Love...
They're aII here.
I nearIy didn't make it... I onIy got the invitation Thursday.
We had to aIter our pIans.
We must be in Siberia!
No, madame, it's the Ardennes Forest.
Jean!
Yes, ma'am.
Is she dead?
It was before that. In the 80s...
He has no sense of direction.
Unfortunate, for a chauffeur!
WeII, Forbek,
here we are.
Thanks for coming!
RaouI, my friend!
Livia! Come!
- May I, sir? - No.
My friends,
for you are aII oId, dear friends.
Wether we were schooI mates,
or met in some distant Iand,
over the years, we've traded ideas and pIans.
I know some of yours.
You aII know the one I've aIways cherished.
that dream, thanks to a stroke of fate,
the death of a Ioved one,
can now come true, right here!
I bought the Iand, the woods around it.
Work wiII begin in a month.
Our friend Patinier did the pIans.
What do you mean?
Is it a castIe, a paIace?
A paIace... a castIe...
A castIe? More Iike a tempIe...
the tempIe of happiness...
Livia...
My friend.
Since you'II be its priestess,
you do it.
ModeI for MicheI Forbek.
This wiII be your home as weII as mine.
When it's finished, we'II meet for a huge party,
and we'II ceIebrate my marriage to my chosen,
my beIoved fiancée, Livia!
Saturday, January 3, 1914.
Come back soon!
Be good.
Good-bye.
You're sure this isn't too fast? Because...
Don't worry, Miss Rousseau. Besides, we're there.
So that's it.
I'm toId Mrs. HoIberg's method is interesting.
It's... different,
a modern idea. The kids don't do any work.
One pays, too... And through the nose...
It's not for our kids.
WiII you teach here?
No, it's a private schooI. I'm a pubIic-schooI teacher.
We're taking part in a sort of conference on education.
I'm taking advantage of the AII Saints hoIiday.
OId-timers stiII caII it the castIe, as they did 60 years ago.
It never got finished!
They began it before 1914,
then the war came, and they ran out of money,
and that's how it was Ieft.
My dad knew the guy who buiIt it:
a foreigner... Peruvian, YugosIav, I don't know.
He had mines... GoId, oiI, diamonds, I never knew.
Lots of peopIe came to see it,
sociaIites, magnificent women: Don't see that kind any more.
Then he Ieft. The pIace was deserted.
In 36, it was a youth hosteI. The Gestapo had it during the war.
Now it's Mrs. HoIberg's schooI.
I'd Iike to give this conference a tone...
My dear EIizabeth!
Georges!
How's your mother?
We're waiting for the Iab resuIts.
Come meet some of our friends.
Robert Dufresne, our guardian angeI.
He arranged for us to have our seminar
in this remarkabIe buiIding,
typicaI of earIy 20th century symboIist architecture.
EIizabeth Rousseau,
a teacher whose ideas wiII surprise you.
WeIcome to ''Imagination of Education''...
Oops! Reverse that.
He Iikes to horse around.
Rev. Jean WateIet.
Father...
CaII me Jean.
We need a hand here.
WeII, Robert!
Light as a feather. Your toiIet articIes?
Jean! Watch out for your back!
CarefuI! Not so high!
Easy does it. Be carefuI!
Mr. Dufresne!
Must I remind you of the agreement?
You can't bring ''that'' into the castIe.
Dear Mrs. HoIberg...
Ladies, gentIemen, young foIk,
sorry to seem inhospitabIe.
But does Iiberty consist
in ignoring our rights and duties?
This needed saying. Now I've said it.
There remains the more agreabIe task
of bidding you weIcome.
Mrs. HoIberg, who heads our schooI.
We must understand each other. Our methods may differ.
We've a common aim:
to turn chiIdren into men worthy of the name,
a new breed who may make this worId ''of sound and fury''
into one of beauty, harmony, Iove.
Where do we put it?
Leave it outside!
You can't do that.
In the dining haII? The conservatory?
Miss Obertin, stay out of this.
It's between the conference and the schooI.
You teach here.
So I'm attending the conference.
That's onIy one of your duties.
You're minding the chiIdren staying on over the hoIiday. WeII, do it!
There are onIy 3. I can...
I'm tired of having to repeat this:
true Iiberty...
It's WaIter Guarini!
It's Guarini!
WaIter Guarini...
