Original subtitles

There are only two or three human stories,

and they go on repeating themselves

as fiercely as if they had never happened before.

WILLA CATHER

The people you are about to meet are in this film

because their stories are either extraordinary or very ordinary.

They are played by...

Robert Hossein,

Nicole Garcia, Geraldine Chaplin,

Daniel Olbrychski,

Jacques Villeret, Jorge Donn,

Rita Poelvoorde,

Evelyne Bouix, Macha Méril,

Francis Huster, Raymond Pellegrin,

Jean-Claude Brialy,

Fanny Ardant, Jean-Claude Bouttier,

Richard Bohringer,

Nicole Croisille, Ginette Garcin,

Jean-Pierre Kalfon,

Geneviève Mnich, Paul Préboist,

Alexandra Stewart,

Eva Darlan, Manuel Gélin,

Candice Patou, Maïa Simon,

Marthe Villalonga,

and starring as Glenn, father and son... James Caan.

All the characters are, or were, real people.

This film is dedicated to them.

It begins in 1936 in Moscow

where a committee is deciding who will dance Ravel's "Bolero"

and become prima ballerina at the Bolshoi.

Original music by Francis Lai and Michel Legrand.

Choreography for the Russian family by Maurice Béjart.

Choreography for the American family by Rick Odums.

Choreography for the French family by Nicole Daresco, Anne-Marie Poras,

and Larry Wickers.

Lyrics by Boris Bergman, Pierre Barouh, Alan and Marylin Bergman.

Music direction by Michel Legrand.

Ladies and gentlemen,

here are the stars of The Folies Bergère in 1920 and 1930...

Gina and Ginette!

Give them a big hand!

Gina and Ginette!

You want some more?

I invite all those French people

who wish to remain free, to listen to me.

This war is worldwide.

No one can predict

whether those nations that are neutral today

will remain neutral tomorrow,

nor even whether Germany's allies

will always remain her allies.

If the forces of liberty finally triumph

over those of servitude,

what will be the destiny of France

If she submits to the enemy?

Honor, common sense,

the best Interest of the nation,

demand that all free French people

continue the combat

wherever they may be, and however they can.

I, General De Gaulle

here In England, undertake this national task.

"Magda, my love.

I'm impressed by the Führer's memory.

He made me music director for the Occupation troops

perhaps as a reward for the concert I gave in 1938.

This is a peculiar war, and a peculiar Occupation,

the polite occupying forces fraternizing with a docile occupied population.

Everyone seems to prefer love to war,

the camera to a gun.

'Give them the sound of music

to cover the roar of cannons,'

that's the motto of our GHQ.

So we play concerts all over Paris.

If you were here, it would almost be a vacation.

The real hell of war isn't the confrontation of enemies,

it's the separation of lovers.

For the year 1941, I wish only one thing:

to get back to my son and my wife.

PS: I'm starting to prefer Ravel to Beethoven."

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 1941!

"Dear Karl, I also heard the Führer's latest speech.

Like you, I begin to detect many false notes.

Alas, here in Berlin, there is only the euphoria of victory.

Any criticism is labeled as treason or espionage.

I'll see the New Year in with your son and our neighbors.

I'll think of you all night."

This recital by the German pianist Karl Kremer

Is brought to you by the Occupation Forces.

The hell of it is, he's good.

Yeah, he plays well for a white man.

That's all there is left.

I've got an idea.

Why don't we work up a trio?

Carole, Gina and me, three generations from the Folies.

For who? Them?

I haven't put on so much weight.

There's really no work in sight?

Wait for me and I'll come back.

After Germany and Italy declare war on Russia

and the Wehrmacht launches a general offensive,

Stalin favors the scorched earth policy

and calls up men between 16 and 55.

This Is London.

Frenchmen speaking to Frenchmen.

Honor and nation...

Be so kind as to have your students pull down their trousers.

