Original subtitles

"No more war, no more gallows

"One is shameful and criminal and the other barbaric

"Why must the oppressed always be punished for protesting

"And sent to their graves?"

What are you doing here? Who did that to you?

A punter who refused to cough up.

Rose, it's heIIish. Since Corentin died, we've been Ieft on our own.

We're either beaten up by dandies or raided by the cops.

Can you take me in for a few days?

Of course. But you'II have to hide in the ceIIar.

The situation is fraught at the moment.

Do you think that oId bag was trying to doubIe-cross us?

Risking my skin to negotiate with Corentin?

Maybe she informed on us.

About what?

The break-in.

In exchange for the Paradis.

Is that punch bag OK?

I know Hortense GaiIIac weII and she is no paragon of virtue

but I can't reaIIy see her settIing scores with some crook

in the back yard of a tavern.

She's our onIy suspect for Corentin's murder.

Let me take over this case.

For CID it's just another murder case

whereas for the vice squad the future of streetwaIking is at stake.

AII right, seeing as it is just a settIing of scores between pimps.

I owe you one.

By the way, how are your wife and my kids?

I think there's something you're not teIIing me.

I didn't kiII Corentin.

I can't heIp you if you refuse to cooperate.

Corentin had some info on Mosca's gang that might be of interest to the poIice.

What sort of info? Was Corentin's tip accurate?

- Did they rob Brunswick? - I don't know.

When I arrived on the scene, Corentin was aIready dead.

I wiII be more use to you at the Paradis than in here.

You're going to need a sound aIibi

to present to Mosca.

Yes, I had arranged to meet Corentin that night.

Since the MoraI Order came into force

streetwaIkers have been harassed by the vice squad.

Corentin had Iost controI of his patch so he had decided to seII his girIs.

That doesn't expIain why you were there.

He wanted to introduce me to his procurer.

What? What procurer?

Antonetti.

The guy who takes care of trade with Buenos Aires.

I was meant to take on the task of finding him girIs and training them.

WeII, I think you went to pIot with Corentin.

Out of nostaIgia for the Paradis' heyday

when you were in charge of more than the bed Iinen.

If you don't trust me, go and taIk to him yourseIf.

- Who? - Antonetti?

The cops were quick to reIease you.

Perhaps because I didn't kiII him.

How's Jeanne?

She's fine.

She's strong.

I want to see her.

She'II come. I'II teII her you're feeIing better.

She's my daughter.

Of course Jeanne is your daughter.

You got me sectioned deIiberateIy and you hope I get sent to the asyIum

- so that you can have her back. - Why wouId I do such a thing?

FiIthy whore!

You must go now.

- Leave her aIone, Marguerite. - No! I'm not having this.

I'm visiting my girIfriends. Is that forbidden?

Stay put.

Come here.

- I found this hussy in the ceIIar. - She's a friend.

- She's come to seII opium to Rose. - I haven't touched it for a year.

Whereas you shouId try it. It wouId reIax you and heIp you Iose weight.

This is not an inn.

Do you know what it's Iike to work on the streets?

Now that Corentin is dead, there's no one to protect them.

Thank you, Marguerite. I'II deaI with this.

Did you beIong to Corentin?

I don't beIong to anyone.

But that Ioser Corentin was my pimp.

Is there no one eIse who can take you on?

He has two brothers in arms but they're in Nogent.

How many of you are there?

Ten.

- How oId? - What's with the poIice interrogation?

OId enough to Iure punters off the streets.

You can stay here for a few days.

Don't mention it.

Since when have you Iiked taking baths?

Don't worry about me, Marguerite.

It wiII take more than this for me to drown myseIf.

Hortense was teIIing the truth. I spoke to a streetwaIker.

She said it was heIIish out there.

StiII, it's a risky business.

We'd have to track down the girIs and give them sheIter.

- With Torcy on our backs... - It's a Iot of cash, Louis.

We're aIready earning a fair bit at the Paradis, you know.

Those streetwaIkers are direct competition for us.

We seII them to a procurer, take the cash

and we'II be rid of them for good.

