IN THE SHADOW OF WOMEN
Pierre?
Ma'am!
You must maintain certain standards. It's in the contract.
You can't just walk in.
Look at that.
You think this is a campsite?
I have rights.
The stove there is illegal. It'll set the place on fire.
It's dangerous.
You're trespassing. I'll call the police.
Nobody ever taught you that? Basic cleanliness?
Who raised you, ma'am?
I'll kick you out, and no messing.
Pay the rent in 48 hours or I'll see you in court.
Like living in a caravan.
Creep!
Don't cry.
Pierre made documentaries and his wife Manon worked with him,
as script supervisor and editor.
Manon lived in her husband's shadow, pushing him into the spotlight.
Back in the day, Pierre pasted up flyers to find work
and Manon was a school lunch lady.
I was 18 when the war broke out.
I'd got a friend involved.
His mother blamed me when we got arrested.
We'd go down in the cellars.
We started by chalking Free French symbols
and V's for victory on walls outside.
We thought,
let's expand this and form a Resistance group,
which we did with a dozen young friends.
We wrote out leaflets by hand.
Complete amateurism.
I recall...
It didn't last long.
We were denounced
and arrested.
But the police found nothing at my place so...
Help yourselves, children.
We weren't long in custody, me and my friend Jacques.
And then
in '42,
I joined the Resistance for real.
I made them myself.
In a group
aligned with the communists, but I had no idea.
Aniseed!
I was told to be outside Magasins du Louvre.
For maybe two and a half hours,
I endured questioning
that was really tough, very tough.
After a couple more meetings,
they said to me,
There you go.
You're in, you're one of us.
Spirit of the Resistance
It's tricky talking about it now.
I have two sons,
who have no idea I was active in the Resistance.
You never told them?
There is
a lot of reserve
among former Resistance fighters.
Whenever we meet, we never talk about the Occupation.
What?
Do you know why
Pierre's making a film about the Resistance?
Can I tell him?
Yes.
His father landed in Provence with the Americans.
Really?
But I know nothing. He died recently.
You did some research?
You didn't find anything?
Sure.
Sadly.
He killed two guys. Two Nazis.
He told me before he died.
Somebody had to do it.
Yes.
It'll work out, mom. For sure.
If you hadn't dropped out of Oriental Studies,
interpreting would've been a safety net.
I didn't want to be an interpreter.
Working part-time, I make enough money
to devote the rest of my time to Pierre's films.
We have to be patient.
It'll be worth it in the end.
You think?
I'm sure of it.
When you met Pierre, you had a path laid out.
You veered off it, and that's a shame.
How can you say that?
You were always in love.
I was always in love, sure.
Look who with!
No man is worth sacrificing your life for him.
It's no sacrifice, it's a choice.
It is?
Sure.
Working with the man you love, what could be better?
Sharing projects together.
That's our love.
- You're sure he has talent? - Positive.
Let's hope he proves it one day.
Soon enough.
Seriously.
He does nothing special.
Asking people questions,
filming their answers,
anybody can do it.
Don't go thinking that.
He's good at...
listening.
Really?
And...
Asking the right questions.
And sometimes he waits.
He says nothing.
The interviewee can't stand the silence,
so he reveals stuff without being asked.
See? Not just anybody can do that.
I'm telling you, one day, we'll make it.
His talent will be recognized.
Yes, but...
When?
I have to get back.
Hold that, will you?
Up a bit.
There.
There we go.
How do I look?
Okay?
Gorgeous, mom.
See you, sweetheart.
See you soon.
Unbelievable.
Need a hand?
Thanks.
Just to the parking lot.
There are more.
You work here?
I'm an intern in Archives.
I'll know where to find you.
All these, right here.
21.
What's your name?
Elisabeth.
I'm Pierre.
Hurry up, we'll be late.
I'm staying here.
Staying here? You're kidding me?
We said we'd go together.
I don't feel like it.
I'm sick of going out alone.
Come on.
What'll I do there on my own?
I won't come, I don't feel like it.
Think positive.
Alone, you'll get Sylvain to buy you dinner.
Or someone else.
Believe me, I hate you!
Her bedroom's directly below.
She'll hear us both walking.
What?
The floorboards.
So what do we do?
I go first.
And you follow me.
Shoes off first.
Come on.
Quietly.
It's like being 14 again.
I know.
I should tell you...
What?
I'm married.
I thought as much.
So you have four sisters?
No.
Real sisters, three of them.
And one brother.
And two sisters added on.
