947 --> 01:50:23,535
from despair to despair."
KIPLING
210
01:50:31,960 --> 01:50:34,379
What do you suggest I do?
211
01:50:35,964 --> 01:50:37,132
Leave?
212
01:50:38,216 --> 01:50:40,176
Kill myself?
213
01:50:49,144 --> 01:50:50,645
"I can never tell her
214
01:50:50,812 --> 01:50:52,772
about her origins now.
215
01:50:52,939 --> 01:50:54,941
This secret is my protection.
216
01:50:55,108 --> 01:50:57,360
It's the mask of my love.
217
01:50:57,527 --> 01:51:00,113
She'd flee to the ends of the earth
218
01:51:00,280 --> 01:51:02,907
if she ever knew..."
219
01:51:25,722 --> 01:51:29,434
"I'm afraid to be
in her presence
220
01:51:29,601 --> 01:51:33,313
when my face isn't
blackened by smoke.
221
01:51:33,479 --> 01:51:36,733
Behind
my mask of soot,
222
01:51:36,900 --> 01:51:39,944
she can't see
my suffering."
223
01:52:29,994 --> 01:52:34,832
"Your father just made
a confession to me."
224
01:52:41,464 --> 01:52:43,049
"Gambling and poverty
225
01:52:43,216 --> 01:52:47,011
have reduced him to this state.
226
01:52:47,178 --> 01:52:51,015
The two of you are a burden to him.
227
01:52:51,182 --> 01:52:54,102
He must get away of here
228
01:52:54,269 --> 01:52:58,273
or else something bad will happen him."
229
01:53:05,947 --> 01:53:12,203
"I don't love you enough, Mr de Hersan..."
230
01:53:33,558 --> 01:53:37,186
"Think it over...
231
01:53:37,353 --> 01:53:43,151
I'll come by tomorrow for your answer."
232
01:53:58,875 --> 01:54:01,961
"Don't marry him, my dear Norma.
233
01:54:02,128 --> 01:54:05,715
I'm afraid that man's no good for you.
234
01:54:05,882 --> 01:54:09,135
I'll come up with my own Cremona varnish
235
01:54:09,302 --> 01:54:12,347
and my violins will become famous.
236
01:54:12,513 --> 01:54:14,265
Have patience..."
237
01:54:40,083 --> 01:54:50,082
END OF THE FIRST PART
238
01:55:02,653 --> 01:55:11,078
THE WHEEL
Part two
239
01:55:13,664 --> 01:55:19,128
THE TRAGEDY OF SISIF
240
01:55:20,170 --> 01:55:28,053
That night, Sisif awaited
the quietest moment to die.
241
01:56:04,506 --> 01:56:10,679
Go to bed.
I'll put the engine away by myself.
242
01:59:07,439 --> 01:59:13,070
So this must be hell.
I can't even die!..
243
01:59:29,753 --> 01:59:35,050
Engineer Sisif has a screw loose.
244
01:59:35,217 --> 01:59:42,891
Tried to get himself killed by his engine.
245
01:59:43,058 --> 01:59:47,604
His suspension is mandatory.
246
01:59:52,401 --> 01:59:56,947
"And it is said that they themselves
247
01:59:57,114 --> 02:00:02,661
cannot free themselves of the Wheel."
KIPLING
248
02:01:29,247 --> 02:01:36,129
Dear Mr. Hersan,
this letter contains
249
02:01:36,296 --> 02:01:42,761
my decision
to become your wife.
250
02:01:42,928 --> 02:01:51,561
Come see my father tomorrow.
Norma
251
02:04:29,386 --> 02:04:32,722
I have an order for ten violins.
252
02:05:53,678 --> 02:05:55,305
The next day.
253
02:06:18,328 --> 02:06:22,749
Secretariat report:
First reprimand
254
02:06:22,916 --> 02:06:27,128
against Engineer
First Class Sisif.
255
02:06:27,295 --> 02:06:31,883
Attempted to have his
locomotive run him over,
256
02:06:32,050 --> 02:06:37,514
at the risk of causing
his engineer other catastrophes.
257
02:06:37,680 --> 02:06:44,229
Nota: Retirement to be officialized
after second reprimand.
258
02:08:54,609 --> 02:09:01,491
"I heard about what you did,
my poor friend!"
259
02:09:17,382 --> 02:09:25,640
"There is only one way to escape
your nightmare, Sisif..."
260
02:09:40,697 --> 02:09:45,868
"Let me marry me Norma!"
261
02:10:21,362 --> 02:10:26,826
You love her, so do I.
I've thought it over and I've decided
262
02:10:26,993 --> 02:10:32,081
to remove this child
from the danger you represent for her.
263
02:10:32,248 --> 02:10:35,460
My resolution is... implacable.
264
02:10:39,255 --> 02:10:43,885
"You'll never have Norma,
you hear? Never! Never!"
265
02:10:49,098 --> 02:10:51,184
"Then I'll tell her
266
02:10:51,350 --> 02:10:54,395
about her origins and your feelings.
267
02:10:54,562 --> 02:10:56,689
She'll choose
268
02:10:56,856 --> 02:10:59,609
between your love and mine."
269
02:11:20,963 --> 02:11:29,597
"Quick! I have 40 seconds
to clear the track for the express."
270
02:13:08,362 --> 02:13:17,538
Reading Norma's letter of acceptance,
Hersan didn't waste a moment.
271
02:13:56,327 --> 02:13:58,621
Dear Mr. Hersan, this letter
272
02:13:58,788 --> 02:14:02,166
contains my decision
to become your wife.
273
02:14:02,333 --> 02:14:05,169
Come see my father tomorrow.
Norma
274
02:14:21,519 --> 02:14:28,693
"I'll wait for Norma outside to tell her
what she risks under your roof.
275
02:14:28,859 --> 02:14:35,199
You'll see if she doesn't flee in horror
to find refuge under my roof."
276
02:14:49,880 --> 02:14:52,925
"And what will you have left?
277
02:14:53,092 --> 02:14:56,095
The shame of having crushed
278
02:14:56,262 --> 02:14:59,223
the illusions she preserves...
279
02:14:59,390 --> 02:15:03,644
illusions
which I'll always let her keep...
280
02:15:03,811 --> 02:15:06,188
if you give her to me."
281
02:15:11,819 --> 02:15:15,906
"No, no, I love her too much.
She's mine.
282
02:15:16,073 --> 02:15:21,370
I'll tell her everything
and she'll stay here. Everything!"
283
02:15:27,710 --> 02:15:28,878
"Just try!"
284
02:17:08,853 --> 02:17:14,442
Then, to make you rich and happy,
I accept.
285
02:17:14,608 --> 02:17:20,781
My little Norma, marry him.
Since you love him.
286
02:17:30,958 --> 02:17:36,797
"Besides, it's better for me...
better for me."
287
02:18:39,777 --> 02:18:41,570
The same evening.
288
02:18:57,545 --> 02:19:03,050
"I drink to Norma's marriage."
289
02:19:11,225 --> 02:19:17,356
"It's better
that I never hear of her again,
290
02:19:17,523 --> 02:19:24,780
Never!
