All language subtitles for La Collectionneuse.eng

SIX MORAL TALES

1ST PROLOGUE - HAYDEE

2ND PROLOGUE - DANIEL

We must all realize
our full potential.

Those who don't
are like the people in Versailles,

who surround those who do.

Those who do are inevitably
surrounded and aggressive.

This, for instance, is perfect.

It couldn't be better.

It's painting.

It's thought encircled...

by razor blades.
I'm bleeding.

That is to say,

it's unique...

taking nothing as its cause.

Encircled by its own thought,
as if by razor blades.

Impossible to hold.

Here's proof.

It was done on purpose.

Not your cut.
But that was done on purpose.

I'd like other people
to get cut, not you.

You like people to get cut on art?

Other people, yes.
But not you.

You're sharp. You shouldn't get cut.
That bothers me.

I don't mind getting cut.

Doesn't it hurt?

I surround myself
with dangerous people.

You remind me of elegant people
in the 18th century

who were very concerned
with their appearance

and the effect
they had on others.

That was already a creation,
the beginning of the Revolution.

The distance,
established by elegance,

from those
who aren't elegant is crucial.

It creates a kind of void
around the person,

and it's that void
around the person

that you create,
with your objects too.

But you could just as well do
without your objects.

You yourself are the can of paint
surrounded by razor blades,

as was Saint-Just.

Razor blades are words.

They could be silence.

They could also be elegance...

a certain yellow.

3RD PROLOGUE: ADRIEN

Perhaps style is
more important than beauty.

But in love. the notion
of beauty is essential

We love someone
because we find him handsome.

No, we find him handsome
because we love him.

Yes, a man may be ugly
yet have immense charm.

If he's loved, his ugliness
is transformed into beauty.

For me an ugly man
has no charm.

Nothing's possible.
It's over immediately.

What's over?

Anything. Even the most
superficial relationship.

Even to have a drink
for five minutes. I can't.

If he's ugly, I leave.

Can you be friends
with someone you find ugly?

Ugliness and beauty
don't enter into my friendships.

I don't see my friends
as either ugly or handsome.

But friendship doesn't
happen in five minutes.

It takes several encounters.

How do you manage that
with someone you find ugly?

I run. It's impossible.

It's not a question
of ugliness.

Among crowds of beautiful people,
I'm only interested

in those who possess
something more than beauty.

Someone of absolute beauty
would bore me.

I'm not talking
about Greek beauty.

Absolute beauty doesn't exist.

To find someone handsome,

sometimes the tiniest thing
is enough.

Perhaps something
between the nose and mouth.

So anyone has a chance
of appealing to you.

At least a chance.

No, that's the problem.
I find very few people handsome.

And it really hampers
my relationships terribly,

because if I'm repelled,
I never see that person again.

And since many people repel me -

You never change your mind?

The first thing I say
if I'm asked to dinner

isn't “What does he do?”
but “Is he handsome?”

And ugly ones
are always doomed?

To the ovens.

They deserve it.

Ugliness is an insult to others.

One's responsible for one's looks.

For instance,
a nose moves or ages

according to how
one thinks or speaks.

Besides, I'm not talking
about static beauty.

One's movements,
expressions, gait -

all that counts, doesn't it?

How long will you stay
in London?

At least five weeks.

Your modeling
won't take up all that time.

No, but I have
lots of friends to see.

And I love London in July.

Why not come to the Riviera?

Rodolphe is lending me his villa.

I have lots of things to do.

Earlier you said you didn't.
Come for a few days at least.

It's not worth it.
Why don't you come to London?

What would I do there?

What will you do
all alone on the Riviera?

I have business meetings.

What business? I've never really
believed in your so-called business.

I have to go to a sale,
track down a silent partner,

a collector of Chinese antiques.

He's financing a gallery for me.

Don't you think you'd make
better contacts in London?

I see only serious people
and do only serious things.

Come along, you'll see.

- No, I'm not coming.
- Why not?

Because from time to time,

one of us has to do
something serious.

But I am serious.

Why do you always dash off
when we could be together?

I'd like you to come.

I'd like it very much.

Why don't you come to London?

I already told you: I can't.

Well, in that case -

END OF PROLOGUES

No sooner had ! arrived
than Daniel told me the bad news:

A girl was staying here
at Rodolphe's invitation.

