All language subtitles for The Image 1975

The image.

For some reason there is 1 minute
of dead air on this source.

Movie starts at roughly 1m10s.

THE IMAGE

Adapted from the novel
Jean de Berg (Catherine Robbe-Grillet)

I. An Evening at the X...'s.

When I saw Claire again for
the first time next summer...

it was at a party given by, oh let's say,
the X's near the Place de la Concorde.

The entire summer had been lovely, but
that evening was particularly beautiful.

I was late as usual.

Normally, I detest
Literary Cocktail parties...

- Jean - Hello!
- As anyone who attends them regularly should.

If he has any self-respect at all.

I had just come out of a long
siege with a short story.

A short story that in enormous
resistance to be completed.

And I will be totally honest...

I would confess that I was genuinely
pleased to be once more among the living.

- How are you? - And you?
- Fine. Good.

Excuse me.

What strucked me most about seeing Claire
again was that she hadn't changed at all.

I felt as if I had just
left her the night before.

Although in reality I hadn't seen
her for at least two or three years.

Maybe more.

- Are you alone?
- Could be.

I said hello to other people but I
meticulously avoided getting involved...

in the peculiar kind of pointless argument
which is so typical at that kind of party.

I remembered that I noticed something then in
which I wouldn't have mind of getting involved...

and it was dressed all in white.

As I think back, she had made more
of an impression on me than...

the usual pretty girl one sees at parties.

The young girl in the white dress
and Claire were friends obviously.

But beyond that,
I sense the strange link between them.

A kind of electricity. Although I had never heard it
said that Claire was particularly interested in girls.

Still, there was a conspiracy between
them that one could feel quite clearly.

Hi!

What are you doing hiding out there?

Oh thinking of clever things to
say to your delightful guests.

That shouldn't be too difficult for you.

- What about the young girl in the white dress?
- I know nothing about it.

She came with Claire.
I suppose she's a friend of hers.

Funny thing is I haven't been able to
get two words out of her all night.

I remembered clearly the
look Claire had given her.

It was the look of one viewing of rerun of a
successful film one had directed oneself...

whose plot couldn't
possibly have any surprises.

- Lovely to have had you.
- Later as I was getting ready to leave...

- All right. I might call you later...
- Jean...

- Yes.
- If you like perhaps...

we can have a drink somewhere and
forget about this dreadful party.

- Nice.
- You can get to know Anne.

- Anne?
- Anne! You'll see.

She's very nice.

- Who is she anyway?
- Oh, just a young model!

- And?
- Well, she belongs to me.

Three menus, please.

She's pretty, isn't she?

- Yes, very.
- She is very pretty.

You can touch her if you like.
And she has a beautiful mouth.

Lovely soft lips.

Lovely soft lips.

And very deep.
Let's have a look at them.

Stay like that! Someday I'll show
you some photographs I took her.

II. The Roses in the Bagatelle Gardens

Claire had arranged to
meet me the following day.

I know enough by now not to
ask whether we'll be alone...

or with her young friend.

We were supposed to spend the afternoon
together in the Bagatelle Gardens.

The most beautiful rose
garden in the world.

She had insisted that she
wanted to show it to me herself.

Claire was an stunning woman and probably
even more interesting than her friend.

But unlike her friend,
she had never aroused me at all.

At first this had bothered me,

but then I told myself that it
was her impeccable manners...

and the precise way in which she
did everything that made it...

impossible to think about
her as a potential conquest.

I probably needed to feel that at least
some little thing was vulnerable...

in order to arouse a
desire in me to win her.

Claire was waiting for us in the car.

Anne's manners reminded me of a
well-behaved young school girl.

I had time to ask the girl
several casual questions.

But all I could get out of her was
"Yes, sir" "No, sir"...

or "I don't know,
sir," as though she were a child.

RESERVED PARKING FOR
BAGATELLE PARK VISITORS

Instead of letting us wander
from flower to flower...

Claire made us look at the
varieties that she admired most.

Knowing exactly where each one was.

After the grand tour we wandered off
to a more deserted part of the garden.

Keep off the grass.

Go over to it!

Go on, hurry up!

Now, go ahead.

Watch this.

She has pretty hands.
- Yes.

She likes doing that, you know?
It's excited.

I can prove it to you if you like.

At the slightest provocation she gets
all wet. Isn't that right, little one?

All right. That's enough!

Pick the flower and bring it over here!

Well, what are you waiting for?

- It's not allowed.
- Nothing that I like is allowed, Anne.

- You know that.
- There are too many thorns.

You simply have to get scratched.

Very good.
And it wasn't too difficult, was it?

Of course you will be punished for
having hesitated just a second too long.

- What are you planning to do?
- I don't know, but she'll be punished in front of you.