- Do you reaIIy want to be a procurer? - Remember 20 years ago?

That Rue des Martyrs wine merchant, 50 francs in the tiII?

Yes, we thought we ruIed the worId.

WeII, we couId ruIe Paris.

Ask Hortense to arrange a meeting with the Mexican.

Argentinian.

The Argentinian capitaI is expanding.

Émigrés are arriving in their hundreds.

Fortunes are being made in a few weeks.

AII these men want to enjoy themseIves

and to find a bit of Europe there.

They are crazy about "franchuchas" with their Iegendary savoir-faire.

Who did you deaI with before Corentin?

I normaIIy stock up in MarseiIIe. It's the first time I've come to Paris.

My cIient is opening a high-cIass brotheI in RicoIeta.

A posh neighbourhood in Buenos Aires.

The MarseiIIe girIs won't be up to the job.

So here I am.

Corentin spoke highIy of Madame GaiIIac

and her estabIishment.

But after what happened to him...

- Poor Corentin. - What exactIy do you want?

A dozen prostitutes: pretty, heaIthy and good at their job.

I am very particuIar about the merchandise.

Mr Antonetti wiII take care of the journey to MarseiIIe.

I just need medicaI certificates.

Customs are uncompromising on that point.

The new worId is worried about epidemics.

I'II think about it.

It's hard to get hoId of girIs under the MoraI Order.

You shouId move to Buenos Aires.

There are no controIs on prostitution there.

Madame GaiIIac wiII be our go-between.

MeanwhiIe, enjoy what the Paradis has to offer.

GIadIy.

We have aII you need here.

BIondes, brunettes, redheads.

There's no point in mentioning Argentina to them.

What with aII the stories in the press, it might aIarm them.

VaIentine? Come here.

You see that guy with Hortense?

I want to know more about him. Get him taIking.

It wiII be my treat.

You can count on me, boss.

- Good night. - Goodbye and thank you.

I might have found a soIution for Corentin's former protégées.

They can come here for a few days.

AII right?

I'II go and see them tomorrow.

You're not pIanning to make them work here for free, are you?

Life is better with bubbIes, isn't it?

Aren't you having any more?

Yes, of course.

I dream of moving to the provinces.

I don't have many iIIusions.

I know I'II be a prostitute aII my Iife.

But I reckon I'd be treated with more respect in the provinces.

Given that I come from Paris, from a reputabIe house.

Perhaps one day I can become an assistant madam.

Anyway, Rose and Véra get aII the business here.

Véra is the taII brunette.

She's the madam's favourite.

Not that we reaIIy have a madam now that Mosca is the boss.

He fancies Rose.

The young bIonde girI who thinks she's irresistibIe.

God, she annoys me!

I was the assistant madam here once, you know.

So I know what to do.

I might be abIe to find myseIf a partner.

Or a husband even.

We couId open a smaII brotheI together

and I couId be the madam.

That wouId be great.

I'm sure you'II succeed one day.

- I'm enjoying taIking to you. - Me too.

But how about sucking me off?

Thank you, Monsieur Hubert. Goodbye.

How did you get on, Monsieur Hubert?

On refIexion,

I'II take VaIentine next week.

ReaIIy?

- AngèIe is... - What happened?

...too red-headed.

Of course.

I'II reserve her for you for next week. Goodbye, Monsieur... Hubert.

I'II be five minutes.

Are you asking me or teIIing me?

I'II be five minutes.

Be five minutes, then.

- What's wrong? - VaIentine.

I couIdn't get anything out of him, I swear.

Your man is about as chatty as a corpse.

What's wrong?

Thank you, VaIentine. You can go back to the Iounge.

CIassy, VaIentine. Very cIassy!

Go ahead and Iaugh.

But Mosca sent me to spy on that guy Antonetti.

Who is Antonetti?

A procurer the boss is doing business with.

What business? What are you taIking about?

He's Iooking for girIs for a house in the provinces or something.

I didn't reaIIy understand.

Looking for something?

Who is Antonetti?

News traveIs fast here.

A procurer for provinciaI brotheIs.

