Original subtitles

Police. Come on.

Wake up.

Get up. Come on, out!

- All right, all right! - Come on, get up!

Leave her alone. I'll see to her.

Hurry up.

Come on.

That's it.

Need a hand? Hurry up.

Does it really take this many of you?

Get a move on.

We should update them.

They have had their day too.

A settling of scores

between rival gangs in your brothel.

Make a statement to that effect

and it will save us time and get Torcy off my back.

Hortense?

A girl supposedly attacked in the street,

the bodies of the Butcher and his men strewn

over the streets of Pigalle...

You used to stage more convincing cover-ups.

What cover-ups?

I won't be shedding a tear for the Butcher and his thugs

but I'm glad you told me.

Poor Valentine. Terrible business.

But what happened here was unrelated.

Kertel can't take his drink.

After a boozy dinner he decided to teach the girls

how to shoot a pistol.

Thank goodness your girls perform better in bed.

Indeed.

It could be worse. Apart from a few scratches on the walls,

there's no serious damage.

I don't understand you, Hortense.

I offer you the chance to get rid of Mosca and you don't take it.

Follow me, Bertha.

The champagne was flowing freely so we were all a bit...

Tipsy.

He's usually like a bear with a sore head.

- You should have seen him climb... - ...on the tables.

‟Call yourselves professionals?

There are some tricks you haven't mastered.”

Those were his words, not mine.

- Next. - Monsieur Mosca was quick to act.

He took out his gun.

- Don't push your luck, Pauline. - I kid you not.

He fired several shots. The mistress went crazy.

All hell broke loose.

Next.

Then Monsieur Kertel injured his hand.

That will do!

I like you, Angelus.

But don't you dare do the dirty on me again.

- Look what I've found. - This is no place for you.

I want to see what you've been hiding from me.

You want to see? I'll show you, then.

Our colleagues from the streets.

They are on the game illegally

and they come here to be checked out

for any nasty diseases our clients pass onto us.

Morning, Doctor. This is my daughter.

Come on.

Downstairs are the rooms we take the clients to.

Come on.

- Can I come in? - We're even.

Really?

How did you end up here?

What happened to make you...

To make me become a prostitute?

When I met your father, I was eighteen.

He wasn't much older.

He came from a good family.

He was so handsome.

We were madly in love.

Then I fell pregnant.

- Did he leave you? - No!

No, your father was a good man.

He died.

In a duel, shot through the heart.

And I found myself alone,

pregnant and penniless.

What was his name?

- Jeanne, this is no place for you. - Come on.

I'll escort you through the courtyard so no one sees you. Hurry up.

Wait.

Edgar gave me this the day before his duel.

Why did you go and see her?

- So she told you. - What do you want?

- She came, didn't she? - During a shoot-out!

How was I to know that was going to happen?

I never knew you were such a good storyteller.

Leave that.

Marguerite will do it.

Are you all right? They didn't push you around too much?

One advantage of being in prison is learning not to be scared of anyone.

You were in prison?

Sir.

We must restore order on the streets as soon as possible.

- That is precisely what I am doing. - The streets are littered with corpses.

Sir, I assure you that I am cracking down on the capital's pimps.

I don't give a damn about your crackdown.

I'm talking about politics.

What good will getting rid of Mosca do?

He will be replaced instantly by a crook of the same family.

Fighting will continue on the streets of Paris.

- Are you suggesting I...? - Negotiate.

Mosca wants to rule the underworld

so encourage him in his bid to take over the streets.

- Are you asking me to capitulate? - Just to make a pact with him.

Or rather to sell him one.

Reassure me.

The Chevau-Légers can still rely on your cooperation, can't they?

Of course.

For your dowry with Mosca.

It's a list of Orleanist deputies whose fervor seems to have waned.

Any information about them, however improper,

would be invaluable to us.

It will help them to make their minds up

at the next ballot.

The streetwalkers are your affair, as long as they stay in the taverns.

We will be conciliatory as long as the streets remain peaceful.

Naturally, the Paradis

and any other brothels you end up managing

will benefit from the same benevolent treatment.

As long as you agree to show the utmost discretion

we can seal the deal now.

Is that all?

You will pay me 20,000 francs a month,

cash in hand,

and this.

A number of political figures

about whom we would like information that is, let's say,

of a personal nature.

Chief Superintendent,

I don't know how to thank you

for giving me this opportunity to tell you

how much I shit on your Maréchal Mac-Mahon

and his moral order,

not to mention your red-headed exile.

Do you take me for a pimp and an informer?

No, I am a free man.

And I intend to remain free for as long as I live.

You can go now.

Very well, but on your own head be it.

Here. This is for you.

What do you expect me to do with that?

Type 70.

Light as a feather.

Mother-of-pearl grip.

Smooth trigger.

Both elegant...

and effective.

I couldn't bear for anything to happen to you.

You must learn to handle it It belongs to you.

Act as if it was a part of you.

Cock the trigger.

Hold your breath.

Take aim.

And shoot.

Again.

