All language subtitles for La chinoise (1966)

The French working class
won't politically unite,

nor go to the barricades,

just for a 1 2% rise in wages.

ln the foreseeable future,

there'll be no Capitalist crisis
great enough

for the workers to fight

for their vital interests

by a general revolutionary strike

or an armed revolt.

Moreover, the bourgeoisie will never
give up power without a fight

forced on them
by the revolutionary masses.

So the main problem
for a socialist tactic

is how to create the objective
and subjective conditions,

which make a mass revolutionary
action possible

and which render the use of force
against the bourgeoisie feasible.

''THE. . . .''

What is a word?

A word is what's unsaid.

And you?

Me?

Yes, you.
Both sides for the other.

Me.

No, you ,

someone who tries to tame
the other, unforgettable,

that might surprise us.

And now me?

The ''me'' of excuses and rejections.

And us now?

We are the discourse of others.

WE NEED TO CONFRONT
VAGUE lDEAS WlTH CLEAR lMAGES

Do they know?

No.

For how long have they left?

All summer.

What do your parents do?

They own factories or something.

But Véronique is a close friend?

l don't think so.

Still , it's nice of them.

Liberalism in militant groups

based on collectivism
is very harmful.

Liberalism deprives the revolution

of solid organization
and strict discipline.

This is Radio Peking.

During last June and July,
when the Red Guard appeared,

President Mao was immediately
aware of their vast vitality

and gave them his warm support.

ln a very short time,
the Red Guards created schools,

many factories,

and throughout the country.

They became a huge army
for the cultural revolution.

THE lMPERlALlSTS

God , why have you forsaken me?

Because l don't exist.

This is Radio Peking.

The cell needs a name.

Remember Paul Nizan?

The conspirator.

He wrote a novel , Aden Arabia.

Cell Aden Arabia.

Right.

A MlNORlTY lN THE RlGHT
REVOLUTlONARY COURSE

lS NO LONGER A MlNORlTY

What's going on?

He was beaten.

By whom?

l'll get some water.

By whom?

By whom?

A commando.

But you're hurt--
Was it Fascists?

No, Communists.

Just now? Where?

At the meeting
on the cultural revolution.

The one led by the Sorbonne
Marxist-Leninist group?

Yes.

l told you they were disgusting.

Being attacked by the enemy
is a good thing ,

because it proves there's
a clear distinction that separate us.

A FlLM lN THE MAKlNG

''ln her stare,
there was still youthful fear.

Humility here and there,

not of a servant's,
but of a friend and a woman's.

The mouth was a mouth ,
large and precise,

not persuasive but loyal.

The forehead is without viciousness
and willingly bends to silence.

ln all that,
we can only guess the agreement.

ln all that,
we can only guess the agreement.

Never in pain or successful ,

but as if from afar, something unseen
but real and grave appears.''

An actor?

lt's hard to say.

Yes, yes, l'm an actor.

l'll show you something.

lt will give you an idea
of what theater is.

Young Chinese students

demonstrated in front
of Stalin's tomb in Moscow,

and of course, the Russian police
beat them up.

The next day, in protest,

the Chinese met
before their embassy

and invited all the Western press.

Reporters from Life,
France Soir and so on.

And a Chinese student arrived ,

his face completely covered
with bandages,

and started yelling:

''Look what they did to me!
Look what the dirty revisionists did!''

So the reporters rushed over
and began taking photos,

as he removed bandages.

They expected a cut face,
covered with blood or something.

And he carefully removed
his bandages as they took pictures.

When all was off,
they realized his face was all right.

So the reporters began yelling:

''This Chinaman's a fake!
He's a clown! What is this?''

But they hadn't understood.

They didn't realize it was theater.

Real theater.

A reflection on reality.

l mean like Brecht or Shakespeare.

Yes, l think we should be different
from what our parents were.

My father fought the Germans hard
in the war.

Now he runs
a Club Mediterranean resort.

You know, those big holiday camps
by the sea.

What's terrible is
that he doesn't even realize

that it's built exactly
like the blue prints

of the concentration camps.

A true socialist theater?

No, l don't know.

No, l don't know.

l'm looking.

Yes, yes.
Mao's ideas can help me.

ln any case,
you need sincerity and violence.

You're getting a kick out of this.

You think l'm clowning around
because you're filming me

or because there are
technicians around me.

But that's not it.

lt's not because there's a camera.

l am sincere.

Yes, in China, there's
the Gang of Four at the Peking Opera.

l think that's wonderful.

ln comparison to the opera in Paris
or Leningrad , it's really fantastic.

ln Milan , Strehler does good work.

Yes, there's a great Althusser text

based on a Brecht play
which he produced.

Well , l've generalized it for myself.

l'm turning around!

And suddenly, l'm irresistibly
bombarded by the question:

lf whether the words l've just said ,
in my own awkward and blind manner,

are just part of a great unknown play
continuing within me?

Workers of the world theater,
its signification incomplete,

looking through me, and with me,

all the actors and settings,

of its giant silent oration.

That is why l'm speaking.

Yes, that's why.

Cut. Fine.

Take five.

Go ahead.

l'll go with Serge.

Don't l get a kiss?

You said we'd go see ''8 1/2.''

Bye.

lt's disgusting.

Why does he always leave
when l want him to stay?

Because politics is
the starting point of politics,

as well as the starting point of every
practical revolutionary action.

l don't understand.

You're too much.

No, l don't understand.

Now listen carefully.
lt's easy.

All revolutionary party action
is applied policy.

lf you don't apply a just policy,
then you're applying a false policy.

lf you're not applying it consciously,
then you're doing it blindly.

And these dishes, for example,
why are you cleaning them?

So that they're clean.

Then you've totally understood.

So, France in 1 96 7
is a bit like dirty dishes.

Yeah.

On a farm near Grenoble.

lt's a small village.