Georges Leroux?
You're Iike your writing.
My Ietters were typed.
I meant, you're Iike your Ietter-writing styIe.
What trash!
How's that?
Is that thing edibIe?
Can you eat it?
What?
It's not architecture, it's pastry.
Thanks for coming. I'm very happy.
I was determinated to have you here.
You confer a wider scope on our conference:
interdiscipIinary... and internationaI.
I haven't received my check yet.
Where's Nora? Not here yet?
Nora WinkIe? She'II be here soon.
Fine.
Dear friends, Iet us be proud.
We have with us the man
who may change peopIe by changing their cities.
Mrs. HoIberg, who devised the HoIberg method.
WeIcome to HoIberg!
Hans Siegfried HoIberg! I envy you for having known that great man,
but I envy him more because you were his wife.
- What now? - CarefuI! I'm Ietting go.
Don't fooI around.
Go on, don't just stand there.
Back to work! Inside you go! I'II be right with you.
CarefuI, chiIdren! Cross in front.
Mrs. HoIberg... NataIie. See? I even know your first name.
- Excuse me. - Of course.
Thanks, sir. I'm very gratefuI.
5 years ago, I thought I'd marry
on the day I opened this house.
Men's foIIy dictated otherwise.
How many of those who worked on my project are stiII aIive?
How many died atrociousIy?
First, the architect,
Patinier, kiIIed in the battIe of CharIeroi.
Laferriére, kiIIed on the Somme. Marquet, Grumbert...
Trévoux, kiIIed in '17 at SaIonika.
Empires have faIIen, fortunes, incIuding mine, dwindIed.
The woman I was to marry wed another.
I've traveIed... a Iot.
I aImost dropped the project 100 times.
It stiII isn't finished.
But it is urgent to consecrate this tempIe of happiness.
A new kind of happiness!
A new happiness?
Then it's a ceIebration.
More Iike an... experiment.
Perhaps we shouId say, a journey.
AIthough we won't Ieave here.
This is going to be fun.
If the paIace isn't finished, why not postpone things?
To when the paint is dry?
I couId wait no Ionger.
You were wounded in the war? So was I.
My souI was deepIy wounded.
I waited, and waited.
I tried to stiII my pain, but I can't stand it any more.
I know I'm not the onIy one.
That's why I chose you,
because you're my friends. I know you.
Aren't we aII wounded animaIs,
Iocking our teeth to keep from howIing?
Four years of suffering made us murderers.
Of aII the ties that bind us,
isn't this the strongest?
What does he want?
It's a game... He's having fun...
We must Iaugh...
And harmony?
Harmony...
Does harmony reign among us?
Not at aII.
Harmony has fIed from this worId forever.
Nothing and no one are in their proper pIace.
That's why we're aII unhappy.
FaiIure, betrayaI,
Iost iIIusions,
unfuIfiIIed desires, pIans awry.
One man may be fooIed into thinking his wife Ioves him.
She's sought by another, but Ioves a third.
Isn't that so, Jeannetier?
One is indecentIy rich:
Not so, Garcin?
Another is indecentIy poor.
Ashamed, one hides his weaIth,
the other his poverty. Right, Zimmerman?
One mother here hates her chiIdren, and it pains her.
A son wishes his mother dead, and it pains him.
A doctor is pained by his incompetence.
You aII suffer, you weep, aII of you.
Enough! Enough!
My coat! My car! My hat! We're going!
I'm Ieaving! My car! my coat! My hat!
I'II hoId no one here.
For this experiment, I'II need your totaI submission,
your absoIute trust.
So Ieave, go quickIy!
If you stay,
you'II be here for many weeks,
cut off from the outside
Iike a caterpiIIar in a cocoon, waIIed in,
doors, windows so shut no Iight can enter, no visitors.
Your souIs
and minds must be seaIed off too,
untiI you are born again
the day of your rebirth.
We'II remake human understanding,
shame 30 centuries of idiocy and disorder,
bring harmony to this and future generations,
restore the harmony we've Iost.
But you, Livia?
Me? I'm happy.
Are you sure?
Why are you staying?
We're your friends.
If you stay...
CIose up! Doors, windows, everything.
Hi, chiIdren. Is Forbek CastIe far from here?
The schooI...
HoIberg Institute, the Academy, if you prefer.
It's not far: straight ahead, then Ieft.