She would surely disturb us.

Maité?

Haydée.

Doesn't ring a bell.

Besides, all those girls
leave me cold.

Well, it's only for 24 days.

What type?

A dumb bunny.
Round face.

Close-cropped hair.
Charming.

She lives here?

In principle, yes.

She panhandles here and there.
Brings guys here sometimes.

That's just like Rodolphe.

He surrounds himself
with the plainest people.

Anyway, if they bother us,
we'll kick them all out, including her.

1 wanted to be by myself,

but Daniel's presence
was no problem.

Since I lived all year
without fixed hours or dates,

! decided to set
some rules for myself

The monastic feel
of my room helped.

First, I'd get up early.

I'd always backed into the dawn
after having stayed up all night.

Now I'd five mornings
in the right order,

and associate them,
as most people do,

with the idea
of awakening and beginning.

The idea was both
invigorating and oppressive.

1 had to shift my schedule
back a third of a day

so that by evening I'd be too tired
to be tempted to go out.

And what did I intend to do?

Precisely nothing.

For once I'd take
a real vacation,

because my real work had always
begun when others' stopped:

at parties, on weekends,
at the beach, in the mountains.

But this year only one thing
interested me. my art gallery.

Nothing else mattered.

And since all preparations
had been completed,

all 1 could do was wait.

Having nothing to do
for the first time in 10 years,

1 undertook to really do nothing.

That is, to take inactivity
to a level I'd never before reached.

! even tried not to think.

I was alone
face to face with the sea,

far from cruises and beaches,

fulfilling a childhood dream

put off year after year.

I wanted my gaze of the sea
to be as empty as possible,

void of any painterly
or botanical curiosity.

For if I'd followed
earlier inclinations,

1 might have been
an art collector or botanist.

1 lost myself completely

in the play of shadow and light,

sinking into a lethargy
heightened by the water.

That state of passivity,
of complete availability,

promised to last much longer
than the euphoria

of one's first summer dip
in the ocean.

1 could easily see myself spending
a whole month this way.

That's why I couldn't bear the idea
of seeing anyone but Daniel.

The only woman I would have liked
to have with me was far away.

I'd resigned myself to it

and dismissed
without much difficulty -

forever, I suspected -
the thought of her.

But I wasn't ready
to tolerate another,

especially not one of Rodolphe's
pathetic little protégées.

The world belongs
to those who get up early.

I intend to swim
every morning at sunrise.

And I at noon.

Are you reading this?

No, you can take it.

In that quest for nothing,
for emptiness,

Daniel had his own way,

more direct and brutal than mine.

! almost considered him
my mentor on the subject.

- Nothing?
- Nothing.

Nothing at all?

Absolutely, positively nothing.

I've done absolutely nothing
since I arrived,

and I actually do
less every day.

I want to reach absolute zero.

It's very difficult.

It takes enormous
effort and care.

It comes to me naturally.
It's my nature.

But it's more tiring to follow
one's nature than to fight it.

Besides, you're reading.
That's doing something.

If I didn't read, I'd think,

and thinking is the hardest,
most demanding thing of all.

I think people think too much.

The main thing is to be absorbed,

and a book
forces me to think its way.

What I don't want
is to think my own way.

I want to be led.

Like an Arab.
In a street, he feels the street,

while we think about the goal.

It was an Arab who said, “One is
the first figure of an endless number.”

An idea is a flash.

We have just three or four
original ideas in our lifetime.

People who are always
thinking don't exist.

Look at Dali's “melted watches,”
for example.

It's true.
I'm looking for nothing.

If I come across Rousseau,
I read Rousseau.

I could just as well
read Don Quixote.

If a pretty girl fell in my arms,
I'd take her,

though at the moment
I have no desire to get involved.

What if Haydée
crawled into your bed?

You mean that girl?

Did she crawl into yours?

No, she's always got someone.

But that's the strategist in her.

That doesn't matter.

She hasn't reached that point yet.

For 24 to 48 hours,
she can even be remarkably faithful.

Three or four days
after I arrived,

at 2.00 am...

Coming back from my swim,
1 saw her with a boy her age.

A little later,
they came down into the yard.

From what Daniel had told me,

I'd expected another girl
whom I'd seen at Rodolphe's,

a repulsive pest.

Let's kill a chicken.