5:00 a.m. in summer,
7:00 a.m. in winter.

l would light the fire,
then go to the dairy.

Prepare my little brother's meal ,

then off to the pigs,
clean the stable.

Lunch , the dishes,
washing , the mending.

Usually, we had no time to mend.

ln the afternoon ,
gather the eggs, then dinner.

Then feed the calves.

Light the lights in the hen-house.

Then prepare the yoghurt.

Neocapitalist society
won't look at its own face,

but rather seeks its soul
in its opposite.

l arrived in Paris in 1 960.
No, in '65.

Yes. Sorry, in '64.

Cleaning houses for three years.

lt's nice here on the top floor.

lt's well-lit, airy.

You know, l used to work near Passy.

Then around Auteuil
in those big bourgeois apartments,

on the first floor.

lt's always so dark.

l had to sweep in the dark.

Already the metro was dark.

So l went from one darkness
to another.

lt's was always black.

Then at night, l had to go back
into the darkness of the metro.

Whereas here, they discuss and talk.

lt's very clear for me.

l used to talk while milking cows,
mostly with foreigners.

ln the country,
women are pretty lost.

Yes, l did some prostitution ,
for nearly a year.

Over by the metro station Stalingrad
because l lived nearby.

And then on the Champs-Elysées

after l'd bought a car
with my money.

A Fiat 850 convertible.

Yes, when money's short,
l still do it.

For example, when Henri
can't sell his ''Red Guard''

or when Véronique
can't give philosophy lessons.

l know it's a contradiction.

Besides, Henri says. . .

We have a right-wing intelligence
and a left-wing intelligence.

. . .that l'm the living proof

of the righteous contradictions
of the masses.

l don't trust the Russians so much.

When we screamed , ''US killers,''

all they could answer was,
''Red Guard killers.''

So l distrust them.

Marxism-Leninism?

Defined?

You know, when the sun sets,
everything becomes red.

Then it disappears.

But in my heart, the sun never sets.

''lt is necessary to exerce
dictatorship over thieves,

crooks, killers,

pyromaniacs, gangs,

and all other evil minds
that seriously upset public order!

A Communist must be
frank and open-minded ,

devoted and active,

putting the revolution
before his life,

above any personal interests!

He must always hold
to just principles

and fight any wrong ideas
or actions

so as to help
the collective life of the party,

reinforcing its ties with the masses!

Finally, he will associate more
with the party and the masses

than his own individual self.

He will care for others
more than himself.

Then he'll deserve
the name 'Communist!'

A Communist must always
ask himself why

and think carefully to see if
everything conforms to reality!

A Communist is never infallible,

should never be arrogant,

and never think things
are okay only at home!''

''The history of mankind

is a continual progress
from necessity

to the reign of liberty.''

What's for Monday?

Crime and politics.

THE lMPERlALlSTS ARE STlLL

The student revolutionary movement
has again grown and reinforced itself.

The white-collar
revolutionary struggle

is gradually spreading
among the workers and peasants.

This is Radio Peking.

Comrades,
that is the latest news bulletin.

-This is Omar.
-Louder!

This is Omar, a colleague from
the philosophy circle at Nanterre.

That's enough.

Comrades and friends,

those who make Stalin responsible,
in addition to his crimes and faults,

for all our deceptions, our mistakes
and despair, in any sphere,

might be very upset

to realize that the end
of intellectual totalitarianism. . .

That's dogmatism.

lf you like.

. . .the end of intellectual dogmatism

hasn't returned to us the Marxism
philosophy in its complete form.

After all , we can only liberate
what already exists,

even from dogmatism.

Yes, Stalin's death has meant
a real freedom for research

but also a fever causing certain
people to rush into philosophizing

about their feelings on liberation
and their taste for freedom.

What Stalin's death gave us is the
right to count exactly what we own ,

to call both wealth and nakedness
by their real names,

to think and talk aloud
about our problems,

and to undertake serious research.

Stalin's death allowed us

to get partially away
from our provincial theories,

to recognize and know the existence
of others outside of ourselves,

and seeing this exterior,
begin to see ourselves better,

to know the place we occupy in the
knowledge and ignorance of Marxism ,

and so, begin to know ourselves.

Today's task is simply to ask
and to face these problems

in light of day

if we want to give some existence
and consistency to Marxist philosophy.

Any questions?

Can a non-socialist revolution

peacefully be changed
into a socialist one?

Yes, under specific conditions.

But never can an absence of
revolution be changed to revolution ,

nor into a socialist revolution ,
and even less into socialism.

No matter how you look at it,

the road to socialism
always leads to a revolution.

But your question reveals
a false underlying notion.

Where do just ideas arise?

Where do just ideas come from?

They fall from the sky.

No, they come
from social interaction , and. . . .

The fight to produce?

Yes, and then. . .?

From scientific research.

Yes, and what else?

From the class struggle.

Some classes are victorious,
others defeated.

That's History.

The history of all civilizations.

Will class struggle end
under proletarian dictatorship?

No. ln his speech to the transport
workers on March 29, 1 92 1 ,

Lenin showed class struggle

doesn't disappear
under proletarian dictatorship,

but takes on other forms.

As it is happening
in Soviet Russia today.

Yes, in spite of the lies
of the duo Brezhnev-Kosygin.

Give up illusions
and prepare to fight.

This world is as much yours as ours.

Hope lies within you.

To work is to fight.

And you must seek truth
in the facts.

But exactly what is a fact?

Facts are things and phenomena
as they exist objectively.

Truth is the link between things
and phenomena,

which is to say the laws
that govern them.

To research is to study.

We must begin with the real situation
internally and externally

in every part of the country.

Sort out the laws that apply
to serve as guides

and not the ones
from our imaginations.

Which is to say find
the internal ties in events

occurring around us.

What made me discover Marxism?

At first, Nanterre bored me,

because the university
is surrounded by slums.

