Original subtitles

Killing is easy.

Heart is on the left

just in front of the armed hand of the killer

with the gun so well slotted in the two clasped hands.

THE GARDEN THAT TILTS

You're not going to see the parade?

You don't like that maybe. It's nice though.

Well it must be nice I guess. Especially the music.

I'd like to go but...

it's too early.

Usually they do everything too late but the parade is at 9.30 AM.

I can't go. I have some coffees to serve.

I'd like to go though.

Solange!

Solange!

I don't like celebrations.

Any kind of celebration.

I don't like the crowd, the dust. Especially on the 14th july.

With the firecrackers and fireworks.

Even as a kid I didn't like that.

I was hiding under the bench there on the place.

14th of july or not I'm closing up shop on time.

Like any other day.

I need some rest.

I'll make an exception for the music.

(Inaudible mumbling)

(Inaudible mumbling)

I can't go although I'd like to go.

It's closing time.

Hello?

Yes, it's Paul.

See you tomorrow morning at ten.

Good night.

National French anthem sung on the 14th of july.

Don't you like "valse musette"?

So curtain!

The end. It's over.

No more 14th of july.

No more fireworks.

Oh the blue one!

Oh the green one!

The final!

My general...

14th of july...

I said...

I said to her

to come under my umbrella.

It was long ago.

It was in Tours...

In Touraine...

I was born in Tours.

We were living...

in a great white house with blue shutters.

Behind...

it there was a broad garden.

Vegetables...

fruit trees...

And also...

flowers...

flowers...

everywhere.

Colchicum and narcissus...

Myosotis or forget-me-not...

Tulips...

Tulips are dumb.

But don't touch the busy Lizzie...

Do you know the busy Lizzie?

And Balsamine...

There's nothing left.

Nothing.

There's nothing happening anymore.

Karl, here is Roland.

I told you about him.

I hope we agree...

Roland is not a pro.

But I think he can be useful

in a delicate situation like the one we deal with today.

She has already met some boys like you or Roland in her past life.

I mean...

boys of your physical type.

Of course you could have worked alone but...

we must double our chances.

Here's the files we already examined together.

Photos, maps, coordinates.

Above all...

don't forget the Terminus Hotel at night.

Try to know as much as possible.

Try to make them speak.

It won't be easy.

Especially with Kate.

She's a woman who says only what she has decided to say.

Anyway...

the purpose of your mission stays the same.

Gentlemen...

use your charms.

Good luck.

It's her?

Yes, it's Kate.

Her man?

He lives with her in the house.

Where you from?

Bobigny near Paris.

Except for Bobigny and a few places in Paris I know shit.

You know Fleury.

Model prison.

Motorbike theft?

No, just a car, I'm not a killer.

To steal yes.

But not from just anyone.

Only the rich.

But I can't kill.

What do you feel when you kill?

The first time...

but after...

It's over.

I do it for my parents.

My father is a great guy.

He worked his ass off all his life for less than 1,000 bucks a month.

He has long hair on the back of his head but nothing left on the front.

What's his job?

Elevator repairman.

My mother is a wood coater. She's one of the best.

One day some rich dudes came to ask her to repair a Louis XV chest of drawers.

Louis XV chest of drawers? -A commode.

It's the same.

I do it...

to buy them a house.

For them to be happy later

when they get old. -In the end there will be a bullet for each of us.

You're too young to die.

You think so? -Of course.

Good. Very good.

How's the weather?

It's the country...

Rain or shine...

You've seen your friends? -We saw them yesterday.

Last night. -Karl...

I'll call you from the local bar.

And Michel Pointclair is coming our way.

Don't hang up.

Thank you.

Don't you mind being our 4th player? -What?

The fourth player.

You're on holidays in the area?

You're on holidays in the area? -No.

I live in the area.

By the way we're having trouble finding lodging. Hotels and camp sites are full.

We don't know where to go.

If we could find a barn. Something like that...

I have what you're looking for.

Really?

Yes.

I even have better than what you're looking for.

Not too expensive?

Well...

It will cost you nothing.

Better than a barn...

Better than a garden...You'll see.

I will come to get you around 6 or 7.

It's okay with you?

See you later.

Bye. -Bye.

It's the little house there.

It was the housekeeper's in the past

when there were housekeepers.

There's a garage below.

It's ok?

Very well.

And we live there.

You slept well?

Roland already made a friend.

My left neigboor.

Breakfast?

I really read anything.

Anything that falls into my hand. I can't help it. I like reading so much.

Ten hours in a row sometimes.

I've read many books too.