It was the only way for me to avoid..."
291
02:20:00,107 --> 02:20:02,985
"I drink to the end!...
292
02:20:07,156 --> 02:20:09,658
"of my bachelor life!"
293
02:20:25,507 --> 02:20:31,180
I'll try to behave... yes, my darlings!
294
02:20:31,347 --> 02:20:36,226
With a nice little wife of the Rail
I'm damned keen on...
295
02:20:36,393 --> 02:20:40,022
And with a pair of legs...
296
02:21:28,404 --> 02:21:33,742
"I want to drown my love,
my atrocious passion
297
02:21:33,909 --> 02:21:39,790
in the well's moon,
in the green moonlight..."
298
02:23:31,318 --> 02:23:33,153
"You'll water them, won't you?"
299
02:23:41,829 --> 02:23:45,666
"Swear she'll eat every day!"
300
02:23:51,255 --> 02:23:55,092
"I swear, but come quickly, my darling!"
301
02:24:36,258 --> 02:24:42,431
Sisif awaited his day
to drive the E108 express
302
02:24:42,598 --> 02:24:48,729
to personally take her to the big city.
303
02:27:13,040 --> 02:27:16,710
At a stop,
Sisif recalled a voice 20 years earlier
304
02:27:16,877 --> 02:27:19,880
which had screamed: "Kidnapper!"
305
02:27:40,817 --> 02:27:46,364
Laugh, you bastard!
Think she's going to escape me?
306
02:27:46,531 --> 02:27:53,663
No, my old, red one-eyed friend.
She won't reach his arms alive.
307
02:28:59,062 --> 02:29:01,940
"The Man of the Wheel
and the Rose of the Rail
308
02:29:02,107 --> 02:29:04,234
were made to die together...
309
02:29:04,401 --> 02:29:07,904
A little courage
and it will be over in a moment."
310
02:30:06,254 --> 02:30:09,466
"Since I'm feeling light-hearted,
Mâchefer,
311
02:30:09,633 --> 02:30:12,219
I allow you to drink to her health."
312
02:32:01,995 --> 02:32:06,458
Lost in the fumes of intoxication,
313
02:32:06,624 --> 02:32:12,589
Mâchefer thought
they had just run an advance signal.
314
02:32:21,264 --> 02:32:23,516
This time, he was sure.
315
02:32:23,683 --> 02:32:26,394
They had just run a full-stop signal.
316
02:33:25,745 --> 02:33:34,421
Paris: City of the Great Gallows
and the Wheel... BLAISE CENDRARS
317
02:34:11,708 --> 02:34:14,794
"For it is written,
none shall escape the Wheel."
318
02:34:15,420 --> 02:34:17,213
The return.
319
02:34:35,815 --> 02:34:38,860
The Man of the Wheel,
320
02:34:39,027 --> 02:34:42,363
alone with his inexpressible sorrow,
321
02:34:42,530 --> 02:34:45,533
would try to transfer his love
322
02:34:45,700 --> 02:34:49,746
to his old smoke-haired companion.
323
02:35:18,107 --> 02:35:22,779
"It's the new name for my locomotive."
324
02:35:43,383 --> 02:35:46,678
And understanding, as only things can be,
325
02:35:46,844 --> 02:35:51,432
Norma Compound sometimes
uttered in her steely language:
326
02:35:51,599 --> 02:35:54,561
I will always remain faithful to you.
327
02:35:54,727 --> 02:35:58,982
And when you are too sad,
I'll speak to you of her.
328
02:36:08,575 --> 02:36:11,411
And you will again hear her aerial
melancholy in the song of my wheels,
329
02:36:11,578 --> 02:36:14,497
in the feverish beating of my connecting
rods and in my sighs of smoke."
330
02:36:58,333 --> 02:36:59,667
That same evening.
331
02:37:04,881 --> 02:37:07,967
Monsieur de Hersan,
if you value your life,
332
02:37:08,134 --> 02:37:10,803
I would advise you
never to let Norma
333
02:37:10,970 --> 02:37:13,890
hear a single word
about what I told you,
334
02:37:14,057 --> 02:37:17,518
and, as for your marriage,
to act with men of the law
335
02:37:17,685 --> 02:37:20,146
with diplomacy,
so that she remains
336
02:37:20,313 --> 02:37:22,940
in complete ignorance
about her origins.
337
02:37:23,107 --> 02:37:25,068
This is my command.
Follow it.
338
02:37:29,656 --> 02:37:35,953
And unable to escape
the Wheel of his inexpressible love,
339
02:37:36,120 --> 02:37:43,670
Sisif resumed his desperate vigils
every night, as if Norma was still there.
340
02:40:57,530 --> 02:41:00,366
"You're stupid to eat here."
341
02:41:13,588 --> 02:41:17,842
"Do I reproach you
for loving your violins?
342
02:41:18,009 --> 02:41:20,720
I think I love my locomotive.
343
02:41:20,887 --> 02:41:23,431
I'm a kind of artist too."
344
02:42:15,358 --> 02:42:21,197
"Look. Isn't this cloud of light
worth your music?"
345
02:43:17,753 --> 02:43:21,549
My dear Papa,
Why don't you answer me
346
02:43:21,716 --> 02:43:26,762
and why do you refuse
the money I send you?
347
02:43:26,929 --> 02:43:31,017
Please accept it
or give it to Elie.
348
02:43:31,183 --> 02:43:34,270
Your despairing daughter
349
02:43:35,771 --> 02:43:39,900
POSTAL ORDER
5000 FRANCS
350
02:43:45,406 --> 02:43:50,536
Refused by the consignee.
Sisif.
351
02:44:07,344 --> 02:44:11,515
Months passed.
352
02:44:47,802 --> 02:44:50,221
Another melancholy.
353
02:45:35,474 --> 02:45:38,352
What she saw.
354
02:46:06,881 --> 02:46:08,465
The empty house.
355
02:47:12,738 --> 02:47:16,075
How secrets vanish.
356
02:48:10,838 --> 02:48:16,677
"My sister isn't registered
in the official family record?"
357
02:48:49,376 --> 02:48:54,673
"Norma isn't my sister?"
358
02:51:45,552 --> 02:51:55,551
A horrible thought crossed Elie's mind.
Other memories would confirm it.
359
02:52:23,715 --> 02:52:30,681
"I want to drown my love,
drown my atrocious obsession,
360
02:52:30,847 --> 02:52:35,602
in the well's moonlight,
in the green moon."
361
02:53:28,071 --> 02:53:32,284
"You must have had a serious reason.
362
02:53:32,451 --> 02:53:37,205
It's a serious matter to hide this secret.
363
02:53:37,372 --> 02:53:41,293
I want to know. I have a right to know!"
364
02:53:49,635 --> 02:53:52,763
"The days passed too quickly.
365
02:53:52,929 --> 02:53:56,683
She would have suffered to learn it.
366
02:53:56,850 --> 02:53:59,728
And then habit set in
367
02:53:59,895 --> 02:54:02,689
and I didn't dare after that."
368
02:54:07,986 --> 02:54:15,619
"Your entire behavior becomes clear:
You're lying, Papa!"