Then little by little,

l found philosophy
suited a worker's suburb.

We and the workers lived
in the same rabbit cages.

But rabbits multiply.

And mornings when l go,
l meet the Algerian workers' children

and the mechanics from Simca.

Right, so. . . .

l thought l passed them by,
but we stopped in the same cafés,

we're at the same station together,

suffer the same rain
and nearly have the same job.

And that's where l understood

the three basic inequalities
of Capitalism ,

and especially
of the Gaullist regime in France.

First, the difference between
intellectual and manual work.

Secondly, between town and country.

l see those differences here
all the time.

Third , between farming and industry.

That also pushed me
to study Marxism-Leninism.

Seriously, if l were brave,

l'd dynamite the Sorbonne,
the Louvre, the Comédie Française.

Really?

Yes.

''The revolution is not a gala dinner.

lt's not made like a work of art.

lt can't be done with such elegance
and peace of mind ,

with such tenderness and manners,

with the same reserve or generosity
of the soul.

Revolution is an uprising ,
a violent act

by which one class
overthrows another.''

Me, l'm in philosophy.

l know l'm cut off from the workers.

After all , my family are bankers.

l've always lived with them until now.

None of that's very clear.

That's exactly
why l keep on studying.

To understand first
and then to change

and then formulate a theory.

For example, for me. . .

l can't define myself based on misery,
but prosperity.

Since l often profit from it.

Even if l am ashamed of it.

You often hear a quick retort,
what's that mean?

A quick retort.

For us,
it's to first eliminate exams.

Since we learn nothing
and can't copy,

and it's a kind of racism ,

since they're for full-time students,

and create anxiety
and sexual frustration.

Should books be burned sometimes?

No, they shouldn't.
We couldn't criticize them , then.

''And youth all aflame
cannot hold anything back.

Hate, love, sorrow, happiness.

lt is ready to pour out its heart.
ln love, like an invalid.

Onegin--''

Onegin?

''Onegin , with a serious look,
listened to the poet's heart

reveal its guileless awareness.''

l want to be blind.

Why?

To speak to each other better.
We'd listen carefully.

How?

We'd use language differently.

Don't forget in 2,000 years,
words have changed meaning.

So?

So, we'd talk seriously
to each other.

Which means. . . .

Finally, meanings
would change words.

Right.

Talk as if words
were sounds and matter.

That's. . .

. . .what. . .

. . .they are. . .

. . .Véronique.

Right, let's try, then.

On the river bank.

Green and blue.

Tenderness.

A bit of despair.

After tomorrow.

Maybe.

Literary theory.

One of Nicolas' films.

Ray.

The Moscow trials.

Red-breasted robin.

Rock. . .

. . .and roll.

Etcetera.

Etcetera?

Etcetera.

You know l love you.

The. . .

. . .theoretical. . .

. . .base. . .

. . .which. . .

. . .serves. . .

. . .as. . .

. . .a guide. . .

. . .in. . .

. . .our. . .

. . .thinking. . .

. . .is. . .

. . .Marxism. . .

. . .Leninism!

THE lMPERlALlSTS ARE STlLL ALlVE

Comrades and friends.

Today is current events.

We see them daily at the movies.

There's a false idea
about the news at the movies.

They say Lumière
invented newsreels.

He made documentaries.

But there was also Méliès,
who made fiction.

He was a dreamer filming fantasies.

l think just the opposite.

Prove it.

A few days ago,
l saw a film about Lumière,

directed by Mr. Langlois,
the director of the Cinémathèque.

The film proved
that Lumière was a painter.

He filmed the same things
painters were painting at that time,

men like Charo, Manet, or Renoir.

What did he film?

He filmed train stations.

He filmed public gardens.

Workers going home.

Men playing cards.

He filmed trams.

One of the last great impressionists.

Exactly, a contemporary of Proust.

So Méliès did the same thing.

No, what was Méliès
doing at that time?

He filmed a trip to the moon.

Méliès filmed the king of Yugoslavia's
visit to President Fallières.

And now in perspective,

we realize
those were the current events.

No kidding , it's true.

He made current events.
They were re-enacted , all right.

Yet they were the real events.

l'd even say
Méliès was like Brecht.

We mustn't forget that.

And why mustn't we?

Why mustn't we?

So, why?

Why?

Because a concrete analysis
of a concrete situation ,

as Lenin says, is the substance. . .

What is an analysis?

. . .of the soul of Marxism.

What is an analysis?

lt's seeing
the inherent contradictions.

Okay, but why analysis?

Because things are complicated.
There are many determining factors.

Yes, Marx, Engels, Lenin , and Stalin

teach us to carefully study
the situation ,

very conscientiously,

starting from objective reality,

and not from our subjective desires.

You agree?

Okay, exactly.

Especially in the news,

we must examine
the different aspects,

not just one.

Enough theory.
Now, an exercise.

Which one do you want?

War.

Asia.

The war in Asia.
Vietnam , then.

Who are the characters
of this drama?

The Americans.

The Americans.

The Americans,

who've dropped more bombs
on a tiny country

than during the last world war
and are wrong in their doctrine:

Asia for the Americans.

The Russians.

The Russians are a bit cowardly
as they go.

Do as l say, not as l do.

The Chinese.

Oh , yes. The Chinese.

The Chinese who apply Mao's ideas.

lmperialism and all reactionaries
are paper tigers.

They appear ferocious,
but they're not really so powerful.

At the Moscow conference

of Communist workers
on November 1 8, 1 95 7.

Strategically,
we must scorn all enemies,

but tactically, weigh them carefully.

Then there're the others,
the on-lookers,

the indifferent, the lazy,
people like. . . .

Like the French.

Or the English.

lsn't Vietnam a character?

Yes, Vietnam.

Help, help!

First a few facts,
as truth lies there.

The NLF will win.