- Somebody's coming!
- All right. Bring the flower.

- Excuse me, what time is it, please?
- 10:30.

We continued our walk.

Anne, in the middle,
held the rose against her breast.

So no one will detect her crime.

We soon came to a sort of growth
or thicket more or less...

closed off from the rest of the
gardens and completely deserted.

Since there weren't any flowers, we reasoned
that here we could find some privacy.

This will be all right.

No, you'll have to stand.

She has to think about where to hide what
she'd stolen. The rose must be hidden.

- All she has to do is throw it over there.
- But it would be a shame to lose such a beautiful flower.

Yes .. No... I don't know.

It's very simple, you'll have to
hide it somewhere on your person.

Come over here!
Lift your skirt!

Lift your skirt!

You'll have to lift it higher than that.
Hurry up!

Higher. Higher.

Well, what do you think of it?

The design of the top of the stocking is...
particularly charming touch.

What we will do is slip the stem
up between the garter belt...

and the skin about there
close to the crotch.

The thorn should be strong enough
to hold the flower in place.

Only when she's standing still.

See how nice I am.

I'm taking off all the little thorns...

so as not to hurt you.

Oh, but I forgot she's supposed
to be punished, isn't she?

Spread your legs apart and then don't move.
I'm going to hurt you.

Come close to me.

Please. Please don't. I beg you.

Please! No!

Now hold still.

No, please!

Please, no, no!

There. That's pretty, isn't it?

A great success.

Oh perhaps rather overburdened with symbols
in... I would say the Surrealist tradition.

You may lower your dress.

III. Too Much Water and Its Consequences.

Can you still feel the
petals between your thighs?

Does it feel nice?
Oh can't you answer?

Yes, it feels nice. I have...

- I need to stop a minute.
- No, you can't go now.

You didn't have to drink so
much water in the first place.

I didn't know yet what
Claire was leading us up to.

At last we came to an area that
seemed more wild and natural...

where very large trees had blanketed the
sparse unkempt grass with fallen leaves.

- This is the perfect place, don't you think so?
- Depends on what you want to use it for.

For the girl, of course.
She was looking for a bathroom.

No, I don't need to go.

Why? Did you lie to us? I thought you
were going to give us a little moment...

No, I was mistaken.

Don't try to fool with us.
You know it won't get you anywhere, Anne.

Anne!

You'll do it now!

Bend down lower!

Now then, is our little
girl going to do peepee?

Be sure your legs are
spread far enough apart.

That's fine.

Now lean forward a little.

You are very nice like that, you know?

Well, are you going to piss or
not, you little bitch?

IV. False Starts.

More than a week went by without
my seeing Claire or Anne again.

On the eighth day, quite by chance,
I was driving on the Quai Malaquai,

and I ran into little
Anne at the bookstalls.

She was alone and that pleased me.

She pretended not to recognize me,
which hardly suprised me I must say.

I thought of that last image I had of
our afternoon in the Bagatelle Gardens.

The girl was now speaking to the salesman.

No, we haven't got anymore.

Look, I know you have what I want and
I'm going to stand here until I get it.

- I don't have that type of book.
- All right, then...

I was struck by the positive tone she
used in dealing with the bookseller.

She wanted a rare book sold
only under the counter...

which she asked for with confidence.

Obviously sure that this
was the place to find it.

- How much?
- 100 (Francs)

Thank you.

- Hi, remember Me?
- Yes, I remember you.

Hey, wait a minute.

Look. No offense. Actually I
didn't mean anything in particular.

- What do you want?
- Nothing.

Just to talk to you a little.

I don't feel like talking.
I have to bring this back right away.

- Claire?
- I bring things back to whomever I please.

- It's none of your business.
- But I have...

Have a nice day!

This encounter left me highly dissatisfied.

I spent the following days unproductively.

The weather was good and I spent most of my time
trying to focus my attention on an article...

which will be due the following month.

But my thoughts always returned
to Claire... eh... and Anne.

I hadn't imagined that I personally
would have any power over this girl.

But it had seemed only natural that
I should enjoy certain privileges...

outside of Claire's presence since they had
already been granted to me so liberally.

And without my even
having asked for anything.

Then, upon further reflection,

I began to wonder if I've been granted
so much after all the other day.

I was obliged to come to
a negative conclusion.

Then I could see how wrong I have been.

I could even make fun of my own stupidity.

For the recent conduct of little Anne
suddenly appeared quite normal and obvious...

to the extent that for her to have behaved
any differently now seemed impossible.

The situation, in short,
had not been what I thought it was.

I felt annoyed and deceived.

I decided not to think about
those two girls anymore.

Or about the whole absurd story.

I waited for three more
days, but on the fourth...

