Original subtitles

The Israeli embassy in Paris

are looking for an Aliyah attaché for one year.

That Annabelle and Avshalom have moved to the most beautiful city in the world.

And I hope they'll stay here for a long time.

If I start losing it, we're on a plane back in less then a month, okay?

Why does it always have to be about you?

Because I was just informed that I'm fuckin' unemployed, okay?

We need a music teacher for the elderly.

We'd be delighted if your husband agreed.

Do I look like a teacher for the elderly? Come on.

-Avshalom, it's only temporary. -I'm trying to write.

Just start with something.

Do you think I'm screwed up?

Natalie kissed me today.

Are you serious?

Nothing happened. You know that, right?

I struggle at work.

I'm sorry, ma'am. Your name isn't on the list.

That's impossible. I'm an embassy attaché.

Ofra!

Ofra?

If my husband finds out they don't care about me

and that I wasn't on the list,

we'll be on a flight to Tel Aviv first thing tomorrow.

You're not going home. You're going to stay in Paris.

You can't just get up and leave this city.

-Okay, let's see... -Yes?

For Adoption Day, I have...

Klimo and Joshua.

-Okay. -Look.

Don't you have any other children?

What do you mean?

We were thinking about Syrian children, for instance,

with all the terrible things they've been through...

The Syrians we've got have been placed with Arabic-speaking families.

Yes, of course.

-Obviously. -But...

We do have Osama.

-Osama. -Osama is good.

Osama, that sounds good.

Tell me, I'm just curious,

Is he healthy? Does he suffer from any allergies?

The last one was carsick and wouldn't stop throwing up in the car.

He is a lovely child.

-Lovely, maybe but he could still be sick. -No, I promise you,

-he is the picture of health. -Excellent.

Don't forget, Adoption Day ends at 9pm.

It is very important that you bring him back here in time, okay?

-We know the drill. -Don't worry.

-I'll go get him. -Thank you very much, Ma'am.

Thank you.

The children and I really appreciate

people like you getting involved for the refugees.

-Thank you very much. -You're welcome. It's perfectly natural.

Osama.

Oh, my...

It's Annabelle. She's having trouble with her dinner party.

How about we stop by "Chez Janou" and pick up some wine and desserts?

-Macaroons. Everybody likes macaroons. -Yes, macaroons are a good idea.

Who is this writer she's invited? She's all excited about him.

He will probably be appointed head of the institute,

and he might offer her a job after her embassy appointment is over.

That's good.

That's very good!

THE ATTACHÉ

And...!

What is this? Seriously!

What's wrong, Marciano? Why did you stop?

What's the deal with this song? A song about flies?

What difference does it make?

Either sing or shut up, but leave us alone.

You shut up!

Sit down and be quiet.

A song about flies! Come on!

-What's your problem with these songs? -What's his problem?

He has no brain in his head, he doesn't understand them.

-Poor thing. -"Poor thing..."

He needs to teach us Hebrew,

what to say when you go to the grocery store, not this nonsense.

If you don't like it, you're free to leave.

You leave, this is our synagogue. This synagogue is ours.

This synagogue was ours first. You stole it from us after the war.

This is an Ashkenazi synagogue. Ashkenazi!

Ashkenazi, huh? But who are the donors?

Who donates the funds? You?

You should be grateful instead of whining like you do.

Cheap Ashkenazi bastard.

-Barbarian Algerian! -Vouzvous Ashkenazi!

Lowly Sephardi!

Stop it, guys. That's enough.

Who cares if we're Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Yemenite, blondes?

It's all irrelevant. Seriously, stop it.

You think it doesn't matter,

but it always has and always will matter.

You know, Marciano, at our house, I'm a Mizrahi Jew,

my wife is an French Ashkenazi,

and trust me, it doesn't matter neither to her nor to her family.

You might convince yourself it doesn't matter,

but deep down, it always matters to them.

Are you done? Can we continue the lesson?

You are lying to yourself.

You are a hypocrite.

What did you say?

Are you here because you like teaching songs about flies?

No, you're not.

You're here because your wife put you here.

You are nothing more than a small actor in her play.

So you know what? Just shut up.

Alright, guys.

Let's call it a day, okay? We're out of time anyway.

Thank you all, see you next week, okay?

Goodbye.

Avshalom!

Ignore him.

I wish you wouldn't leave.

You're our teacher, and you're a good man.

Thank you, Natalie.

Are you leaving because of what happened between us?

