Original subtitles

This film was restored by PATHE in 2014

THE MEDIC

Somewhere in Champagne... May 1983

Know what time it is?

I can see a rabbit.

The assholes will be out soon...

...with their rifles.

Right, Marius?

I'm sure Christine will be back.

And you're young. You can start a new life.

No one starts a new life, Murcia.

Only children believe that.

Leaving tomorrow?

Yes.

Is it dangerous here? In France, I mean.

No one knows. Not even them.

Do you think World War III has begun?

I've no idea.

Happiness doesn't exist, Murcia.

I'd remember if it did.

THE MEDIC

For Julian has...

One month later, somewhere in Europe...

Despite the violent fighting and means deployed, ...

...which preclude the use of nuclear weapons, ...

...the enemies seem held buck so fur by superior orders.

They're limiting their firepower...

...to calm...

...the powder keg that this part of Europe has become.

Vague information from the front...

...and war-like but restrained communiqués...

...dearly show that no one wishes things to escalate.

Any escalation...

...could easily spread to the West...

...and possibly the whole world.

We're based 100 km from the from...

...but it often shifts. Our modest set-up...

...offers more protection than our Red Crosses.

To please you, I'll say I feel better.

Being here is no solution...

...but it's the best one.

It's hard reaching you by phone.

I'd like news of Christine anyway.

Try discreetly, just to let me know.

How are you, Marcia? And how are the house and the frees?

Despite the war, a vacation-like air reigns.

A small lake near the camp helps that illusion.

The noise of war is faint...

...and probably louder for you over the TV.

Don't deny it.

You watch with Marius. I know you do.

By the way, fell Marius I love him.

If he's asleep when you read this, wake him to kiss him.

Marius...

A kiss from your dad...

Here we go!

Burn victims coming in.

Too bad, I was enjoying the mild air.

It'll be a long night.

We're ready, sir.

Listen...

An oriole.

And it's singing.

That's rare these days.

Don't fall now.

Are you new?

Where are you from?

The international hospital in Barslau.

- How's Barslau? - Still standing.

Good.

I hope you do dressings.

No, instruments.

Of course. Show me your hands.

It stops when he operates.

Després here. Prepare block 4.

Send a burn victim.

Not too bad a case. The others are hopeless.

Yes?

The patient is out. Unless François wants him to wake...

I'm coming.

Towel box.

Towel clamp.

Dissection clamp.

With napalm, ...

...you dressed the wound and did a graft later.

These aren't real burns.

They spread on every level.

Everything ok?

Fine.

Coagulation clump.

A coagulation clump!

2 specials, 1 steak!

- Was it good? - Excellent.

Like before the war.

What a joker...

Yes. He's right here. Jérome!

Phone call.

Yes?

Row 6?

Tent 22.

The bed number?

I'm on my way.

He's one hell of a priest.

- What'll you have? - A beer.

- Coke. - A beer. Not too cold.

You think God is dead without having existed.

I hate philosophical barmaids, especially fat ones.

Thunks a lot! Why did I shed 10 kilos?

And for you?

A glass of milk, please.

- Here, honey. - Thank you.

- You could've washed. - Too busy.

- Kept me anything? - Yes.

3 hours on the same guy. I'm beat.

- How much do I owe you? - No one pays here.

Everything's free.

It's all taken care of.

Zoa!

Yes?

- Wine, please. - It's local.

- I hate local. - What's wrong with it?

It's not Bordeaux, Muscadet or Burgundy.

What's your name?

Harmony.

Odd name.

It's my name. Harmony with a "y".

I'm François. And he's Jean-Marie.

I know.

I read about you doing that child's liver transplant.

A big hit with the press. Plus he survived and grew up.

He'll be dead now.

Not everyone is dead.

It's a matter of time.

Besides, I don't like kids.

He doesn't mean that but he can't help saying it.

True, guys like him don't suffer more than others...

...but they feel so much.

Can I note down what you just said?