369
02:54:48,527 --> 02:54:53,031
There are disgraces that must be silenced!
OEDIPUS THE KING.
370
02:55:14,678 --> 02:55:16,972
"There are never flowers
371
02:55:17,139 --> 02:55:19,433
between the tracks for us.
372
02:55:19,599 --> 02:55:22,894
And faced with the miracle
373
02:55:23,061 --> 02:55:26,648
of seeing one appear one day,
374
02:55:26,815 --> 02:55:31,194
we can be excused for extending a hand.
375
02:57:15,674 --> 02:57:21,304
"On the Wheel... bound, always bound!"
KIPLING.
376
02:57:25,016 --> 02:57:29,646
THE PAVEMENT VIRGIN volume 154
377
02:57:45,036 --> 02:57:51,835
CANCER
Like father, like son. Old proverb!
378
03:00:46,051 --> 03:00:49,804
"I would have liked to have been married
379
03:00:49,971 --> 03:00:52,474
to a pretty woman like you!"
380
03:00:52,640 --> 03:00:56,478
These innocent words from long ago
381
03:00:56,644 --> 03:00:59,939
took on a deeply disturbing meaning...
382
03:01:03,943 --> 03:01:07,530
Now that she was coming back,
383
03:01:07,697 --> 03:01:12,911
couldn't he continue his tender romance
384
03:01:13,078 --> 03:01:17,415
to declare his love at last,
385
03:01:17,582 --> 03:01:22,587
without her taking offence?
386
03:01:43,775 --> 03:01:49,030
And you're no longer my sister
in this charming tale.
387
03:01:49,197 --> 03:01:54,369
You are nothing but an open heart
who listens to me as she weeps,
388
03:01:54,536 --> 03:02:00,959
Because I know such words never touched
your ear and your ineffable senses...
389
03:02:03,753 --> 03:02:08,174
...and then I can adore you
in this disguise!
390
03:02:16,683 --> 03:02:19,978
The night comes mysteriously to my aid
391
03:02:20,145 --> 03:02:25,150
to soften on my brow
the harsh specter of branches,
392
03:02:25,316 --> 03:02:28,611
crowning yours with your white stars...
393
03:02:48,214 --> 03:02:53,970
And my shadow is lost
in Tristan's shadow!
394
03:03:10,570 --> 03:03:12,906
I love you! I'm mad...
395
03:03:13,072 --> 03:03:17,493
Forgive Elie's words.
My love is unable to speak...
396
03:03:20,997 --> 03:03:23,917
...it stammers!
397
03:03:45,605 --> 03:03:48,900
It rises in me like a fiery sap,
398
03:03:49,067 --> 03:03:54,447
from the flaming heart of the ground
to the heart of the blue trees,
399
03:03:54,614 --> 03:03:58,743
and makes me so dizzy
that my words ramble.
400
03:04:28,106 --> 03:04:34,404
"Well, old man,
you know how to tell a joke!"
401
03:04:54,924 --> 03:04:58,803
"The Wheel that will wound you and me,
402
03:04:58,970 --> 03:05:04,434
will destroy my pure soul and yours."
Omar KAYYHAM
403
03:05:24,329 --> 03:05:25,621
My dear Elie,
404
03:05:25,788 --> 03:05:28,333
your little sister is very unhappy.
405
03:05:28,499 --> 03:05:31,336
My husband loves me very much
406
03:05:31,502 --> 03:05:34,630
but I can't return his feelings,
407
03:05:34,797 --> 03:05:37,550
our world is too different.
408
03:05:37,717 --> 03:05:40,845
How I wish I could kiss you.
409
03:05:41,012 --> 03:05:44,432
I'm learning the violin all by myself,
410
03:05:44,599 --> 03:05:48,061
because this way I feel closer to you.
411
03:05:59,572 --> 03:06:08,414
"I'll never forgive you for making
me miss my happiness with Norma!"
412
03:07:25,741 --> 03:07:31,164
"So, you too...
My poor Elie... you too."
413
03:08:01,777 --> 03:08:04,447
On his boat, next to the man whom I loath
414
03:08:04,614 --> 03:08:06,365
and whose love defiles me
415
03:08:06,532 --> 03:08:08,117
a little more each day,
416
03:08:08,284 --> 03:08:10,244
I write to you for the 10th time,
417
03:08:10,411 --> 03:08:11,621
my little Elie,
418
03:08:11,787 --> 03:08:12,830
but I will probably
419
03:08:12,997 --> 03:08:14,749
tear up this letter too,
420
03:08:14,916 --> 03:08:16,667
since you never answer me,
421
03:08:16,834 --> 03:08:18,085
and then I will cry
422
03:08:18,252 --> 03:08:19,795
looking at my dream trains
423
03:08:19,962 --> 03:08:21,005
go by on the sea
424
03:08:21,172 --> 03:08:23,883
and listening to the motor that reminds me
425
03:08:24,050 --> 03:08:25,760
of the sound of tracks...
426
03:08:25,927 --> 03:08:27,845
the sound of the Wheel.
427
03:09:33,411 --> 03:09:35,871
There are true damnations,
428
03:09:36,038 --> 03:09:39,000
men who bear the word "bad luck"
429
03:09:39,166 --> 03:09:41,794
stamped in mysterious letters
430
03:09:41,961 --> 03:09:45,256
in the folds of their brow."
BAUDELAIRE
431
03:11:17,473 --> 03:11:20,184
"And you too, Norma!"
432
03:13:30,356 --> 03:13:35,110
"I never want to hear your voice
ever again, understand?"
433
03:13:54,505 --> 03:13:58,133
"He's going mad with his station girl!"
434
03:17:05,904 --> 03:17:09,324
The bad thing is that it's Jacobin
435
03:17:09,491 --> 03:17:12,911
who's going to drive "Norma".
436
03:17:13,078 --> 03:17:16,540
If you call in sick he's going
437
03:17:16,707 --> 03:17:19,835
to smash it up, damn it to hell!
438
03:19:15,367 --> 03:19:17,161
Confirming our diagnosis
439
03:19:17,327 --> 03:19:20,038
as to the weakening of the optic nerve,
440
03:19:20,205 --> 03:19:23,083
and despite the pleas of engineer Sisif,
441
03:19:23,250 --> 03:19:26,003
we maintain our request for retirement,
442
03:19:26,170 --> 03:19:28,714
all active service being impossible
443
03:21:16,405 --> 03:21:24,121
"They won't answer my letters:
I'm coming to scold you."
444
03:22:22,387 --> 03:22:25,640
"We were there, both peaceful.
445
03:22:25,807 --> 03:22:31,480
You come back
and misfortune enters with your laughter!
446
03:22:31,646 --> 03:22:37,194
My little Norma,
you must never, ever come back again."
447
03:22:50,916 --> 03:22:53,251
"Isn't that so, Elie?"
448
03:26:31,136 --> 03:26:35,265
"Hello, my dear Norma."
449
03:26:46,943 --> 03:26:53,658
I see that you recognize me,
you sigh more quickly.
