Original subtitles

Six kilometers... well done old chap, a job well done.

Fire!

The rebus, a curious name for a boat.

Not if you know Harry.

A rebus is a sort of enigma, and that's what it is. and that's what it is.

But in fact, his origins are obscure.

We don't know where he comes from, what he does or why he does it. why he does it.

I'm not even sure that Laird is his real name.

Yet he sounds more English than the King.

Who, as everyone knows, is German, but nobody's perfect.

And where does his fortune come from?

Oh, come on, don't be so nosy.

Forgive me, I didn't mean to be indiscreet, Auntie, but the atmosphere on board is so

strange, and as nobody's telling me anything... anything... Well, I'm going to be your mentor.

You should know, dear child, that tomorrow evening.., the seven stars

of the Pleiades will appear in perfect alignment the Moon at their apex.

An exceptional phenomenon that only happens only twice a century.

What do you say to that, Pauline?

Nothing, I don't even know what the Pleiades.

Oh, wait, I'll show you.

You're not going to tell me you believe in mythology?

Oh, I believe in destiny.

In human folly.

And in myself.

And not necessarily in that order.

Happy with the cruise?

Yes, I'm very happy.

I feel like I'm living the dream.

But would it be indiscreet of me to ask where we're going?

Ah!

Well, I'm taking you to a small island that belongs to Baron Orloff.

It's a marvel.

It's like the Garden of Eden.

And we all know what happened there.

Don't we, Harry?

Yes.

Pauline?

Oh, Marc!

Is it over?

Yes.

Have a look.

Watch the paint.

It's absolutely ravishing, Marc.

Aphrodite emerging from the bubbling of the bubbling sea.

And what's in your crate?

A cannon.

A cannon?

Yes, it's a replica of a weapon I've developed.

I'm going to give it to Baron Orloff.

He loves this kind of toy.

Do you know that when the English press you a merchant of death?

Yes, I'm aware of that.

I haven't had time, but I'll have to thank him.

To thank them for it.

It's not often that the newspapers speak of you in such flattering terms. Do you know that this same press, last year, called me a libertine and a pervert?

Two epithets that enraged Baron Kroop and old Zaroff.

My dear, I have to admit that it was the the birth of this murderous

child that allows me to offer you this cruise and the joys it brings.

In this respect, by the way, Clausewitz was wrong.

For me, the sinews of war lie in commerce not in diplomacy.

Let the world stop appealing to me to kill each other and I'll change my profession.

But war is as much a part of man's nature as sensuality.

And just as attractive.

Another ten years of love and killing would not displease me, I must say.

"Another ten years of love and killing would not displease me", I must say.

I'm beginning to think he's completely crazy.

Completely.

That's all I like.

I only like crazy people.

In that case, I think you two were made for each other.

For each other.

I wonder if this mysterious island a gigantic insane asylum.

We'd be delirious together.

But don't forget he's your patron, in a way. How could I?

I'm just pointing out that without Harry, you'd probably would have remained an unknown painter, miserable in a garret.

Yes, perhaps I would have.

And I'd say it's suddenly an attractive attractive prospect.

He paid you handsomely.

Yes, that's undeniable.

But when I agreed, I had no idea that the the agreement would entail other obligations.

Always read the fine print at the bottom of the page before signing a contract.

Yes, you should.

It's a trap I won't fall into again. fall for it again.

Fine, then.

Let yourself be caught one last time.

Please, come in.

Oh, Harry.

I'm sorry to come but I... Trouble sleeping?

Oh, no, no, no.

Good heavens.

How could you?

Oh, don't worry.

She can't see us.

I should hope not.

It's a two-way mirror on this side and a a mirror on the other side.

Very ingenious.

My dear, I must tell you that your mistress is even stranger than I thought.

Strange?

No.

It's quite all right.

If you'd seen her on Christmas Eve...

Oh, Harry.

Harry, the reason I came here tonight.., it's because...

I mean, I wanted you to reassure me... and tell me that...

You and Pauline don't... You know...

Oh, Suzanne, come on.

You've got to be kidding.

You know I only have a taste for women women more perverse than this child.

Oh, what an absurd idea.

Why don't you go back to your room to enjoy your trip.

I promise you, there's nothing to worry about.

Thank you, Harry.