The NLF will win.

ln short. . . .

The liberation army
in Ta Kien province

has killed and captured
some 300 puppet soldiers.

To resume. . .

. . .Johnson's fighting
Communism in Vietnam.

Okay, fine.

That proves there are two kinds
of Communism ,

since in Europe,
he's not fighting it at all.

On the contrary,
he signs agreements with Moscow.

He invites Hungarian swimmers
to Los Angeles.

He invites Czech violinists to play
with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

He builds factories
in Romania, Poland ,

while destroying
the factories in Hanoi.

Help, help, help!

Help, Mr. Kosygin , help!

That proves that there are
indeed two Communisms.

A dangerous one. . .

. . .and one not dangerous.

A Communism against which
Johnson must fight,

and one he holds out his hand to.

Hello, Kosygin , is that you?
How's it going?

And why is one of them
no longer dangerous?

Because it has changed.

The Americans haven't changed.
They're still an imperialist power.

Since they haven't changed ,
then it's the others who've changed.

The Russians and their friends
have become revisionists

that Americans can deal with.

While the real Communists
that haven't changed

need to be kicked in the face.

That's what Vietnam's about.

l'm for peace in Vietnam.

Whether intentionally or not,
both the Russians and Americans. . .

l'm for peace in Vietnam.

. . .are fighting the real Communists,
against China.

That's a general conclusion.

As for Vietnam in particular. . . .

Help! Help, Mr. Kosygin!

Mr. Kosygin! Help!

Help, Mr. Kosygin!

Mr. Kosygin! Help!

Hurry, Mr. Kosygin!

A specific conclusion is:

Any. . .

. . .progressive. . .

. . .war. . .

. . .is righteous.

Any. . .

. . .war. . .

. . .opposing. . .

. . .progress. . .

. . .is unjust.

We other. . .

. . .Communists. . .

. . .are fighting. . .

. . .against. . .

. . .all. . .

. . .unjust. . .

. . .wars. . .

. . .obstruct. . .

. . .progress.

But we. . .

. . .aren't. . .

. . .against. . .

. . .progressive. . .

. . .wars.

Comrades and friends.

Why is being American intolerable?

lt's an important question.

lndeed , if a socialist might admire
the wealth of the US ,

he must not only place
it in perspective

in relative to the world context,

and at that level understand it

using rareness
and exploitation as criteria.

Rareness, exploitation.

But also, protest the structures
that feed it.

Structures.

Otherwise, socialism falls
into the right-wing trap.

Trap.

Which is the Stalinism
of Capitalistic abundance,

an apology for power,
for luxury, for social standing.

A good example is the French
Finance Minister, Mr. Michel Debré.

For us, the human sciences must
again be what they were for Marx,

a political instrument,

a fighting truth.

A fighting truth.

Don't forget that
the 1 9th century Marxists,

before filling
the Soviet academies,

were men of science,
hooligan iconoclasts,

and revolutionaries.

Revolutionaries.

Today, some schools
for human sciences

are retracing the road to Marxism ,
but in reverse.

Not to show flaws in society,
but to show flaws as part of a whole.

To show how men's will and projects
cannot change.

Structure, change.

ln short, man is an idea of modern
thinkers, and this can be surpassed.

This situation
in the human sciences

that Sartre tried to upset
with his genius,

this situation is disturbing.

Disturbing.

lt's the faithful reflection
of the impotence of Europe's left.

lmpotence indicating its decline.

THE lMPERlALlSTS ARE
STlLL ALlVE. THE Y CONTlNUE. . . .

We're a bit like Robinson.

Remember Engel's text
on Robinson and violence?

ln what?

ln ''Anti-Duhring.''

Guillaume, answer the phone!

Guillaume!

What surprises me
are your quarrels with the Party.

l've discovered that
3/4 of their ideas and analyses

by the Communist Party are false,
especially for the intellectuals.

Too close to Moscow.

Look, Nizan is dead ,
Merleau is dead.

Sartre's hiding in Flaubert,
Aragon in math.

l find them both moving now.

Right, but it's tragic also.

lt's the Party's fault.

Yes, exactly.

That's why we must seek our ideal
far away in Peking.

Listen.

''No matter what his position ,

no Communist
should automatically treat,

without due process,

the Chinese cultural revolution
like just another fact or argument.

The cultural revolution
isn't an argument.

First, it's historical fact.

An historical fact unlike any other.''

Then there's this.

''Exporting cultural revolt
is impossible

as it belongs to China.

But the theoretical lessons
belong to all Communists.

They must borrow the lessons
and make them their own.''

Guillaume, answer the phone!

Guillaume!

No?

l'm Véronique Supervielle.

l'm 1 9 years, 8 months, 1 4 hours,
2 minutes and 20 seconds old.

SECOND MO VEMENT OF THE FlLM

Vietnam burns
And me, l spurn Mao Mao

Johnson giggles
And me, l wiggle Mao Mao

Napalm runs
And me, l gun Mao Mao

Cities die
And me, l cry Mao Mao

Whores cry
And me, l sigh Mao Mao

The rice is mad
And me, a cad Mao Mao

lt's the little red book
That makes all children move

lmperialism lays down the law

Revolution is not a gala dinner

The A bomb is a paper tiger

The masses are the real heroes

The Yanks kill
And me, l read Mao Mao

The jester is king
And me, l sing Mao Mao

The bombs go off
And me, l scoff Mao Mao

The babes are cooking
And me, l run away Mao Mao

The Russians eat
And me, l dance Mao Mao

l denounce and l renounce Mao Mao

lt's the little red book
That makes all children move

THE lMPERlALlSTS ARE STlLL
ALlVE. THE Y CONTlNUE TO RElGN.

Olé!
Bull , bull , bull , bull!

And now El Cordobes.

Olé!
Bull , bull , bull!

Paco Camino.

Oh , shucks.

