"THE WOMAN IN BLUE" "Hey Pietro, we're waiting for you!" "Pietro hurry up!" "I know you're there." "The car is downstairs." "I can hear you snoring from here..." "Oh Pietro..." "Hello!" "Maestro Wolfgang Amadeus please..." "Aurelie!" "Already!" "My dear sir, that's not a very warm welcome!" "Dear friend." "You arrive..." "you materialize three days early." "Four!" "Four - where is my head?" "You'll have to suffer my meager welcome speech..." "Okay, I'm suffering." "You're suffering?" "I' m coming." "The weather's beautiful." "Get dressed." "Tell me at least something... ..nice" "Have a nice Sunday!" "I' ll call you." "When?" "Wait I' m not finished!" "Look at me." "You know Aurelie, you really haven't changed." "You haven't either, Pietro." "No, no, I assure you!" "You know Aurelie, I' m a little beaten down..." "But I' m so happy to see you!" "No but." "What, " no but"?" "No but I' m happy." "But I' m not beaten down." "No I' m not... but..." "No nothing." "So don't say anything..." "Not even with your eyes." "What are my eyes saying?" "They' re lying!" "Aurelie..." "Excuse me..." "Can I leave my suitcases here?" "Just 'till I find a room..." "Wait!" "Know of any rooms for rent?" "No." "Maybe out of town but..." "She doesn't have a car." "Too bad, I' m going." "What are we playing now?" "Do we have to play?" "Yes." "Or we' ll have to tell everything." "Everything what?" "That's just it..." "I don't want to know." "So I' m playing." "I' m playing happy to be back..." "Happy to see you." "Playing house..." "Playing acrobat -or juggler." "Playing the perfect little housewife..." "And finally I' m cheating." "...to be even with you." "Because I don't feel like playing at all." "Funny homecoming, huh?" "I'll call you later." "Don't be angry with me." "Asshole!" "What little assholes." "Don't be so crude." "There's nothing wrong with these kids..." "I' m the asshole." "What's wrong with you!" "Something is wrong with me, thanks!" "Poor asshole!" "I know." "Pierre?" "Pierre!" "Ghislaine." "Ah, yes, Ghislaine." "You' re alone?" "Widow or divorcee?" "I hesitate." "Keep me posted!" "I have an appointment..." "Free tomorrow?" "Who knows, it's so far off..." "I' m giving a big party." "Please come!" "Did she pay by check?" "Do you have her name?" "No one paid by check today." "Hello Aurelie..." "Close your eyes." "Hey my film..." "Be nice and close your eyes Aurelie." "My turn now!" "Close your eyes." "I love when you pardon me so generously..." "Excuse me?" "..it's good" "Is that good?" "Pardon what?" "Pardon?" "What are you asking me to pardon?" "Or rather who...." "Your feet..." "Have you known her long?" "No." "Do you love her?" "I don't know." "Blew it." "What's her name?" "I don't know." "Bizarre." "Bizarre..." "Put yourself in my place..." "A little while ago at the drugstore, ...just before I came back..." "Shit!" "Oh, clever!" "It's a spot remover." "Give me that." "You' re getting on my nerves with your stories..." "It's not a story." "I understand, it's the love of your life." "You have to find her." "Well, yes." "Right away." "Well, yes." "This woman waited for me -or not, I have to know..." "Well, yes." "She was beautiful." "No!" "?" "Damn Aurelie!" "You' re crazy!" "Ah yes, I' m the crazy one." "And you' re right after all, it's normal." "No one gives a damn about about anyone else..." "What gall! " No one gives a damn..."" "And you, Mr. Laurentin?" "We don't see each other for 3 months, ...when I get back I' m nice enough to call, you come running I' m nice enough to come running... ..and you piss me off with your sex problems!" "Have you asked a single question about me?" "You haven't even asked me how I am!" "How are you?" "Aurelie?" "Danke Scheon!" "Bitte schoen.." "Excuse me but I' m going to Paris." "Paris... by way of Cherbourg..." "Bitte schoen." "Danke Schoen." "Ladies and Gentlemen, live from the Pleyel Auditorium, we heard Schubert's Symphony in F major." "You' re coming?" "And the others?" "They know where to find us." "Edmund, it' s serious... enormous.." "... cosmic..." "Tragic!" "I see two solutions." "You find her, or you forget her." "The second one is not fun." "You