About flowers and trees.

Magnolia...

Bluebell...

Don't touch the busy Lizzie...

Periwinkle...

Acacia is a fake mimosa...

blooming in winter.

It's too bad. A flower's lifespan is so short.

Well...

you can't help it.

We must accept that flowers also fade.

You think?

Yes.

Yes we should.

Anyway everything fades.

That's it.

It's life.

Them they have...

that someting we talk about.

That something that flees very fast.

Yes.

And after?

After?

But it's now.

It's life.

Of course. -Of course!

So you're well put?

Very well.

(She translates in english what she reads in french)

You speak english?

Yes.

Yes.

And other languages.

Who plays scrabble? -Not us.

Karl, you know how to play?

We play with our eyes closed now. -Ok.

You don't cheat.

You got it?

Death.

Death...

lurks.

Death lurks on me.

Already been six days since we came here.

Sometimes time stops just like that.

When you feel well?

Probably.

That's enough for today young man.

Where do you come from Karl?

I was born in Tours.

In a big white house with blue shutters.

A broad garden...

and fruit trees everywhere.

And flowers too.

My name was not Karl...

before.

I don't like my name neither.

A typical french name. Marie-Fran�oise.

Tomorrow our friends the Garcia's are coming.

We'll go way back with Maurice.

He is...

Well, he is very joyful.

Not enough sugar.

You want some boys?

It's missing sugar.

Sugar must be added before. It's too late anyway. -It's too bad.

Where do you come from my dear?

From nowhere my dear.

You came to the right place. Kate's home is the house of god.

Don't want to hurt you but she can't let anyone in here.

I'm not saying that to you guys.

I'm not right Kate? She's so beautiful!

How old are you? -What'd you say? Speak clearer!

Don't be rude Maurice.

Come on Nanon, be nice and let me breath a little.

What's that intellectual terrorism you're practicing on me?

I don't know what's with him today but he's unleashed.

You left Algeria since a long time?

Like everyone else.

After the "events".

You were a racist?

Racist...

Don't make me laugh. Why can't people be racist? There's anti-racists people after all.

You know...

What happened there is the clash between two groups lack of understanding.

There was no problem in my family with the arabs.

We were spoke with them. My father, my mother...

They spoke arab with everyone.

With the servants, the maids. There was no problem.

The problem came from the indigenous overcrowding.

The more we killed them the more they reproduced.

Like animals. We said "Enough with the arabs".

Now contraceptives for everyone.

If we had put some in the water, in the couscous...

I'm sorry but Algeria would still be french.

Enough with that.

It's an old story now.

So you're globe-trotting?

Not really.

Kinda hippie.

Well anyway, have fun while you're young. After that with the wife, the kids...

the fun's over.

I'm not right Nanou? -You could have fell on worse than me.

I was a boy-scout as a kid.

It's the same shit.

You walk in the woods,

you make camp fires, you sit on the ground, you sing bawdy songs.

On sundays we were selling stamps to the sick and kept the change.

It's the same philosophy.

You're students?

I am but Roland is a roofer.

Roofer?

It's not a bad job.

We're just poorly paid. That's all.

You must not get dizzy too!

Dizziness's not really the problem.

Well, poorly paid...

It's normal.

You're young.

There are drawbacks.

It comforts us, the oldsters.

You know... Kate is an old friend.

It's been...

It's been twenty years.

How old are you?

How old do I look like?

38.

You see the beast.

Kate...

When I met her she was so sweet.

All blonde, all round.

We spent some good times together.

Very interesting.

I was close to falling in love.

But then Nanon came...

There's always a Nanon.

When I met her she was only fifteen.

Kate is the kind of woman you mustn't fall in love with.

I met her in Morocco.

She was working there.

Well...

She was working.

Yes, she was "working".

Don't move. Stay sitted.

It's time to go swimming at the Garcia's.

How did you find him? -Great.

He's funny, no? -Very funny.

He's great.

We talked about you. -About me?

And his wife.

Necessarily.

Is it possible to love the same person all your life?

Some people surely do but I don't believe it.

I'm the proof.

I think that when you love someone it's forever.

But like the song says life separates those who love.

You can always find again the person you loved once.

If you want it and if fate helps you.

It's curious but I always made love with the same people.

You meet them, you lose them.

And one day you meet them again.

You go home together.

And you make the same moves.

It's very odd.

It's like when you come to a place

where you feel you've already been before.

Once I thought that I loved.

Not a strong love.

She was a young girl.

Her name was Jeanne.

But it came at a time in my life when I was travelling a lot.