The only similarity
was the haircut.

! couldn't make out her face
at that distance,

and I'm not very good
at faces anyway.

Anyway, I could already tell
I'd give this girl as well

little chance
of getting along with me.

She'd recognized me as the man
who'd entered her room

at Rodolphe's country place
two weeks earlier.

Haydée, have you met Adrien?

I think so.

We must have met at Rodolphe's.

Ah, right.

Il see.

It's a pity Rodolphe
isn't here this year.

I know he hates traveling.

Charlie.

I know boats.
My father's in the business.

He invented
the first yacht made of plastic.

And what do you do?

What?

I mean for work.

- I'm a doctor.
- A regular doctor?

No, an eye specialist.

And I see
you can barely stand daylight.

Are you serious?

My first impressions
are always correct.

Let me see your glasses.

Prescription?

No, just sunglasses
I bought in a store.

It's dangerous
to buy any old junk.

Junk! I paid 150 francs for them.
They're Polaroid.

Polarization is like extrapolation,

an already obsolete theory.

Today we're coming back
to the old idea:

that the only protection
from the sun

is color, and vice versa.

Look at the ones
I prescribed for Daniel.

Two colors:
blue and magenta.

Both are effective
against harmful rays.

What's magenta?

The racket started again
the next night.

! decided it would be
the fast time.

Quiet, young lady!

I'm afraid you have
to leave, buddy.

Who are you?
I don't know you.

You disturbed my rest, sir.

It's a pity.

Might is right.

Okay, I'll go.

My father won't be back for a week.
Come to my house?

You're not staying with these jerks.
- Yes, lam.

A newly docile Haydée
brought no more guests to the house.

She settled for phone calls
around 8/00 p.m.

Take the path.
The house is 200 yards away.

Not the road, the path.

Tell me about it later.

Okay, see you later.
Kisses.

She usually came home at dawn,
when I was getting up.

It wasn't always the same boy
who'd picked her up the night before.

Since she spent her days sleeping,
we saw very little of her.

Then one evening,
in need of a ride, she asked me.

ls Werner there, please?

Do you know
when he'll be back?

Tell him Haydée called.

H-a-y-d-é-e.

Can you give me a ride?

- What for?
- I have a date.

- Who?
- You don't know him.

Make sure
the next one has a car.

- So you can't?
- I can, but I don't want to.

Darling, you lack
any sense of propriety.

Look at Daniel and me.

We've found happiness
in virtue and the simple life.

You find happiness
where you can.

Come for a swim
tomorrow at 7:00?

Okay.

Haydée took me up on my offer,
which, I must say, I rather liked.

The situation
had been cleared up.

Like Daniel she would be
part of my solitude.

Since she was there,
better to assimilate her.

1 made our relationship
clear at once:.

simple friendship.

1 knew she would have liked
exactly the opposite:

a courtship of equal parts
insolence and devotion.

That was my style.

With any other girl that is.

In any case, for several days,
we all got along quite pleasantly,

each engrossed
in his own pursuits,

as well as chores
around the house,

to which we purposely attached
exaggerated importance.

Haydée proved quite compatible
and able to follow our lead,

without imitating
our quirks too much.

Nevertheless, I could sense
a hitch somewhere,.

although Haydée very cleverly
hid the game that,

rightly or wrongly,
I suspected she was playing.

It was precisely this reserved quality
that bothered me.

So I decided to take a risk,

afraid of settling
for the easy way out,

and force the issue.

Shall we sit here?

Catch.

The worst thing around here
is the wine.

It's disgusting.

I don't drink it anymore.

It's wrong to drink
something one doesn't like,

to accept things one dislikes,

see people one dislikes...

caress a girl one dislikes.

It's the height of immorality.

My greatest defect is to try
to confirm my first impressions.

For example, I know if I don't like
a gitl's nose, her legs will leave me cold.

Then don't touch them.

Besides -

What?

Listen, I don't like
you running after me.

I'm not.

Yes, you are.
I can tell when a girl's interested.

Under other circumstances,
you could have me.

I'm too weak
and accommodating.

One must know when to be moral.

And when I think of you
as a gitl I might sleep with,

all I see is your faults.

Though you must have
some good qualities.

You think so?

Why not go after Daniel?

Of course, he's far superior
to you as a person,

but his morals
are less rigid than mine.