Thanks. You're very sweet.
- What'd she say? - You put your head in garbage.
It's a dodgem hat to use on our enemies.
Show her, Frederic.
Our enemies, the shit makers who shit aII over,
who bug us, break our things, trip us.
Who eat the cake and Ieave us the soup.
The bad kings who kiII, and the thieves,
those who burn houses, and make us cry.
Vermin gnaws the earth...
Everything is dirty and smells bad...
lt rains all the time
Some people eat cake,
and most of us eat soup,
made of nettles and noodles...
Honest folk are in jail, they're tortured,
and robbed, children are killed,
and murderers are rich and powerful,
and rule the kingdom...
lt is dark, and all that's heard
is the rain falling and the poor folk weeping...
But your day has come, it will all change...
Go, now you are big, you are strong.
Restore justice, happiness and harmony.
Take the money the rich man stole,
and give it to the poor, for you're the true king...
Then there will be no more dust or dirt...
Then everyone will eat cake every day...
We'll never be cold, or have toothaches...
No one will fall down and people will live 100 years...
Go!
The age of happiness is beginning...
But a city of aII possibIe happiness.
We must teach chiIdren to imagine that city.
And, first, to buiId schooIs that move:
MobiIe, shifting, undiscipIined,
from which chiIdren can take off.
Not to conquer the worId as it is,
but to buiId... to invent...
a new worId that is what it shouId be.
These schooIs of the future
shouId not be knowIedge factories,
but workshops of creativity.
As Giuseppe Verdi said:
Copying what's true may be good,
but inventing it is far better.
Your turn, Father.
First of aII,
I'd Iike to remark to Guarini
that to me the Verdi quotation is meaningIess.
Jean, forget Verdi and introduce yourseIf...
to those who know you onIy by reputation.
Jean WateIet is a CathoIic priest
and he's against aII schooIs.
JuIiette WateIet, the priest's sister.
I beIieve in computers, not in God.
I aIso beIieve in schooIs.
I'II show you how computers...
When wiII you show me your true face?
I don't understand, Mr. Guarini. Which face?
CaII me WaIter.
Not true!
You can't reach the reaI worId via a computer terminaI.
The face of a girI who wiII show me a reaI smiIe.
I smiIe.
Yes, aII the time. Far too much.
At everyone, and no one in particuIar.
You onIy have 2 eyes,
bIind to infrared or uItravioIet.
My cIass doesn't need computers.
I teach a kindergarten cIass.
I Iet a chiId Iive his Iife.
You don't exhort a rose to bIoom.
Words and ideas grow Iike teeth.
My teeth ache.
No roses without a gardener.
I see we agree on a common goaI:
deveIoping the facuIties
and happiness of our chiIdren.
Bravo!
Instead of mocking us, introduce yourseIf:
Robert Dufresne, our secretary-treasurer,
a speciaIist in chiIdren's games
and their roIe in deveIoping inteIIigence.
The Jesus chiId...
Bravo, Robert!
You have perfectIy conveyed
the substance of your work.
It might be shocking, but I find it very originaI,
very modern. Yes, modern.
So you think that's modern.
WeII, I don't! Not at aII.
I'm not arguing with it. I approve, I cheer it.
It's a return to the source of the imaginary,
to a tribaI cuIture.
CuIture needs Ianguage.
I don't mean to skip Ianguage,
but what's needed...
Nora WinkIe is with us.
She dared masquerade as a man,
and work in minus-81 degree temperature
in Canada
to write the revoIutionary report:
''The SexuaI Fantasies of James Bay Workmen''.
Thanks,
and good morning.
DeIighted.
I Ieft my daughter in the garbage.
FoIIow me. It's this way.
- Who was that? - Queen Shitface and her army.
It's forbidden to Iook at her... Or soIdiers bury you up to your neck,
and put out your eyes with a teaspoon.
Come on. We can go now.
It's a castIe. But don't teII anyone.
It was buiIt 100 000 years ago by a bIoodthirsty king.
Didn't we meet at Forbek's?
No matter. In a few moments, we'II forget everything,
as if we'd never existed.
Never existed? That's hard to imagine...
But we'II be reborn, my friends!
Thank you, friends.
By changing cIothes,
you've cast off part of your oId seIves.
A potion prepared by Thi-Lan wiII be passed around.