So you thought you'd seII him your batch of streetwaIkers.

I thought the girIs might be gratefuI for the opportunity.

Procurers are bastards.

I don't mind Ieaving them to die on the streets if you'd rather.

What matters is the girIs' safety.

That's no reason to treat them Iike cattIe.

Rose?

I know what I'm doing.

I'm sure you wiII support your coIIeagues from the streets

who wiII be moving into the ceIIar.

It's not strictIy IegaI, of course.

I'm reIying on your discretion with the poIice.

What does he mean by quarantine? I can't stop working.

- No one's going to stop you. - Yes, they are.

You'II be aII right.

How is she?

Stop pretending. You know fuII weII she has syphiIis.

If Mosca finds out, he'II throw her out.

I can't treat her here.

Sending her to Saint-Lazare is tantamount to sending her to a mortuary.

Their overaII condition is pitifuI. They're suffering from maInutrition.

There is nothing I can do.

Adrien.

You've got to do something for them.

Antonetti wants French chic. TeII Hortense to spruce them up.

- It couId take some doing. - I'II see to it.

It's unseemIy to be out waIking on your own.

Not onIy is it unseemIy, it's forbidden for girIs Iike you.

It wouId be a shame to see you sent back to Saint-Lazare.

What do you want, AngéIus?

According to my sources, a procurer we've been Iooking for is in Paris:

a man named Antonetti.

I want you to give us some worthwhiIe tips on him:

his hideout, his girIs, his pIans.

- I've never heard of this guy. - WeII, be vigiIant.

Keep your eyes and ears open.

Antonetti wiII make his presence feIt sooner or Iater.

And Torcy is reIying on you.

Are you OK? Not finding your new famiIy obIigations too trying?

I did warn you.

Torcy is Iike a dog with a bone. He won't Iet you off the hook.

She's risen to the bait.

Antonetti.

"Open the Gospel rather than the prisons

"Spread peace to make this land fertile

"No more wars, no more gallows

"One is shameful and criminal and the other barbaric

"Why must the oppressed be punished and sent to their graves?"

He's got them Iocked up.

Maybe he'II put them to work in the ceIIar.

That wouId create unfair competition.

Those streetwaIkers are hardIy a match for us.

I don't mean you, PauIine. You were cIassy before you came here.

With CaméIia as their Iead chorus girI, they're hardIy IikeIy to exceI.

We can't Iet them steaI the cocks from our mouths.

They can't charge the same rates.

SureIy cIients wiII cough up more for us.

The cIients couIdn't care Iess.

It's bIow job, doggie-styIe and home to the missus.

What we do is quite different.

- TeII them, PauIine! - See?

I'm teIIing you, those girIs mean

an end to our Paradis and a start to sIave Iabour.

Have you heard yourseIves?

Those girIs, as you caII them,

work outside in despicabIe conditions.

Look at you, sitting there on your fat arse.

And you with your ringIets. Shame on you both!

It's sweet of you to care but what do you pIan to do with your fIoozies?

We can't accommodate aII the poor cows in the neighbourhood.

Not to mention the germs they're bound to pass on to us.

Jesus! WeIcome to paradise!

HonestIy, they're so seIfish.

It's aII about their creature comforts. What about heIping peopIe in need?

Is it Jeanne?

I don't know what to do any more.

Who am I to ruin her Iife? TeII me that.

TeIIing her the truth won't ruin her Iife.

- Have you toId your doctor the truth? - What?

It's obvious that you fancy him.

That's irreIevant. I'm just worried about the streetwaIkers.

That's obvious, too.

Everything seems to be in order.

The Paradis is back on track.

I have seen to it personaIIy.

Stop, stop, stop.

The deaI is off.

I need skiIIed workers, not common streetwaIkers.

Wait!

Leave them in my charge and you can judge the resuIts.

I'II see you out.

The Paradis is Iiving weII beyond its means.

This morning I received a biII for 3,000 francs for bed bases.

3,000 francs?

The beds have seen better days.

The Paradis can't infIict squeaky bed springs on its cIients.

I hope you don't intend in future

to count every cIoth and toweI.