just have to wait." "Everything passes, everything tires..." "Is it the boss?" "Yes!" "So you' ll find her again!" "Let's be logical." "What make was the car?" "It was blue." "But the number?" "It would be too easy!" "What time was it?" "Maybe she's got a routine." "Hey, Pietro." "I look smart." "You could have waited for us!" "Yes, but this idiot met a woman dressed in blue..." "She was from Auvergne." "Three whiskies and a Vodka please." "No, not now." "We've got to distract our boy." "So, what are we writing?" "About the concert, my friend." "A kind word for the flutist." "It was either very good or you are a liar." "Or somewhere between the two." "Since you were watching, I agree with you." "Actually..." "Waiter, don't forget my vodka." "I' m sorry." "It's a woman..." "I have a title: "Schubert died...." "Everyone already knows that." "... assassinated." "The conductor tried to execute his third symphony... but he's the one who lost his head." "Not bad, huh?" "Yes, but we' ll come off like malcontents." "Someone said, "Those who can, do..." ""Those who can't, teach." I teach." "We teach..." "Waiter!" "I've thought it over," "I'd like a glass of whiskey instead." "So sorry." "It's impossible to work here!" "What were you saying?" "Maybe she's no longer in Paris...." "Maybe not even in France..." "Maybe it wasn't even a woman...." "All jokes aside, let's be logical..." "Oh!" "Yes logic, that's good." "To start, let's say she always wears blue." "That makes it easier." "And you met this woman when you weren't looking." "So she should be easy to find once you start looking." "That must be reasoning of the absurd." "Hence, he finds her." "I need a drink." "And if not?" "I' ll kill myself." "Bets?" "That's a stupid bet." "All bets are stupid." "Not all." "All, gentlemen." "You' re all liars." "Want to bet?" "If you lose, you give me a " night of love"." "And...if I win?" "I' ll give you a " night of love"." "At La Beaule or at Deauville?" "On the roof..." "I love sunshine." "Even at night?" "I love the South." "Have you been there?" "One day in Marseilles ." "I was looking for stamps." "Stamps?" "Stamps." "Maybe at the Post Office." "Where is the Post Office?" "You take the little street there." "But it's "ONE WAY"." "Oh, as long as you drive slowly." "There's a little plaza." "You' ll see one of my colleagues." "It' ll be just across the street." "Thank you!" "I' ll remember the postcard to your daughter." "She was so funny the other night." "...when I stupidly talked about Mozart," "Mommy, what does it mean to be dead?" "It's... when you sleep and never wake up." "Ah." "When is that?" "When we are old." "Like grandma?" "Yes." "One day you' ll be dead too?" "Yes..." "But who will give me food to eat?" "And you?" "Without me, how will you drink?" "Stop!" "I' m drunk already." "But dignified." "Women are usually very dignified in these circumstances." "One day I was eating with a friend who was completely drunk..." "She was desperately trying to hide it." "Was it Aurelie?" "Who is Aurelie?" "At her door, she let me know that I couldn't go any further." "...that night" "But once we were alone wow!" "Goodbye grace and dignity." "How do you know?" "I'd followed her of course." "She wasn't even surprised to see me there." "At that moment she didn't care about anything, I think." "I feel like taking a shower." "Do you remember?" "We hadn't known each other long..." "Already you had nothing on underneath." "The rain stopped and I bet you... that you wouldn't walk the length of the Champs-Elysees like that." "And I won!" "But I was stupid!" "I could have caught pneumonia." "Anyway bets are all stupid." "Not all!" "I' m taking off!" "OK, later." "I' ll go with you." "Where?" "I don't know, I' ll just go with you." "We' ll comb Paris, one neighborhood at a time." "Starting with the scene of the crime." "Pietro, stay with me in your last days." "I'd like to live my last days in Finland." "The forests, the lakes, Sibelius' music, my pine coffin..." "Pine smells so good." "So are we leaving?" "Yes." "Going to a nightclub?" "Do you know any?" "No, do you?" "Me neither." "Please open!" "You must have two