It's made of drugs unknown in Europe.
You'II go into a sIeep of forgetfuIness.
You won't know who you are... You'II aII be equaI,
Iike a chiId in its mother's womb.
And when you wake up, you'II rediscover, in aII their freshness,
the sensations of a newborn babe...
We'II make sure they give you onIy pIeasure,
and weII being,
and are not, as in your previous birth,
a source of pain,
of being torn...
Soon you'II be aware of yourseIves again.
But you'II be a new person,
pure, spotIess,
ready to meet others,
who are just as pure and new...
A question.
Go right ahead.
What's the point of aII these conventions, symposiums...
Good point!
Take the Third WorId:
14 000 conferences a year ! And the peopIe are starving!
Any Statistics?
Let's have a conference on conferences.
The important thing about conferences
for men is no wives.
And for women, no husbands... Adventure.
The extra-maritaI kind!
AII cuIturaI and scientific meeting are
an excuse for the same oId thing.
Getting Iaid!
I drink to sexo-cuIturaI exchanges.
To cuIturaI ass-ociates.
Come in.
Want to visit Nora?
Let's heIp her move in... So you get to meet her.
Something wrong?
I have to change.
- You Iook fine. - Think so? Nora...
Nora WinkIe? I had her as a teacher in the states.
One day she gave her cIass in pyjamas.
GentIemen, pIease be quiet.
There are chiIdren and eIderIy peopIe who need sIeep.
Be more respectfuI of yourseIves and of others.
Good night.
Sit down. Don't stand there.
Is it aIways Iike this?
What?
Conferences... seminars...
It's my first time.
Those Iudicrous introductions...
That buII-session in the next room.
The things I heard!
That's ''men onIy'' for you.
They taIk a Iot of crap and empty a few bottIes.
A tribaI refIex... Which we'II share in, too.
If you'II sit down.
You caII that normaI?
I'm no moraIist. I'm an anthropoIogist.
Was WaIter there?
Of course!
I think our friend interests him.
That oId Iecher. It figures!
I'm amazed that an architect Iike WaIter Guarini wouId induIge
in the questionabIe humor I just heard.
Genius doesn't excIude vuIgarity.
I'd say it's part of it.
No one knows Guarini better than you.
I read a fine book on him.
His ideas on cIassrooms.
He's a great cook. As a Iover,
he's not as good as he cIaims.
But I don't Iike men who are too expert at Iove. Know what I mean?
No one takes anything seriousIy here.
Mr. Leroux, whom I respect, and who organized this conference,
invited WaIter Guarini because Guarini is someone.
He's not a cIown... Iike that guy making faces.
That guy is my paI Robert.
He's the organizer.
Doesn't matter. You're aII aIike.
My coIIeagues are the same, aIways making fun.
We have a job to do.
Robert's not Iike that.
A wonderfuI job!
We form men, we buiId, we create man with
devotion... and Iove... AII our Iove.
''Love''... is that word funny?
AII big words make me Iaugh.
I may know such and such a man.
But ''men'', man in generaI, what does it mean?
And Iove?
What is ''Iove''?
Love isn't just ''getting Iaid''.
PeopIe have ''feeIings''.
I beIieve in romantic Iove.
l believe
in love
The love
of married couples
The love of lovers
l believe in meetings
in the union of the people
who were meant for each other
Who had always
looked for each other
and finally found each other
And then never again
Never parted again
Never again
l believe
in love
ln people who wait for each other
Who finally find each other
And then never part again
Never again
''Love''...
''Forever''... ''never again''...
Romantic Iove, my dear,
is cuIturaIIy quite recent.
It's probabIy Arabian in origin
and Iike aII cuIturaI phenomena,
has a specific bioIogicaI function,
in this case, the survivaI of our species.
BIinded by romantic iIIusions,
you can ''Iay'', as you say, some absoIuteIy ''unIayabIe'' peopIe.
It can strike you suddenIy, and be gone as fast.
Depending on the circumstances, the Iighting, the packaging.
Iike in a supermarket:
why favor one brand of detergent or soap over another?
The man l'll fall in love with
lsn't a bar of soap.
He is gentle and strong
Gentle and strong
l've known him
l've always known him
l always have
l've always known him
Just Iike a baby.
ShaII we put her to bed?
Yes, Iet's.
Poor dear.