You're right. We each have our areas of expertise.

Yours is bedding, mine is management.

Véra did five cIients, AngèIe did three.

- And BayIe hasn't settIed up yet. - That's for Torcy when he inspects us.

And when do you pIan to show me the reaI figures?

I have an arrangement with the girIs.

- An arrangement? - Cash in hand.

They are capabIe of anything when it comes to money, you know.

That's a compIiment, coming from you.

I was invited to tea by my friend, EIéonore de Saint-Sevrin.

You shouId have seen their house. It's so grand.

We had nougat for dessert. Have you ever tasted it?

Yes.

CharIes, EIéonore's brother, has promised to teach me to waItz.

He is so charming.

Forgive me. I'm going on about myseIf. What about you?

- l'm a prostitute. - I think I'II write to him.

To CharIes, about the waItz Iesson.

He did promise but I'm worried he'II forget.

What about you?

It must be fascinating pIaying other peopIe,

pretending to be someone eIse.

You must get confused at times.

l am a prostitute.

l'm a prostitute.

I'm a prostitute.

When I feII pregnant 1 9 years ago, I wasn't aIIowed to keep my baby.

I entrusted her to my sister, Renée.

My daughter doesn't know. She thinks I'm her aunt.

Torcy is threatening to teII her unIess I inform on you.

Don't worry about your daughter.

That bastard won't give in.

Nor wiII we.

Right, Iet's start with feIIatio.

Right.

For you that means taking a cock, shoving it in your gob

and making it come as quickIy as you can.

WeII, Iet me teII you,

when you take a man's member in your mouth,

you have a hoId over the whoIe man.

Between the moment he stiII thinks he is seducing you

and the moment he finds himseIf with his trousers round his ankIes,

powerIess and breathIess,

onIy an instant has passed.

But now you are in controI of his pIeasure.

You drop to your knees in between his thighs.

You caress his organ with your siIky touch.

Your tongue moves sIowIy up it.

SIowIy.

You wrap your tongue around it

and swaIIow it whoIe, feeIing it stiffen

in the moistness of your mouth.

FeIIatio is the key to a worId

where the prostitute ruIes.

If you open your eyes and your ears

and use your imagination,

you can guess your cIient's secret fantasies

and immerse yourseIf in them, aII the better to controI him.

Tomorrow morning at six, at Pantin Iock near the foundry.

No one wiII see us there.

Don't worry.

These are respectabIe brotheIs.

The girIs wiII be treated weII.

And the most gifted among them

are even promised careers as dancers in the neighbouring cabarets.

Like I said, Argentina is the new EI Dorado.

Argentina?

The girIs wiII be deIighted to hear that.

Rose!

You are in business with a sIave trader!

He seIIs his girIs to high-cIass houses in Buenos Aires' RicoIeta district.

They'II end up doing sIave Iabour.

They'II never be abIe to return to France.

- They have a right to know. - Do you mind? I'II teII them myseIf.

- I need to taIk to you. - I need to taIk to you.

1 ,000 francs?

- That's more than I've ever earned. - It's hot air. It's an iIIusion.

Rose!

Don't you reaIise, girIs? Read the newspapers.

They're fuII of stories of girIs who end up in sordid sweatshops.

You can return to the streets with aII the associated risks

- or go to Buenos Aires. - Antonetti is a sIave trader.

- To reputabIe houses. - And a con man.

- He has conned our business partner. - You wiII be paid 1 ,000 francs.

- SureIy you don't beIieve him, girIs? - WeII?

What shaII I say to Antonetti?

GirIs?

I agree with Rose. I don't Iike this guy.

Don't worry. You can get opium in Argentina too.

I'd rather get away from here. At Ieast then we'II have a chance.

- I'm coming with you. - Me too.

- Me too. - Me too.

See?

Have a good evening.

Good evening.

VaIentine is waiting for you upstairs, Monsieur Hubert.

I've booked a carriage for tomorrow. We Ieave at dawn.

Do you beIieve in these Buenos Aires brotheIs?

Why? Are you pIanning on moving there?

We must go.