I give you my word, sir,

there are no Israelites in our school.

Be so kind, madame,

as to have your students pull down their trousers, please.

What's your name?

Duvivier... Jean-François.

Are you sure your name is Jean-François Duvivier?

Yes, sir.

You see, he peed sideways when he was little,

so they operated.

Say the Lord's Prayer for the officer.

"Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name..."

Thank you, madame.

- You see why I had you learn it? - Yes, madame.

Special recess for the whole class!

"Today they came to the school looking for Jewish children.

That's how they locate the parents.

Yesterday I sent you a package through the Red Cross.

Don't worry about me.

As a pregnant woman, I get extra ration tickets.

I know you won't be here when the baby is born,

but we'll be at the station to meet you when you come home.

That thought gives me the strength to keep going."

Mom, Dad!

I want to go with you.

We ask you to remain calm.

These trains are taking you to work camps.

You will be treated as military prisoners

under the International Red Cross's supervision.

Families will not be separated.

For each escape during the journey, 20 hostages will be chosen...

We don't know where we're going or how long it will take,

so we must get organized.

There are two openings for air.

Women and children should be closest to them.

There's a hole for you-know-what.

We can hang a blanket in front of it.

But above all, we must stay calm.

I think we're still in France.

There may be a way out for David.

By some crazy luck, we're in the last car.

Give me your ring.

Give it to me.

A piece of paper.

Let go off me!

"The money and jewelry on this baby

are for whoever raises him until the war ends.

His name is David Meyer. He lives at 8 Blvd. Strasbourg, in Paris.

Thank you so much."

For Julien, who had to get up early every day,

that money had a tempting smell.

He rode a long way so that the money and the baby

could never be connected.

Father!

Father!

Why call you?

Because you're my sister and a lawyer and I need advice!

No, there was no note.

Operator, don't cut us off!

"Tatiana, my love.

No man who has known war could ever start another.

Those who start wars must know no friends nor lovers.

Must be their way to get revenge on those who are happy.

When I left a year ago,

I thought I'd find some explanation for this conflict.

Now I'm sure that everyone will lose this war.

I cling to the thought of the furlough

promised to us for January 1943.

I hope you will be back from Stalingrad,

that heroic city.

I dream of climbing the stairs to embrace you and our son.

Simonov the poet is with us.

He has just written something superb.

'If you wait for me, I'll come back.

But you must wait with all your might.

Wait through sad yellow rain, wait through swirling snow.

Wait through summer's triumph, wait though others forget and falter.

Wait though letters no longer come.

Wait though everyone else has stopped waiting."'

You whore! You slept with the Krauts!

SHE SLEPT WITH THE GERMANS SHE DANCES WITH THE AMERICANS

Paris violated.

Paris broken. Paris martyred.

But Paris liberated

Liberated by Parisians,

by her own people,

with the help of the French Army

supported and aided by all of France...

that Is to say, the France that resisted,

the only France,

the true France, the eternal France.

Prisoners'Aid Services are available

24 hours a day, In conjunction with the Red Cross.

To facilitate location of relatives,

we ask all persons meeting prisoners or deportees

to keep the platforms clear.

Check with the Office of Coordination first.

A list of trans from Germany and Poland

will be posted this afternoon on Platform 1.

Medics are urgently needed In the last car on Track 5.

Deportees with no family

will find a Deportees'Aid Service, Exit D.

The official list of wounded from Mathausen

Is now posted In the main hall.

Do not try to find friends or relatives on your own.

You will only add to the confusion.

Go to the Central Information Bureau

or the Coordination Office Instead.

War widows may seek assistance

from the French Catholic Aid Society

located In Office 42, near Exit A.

Please evacuate the main waiting room

to make way for Installation of a new Red Cross facility

German prisoners of war will depart from Track 2.

The public Is requested to remain calm.

Survivors from Treblinka, Volvzscek and Auschwitz

will arrive on Track 8.