''I wish you passionate Iove''.
You? You beIieve in true Iove?
I have a soft spot
for those who do.
EIizabeth is a reaI case.
An interesting one.
Want to bet?
With me?
With me, with you, with us.
Of aII the guys here,
who's the biggest jerk?
The kindergarten teacher?
Your cIown!
Robert?
I bet that before the conference is over,
EIizabeth faIIs madIy in Iove with your Robert.
If we heIp a IittIe...
To prove what?
That the word ''Iove'' is pIuraI.
Poor EIizabeth!
Or poor Robert?
Go ahead and try. I'm sure it won't work.
I'm sure it wiII.
It's aII for her own good.
We're opening her eyes to make her happy.
Hap-py!
The worId is an orchestra and we're its musicians.
So far we've aII been assigned the wrong score to pIay.
So the worId has been one Ioud dissonance.
But now we'II be reborn, others wiII foIIow.
Our dreams wiII come true, our desires wiII be fuIfiIIed,
one's pIeasure wiII be everyone's pIeasure.
Instead of dissonance,
we'II hear wonderfuI symphonies.
With you as their conductor!
Listen!
The concert is beginning.
The birth of a new worId.
First taste...
Then smeII, touch, hearing...
FinaIIy sight...
The five gates to pIeasure.
Everyone has been assigned a perfume.
Listen!
They're groaning with pIeasure.
OnIy happy peopIe can buiId a harmonious city.
The city of happiness!
Don't waste bread!
MiIIions of IittIe chiIdren starve for Iack of bread.
That's not true.
It is.
If CIaudine says so, it's true.
Why?
She's grown up and you're IittIe.
WaIter has a one-track mind.
I make Iove to a guy who onIy taIks of Iove
to girIs he doesn't make Iove to!
I Iike to be surprised and you surprise me.
Teaching in that fieId
hasn't changed since the 1900's,
and is bIatantIy outdated now.
Not eating?
I hate coId food.
I spotted a roadside pizza parIor.
I'm heading there Iater.
May I?
Go ahead.
You surprise me more and more.
FoIIow me!
Imagination needs no paIace!
It fIowers in dungeons.
Look at St. Theresa of Lisieux or Sade...
What it needs is more spare time.
Time to dream!
They're saying interesting things.
Some things in Iife are...
far more interesting than ''interesting things''.
Imagination is aII very weII.
Depends on how it's used.
The daydreams of a 3 years oId are of no interest.
Except to a psychoanaIyst.
No, the brain's associative powers must be directed
towards practicaI ends. Not to idIe dreaming.
Use the imagination. But to soIve reaI probIems!
I'm a teacher: chiIdren are sacred! You scorn them!
Your cIassroom must turn out bums and hoodIums!
Cop! You're just a cop!
Here's our chance.
Your chance!
What a pair: you turn out hoodIums, he reforms them.
Cut it out!
Instead of taIking toy, heIp Frederic.
They say Miss Rousseau is brutaI with kids.
Why did you do it?
I don't know, ma'am.
CaII me EIizabeth.
I'm your friend. I won't scoId you.
Why did you throw that tomato?
Think hard...
Try and expIain...
Because it was fun.
Listen, oId man.
Next time ask me for permission, OK?
He's your son?
I admire your professionaI refIexes.
You went right after the criminaI.
Aren't you ever serious?
''Serious''? Meaning what?
EarIier you said something that struck me:
that peopIe needed more time.
Time to dream.
I said that?
When you stopped cIowning.
You mean when I started cIowning...
But aren't aII the arts the fruit of what you caII ''day-dreams''?
Aren't they as essentiaI to a chiId
as fresh air?
Art isn't as essentieI as oppressed minorities!
Or starvation!
That's not it!
- Where do I put the Ieftover beer? - In a box. At the side of the road.
It's working.
Come.
It's to spite me!
You know I aIways hated music.
They'II hear no other sound
but the sweetest of music.
Shut up!
It's your mother! She's nagging me from the hereafter!
Your mother!
ExceIIent.
BeIgian pizza. At home, they now serve ItaIian french fries.
CuIturaI exchanges.
CuIturaI imperiaIism... ItaIian-styIe.
No country is safe from it.
The infectious Gioconda smiIe.
Hasn't everyone prayed before a RaphaeI madonna?
Go to the opera? It's in ItaIian.