In the summer I went to Tunisia...

and she died during my leave.

I never forgot her.

She had a child's face.

With very severe eyes.

And suddenly a great smile that washed the rest.

A little like you.

Come on.

Let's go swimming.

You don't want to?

See you later.

Why are you always so closed in on yourself?

I'm not closed in on myself.

I tell you that you are. -No, I'm not.

You are.

I watched you closely. You stay apart, you don't say nothing.

Life's beautiful, isn't it?

Life is a load of shit and nothing else.

Life is life. I think you're wrong.

Listen.

Take the water, well water is not a good example...

Take this chair instead.

Three months ago it was a tree.

And the stone

Your own feet can undermine it.

What are you saying? I don't understand anything you say.

You want to change the world?

Guy and Roland want to change the world.

We try, we only try.

What's your father's job?

My father is an engineer.

But it's not the issue. We're completely different my father and I.

I know a lot of guys like you.

I don't understand rich people's interest in poor people's lives.

Rich people's interest in poor people's lives? -You heard me well.

You think poor people should fend for themselves.

I think you're wrong.

It's just a political speech.

Maybe. -I'm not interested.

We'll talk again.

Maurice didn't change a bit.

No he didn't.

It's wonderful living with a guy like him but it's not always easy.

I think it's not easy living with the man you love.

The man you choose.

Since I really choose Maurice.

I wanted to marry him.

First time I saw him I was fifteen.

20 years ago.

Already.

Lot of joy during these 20 years.

Some grief too.

The first night he didn't come home.

I saw he was lying.

And I wasn't strong enough to tell him that I saw through his lies.

His childish look when being caught with his hand in the bag.

There's a song that says...

Dead romances

have worn this heart that used to beat so strong.

To finish the life that was given to us we must give it back.

I wish that life never stops.

You want to fight?

I was in a gang in Bobigny. Our name was Angels with clenched fists.

Weather turned ugly again.

You're both my guests tonight in town. Alright?

Gala dress required.

T-shirts aren't allowed.

You stole Maurice's hat? -Enough kidding. You called Paul?

Paul, Paul, Paul... I don't care about him.

Gala dress required.

You didn't decide yet? -Gala dress required. That's all.

No?

Why they want to kill her? -I don't know.

Always the same story.

Traffic, stolen papers...

Rocks that have to be delivered, some of them get stolen...Blackmail...

Things for which we must kill.

She's nice though.

No?

It's a nice place, huh?

I always sit at the same place.

(Inaudible)

I've come here for the last 10 years. Three times a week.

You end up knowing everyone.

The friday regulars.

The saturday hecklers and the families on sunday.

That's it.

There, it's Mr and Mrs Deletre.

He owns the pharmacy on Victor Hugo place. He's a pharmacist, not rugbyman.

She always speaks with her mouth full and he listens.

Under his tree.

In front of us there is Mr and Mrs Lemercier.

He doesn't look much

but he owns the supermarket on the main street.

They never talk.

Good night Mrs.

Good night Mr.

They're big on desserts.

Pies, Chocolate mousse...

Flan..

That's it.

Flan is best to describe them.

He's a member of the town council. He's a responsible man.

The old lady in black.

People talk a lot about her but I think it's true.

She lost her husband during the first world war.

And she's been inconsolable since then.

She lives in the memory of this young man who died 60 years ago.

She always has this distant air

befitting the great broken loves.

The lonely little man is the Credit Lyonnais cashier.

He's never happy.

Fries are too cooked, meat is too thick, wine is corked...He's the typical grumpy man.

But with a child's heart.

I could go on like this forever. I know them all or almost.

You're bored?

St�phane.

I like the morning.

You like what is beautiful but lasts so little.

The bluebell and don't touch the busy Lizzie...

You also like fresh flesh.

Too bad, a flower doesn't last long.

You don't have much illusions left.

And if by chance I never had any?

I think that...

you and I are alike.

Maybe.

Marie-Fran�oise!

As David Copperfield said...

I was born in Paris

in a neighborood that I hate.

Everyone thinks it's wonderful, tourists pass all year long.

It has a very nice name.

Montmartre.

Marie-Fran�oise!

My parents owned a restaurant.

A restaurant is a nice place before the customers arrive.

All is white.

The tableclothes that my mother put on the tables.

Napkins rolled in the glasses as white flowers.

Very wise plates with nice shining silverware on each side.

I make bunchs of flowers. All the same.

I put them on each table inside long vases.

What I liked most

was the paper lace that we put under the cakes

and on the bottom of the bread baskets.