godparents." "My Godparents are dead!" "Bunch of ass...inine..." "How about a movie?" "Maybe she goes to the movies?" "Yeah, OK." "Do you want an Eskimo Bar?" "Yeah." "Miss!" "A little cat all grey..." "Masked and armed to the teeth gave an important speech tonight." "Yes?" "Did you just call me?" "Pietro?" "Yes." "I' m taking risks." "It could not have been you." "What would I have looked like?" "Why didn't you answer?" "I was in the bathtub." "Do you know what it is?" "No." "" Death and the Maiden"." "Still angry with me?" "I've been thinking." "That's not a good answer." "It wasn't a good question." "I want to see you." "You see, I take chances too." "Yes." "" Yes" I take chances or "yes" you want to see me?" "Yes, Pietro." "I' ll pick you up." "Yes, Pietro." "This is the first time I've been here." "Ah...." "Ah!" "I won't stay." "It's late...." "Marianne is still here." "Come I' ll introduce you." "Marianne?" "In the bathroom..." "Come, I' ll introduce you." "Aurelie!" "Please." "Aurelie!" "Please!" "Show him how beautiful you are." "You' re crazy!" "You know Pietro." "Mr. Laurentin, noted musicologist." "Come on." "Show the gentleman!" "I' m thirsty." "How about you?" "Yes." "Come..." "Come..." "I've got to go, good night." "Yes?" "It's me." "I' m not waking you?" "I was ridiculous earlier." "Are you angry?" "Why?" "And you?" "Are you angry with me?" "Me, no." "Why?" "I wanted to tell you...." "Yes?" "I wanted to help you..." "Help me?" "How?" "What are you doing tomorrow?" "I've got an early radio show." "Oh, sorry." "Good night." "Why did you want to see me again tonight?" "Because.." "All of a sudden I said to myself..." "" What's been happening with Beatrice?"" "What are you looking at?" "You have an idea in the back of your head." "No, it's nothing." "Are we starting with Schubert or Bartok?" "Schubert." "Oh!" "We' re all wearing pants this morning." "Let's attack right away." "I' ll only talk after the first movement." "It's " Death and the Maiden"..." "I've never had a woman here before." "I' m sure these imbeciles are..." "Not at all Mr. Laurentin!" "The microphone was on." "Hypocrite!" "What did you want?" "I told you last night to help you." "And I asked you last night, help me how?" "And I' m answering you:" "to find her." "Who?" "There's only one, no?" "" Der Hans en Schnokolast, hat alles was er will..."" "It's an Alsatian song." "About a boy named Hans." "Translation: " When you find her, you won't want her anymore."" "Let's find her quick!" "So we can stop talking about it." "So there!" "And they say that women always want something." "Yes, huh?" "OK, so let's think." "How do we go about it?" "Let's think!" "Blue dress, blue eyes, blue hat, could it be her?" "She didn't have blue eyes." "So sorry!" "You see it's simple, she's there..." "There..." "There..." "There..." "Or there..." "Did you look up there?" "I didn't see anyone." "Where can she spend her days?" "At her house?" "So there's no chance." "Well, lets start eliminating." "She's not an interior type of woman." "So then exterior." "The streets perhaps." "Exactly where we are." "Do you see her?" "Let's change streets." "What's he waiting for?" "The snows." "Yes." "Maybe he loves children." "What are you thinking about?" "Schubert." "In Paris a month ago," "A great foreign conductor about to give his 1st concert." "The place is packed, everything ready." "..then this little man comes out." "People hesitate, then applaud like mad." "Flustered, he smiles and bows, grabs a chair and takes it backstage." "Everyone goes crazy!" "It wasn't the conductor!" "So it gets calm and the little man reappears." "People start to laugh, he smiles, settles in front of the dais... raises his arms and starts Brahms 4th." "It was the conductor!" "Come on, let's go to the ritzy neighborhood." "Maybe she's a window shopper." "Who?" "Sorry little Hans." "I was cheating." "Maybe she's a pious sort." "No, she's not a spiritual being." "There is even a bit of futility in her, although I' m not condemning her." "Futile, but open minded anyway..." "Why not?" "...to poetry, music, painting." "Look a museum!" "Let's go in." "OK." "" Beware of wet