That makes five sisters.
And one brother.
Younger than you?
No.
I'm third oldest.
We're all pretty different.
And the younger ones? Still at school?
I'm the only one to get a degree so far.
The only one to do what my dad wanted,
after they climbed the social ladder.
My parents
come from a working-class background.
They turned yuppie.
My father, at least.
His big dream
was for his children to belong...
Or at least receive an elitist education.
The others dropped out of college.
He never gave a damn about me, but I finished.
What did you do?
After graduating high school,
I went to college, studying History.
Now I'm at grad school.
Which is worse for you?
Pissing where you shower
or showering where you piss?
Showering where you piss.
Thank you.
That's so sweet.
You never liked flowers, now you do.
Because flowers say a woman is being cheated on.
After seeing his mistress, hubby brings home flowers.
Before, if you arrived holding flowers,
I thought we had problems.
Now, I trust you.
Girls are suspicious of guys who bring flowers.
It's a cheater's classic.
It is?
You didn't know?
I wasn't aware of the Jewish issue during the Occupation.
We didn't know.
Personally, I didn't know any Jews.
We never knew.
We found out later.
After the Liberation, about the camps.
As for me,
seeing as I'd been arrested,
I was in La Santé Prison.
I knew nothing about the Vél d'Hiv roundup of Jews.
It's my toughest shoot ever.
During the Liberation, Paris was deserted.
People kept their heads down indoors.
It was just us in the streets.
I'll always remember...
A form hunched in a dark doorway,
as we went around Porte Saint-Martin.
Hirsute.
A bedraggled salt and pepper beard.
Tiny eyes.
Unseeing. Unspeaking.
With teeth...
An illusion of my fevered brain?
A big fat baby who'd died
and come back from hell?
No.
It was a man.
It was a man, for god's sake.
A specimen
of the "master race."
What's so funny?
I don't know.
You guys are just amazing.
Live together, work together, do everything together.
How come you don't fight all the time?
We fight.
You do?
Here.
No, that's not mine.
Right, sorry.
I've never heard Pierre shout, or even raise his voice.
I never do.
I shout for both of us.
Got that.
Coming up?
No.
Why not?
I have stuff to do.
Stuff to do?
Such as?
Stuff to do, that's all.
- Next time. - Okay.
- Have fun. - You too.
See you, Pierre.
See you.
What shall I make for dinner?
It's up to you.
How long since we got out of Paris?
A long time.
Lisa offered us her folks' house in Brittany.
Nobody's going in July.
How about that?
It has bikes and it's near the beach.
It'd do us good.
What do you say?
I'll go get some salad.
Do you want anything?
No, I'm good.
Pierre saw Elisabeth only for pleasure.
Always at her place.
He took her and left.
But he couldn't keep away, always coming back to her.
He loved her body.
When he thought of Manon,
devoting her time to him and her mother,
he was scared he'd lose her.
But he couldn't resist Elisabeth.
He justified it
with typical male equivocation, thinking,
that's the way it is, because I'm a man.
Don't blame me for being a man.
- How are you? - Fine.
No, leave it. It doesn't bother me.
It bothers me.
That way, you have space
to spread out and work in comfort.
I am so late.
As usual.
You look in good shape.
Hardly. My ex is on my case again.
- You okay, Pierre? - Fine.
Rations.
There we go.
Don't forget, keys in the box when you leave.
You didn't give me your keys.
I didn't?
True.
- Here. - Thanks.
Have a good night. Work hard.
Call if you need me.
So where were you?
It's been three days.
We don't call.
We don't meet.
It's kind of hard.
You knew. I was straight with you.
From the start. I'm married, with things to do.
You want to end it?
I didn't say that.
You'll meet a younger guy
who'll be free to love only you.
And we'll be through.
Why do you say that?
That's life.
Stop.
Why say things like that?
Will you stop it?
I want you.
I love you.
One day, Elisabeth found out Manon also had a lover.
A E25 Treasury stamp
for an ID card, please.
Manon's betrayal of Pierre hurt her.
Inexplicably, she felt sullied.
In her love for Pierre.
She decided to keep the secret. For now.
I'd love to see your film.
You will.
Sure, on DVD.
Why don't you ask me to come tonight?
You know why.
You think I'd make a scene.
You're scared I'll go see your wife?
What would I tell her?
Hello...
I've heard so much about you.
All of it good.
I'm delighted to meet you. You know why?
It's six months now that your husband can't resist me.
You're scared I'll say that?