Frail paper lace...

Then the clients arrived.

And they ate and they ate...

It's crazy how many people I saw eating. It's not a great show.

And when they went stayed..

the left-overs,

the napkins in a mess, the stained tablecloths,

the silverware...

scattered.

If you know where to look you can see in a restaurant

a nice sample of human kind.

The restaurant was on a street corner.

A street corner is also a miniature of the world.

I think that it's from the window of my room that I started to learn.

Women were standing still. Sometimes men got near them

and looked at them like objects in the window.

I was growing up.

I felt the glance of men on me.

I learned to live in the street.

With the pimps.

That's when I choose.

I understood that you had to defend yourself, you had to accept to be cruel.

I had all I wanted and I wanted the best.

The palaces, the cars, the clothes, the diamonds...

I had some fun.

I had some nice travels.

And you Karl?

Me?

You want to keep your secrets.

Well...

you will tell them another day.

As Charles Dickens would say, I'm twenty-five...

The nice soft bodies you're speaking of, I never touched them.

Really?

I look at them.

You never touched anyone?

I didn't know many women.

Me neither.

Karl.

What's this house?

An unhabited house.

An abandoned castle. There are lots of them in this area.

Who owns it? -An ambassador's family.

It belonged to an ambassador's family.

They were ambassadors from father to son.

Now there's only a distant heir who comes once or twice every year.

You know him? -No I don't know him.

I only know the housekeepers.

I've been told that almost all the ambassador's family has died

during the two world wars.

People say they gave extraordinary parties and balls.

One night in this park there was five hundred people

drinking, eating and dancing until dawn.

"A mighty volcano will explode one morning and burn all

from the fields grass to the giant trees.

There will be nothing left of what is rotten and corrupt.

Me I'm quiet and joyful. I will laugh and sing."

It's a chinese poem.

You find it sad? -No.

You understand it?

What's your opinion?

It's not stupid what you said.

Yes...

You move all the time. You must not.

You must abandon yourself to the sun.

It's like pleasure, you see...

You must abandon yourself.

Karl...

Karl...

Yes...

Yes...

My love...

Karl...

You see...

You see...

You live here all year long?

Yes.

All year long.

Alone?

Not always.

You never get bored?

I haven't time.

There's someone in my life.

It's always the same song.

There're cities...

with people walking and cars passing in all directions.

There are great nice houses and dirty and grey houses beside them.

And around the cities

there's the smoke from the factories.

And the roads and the highways...

And if you take the train

you see the houses passing.

You cross path with pieces of life.

Oldsters at the windows

and children dreaming.

My head is full of pictures.

That's why you never get bored.

Agile : supple and lightweight.

To accept : to agree.

Show me.

It's yours? -No I found it over there.

Bait : what's used to attract fish.

Equipment : gear.

When is Sophie coming? -We're going to get her tonight.

Who is Sophie?

Sophie?

She's Kate's...

goddaughter.

She's from Rouen.

At the appointed hour : Just in time.

She's my daughter.

No, she's my sister.

Well, she's rather my mother.

Most of the time.

I think you will like her.

Anyway Sophie is the most beautiful thing in my life.

So, so, so, so? -So a song!

It's beautiful. I don't know what is is but it's really beautiful.

I dreamed again.

Come and sit with us.

Here it's Karl and there it's Roland. I told you about them.

It's strange.

As soon as I'm here I dream.

Almost every night.

I don't remember everything.

It was raining

but it was not winter.

More like a summer storm.

It rained that night. Maybe that's what you heard.

Maybe.

At some point we were naked.

I'm not sure about you but me I was naked.

Then the car ran into the void.

And I remember very well that in my dream

I was holding your hand.

I told myself...

At last I will know the feeling

that we have imagined so many times.

I'm going to feel in my body

what it feels like to fall into the void.

Crashing.

I'm going to see what there is

on the other side.

Then the car fell into the void.

You held my hand.

And I felt nothing.

Nothing at all.

Then I woke up. I was a little disappointed.

You will never know what happens when your heart stops beating.

That's all.

When her heart stops beating

nothing will happen.

You know a lot of things Mr.

Mr?

Mr Karl. -I never dream.

Everybody dreams.

Everywhere.

Only some people don't want to remember their dreams.

That's all.

When I was a child I made a dream.

Always the same.

I was riding a bicycle in a garden...

and at the end...

the garden tilted.

I tried to climb up on the other side.

And the garden tilted again.

It's when I woke up.

I'm starting to seriously worry.

No news.

Not a single phone call.

I don't know Roland very well

but Karl...