- Want dessert? - I don't like sweet stuff.

I'm a Protestant.

- What's the link? - There isn't one.

Shall I see you to your door?

Beware.

It's a beautiful night.

You're beautiful.

And I'm not beautiful.

- You're talking rubbish. - I'm not.

Well, I am. It's my way of letting off steam.

Hear that?

They'll head up into the sky. Without a break.

Be careful. Jean-Marie is sick.

I think it's rabies.

- Why tell me that? - Because I'm a doctor.

Good night.

Is that you?

I knew it was, this late.

Fine.

Like before.

I guessed as much.

He's here. He knows it's you.

You only call for him.

Any news of Christine?

Good. I don't know why but I'm glad to hear it.

Hello? Hello, can you hear me? Murcia!

I win again!

What's going on?

Wash your hands before touching your eyes!

What did you want to do?

Make his death sweeter?

He's dying if you must know.

You shouldn't hold his hand.

He doesn't care.

Get some sleep to be fresh and in shape. Good night.

Jeanine...

Fix a shot of morphine.

And get Jérome.

Swab.

Towel.

Towel clamp.

Knife.

It's a green box...

...with hundreds of tiny scalpels like this.

On the front, they call them "sharks".

Like great white sharks.

Imagine sharks with razor-sharp teeth.

The nice bit is they seek the heat of the human body.

You can kill people...

...with a machine that detects their heat.

With a fever, you stand even less chance.

- You're sick. - It helps, you know.

No, she doesn't know.

Good sex here?

Not bad.

What does that mean? Every day? More than once?

It depends, sir.

- So let's depend, miss. - Thank you, sir.

No smoking here!

Fresh and in shape. I know.

- What have you got? - Beef.

- Again! - Be content.

Be content it's sunny and the vessel's sound?

What's wrong? You don't like the sea?

Aren't you a bit much first thing?

Now and then.

I knew it.

Give me a steak.

Beef bourguignon for me.

No, don't get up.

Quite a delivery earlier.

I was watching from my office...

...and pondering the paradox of the wounded soldier.

He's someone

...whose avowed goal is to commit slaughter.

To wipe others out as much as he can.

Yet as soon as he's wounded, he leaves the game.

A form of fair play is enforced.

The Red Cross steps in, shooting stops.

The wounded man is no longer a potential corpse...

...but a precious thing to be cared for...

...and, with a little luck, cured.

It makes war into an old-style duel, halted at first blood.

Fencing rules are applied in the missile age.

The biggest paradox...

It's noisy here.

They're right. They're young.

Gentlemen...

Don't get up.

He's not a man, he's a parrot.

Come on, there's room with us.

- Are you eating? - Please.

- Milk and some apple pie. - Ok.

Thank you.

What are you doing here? You're not a bad nurse...

...but you're fragile.

I don't think you're up to it.

He has spoken. Professor Després has expressed his thoughts.

What will Nurse Harmony say?

She'll ask for some toothpaste...

...as there's none in the stock.

I want to use...

...something other than soup or cigarette ash.

There's a small town near here.

I can take you tomorrow.

I have to go there anyway.

Retractor.

Replace Harmony.

Aspirate.

Mop my forehead.

I like you, Harmony.

My sister would like you.

She never liked Christine.

Christine was my wife.

She left me.

We weren't happy...

...but I loved her.

I wish... I wanted to make love with you.

And a musician brother.

- Is that all? - No, that's not all.

Mom makes rabbit paté while reading War and Peace.

She only reads War and Peace, in Russian.

- Fascinating. - Yes.

I could also talk about people who can think of others.

They exist, you know.

My mother...

I don't care about her.

You should, she's beautiful.

She had a child who drowned at the age of 5.

She's never talked about it.

Instead of letting herself die, ...

...she has become even gentler.

Like silk.

Do you often talk like this?

No.

But you told me about your wife.

You weren't asleep?

No.

I'd love to bring it back to life.

Close your eyes.

Children do that to look inside.