paint"." "OK, now the metro." "Oh no!" "You' re right." "She's not the type, she has a car...." "As a matter of fact, that's all you know about her." "Very pertinent..." "OK, let's look at cars." "Yes!" "Do they think about other things while they conduct traffic?" "And you?" "What do you think about?" "..nothing." "We' re fine?" "Yes." "You' re not hungry?" "No." "All alone?" "My show!" "What time is it?" "See you tonight!" "Tonight?" "I' m invited to a jet-set party." "You?" "A jet-set party?" "Maybe she goes to those..." "taxi!" "At Ghislaine's, remember?" "Yeah, the bitch...." "Pick you up at nine?" "Ciao." "Come with me!" "You can keep the taxi...." "Your invisible woman has made you come down off of your cloud!" "I've never seen you so..." "Before a sloth." "But maybe you were happier on your cloud..." "Look!" "Follow the car, over there the little blue one." "But your show..." "It's the same route..." "take the number!" "I have to confess:" "I' m near sighted." "4783 AL 92." "Jot it down, I' ll never remember!" "Yes." "I've got nothing to write with!" "What!" "OK, here." "4784" "83 ...83 AL 92." "I lost your gangster!" "What do we do?" "We' ll call Edmund." "Edmund?" "He knows the guys at city hall." "City Hall?" "The cops!" "The man has friends." "Find me a telephone, quick!" "How are you?" "I' m OK." "How are you?" "Great, thanks, I' ll be right back." "Get me 66 12 14 19, and if it answers call me." "I wanted to apologize." "Don't mention it." "So, let's review." "We' ll start with examples:" "the organ, it's...." "But it's also..." "Nobody." "Then call.." "940.60.52." "Hurry Hurry!" "Or then again..." "Get me Edmond Lemarse." "If he's not home, figure it out!" "So, good." "Let's start this evening's theme: improvisation.... ...I' ll briefly explain that generally improvisation can be on a given theme, simple." "Such as " Au Clair de la Lune"." "Very good." "Exposition of the theme, first..." "Go help him." "Next, first development...." "It wasn't him but now we know where he is." "First the organ and it's multiple unknown possibilities." "Maestro, we're listening." "Well the organ, it's also..." "It's also..." "Or again..." "Hello?" "Finally and especially..." "Hello, I got Edmond." "His buddy will have the goods tonight." "He' ll call Ghislaine's so I' ll know right away." "Great, huh?" "Great." "See you later." "Don't forget that I' ll be very busy later." "Yes." "You' re right." "Maybe it's better if I go alone." "Have fun!" "Thank you, Maestro." "You' re welcome, Firmin." "It's very large." "It's very big." "It's very nice." "It's very grand." "How are you?" "Fine and you?" "Dear friend, I've got two reasons for scolding you." "...First, you never call..." "Second, you never speak about Monteverdi on the radio." "Schubert, Bartok, o.k. Although Bartok, whatever..." "How are you?" "I need to talk to you about my son, he's been playing the piano since he was 5." "Like Mozart..." "Pietro!" "Let me introduce Delphine." "Say hello Delphine, this is Pietro." "Hello." "Hello." "She's nice isn't she?" "How are you doing?" "Good, good." "I' ll see you later." "Ah, I forgot..." "I've got an address for you." "Pierre!" "Ah, good evening." "I have to speak to you." "I' ll be back..." "You didn't call me." "Kiss me please." "I please, and please and please." "What about me?" "I don't please you." "Don't?" "Not any more." "Oh Pietro, what a surprise." "You weren't going to come..." "Women often change their minds..." "I said to myself " my man in blue.."" "What did I say to myself?" "I was just leaving." "Yes, let's leave." "No " l" was leaving." "The Police Chief called." "Exactly." "But I' m going with you!" "Pietro!" "You see all this." "Either you take me or... five" "four three" "two one" "Come in with me..." "Pietro." "She's crazy." "But I try as hard as I can to sober up." "Take me back to the house." "Anyway you don't realize..." "What I have to do with you and this woman, besides I don't want to see her." "We' re not going to see her." "So what then?" "So...nothing." "I have an address, I' m going to look, breathe the air around..." "Funny neighborhood for deep breathing." "Where