Hello - Hello - How've you
been feeling since the last time?

- Fine. And you?
- Fine.

- And how is the health of your friend?
- And which friend are you talking about?

Anne! Who do you think I meant?

Anne! Of course I had completely forgotten.

If it's Anne you want to see you
should have said so right away.

I can lend her to you my dear with no trouble at all.
You can make love to her if you are in that mood.

What day would you like
me to send her over?

- You're joking.
- I never joked about my friends.

Thanks, but I wouldn't
know how to reciprocate.

You mentioned you have some
photographs to show me.

That's true.
You can come by tomorrow around five.

- Come, Princess!
- All right!

V. The Photographs.

- How nice of you to come.
- Thank you.

- I have a gift for you.
- Thanks. Drink?

Brandy, please.

Isn't this what you came to see?

In the first photo, Anne is wearing a short black
slip with nothing underneath but her stockings.

And the simple garter belt like the one I
already admired in the Bagatelle Gardens.

The second photo was a
delicious detail of the first.

In the next photo, the girl is in
the same costume but lying down...

with her shapely rear exposed.

In the next one the girl is profile, entirely
naked, with her hands chained behind her back...

kneeling on a black and
white checkerboard floor.

The next was a close-up, showing the scale
with which Anne was placed in bondage.

In the next photo,
Anne is handcuffed in such a way...

as to keep her arms
suspended over her head.

Her ankles were chained tightly...

giving an excellent view of her rear.

The position must have been extremely
uncomfortable, even for a short period of time.

The next picture, extremely fascinating in its
horror, despite the somewhat romantic exaggeration...

could only be the result of a trick.

But it was done so well that
one could easily be fooled...

especially since the contortions
of the victim was so convincing.

The stomach is marked in every
direction by deep lines...

very clear and distinct...

more or less accented according
to how hard the whip fell.

In the next one, Anne's face is
even more contorted in agony...

presumably from the pain
being inflicted upon her.

The next photograph was
a logical conclusion:

the tortured body of the
girl apparently lifeless...

is stretched out on a black
and white checkerboard floor.

She is wearing nothing but a
black band across her eyes.

Claire's skill as a photographer is
apparent in her loving attention to detail.

The last photo was very
different from the others.

For one thing, the body was
completely cut off by the camera.

For another, the pubic hair seemed darker.

It was obvious to me that the model
was no longer Anne, but someone else.

What gave me the final proof were the dark
polished finger nails of those two hands.

I remembered that Anne left
her finger nails natural.

And this last photograph
here, is this still Anne?

Claire became nervous,
which was unlike her.

She got hold of herself immediately.

Who else could it be?

VI. An Expiatory Sacrifice.

Oh! By the way you ran into
Anne the other day, didn't you?

- At the bookstalls.
- She didn't show any lack of respect, did she?

I didn't know she owe me any respect.

She does it by so desire.

I understand that you were rude
the other day at the bookstalls.

Get undressed.

You're going to be whipped.

Get up, you little whore!
Go and get me the whip.

She loves it when we put her on her
knees so we can whip her, doesn't she?

It gets her all excited.
She's wet already, isn't she?

You see how well she's been broken in?
It's a question of training.

Just like with a dog.

I only have to fondle her off
enough in this position...

and now she can no longer keep
herself from wanting to be satisfied.

Isn't that so, you little whore?

When was it about to be her?
She gets all set for her orgasm.

You're going to a moist paradise.

Kiss!

Look at ya! It's here you
request to being punished.

Very quietly, the girl began to cry.

The tears formed in the corners of her
eyes and rolled down her flesh cheeks.

From time to time,
a shudder ran through her body.

Kneeling on the wool rug, perfectly straight,
thighs well apart, hands held in the air...

she didn't even dare wipe away the
tears which ran slowly down her face.

We sat there for a long
time, looking at her.

- It might be better to tie her up.
- Yes, if you like.

Go and get the chains!

Forgive me!

For I know what I do.

Go to Jean!

Go on!

Are you enjoying?

You know what happens to little girls
who don't do exactly as are told.

Go on with the punishment!

You better behave better than that.

She's soaking wet, the little darling.

It's a real lake.

You're about to rip the
fruits of your labor.

That's it! That's it! Now!

Whip her! Whip... whip her!

Whip her!

I was informed that in the future I
could have Anne whenever I wanted her...

and could have amused myself
with her however I pleased.

May I take your order?

I'm full!

Keep going!

Get him off!

Someone's coming. Don't stop!

VII. The Fitting Room.

One afternoon that week her mistress
even let me have her all to myself.

I was to take her shopping
for various items of lingerie.

- May I help you, sir?
- Yes, we're interested in some lingerie.

Fine. Come this way please.

