Original subtitles

Come on, you can go outside.

You can play.

The Loner

Screenplay:

Adaptation and dialogue:

Recess is over, all in line.

You can go inside.

Cinematography:

Original music score:

Set design:

Editor:

Production manager:

An Alain Brunet film.

Eric Lambrecht,

you are accused of burglary.

On September 18th 1967,

you broke into the safe of the Soprogec company in Marseille.

You have no criminal record,

but this court can establish your presence in other crimes.

More than ten robberies these past years

can be attributed to you.

Consequently,

this criminal court sentences you to twelve years in prison,

and deprives you of your civil rights.

You can smoke.

Six years,

four months,

and sixteen days.

You can talk.

...Don't give up...

...I promise...

...With the blonde guy...

Didn't you hear?

The screw said we could talk.

6 years and still nothing to say?

No. Still nothing.

Except this.

Fuck you!

Fuck you and your friends.

Exercise yard time is over.

In line.

Section One: workshop.

Move it!

Still!

Sit down!

Lambrecht, taking a break?

- No, sir, I don't have power. - I know, dumbass, I stopped it.

Are you working or not?

I can't, sir.

- No power. - Oh, I see...

You hear him, boys? He has no power.

Sounds like a lazybones to me, sir.

Or a weakness in his lungs.

Damaging state propriety.

Eight days in the hole.

You see, dumbass?

You're wrong to stay by yourself.

Six years inside should have taught you.

In maximum security, to survive, you must be in a gang.

Shouldn't be that hard, there's the Parisians,

the Corsicans, the Stephanois, the Northerners.

But no! Lambrecht wants to do it his way.

Your prize: the hole.

You're the most sanctioned inmate in this complex.

You'll never get probation with that on your file.

You'll do full time!

So what? I'll do the time, my way.

Yeah? Open up.

Hey, pal. It's like you got a subscription.

Open a cell while he dresses.

Yes, sir.

Hey.

Lambrecht?

Door.

Sir...

Special instructions?

Yes. You give him good food. And I'll come see him every day.

Yes, sir.

Sir. The soup.

Leave it to me.

I'll do it.

Yes, sir.

Well...

Enjoying your holiday?

Eight days of peace in the countryside, isn't it grand?

Yes, sir.

And the food?

- Okay? - Yes, sir.

Here.

Eat quick, you go to the dormitory.

Enough eating.

Follow me.

You got something to say?

No, sir.

The warden decided to change your dormitory.

This beef with the Corsicans...

If it keeps on going, we'll have a murder on my watch.

And I have enough paperwork as it is.

Come on.

I put you with the Arabs.

I hope you get along better with them.

Something to say?

No... No, sir.

Do it, do it! Fix his face! Fuck this motherfucker up!

Bastards!

Faggots!

Motherfuckers!

Still!

Still!

Open that cell.

Face the wall! Search me that!

Well, well!

What's that?

I'll be damned if you don't get 45 days in the hole.

But...

No more exercise yard.

What's going on here?

I found this on Lambrecht, sir.

Lambrecht, can you even stop?

Fresh out of the hole and yet another sanction.

Playing with fire like that, you will only get out of here in a coffin.

Take him out.

The warden will decide on your punishment.

Come on, open up!

Well, siree, what a crowd...

Come on!

You'll excuse us for not changing the sheets.

Go eat, come on.

I'll take the first watch.

Yes, sir.

Listen to me, Lambrecht.

Now, you know I'm in charge.

If I want it, you'll die slowly.

A few more weeks in the hole and you won't even be able to walk.

Your lungs will be gone and that's if you're lucky.

Nobody can fight that.

You understand?

Yes, sir.

I will make you an offer.

You accept or you stay here to die.

A reminder: in maximum security, there's no crimes.

Only suicides.

Get it?

Yes, sir.

Why planting the file?

I needed to talk to you in private, dumbass.

Anyway, if you follow my plan,

you could leave this place before your full sentence.

You mean...

Exactly.

If you do it,

freedom is on the horizon.

Not bad, huh?

Listen to me closely.