are we?" "At Meudon." "It can't be the only little blue car in Paris." "So you see... there is a small chance that it will be her." "Aurelie..." "It's crazy, stupid." "I' m dying to go in." "Yes, Pietro." "There's probably a party going on here also." "Just to take a look..." "To breathe...." "To breathe, yes." "I still need you, you know." "Yes, Pietro." "It' ll seem more normal with us." "And if there isn't a party?" "No there is one, look!" "Sure, Pietro." "Wait!" "But you offered to help me find her..." "To better lose her afterwards." "We are..." "You are trapped." "The maid is adorable isn't she?" "Ah my dear Sir." "What a lovely couple, as charming as it is cheerful." "Please make yourselves comfortable," "I like people to be comfortable in my home." "As I was saying, in our times of selfishness and vulgar pleasures." "Believe me, refinement is a concept from another era..." "One that survives thanks only to a few rare and privileged individuals." "Allow me to reward you, as an homage to your good taste," "I want to offer you a Port as a prelude to the most exquisite dinner of your lives, caviar of course, and jellied pheasant," "fresh pineapple for instance and whatever else you might desire with your demanding tastes." "Please, you won't be disappointed." "Madam I..." "At least look at the photos." "Please forgive my friend Madame, he's looking for a very specific type of woman, hence his... nervousness." "Oh but I' m sure he' ll find her." "I don't doubt it and so I rejoice deeply." "What is with this young asshole?" "So you' re a coward." "You didn't have the guts to even look in the album." "You were afraid to find her, afraid of the truth!" "You' re horrible!" "I liked you better drunk!" "Slow down, Pietro!" "Slow down, Pietro!" "So now you' re afraid!" "Stop!" "So we continue the search tomorrow..." "Go away." "Go on get out of here." "I can understand you being brutal, even vulgar." "But you' re taking this woman in blue thing tragically." "That's the worst of all." "You could have understood before..." "Why are you laughing?" "Because I feel good." "What?" "Because I feel good." "Surprised?" "Yes." "You could also have said no." "Why do you laugh?" "It wasn't worth all that trouble to take me with you." "You sure?" "No." "Did you rent the Bentley?" "It cost a fortune!" "It was Edmond's idea." "Could I use it to run a few errands?" "I've got nothing to wear." "Sure." "Aren't you afraid I' ll run away?" "I've got mine, to catch you." "I love when you laugh." "You laugh so seldom." "Maybe that's why I like sad men." "When they laugh all of a sudden." "I thought women only liked cheerful men..." "Oh sure they like them." "Women love to laugh!" "Thank you." "It's because deep down they hope to make them serious at least once, for them...." "A man looks for a woman and finds another one... but doesn't see it." "Doesn't see what?" "That I was all red." "It's pretty." "You found that here?" "Yes." "You like red?" "You prefer blue?" "Or have you forgotten blue..." "Almost..." "You see!" "And you didn't die of it." "Can you see me dead, Aurelie, laying on my bed?" "I would have swallowed sleeping pills, tragic and haggard." "I'd have played some Bartok, for atmosphere." "Or maybe some Schubert..." "" Death and the Maiden"." "Yes, very appropriate." "Ah yes......" "Maybe my woman in blue was death, come to make a date with me..." "No, definitely Bartok." "More masculine." "Not worse just more male." "I'd like to see the expression on their faces if I died suddenly." "Imagine!" "Me barely dead, and here comes my faithful friend." "It's odd how familiar the whole thing feels." "The friend who shows up, Edmond for example." "Suppose... we were to meet And he's calling: 'Pietro, Pietro, hurry up, I know you're there.'" "Your car is downstairs and the key is in the door.'" "What I' m having him say is stupid because" "I never leave my keys in the door." "But it doesn't matter does it, Aurelie?" "No it doesn't." "Good, let's continue then." "If you want." "In the meantime," "Dear Edmond has discovered the empty bottle of sleeping pills." "He understands but refuses to believe it... because