Mom!

Mom!

- Your husband's name? - Garel.

- René Garel. - Would you know his POW number?

26322.

- Occupation? - Teacher.

- Your occupation? - Teacher.

I have a René Garel...

who escaped in March 1945.

Is that him?

Escaped?

Recaptured two months later...

and executed May 6, 1945.

Tatiana now directed the school for Bolshoi beginners.

Her son Sergei was a student there.

Everyone was very nice to Tatiana,

especially Alexis, an old friend.

May I ask you something?

It's difficult to talk from here.

Ever heard of a baby found around here?

In August 1942.

I don't understand. Hello.

I left a baby here in August 1942.

- Here? - Not right here. On the tracks.

Yes, of course.

I don't know how to explain... I had to leave him.

It was to save him that we...

I was on one of those trains.

I brought along a...

a ribbon from his nightdress.

He was swaddled in a blanket.

But it won't mean anything to you

if you didn't see him.

You never heard anything about...

a baby who would have been killed on the tracks?

I'm glad. You'd have heard...

You wouldn't know where else I could look?

That way?

I saw your names in the paper, so...

Where's Simon?

How long has it been?

1940... 1942... it's been a long time!

You haven't changed.

- How are you? - I'm all right.

You wouldn't have... a little work for me?

This is our last week.

So where's Simon?

There's a gig in Nice. Lousy pay but good food.

Could we pick it up again, for me?

A week later, faced with incomprehension and hatred,

Evelyne committed suicide.

No one would forgive her Occupation love affairs.

It was the year 1945.

Blood and tears were about to take a break.

As for hope, nearly 20 years would go by

before it reappeared some time in the 1960s.

The wartime children,

later known as the "wheeler-dealer" generation,

were becoming grown men and women.

Your mother wanted you to have this one day.

It's lovely! Thank you, Grandpa.

Bring her flowers ever week.

I will. And don't you forget that it was in Paris

that your mother got into trouble.

You'll come visit me there, as soon as I'm married.

The less I see of Paris, the better.

A sandwich too!

- We love you very much! - Me too.

Be careful.

Good bye!

Play!

Don't get too excited.

You scared of her?

Going to Paris, baby?

Who's meeting you at the station, little girl?

Drop it.

She's stuck-up.

Stuck up what?

- Prune? - You want to laugh?

Two stutterers went hunting...

"If you s-see any g-game, t-tell me."

"Not to wo-worry, I g-got the eye of an eagle."

"- Oh, a ra-ra-rabbit! - Wh-where?"

"He's g-g-gone!"

"Oh, a pa-pa-partridge!"

"- Wh-where? - He f-flew away!"

Suddenly, in the silence, we hear "bang bang!"

"I d-d-didn't s-s-see a thing!

You d-didn't s-see the p-pig?"

They're reading the paper together!

He kills me...

On Track 7, train arriving from Nice, Marseilles, Lyon, Dijon.

All soldiers returning from Algeria

who boarded in Marseilles,

please go to the reception center located next to Track B.

- My mother. - The schoolteacher?

My fiancée.

Ma'am.

Francis, you did keep her secret!

She's not mine, she's his.

It's Papa Boxer! I'll call you.

So long, Richard.

Can it be that History lacks imagination?

20 years earlier, 20 years later...

from World War II to the Algerian War.

Why did Edith have to know the same fears,

the same stations, the same defeats as her mother?

Why wasn't her fiancé there?

Why a sequel like the beginning?

Why a beginning like the end?

Why did she have her mother's face?

Why does fate always wear the same mask?

Why are some people always left waiting?

Hello? Is this Turbigo 15-20?

May I speak to Michel?

I apologize again.

You weren't home,

- so I figured you'd be here. - You did the right thing.

My buddies all had someone waiting at the station!

I wrote you, but nothing!

Mom, don't you understand?

I'm your son! I'm not a stranger!

Lucky you. With her, it's all laughs.