This is in a sense the most amusing
but it's down a little too far.

I'm afraid it won't
completely show the triangle.

It might interfere with the view...

and with the hands as well.
I think you better try it on.

- If you like...
- Very well, sir.

Come!

Get up.

This is what I had in mind.

Do you think it's going to rain...
like in the movies.

It's very possible.

Well, everything is possible.

Are you ready yet?

Miss! Would you mind coming
here for a moment, please.

That'll do, but...

I think you should take in the belt...
just a little.

Anne, turn around.

Anne ...!

It's nothing.

She was whipped over there,
because she wasn't a good girl. That's all.

Anne? Say thank you.

You look fine.

We joined our friend again at five
o'clock in a rather dignified tea room...

where people talked in hushed voices.

Claire was waiting for us.

She had chosen a table in the most
propitious corner of the room.

Claire expected a full report
of our afternoon's activities.

And what did we do today?

Complete with all the delicate details...

Anne listened with delight as I
recounted the episode with the salesgirl.

She seemed happy that her complete obedience
gave such pleasure to her mistress.

Claire had as much satisfaction in hearing
the story as if she had been there herself.

You don't say!

Presently, Claire's mood changed.

You must have been very happy, weren't you?

To have everyone know what
a little whore you are.

Answer me.

Yes, I was happy.

Happy about what?

I was happy...

to show how I had been whipped.
- You like being whipped?

- Yes!
- Stand up!

Lean forward. Put your hands on the table.

Spread your legs.

Bend your knees.

She's wet already the little bitch.

You only have to promise to whip her.

Would you like to see for yourself?

We're ready to order now.

There are so many delectable things to
choose from. Would you like a salad, Claire?

- I love salad.
- Yes, I thought you'd agreed with me.

Can we have a mixed green salad please
with endive, watercress and tomato.

Err.. however I don't want the tomato
sliced. The tomato must be wedged.

Not sliced. And I like garlic dressing...

The dressing of oil and vinegar
with just a kiss of garlic.

- That sounds delectable.
- Dry mustard and a pinch of oregano at the very last moment.

Very delicate.

- That'll be all for the moment.
- Thank you.

- Does it feel nice?
- Let me go.

Please! Please!

What do you like better:
when I embarass you...

or when I hurt you?

Let's see Jean, didn't you say
she wasn't good this afternoon?

Well, the salesgirl didn't complain.

- Faster.
- Then we'll have to make her cry.

Don't think I'm going to
let you off so easily.

When would you like to
come over to my place?

- Tomorrow evening, after dinner.
- Tomorrow evening, after dinner!

You can sit down!

Smell!
See how good you smell?

Kiss it!

VIII. In The Bathroom.

It's getting hotter and hotter outside. You
might think it was the middle of August.

I regret my idea that we're
obliged to keep our clothes on...

but in our roads, you
understand, it's indispensable.

- To you especially?
- Yes!

- Don't you ever get too hot?
- No, never.

The little girl must be ready. Follow me!

The entire body was gone over meticulously.

You're very attractive honestly!

Would you like me to turn
the little fountain on?

Why not?

All right. Watch.

Show the gentleman the pretty fountain.

IX. The Gothic Chamber.

I felt at home in the Gothic chamber...

because it was exactly as I had
remembered it in the photos.

Supposing we made her play with herself.

First, get the whip and the blindfold.

- That whip isn't the same one we used the other day.
- It's a new one. She went and bought it herself this morning.

All right. Show us what you can do.

Play with yourself.

Better than that.

You need some help.

See how beautiful she is when she's coming.

You little cunt.

Go ahead!

Play with your little asshole...
at the same time.

No, I want to see her eyes.

I'm tired.

Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! Damn you!

What are you doing? Stop it!

Stop it!

Are you crazy?

Cut it out! Quit! Quit! Stop it! Stop it!

Stop it!

Control yourself Claire!

Put it down!

Claire!

I'm leaving.

What will I do?

X. Everything Resolves Itself.

Good morning.

Good morning.

- How was your friend feeling?
- Anne's fine.

You didn't ask me this
time which friend I meant.

- She's still sleeping. She'll be fine.
- No marks?

No, except perhaps one on the
breast where it went very deep.

- That would be a shame.
- Oh no. It will be very pretty.

- Yesterday's?
- I didn't have a chance to make a fresh part. I was up all night.

And you?

Get undressed.

Look at me! You like being on your knees?

I'm yours. You can do
whatever you want with me.

Good! Come here!

Have you ever been beaten, huh?

Open your mouth!

Do whatever you want with me!

Lick it! Lick it!

- Jean!
- I love you.

I love you! I love you!

- What's my name?
- Jean... Jean.

- What's my name?
- Jean!

I love you!