450
03:27:53,468 --> 03:27:57,430
My eyesight is going, old girl.
451
03:27:57,597 --> 03:28:04,229
I can't see any further than 30 yards
and they want to force me to leave you.
452
03:28:09,484 --> 03:28:15,156
NO, SISIF!
453
03:28:31,005 --> 03:28:38,722
Wouldn't you rather die
than fall into the hands of Jacobin?
454
03:28:43,393 --> 03:28:45,603
Ooh... Yes...
455
03:28:59,451 --> 03:29:07,041
They chattered mysteriously well
into dusk.
456
03:29:34,444 --> 03:29:37,906
The death of "Norma Compound".
457
03:30:47,684 --> 03:30:55,275
Sisif just left like a madman on 7.
What's his switch?
458
03:31:04,450 --> 03:31:11,958
He'll only break his own neck.
He's on buffer stop 22.
459
03:33:23,840 --> 03:33:28,177
The agony of Norma Compound.
460
03:34:16,225 --> 03:34:20,730
"You won't be angry with me,
will you Norma?"
461
03:34:45,671 --> 03:34:49,217
"Farewell, old girl!"
462
03:34:56,390 --> 03:34:59,685
Norma Compound was dead.
463
03:38:49,165 --> 03:38:50,666
The punishment.
464
03:38:59,842 --> 03:39:02,094
Report: Second reprimand Engineer Sisif,
465
03:39:02,261 --> 03:39:04,388
following the accident at buffer 22,
466
03:39:04,555 --> 03:39:06,182
will be transferred, demoted and,
467
03:39:06,349 --> 03:39:07,475
due to his good services,
468
03:39:07,641 --> 03:39:08,642
assigned to driving
469
03:39:08,809 --> 03:39:10,436
a funicular railway on Mont Blanc.
470
03:40:22,216 --> 03:40:23,551
"Farewell, old girl!"
471
03:46:12,316 --> 03:46:22,315
END OF THE SECOND PART
472
03:46:41,810 --> 03:46:50,527
THE WHEEL
Third part
473
03:46:52,654 --> 03:46:58,285
RACE TO THE ABYSS
474
03:46:59,328 --> 03:47:03,624
RÉSUMÉ OF THE PREVIOUS PARTS
Following a railway catastrophe,
475
03:47:03,790 --> 03:47:08,378
the locomotive engineer Sisif
takes in a little orphan named Norma.
476
03:47:08,545 --> 03:47:11,632
He raises her in total ignorance
of her origins
477
03:47:11,798 --> 03:47:14,593
alongside Sisif's son,
the violinmaker Elie,
478
03:47:14,760 --> 03:47:17,596
who himself believes her
to be her sister.
479
03:47:17,763 --> 03:47:22,225
Love: one of these loves
that are the cause of all human tragedies,
480
03:47:22,392 --> 03:47:25,729
awakens gradually
in the melancholy soul of Sisif
481
03:47:25,896 --> 03:47:28,523
on which no woman's face had ever smiled.
482
03:47:28,690 --> 03:47:32,027
Believing himself
liberated from his nightmare,
483
03:47:32,194 --> 03:47:36,907
Sisif marries off Norma to
a Company administrator named de Hersan.
484
03:47:37,074 --> 03:47:41,161
But "like father, like son":
the cancer now eats away at Elie
485
03:47:41,328 --> 03:47:45,666
and instills the same tyrannical passion
in the violinmaker,
486
03:47:45,832 --> 03:47:49,544
in despair over her departure
from their lost paradise.
487
03:47:49,711 --> 03:47:54,841
Norma, ignorant of the dramas she incites,
becomes the hub of the Wheel of fate
488
03:47:55,008 --> 03:47:57,219
that carries off in its gyration,
489
03:47:57,386 --> 03:48:01,306
the tormented hearts of the father,
the son and the husband.
490
03:48:01,473 --> 03:48:06,103
Dismissed from the Great Railway,
the greatest of the "Black Faces,"
491
03:48:06,269 --> 03:48:10,899
the man of the Wheel, finds refuge
in the snow-capped mountain where,
492
03:48:11,066 --> 03:48:14,486
in a mockery of fate,
he drives a wheezing cable car.
493
03:48:14,653 --> 03:48:17,698
And Tragedy seems
to nest in the wretched cabin
494
03:48:17,864 --> 03:48:20,575
where the two men
cohabit next to the stars.
495
03:48:20,742 --> 03:48:23,203
But to annihilate me, alas!
496
03:48:23,370 --> 03:48:26,289
I know all too well
that all the suffering
497
03:48:26,456 --> 03:48:28,291
can do nothing to me.
498
03:48:28,458 --> 03:48:31,211
That if my sad life
in the past was saved,
499
03:48:31,378 --> 03:48:33,797
it was reserved for greater evils;
500
03:48:33,964 --> 03:48:36,216
O, may my fate
be all accomplished!
501
03:48:36,383 --> 03:48:37,759
OEDIPUS THE KING
502
03:50:27,953 --> 03:50:31,748
A house 3000 meters above the valley,
503
03:50:31,915 --> 03:50:38,713
where it is forbidden
to pronounce Norma's name.
504
03:52:06,051 --> 03:52:13,934
"The bitch has leaks all over!
Let her rot outside!"
505
03:53:26,506 --> 03:53:30,927
My dear ones What harm have I done you?
506
03:53:31,094 --> 03:53:34,931
Haven't my letters reached you?
507
03:53:35,098 --> 03:53:38,977
Have you left our dear railway house
508
03:53:39,144 --> 03:53:41,229
without warning?
509
03:53:41,396 --> 03:53:44,899
I'm suffering like a little girl and...
510
03:55:33,424 --> 03:55:38,805
But Norma peopled their silence.
511
03:56:54,464 --> 03:56:56,633
On holiday.
512
03:58:18,798 --> 03:58:25,054
The former, tenacious girlfriend
was also on holiday.
513
03:58:58,671 --> 03:59:04,093
"Mr. Kalatarikarascopoulos,
My husband since last week!
514
03:59:04,260 --> 03:59:11,642
Huge fortune. Fanatical about mineralogy.
He doesn't speak a word of French.
515
03:59:11,809 --> 03:59:17,273
A decent sort of nincompoop.
Isn't that so, Bibi?"
516
04:00:14,997 --> 04:00:18,918
That night, the shadow of the Stradivarius
must have quivered.
517
04:01:39,248 --> 04:01:42,126
"The secret of Cremona varnish,
518
04:01:42,293 --> 04:01:44,337
lost for the past 200 years,
519
04:01:44,504 --> 04:01:46,214
I've found it.
520
04:01:46,380 --> 04:01:49,717
Here it is! I've suffered so much
521
04:01:49,884 --> 04:01:51,802
for the past five years...
522
04:01:51,969 --> 04:01:53,804
suffered so much!"
523
04:02:06,943 --> 04:02:15,451
"We'll be rich soon!
You can heal your eyes, my old papa."
524
04:02:36,681 --> 04:02:39,141
"Go to bed, you big fool!"
525
04:02:45,731 --> 04:02:49,068
Hersan's fortune compromised.