On your own now.

- What's going on? - Don't panic.

It's just the boss practicing in the cellar.

What are you doing?

For goodness sake!

Did you really send him packing?

Yes.

He was offering us El Dorado and you threw it back in his face?

Offering us?

Do you honestly think he gives a toss what you think?

Louis, it's taken ten years of hard work to get this far.

Don't throw it all away on some stupid whim!

What are you talking about?

Look at you.

You're a wreck. You spend your time fucking and guzzling cocaine.

But have you seen yourself? Well?

You've got the face of an undertaker.

- You act like a prison warder. - Stop it, Louis.

Girls' cunts remind you of all the cocks that screwed your mother

so you lash out because you want payback.

Do you want a fight? Come on, then.

- Stop it. - No. Why should I?

- Stop it, Louis. - No. Come on.

Stop it. Stop!

Have you had enough?

Let go of him! Let go!

Let go!

Kertel! Kertel!

It's fine. It's fine.

I enjoyed that.

Assemble the girls. I need to speak to you all.

Torcy has just left my office.

Our dear Chief Superintendent is desperate.

He offered to leave the Paradis in peace and to give me the run of the streets.

He wanted something in return, of course.

Torcy wanted me to inform him of our clients' habits.

Deputy Lubeck, for example.

I understand your reticence, but put yourself in my shoes.

Imagine the profit I could make from this.

Don't you make enough profit as it is?

Listen, ladies. That was Torcy's thinking.

But the scumbag forgot one small thing.

You. I made a commitment to protect you.

I'm warning you,

they will try to make our life hell, but we won't let them get away with it.

To Valentine,

who was so well protected!

To our freedom, Véra.

- What now? - You'll see.

Take a look for yourself.

A thrusting client, Bertha staring at the ceiling.

- Nothing out of the ordinary. - Under the bed.

Look under the bed.

I always thought there was something perverted about him

but this takes the biscuit.

I didn't know you were here.

Are you okay?

- Hortense? - Yes.

You're white as a sheet.

I have no memory of my childhood.

None.

It's all a blank.

The orphanage, the nuns.

The street.

My brother was the one with the memories.

He used to share them with me.

We need to find a girl to replace Valentine.

- But we've only just buried her. - Stop acting like some wailing woman!

Do you think I feel nothing?

But I must secure the future of the house.

The future the house?

As if that still depended on you!

Mosca makes the decisions now.

You were delighted about that not so long ago.

Yes.

The department manager gave me an advance on my weekly pay.

There's this lovely cake shop round the corner.

You should see my workplace.

I had never seen so much fabric or so many colors.

It's incredible.

And then there are the customers streaming in all day long.

It's like being in a hive with bees buzzing around all over the place.

It's delicious.

You should taste it, Renée, It's a real treat.

Why did you lie?

Please, Mommy, make an effort.

Véra is so pleased that you're out of the clinic.

That ring was never a present from your father.

For the simple reason that Véra has no idea who he is.

Just like she has no idea how many men she's had.

Please, Renée!

You used your body and sex

to climb the social ladder and marry well.

Bully for you!

Look where it got you.

And now you resort to inventing some romance

to mask the truth.

It's pathetic.

My poor darling.

You were just an unhappy accident for this selfish, heartless whore!

Will you pour me some tea, darling?

These cakes are delicious.

- You can't come in. - I'm not here to fuck.

I'm here to see Mosca!

- What do you want? - My name is Thémier

but in Pigalle everyone calls me One-Eye.

I've got some girls to trade with Mosca.

The boss doesn't trade with anyone.

Tell him I'll work for him,

if he pays well.

What do you want?

To ask you a favor.

I want to make sure Véra's daughter, Jeanne, has everything she needs.

She wants her independence but she's fragile just now.

Can I rely on you?

Why are you asking me?

I think she likes you.

I'll see what I can do.

Not a word to Véra. She'll take it the wrong way.

Do you know where Kertel is?

He vanished after his fight with Mosca.

I don't know what's up with Louis at the moment.

It's always been like this.

He rescued Kertel from the gutter

but it's as if he can't help making him pay for it.

He's no doubt drowning his sorrows in some tavern somewhere.

I've come to fetch you.

To fetch me?

Leave me alone.

Don't you understand that guys like me have nothing to offer?

I don't give a toss about your Paradis.

I feel good here.

I feel at home.

Good evening, Mademoiselle.

Get lost!

My mother was the best lay in the neighborhood.

She wasn't classy, like your girls.

She couldn't afford a wet nurse

so she hid me under the bed while she worked.

She had a steady stream of clients.

I never saw their faces, just their feet.

One day I poked my head out

and came face to face with this guy who was screwing my mother.

You should have seen his face.

I got a real thrashing that day.

My mother was heavy-handed and pissed.

I thought she must have her reasons.

Like Mosca?

It's a form of love.

It's got to be better than feeling unloved.

What do you want from me?

I want you to trust me.

Why should I trust you?

Because we're alike, you and I.

And because...

Because I need you.