Because we said that...

Natalie, nothing happened between us.

And whatever didn't happen between us

has nothing to do with what did happen in there.

-You see? -Whoa.

I'm "confusing".

We're good, you and I. Okay?

For sure. Bye.

Welcome!

Hello! Come on in.

-This is Osama. -Hello, Osama.

I'm Annabelle. It's nice to meet you.

May I take your bag? No?

Let's go play with Uri, okay?

He's my grandson I told you about. Come on, let's go to his room.

Let's get started.

Oh, my!

What is this?

Well...

I didn't know you'd be bringing one of your refugees along.

We stopped by "Chez Janou" and got you some chicken with toppings,

salads and desserts.

Honey, you can put your roast in the freezer,

and in a couple of days, you can throw it out,

without anyone seeing.

Okay.

You go change, honey.

I'll check on the table setting.

Hey.

Hi.

I didn't know your parents are coming to dinner.

What's that? Who else is here?

My parents brought a kid. It's their Adoption Day. You know.

-Right. -Yeah.

I think I'm quitting the synagogue.

I feel like I'm wasting my time over there.

What do you think?

I think...

you need to dress up,

before Mr. Elias arrives.

And speak some Arabic.

Remember? He speaks Arabic.

Hey, what's the deal with your parents

bringing their adopted child along?

Huh?

They usually take them to the movies or the circus.

Is anyone trying to impress anyone here?

Does your ass hurt?

Why?

I don't know, maybe you've got something stuck up there,

because you're a real pain today.

We'll talk later.

-Glasses. -I know, the glasses.

Be careful, I'll make you both disappear.

Be careful. Look.

Hey.

Dinner's ready. Are you coming?

Yes, just a minute. We'll be right there.

I'll just finish this and we'll be right along.

This is easier.

Hold on, here...

Wait, how does this thing work?

Let's find an easier trick, this is too complicated.

Say, that golden watch belongs to your father, right?

What?

The watch, with the brown strap.

Dammit.

-I think I saw the refugee steal it. -Right.

Did you hear me?

What?

I said I think I saw the refugee steal your father's watch.

Who, Osama?

When I came in, the watch was on the box,

he touched it, I looked away, and then it was gone.

-And he was handling his bag. -Really?

I think so.

So... did you see it or not?

I think I did, yes.

So you didn't actually see him taking the watch.

Are you giving me the third degree?

Maybe it fell off the box and you didn't notice.

What if he stole something else from our house?

I promise to look into it after dinner. Okay?

What?

Do you want me to confront him right now?

In front of everyone?

-Hello! -Hello.

-Welcome, it's nice to see you. -It's nice to see you too.

Thank you.

-Good evening. -Good evening.

Shabbat Shalom.

Thank you very much, Shabbat Shalom.

-You're welcome. -I'm so happy to meet you.

Me, too.

This is my husband. -Good evening.

Good evening.

-After you. -Thank you.

-Mr. Elias, would you like some more? -I'd love some.

Tell me, I have to ask,

is Calais really like you describe it in the book?

Unfortunately, yes.

It is a violence ridden refugee camp, a godforsaken corner of France.

Allow me to give you some praise. I absolutely loved your book.

I read it in one night.

The details, the moment when the tent catches fire, it's totally...

-That really happened. -My God, how frightening.

Were you really living in a tent when you wrote the book?

The original goal was to do research, get to know life in the camp.

Eventually, I don't know how, but I became attached...

to the place, the people.

I did spend a whole year there, after all.

I wrote the book "The French Jungle".

-Exceptional. -It's truly amazing.

-Unbelievable. -Unbelievable.

And you, Avshalom, what do you do?

I speak very little French, so...

That's not how you say it. You say, "I don't speak French very well."

-He's so adorable. -At least he speaks French.

What do you do in Paris?

Avshalom is a very famous musician in Israel. Yes.

Yes. I'm a musician.

I record, play a bit.

That's great.

Music is the most important language of all.

Right.

You probably know a good friend of mine, Catherine Duchamps.

She works at the Institute.

She works for the PR department.

What? Aren't you President of the French Institute?

-I'm sorry... -My appointment won't begin until October.

October! That's exactly when Annabelle's

-embassy appointment ends. -The bread is upside down.

-I can't stand it. -Please stop, Dad...

-My apologies. -No worries.

If Annabelle is interested, I'm willing to recruit her

as Department Director, but...

first I must get the appointment myself.