Yes.

Yes.

Good night, Richard.

Oh, Richard.

I'm trying and I can't do it.

Well, keep trying.

Eventually you will.

Suzanne has charms that we could have used to our advantage.

Why not ask her to stay?

That's out of the question.

Suzanne has a frightening finesse.

From now on, what we smell in fear of each other will be more apt.

As for dear Pauline...

Will she or won't she?

No one knows, no one can say.

Wolinsky.

I'll expect you for breakfast.

If we're to be ready in time, Baron... schedule, Baron...

I must start work immediately.

Immediately.

Good, very good.

I'll leave you to your work.

I'll join you later.

What a bore posing for photographers.

And you, my darling, have you recovered from your long journey?

Journey? I slept like a child.

I think your house is admirable, Karine.

What a perfect restoration.

It's true, I feel like I've stepped another century.

All credit to Alexis.

He had a whole trainload of the best architects architects from Saint Petersburg.

And it took two years of work before he was satisfied.

Is he your husband?

He's very handsome.

It's a pity he was held back.

He's a man who cares above all about his career.

His career.

In fact, he may well be appointed ambassador this year.

He works tirelessly, sometimes late into the late into the night.

Which leaves you free to spend it with with your lover.

Really, Karine.

If I didn't know any better, you'd shock me.

You're just as impossible as you were when we were old, the two of us.

Oh, no, Julie. Do you eat the same thing every every day?

I mean, do you wear the same dress the same dress?

Then why do you have to sleep with the same man every night?

Am I to understand that you're not faithful to Alexis?

Of course I'm faithful to him.

Often.

You can't imagine how happy I am to see you again.

Ah.

The young ladies are here.

They're courtesans.

And they can play all sorts of musical instruments.

Harry Laird sent for them from France.

Courtesans?

How could he ask you to welcome to welcome such women into your home?

And you, Karine, do you accept?

There's always a good reason for everything Harry does.

And we're dying to know what it is.

What it is.

I still don't know which one is Eve and which is Delphine.

Eve is the one who was in your bed last last night, darling.

Oh.

If you're going to spy on me, at least do it properly, at least.

The other one was in my bed this morning. Hear that?

That's what I have to put up with.

I often feel like I've married Rasputin.

Rasputin?

Oh.

You should tell Julie what happened between the two of you.

No, thank you.

Don't bother.

I don't mind.

You know, I'd always been intrigued by that man.

Yes, you were.

Because until I saw him, I couldn't believe that such an ugly man could seduce more than a maid.

But he has piercing eyes.

One look, and you feel yourself melting.

Did he talk to you?

What did he say?

He didn't say a word.

He stared at me for a long moment, and then then he stretched out his gaunt hands towards me.

And he bared my throat.

Just like that.

He gently caressed my breasts.

And kissed them.

And

Then his mouth came slowly very close to mine.

Keep going, keep going.

Oh

Alexis, I'm afraid I've gone too far.

Perhaps you'd be better off confessing to him... that you didn't actually know Rasputin.

I didn't.

He'll forgive that.

But if there's one thing I hate more than anything else, it's lies.

North-east of the Dnieper basin, if this map is to be believed, there are more holes in our defensive lines than in a sieve.

Well done, Major.

You know better than anyone how to find the right word.

Put the word "colander" in your report.

And you can be sure that our staff will be informed of your valuable collaboration.

Yes, I'll see to it.

Yes, it's him.

Oh, my dear Wolinsky, would you be kind enough to take a few days off?

Go and see your family.

My family?

My family's in Petrograd, Baron.

They are?

Well, come down to the village.

There you are.

Go fishing, Wolinsky.

And when I need you, I'll let you know.

But, Baron, we're already two weeks days behind schedule.

And the report?

Will wait.

I think we both need a a vacation.

Is that clear?

Perfectly clear, Baron.

Nicky!

Nicky!

Nicky, go and tell them we'll be nine... no, ten... will be nine... no, ten for lunch.

Did Monsieur le Baron count Madame Harrigan?

Ah... then there'll be eleven.

Have the table set outside.

And make sure everything's ready for my guests.

Do you have the key?

Yes, I do.

Tell me, Karin, who's Madame Harrigan?

A friend of Harry Laird's.

It owns half the coal mines coal mines in America.