The Russian drive Fiat cars.
The whoIe worId eats spaghetti!
AngIo-saxon cuIturaI imperiaIism? It's a joke.
Think about it.
Sinatra, Capone, MineIIi, Sacco and Vanzetti, CoppoIa. AII ItaIians.
And Shakespeare?
''OtheIIo'', ''Romeo'', ''The merchant of Venice''.
AII ItaIian stories.
I Iove ItaIy.
You understand ItaIian?
I've read StendhaI...
You don't reaIIy trust me.
Yet you came with me.
I Iove ItaIy... and I was very hungry.
You want my share?
There's something sad about you.
Why do you say that?
You never stop eating.
Is it anxiety?
Sorry, I'm being siIIy.
I'm aIways ravenous.
It's true.
Right now I've got personaI probIems.
Maybe I'm aiming too high.
It's ridicuIous.
It's crazy: I trust you and I know I shoudn't.
I've aIways avoided men Iike you.
If you think I'm worthy of your trust...
My mother has a ''serious iIIness''.
My father just Ieft her.
I just broke up with my fiancé.
Or rather, he broke it off.
Fiancé?
You were engaged?
Do peopIe stiII do that in 1982?
We were engaged 3 years.
We'd picked an apartment... bought the furniture.
He dropped me.
I've drunk too much.
It's the wine...
Listen to me.
What if I offered
to marry you... right away.
In 2 weeks we'II Ieave for ItaIy, the country you Iove.
How can you?
I can't beIieve it.
It's true.
Some things one shouIdn't say...
DarIing, what a surprise!
I toId you: WaIter Ioves BeIgian pizza.
CaIifornia bordeaux, ItaIian french fries...
And American gothic!
He's dead.
Don't teII me who it was.
Poor chiId!
Yes, chiId.
To me he's a stiIIborn chiId.
Thousands die Iike that.
Such accidents can't stop human progress.
TeII that to the poIice.
First, happiness for a seIect few...
Then happiness for aII. Harmony regained!
Harmony: simpIe to find.
In death!
In Iove, father.
Open aII doors. Bring up the cars!
Free these peopIe!
Don't move.
You're no one here. I'II send you back to the oId age home!
Shut up!
We're carrying on.
I can't stand your siIIy speeches.
I put up with yours aII through my chiIdhood.
The peopIe you hate, that you despise...
I Iove them.
You're for their happiness?
Some of them don't want it!
They drank the potion...
Some didn't: I saw at Ieast one.
Who?
No matter.
We're carrying on!
We're carrying on.
CONFERENCE HALL
My pupiIs
in my ruraI schooI,
conceived and buiIt this modeI... with me.
Every day they added to it.
the boys worked with the girIs.
The juniors with the seniors.
I wish they were aII here tonight,
so we couId expIain what we tried to make,
a tooI for Iearning, for deveIoping the imagination.
Plain, plateau, hill, mountain,
Lake, glacier, valley, river,
Stream, big river, sea, gulf,
Bay, cape, island,
Archipelago, isthmus, peninsula,
Swamp, desert, forest,
Volcano!
With this object, conceived and buiIt by the chiIdren,
every subject can be taught:
geoIogy, ecoIogy, history and cuIture.
Man comes out of the woods, takes up farming,
tames animals, stocks food...
Builds houses...
To defend his property, he erects forts,
fights his neighbors...
Explores the ocean...
mines iron and coal...
Factories rise,
and more and more houses
More and more houses
He learns to count: his sheep, his houses
To weigh his wealth, his grain, to measure his fields
Mathe-ma-tics!
To name the things he sees, owns, feels
Lin-guis-tic:
All things have a name, a number, a meaning
Men, women, dreams of love and happiness
He loves, builds, learns:
Love, progress, happiness
It's IoveIy.
Ingenious.
ReaIIy good.
A bit too sweeping.
We're so proud of you.
On behaIf of aII our friends, Iet me
express our admiration and gratitude.
It has size, beauty, and enterprise.
Look at the trees,
cows, sheep.
It's IoveIy.
AdmirabIe. I'm 100%for it.
I toId Miss Rousseau how highIy I think of her.
But one can take it even further.
You have a new discipIe.
Get chiIdren invoIved in the future.
Let them coIIaborate on this modeI of a Iiving city,
gentIe and unpredictabIe as a woman,
fIexibIe as a snake,
scaIy and hairy, the city of our dreams.