That's wonderful. You'll come live in Paris.

-We can all spend the Shabbat together. -Dad, please.

You'll bring a bottle of wine.

No problem, it's a deal.

It's a huge responsibility.

I shall carry it with great pleasure.

But we're not staying in Paris.

Mom, you won't stay here after we go back to Israel, will you?

-No. -What is it?

Grandpa is kidding.

Right, I'm always joking around...

What were you talking about?

They said Mom will stay here and work for him.

That's not important right now.

Ma'am, I have a tummy ache. Can we go back?

Yes, we'll go back soon.

I think we should head back. He's tired.

What time is it, Francǒis? Why does he want to leave?

-What have I done with my watch? -I don't know.

I think you left it on the Playstation box in the bedroom.

That's right.

-I'll go get it before we leave. -Yes, you'll find it after.

-Avshalom, would you mind giving me a hand?

-What? -I need your help in the kitchen. Now.

-We'll be back in a sec. -No problem.

What's going on? What are you doing?

I thought he was just one of your colleagues,

I didn't know he was your future boss.

You're really taking my dad's fantasies seriously? He's my dad.

Osama, Calais, volunteer work.

I'm starting to understand your act with that refugee kid.

Enough about that kid. He's just a poor refugee.

Refugee or not, he's a jerk kid who stole your father's watch.

-Avshalom, calm down. -You calm down!

I know your parents will be heartbroken to find out

that their little toy refugee is a little thief,

but I don't want him stealing things from my house.

So either you go through his bag, or I do it.

Okay, I'll do it.

But promise me you won't ruin this night for me.

Promise.

Are you expecting anyone else?

No, but go ahead. It might be another thief.

Shabbat Shalom, Avshalom.

Shabbat Shalom, Marciano.

I'm here for the synagogue keys. You took them with you.

Right.

Here.

Thank you.

Hey, Marciano.

Yes?

Would you like to come in and bless the Shabbat?

No, you've got company. And I already had my bottle.

Come on in, stay a while.

Have another glass.

I already had my blessing glass.

You're a good president!

I'll try, it's not easy...

Everybody,

this is Mr. Marciano, I know him from synagogue.

He'll be joining us for dinner.

-Shabbat Shalom. -Shabbat Shalom.

-Good evening, everyone. -Nice to meet you.

I'm one of Avshalom's students at the synagogue.

We had a little argument, but like a good Jew,

I came here to see if we could argue some more.

Why did you argue with my dad?

I told him you shouldn't be afraid of happiness because it doesn't exist,

so he became upset and left.

Do you like Houellebecq?

Well... He is the greatest, is he not?

Mr. Marciano, let's make an introduction.

This is Uri.

He's my sweet son.

These are Francǒis and Rachelle, Annabelle's parents, she's my wife.

Mr. Elias, our guest.

And Osama.

You have a very handsome family, Avshalom.

Bravo. Really, bravo.

Is he yours?

No, Osama is a friend we've adopted for a day.

That's very nice.

I'm an adopted child myself, and...

I never would have gotten this far,

-had I not met people like you. -Thank you very much.

Naturally.

-Shall I pour you a glass? -Gladly.

I'll leave room for the next one, too.

So my dad is your Hebrew teacher?

Aren't you too old?

He's right.

I'll know Hebrew on the same day I'll stop honoring Shabbat with a drink.

Kids, would you like to watch a video?

-That's a good idea. -Go to your room. Go ahead.

Very good.

Careful, no running in the house.

Kids,

before you watch TV, go wash your hands

and I'll give you some chocolate ice cream.

We've got ice cream!

Who else do you read, other than Houellebecq?

I'm sorry, I'm Kosher so I can't drink that.

But it's Kosher wine.

That's true, but you're not.

Excuse me?

Jewish law says that wine brings people's hearts together,

so we are not allowed to drink wine with someone who isn't Jewish.

Haven't you considered giving Him a call

and asking him to change that rule?

There's a quote I'm very fond of,

"I have no issue with those who speak to God,

"I only have an issue with those to whom He answers."

Of course.

Shall we have dessert?

-Avshalom? -What?

Great idea.

-Yes. -A little dessert.

I went through his bag.

Mom, will you bring our ice cream to the bedroom now?

You should eat it in the living room, so you won't get any on the carpet.

And then you can watch TV. Okay?

Let's go.

-Did you check? -I did.

-And you didn't find anything? -No.

-Were you thorough? -I was. Let it go.

