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Hotel du Nord
At the hotel:
A dinner is going on for Lucette's First Communion. A man (Prosper) turns down a glass of wine because he sells his blood and doesn't want it tainted. Everybody discusses what their reactions would be to having somebody else's blood in their veins. A little boy is afraid of thunder, he's an orphan from the Spanish war who was adopted. He cries 'not from fear, but from the memories', says Madame Lecouvreur. It's time for cake and Mme Lecouvreur asks Lucette to take a piece to Madame Raymonde.
In Raymonde's room:
Raymonde is taking inhalations for her sore throat. She compliments Lucette on her dress. M. Edmond asks the kid whose idea it was to bring cake and why she didn't bring any for him. He calls her a liar, 'You should be ashamed of yourself lying on a day like this. They can't stand me downstairs and never miss an occasion to make me feel it.' Raymonde gives him the cake and is mad at him for making a scene in front of the kid. He's soon sick of the cake, and when Raymonde puts it on the table, he's annoyed that she'd put food next to her comb and curling iron. 'Well, there's something else that's not at the right place, a girl like me near a guy like you'. Patience!, he says. He's learning English and photography, he wants to earn his own bread, he wants another kind of life. She's worried he doesn't love her anymore that he'd want to work. He tells her that her throat seems fine now. She gets the hint and goes to work. 'Do I look ok? You want to handle the merchandise?'
Downstairs:
They're teasing Prosper, the blood donor. He has 2 jobs, his wife should be glad to have 2 men in the house. The wife says that when it's time to go to bed there's no one left. Kenel, a truck driver, jokes that he could fix that for her. Raymonde comes downstairs and they ask her to join them. A young couple walks in wanting a room.
In room 16:
Looking out the window, Ren�e finds the canal beautiful. She asks to see the gun and worries that maybe it won't work. Pierre tells her they can still change their mind. He tells her all the things and people they'll never see again. 'Everything will be dead for us.'
Downstairs:
They're talking about the happiest day of their lives. The owner says it's when he bought the hotel, Raymonde says she was 11 and took the boat in her new dress. 'And it was raining!'
Later:
After Ren�e leaves in ambulance, the man who sells his blood follows, just in case.
At the hotel:
The police questions M. Edmond. He found the woman, he recognized the sound of a 6-35, he has a musical ear, he says. He saw nobody else in the room. The cop checks his ID. Raymonde tells Edmond not to answer the cop.
Why didn't he have dinner with the others?, the cop asks. 'They didn't invite me.'
Going to the bar, Edmond asks Raymonde about her throat and what she's still doing there. Raymonde gets angry at the cop who's listening and he asks to see her ID. There's something wrong with it and she must go to jail. 'There's a murderer loose and I'm the one being arrested?'
'See? If you had listened to me...', says Edmond. He gets her some cigarettes. She goes to get her fur, when she comes back Edmond is already gone. In the police truck, she says: 'Oh you can be proud of yourself. Nice catch!'
At the hospital:
The nurse tells Ren�e that she had an interesting delirium, 2 transfusions with an impossible donor, and who's this Pierre she kept talking about? Ren�e thinks Pierre is dead and wants to die. But Pierre has gone to the police and confessed a murder. Ren�e tells the police she was an orphan, she left a hard and demeaning job when she met Pierre. He's an artist. They were in love but couldn't make a living. Pierre denies there was a suicide pact, he insists he's a murderer.
Along the canal:
M. Edmond gets the gun from the boy who found it near the canal. "I'm not taking it away from you, I'm buying it. Ok?" Jeanne asks Edmond to kill a chicken for her.
Some men talk about Edmond. -Every time there's something to kill, they ask him. He's vicious. He tortured a mouse the other day, and he drowned Mimart's dog in the canal. 'Why in heavens did he do that?'
-Well, actually, Mimart had asked him to do it...
In Raymonde's room:
Raymonde comes home and asks about the girl. She sees the gun and thinks he's been doing hold-ups while she was away. 'Don't touch, it's a souvenir.' Raymonde heard things while she was in jail. Nazarede is out of jail and he's looking for him. Edmond says they'll pack and go south to the Midi. She gets romantic and he gets annoyed. She finds Jeanne's comb on the table.
A few days later:
Raymonde is packing, they're leaving that night. She tells Jeanne about her nights spent waiting for clients, how she'd count the metros before someone picked her up. She tells how nice Edmond can be during a trip. How he knows all the regions: where there's been a murder, or a robbery.
On the street:
Kenel is picking up Ginette, Prosper's wife. Everybody knows they're having an affair except the husband.
In the hotel's dining room:
M. Adrien got up early to wash his room. He's expecting a friend. He asks about some young men who were playing cards the night before.
Ren�e comes back for her things and to take a last look at room 16. Prosper tells her they're practically relatives, since they have the same blood now. Lecouvreur brings her her things, that's all she owns in the world, she says. They offer her a job at the hotel.
M. Edmond comes home, sees Ren�e and tells Raymonde they're not leaving, and to get a refund on the train tickets.
In the dining room:
Ren�e is waiting on tables. Prosper and his wife are arguing: he says Kenel has a thing for Ren�e.
Kenel is annoying Ren�e. Edmond tells him to stop it. He wants him to step outside. They ask Edmond to not make trouble, this is not his milieu. He calms down.