Whenever she could, Anne went back to the little station,

always hoping for a clue, a miracle.

After the camps, she wouldn't play the violin.

After 20 years, she finally told her friends her secret.

The gatekeepers had become some sort of family.

It was there that her life had stopped, one night in 1942.

Only there could it begin again.

That morning, in their New York suburban home,

Sarah and Jason Glenn heard that their mother had died

in an automobile accident.

Their father was in critical condition.

My father exploited everything...

the war, his divorce, my studies, his new fiancée.

That's life.

That's life.

My woman can be pinched, not my wallet.

- No hard feelings? - Sure.

It was a house-warming party for my first apartment.

I felt a bit guilty about the display of luxury.

But every self-respecting gang has to have a rich guy...

even very rich.

What happened at Karl Kremer's first US concert was unbelievable.

Two people showed up, even though the show was sold out.

We must go back a long way

to understand this unique event in music history.

That morning, as the Bolshoi troupe was about to return home,

the great dancer Sergei Itovich chose freedom,

taking refuge between two plainclothes policemen.

A Bolshoi spokesman immediately stated

that a woman was the cause of that choice.

Only a week ago, Krushchev was removed from office.

Today's news analysis will examine Russia in 1964.

Welcome to the middleweight championship of France!

Here is the present title-holder, Michel Chapu.

His challenger today is Philippe Rouget.

Both contenders were weighed today...

Michel Chapu, 159.50 lbs;

Philippe Rouget, 159.06 lbs.

Our third judge is Mr. Parat,

and at the clock is Mr. Ferrand.

Welcome our title-holder, Michel Chapu...

and his challenger, Philippe Rouget!

Naturally, I married my father's fiancée.

Robert was married when we met him.

He and Eva had a son.

They had met in law school.

Jacques, the most gifted of us,

only cared about horses,

and Candice about boxers.

Richard, who had no job, gave everyone a hand.

The army buddies had high hopes for this evening.

We had decided, perhaps superstitiously,

that the outcome of the fight would be in the image of our future.

The loudspeaker says, "In the '80s,

if you don't like your body, rent another one!"

Our World president, a 10-year-old rock star, sings,

"Sickness... an obsolete word!"

The last sick person in the world holds a press conference.

The last hospital has just been torn down.

The sun shines night and day! There are even two of them!

Life is one long holiday!

My girl and I put our equality on display.

When I'm lost, she finds the way.

"All has been conquered," the loudspeaker shouts.

He adds, "Tomorrow sings as off-key as yesterday."

There will be as much hatred as there will be love.

The words will change, but the tune will be the same.

Our prophets will have a sense of humor! Our prophets will have a sense of humor!

Let's take a 10-minute break.

You could have told us you were out.

We'd have come to meet you.

We might've liked that.

- Think of your mother. - How is she?

She'd feel better if you gotten in touch with her, you jerk!

Yeah, okay.

Can't I talk to you?

So you refuse to defend me.

Don't be stupid.

Everyone knows we're friends.

Can you see us in court? Talk about credibility!

What I see is a hotshot lawyer who can't be seen with me.

Creep! Asshole! Coward!

Armed robbery.

Yeah, it's messy.

Take it on as a favor to me.

I've been feeling awful lately.

I've told you not to wait for me here!

- What do the results show? - Negative.

- Meaning what? - I ran all the tests.

- There's nothing wrong with you. - Are you sure?

Yes!

I don't get it.

I go to bed tired, I get up tired,

- I eat tired, I fuck tired! - Maybe you're tired.

I worked hard to give you everything.

You worked hard to be tops in your profession, not in our lives.

And so?

How do you see our divorce? You're the expert.

It's definite?

Do you know why I'm here today?

I was following your mistress. She can't be far.

I came up just after she did.

No wonder you're tired.

I'm all through, miss.

It really is definite.

Eva, please don't be foolish.