And get that drunk out of here. Uri is here.

I'll go find my watch or I'll forget all about it.

Alright, go.

-Great. -The children would be happy.

Amazing. Don't you want to clear the table?

Thank you.

Amazing.

There it is.

Annabelle, I left my watch in the children's room...

Dad, I'll find it for you.

I'll look for it. It's probably in one of the toy boxes. I'll find it.

I already looked there.

Rachelle, you didn't happen to take my watch, did you?

No. Have you searched the room properly?

Yes, I looked all over the place, but it's not there.

Avshalom, you took out the trash, didn't you?

-Yes. -Maybe it fell in the bin...

Dad, let's go look in the room together, okay?

But it's not there! I just...

François, that's enough. Sit down, we'll find it.

I apologize. Sit!

Maybe we should have another glass,

because your watch, unlike time, isn't going anywhere. Cheers.

Cheers.

I'm sorry, but I feel strange without it on my wrist...

Dad, don't worry. We'll look for it.

I'll clean the house and I'll find it for you.

And if she won't, I'll buy you a new one, okay?

It's not just any watch, it was my father's.

I'm sorry.

I don't feel well and I'm tired. Can we go back now?

Yes, let's go.

Go get your shoes and your coat,

and go to the bathroom before we leave, okay?

You don't need your bag in the bathroom.

-Give it to me, I'll watch it for you. -No.

Don't worry, it'll be safe. Give it to me.

I'll take your bag and I promise to keep it safe for you.

Uri, can you go show him where everything is?

Thank you, honey.

He hasn't been well all evening. I think he's had enough.

We'll take him back to the shelter.

He sees the shelter as his home.

I hope that with time,

he'll learn to feel at home here, in Paris.

That's nice.

Right, I think he'll feel right at home in a few years.

The real question is, will we still feel at home?

-What do you mean? -I'm only speaking the truth.

It's not easy to hear, I agree, but it's the truth.

Let's go, okay?

If you care about that watch, you should look in the kid's bag.

Avshalom.

Why search him and not me? I am also a dark-skinned immigrant.

-And even... -No, don't...

Don't worry.

I am a refugee myself.

I prefer to think that if he did take the watch,

it wasn't because he wanted to steal it, but out of necessity,

unlike you, because you have free will.

I think I'll get going, too.

-Thank you for your hospitality. -I apologize.

This reminds me of one of Houellebecq's character.

Stop using Houellebecq to disguise your primitive racism.

I'm not disguising my racism, my racism is exposed for all to see,

and I have a right to it!

Mr. Marciano, we have invited you into this home. Behave yourself.

I invited him.

Did you hear what he said? He wants to go through the child's bag.

-Well? -What?

What if the watch is in the bag?

He's right, of course. It might be in there.

He also thinks we should look in the child's bag?

Here, take my bag. The watch might be in there.

-I may have taken it, maybe I have it... -Hey, hey, hey!

This is an expensive watch and that refugee doesn't have a lot,

so don't turn this into some sort of fantasy.

This is disgraceful. Utter disgrace.

[Arabic] Don't take it personally, okay?

[Arabic] I'll take it anyway I want to! Shame on you!

[Arabic] Don't raise your voice in my home!

No!

No, don't! Stop it! Avsha... Stop!

I was sure it was in there, I...

No, shut up! Just shut up!

Annabelle, I swear, I was sure it was in there...

Shame on you.

I didn't go through your bag when you met Annabelle.

Stop it, you too! Stop now!

Kids, it's the Shabbat, please...

Annabelle, I swear.

What...?

My apologies.

Annabelle.

Annabelle, I'm sorry.

Annabelle, wait...

Annabelle.

What was so urgent?

You just had to open your mouth, huh?

I'm sorry.

This was my night, do you understand that?

Mine.

I'm sorry, come on. I don't know what came over me.

I took the watch.

-What? -I took the watch.

Here, I have it.

What?

-Did you take the watch out of his bag? -Yes, I did.

Why didn't you just tell me?

Because I could see it in your eyes that you'd ruin the night.

I just wanted to return the watch to your father, Annabelle.

So here, take it.

Give this fucking watch back to my father. Here.

Go home, so everyone can see you were right.

-You've completely lost it. -That's right.

And if you don't like it, that doesn't scare me anymore,

do you understand that?

What doesn't scare you anymore?

It doesn't scare me anymore.

How's your cheek?

That slap felt good, huh?

You deserved it.