She's delicious.

I'm sure you'll like her.

Oh, don't stop.

Yes, there it is.

There it is.

Oh, it's good, yes.

Oh, there, there.

Oh, it's divine.

Mmm.

Oh.

Look, Barbara.

It looks like Monsieur Laird's boat.

Why, yes, it is Harry.

Here, sit down.

Don't be frightened.

Baron Orloff, you already know Valerie.

Lady Suzanne Stanford and her niece Pauline.

How do you do?

I've been waiting for this opportunity opportunity, Baron.

It's a joy for me.

What's this, Harry?

One of your new pieces of armament?

Yes, you could say that, indeed.

I don't come here empty-handed.

I bring gifts for all of you.

Tell me, this young Pauline is divine.

May I count her among your gifts?

I ask you for an hour's patience, my dear.

Then I'll tell you everything.

Yes.

Some time ago, in Vienna, I met a Count Dieter von Isard.

He's my husband.

That's what I thought.

If my spies are to be believed, he's one of the rising stars stars in the Foreign Office.

I hope your spies are right, Monsieur Laird.

Wrong, Monsieur Laird.

Harry, have the goodness to call me Harry.

Whatever you say, Harry.

I'm afraid Alexis will have a fit if you drag this out any longer.

If you drag this mystery out any longer.

In that case, I'll lift the veil.

Ladies, please.

Aphrodite.

Aphrodite was the goddess symbolizing love and beauty.

There was no divinity more revered than her in the Pantheon.

The Greeks of the Golden Age believed that she she had the power to be reborn twice a century.

And this on the night when the stars of the Pleiades are aligned with the Moon.

And they celebrated this event with a festival.

A festival of love. Now, this celestial phenomenon is going to happen tonight. Tonight?

Yes, in a few hours.

Nicky?

The islanders seem to have the same the same custom.

For weeks, they've been preparing for weeks.

But it's happening in other parts of regions of Greece.

That's true.

So I thought, why not in our own way pay homage to the beautiful Aphrodite, goddess of love.

After all, you and I devote a significant part of our lives of our lives to the quest for beauty and love.

I think all of you present here have read and reread, as I have,

this imperishable masterpiece of erotic literature. erotic literature.

L'Aphrodite by Monsieur Pierre Louys.

And your point, Harry?

Ah, I'm proposing a show that will tell us a bit of the story.

With the book as our guide.

I've planned this show to run three days and three nights.

We ourselves will be spectators and actors.

And the whole island will be our stage. stage.

I have therefore assigned to each of you the role that seems to suit you best.

So I'd like you to tell me what you think what you think of my fantasy.

It's a superb idea, my dear.

Simply brilliant.

It's a bit like an erotic dream come true.

Excellent casting, Harry.

I, for one, will be Demetrios.

A young sculptor equal in beauty to Apollo.

And in love with Chryséis.

And lover of Queen Berenice, played by me.

By me.

How funny.

Alexis will play a debauchee.

Mimicking a madman in whom lack of principle is a natural gift.

No offense, Alexis.

I've kept the role of Nocrates for myself.

A philosopher who made a fortune by ingenious means.

And for whom, incidentally, there's no greater pleasure greater pleasure than forming couples. Well, what is it, Barbara?

Would you object to playing the role the role of the beautiful Cleopatra?

No, but if I'm going to be Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, costume is very important to me.

And I don't see anything in my wardrobe that suitable.

I'd look ridiculous.

Stop worrying, Barbara.

Dresses, furniture, drinks... Harry has it all planned.

He's thought of everything.

Oh, he has.

That's right, my dear.

Right down to the participation of your... sailors.

Oh, they'll be delighted.

And your cash register?

Are you going to tell us what's inside contains?

A statue of the beautiful Aphrodite herself.

It will be consecrated in a ceremony.

Marc will find her a place in your temple temple,

and after we've gone, she'll remind you of our feast.

Amazing, Harry.

Admirable idea.

And I understand the presence of these two girls.

They'll be the musicians, just like in the book.

That's right, they will.

You and I are going to love each other, Julie.

I'd like to know how you feel about that.

Well, I don't know yet.

It's only an entertainment, you know.

A bit like a masked ball that lasts three nights instead of one.

Well, that's fine.