Why'd he ditch our bull's head?

We can't have any more fun.

He's mad
and going to commit suicide.

-Hurry up, Fernand.
-Coming.

Look at that, lsabelle.

Great racing handlebars and a seat.

-He took it?
-Yes.

He's a dumb shit.

No, that worker's a genius.

With a bull's head ,
he made handlebars and a seat.

Divine metamorphosis, Mr. Malraux.

He who speaks of struggle. . .

. . .speaks of sacrifice.

And death. . .

. . .is a common thing.

THE lMPERlALlSTS
ARE STlLL ALlVE.

THE Y CONTlNUE THE RElGN
OF DESPOTlSM lN ASlA, AFRlCA

Comrades and friends.

One: the history of art
in the last 1 00 years

is the road leading to the concept
of art as its own science.

Two:

we are not the ones
using obscure language.

lt's our society
which is hermetic and closed up

in the poorest of languages possible.

Three:

Mayakovsky in poetry.

Sergei Eisenstein in movies.

All those fighting
for a definition of a socialist art

were knifed in the back
by Trotsky and the others.

Those who two months
after taking the Winter Palace

accepted imperialist language

to sign the peace treaty
of Brest-Litovsk.

Art doesn't reproduce the visible.

lt makes visible.

But the aesthetic effect is imaginary.

Yes, but the imaginary
doesn't reflect reality.

lt's the reality of the reflection.

You sometimes hear statements like,
''Use only the three colors,

the three primary colors,

blue, yellow, and red ,

in their perfect purity
and perfect balance.

Under the pretext
that all the other colors are there.''

For everything we see,
we must consider three things:

the position of the seeing eye,

of the object seen ,

and of the source of light.

Perhaps reality
hasn't yet appeared to anyone.

As for us, we demand
the unity of politics and art,

the unity of content and form ,

the unity
of a revolutionary content,

and an artistic form
as perfect as possible.

Works lacking artistic value,
no matter how politically advanced ,

are ineffective.

ln literature and in art,
we must fight on two fronts.

Fighting on two fronts. . . .

l find this too complicated.

l can only do one thing at a time.

l don't understand
how you can listen to music

and write at the same time.

Two fronts.

lt's too complicated.

Do you love me, Guillaume?

Of course l do.

l've decided
that l don't love you anymore.

What's going on , Véronique?

l no longer like
your face, your eyes, your mouth.

Nor the color of your sweaters.
And you bore me terribly.

What's happening?

l don't love you anymore.

l don't understand.

You will.

Véronique.

You'll understand.

Explain why you're saying that.

l no longer love you , Guillaume.

You keep me from my work.

You make me anxious.

Love's too difficult with you.

l hate how you discuss
things you ignore.

l don't love you anymore.

l don't love you anymore.

Do you understand now?

Yeah , l do.

l'm very sad , but l understand.

You see, you can do
two things at once.

To understand , you had to do it.

Music and language.

You must struggle on two fronts.

But you really scared me.

Me, too. l'm often scared.

THE lMPERlALlSTS ARE STlLL
ALlVE. THE Y CONTlNUE TO RElGN

lN ASlA, AFRlCA
AND SOUTH AMERlCA.

THE Y CONTlNUE TO OPPRESS.

Some comrades
have bad work habits,

the antithesis to the Marxist spirit.

Like catching birds blindfolded.

Why are you looking at me?

l'm not a strange animal.

l'm a human being.

And your look is the same as whites
in America looking at blacks,

or Arabs looking at Jews,
or vice versa, in the Middle East.

And in the Communist world ,
Russians looking at Chinese.

One, two, three, four, five!

There's no face that can't be drawn

like the face of a dream.

Serge Dimitri Kirilov.

Not Novalis.

But it was voted yesterday.

But he's a scholar, not a poet.

A scholar on poetry like Brecht.

The party controls the guns.
Guns must not control the party.

Come here.

Poor Novalis.

How to unite Marxist-Leninist
theory and the practice of revolution?

There's a well-known saying.

lt's like shooting at a target.

Just like aiming at the target.

Marxism-Leninism
must aim at revolution.

You can disagree on the terms l use
to define the problem.

But if, like most workers
who use their hands and heads,

you judge or vaguely feel

that Capitalism is no better today
than yesterday. . .

Back to Moscow!

. . .as economic
and social development

as a way of life,
a system of relations--

Men together.

Revisionist!

With their work, with nature.

With the people of the world.

Kosygin and Johnson are killers!

By the use he does or does not make
of resources and science,

of present and future
creative capacities of each person.

-Revisionist! Revisionist!
-What of Siniavsky?

And if you adhere to socialism
with that feeling ,

the problem of its rise to power
is put in those terms.

Once you admit
that violent revolt and barricades

can't occur
in advanced Capitalism. . .

Revisionist! Revisionist!

. . .France, Sweden , ltaly. . .

. . .you can agree
with the French Communist Party.

Revisionist! Revisionist!

THlRD MO VEMENT OF THE FlLM

lsn't that Michel's voice?

You think so?

Listen to how he pronounces ''s.''

Maybe you're right.

Maybe Claude's there too.

Véronique said she received a letter.

ln July, he'll bring committee orders

on beginning hostilities
and against whom.

-Am l in it?
-No.

The combat group will have its own
organization , personnel , and finances.

This is Radio Peking.

Comrades and friends.

Those in favor, raise their hands.

The majority decision is to create
a special combat organization ,

which in strict observance
of conspiracy and division of labor,

will take care exclusively
of terrorist activity.

Now let's draw lots.

Guillaume, open it and read.

''Men. . .

. . .use. . .

. . .the sciences. . .

. . .of nature. . .

. . .as a weapon. . .

. . .in their struggle. . .

. . .for liberty.''

HENRl AFTER HlS EX CLUSlON
FROM THE ADEN ARABlA CELL

Since January.

Maybe December.