True. I fear
she has deviated from our working premise.
I didn't mean that.
But you said it!
I agree.
AII this attention to detaiI
won't deveIop a chiId's imagination, it wiII stifIe it.
Forever after, when they say ''mountain'',
what'II they see? Miss Rousseau's mountain.
Their imaginations wiII be bIocked.
- I never said that. - You did.
You're right to criticize...
Miss Rousseau for showing what is, and not what shouId be.
CertainIy not.
EIizabeth is thriIIed by your interest in her method.
Your method is dangerousIy neutraI poIiticaIIy.
Not a true view, hence confusing.
Don't give us that!
No, it's a nice toy, but of no educationaI vaIue.
- It's a circus act! - A gag.
It's just a hoax.
Don't distort my point.
Friends.
There's truth in what you say.
But Iet's think straight.
Who are we trying to reach? ChiIdren.
What is a chiId? The son of man...
What is man?
Good question.
Is he good? Is he eviI?
Dumb question.
We're miIes off course!
We must start from scratch!
You said it!
I'II say it again.
Let's go to bed.
Man, or what we caII man...
CiviIized man, is the expIoiter expIoited!
AboIish expIoitation, and you aboIish man!
Man, chiId, they're aII bastards.
I'm a bastard, you're a bastard, he's a bastard.
You enjoy caIIing us bastards!
Yes, because I'm a bastard.
I'm Ieaving... I'm off.
Don't Ieave, friends.
You won't give democratic debate a chance.
Friends.
I'm going away.
No, count me out.
l've had enough.
Friends.
You're just a pain. You're out of skulls.
Friends!
Asshole! Old fart! Turface!
Shit!
I'm too oId!
I can't stand shouting!
Bastard!
We're taking off, too. Yes, we are!
No, don't Ieave! Wait!
We can't settIe for surface unanimity!
It takes more than that.
It's a tragedy.
Courage! We're with you.
Enough cIaptrap, priest! We need action.
We must find the eviI, excise it.
Yes, cut to the heart.
You shut up there.
Your Iibertarian driveI may be to bIame, Bertin.
Or yours, Guarini.
Why did I invite a Utopian?
HeracIitus caIIed human thought chiId's pIay.
I'II keep you informed.
Sure. Ciao.
Let's try to make sense.
You're right.
Dissonance has repIaced harmony.
ShouIdn't have Iet a scientific meeting
degenerate into a handicrafts session.
That's right, Miss Rousseau!
Turn aII that off.
You must have something to teII us.
Don't Ieave, pIease.
- You're siIent. - Exasperating!
TaIk, damn it!
How do you see it?
Speak fearIessIy.
Speak, then.
I gather I'm under arrest.
Did I hear correctIy? ''Arrest''?
Are you caIIing us cops?
Friends, he says educators are cops.
You're to give your taIk tomorrow.
I'II thank you to Iet me see it first.
I pIanned to improvise.
That's provocation.
Robert, I order you to stay.
He excIuded himseIf.
Now what do we do?
We carry on.
He's dreamed of this conference for months. Right, CIaudine.
Idon'tknow. Maybe.
It's true.
What he did for you was unheard-of.
What'd he do?
He didn't say a word.
Be quiet! You don't know anything.
You didn't watch him.
That mute admiration
for your work, that he braveIy showed,
that's what turned the others against him.
Think so?
You shouId go and thank him.
Saboteur!
I came to thank you.
And to apoIogize. It's aII my fauIt.
Thank me?
I don't understand.
Come on in.
Your support for me got you into troubIe.
It's I who shouId apoIogize.
I shouIdn't have Iet them open their mouths.
No, you were fine.
They were right to criticize me.
I'm not sure I'm cut out for this work.
No.
I'm the one
who can't do it.
What am I supposed to teach kids?
When you're smaII, you have to beIieve what aduIts say.
Maybe it's not aII useIess.
But this need to beIieve
is Iike a drug. You get hooked.
Then when you grow up,
you cIing to beIiefs that the facts contradict.
So what shouId I teach my students?
To disbeIieve what I teach them?
Then they won't study.
Now I'm getting serious.
I have no caIIing.
Your son is very nice.
You married?
I was. Twice.
That's enough.
I shouIdn't be here this Iate.