Karl is a serious boy.

Maybe we shall think about giving them a little visit.

Let's make a little visit to the dear boys.

I don't like Karl very much.

I think Kate likes him very much.

Yes I think so.

It frightens me.

You must not.

Roland, Karl...

They're here.

They only pass...

And then they'll go.

I like Michel vey much. And Michel likes Kate very much.

I'm sad...

and I don't really know why.

You must not.

You know Karl...

We'll the need the housekeper's house soon.

You will come to see me.

We will go to see Maria and drink Champagne.

We will come home.

It will be fine this way.

But Kate, I love you...

I know, I know...

Bitch!

Liar!

And you?

Your nice words of love...

Karl...

Oh Karl...

Moviegoers ramblings....

What are we doing?

Where are we going?

We're going to have a Martini on the rocks.

I'm hungry.

Meet me at the hotel.

Where we slept the first days.

Karl.

Come on, wake up. You slept for 20 hours.

Hello? I want the 1836.

Kate?

It's three in the morning. I'm sleeping.

You're not hungry?

And Paul?

Paul, Paul...

What's happening with Paul?

Nothing's happening with Paul.

Yes.

Hello Karl.

No, Kate is not here. She is with friends.

I don't know.

Good bye Karl.

And your buddy?

We don't see him around.

He's busy.

You were sacked from there.

No. We just left.

I don't think so.

Me too, I could have gone there. At her home.

If I wanted to.

The 1836.

Yes.

No, Kate is not here. She left for a few days.

I swear it's the truth Karl.

Of course not.

I don't need it. Who told you I needed the housekeeper's house?

You know that I love you.

I was with Kate in her big bed.

She told me "I love you Karl".

You're dreaming. I don't need the housekeeper's house.

Indeed, I was dreaming.

I'd like to be in her room.

With Kate.

The big bed.

Our laughs.

She is...

incomprehensible.

She told me one day.

I'm nobody's daughter.

I will never be the mother of anyone.

I'm alone.

I've always lived alone, I'll die alone.

She hasn't the courage to love.

More precisely she hasn't the courage to love anymore.

She's old.

One day you will forgive her.

She will be like a moment

that comes back in mind.

Karl.

Karl.

You're lying.

I tell you she's not here.

It's not true. -Yes it is.

As long as she doesn't answer I will continue.

What's the use?

I must speak to her. She owes me explanations.

Listen. Call her tomorrow. I'll talk to her and I think she'll answer your call.

What are you doing here? -Why I'm here is to find you. Paul sent me.

What's happening with you?

When did you get here? -I just arrived.

I was sure to fall on you driving through the city.

Paul sends me. He's furious. What's happening with you?

Nothing happened. We were trapped. That's all.

You could have called. -I couldn't.

What are you doing now?

Nothing. We'll wait.

Ok. I'm calling Paul. -Alright.

Nicolas...

Look the boat.

You really don't want to talk to him?

It's no use.

The nerve of this little Karl!

I know what he wants.

But I don't want what he wants.

He wants to stay here with me.

He wants to stay here looking at me.

Because...

Just because.

But I don't want.

Nobody.

I want to stay alone. That's all.

I want to be left alone.

I don't want to be judged.

Time is a river that carries all.

Even our sweetest memories.

The bodies that our arms entwine.

Time relaxes you.

Time is a child.

You must leave her alone Karl.

She wants them all, all!

I'm going to tell you something.

"It makes me feel good when someone gives me a cool hand.

But if he takes my arm it's painful to me

and inconceivable". -I don't understand anything you say.

You understand very well.

It's Kate's sentence. -She wants everyone.

Why?

I can't answer questions. I never knew.

Come on Karl.

Where's the crime? -Oh no...

You must not judge her.

When she loves she really loves.

Three weeks.

Our big love lasted three weeks.

You have loved her?

You still love her.

I want to see her again.

It would be useless.

You'll see...

I'll forget her, that's it?

I won't forget Kate.

Never.

Anyway I will never do anything against her will.

Sun never shines in Bobigny. Everything's grey.

The sun...

Who cares about the sun?

You're not calling Paul?

Time is a river that carries all.

Even our sweetest memories.

The bodies that our arms entwine.

Time relaxes us.

We told ourselves nice stories. -Sweet lies.

Lies?

You never went to Tours then?

No, never.

I was born in Paris as you.

Near this neighborood you hate so much. 75 Boulevard de la Chapelle.

Where the houses are grey.

Where the air metro passes and passes again.

And your dream of a garden that tilts, it's true?

Tell me your name.

Pierre.