You're not the only two men
around, you know.

I know, Haydée.
You're too attractive.

We both carry the same cross.

My tactic apparently
hadn't worked.

But the feeling left
in both of us by my blundering

poisoned our relationship.

But this tittle game
of hide-and-seek,

far from protecting
my cherished solitude,

introduced an element
of drama and uncertainty into it

It forced me to focus
more and more on her.

And Daniel proved
a bad counselor on this point,

his own mysterious attitude
adding to my concerns.

Haydée went looking for you
at the beach.

Really? What for?

I don't know. I can't imagine
what she wants with you.

Listen.

Do me a favor.

I'm ready to kick her out.

That's not it.

Daniel, take her.

Take her yourself
and leave me alone.

I'm asking a favor of you.

No, my friend. I don't do
that kind of favor for anyone.

Sleep with her.
In fact, if I were you, I'd charge ahead.

Then go ahead and charge.

I've no desire
to make the slightest effort.

And even if I wanted to,

I'm not sure I'd succeed.

You can't tell me
you'd have trouble laying that tart.

Yes, I would.

I decided long ago
not to run after any girl.

It tires me out.

But since she's after you,
take her.

She's quite delightful.
- That's just it.

I'm fed up with these silly girls
everyone goes crazy over

and passes around freely.

It depresses me.

Oh, perversity still holds it attractions,
but not with that kind of ugly duckling.

Please!

She wouldn't have me.

Be serious, Daniel.

lam serious.

The more girls a guy has,
{he more suspicious I am.

Better to turn them off
than turn them on. It feeds my ego.

I'm happy not to be
part of her collection.

Her guys aren't so bad.

Maybe, but it doesn't matter.

I don't give a damn
whether a girl likes me or not.

So you really won't do it for me?

That's enough!

Daniel, my friend,
I just don't get you.

Screw her, old man!

Despite my temporary status
as a hermit,

I hadn't totally
cut myself off from the world.

1 accepted an invitation
to dinner one night,

well aware that this outing, though
justified from a business viewpoint,

sounded the death knell
for my prior noble resolutions.

It clarified my thoughts immensely,

and I began to grasp
the enormity of my blunder.

The quarrel,
if there was one,

wasn't between the girl and me
but me and Daniel,

who was racking up points
attacking our irony and our poses.

Coming home at dawn,
1 sensed the game had been rigged,

that a crucial card
was missing from the deck,

a fact to be made
only too clear

that very moment.

In the morning,
Daniel treated the girl sullenly,

less to throw me off track,
since he guessed that I knew,

than to surprise me.

This new assault hurt her
even more than my own recent attacks,

which bothered me.

On the outs with both of us,

she was forced to resume
her nocturnal escapades.

I'm coming.

You're heading downhill.

No, uphill.

A period of open hostility ensued

during which
our respective talents -

hers and ours -

found their greatest expression.

I found a label for Haydée.

She's a collector.

Haydée, if you sleep around
with no plan at all,

you're on the lowest rung
of the human ladder:

the revolting ingenue.

Now, if you collected
in some consistent way,

putting your mind to it,
plotting things out,

that would change everything.

Yes, but she's a lousy collector.

I'm not a collector.

Don't say that.
It's all you've got going for you.

You're completely mistaken.
I'm searching.

I'm trying to find something.

I might make mistakes.

She doesn't collect.
She takes what she finds.

She doesn't know
what “distance” means.

No, I make the most of things,
maybe anything.

The main thing is that
I get something from it.

No, you scrape the barrel,

and you end up
with nothing but a pile

that collapses
"cause it has no substance.

- You scrape the barrel too.
- I'm a barbarian!

If I slept with you,
it was without the slightest thought.

You make no sense.
You criticize me for taking anything,

but you brag
about doing it yourself.

You're not a barbarian.
You've got no right to behave like one.

But I do!

A barbarian must always
be killing something.

Whether I slept with you or not
changes nothing.

I slept with you
the minute I saw you.

Where was that?

She was dancing. And you?

She was making love.

Physically, that is.

In bed with some guy.

I thought the room was empty.

See that? You have slept with her.
Every man has, the slut.

The collector is
such a miserable specimen,

interested only in numbers.

He'll never be happy
with one object.

In his search
for a truly unique object,

he inevitably ends up
with a whole set.