- Let's start over. - You really think you can change?

...that I was married, and am thus divorced.

"Age 40.

Algerian War veteran...

A little stocky.

One child.

Rich.

Very rich."

Underline that...

twice.

"Affectionate.

Loves animals,

especially horses."

What else can I say?

"Nice"?

That's a good idea.

"Very nice."

Date and sign it.

Who shall I send it to?

You wouldn't be tempted?

You ran him too hard!

Want him to go lame?

It's your boxer friend.

Tell him to bet on Red One.

Red One? Thanks.

Coming up!

Make way!

Sorry, Nicole. I made a mistake.

No big deal.

Starting positions

Before I left, I put some flowers

on your mother's grave.

You know, my little Edith,

she looked like you.

- Did she choose my name? - Yeah.

All we used to hear was, "Edith Piaf this, Edith Piaf that."

Did you like Edith Piaf?

She sang better than you dance.

I saw you last week on TV.

First candidate.

Be as relaxed and smiling as possible.

At 3:00pm, a classical music program

including one of the most famous cantatas,

BMW 39...

BWV 39,

with the orchestra of Lu...

Lud-weeg-borg...

under the masturb... masterful baton of Gustave Leonard.

And at 8:30, after the news,

Mikael Kalatozov's celebrated film,

"The Cranes Are Flying" with Tatiana Samoilova.

- I tell you we know her. - You see her on TV every day.

- No, we really know her. - Happy anniversary, gentlemen.

Good evening. How are you?

- Very well. - Joining us?

I'm not exactly a war veteran.

- You look great. - It's the glow of the third month.

Congratulations.

I'm not the father.

You're right...

if you've kept three or four real friends for 20 years,

that's real success.

Success! That's what you call success?

20 years of tricks,

of cowardice and con games!

And we've been so fucked by our wives

that now we're reduced to...

dancing with whores we're not even sure we'll fuck!

You hear me?

- Whores and more whores! - Let it go.

That's all you could think of?!

Are you nuts?

Have you lost it?! Stop it, Francis!

That's enough!

Will you stop it?!

Fucking party! You fag!

Impotent! You shut up!

Go nurse your cancer!

He's flipped!

Want to hear about him? Come here.

You, the Lady in Red!

Come over here.

- Drop it. - Come over here.

How much are you getting tonight?

Are you crazy?

You've gone nuts! Stop it, God damn it!

You know why your wife left you?

Because you could never fuck her!

Faggot!

Trade your scalpel for a prick, you'll be happier.

Dumb jerk!

Collaborator! It runs in the family.

- Are you nuts? - It's tough to face the truth.

You don't know what you're saying.

20 years of bullshit and he bakes a cake!

Great!

A loser from the get go!

All three of you!

You too! You had 20 fights too many.

Jacques, cut it out. I don't want to be mean.

It's too late! You should've been mean in the ring.

You're right. That's enough now.

- Let's drop it, okay? - You'd be someone if you'd been meaner.

You're absolutely right. Now drop it.

- Get off our backs. It's a party. - Did you pay the ladies?

- Did you, for fuck's sake? - Yes, he fucking did!

Can they go? You shut up! Can they go?

Can't we get together without broads?

20 years ago, we got together without broads.

We didn't need to pay 200 francs a broad!

All right, get lost.

The girls in red, white, purple and black... out!

Or I'll knock you over the head with the TV set!

Calm down! They're leaving.

- Let it go. - We're not Santa Claus!

Everybody out!

Bitches!

- It's over. They're gone. - No, they're not!

That's a bedroom!

I want to see them go. Open the door!

Confiscated!

Satisfied?

Here!

Now they're gone.

We don't need them.

Nothing's broken. We just had a little fun.

We need a drink. It can't end it like this.

Happy anniversary.

How did you get on TV?

Too long a story to tell.

We have lots of time.

You wouldn't like it, it's a real soap opera.