I'll do it.

You thought I'd refuse.

Right, Karine?

Who is to play Chryséis, the most beautiful girl in the whole kingdom reincarnation of Aphrodite?

Let me guess.

Pauline.

No.

Don't be so quick to refuse, Pauline.

Before you answer, read the book.

I assure you that no one would force you that would go against your nature.

It has never been my intention to follow to follow the written word to the letter.

We're going to play a symbolic comedy, a little as the villagers do during their carnival.

I won't be taking part in this party.

You'll do it without me.

I will simply entrust you with three innocent missions.

Pauline.

Pauline.

Ask me to participate in an erotic party.

I want to be frank with you, Pauline.

I owe Harry Laird a great debt... debt to Harry Laird.

If you persist in your refusal, your uncle will lose his position at the

of war, which means ruin, the loss of our position in the world and a whole way of life.

But why, Aunt Suzanne?

Why would Harry do such a thing?

Your Uncle Richard and I would say we've have committed a grave imprudence.

We've been having relations with another couple for some time.

The Duke and Duchess of... oh, you don't need to know their names.

Some letters we exchanged fell into the possession

of someone who wanted to use them to blackmail us.

And threatened to compromise us all. Harry Laird?

On the contrary, Pauline.

It was Harry who came to our aid.

I went to see him for advice, and the very next day, the letters came.

And the very next day, the letters were returned to me. By the person who had blackmailed you?

Yes.

I don't know what Harry told the man, but I've never seen anyone more appalled.

But then, I don't understand.

I promised Harry I'd return the favor he'd done me as soon as the opportunity arose.

That was two years ago, and you can imagine the state I was in. imagine the state I was in.

He finally called on me and...

And it's me you're appealing to.

It's up to me to repay your debt.

You'll do what you want.

I have nothing more to say to you.

Yes, you do, Auntie.

You could remind me that I'm an orphan orphan, and that after the

death of my parents, you and Uncle Richard raised me as your own.

You offered me everything I wanted.

I also owe you a debt I haven't paid. I haven't paid.

I assure you you owe us nothing, Pauline.

Everything I am, I owe to you, aunt Suzanne.

Well, I accept.

Three days in a lifetime isn't much.

Besides, it's all a game.

This is a model I had made for you, Alexis. for you, Alexis.

How thoughtful, Henri.

I'm very grateful.

With this cannon, if the mood took me I could shoot down my airplane.

And with the real thing, a real airplane.

Its range is around 6000 meters.

That's twice the range of the Krupp 60 mm.

Is this possible?

Yes, Alexis, I'm telling you.

Fantastic!

I'm sure our staff will be interested.

That, my dear, I have no doubt.

Yes, we're a little short of light artillery in some areas.

How could it be otherwise in a country as vast as Russia?

I'll bring you some ballistic data I have on the yacht.

Ah good, ah good

you don't have to come with me.

But almost all my dresses stayed on the yacht.

I don't think you'll need them, Pauline.

Well, take good care of yourself, darling.

Thank you for the delicious lunch, Alexis.

No, but thank you for coming.

And don't worry about Pauline, we'll take care of her.

I'm sure we will.

Thank you again for the yacht, Harry.

Oh, it's the least I could do.

I've told the crew everything's on board and ready.

You always think of everything.

Oh, I try.

Trying.

So far, so good.

No message?

Is fortune smiling on us?

From the looks of things, I'm assuming the trickster is in the ascendant.

There aren't any in the tarot deck.

So, it's not a game that reflects life.

Reflection of life.

The card I turn over most often is the hanged man, death.

No surprise there.

The drums of war beat louder louder every day. Should I ask the cards who will be the winner?

No, there's no need.

We know that the winners are always always the same.

Zaroff.

Poop.

And Laird.

Now that's satisfying.

Curious.

I haven't seen anywhere that mechanical duck I gave Alexis last year.

Yet I'm... I'm sitting on it.

No, you're not.

It can't be true.

Beautiful Chryséis.

For long hours, I've watched you from afar.

And without meaning to... One day, love... And without wanting it, one day...

Beautiful Chryséis.

For long hours, I watched you from afar... And love... and love...

And without ever having wanted it, love... Oh, I wish you to eat the perfume that pleases you, the love that makes your limbs tense.