A far cry from purity.

Elimination is crucial here.

The idea of collecting
is the opposite of purity.

The feeling Haydée aroused
in me those days

was at least one of curiosity.

She became, in fact,
the center of my interest.

That girl finally accepted
as part of the furnishings,

became the focus as she slowly
relegated Daniel to the background.

You're not going out tonight?

No, as you can see.

Want to go out with me?

You're going out?

If you want to.

Shall we all go out?

Come on, Daniel.

I'm high.

I'm staying here.

You two go out.

All right.

Let's go.

Okay.

After an uneventful night,

in which the other girls I met
only acted as foils to Haydée,

prompted by insomnia
and the lateness of the hour,

1 decided to rush things a bit.

Young lady, they tell me
your name is Fanchon.

That's right.

Pretty name.

You're from Paris?
- That's right.

So my information is correct.

Yes, it's true.

Nice harbor.

Yes, but I'm a bit cold.

But it's so warm.

Adrien,
would you get my jacket?

It's beautiful.

Very beautiful.
- Very, very beautiful.

Shall we go?

Yes, let's.

Since we weren't sleepy,
1 suggested a drive up the mountain.

If she was following a plan,
she was doing a good job of it.

If she was trying
fo add me to her collection,

she was handling things perfectly.

One might even argue
that her entire behavior

ever since we met,

including her affair with Daniel,
had been the surest way

to arouse my interest in her.

If this was indeed true,
she'd succeeded,

a fact I readily admitted.

On the way back, we decided
to swim at our usual spot.

I intended to test the soundness
of my hypothesis, despite the risk.

You know, it would be easy
to get Daniel back.

He doesn't interest me anymore.

He's far better
than anyone else you've met.

Maybe.
For around here.

Anyway, that's my business.

But it bothers me
that you're on bad terms.

This kind of situation amuses me.

Unmitigated happiness bores me.

For once you have a chance
at an exceptional guy.

Mind your own business.

I came here for peace and quiet,
and you're disturbing it.

If everyone minded his own business,
I wouldn't disturb anybody.

Haydée, let's make peace.

- We're not at war.
- Yes, we are.

It's you who keeps
stirring up trouble.

I think you're mistaking
a friendly attitude for a hostile one.

I think you're doing the same.

Then there's no problem.

I don't see any.
You just love to get all worked up.

Maybe 'cause I can't fully
bring myself to like you.

We're both indifferent,
and that's fine.

It doesn't mean
we can't live together.

I've often wondered
what your smile meant.

Nothing.

That's what I thought.

She certainly wouldn't risk
any moves in my direction now.

She was forcing me bit by bit
to compromise my position.

How about a swim?

I'm sleepy.

You coming?

But she and Daniel as a couple
Made me uneasy.

Their complicity seemed artificial.

But was the game they were playing
for their benefit or mine?

If the latter,
I was back to my first theory.

Why would such
an easy girl waste time

going after me
in such a roundabout way,

when my rashness
had left her a direct route?

But those were the least
of my worries.

I had much bigger concerns.

1 had to organize a meeting
with my antique collector,

who was also a likely backer
for the gallery I wanted to open.

Preparations for all this
went surprisingly quickly.

What do you think?

It's a very rare Chinese vase.

I've been after it
for three years.

It looks more Hindu or Siamese.

It's the elephants.

It's a Song vase
from the tenth century.

Just before elephants
disappeared from China,

before the people rose up.

What about that one?

It looks more Chinese.

That's 'cause it's Japanese.

Satsuma. 19th century.

Worthless.
I got it as a bonus.

It's yours.

Thanks. I'll take it.

Things were deteriorating quickly
between Daniel and Haydée.

Each wanted the upper hand
in breaking up,

which explained all the games.

Daniel took the lead and brought
down the curtain in his inimitable style.

Stop it.

Stop it!

That's enough.

Will this go on much longer?

I've never seen a bigger jerk.

What in the world
am I doing here?

Shut up, you little bitch!
You have no right to talk.

You were lucky to have
both of us interested in you.

Adrien's right.

You're made for those stupid jerks
who screw you.

For a moment I thought
you had something inside

that might counter
your pitiful insignificance.

That's what fascinated me:
your insignificance.

I don't even think you're ugly,

but what attracted me were
flashes of ugliness in your face.