526
04:03:28,733 --> 04:03:35,781
"The Wheel turns, old man. You're falling.
The pound is down to 44. General panic.
527
04:03:35,948 --> 04:03:41,871
Come immediately and don't do
anything rash! We'll come out of this."
528
04:04:51,649 --> 04:04:54,985
"I don't know what I have, Tobie,
529
04:04:55,152 --> 04:04:59,657
but this old steel snail
is beginning to touch my heart.
530
04:04:59,824 --> 04:05:03,285
So I was born to love locomotives?
531
04:05:03,452 --> 04:05:07,873
A Norma III is coming.
What an old fool I am!"
532
04:06:22,573 --> 04:06:26,619
"I know these expressions.
533
04:06:26,786 --> 04:06:30,873
You have money problems."
534
04:07:32,685 --> 04:07:36,772
The delight of Kalatarikarascopoulos
535
04:07:36,939 --> 04:07:40,609
seeing a block of rock crystal
536
04:07:40,776 --> 04:07:43,445
was equaled only by that
537
04:07:43,612 --> 04:07:46,699
of his wife seeing Hersan.
538
04:08:06,886 --> 04:08:09,680
"If I can oblige you!"
539
04:08:26,822 --> 04:08:31,744
"I love my wife
and I've become an honest man again.
540
04:08:31,911 --> 04:08:36,749
That surprises you, doesn't it?
Good evening!"
541
04:09:10,115 --> 04:09:13,327
My dearest, it's 4 in the morning.
I'm ruined.
542
04:09:13,494 --> 04:09:18,290
My pistol is on my desk and I'm hesitating
because I love you too much.
543
04:09:18,457 --> 04:09:23,754
I beg you to understand that a new man
has been born in me since our marriage.
544
04:09:23,921 --> 04:09:27,716
My little rose of the rail,
in my delirium last night,
545
04:09:27,883 --> 04:09:31,804
you appeared to me like the center
of an inexorable wheel
546
04:09:31,971 --> 04:09:35,474
that innocently carries all fate
in its spokes...
547
04:09:35,641 --> 04:09:38,560
And I am caught up like all the others.
548
04:10:07,923 --> 04:10:11,927
Sisif and his son attend the major
competition at the Majestic Hotel,
549
04:10:12,094 --> 04:10:15,973
where a soloist will gladly
perform on the young man's instrument
550
04:10:16,140 --> 04:10:18,308
for a select public
of famous violinmakers.
551
04:10:53,510 --> 04:10:59,016
"15 cents to have a good time,
you are stingy my boy!"
552
04:12:08,252 --> 04:12:14,925
From the whiteness of the summits
to the flashy colors of the Palace.
553
04:12:38,615 --> 04:12:42,995
"These high-life places
aren't made for a railwayman.
554
04:12:43,162 --> 04:12:46,999
I'll use the time
to go consult the oculist
555
04:12:47,166 --> 04:12:51,128
who will see me in the evening
on account of my work."
556
04:13:00,012 --> 04:13:02,973
"I didn't say anything... but my eyes
557
04:13:03,140 --> 04:13:07,978
have been hurting a little lately."
558
04:16:25,008 --> 04:16:31,348
Triumph!
Verified by the violinmakers present.
559
04:16:31,515 --> 04:16:37,687
It was the end of Elie's agony,
it meant fame and fortune.
560
04:17:40,125 --> 04:17:44,921
"I need to know the truth, sir,
561
04:17:45,088 --> 04:17:50,010
the absolute truth, for my work.
562
04:17:50,177 --> 04:17:52,471
Even if..."
563
04:18:18,330 --> 04:18:20,332
"Lost?"
564
04:19:38,410 --> 04:19:43,540
"My violin? Very happy, papa...
Success... Bravos."
565
04:19:48,628 --> 04:19:52,048
"What about your eyes?"
566
04:19:57,554 --> 04:20:01,141
"Like you, my boy, very happy..."
567
04:20:25,415 --> 04:20:28,877
Increasingly withdrawn,
568
04:20:29,044 --> 04:20:33,173
Sisif watched the moonlight play
569
04:20:33,340 --> 04:20:37,636
amid all the humble, mundane things,
570
04:20:37,802 --> 04:20:41,306
which he had never seen so beautiful...
571
04:22:22,282 --> 04:22:31,040
"I have no luck. Besides,
you understood all that long ago."
572
04:22:57,108 --> 04:22:58,485
In search of agate,
amethyst and carnelian.
573
04:25:40,563 --> 04:25:46,444
"Don't go see father, Norma, please."
574
04:26:48,381 --> 04:26:50,633
Faced with Norma's candor,
575
04:26:50,800 --> 04:26:55,263
Elie again felt he was the brother
with the pure conscience again.
576
04:26:55,430 --> 04:26:58,891
The awful feeling
would perhaps never return.
577
04:26:59,058 --> 04:27:01,644
Voluble, he related his working life.
578
04:27:35,053 --> 04:27:37,096
"Life with my husband
579
04:27:37,263 --> 04:27:39,807
has become intolerable.
580
04:27:39,974 --> 04:27:42,060
I never loved him
581
04:27:42,226 --> 04:27:44,979
and I have only one desire:
582
04:27:45,146 --> 04:27:47,899
to return to my old place
583
04:27:48,066 --> 04:27:52,028
with the two of you, my loved ones."
584
04:28:02,288 --> 04:28:06,584
"You look at her and you smile...
585
04:28:06,751 --> 04:28:11,839
And as you smile, an atrocious thought
586
04:28:12,006 --> 04:28:18,763
comes to mind,
against which your entire being
587
04:28:18,930 --> 04:28:22,975
shudders with repugnance..."
D'ANNUNZIO
588
04:29:02,598 --> 04:29:05,434
"The idea grows in force,
589
04:29:05,601 --> 04:29:09,355
becomes monstrous,
overbearing...
590
04:29:09,522 --> 04:29:13,067
And your entire soul
is infected...
591
04:29:13,234 --> 04:29:16,279
and everything inside you
592
04:29:16,445 --> 04:29:19,824
becomes a stain
and contamination!
593
04:29:19,991 --> 04:29:23,286
Oh! Is that believable?"
D'ANNUNZIO
594
04:30:20,509 --> 04:30:24,388
"Don't question me, Norma,
595
04:30:24,555 --> 04:30:27,892
but remember father's words:
596
04:30:28,059 --> 04:30:32,813
Never find yourself in our presence,
597
04:30:32,980 --> 04:30:36,943
if you want to avoid misfortune!"
598
04:31:10,434 --> 04:31:15,147
"Your train is whistling. Go on!"
599
04:31:54,770 --> 04:32:00,151
"I was sure of it.
She's cheating on her husband!"
600
04:32:45,905 --> 04:32:47,031
That same evening.
601
04:33:09,929 --> 04:33:10,846
Night.
602
04:35:11,967 --> 04:35:14,470
"Did she come?"
603
04:35:25,648 --> 04:35:31,237
"So there's a cancer in the family, papa?"
604
04:35:42,081 --> 04:35:45,459
"What unfortunate beasts
605
04:35:45,626 --> 04:35:50,589
the two of us are, my poor child!"