Go on.

Get out of here.

This is no place for you.

You've slept with Mosca!

Well?

What was it like?

I was a virgin when I came here.

I thought that with a man I had chosen it would be...

different.

But I felt nothing.

It was as if I was with a client.

You must try again.

Tell me how you get on.

Good evening, Monsieur Lubeck.

The vice squad? Information about me?

And you weren't the only deputy to figure on Torcy's list.

Don't worry.

This is not the type of house to inform on its clients.

That contemptible shit-stirrer had better watch out.

You can count on me.

- Who else is on that list? - I don't know.

But I can get you a copy if you like.

Orleanists, no doubt.

The Legitimists are intent on forcing our hand with their muckraking.

Bring me that list.

You will be amply rewarded.

A charming spectacle, isn't it?

Come and suck me off.

Suck me off, I said!

- Let go of me. - Come on.

Come on!

Yes?

- It's us. - What's going on?

We can't sleep.

Can we come in with you?

Oh, girls!

Just for a while.

All right, just for a while.

Bertha!

What's all this?

There must be some mistake.

This is the Paradis, isn't it?

I never ordered all these crates.

Does the name Louis Mosca mean anything to you?

- Jesus, Mary and Joseph! - I've got a letter for Madame Véra.

- I'll give it to her. - To be delivered in person.

It's from Deputy Lubeck.

What do I do?

- You can go on through. - Excuse me.

What about me?

Come with me.

- How many crates are there? - 50.

Monsieur Mosca!

Madame Véra?

That's me.

I've got a letter for you from Monsieur Lubeck.

I'm to inform him of your answer.

- Tell him I accept. - Very good, Madame.

You accept what?

Lubeck has invited me to a party at the Raymondvilles'.

He was most displeased to find out he was on Torcy's blacklist.

- You told him? - Why shouldn't I?

That's for Mosca to deal with, not us.

- Better safe than sorry. - What are you insinuating?

I know you're attached to Mosca but he's still a crook.

- And a deputy might come in handy. - Who do you think is the bigger crook?

Mosca who protects us or Lubeck who hit me?

He did that to you?

Last night the old pervert was spying on his wife.

He was obviously more displeased than I thought.

- Are you defending that pervert? - What's got into you, Rose?

It just so happens that I prefer crooks to decrepit bourgeois thugs.

The spirit of Louise Michel lives on! It's too early for this.

How can she be so naive? Forbid her from going to that party.

Listen, it's not my place to forbid her anything.

She gets some dough, the Paradis takes a cut and everyone's happy.

We roll out the red carpet for that rich bastard and you drool over his wife!

You turn me on when you're angry. Do you know that?

Are you winding me up deliberately?

Why did she have to go and warn Lubeck?

We don't need these politicians.

And even less so some pervert who...

Quiet.

Why won't you listen to me?

Jeanne?

What is it?

I only lied to protect you.

To spare your feelings

at a time when you're starting out in life.

I know.

Can I wait for you?

That's kind but I'm meeting a girlfriend.

Good-bye.

- I'll take you to the Tuileries. - I've got to go to work.

Life's too short to spend it being a sales girl.

I'll look after you from now on.

- What about my things? - Never mind your things.

Lubeck deserves to be punished for laying a finger on my sweetheart.

I'll go to his house and steal all his money.

We'll see how he likes that.

He'll have nothing left.

Where is that moron?

Give him time.

You know him. He'll be regretting it.

Anyway, what's the rush? Why do you need him this instant?

Tonight we rob Lubeck. He'll be out with Véra.

- That's crazy, Louis. - Not you as well!

What's your problem?

Come off it, Louis. We can't start robbing our clients.

Anyway, we haven't cased the joint.

We don't know the staff or even what make of safe it is.

With acid it will be a piece of cake.

Where are you going?

Count me out, Louis.

Too right. Now, clear off.

Clear off!

I'll do it on my own.

No, not on your own.

Come on!

Come here.

Come here.

Gently.

Gently.

Take some for yourself.

- Go back. I'll detain them. - No, I'm staying with you.

Do as I say, Rose. Don't worry, I won't die tonight.

That word means nothing to me anymore.

I'm incapable of love.

Stay still.

Stay still.

Someone help!

Help!

There you are.

What are you doing?

Taking my share and getting out of here.

- Do you expect me to just let you go? - What else can we do?

He robbed Lubeck last night.

Burgled him on a whim.

He shot him.

Who will be next? You? Me?

- Get out before it's too late. - I'm taking Torcy up on his offer.

The run of the streets of Paris, Bak. That's an offer you don't refuse.

What about Louis?

We'll see about Louis. He's in no fit state to decide.

What's going on, Rose?

Where are you going?

To Mosca's room.

I can't bear to stay here any longer.

What guarantee can you give me that you are the man for the job?

Peace on the streets of Paris.

Discreet management of the taverns and backstreets.

Information on your politicians and 20,000 francs every month.

Very well.

- And Mosca? - What about him?

I want him dead.

That's non-negotiable.