You left them?

Yes, well , they excluded me.

lt's all the same.

Why'd they throw you out?

l refused to criticize myself.

How'd it happen?

Like in all cells, there was a vote.

But what led to the vote?

lt started during Véronique's exposé.

The forms of oppression
aren't the same.

Life now under Pompidou

isn't like what our parents endured
during the war under Hitler.

Yet, comrades and friends,

just as Serge showed
how art doesn't reflect reality,

but is the reality of reflection ,

such is the reality of formulas
used by Pompidou's friends

to ban a film like The Nun
by Jacques Rivette.

lt's that reality,
since in formulas there's form ,

which makes me think
it's a form of oppression.

She was confusing Marx and theater
and politics, and that's romanticism.

She behaved in life like an actress.

She was influenced by Guillaume.

Who's he?

An actor.

He was one of the group?

Yes. A fanatic.

His father had worked
with Antonin Artaud.

While with Kosygin , Wilson ,
Pompidou , it's sweet death.

lf that doesn't suit you ,

there's violent death
like in North Vietnam ,

while in the South ,
sweet death is enough.

But what l have to say
is that it's all the same

in literary and scientific studies,
the Left is suggesting reforms.

As long as Racine paints
men as they are,

as long as Sade is prohibited ,

as long as math isn't taught
in kindergarten ,

as long as they fund the queers
at the Comédie Française

ten times more than Roger Planchon
or Antoine Bourseiller,

these reforms are a dead letter

because they're written
in a dead language.

lt's class culture
taught by one class.

A culture belonging to a certain class
that pursues a certain policy.

The analysis was amiss.
So the conclusion was unreal.

lf you don't agree, it's. . . .

Yes, l'm for peaceful co-existence.

What's the Party doing
to change that? Nothing.

There are some good things.

Two weeks ago, they were praising
books that confuse words and things

that serve reactionary thinking.

Comrades, we must:
one - close the puppet university.

Right, but how?

What do you suggest, dreamer?

Two: by terror.

Yes, but what kind of terror?

Terror leads to nothing today.

However, that culture is 0.43%
of the national budget,

in that, Véronique was right.

As for Aragon ,

if the Party's more supple,

it's because of him.

Sometimes, l was enthusiastic,

glorifying the socialist edifice
in my writing.

But the next day l countered
with criminal-like practical action.

There was formed what Hegel called
an unhappy conscience.

lt differed
from the ordinary conscience,

in that it was also
a criminal conscience.

THESE WERE BOUKARlN'S WORDS
AT THE LAST MOSCOW TRlAL

Ad in France Soir on June 1 4.

''Old Russia, the great religious
centers of Czarist Russia,

brought to life
and May Day in Moscow,

information at Monit Travel ,

4 place de l'Opéra,
phone 7 42-0646.''

Where are the old revolutionaries?

Sad , huh?

lt's sad , all right.

Their argument was Sputnik Digest.

lt's a pretty disgusting magazine.

But that's not enough

to systematically
condemn the Party attitude

the way they do
in New Humanity or Red Guard.

The main organ of
the French Communist movement.

During the elections in March ,

the only people to talk
of the price of a fridge,

of work rates or bathrooms,

and not just general philosophy. . . .

lt wasn't Mitterrand or Mendès-France.

lt was the delegates
of the French Communist Party.

lt's not that. l said
they haven't read all of Marx.

-You're way off.
-Not read him seriously.

Well , l'm for peaceful coexistence.

Lenin said to cut off
one enemy finger to save ten.

Rosa Luxembourg
saw the difficulty in answering.

''How troubled she was.

How she blushed
without understanding.''

Why, because movies and plays
cost money, and the army is free.

lt should be the opposite.

Shows should be free.

Those who want to make war
should pay to do so.

When they say the leftist agreement
is a dagger for Vietnam

or the Communist press. . . .

Everyone talks of the crimes
of the Red Guard

in the cultural revolution.

Listen , this is fantastic.

''The first date
for Juliette and Pierre

opened doors
to a new world of magic.''

''The world of words
no one had spoken before them.''

What are you reading?

Henri gave me
the Party's women's magazine.

Let's see.

Like the night before,
their eyes met. Pierre couldn't speak.

No point in being Communist
to use that soap opera language.

l forbid you to read that.

l told you that Henri
is a revisionist.

The jester is king
And l sing Mao Mao

Reminds me of pictures from 1 9 1 7
that treated Bolsheviks as beatniks.

They used the same terms
for the Bolsheviks

as that paper uses
for the Red Guard.

You expect the Figaro
to say that sort of thing.

But when Humanité does,
it's disgusting.

Okay, there's work to do.

For everyone.

The other day l was reading
L'Humanité nouvelle.

They talked about the film
Johnny Guitar

that the Party leaders had shown

at a meeting somewhere.
l'm not sure where.

But they attacked the film
because it's American.

However, this one happens
to be good.

So, as Véronique's big enemy,

Malraux says liberty
doesn't always have clean hands.

Véronique, what's the matter?

You have problems?

l have too many enemies.

Enemies? You?

But who?

You know, the war lords,

the bureaucrats,
the magnates, and the landowners.

And the faction of reactionary
intellectuals. Those are my enemies.

Well , that makes
a lot of enemies, indeed.

What're you up to?

Not much.

Writing in Les Tempes Modernes,
as always.

And some books.

ENCOUNTER
WlTH FRANClS JEANSON

For this year, l have a new project.

What?

l want to do cultural action.

But what's that?

l don't think
anyone really knows yet.

And l want to try an experiment.

But culture and action are old words.

Yes, but culture
is cut off from action now.

At least it seems so.

So it doesn't interest me.

Besides, l agree with you.

You do?

Because what interests me is that
culture gives control over the world.

Concretely, when will you do it?

l start in two months.

The experiment will last a year,

because l really want to see
what is possible in this area.