Here I go...

It works!

I can even see people.

Listen.

The birds have gone too.

You're right.

The birds have gone.

Kiss me.

Look, the Wind's dropping.

Do you know Champagne?

I have a house there with a tree-lined drive...

...and a dog.

A Belgian shepherd.

His name's Marius.

And a sister who loves me.

You're mad.

It's the wrong time, place and guy.

Most men who no longer believe in love talk easily about it.

I'm not that cowardly.

I just want the gestures.

After centuries of conflict in Europe, ...

...different religions respect each other.

We need to achieve that...

...with the different philosophies in the world.

Starting with the two key ones:

Capitalism and Marxism.

We have to consider them as philosophies, ...

...not just as economic theories.

In fact, ideological wars are much harsher.

A man fights...

...harder to defend his ideas than his property.

Can we conclude that ideas are man's greatest property?

The boss is a joker. He lectures on everything but medicine.

Harmony's over there.

Other peoples' looks are ugly.

A thousand years of crap.

Oh, God, we can't even talk now!

I should be complaining.

First I'm fat, now it's a thousand years of crap.

I'm only 30!

Modern wars are wars of ideas.

Aren't all wars?

Colonial wars, the crusades, imperial wars...

But crossbows killed less.

The fighter's idea was the same.

Boiling people or chopping them up is the same.

Why are you here if you hate the army?

I don't like the army but I don't hate it.

An army is what politicians make of it. Some are terrifying, ...

...others are exemplary.

It's war that you don't like.

That's true, I don't like war.

In any case, as medical volunteers...

...in a conflict that isn't ours...

It's choir time.

Very beautiful.

Excuse me.

- Good night, Ziegler. - Good night, Michel.

Had that cough long?

Before coming here, I did 2 weeks with gas victims.

Did you work with respirators?

Without. We didn't know.

We all got affected.

I'll check your lungs later.

Excuse me, doctor.

Captain Sbinsky.

I'd like a word before I go.

I heard you talking over dinner...

...but I didn't dare to interrupt.

Please go on.

I don't like war either.

I fight it, that's all.

I've learned to. I'm a career soldier.

But just us you don't crave patients, ...

...we don't desire horror.

Preparing for war makes it inevitable.

So we should stand by?

It always begins with a good ideological excuse...

...and ends the some way.

The winner takes his neighbor's goods, ...

...his land and his freedom too.

I've heard of defending one's land and roots.

But I no longer believe it enough.

You talk like a man who doesn't love life.

That surprises me in a doctor.

I love life, captain.

But I don't particularly like mine.

But you're right to point it out.

I tend to confuse it with other people's.

Captain... Take care.

Remove your coat.

Move the selector.

Get in place.

Breathe in.

Turn.

Arm above your head.

Higher.

Breathe in.

Hold your breath.

- I see a few spots. - Is it serious?

It could be worse.

It's beautiful.

- Go ahead. - Dr. Després to his block.

I'm on my way.

Harmony!

We'll do plates later.

There's peritonitis...

...and two bladder perforations.

Sharks. It's not a pretty sight.

Jack, ...

...ace, eight.

Pass.

- Pass. - All in.

- Fold. - Can I go to the stock?

The case is interesting.

Can you or not?

Well... I'm wondering.

On the one hand, you're a mangy dog...

...and, as a nocturnal, harmful louse, I'm wondering...

- What? - No speaking.

No, that's in draw poker.

In stud poker you can talk away.

Well?

I ante up.

What have you got?

2 sevens and a jack.

- 2 eights, one ace. - Sweet Jesus.

- No insults. - You don't bluff with that!

- I'm a kamikaze. - A jerk!

Never again!

Are you OK?

A beer.

I must be a masochist, still talking to you.

Tomorrow's airborne mission is for you.

- Great, I love picnics. - I hate those trips.

It's not a surgeon's job. We're not paramedics.

You know you look tired?

In fact, your face seems lined by a torrent of passions.

Yes? ADA 06, go ahead.