606
04:36:30,254 --> 04:36:33,424
The Wheel of despair
turns in the ruts of heaven
607
04:36:33,591 --> 04:36:37,219
and splatters the face of God with mud!
Blaise Cendrars
608
04:37:30,439 --> 04:37:32,066
My little Elie,
609
04:37:32,232 --> 04:37:34,860
bring me one of your finest violins,
610
04:37:35,027 --> 04:37:37,738
so I can continue to learn.
611
04:37:37,905 --> 04:37:41,659
It will bring you a little closer to me,
612
04:37:41,825 --> 04:37:45,621
because I no longer dare look back at you
613
04:37:45,788 --> 04:37:47,289
and I spend my time
614
04:37:47,456 --> 04:37:49,708
looking for an explanation
615
04:37:49,875 --> 04:37:52,503
to your behavior and my father's.
616
04:38:11,647 --> 04:38:21,240
Norma III or Sisif's third love.
617
04:38:31,041 --> 04:38:33,460
"Let's think this over, Tobie!
618
04:38:33,627 --> 04:38:35,963
Obviously, it runs less quickly,
619
04:38:36,130 --> 04:38:39,341
it's not as beautiful,
but it has good legs!
620
04:38:39,508 --> 04:38:43,804
What would my old "Compound"
have done on hills like this?
621
04:38:43,971 --> 04:38:47,057
We can't be too contemptuous, eh, Tobie?"
622
04:39:34,646 --> 04:39:35,939
I adore you, Norma.
623
04:39:36,106 --> 04:39:37,483
I'm not your brother...
624
04:39:37,649 --> 04:39:39,985
I adore you, Norma.
I'm not your brother
625
04:39:40,152 --> 04:39:42,988
and love torments me
like nothing else can.
626
04:39:43,155 --> 04:39:47,075
And I engrave my heart
in the soul of this violin before I die.
627
04:39:47,242 --> 04:39:49,912
Thus my secret will remain hidden
628
04:39:50,078 --> 04:39:52,372
but much closer to your lips.
629
04:39:52,539 --> 04:39:55,667
And when you play in the twilight,
630
04:39:55,834 --> 04:39:58,587
sliding the bow over my secret,
631
04:39:58,754 --> 04:40:04,426
you will say to yourself,
captivated, turning your head:
632
04:40:04,593 --> 04:40:08,514
"Has someone just spoken to me of love?"
633
04:40:08,680 --> 04:40:13,268
You'll play on my heart,
not understanding...
634
04:41:26,049 --> 04:41:29,887
"Father won't allow your coming back now.
Later... much later maybe..."
635
04:44:58,762 --> 04:45:00,597
"You wrote me such mad things, Norma."
636
04:45:52,983 --> 04:45:54,818
Evening.
637
04:47:24,741 --> 04:47:28,578
"Norma, this place isn't worthy of you.
We'll leave tomorrow!"
638
04:47:39,047 --> 04:47:41,841
"It hurts me to see you suffer, my friend.
639
04:47:42,008 --> 04:47:43,885
I beg you, let us separate
640
04:47:44,052 --> 04:47:46,888
and let me return to my old railway life."
641
04:47:59,609 --> 04:48:03,446
"Your old life, but you're mad!
You belong to me!"
642
04:50:15,703 --> 04:50:16,663
My dear Elie:
643
04:50:16,830 --> 04:50:18,665
Hersan's bestiality
has shattered my last scruples.
644
04:50:18,832 --> 04:50:20,291
I've come to beg you
to talk to papa
645
04:50:20,458 --> 04:50:22,085
so I can go back
to my old place at the house.
646
04:50:22,252 --> 04:50:23,878
We're leaving this morning
to avoid scandal.
647
04:50:24,045 --> 04:50:25,547
But I'm selling off everything
and I'll be back.
648
04:52:04,646 --> 04:52:05,605
My dear Elie:
649
04:52:05,772 --> 04:52:07,607
Hersan's bestiality
has shattered my last scruples.
650
04:52:07,774 --> 04:52:09,234
I've come to beg you
to talk to papa
651
04:52:09,400 --> 04:52:11,027
so I can go back
to my old place at the house.
652
04:52:11,194 --> 04:52:12,820
We're leaving this morning
to avoid scandal.
653
04:52:12,987 --> 04:52:14,489
But I'm selling off everything
and I'll be back.
654
04:52:37,887 --> 04:52:40,557
I adore you, Norma.
I'm not your brother
655
04:52:40,723 --> 04:52:43,476
and love torments me
like there's no example.
656
04:52:43,643 --> 04:52:47,313
And I engrave my heart
in the soul of this violin before I die.
657
04:53:19,095 --> 04:53:20,888
MONT-BLANC RAILWAY
658
04:58:22,231 --> 04:58:24,066
"Thief!"
659
04:58:28,154 --> 04:58:29,989
"Artist!"
660
04:59:50,945 --> 04:59:54,782
"Don't look at me!
You have poison in your eyes."
661
05:02:20,427 --> 05:02:21,303
What have you done to my boy?
662
05:02:37,069 --> 05:02:39,113
You killed him, didn't you?
663
05:04:30,683 --> 05:04:32,518
"Where is Elie?"
664
05:09:10,671 --> 05:09:12,548
Is he dead?
665
05:09:14,633 --> 05:09:17,177
"I... don't... know..."
666
05:09:27,688 --> 05:09:32,943
"Little rose of the rail,
I loved you as much
667
05:09:33,110 --> 05:09:38,907
as the one
who you believed to be... your...!"
668
05:12:45,218 --> 05:12:46,261
Hear that, Tobie?
669
05:13:27,302 --> 05:13:28,637
I hear him shouting!
670
05:13:53,245 --> 05:13:58,291
Guided by the calls...
671
05:14:57,017 --> 05:14:59,978
Courage, Elie, I'm coming!
672
05:15:09,738 --> 05:15:10,739
Hurry, Norma. Hurry, hurry!
673
05:17:13,361 --> 05:17:16,281
"I'm coming, child! Hold on!"
674
05:18:27,560 --> 05:18:32,690
Explain, you know I can't see
anything from a distance.
675
05:18:53,920 --> 05:19:00,051
"Because... because of you
he's dead! Get out!"
676
05:20:04,991 --> 05:20:10,371
"This place is mine!"
677
05:20:48,618 --> 05:20:58,617
END OF PART THREE
678
05:21:18,279 --> 05:21:26,746
THE WHEEL
Part four
679
05:21:29,290 --> 05:21:34,754
SYMPHONY IN WHITE
680
05:21:35,797 --> 05:21:40,969
And when the moon
rose over the glacier...
681
05:23:26,407 --> 05:23:31,329
The first train the next morning.
682
05:23:43,883 --> 05:23:47,387
And we, the examining judge,
683
05:23:47,554 --> 05:23:51,307
conclude that the legal action
684
05:23:51,474 --> 05:23:54,811
is rendered null and void
685
05:23:54,978 --> 05:24:00,191
as the two adversaries
killed one another.