At least then
you could move me a bit.

But when you're pretty,
when you're lovely -

what a laugh!

You represent the lowest, most
degraded and mindless type of beauty.

Listen to me.

Every ray of light has
its strongest and weakest point.

You have to catch it just right.

You can't put it to use
in a vacuum.

You can make it fall
in a straight line,

reflect or deflect it,
gather it in or spread it out,

make it round as a bubble,

make it shine
or block it out.

At its weakest point,
it's darkness.

You're definitely beyond all hope.

Maybe an Impressionist could
do something, but even then...

Anyway, I haven't wasted
that much time on you.

I can't afford to waste any.

End of speech.
Good night.

I'm leaving tomorrow.
I've been invited to the Seychelles.

Too bad.

My friend Sam,
the collector I told you about,

is coming tomorrow.

That guy's completely crazy.

I wasted enough time
on him too.

I'm fed up with these
phony nonconformists.

I'm not staying here
another minute.

Is Felix there, please?

That's all right.
I'll call later.

If you have somewhere to go,
I can drive you.

I'm not leaving.

This house is as much mine
as it is yours.

I'll write Rodolphe
to get you to leave.

You think Rodolphe
will care one whit what you say?

You can be sure Daniel spent
all afternoon planning his little speech.

Did you believe all that?
- True or not, it's all the same to me.

I detest that kind of scene.

Anyway, it's over.

I'm staying, but I'm not talking
to either of you.

I'll take the front room.

As you wish.

Okay, we've been real bastards.

Your thing with Daniel is none of my
business, but why are you mad at me?

You put those stupid ideas
in his head.

What ideas?
I don't have any ideas.

I've said nothing
but nice things about you.

I can do my own advertising.

The only thing
I might criticize you for

is having so little
sense of humor.

I only criticize people I like.

If I really didn't like you,
I wouldn't say a word.

Let's drink to our reconciliation.

Forgive me.
I've been a real bastard.

No, you haven't.

Yes, you bring out the worst in me,
and I can't help but take the bait.

What bothers me about you

isn't at all what you think.

I don't think anything.

You don't know what you want.
It took me a long time to see it.

Maybe I don't have what I want,

but I do know what it is I want.

And what's that?

To have normal
relationships with people.

Somehow I always
mess things up.

I seldom get what I want.

Actually, I've never had it.

Did you want Daniel?

He was okay.
I don't really call that wanting.

I'd have liked to be his friend.

Maybe yours too.

You could be my friend.

I do like you
in my own way. A lot.

You keep picking on me,
and Daniel follows your lead.

He's old enough
to think for himself.

Besides, right from the start

you brought
those horrid guys here.

- I never brought anyone here.
- What about that first guy?

- Oh, that guy.
- And the ones who come get you?

If they're stupid enough to come get me,
that's their problem.

I haven't gone out in two weeks.

And I've said nothing in two weeks.
I said nothing tonight.

You didn't stand up for me.

I'm just lazy.

You'd be glad if I left.

Not at all.
You're quite charming.

- You think I'm ugly.
- I never said that.

I just said
you weren't my type.

But for your type,
you're perfect.

Would that be an inferior type?

Somewhere in between.

Besides, my taste
isn't necessarily the best.

Hypocrite.

It's not hypocrisy.
It's charm.

Don't think
I look down on you.

Far from it. You're far superior
to all your lovers.

They're not my lovers.
I have no lovers.

And if I did,
it wouldn't be them.

Besides, I'm free to see
whomever I wish.

No, you're not free.

Just like I'm not free
to go after some ugly girl.

Me?

Your case is entirely different.

Girls like you have generally been
a waste of my time.

But you're an exception.

I sense that with you it might not be
entirely a waste of time.

In short,
you're a dangerous girl.

Don't you think?

I can't understand
how you believed for a moment...

that I didn't like you.

Enough for tonight.
I'm sleepy.

Shall we go to bed?

What a great feeling
to be through with both of you.

You never started with me.

Yes, I did.

It was baked
at a relatively low temperature:

570 to 750 degrees.

- You think so?
- I know so.

Everyone knows it's characteristic
of vases of that era.

What I like is the ears.

I'd like a car at the Bertaud residence,
Ramatuelle Road.

How long?
Five minutes? Thanks.