Message to hospital staff. According to our information, ...

...your clients are under cover.

In theory, the site has been cleared.

The 4th paratroop unit can get there within 5 minutes.

But they don't speak French. So take care.

Get ready for arrival. We fly back in 30 minutes.

Over and out.

Before, there were faces. Now, you don't know who's speaking.

- I still have a face. - True.

So put this on.

It's clean, we can carry on.

Sharks.

There.

Come on.

Oxygen, fast. Give him a shot of Isuprel.

- Antoine, do you copy? - I copy.

I'm at the end of the convoy, 300 meters from you.

I've a casualty, ...

...maybe too fur gone to save but I want to study him in the lab.

Send a stretcher and come to pick him up.

I'm on my way. Any others?

Yes, I'll see what we can do. Over and out.

They're coming for him.

Get down!

My God...

Harmony!

There's a chopper missing.

It's Dulac's. It's not back.

Evelyne, stay with me instead of Harmony.

- Very good, sir. - No, I'm fine.

Do as you're told, Harmony.

He's rough even when he's being nice.

If I were you, I'd thank him before he gets too tender.

Evelyne.

- Why is he being aspirated? - No idea.

You should know. Remove it.

Harmony, your replacement, Evelyne...

She's useless.

I knew that.

Imagine if this was home.

It looks like home.

That's what worries me.

A good imitation, huh?

It's like an electric storm.

Where's Harmony?

- Sleeping. - So why are you here?

We haven't made love yet.

Not yet? You're optimistic for once.

No, I'm serene.

Know why I can't sleep?

Because I'm scared.

I have the airborne mission tomorrow. I hate that.

They're fighting in a pretty setting.

We're dumb to have signed up.

- Do you love Harmony? - What does that mean?

It doesn't mean a thing!

I love my work, I love my sister, I love my dog.

- I even love you. - I won't deny that.

You didn't answer. Do you love Harmony?

Yes.

- It's like moving house! - I keep my things with me.

Shit!

- What if I told you... - What?

I don't know.

I forget.

Harmony, why did you come here? Why did you sign up?

Suffering.

I thought I could help.

We mend people that we send to get slaughtered.

Not all of them.

I thought pain was more dignified in war, ...

...cleaner than disease.

But it's uglier.

You know you can't destroy a machine like that, ...

...even if it could kill us.

Yes.

I feel like defending you.

Maybe defend myself too.

A few days ago, I spoke to one of their officers.

He more or less said what I just felt.

He's dead now.

I didn't tend to him and I regret that.

I often think about him.

I didn't share his ideas but seeing him believe in them...

...that was so beautiful.

The line.

Noon to 8 pm, 9 operations. The boss is a slave driver.

- Is François back? - No.

He isn't?

He gave me this for you. It was important.

A bouquet is a proposal.

Robert...

You can sew him up.

The wounds are getting infected too fast.

Get the fragments analyzed. There's something odd.

We lost one craft. On the ground.

François is wounded too.

Send him to Després' block. He'll be glad to treat him.

- Is it serious? - No, but he's a drag!

Keep him in intensive care.

What was it like?

Amazing.

It's a land of geometric lines...

...where the views unfold harmoniously to the horizon.

Gently!

The countryside is harsh and unwelcoming, ...

...yet noble in its femininity...

...and self-sufficient in its permanence.

The many ponds incite you to dream.

Third-year geography.

0 negative.

Gently.

- Yes? - Is he ready?

- No, sir. - Start premedication.

Very good, sir.

Jean-Marie... Don't screw up.

Chopping off my leg?

No, I have to mend the artery.

There's some copper or lead in there.

I'm the first Swiss guy killed by the Chinese.

You're not Swiss or dead and they're not Chinese.

Go ahead.

Just go to sleep now.

See you later, doc.

Right. See you.

Loosen the tourniquet.

The bleeding's stopped.

There, some nice, clean brass bullets.

Not explosive, they just make holes.