I'd swear...

we've met before.

- I don't know where, but... - That's a beautiful song.

What's the title? Do you know?

- Are you from Paris? - No, from Dijon.

"Marseilles, Lyon, Dijon, Paris. End of the line!"

We were coming back from Algeria.

So what? What about Algeria?

You weren't very nice to me.

Right! You talked our ears off about your fiancé.

He never showed up.

He never showed up. How about the others?

They didn't show up either?

It's really funny.

- It's unbelievable. - You haven't changed.

Have we changed?

Him, maybe.

He's aging fast.

- What a pleasant memory. - Not for her. She was depressed.

- So-so. - Are you married?

Are you?

Divorced. Almost.

- And you? - Divorced. Almost.

I won't see you tonight.

Once I can think straight, we'll move out of this hotel.

If that were the only issue...

What do you mean?

All I see is people's flaws.

You can't judge me in a transition period.

You're holding things back, Robert.

You're devious.

We'll talk after breakfast.

We'll work it out. Don't worry.

What are you doing here?

Jacques committed suicide.

- How did that happen? - He was in Chantilly.

I worked on him all night. Put on your jacket.

He is alive?

Put on your jacket.

Fucking put it on!

- Do I know her? - No, she's just a girl.

Thanks a lot.

- You coming? - See? You are devious.

- Where is... - Come on.

Quite a day for surprises.

- What's wrong? - Nothing.

I thought I had more appeal than that jerk.

Where is he?

Whenever you're ready.

- I have to talk to her. - No.

- Listen... - It's over, Robert.

Just a minute.

She said it's over!

Listen, I'll call you later.

The woman who was as popular as the Beatles in the '60s

finally accepted an engagement to sing in Paris.

She arrived at The Lido today, where she will sing for a month.

When a journalist asked about her health,

Sarah said, "I look older than I am,

but don't jump to conclusions."

She spent a relaxed day trying to decide

who would open her show.

You don't have a spoon.

Sir!

Could you bring us two teaspoons?

You want a spoon?

Here's a spoon.

My mother's French... was French.

She was a singer in my dad's band.

I don't understand. You should have come sooner.

Then you should've written that book sooner.

It's unbelievable.

Please take a seat.

- What's her name? - Anne Meyer.

When did you last see her?

At least two years ago. Her memory was going.

Did she come here often?

Every two weeks.

She never lost hope.

- How far was your church? - About 75 miles.

Now he'll know why his son loves music.

They're making a movie about my husband's life.

As you know,

he has often lived in Paris.

Many important things happened to him in Paris.

Karl Kremer, a recent poll cites the Führer

as the most unpopular man of all time.

Could you tell us about your contacts with him?

You know, that was 40 years ago.

What can I tell you about my own failings?

People of your generation... Menuhin, Rubinstein...

seem happier than youngsters today. Why?

We lived through the war.

Compared to that...

everything else is sweet.

I have an appointment with Sergei Itovich.

He's rehearsing with his daughter.

- Your name, please? - Mr. Blink.

Switch positions...

and go back the other way.

I called you yesterday on behalf of UNICEF and the Red Cross.

"...because otherwise they're going to die,

for want of some water or a bowl of rice.

They know nothing of oil crises or marital anguish.

They are simply hungry and thirsty."

Do you really like "oil crises and marital anguish"?

I know you are called on to help very often.

But this time, it's more urgent than ever.

The thousands have turned into millions.

And the dying children

have no more milk, no more tears.

So we, who are still lucky enough to be able to cry,

must act quickly, very quickly.

UNICEF, the Red Cross and worldwide TV

have organized an event to help the starving,

and you can help too.

Because saving a child, one single child,

may be the first step toward saving humanity.

We've looked everywhere and I used all your contacts.

My contacts? I know what they're worth.

Did you check outside France?

Thanks, Thérèse.

How about mental hospitals?

BOLERO CLAUDE LELOUCH