I can drive you.

That's all right.

This is Sam.

This is your collector?

I find collectors
completely uninteresting.

Since I rarely meet one,

let me tell you
how ridiculous you are.

That's enough, Daniel.

I hate collectors.

I can't bear the sight of them.

I refuse to get mixed up
in your schemes, Adrien.

I don't have to flatter people,
especially not these types.

Come with me.
I have to talk to you.

He just wanted
to make a scene.

Actually, he's angry at the girl.

She's lovely.

Is she his girlfriend?

Yours?
- Not mine either.

She lives here,

sleeps around a bit.

Actually, a lot.

She's a collector.

A collector?

We have something in common.

Are you a part of her collection?

You should be.

Do you want to be?

- Me?
- Why not?

She's the easiest girl
in the world.

I like them hard to get.

Sam, admit you like her.

That's not the question.

The question is,
does she like me?

Don't give it another thought.

She does everything
I tell her to do.

There's always
that Machiavellian side to you.

You only say that
'cause she left with the other guy.

No, she couldn't have.

Are you sure?

Before leaving, I went to apprise
Haydée of the situation.

May I?

He insists we spend
the night at his place.

I can't. I have an important
appointment in the morning.

But you could go.

Ill pick you up
the day after tomorrow.

What exactly am I
supposed to do with him?

Whatever you like.

But he'll be offended if you refuse,
especially after Daniel's scene.

In short,
I'm the bonus for the vase.

It's not just the vase.

I'm involved
in a big project with him,

financing a gallery.

In business you have
to create a certain climate.

A favorable climate.

I love doing those kinds of favor.
Especially for you.

Besides, I feel safer
with him than with you.

That could be taken two ways.

I only see one.

Of course, this plot
was all a bluff on my part,

and on Sam's,
who loved this kind of joke.

And also on Haydée's,

whose readiness
to obey delighted me

and united us far better than our
trumped-up secrets of the night before.

The evening was uneventful

and when the moment came,
we all played our parts with great care.

It's time to go.

I have an important appointment
this morning in Nice.

Stay.
I have a spare room.

Thanks, but I hate
getting a couple hours' sleep.

I'd prefer to stay up.

Besides, I have
to take our friend home.

Do as you like...

but I'm keeping Haydée.

Do you mind?

Not at all.

Okay, then.

What would you like for breakfast?
Eggs or cornflakes?

Fried eggs with grated cheese,
and lots of cornflakes.

I slept all morning, after which
an errand took me into town,

where I decided
to spend the rest of the afternoon.

For the first time
since I'd arrived, I was bored,

and I preferred
to be bored in town.

1 couldn't wait
to see Sam and Haydée again,

though I knew
not to expect anything,

since nothing
was going to happen.

But the pleasure they'd both taken
in their roles annoyed me.

They were now
the center of the action,

even if the action was nonexistent,
and I was on the sidelines.

It made me jealous,

and also aware
of how ridiculous I was being.

1 was certainly not ready to admit

that I could possibly
miss Haydée.

Yet I felt her presence close by,

in stark contrast
to the mass of other girls

whom I'd certainly
have rejected that night.

When the time came
to set out for Sam's villa,

1 was on edge,

furious at myself
and the rest of the world.

Do you speak English?

What's the best way
to get to the sea, please?

That way.

But the sea's that way.

Sam and Haydée welcomed me
with a scene meant to cheer me up,

but their complicity irritated me.

Did you have a good time?

Lovely.

Sam hammered away all evening

at what he thought
were my weak points.

He meant to humiliate me
in front of the girl

To do nothing,
yet think while doing it, is exhausting.

Working's much easier.

You follow a well-trod path.

There's a kind of laziness to work.
Work is an escape,

a clear conscience
bought on the cheap.

Of course, that makes you
the least lazy person I know.

I haven't taken a vacation
in 10 years.

Sure.
You're on permanent vacation.

Well, yes and no.
Not exactly.

It amuses me how you're always
trying to justify yourself.

On the contrary.
I don't have a guilty conscience.

You're a liar.

You feel guilty
because you have no money.

Listen, Sam, I'm sure you've heard
of the Tarahumara Indians.

When they enter a town,
they beg from house to house.

They stop at a door,
then stand in profile

with an air of haughty contempt.