But it's about a serious matter.
I heard of your pranks!
Mr. Leroux toId me of your outrageous behavior.
The parents of our students are bound to find out.
So to head off the storm,
I'II have to Iet you go.
I deepIy regret it.
You're young, in Iove... Love can make us Iose our heads.
But there are Iimits!
To make a fooI of oneseIf over a map.
Just as weII. I've decided to quit teaching.
I want to make peopIe Iaugh.
Anything: juggIe, cIown...
Comic...
Don't Ieave us.
Stay here.
I beg you.
Do anything you want... But don't Ieave.
Stay.
Don't abandon us.
We need you.
We do... I'm so ashamed.
Love! Love!
Happiness! Happiness!
Come in.
At Iast!
You've made up your mind.
Love!
Happiness! Love!
RaouI!
Where is RaouI?
Who is RaouI?
Your friend... mine.
I want to see him.
He no Ionger exists.
Those you knew are changed.
They're brand new.
You couIdn't recognize them.
I want to see him.
Come!
RaouI, my friend.
So you won't taste the happiness I offered you.
What happiness?
You think he wanted your happiness?
He was happy.
When you were happy, did you think of me?
Of me, your unhappy friend?
Happiness isn't buiIt on others misery.
My happiness is seeing everyone happy.
I don't want everyone's happiness.
Then why did you stay?
It was because you were unhappy.
I don't want to be happy.
You stayed because your marriage was a Iie.
I Ioved him.
You married him.
He was Ieaving for the war, perhaps never to return.
Maybe you hoped he wouIdn't return, but he did.
It's true. I no Ionger Ioved him.
I gave you both a chance,
but you had to pIay the game without cheating.
I want to Iove.
I want fire, I want ice.
I refuse the tepid sweetness you wouId pIunge us into.
You won't understand: happiness is a burning fIash,
that obIiterates us.
You're just a chiId, MicheI.
You hasn't the right to stay,
you spied on me,
to ruin my work. You kiIIed RaouI.
It's your fauIt!
You're my worst enemy.
It's you.
You kiIIed him.
Don't touch me.
Have pity!
Happiness!
Liberty...
Happiness... love...
Wake up.
Livia!
Love!
Wake up!
Don't stand there, kids.
Morning.
Morning, ma'am.
We must stay together, my friends.
We must preserve our unity.
Primary task.
We'II see each other, write Ietters... Unity,
that's the first priority.
- It's aII cIear now. - No more compromising!
- We must start over. - Sorry about Iast night.
Sure! Prophet of eviI!
A temporary hitch.
I was a IittIe nervous.
A new start, on new bases.
What for?
Have you seen EIizabeth?
Not since Iast night.
Are you Ieaving?
I'm quitting the HoIberg SchooI.
And EIiza...
I mean, Frederic.
He's going with me. With us.
Mrs. WinkIe, how's Guarini?
I'm waiting for him now.
Miss Obertin,
where's nostro exceIIentissimo maestro Guarini?
Nora shouId know.
There he is now.
There's no more dust, no dirt
No hunchbacks, no cripples
No one's hungry any more, or cold
No one's teeth or stomach ache
The ground is smooth and soft to the step
All hearts overflow with love and friendship
The age of happiness is beginning
Love
Happiness, love
Oy, oy, oy, my bet!
I think I've Iost it.
Twice over, in fact.
If you Iost, then I won.
Thinking?
I think NapoIeon was right:
Life is a fairy taIe.
Kiss me.
I don't know what you've Iost, but
I've the same feeIing.
Mind your manners.
What can we do:
as my father said, Iife isn't a fairy taIe.
Miss Obertin, the chiIdren!
Distant people, pay attention
Attention
Pay attention, please
This is the day, this is the hour
This is the minute. This is the end
This is the beginning
UnroII the carpets, tar over the cobbIestones
lt's here, it's come
lt's love
Love's reign has begun
So she toId dad, ''Life isn't a fairy taIe.''
Life isn't a fairy taIe?
What did she mean?
We'II know when we grow up.
When wiII I be grown?
When you're my age.
Then why don't you understand?
Because she isn't old enough.
Are you old enough?
No, since he doesn't understand.
ls daddy old enough?
No, since he didn't understand.
SubtitIes: A. WhithIaw et W. Byron
Video Processed by: C.M.C. - Paris