686
05:24:22,755 --> 05:24:27,385
Halt! The mountaineers are here!
687
05:27:23,603 --> 05:27:25,605
"You're all I have now."
688
05:28:00,014 --> 05:28:06,854
A visitor on holiday.
689
05:28:18,199 --> 05:28:22,703
I'm Mr. Mâchefer,
qualified engineer first class,
690
05:28:22,870 --> 05:28:27,834
and I'm looking
for my old friend, Mr. Sisif.
691
05:29:33,357 --> 05:29:38,779
Where it is shown
that horse-power is not enough.
692
05:30:27,078 --> 05:30:34,752
And where it is shown
that Mâchefer is no mountaineer.
693
05:32:56,644 --> 05:33:03,317
She's a good companion too.
She climbs at 27%.
694
05:33:03,484 --> 05:33:09,406
I'd like to see you with your "Pacific".
695
05:33:18,749 --> 05:33:24,880
And over there?
696
05:33:37,977 --> 05:33:43,607
Engineer first class of a Pacific!
I'm in charge.
697
05:33:43,774 --> 05:33:49,280
It hums and my fireman
is always on the button!
698
05:34:29,361 --> 05:34:35,451
During strikes,
I even drove without a fireman.
699
05:34:35,618 --> 05:34:39,038
They called me Napoleon.
700
05:36:03,455 --> 05:36:06,083
"And Norma?"
701
05:36:13,257 --> 05:36:15,592
"And Elie?"
702
05:36:51,003 --> 05:36:55,549
"He'll be back in 27 years."
703
05:37:06,643 --> 05:37:13,859
It takes the glaciers 27 years
to give up their dead.
704
05:39:15,272 --> 05:39:21,028
From the tragedy of the summit
to the small dramas of the valley.
705
05:39:57,898 --> 05:39:58,982
And then,
706
05:39:59,149 --> 05:40:01,693
one morning when all humble things
707
05:40:01,860 --> 05:40:03,070
were happy,
708
05:40:03,237 --> 05:40:05,739
in the luminous cross of the window...
709
05:45:57,007 --> 05:46:03,430
"I must have slept all day.
It's evening, isn't it?"
710
05:46:10,437 --> 05:46:16,401
"You must be seeing things,
it's broad daylight!"
711
05:46:44,429 --> 05:46:49,476
I can't see anything at all...
712
05:47:05,325 --> 05:47:12,165
"Go on, leave without me. Duty first.
713
05:47:12,332 --> 05:47:17,170
The Wheel has to keep turning."
714
05:47:37,482 --> 05:47:42,195
"Watch your lubrication."
715
05:49:15,371 --> 05:49:19,626
"So where are the mountains?"
716
05:49:29,636 --> 05:49:33,473
From now on and until his last day,
717
05:49:33,640 --> 05:49:37,644
his pupils were filled with bright snow.
718
05:50:05,755 --> 05:50:07,590
Winter came.
719
05:50:07,757 --> 05:50:10,552
The Company, out of compassion,
720
05:50:10,718 --> 05:50:14,806
let Sisif live in the cottage
on a tiny pension.
721
05:50:14,973 --> 05:50:18,226
Here, he spent the long cold evenings,
722
05:50:18,393 --> 05:50:21,062
his poor pale seemed to emerge
723
05:50:21,229 --> 05:50:23,815
from the kingdom of shadows.
724
05:51:01,895 --> 05:51:05,398
Unaware of Sisif's total blindness,
725
05:51:05,565 --> 05:51:08,359
Norma came from time to time
726
05:51:08,526 --> 05:51:11,237
to watch the old man,
727
05:51:11,404 --> 05:51:15,533
but seized with fear
when he turned to her...
728
05:51:18,912 --> 05:51:26,669
...and the pain snowed in her as well...
729
05:51:53,029 --> 05:51:58,409
Then came the great day,
the anniversary of Elie's death.
730
05:53:20,783 --> 05:53:23,036
A same thought...
731
05:55:39,005 --> 05:55:47,930
"For we must bear the cross
before the cross bears us." (Claudel)
732
05:57:07,260 --> 05:57:08,594
Blind!
733
05:58:54,033 --> 05:58:57,828
Then, at twilight, came the prayer.
734
06:00:41,474 --> 06:00:43,476
Evening.
735
06:02:10,062 --> 06:02:15,359
"We have to tighten our belts, old boy.
We're out of money!"
736
06:04:18,190 --> 06:04:20,234
Night.
737
06:06:11,428 --> 06:06:14,098
"I've arrived."
738
06:09:14,236 --> 06:09:19,950
That night, Tobie explained to Elie
739
06:09:20,117 --> 06:09:26,290
many joyous things
which the echoes carried.
740
06:09:43,765 --> 06:09:46,310
The next day.
741
06:09:57,988 --> 06:10:03,118
"Where's my shoe, Tobie?"
742
06:10:55,420 --> 06:11:00,258
"So there's someone here!"
743
06:11:18,276 --> 06:11:26,785
Here comes Norma III... What pull!
It does the heart good, Tobie.
744
06:13:32,577 --> 06:13:37,457
"Give the oil system
a good purging
745
06:13:37,624 --> 06:13:40,585
and take good care of it.
746
06:13:40,752 --> 06:13:45,423
I can hear my Norma grumble."
747
06:18:48,059 --> 06:18:52,814
"Strangers here! Never!
I want to be left alone.
748
06:18:52,981 --> 06:18:56,359
Alone... all alone! I'll die alone!"
749
06:19:08,997 --> 06:19:10,582
That evening,
750
06:19:10,748 --> 06:19:16,921
she tearfully came to tell Elie
how happy she was to come home.
751
06:19:47,410 --> 06:19:49,787
Similar days passed.
752
06:19:49,954 --> 06:19:52,040
Norma remained silent
753
06:19:52,206 --> 06:19:55,251
for fear of being rejected.
754
06:20:38,670 --> 06:20:42,256
If, despite her sorrow,
755
06:20:42,423 --> 06:20:47,011
she forced the Rose of the Rail
756
06:20:47,178 --> 06:20:49,722
to return to her
757
06:20:49,889 --> 06:20:54,352
with her youth and gaiety,
758
06:20:54,519 --> 06:20:58,606
she might restore some joy
759
06:20:58,773 --> 06:21:03,277
to his poor white-haired face...
760
06:21:14,956 --> 06:21:17,625
Sisif imperceptibly
761
06:21:17,792 --> 06:21:23,047
grew used to the enigmatic presence,
762
06:21:23,214 --> 06:21:28,302
at times with sudden starts of rebellion.
763
06:22:07,091 --> 06:22:12,096
"Did you forget my glass, Tobie?"
764
06:24:13,718 --> 06:24:18,681
Old people love
the explanations of miracles.
765
06:27:28,537 --> 06:27:30,373
Transformations!
766
06:31:03,752 --> 06:31:06,130
Their first words.
767
06:31:47,630 --> 06:31:55,971
"Is that the Joan of Arc
or the Norma III coming up, Tobie?"
768
06:32:04,438 --> 06:32:11,987
"It's the Norma III, papa.
The compressor isn't working right."