Is that you, Chryséis?

What are you doing here at this hour, Odysseus, with only golden sand for a bed?

Her family doesn't accept us.

Her name is Myrto and she has come from a country, with no other fortune than her beauty.

In Alexandria, that's wealth enough that time will bring to fruition.

But tonight, we have nowhere to sleep.

Will you welcome us under your roof?

I'd refuse if you were alone, Rodis, because your nature nature is known to me and it's not mine.

But since this young lady is here to appease the

ardor of your desires, I'm willing to take you in for the night.

I've never shared my bed with a woman.

With a woman.

Rodis seems to teach you everything you don't know.

You don't know.

You know the house where I live. The door's open. Bravo, bravo!

Wonderful, well phrased.

It was perfect.

My congratulations.

I especially liked the way you said " I've never shared a woman's bed".

You too, Pauline, that was very well played.

Yes, a slave.

For I feel that this is what love has made of me.

Words have no substance for me.

I'm tired of these phrases with which I am filled.

But what else can I offer you?

My fortune, I own nothing.

For to me, all material possessions are objects of contempt.

This is the only grace that saves you in my eyes.

You whom the goodness of the gods generously showered.

Listen to me, Demetrios.

If your love for me is so ardent you must prove it with deeds.

I'm going to give you three missions.

One for each night of Aphrodite's feast.

If you fulfill these three missions, I promise to be yours.

There's nothing I wouldn't do to please you you, beautiful Chryséis.

Rodis, whom I welcome into my home, wears a necklace, where a key hangs.

Make a copy of this key and bring it to me.

But she mustn't know, and no one must know what you've done.

And what else?

First, complete this first task, then I'll show you the next.

All done.

And in the strictest confidence.

Don't expect me to lavish you praise.

For tonight, your second mission will be difficult, and it will require more cunning and skill on your part.

These are qualities that a good artist possess.

A scroll of parchment from the great library of Alexandria is hidden somewhere in this salon.

The place where it is hidden can be by the sound of a small harp.

A small harp?

Could it be a music box?

Find that scroll and bring it to me.

And once again, everyone must ignore it.

May I ask why?

I'm not telling you anything more.

Your scheming, but are you the author?

Putting my curiosity to the test.

My dear friends, at precisely midnight, the statue of Aphrodite that I asked Demetrios to create will be unveiled before you.

Empty your cups.

Now, please, turn them over.

One of you will observe a cross on hers.

I have a cross.

What does it mean?

It means that tonight you'll offer an act of love to the goddess goddess Aphrodite for our viewing pleasure.

Tonight, in accordance with ancient custom, you must perform this ritual act in front of all and with the lover of your choice.

You seem to be disturbing Julie. Our entertainment that's troubling you?

I'm only upset about myself.

For having shared the bed of a person of the opposite sex To have experienced such great pleasure in doing so - you're wrong.

Human love differs from that of animals only in 2 divine functions

The caress and the kiss

I still don't understand.

Don't let that worry you, dear Julie.

Even philosophers and poets are darkly ignorant dark ignoramuses of the things of love.

The time has come.

Your precious parchment is in the arms of roses.

As is everyone else tonight.

For a slave, that's an impudent tone.

I've had enough of this!

I'm mad with rage.

Because now I know that I love you.

You do?

Yes.

From that very moment.

From the moment I laid eyes on you.

It wasn't... it wasn't on some I'm sorry.

But it was on the deck of Harry's yacht.

What of it?

So, do you think I'm going to let the woman I love I love get mixed up in his lascivious rites, his bacchanalia?

I want to keep you all to myself, all to myself!

But listen... No, I won't listen!

You're leaving with me.

Come, I'll take you.

I'll take you away forever.

Please come.

Yes, I believe you.

You love me.

I love you too.

And I'll go with you.

I'll go with you to the ends of the earth.

Wherever you want.

Yes, then let's go.

Tonight.

No.

Not tonight, not next night.

I made an oath and I will not break my word.

Please don't ask me to

explain or to leave now.

You'll have to wait until the day after tomorrow.

But you'll have plunged further into a world a world I'd rather you didn't know about.

You have nothing to fear.

I don't care what I see or hear.

I know I'll never be able to become like the others.

I'm not like them.

And what do you have in store for us now?