What is the experiment?

With a whole team ,
we're going to try--

-ln what area?
-Acting , for example.

-Theater?
-Yes, in a theater at Chalon.

The Bourgogne Theater.
We'll try to--

You'll move out of town?

l'm off to the provinces.

But you know, Chalon isn't very far.

Aren't you sad about leaving Paris?

No, l'm delighted.

-Delighted?
-Yes.

'Cause l can't work here anymore.

Anyway, l don't write
when l'm in Paris.

My books aren't progressing.

Maybe l can start this action
in the provinces,

and write, too.

ls it important to take action?

Yes, if we manage
to do something effective.

l don't want to start something
just for pleasure

or to soothe my conscience.

So why start any action?

lt seems to me on that level ,
there's something to be done.

To place today's men and women

in a position to receive
the world as it is.

Not only to receive,
but to act on it.

To have a hold.

That means
you're leaving the university?

Leaving , if you want.

l'm breaking with the widespread
attitude found in the university,

which is to consider the others,

the ones we address
as mere receivers.

lt's true,
and l wouldn't want to be--

lsn't what's happening in China
important?

Of course, it's important.

For example, closing the universities.
l think it's great.

Right, you think it's great,

but do you have an idea
what will happen after?

They must re-open them.

The students are in the fields
doing manual labor, for now.

That's right.

That reminds me of something.

Do you remember
my friend Nathalie?

Yes, l do.

Her parents voted for Mendès-France.

That doesn't matter.

Before l prepared my exams
with you in September,

she and l picked peaches
near Avignon.

Now it seems to me that
doing manual labor beforehand

helped me prepare for the exams.

That helped you better
understand what l said

when we spoke about philosophy?

A little. ln June. . . .

l think there's a tie.

ln June, l didn't do
anything physical and failed.

l think there's a possible tie.

But what's the conclusion?

That you should pick peaches?

But you agree with me, Francis,

that something's wrong at the French
universities. Many things, in fact.

Of course.

lt's apparent enough. So?

You agree education
is the big problem?

lt's one of the biggest problems.

So?

Shouldn't we start from scratch?

But how?

Close the universities, like in China.

You'll do that yourself?

lf the authorities
aren't capable of it.

lf necessary, l'll close them.

How?

l have an idea.

Tell me your idea, if you can.

You see,
what disgusts me is teaching.

lt's always a question of class.
Culture is class culture.

You know the Tutankhamen exhibit.

Why do all the people rush to it?
Because of the gold.

Even workers act bourgeois
and go see the gold.

'Cause if the sarcophagus was made
of paper, they wouldn't bother.

l understand.

But your idea. . . .

-Close the university.
-But how?

With bombs.

With bombs!

You're going to throw bombs?

THlS SlTU ATlON

Once we kill students and teachers,
they'll stop going.

The universities will close.

You're doing that alone?

Well , there are two or three of us.

Two or three? But--

But during the Algerian War, when
Djamila Bouhired blew up cafés,

you defended her while all the press
was against her.

-Yes, yes.
-All of France was against her.

That's right.

Only there was a difference.

-Tell me if l'm wrong.
-Explain it to me.

There was a whole people
behind Djamila.

Men and women
were already fighting.

lt was for independence,
and l too want mine.

You want independence. How many
are you who want it that way?

You told me two or three.

But many people don't realize it yet.
And we think for them.

lt's for them.

You think you can make
a revolution for others?

But you agree
working is part of the struggle.

THlS SlTU ATlON MUST CHANGE

Yes, but what is the struggle?

Look, if l want to know
revolutionary theory and methods,

l must participate in a revolution.

You can participate,
but you can't invent one.

But if l want knowledge,
l need practical experience.

-Do you agree?
-l do.

Only revolutionary practice implies
a knowledge of the situation.

The situation is bad.

You know that, but do you know--?

And that will make it known.

Do you know a possible remedy?

But authentic knowledge
comes from direct experience.

First-hand experience,

does it tell you the content
to give your action?

Because terrorism is only a start.

-lsn't it terrorism?
-Yes, it is.

So terrorism supposes
underlying bases.

We've studied for two years.

For two years.
And how have you studied it?

We live the problem.

You live it.

You're no longer a student.
You may know nothing.

l still know a few things.

No, l'm sorry.

You're right. l know a few things.
Not as much as you , of course.

-l'm in it.
-l don't suffer directly.

l suffer, and l'm not alone.

But what's the point of killing people
if you don't know what you'll do next?

lf you don't know what terms--

But we know what we'll do.

So, what will you do after?

l don't believe you know.

You only know
the present system is awful ,

and you're impatient to end it.

Not awful , just bad.

What we do after is not my work.

You don't care.

No, l don't.

After, l'll continue
studying the situation.

Where will you study it?

l'm only a worker
producing revolution.

So be a worker and really work.

The way you're going ,
you won't last a week as l see it.

Why?

You'll be arrested long before.

-But you ran from the police.
-Yes.

And it lasted a long time.

There were many sympathizers
among the population

because even those
not quite favorable

to Algerian independence
didn't denounce us.

You have sympathizers,

but they won't go as far
as mass murder.

And it will be mass murder.

We need help,
since some Communists

are allied with revisionists
to denounce us.

-Yes.
-You didn't know.

You're not prepared--

L'Humanité and the Figaro
are in league now.

All right, but your actions
will lead to nothing

if they aren't upheld
by a community, a class.

By many men and women who agree
entirely and will pay the price.

Me and the young Russian nihilists,
for example.

So?

They made bombs
and criminal attempts.

And the revolution of '1 7 came after
as well as October.

You think you can compare
Czarist Russia

and the situation now in France?

You call yourself Marxist-Leninist.

Well , even if we can't
compare them ,

we can draw a lesson from China.

But the lessons you draw
are very abstract.

You don't draw lessons
by superposing--

You think it's a mistake?

l think so.