Two years ago, a Parisian factory implanted an office here,

a few yards from the prison.

300 workers, a big installation,

fondly welcomed by the mayor's office and the regional authorities.

Not that it stopped dumbasses like you to

steal the workers' pay three times in a year.

The factory's manager was livid.

He asked the authorities to put the workers' pay

in the warden's safe. In the prison.

Neat idea for safety, right?

It's as hard to get in maximum security as it is to get out.

What's my place in all this?

I heard that you're an elite safecracker.

The warden's safe is old.

It'll be child play.

I get the dough...

and you can escape.

You're insane.

Show me some respect!

You open the safe or you die here, your choice.

On the day of the job,

you'll be alone in the hole.

And La Carlingue?

Always boozing. I'll put sleeping pills in his wine.

Today is the 27th. You'll do it in three days.

Your tools will be there.

I'll be back tomorrow and I'll tell you the rest of the plan.

What will stop you from killing me?

When you'll get the money.

Think for a second, dumbass.

I have more to lose.

It's not in the hole that you could have cased that target.

You have until tomorrow to decide.

My apologies,

it's a habit.

Come on, boys. Hands on the wall, search him.

Nothing, sir.

Good.

Go to the workshop.

Here's some tools.

Sir, a guard has passed out.

Come on, get this wimp out of my sight.

Let's go eat, guys.

At three o'clock, I'll open the door.

You'll get out of the hole with me. After that, you're alone.

I'll stay here. If you fail, I'm clean.

Left side, out of the hole, there's a padlocked air vent.

I, Eric Lambrecht,

inmate with the number 52016,

have been ordered by the Chief Officer Isnard, also known as White Kepi,

to break into the warden's safe

and bring him its contents.

In the maximum security jail, April 30th 1972, 23:30.

Got the money?

Gimme!

You closed everything behind you?

Yes.

- Satisfied? - He'll be happy.

He? Who?

Well, the guy you did this for.

I didn't do all that for fun.

I'll tell you tomorrow.

Keep this letter safe.

If you play dirty, I'll tell the warden where to find the original.

Unlike you, I have nothing to lose.

Take this. Come on, get inside.

I still have work to do.

C'mon.

Gentlemen, this is absolutely intolerable.

In ten years, I made this maximum security prison the best in the country.

The toughest, anyway.

No escape, no riot.

And today, a fool wants to ruin this reputation.

If this money is not found in a record time,

I'll freeze all promotions for a year.

All the inmates are summoned in the yard.

Search the whole building.

The money can't have gone out.

That'll be all.

Execute these orders.

Get him out and search him.

Okay, enough.

What's going on, sir?

We're in big trouble.

The warden's safe was robbed.

You chose the worst day to joke around.

Face the wall!

Search that for me.

Nice work, you're good.

Hi, I'm François Gosset.

I've often heard about you.

Congrats for yesterday.

I had no choice.

Hey, guys.

The hole is not a country club.

Go back to your cells.

Shut up. We'll go back when we want to. Got smokes?

Now forget about us.

C'mon.

Now I can speak with my pal.

I'm not your pal.

Not yet. But you'll be.

An escape can forge a friendship.

Not sure.

Well...

We'll see latter.

Right now, we must bail, the sooner the better.

Correct.

You're the one in charge?

Yeah.

It's all planned.

But we must wait a little.

With yesterday's job, surveillance is reinforced.

No unnecessary risks.

I'll tell you my plan tonight.

White Kepi will be on watch.

Meanwhile, you should exercise.

We'll have to do some circus stunts to get out of here.

Open our cells.

They didn't find the money.

You're the best.

That's not all you came here to say.

No.

You must be ready to leave at a moment's notice.

Everybody's tired, you can make use of that.

The gear is ready, François approves...

But...

You must tell me...

where's the letter?

If it's found after you left,

I'll get ten years.

Listen to me.

I'll trade my escape for the letter.

Who is François, what's his role in this?

Well...

A month ago, I...

went a little rough on an inmate.

He died.

There were two witnesses, François and another guy.

I found this one a job in the offices.