It's like being in Verdun.

Vascular care. And aspirate too.

Robert, keep the next one waiting.

As it's him, I'll sew him up myself.

We have a problem.

Check his pressure.

Stop the proto, more oxygen.

Defibrillator!

Lower the table.

Cardiac arrest.

Go on.

Clear!

No use. Try massage!

Keep going.

Carry on.

It's over.

In Dr. François Ziegler, you have lost...

...a good doctor...

...and, above all, ...

...an irreplaceable choirmaster.

He had a talent for making you sing...

...and for shutting me up.

Believe me, I'll miss that more than anyone.

Dry?

Dry.

I know you won't tell anyone.

One day, historians will tell children...

...about the causes and ravages of this war or subsequent ones.

But I've made a discovery.

What if men...

...made war just to die?

Not us a means, but us a goal.

I think you've found a new excuse not to believe in anything.

Maybe.

I liked you us a desperate man, Jean-Marie, but us a man in love...

...you seem fragile.

Love...

Shall we talk about it?

Let's see what state love is in.

It's progressed, hasn't it?

- What do you want me to tell you? - The truth.

- In theory... - In theory?

Irreversible lesions.

Does she know?

How will you make her believe otherwise?

I'll lie to her.

And love her.

- A poor match. - I know.

Too bad.

The camp's moving soon...

...to a spot 100 km away.

Don't ask me why. I have no idea.

Use that to send her back to France.

Tell her...

...to see Rocher in Lyons. He can work miracles.

If you believe in miracles.

No.

I want to believe.

That's that then.

People are crazy in France. They talk about saving the free world, ...

...pressing a button to save civilization.

But whose world and civilization?

People are stockpiling food!

Why do that when everything will be contaminated?

Shut up...

...and listen to me!

I'm sending you someone.

A woman.

Her name's Harmony.

Tomorrow.

After a few days, she'll go to Lyons.

Please stay in touch with her.

I want her to be there when I get home.

Yes, you'll like her very much.

Or pretend to.

Yes, Harmony like in music.

With a "y".

No, nothing.

Yes, it's very pretty.

Yes, she's pretty too.

Yes...

Marcia...

Marcia!

It's very important.

As important as you and the dog.

"Spring is so beautiful. You should see your trees.

"Upright, green, dazzling.

"The sweet grass wet with dew.

"We already sleep with the windows open.

"All it takes is a slight breeze to blow pollen into the bedrooms.

"I found some on your desk earlier. I left it there.

"I'll give Harmony the blue room.

"I think it's the brightest.

"There are new flowery drapes. I hope she likes poppies...

"...as they're what you notice.

"But she can stay where she likes...

- "...and Supplies will follow." - Excuse me!

You're leaving, aren't you?

- Yes, we're going. - Take your things.

All right.

Tell me, padre, do you believe in miracles?

Why?

I was wondering.

No reason.

Here's the chow.

Get your treasure to safety, then come back to make us laugh, doctor.

I'll miss you, honey, and he will too.

I'm not worried. I'll get all your news!

Drive safely and be careful.

Finish reading it.

"But she can stay where she likes...

"...and Supplies will follow.

"I'll go to Lyons with her...

"...- I like that city -...

"...if I can find a hotel by the Saône.

"The house can manage without me for a while.

"I'll take Marius.

"He'll enjoy it. He's a bit down lately.

"I have to tie him up while old Raymond...

"...mends the garden wall with his sons.

"He has never liked them.

"Does Harmony know how to make jam?

"That could keep us busy...

"...if you aren't back until winter."

Stop!

Poppies!

I'll pick her some. Wait.

Harmony!

Harmony!

Deep down, ...

...I'm glad there'll be two of us soon. I'm very lonely.

And I'm happy for you.

Really happy.

The madness of joining a conflict...

...that didn't concern you nonetheless brought you Harmony.

Harmony...

A name that might make you forget the horrors of war.

Subtitles: Ian Burley

Subtitling: C.M.C.