At the prison:
Pierre is wallowing in self-pity. He's a coward.
-But if the roles had been reversed? Perhaps I would have run also at the last minute, says Ren�e.
There is no victim here, no culprit. We're 2 accomplices.
-Accomplices! So we'll talk about the crime day after day to figure to whom it belongs. You can keep your generosity. You'll find somebody else. You'll think about me from time to time, whenever you're looking at your scar.
On the street:
Kenel tries to be serious with Ren�e. He apologizes, says he'll break up with Ginette and move in with her. She starts crying when she thinks about Pierre.
At the hotel:
Raymonde is comforting Prosper: his wife, Ginette left him. He realizes now she was seeing Kenel. He tells her how he had bought train tickets once and when he got home, 'you know what she said?'
-We're not leaving?
-How did you know?
In Raymonde's room:
Raymonde has a black eye.
-Will you say again that I have a thing for Ren�e?
-No!
-No yes, or no no?
-No no.
They're going fishing.
Outside:
Raymonde wants to know what's the matter. Isn't he happy? He says he doesn't like their life. He wants a change of atmosphere, and she's his atmosphere. 'Atmosphere? Do I look like an atmosphere???'
In the room:
A man is getting rid of the bugs in Raymonde's bed. They talk about her black eye. She tells Ren�e she's leaving Edmond. Ren�e contaminated Edmond, she says. Now he's always depressed, he thinks all the time and is disgusted with himself.
Downstairs:
Nazarede and Marcel have come to the hotel. They're looking for Paulo, Raymonde's boyfriend. She left him, Raymonde says; she's with Edmond now. They don't believe her and question Ren�e. Paulo was a coward who would run or faint at the sight of blood, his clothes were always dirty. Ren�e tells them Edmond is all the opposite, he's very particular about his appearance and he's a specialist when it comes to killing chickens and rabbits. So they leave. Raymonde tells Ren�e, 'Don't try to understand, your head is too small.'
On the street:
Ren�e is on a date with Adrien. She feels he's bored. When they meet one of his friends, she lets them go together.
On the bench:
Edmond asks, 'They told you about me?' She says the men were mistaken. He says no. He was Paulo before... the rest.
He gets closer.
-We already have some memories in common. I'm the one who found you, and told your friend to run. You came back the day I was supposed to leave, so I stayed. The coward they told you about, it was me. I'm Edmond, I was Paulo, but my real name is Robert. I was a coward so I sold my friends to the police not to be arrested: they got 5 years. Now they're out and they're looking for me. So I changed skin. It was hard to leave myself that much. I was made for another kind of life. The proof is tonight it's Robert who's talking to you. You can talk to him, he's clean. He's not been used much. Voil�, that's it. It's a gift. It doesn't look like much but it cost me a lot. I wanted to tell you this after our first night together, but now I realize we won't have a first night. But it's as if we had since I just gave myself up to you.
She tells him she'd like to give him something too.
-You listened, that's enough. Especially in the state you're in...
-I have no hope left, she says. Take me away, there's a life for us somewhere. With both our misfortunes, we could make one...
-...big catastrophe.
-Take me away.
-If that could be...
On a street in Marseilles:
They're leaving, they're going south, to Port Sa�d. He's happy. That's a new feeling for him.
'Our last walk in France,' she says.
-With you, we'll always be in Paris. He pretends to be showing her the sights of Paris. They stop to have their shoes shined. They're leaving tonight on the Josyane. He'll work, she'll see. They'll be far away, he won't be ashamed, because he likes her, he swears.
She asks him if he loves her.
It's the same thing, he says. She insists. He's embarassed; saying this to a woman, that's not his style.
-We're not going to Port Sa�d then.
-I love you... And how I must love you, to let you make me say it... But you haven't said anything like that to me.
-I'll love you in Port Sa�d.
On the Josyane:
Edmond is a bit worried, she hasn't said a word. He wonders if it is wise to leave, for her sake.
She tells him they must leave, and all the things they'll never see again. She uses the same words Pierre had used before he shot her. Edmond is worried, she can't forget Pierre, she wouldn't need to go to Port Sa�d if she could forget him. She's still wearing his brooch. He goes to ask something to the steward.
At the hotel:
Prosper is now living with Raymonde. Nazarede comes in. She tells him Edmond is really Paulo. He'll be back, she says. Ren�e has come home, He's not the type of guy to lose his luggage en route.
At the prison:
Ren�e tells everything to Pierre.
-I understand you better now. To convince him to leave, I used the same words you used. And when I had to let go, I was afraid also.
-It's not the same. You didn't try to kill him.
-I did worse, I gave him hope.
July 14 ball:
Raymonde is complaining about the noise.
Ren�e is leaving after the ball with Pierre, they're getting married. The Lecouvreur worry about her, they'll miss her.
M.Edmond arrives.
-I'm worth a good-bye, he says. I wouldn't have forced you to come. Now I'm back from Port Sa�d without ever going... Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you. I just want a clean break-up.
She tells him Pierre is getting out, she's meeting him later.
-He's lucky. Thanks for giving me three days of your life.
She tells him someone is waiting for him in his room, Raymonde talked.
They say good-bye. 'I told you my name was Robert, he says.'