And François?

This bastard told it to someone outside.

He's blackmailing me.

And I put him on cleaning duty.

For one month, he spent an hour a day in the warden's office.

Understand?

And he chooses me to open the safe, without knowing me?

He needed a loner for this job.

A guy in a gang would have talked.

You're always alone.

And it worked for you.

It got you an escape plan.

Now listen to me.

If you find an aspirin tube in your food,

it'll mean: "it's for tonight".

Who'll be the guard?

La Carlingue, I guess.

He's out of the infirmary.

When you'll find the tube,

you can ask me.

- Oh, really? - Yeah.

I want the letter.

You write the hiding place on the paper in the tube.

You won't be searched.

The gear?

How will I get out?

It's all planned, don't worry.

La Carlingue is the only problem.

He must be dealt with.

Bye.

- Status? - All clear, sir.

I hope so. Give me the keys.

- I'll meet you up there. - Yes sir.

- Get moving. - Yes, sir.

Tonight's the night.

Don't screw this up.

The tube?

Yes.

Give it.

You'll get it...

When I'm safe.

To be safe you need the key of the vent's lock.

So...

Let's trade.

You're the one dealing with La Carlingue?

Are you crazy?

I'm in my bed.

See no evil, hear no evil.

It's your business.

And...

No rehearsal.

What's going on?

Nothing, sir.

Let's roll.

When we launch the cable, we'll have 90 seconds. Up for it?

Hey.

You know where to launch it?

Yeah. Close to the north side.

A friend will catch it.

If White Kepi didn't double-cross us.

Come on and eat.

I'll give you the money. The Chief Officer brought your share yesterday.

- Cheers. - Cheers.

I'll eat a sandwich...

and leave.

Change of clothes.

I got a car downstairs.

Tomorrow, we'll be in Paris.

- Can I phone? - Yeah, in the corridor.

Here. Keys and papers for the car.

- Know how to drive to the freeway? - Yeah

Good. In Paris, you leave the car at Porte d'Orléans, near the subway.

I got someone to drive it back.

It's Eric.

No questions.

I'm in Paris tomorrow, I'll need the condo's key.

- You'll drive, I'm too tired - Okay

Come on, hurry up.

Drive safe.

Thanks, Paul.

Thanks for everything.

Wake up. We're close.

You alright? Not tired?

I'm fine.

You plan to stay in Paris for a while?

Dunno.

I haven't decided yet.

We could work together, if you want.

Both of us, we would fear no one.

I always work alone.

I could share the money for the prison job.

No way.

Keep your money.

You must be a rich man, to refuse 120,000 francs like that...

When we're in Paris, we'll split.

I didn't know you eight days ago.

Tomorrow, I won't either.

- Bye. - Don't try to contact me.

You never know. If you want to call, here's a number.

It's useless.

I won't use it.

You can smoke.

Daring escape from a maximum security jail.

Two convicts escaped, leaping a 30 feet wall.

Roadblocks were ordered by the authorities,

with no results right now.

No stolen cars were reported,

and there is no indication that the criminals used a night train.

Oh, I'm sorry to...

Don't worry, it's me.

How are you doing?

I'm out of breath since your phone call last night.

- You came by car? - Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you for the condo.

You know what?

You didn't change a bit.

How is Laurence?

Fine.

She's grown a lot, you know.

She... knows about me?

Did someone tell her where it is was?

I don't think so.

But... Is she asking about me?

No.

I told her you live abroad.

I want to see her so much.

You'll have to wait.

Nobody except us knows you're here, but...

- You never know... - I don't care.

Calm down. It's dangerous for you to be seen.

Right.

Alright.

For now.

What about you?

How are you? Still single?

Yes. You know how it is, except for my job, I don't do much else.

By the way, I was promoted: Head of Technical Staff.

In the same company.

I'm in it for life.

We're the first in Europe now. We work with the biggest companies.

Did the methods change since then?

Tremendously.

Six years...

But I trust you. You'll adapt quickly.

No, no.

No way.

I'm out.

I'll wait till my trail gets cold and I'm gone.