If you do, you force me to choose.
Who would you choose?
Call you tomorrow.
It's a public screening.
Where the hell were you? I've been waiting hours.
I was helping a friend of mom's with her computer.
I was waiting for you, to start work.
Shit!
Sorry.
Your hair looks funny.
What?
What did you say?
That was Manon's first lie.
It was so hot at mom's friend's and I...
I was sweating.
Fédir...
I have entered unknown territory.
Lost my bearings.
I don't know where to go.
I'm scared sometimes.
You make my head spin.
And then I'm scared.
Seeing Manon with her lover again,
Elisabeth sign and decided to tell Pierre.
Your wife tells you she loves you?
Less now, but it goes without saying.
You're happy together?
Yes.
You trust her?
Of course. Why do you ask?
No reason.
What would you do if...
If she cheated on you?
What are you trying to find out?
Nothing.
You want to know if I'd leave her?
Would you?
It's unimaginable. Manon's not like that.
I saw her with a man.
Twice now.
What are you talking about?
I swore myself to silence but...
Tell me.
It was ten days ago or so.
I got off the Métro at Grands Boulevards
I went into a café and there they were.
He was holding her hand.
Then...
Yesterday...
Yes, yesterday...
They were at the same café.
A table outside.
And they were kissing.
You know what? It's funny.
I thought it must be...
Maybe not a coincidence, me running into them again.
And maybe not for no reason.
I swear on my life.
How'd you know it was her?
I recognized her.
You're sure it was her?
I'm sure.
How come? You know her?
No, but I...
I needed to know.
I needed to see where you lived, what she looked like...
I visited your street a few times.
One evening,
watching windows with lights on
to catch a glimpse of you, I saw you both come out.
It hurt, seeing you two together.
I thought she was quite pretty.
How long have you been spying on us?
Since day one.
Drink?
No.
Want to go right away?
Yes.
Excuse me!
Let's go.
It feels funny.
What?
Being here, with another man.
What about you?
I'm often alone.
Pierre couldn't believe Elisabeth's revelation.
He assumed there was a logical explanation.
He couldn't be cheated on.
Even so, that evening...
I feel like another woman's here.
Not you. You're a stranger.
No, Pierre, it's me.
It's really me.
Like everyone, I'm not perfect.
Except I thought you were different.
You're not going to call me a whore?
No.
It wasn't to get at you.
I never wanted to hurt you.
What was it for? Pleasure?
He's a good man.
You're kidding me?
He made me feel good.
He looks at me.
It felt like he loved me.
But it's you I want.
It's your love I want to feel.
No one can love you like me.
Why don't you give me your love? Why don't I feel it?
If it exists, Where are you hiding it?
You watch me crying and suffering, and you sit here...
Indifferent.
You're leaving me for him?
No.
Don't you understand what I say?
He was just...
Just moments.
After, I rushed back to you, to be sure you were there for me.
To check you hadn't left.
- You want us both? - No, I want you!
I told you he was just...
He was just...
What if I...
I wanted to feel alive!
If I ask you to break it off?
I have broken it off.
Okay?
- Want a coffee? - No.
I'm leaving you.
Pierre knows everything.
Never try to contact me again.
It's over.
Manon left her lover immediately.
Only now, whenever she went out,
Pierre couldn't help seeing her differently.
He couldn't forgive her. It was beyond him.
Even though he kept seeing Elisabeth,
it was no help. He was mean to them both.
What's the game?
No game.
I'm looking for my necklace.
Have you seen it?
Let's go for a walk. It's too nice to be stuck here.
Look, there it is.
Isn't it nice here?
Look.
Come on...
Stop it.
Kiss me.
Stop!
I feel cooped up here.
You don't want me.
It's all you think about, sucking the life out of me.
You're obsessed. There's more to life.
Why d'you say that? You're horrible.
I apologize.
I'm an idiot. I didn't mean it.
Seriously, I'm sorry.
Leave me alone.
Don't be silly, it's over.
Yes, it's over.
Elisabeth was at a loss.
Pierre had become thoughtless and hurtful.
As if he despised her now.
She wondered,
is it my fault?
Is it because of me and what I told him about Manon?
She cheats on him and I suffer.
Come here.
Did you fuck him like that?
Answer.
Did you fuck him like that?
You're hurting me.
Pierre sometimes saw in Manon a disgusting, alien animal.
He couldn't help it.
He couldn't stop terrorizing Manon, who blamed herself.
She endured the torment at first,
thinking it would blow over.