You're heading towards a dead-end.

Some comrades undertake
their main task. . .

. . .but not firmly in hand.

They can't do good work.

SEQUEL TO DlALOG 4
EX CLUDlNG HENRl

Committee Work Techniques,
March 1 3, 1 949.

lt's not so much that.

l told you the arguments were valid ,
but all mixed up.

Marxism is first of all a science.

And there, the arguments
were a mess, off the cuff.

They were a bit like children.

Yes, you know the story
of the Egyptian children?

No.

Then l'll tell you.

The Egyptians believed
their language was that of the gods.

One day, to prove it,

they put newborn babies in a house
far from any society

to see if they would learn to talk.

To talk Egyptian alone.

They came back 1 5 years later.

And what did they find?

The kids talking together,
but bleating like sheep.

They hadn't noticed that next
to the house was a sheep-pen.

For us, in that apartment
where we were,

Marxism was a bit like the sheep.

Any volunteers?

Okay, me.

l believe in terror.

For me, whole revolutions
are made of terror.

Who is it?

A bombless revolutionary
isn't a revolutionary.

For the moment, we're only a few.

Tomorrow, we'll be many.

Tomorrow, l might no longer exist.

l am happy.
l am proud of that.

Terrorism is not an act
of liberation ,

but a means to impose a program.

Give me a bomb.

Give me a bomb.

-Let's talk in the kitchen.
-Give me a bomb.

l suggest refusing Kirilov
and drawing lots.

Do you really think
he'll commit suicide?

l'm sure of it.

They say that,
but when the time comes. . . .

lt's been going on for two weeks.

But he's serious this time.

Still , he didn't want
to sign the paper.

Ask him again.

l tried all day yesterday.

You can't talk with him.

He doesn't want to.

He still has the revolver?

He's keeping it.

He'll give it up
once he's shot himself.

Listen , Serge.
Give me the paper.

lt's in my pocket.

Leave me alone.

Did you sign it?

''l , Serge Dimitri Kirilov,
have murdered Mikhail Sholokhov,

the current Soviet
Minister of Culture,

invited to Paris
as the French government's guest.

The purpose of this murder is:

One, to stop the Soviet puppet
from inaugurating

the new university buildings

where he was to speak
before the puppet Malraux.''

Go on.

''Two, this is the first murder
in a series.

Violence will be the answer
to the cultural suffocation

willingly imposed
on the universities by the government.

Serge Kirilov, August 1 5, 1 96 7.''
Very good.

Do l wear the hat or not?

No, l won't.

Do you have the gun?

Yes.

What's his name again?

Uh , Shokolhov.

No, Sholokhov.

You sure?

Yes, Sholokhov, that's it.

But l can't ask his name.

Do as we already said.
You ask for. . . .

When he looks at the register,
you find Sholokhov.

lt will be upside down.

They write big.
lt's easy.

-All right?
-Okay, all right.

So?

He opened the door, and l fired.

Come on , let's go.

Shit, shit, stop!

What is it?

-l made a mistake.
-How's that?

l read Sholokhov
upside down , all right,

and the room number 23.

But since it was upside down ,
l inverted.

That made it 32,
so l went to room 32.

You shot the guy in 32.

Go back.

But get the right one this time.

We. . .

. . .Communists. . .

. . .not only. . .

. . .do not fight. . .

. . .against just wars. . .

. . .but take an active part.

He committed suicide?

l didn't know.

Kirilov.

lf Marxism-Leninism exists,
then anything goes.

That means we must pay. . .

. . .attention. . .

. . .to the quantitative aspect
of a situation or problem. . .

. . .and do quantitative analysis. . .

. . .fundamentally.

l'm fed up with this job!

You must participate
in changing reality.

Maybe l'll return to Besançon.

Will you join
the normal Communist Party?

Certainly, as soon as l find work.

l've applied at a laboratory.

And if it doesn't work out,
l think l'll go to East Germany.

They need chemists.

lt's too bad about your quarrels.

l know, it's stupid.

But you know,
what l want is some quiet.

They were too fanatical.

The silence of infinite space.

lt's not silence that scares me,
but sound and fury.

You never saw them again?

l don't know what became of them.

YEAR ZERO THEATER

THE

THEATRlCAL

VOCATlON

OF

GUlLLAUME MElSTER

Look, how funny.

ALL ROADS LEAD TO PEKlNG

lt's disgusting.

They put up your cousin.

Do you think they killed the minister?

l hope they didn't mess the inside up.

AND

One price, 1 0 cents,
fruits and vegetables!

HlS

Radishes, eggs, 1 0 cents, one price!

YEARS

Lettuce, 1 0 cents.

OF

Tomatoes, leeks. . .

APPRENTlCESHlP

1 0 cents, one price, try your luck!

AND

Ten cents per game.
Try your luck.

OF

TRAVELS ON THE ROAD

l don't want to see anyone.

Don't be hurt if my zeal
breaks the secret of your solitude.

How long have you been so afraid?

Since Marcel left me.

Under what sign did you bring into
the world such an unhappy creature?

WlTH A TRUE

What will l do?

Never doubt.
A god is fighting for you.

The sacrifice is over.
Just join the Marxist-Leninists.

No, l want vengeance.

-You'll lose.
-Get out of here.

But why leave?

Why be your own enemy?

l have too much pain.

Enough , stop.

lt's time to be logical.

LAST SCENE OF THE MO VlE

What shall l tell them?

l'll write them.

You're crazy.

You're dreaming.

Okay, it's fiction.
But it brought me closer to reality.

Everything must be ready
for Saturday.

Coming , Blondine?

Think about it.

lt's all thought out.

The end of summer
meant back to school for me.

A struggle for me
and some comrades.

On the other hand, l was wrong.

l thought l'd made a leap forward.

And l realized l'd made only the first
timid steps of a long march.