With Laurence.

Eric, I'm embarrassed bringing this up, but these six years,

between this condo and the child, I spent a lot of money.

How much?

70,000.

70,000?

All that I left you before my arrest?

I had expenses.

And I kept some of it to redecorate the condo, stuff like that...

Thanks.

Do you have one or two scores in sight?

But that's... No, Eric. No. I left the game, I can't risk it...

Tell me.

Now that you said it... I thought about something...

I'll be back tonight, I need to check the details.

Excuse me.

The way I see it, there's only four scores in sight.

And three of them are bad apples.

You'd have only a 50% chance of a payday.

What's the fourth one?

Well, that's the big one, money-wise.

But it seems impossible. I never saw a blueprint this complicated.

Let me see.

Here.

Yet one of my guys set it up.

The owner is one of the biggest diamond dealers in Paris.

The safe is in an armored room on the first floor of a mansion in Neuilly.

The owner wants a full checkup of the system twice a month.

The room is full of photoelectric cells.

And alarm bells.

And there's more: opening the doors triggers an alarm siren on the roof.

Touching the floor triggers an alert directly connected to the police station.

Even if you disconnect the system, you can't go through the door,

because of the cells. And there's a CCTV system.

Ouch.

Yeah. The house is full of cameras.

One of them is connected to the police station.

To pull this off, you'd need an empty house. And that's only the first step.

When the owner goes in his office,

he disconnects the system from the outside,

and he's the only one with the code.

I'm worried about the alarm siren.

Can you get me a detailed blueprint of the system?

Yeah. We have the file in the factory.

I'll bring you a copy.

Think about it hard, Eric.

You're throwing yourself into the grinder.

Don't worry about me.

- Call me as soon as you can. - Okay.

Ah, I must hurry.

I must pick up my daughter.

Your daughter?

That's new. You didn't tell me you...

No, I mean, I meant...

Your daughter.

Laurence.

Hi.

You're on track?

I am.

This used gear is still robust. More than six years old.

You tuned this condo into a workshop.

- Are you ready? - Yes.

But I will have to improvise a lot.

I hope the blueprints are precise.

Did you get the slide?

Here it is.

The siren means you must work tomorrow at noon.

The national alarm test will cover it.

And the slide shows it's tricky.

If you jam the system, you're done.

Each CCTV take a shot every three minutes

You won't have much time.

But you have some luck. The owner checked the system before he left.

Only the house personnel remains.

How old are they?

Twenty five years old.

They are lodged on the ground floor.

They are here day and night.

I have a plan.

Took me some time, but I found the flaw.

Your plan to leave the county is still possible?

I want to go quickly, with Laurence.

With Laurence?

Yes.

Whenever you want.

I have a pal who works in the press office of a big company.

He'll take you to St-Cyr-L'Ecole's airfield.

Night flight to Lisbon, without customs.

I'll cost you 10,000 francs, okay?

Of course.

Where do we meet?

Let's say tomorrow, at St-Cyr-L'Ecole.

Five p.m.

Found you a car too.

- Great. - It's downstairs, in the garage.

Cheers.

Good luck, mate.

Laurence!

Laurence!

Hello, Miss. It's a delivery.

I'm sorry, my employers are not in the house.

We only deliver once a month, Miss.

Well... Come in.

I'll need you to sign this...

Here.

...in the company Dubonnet.

A plot of complicity was discovered in the escape of Lambrecht and François Gosset.

The Chief Officer Isnard, known as White Kepi by the convicts,

was put under warrant of committal by the authorities. Sports news:...

Nice work, you're good.

Better than that. You're the best.

I didn't believe you would pull off this job.

But I'm no slouch either.

At Porte d'Orléans,

there weren't two of us,

but three.

You've always been followed.

Non-stop.

I knew your every move.

You see? We're made to work together.

No way! Get out of here!

Listen to me, Lambrecht.

Both of us together will be the best crew of Paris.

I can get you dozens of jobs like this one.

No!

- So? How did it go? - Well. Where is Laurence?

There.

Laurence!