He thought only men could be unfaithful.
That for women, it was worse, taboo, dangerous.
He sensed it was a simplistic notion, or plain wrong.
A typically male notion,
but he couldn't stop it coming back.
It became an obsession.
There's no comparison between you and him.
Their relationship couldn't rediscover peace and tranquility.
Something came between them and they couldn't say what.
It felt so banal they couldn't put a name on it.
It wasn't jealousy or anger.
- Where'd you go? - Oriental Studies.
What use is that to you?
I enjoy it.
A new perfume?
No, not at all.
What's that look mean?
I'm discovering you.
Discovering what?
How you talk, how you behave with men.
How you smile at them, how you say see you soon.
I was always that way.
But I didn't see it.
Yes, it happened to me once.
I was very jealous of my ex-boyfriend.
One time, I even smashed up his apartment.
We were engaged but not living together.
I spent a whole night outside his door.
I fell asleep and at five in the morning,
no sign of Daniel.
So I...
So I get it into my head to find a public phone
and ask a friend to call his place.
I rush back up to the third floor
and when I get to his door,
I hear the telephone ringing inside.
Then him picking up.
I was...
I was devastated.
I hammered on the door.
My screaming woke the whole building.
I thought he was with a girl, that's why.
Obviously. He wouldn't answer the door.
After a while, the blockhead comes over,
he opens up and...
Isn't that Pierre?
What's he doing there?
I'll be right back.
I still smashed the place up.
Are you following me?
I wanted to surprise you.
Sure.
You broke up?
I told you. You asked me to, so I broke up.
You regret it?
No, I don't.
But if you keep this up, I will.
I can't take any more.
You follow me, you read my texts.
I'm sick of it.
You cheated on me.
What about you?
Me?
You're cheating.
Me?
Don't try to deny it.
Who told you that?
You told me.
Me?
By the way you...
spoke to me.
And lay next to me.
And looked at me.
You snooped on me?
What for? I'm not like you.
It hurts enough as it is.
You should've told me you knew.
What would that change? You'd have left her?
Perhaps.
I didn't say perhaps.
You asked and I never saw him again.
Was it hard?
You're making this hard.
Shame you left him then.
How can you be so dishonest?
I was honest. I told you as soon as I knew.
You?
You were honest?
So now we're quits.
I don't know what happened to us.
I can't stand our life anymore.
I can't stand you anymore.
If you can't stand me, leave.
Get out!
Get the hell out!
The sooner, the better.
If you want out, go now.
Without him wanting to
or her wanting to,
they split up.
Time seems so slow without you.
It's amazing how slow it is.
How much I want my wife.
How much I want to hold you.
I'm right behind you, both of you.
Totally behind you.
I'm sorry but...
I have to get back to work now.
You won't do anything silly?
No, I'm fine. I'm going to work.
Without her, now she won't even hear of it.
I have other projects.
That's good.
I'm sorry.
Really sorry.
I liked you, in spite of everything.
One year later,
the old Resistance fighter died.
Pierre and Manon met at Henri's funeral.
You came?
Yes, I came.
I broke up.
I know.
Who told you?
Who cares! Everybody knows.
You're single?
Yes.
Sorry.
It's just, all that for what?
For us both to end up single. It's dumb.
I think so.
It's like that old bullshitter.
Who?
Henri.
He was a fraud. Didn't you know?
Know what?
His life, those medals, it was all fake.
In fact, he betrayed all his friends and they got shot.
And he acted the hero his whole life.
He was a bastard.
A real bastard.
My film's worthless now.
Don't say that.
We could start over.
We could make it a film about a fake Resistance fighter.
You working with me?
You're the love of my life, you know.
Come on, let's go.
I have two other projects.
The first one needs making fast. It's all energy, not thought.
The second, on the other hand,
will take me some time to write.
You seem in good shape.
Sure.
And you?
I'm good.
I mean...
I won't act the woman who's...
independent and loving it.
Solitude never had any appeal for me, but...
I'm fine.
I'm still standing.
I'm sad, a bit sad.
Always sad.
But I'm fine,
I'm still standing.
Shame you didn't stay with me.
You told me to leave.
You left.
- It was the only way. - Perhaps.
You and your perhaps.
Sorry.
I'm helpless without you.
- So why play games? - Because I'm stupid.
I can't imagine life without you.
Take me in your arms.
Don't cry.
Sorry, my love.
I bit you.
Subtitles: Simon John
Subtitling: L.V.T. - Paris