he doesn't understand..." "And he stutters "Oh, Pietro"." "Suddenly, yes let's pretend that the phone rings." "The telephone..." "Rings." "Yes." "And the faithful Edmond asks himself:" "Am I going to answer or not?" "Should I or shouldn't I?" "Finally he...he..." "Answers." "Answer Edmond!" "Yes?" "Then Edmond pales For he hears a woman's voice and she thinks that he is me, and he doesn't have the strength to tell her different." "and she says to him...to me" "" We met at a drugstore on the Champ-Elysees," "Remember?" "I wanted to see you again, but I didn't know how to find you, till I saw you on television" "and was able to get your phone number" But since she hears nothing, surprised, she says:" "Hello..." "Hello... and Edmond weakly hangs up." "It's beautiful, isn't it?" "Yes." "It' s true, you' re beautiful in red...." "Not long ago I dreamt..." "I was in this little tiny room, and I kept crossing this woman dressed in red, like you." "But then it was me!" "I don't know, she had a big hat that was hiding her face." "That's odd." "I have a big summer hat that could go with this." "So it is you!" "Yes." "You' re the woman of my dreams!" "What time is it?" "Oh, look a gopher!" "Who was talking about gophers not long ago?" "Ah no it was me!" "I was talking about you..." "Look there is another!" "And another...." "At the 4th gopher the time will be... 1 2:27" "Are you hungry?" "Yes." "I' m very hungry." "It's the country air." "No, when I' m hungry it's..." "the country air." "You never used to talk about death." "When we talk about death it's because we' re going to die." "Proust said that." "But it doesn't take away my appetite." "Have you noticed how serene the faces of the dying are?" "While just before their faces were twisted with their suffering." "What a contrast with babies being born and screaming." "As if they don't want to be born." "Although I've never been able to forget the image of this horrible old woman who was taunting my grandfather on his death-bed." "He kept saying, "Someone tell her to go away."" "Like Proust just before his death, who told his servant that there was a huge woman in the room scaring him." "And the servant answered " But where is she?" "I' ll chase her away."" "And Proust answered "Oh, no." "She's far too horrible."" "And in spite of all that... died peacefully, softly just like my grandfather." "It's strange, isn't it?" "On the one hand this horrible old woman who seems to represent death..." "like Epinal never would have dared to, and on the other hand, the calm and the peace." "It's what we call in French..." "It rhymes with Viandox." "A paradox." "You know it's actually my fault." "If I'd returned from Italy 5 days earlier..." "I would have met her ten days or ten years later, that's all." "And everything would have been to do over again," "But thanks to me, the test is passed." "We' re saved!" "Or lost." "What or who will I dream of now?" "About me..." "But Aurelie, you I can touch, you exist." "I can't dream about you." "I don't need to...." "Bastard!" "A dream is something intangible, and indispensable also." "And I've killed my dream." "We killed it together at Meudon." "Remember?" "But if you wanted a dream, you shouldn't have looked for her." "You' re contradicting yourself, little Hans." "I don't know anymore." "All I know is that what awaits me  is a life where I know everything about tomorrow." "What I' ll do, say, think." "What will you do tomorrow?" "I don't know." "You see!" "But Aurelie, you' re confusing things." "That's ignorance, not mystery." "Without dreams." "And without dreams it's a medical fact that we can't keep living." "And... what about love?" "We can't live without love either." "We really need love also." "Really!" "Let me try!" "What are you doing?" "Making dinner." "Yes but what?" "A surprise!" "A dream dinner..." "And then a dream night." "And then..." "And then a life of dreams." "One that half the world would envy." "Half?" "OK, three-quarters if you want." "You have a career you love, friends, this house...me." "I' m going to buy you glasses, little Hans." "Had you noticed that I' m not all that ugly?" "Pietro."