769
06:32:38,055 --> 06:32:46,522
They have kids drive them!
So, you understand...
770
06:32:55,155 --> 06:33:02,037
The final leap
came unexpectedly.
771
06:33:02,204 --> 06:33:07,251
She had arrived for good!
772
06:33:43,620 --> 06:33:47,207
She learned another heartwarming secret
773
06:33:47,374 --> 06:33:48,917
from the old man:
774
06:33:49,084 --> 06:33:52,296
Sisif had received the 50,000 francs
775
06:33:52,463 --> 06:33:53,630
won by Elie
776
06:33:53,797 --> 06:33:56,967
for his discovery of the Cremona varnish,
777
06:33:57,134 --> 06:33:59,428
but had given the entire sum
778
06:33:59,595 --> 06:34:02,014
to the region's guide union,
779
06:34:02,181 --> 06:34:05,726
in the hope of finding his son's body.
780
06:34:11,732 --> 06:34:14,109
Night and day, the guides
781
06:34:14,276 --> 06:34:19,031
vainly probed the dangerous glacier.
782
06:34:19,198 --> 06:34:23,243
Norma could now tell the wary blind man
783
06:34:23,410 --> 06:34:27,748
if the guides truly earned their wages.
784
06:35:00,155 --> 06:35:05,285
And Sisif now understood that,
for the past 20 years,
785
06:35:05,452 --> 06:35:08,956
the toy accident
had been a miniature recreation
786
06:35:09,122 --> 06:35:12,709
of the catastrophe the day before...
787
06:35:25,973 --> 06:35:29,560
...and that his fate was inextricably
788
06:35:29,726 --> 06:35:32,437
linked to that of the little blond doll,
789
06:35:32,604 --> 06:35:37,192
and that he had to keep her with him
790
06:35:37,359 --> 06:35:42,155
until the tragedy of the wheel
ceased with last breath.
791
06:36:06,388 --> 06:36:12,603
"From black to white
through the rainbow of stormy ends."
792
06:36:14,271 --> 06:36:21,361
And like in the endings of fairy tales,
they lived happily...
793
06:36:23,280 --> 06:36:33,279
...for the spokes of the Wheel
794
06:36:34,541 --> 06:36:44,540
were now bedecked with Norma's smiles.
795
06:36:49,097 --> 06:36:55,562
Came the young woman's name day.
796
06:37:27,344 --> 06:37:31,264
And the Festival of the Guides
on this light-hearted morning.
797
06:39:50,779 --> 06:39:57,285
On the first day of winter,
before the high mountain became impassible,
798
06:39:57,452 --> 06:40:07,212
the guides and the pink-cheeked girls
have a custom in this region:
799
06:40:07,879 --> 06:40:10,966
At dawn, as they climb,
they burn the last tree
800
06:40:11,133 --> 06:40:13,844
they find
before access to the glacier
801
06:40:14,010 --> 06:40:15,846
and they dance around it.
802
06:40:16,012 --> 06:40:18,598
Then they climb
to the highest peak.
803
06:41:34,883 --> 06:41:39,721
"Miss Norma,
as you will be spending winter here,
804
06:41:39,888 --> 06:41:43,099
far from the world, without distractions,
805
06:41:43,266 --> 06:41:48,188
we thought you might come
dance with us today."
806
06:42:25,934 --> 06:42:29,604
"Some powder and I'm yours."
807
06:44:13,666 --> 06:44:19,672
"Shaking your head again, Norma.
808
06:44:19,839 --> 06:44:24,386
So you're not cheerful today?"
809
06:44:28,598 --> 06:44:33,770
"I'm not cheerful, papa. I'm happy.
810
06:44:33,937 --> 06:44:36,898
It's not the same thing.
811
06:44:37,065 --> 06:44:39,734
It's gentler and sadder!"
812
06:45:59,105 --> 06:46:05,778
As the last glimmers
of the sacrificial tree died,
813
06:46:05,945 --> 06:46:10,825
the round dance
rose higher into the snow.
814
06:48:20,788 --> 06:48:23,291
And everything turned...
815
06:48:23,458 --> 06:48:26,628
Even the clouds which are
816
06:48:26,794 --> 06:48:30,632
the white shadows of the mountains,
817
06:48:30,798 --> 06:48:33,885
danced the eternal tragic dance
818
06:48:34,052 --> 06:48:36,971
of the Wheel among the peaks.
819
06:49:15,677 --> 06:49:21,974
4300 meters!
On the little plateau of Mont Blanc!
820
06:49:22,141 --> 06:49:28,564
No guide could remember
having danced so high.
821
06:50:07,520 --> 06:50:15,361
"Tell me, Tobie.
Is the Wheel still turning up there?"
822
06:51:32,146 --> 06:51:35,817
Gently, Sisif had just left life
823
06:51:35,983 --> 06:51:40,655
like a ray of sunlight
leaves a window at twilight...
824
06:52:11,727 --> 06:52:16,315
Taking wing, Sisif's soul caressed
825
06:52:16,482 --> 06:52:19,735
the carefree little Norma
826
06:52:19,902 --> 06:52:23,573
as she prolonged the Wheel...
827
06:54:09,971 --> 06:54:19,480
END
828
06:54:21,565 --> 06:54:23,401
Translation: Lenny Borger
829
06:55:18,622 --> 06:55:20,207
Film restored between 2016 and 2019
830
06:55:20,374 --> 06:55:22,835
by Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé
from a nitrate negative and positives
831
06:55:23,002 --> 06:55:24,545
from Cinémathèque française's collections,
832
06:55:24,712 --> 06:55:27,256
copies from Cinémathèque suisse,
Cinémathèque de Toulouse,
833
06:55:27,423 --> 06:55:29,258
Národní fimový archiv and Lobster films.
834
06:55:29,425 --> 06:55:32,428
4K digitization and restoration
by L'Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna and Paris.
835
06:55:32,595 --> 06:55:34,388
The reconstruction
of the February 1923 version,
836
06:55:34,555 --> 06:55:36,724
divided into a prologue and 4 parts,
is accompanied by the music
837
06:55:36,891 --> 06:55:39,727
selected by Arthur Honneger and Paul Fosse
for the Gaumont-Palace release of the film.
838
06:55:39,894 --> 06:55:41,103
The reconstruction of the music adaptation
839
06:55:41,270 --> 06:55:43,022
was carried out from the music list
found in Paul Fosse's records.
840
06:55:43,189 --> 06:55:44,565
Music scores were gathered
thanks to the editors
841
06:55:44,732 --> 06:55:46,275
and the copyright holders
of the musical works,
842
06:55:46,442 --> 06:55:48,527
to the Bibliothèque d'orchestres
and Radio France's Documentation musicale,
843
06:55:48,694 --> 06:55:49,904
to Sacem's Service des Archives,
844
06:55:50,071 --> 06:55:51,697
Promotion des Répertoires
and Commission Mémoire and Patrimoine,
845
06:55:51,864 --> 06:55:52,990
to Fondation Paul Sacher
846
06:55:53,157 --> 06:55:54,492
and to the music department
of the Bibliothèque national de France.
62187
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