A bacchanal, of course.

And as a climax to our entertainment, Queen Berenice will emancipate her...

most beautiful slave, Aphrodisia, in a ceremony a ceremony in keeping with ancient tradition.

Who will be Aphrodisia's interpreter?

And what is her role?

To obtain her release, Aphrodisia must offer herself to anyone who wants her.

Everyone will be able to taste her as they please.

As for the rest, you'll know when the time time comes.

It's not an unpleasant role.

Yes, it is.

It's only natural that it should fall to you.

To you.

No one has achieved such liberation liberation.

What, quite frankly, seemed unthinkable unthinkable just two days ago.

Here you are.

I've come to take on my final task.

It won't be any harder for you than the first two.

I know it won't.

You're asking me to put this little object back where I found it, and once again, unbeknownst to anyone. But... how did you get the key?

Tell me how you got the key.

Well, I made two of them.

Ah, you're as devious as Harry.

What gave you this idea?

Let's call it artist's intuition.

Someone wanted this parchment to read and copy it.

But why?

I've no idea.

But I think...

that it only has value insofar as its owner owner doesn't know that someone else has it.

Take this.

That someone else has seen it.

Can you read Greek?

Yes, a little.

It's nothing to parchment.

And this text isn't written in Greek either.

It looks like...

It looks like Russian.

Do you know what that means?

I don't understand it.

I'd rather not know.

I prefer not to know.

Nicky?

Come here, dear.

I have a favor to ask of you.

Yes, madame.

Here, I'd like you to massage me with with this lotion.

Massage you?

Please.

I

I'm beginning to wonder if Aphrodite hasn't bewitched me too.

Never before.

Never before have I shown such emotion in the presence of a woman.

And so far, is it a sensation that like?

Oh!

Careful, they've been generously peppered with Satyrion.

Satyrion?

Is that what I just heard?

Yes.

It's an aphrodisiac from the mountains mountains of Macedonia.

When burned like incense, its effect is even more stimulating.

Attentive to our every desire.

It's a pity that Aphrodite is only reborn reborn only twice a century.

The next time this happens, we'll all be too old to celebrate.

We'll all be too old to celebrate.

Even if we are still alive. Oh!

Do you ever get the feeling that the world world

we know, our world, might be coming to an end?

Don't despair, Alexis.

Even in a new world, where values radically

different, there will still be a place for you.

And a place for me.

Yes, but will it be as good as the one the one we occupy?

I wish I could find the right words to express to you to express my gratitude for the pleasures your friendship has afforded me.

It's a debt I wish I could repay.

You have already done so, my dear.

Your hospitality is a sumptuous gift that would satisfy the most demanding of kings.

The moment has come.

The goddess is calling us.

This is wonderful news.

Come and sit by me.

Do you know, my child, that every day you a little more like Aphrodite herself?

The wine has undoubtedly dulled your senses.

I'm mortal, like all of you here.

And you're right.

I still don't understand why you wanted me here.

Your presence alone is indispensable.

Your rare, unadorned beauty gives new vigor to the jaded that we are.

You possess the power to inspire us the love without which all

our amusements of recent days would have quickly lost their flavor.

What I see here...

You call this...

love?

My dear, I've reached an age and a rank that gives me gives me the right to call things as I please.

What you see here is one of the many many forms of love.

You have all night to discover it.

You're already seeing things in a different perspective, my dear Chryséis.

Soon, you'll be like them.

And you'll behave the same way.

Wolinsky, how dare you!

Archduke Ferdinand has been murdered.

Murdered?

When was it?

When did it happen?

This morning, in Sarajevo.

He was killed by a band of rebels.

Franz Joseph has already ordered mobilization of his armies.

Wolinsky, do you know if my yacht is here?

I just saw it in the bay, sir.

Very good, sir.

I'd like to have a few words with you privately, Harry.

Oh, yes, of course.

Let's meet in my study.

Do you know what this means?

War.

Sarajevo's army.

Throughout the Dnieper basin.

But I've been informed that their heaviest concentration of artillery is here.

That is, to the south.

Well, thanks to this valuable information, I think we'll have no

trouble destroying all their guns in the first month of the war.

Now, Count von Isard, I have another piece of useful piece of information to offer you.

This is the piece de resistance, so to speak.