Whether given alms or not,
they leave after a set period of time...

without a thank you.

When I beg,
I always turn in profile.

Besides, we're always
someone else's slave.

I find less dishonor
in living at a friend's house

than in being
on the government payroll.

Most people's work today
is useless.

Three quarters
of all activity is parasitic.

I'm not the parasite.

It's the bureaucrats
and experts.

If I were 66”
with an eagle's profile,

I'd feel nearer
to the gods too.

You're nostalgic
for the good old days,

while I'm happy to live
in this modern world.

I'm as modern as you are.

But what matters today
isn't work but laziness.

Everyone says work
is just a means to an end.

We speak of a leisure society.

But when it comes,
we won't know what leisure is.

Some people work 40 years
for their life of leisure,

but when the time comes,
they're lost, and they die.

In all sincerity,

I think I serve mankind better
by taking it easy than by working.

It's true.
It takes courage to not work.

More courage
than going to the moon?

Of course you can go
to the moon too.

But that's both fascinating
and contemptible.

If I listen to any more
of your little monologue,

I'll fall asleep
right in this chair.

You're like a small child,

happy as can be
with his mediocre life.

Go to the moon, Adrien.

Jupiter too.

Hurry...

and when you get there,

send me a postcard,

if you have
the money to buy one.

I've always been sorry
I wasn't rich.

But if I were, my dandyism,
as you Call it, would be too easy...

lacking any heroism whatsoever.

And I can't imagine
a dandy not being heroic.

Do you find
his metaphysical monologue

as interesting as Tarzan?

Don't mind him.
He talks to hear himself talk.

She's right.

Careful!

Very clever!

She's impossible.

Your rooms are
on the second floor.

Good night.

And you laugh!

You don't just break
a Song vase.

I break whatever I like.
Besides, you got your money.

Still, you don't just break
a Song vase.

I didn't do it on purpose.

You think it's funny too.

A professional collector
would've killed you.

You're impossible.
I should have known.

I knew I couldn't
take you anywhere.

You shouldn't have left me
with him for two days.

- What did he do to you?
- Nothing.

Did he bother you?

Not at all.
He took me boating.

Last night he took me
to the casino. It was lovely.

Are you upset
'cause he didn't try anything'?

Would you believe me
if I said I slept with him?

I'd believe anything,
coming from you.

I know if you say yes,
it probably means no

but could just as well mean yes.

You're an immoral little slut.

Well, I certainly wouldn't espouse
your moral code.

Neither would l.

Besides, I feel like giving
my morals the slip tonight.

I'm sleepy.

Shall we go upstairs?

No, let's go home.

The die was cast.

She'd shown
she had the upper hand.

1 was back
to my pet theory once again.

For three weeks,

it was as if she'd acted
with the sole idea of possessing me.

Daniel, Sam,
and now the broken vase

were all just stations on the path
to conquering precious me.

My protective moral fortress
was tumbling down.

Since I'd come to Rodolphe's
in search of pleasure,

why not use
my one week left

to enjoy my interactions
with Haydée to the utmost?

An affair so clearly
circumscribed

in time and space
met my definition of total adventure.

One week was the ideal length
I'd have liked my casual affairs to fast,

and not the one-night stands or
endless ordeals they'd been till now.

It's Haydée!

Wait a minute.

Want to come with us?

- Where?
- Lorenzo's.

In Rome?

No, his villa in San Felice.

- I can't right now.
- Take the address.

Wait.

San Felice.

I said I can't right now.

Drop him.

Give me the address.

- Let's go.
- I have nothing to wear.

When I started the engine,
it was just to clear the road

and perhaps put an end
to Haydée's dallying.

But I quickly realized
1 wasn't going to stop

and that I was making
the right decision for the first time.

This is the story
of my twists and turns.

The way was finally cleared for the
decision of my first days here.

Now I could actually live
my vacation dream.

Peace and solitude
were at last mine for the taking.

They weren't just handed to me.

I'd gained the right to them
by at last asserting my freedom.

1 reveled in my victory

and ascribed it to my actions alone,
not chance.

1 was overwhelmed by a feeling

of exquisite freedom.

Now I could do
whatever I wanted.

But once back in the emptiness
and silence of the house,

1 was seized with anxiety
and unable to sleep.

Is this the airport?

When's your next flight
to London?

Yes, today.