1
I never left Indochina.
Camille's hand was ice cold in mine.
Her father and mother had just died.
They had been my dearest friends.
Their plane had crashed
into the ocean.
I had no children.
She had no parents.
The little princess of Annam
became my daughter.
I adopted her.
Prince N'Guyen, his wife and I
had been inseparable.
In our youth we thought...
the world consisted
of inseparable things...
men and women...
mountains and plains...
humans and gods...
Indochina and France.
By adopting Camille
I inherited her parents' land...
increasing the property
my father and I already owned.
The Lang-Sai rubber plantation...
became one of
Indochina's ten biggest.
That was my domain:
15,000 acres of rubber trees.
No!
Watch it!
Mama! We'll never get it right.
Is something upsetting you?
Tomorrow, send away
Mr. Emile's new girl.
Send Hoa away? Why?
Too greedy, too expensive,
bad girl...
mouth too big...
always wants more.
Today it's rice,
tomorrow it's pig...
after that it's buffalo.
Me know many girls
ready to replace her.
Very nice ones,
with smaller mouths.
No. This one you will keep.
Father has never felt better.
He's almost cheerful.
He might even smile soon.
You keep her.
Congaie is no good.
Love costs too much.
But he's happy.
He may never love again.
Does your father train them
a lot?
Every morning
for the past month.
Then they're too tired to work
on the plantation, but he's happy.
Rowing is exhausting.
Harder! Harder!
And in this heat!
Your men-- okay, I understand.
But mine?
Still, I hope my sailors beat them!
But, Admiral, it's my crew.
Eliane, we shouldn't give
these people ideas of victory.
I bet you 2,000 piastres.
Fine, but you'll lose.
Oh, stop it!
In your condition!
Some days you drive me crazy.
We haven't done it in a week.
And what do we do at nap time?
That's not really making love.
And be pregnant during monsoon season?
No thanks! Not me!
Time to go all out!
Madame Devries,
how awful for Mr. Emile!
All that training,
and then to lose. How awful!
Like Raymond says, the Indo-Chinese
aren't built for it. Eh, Raymond?
Calm down, Yvette.
They haven't lost yet.
We won!
Admiral, you owe me 2,000 piastres.
Who won? I saw nothing.
Ladies and gentlemen,
the race was won...
by the crew of Madame Eliane Devries.
Crew members...
Lui Van Min,
Phan Van Dong--
Coxswain: Mr. Emile Devries!
A statue of Joan of Arc,
in stucco...
of uncertain origin,
attributed to a student of Bouscasse.
Bidding starts at 600 piastres.
Sorry I'm late, madame.
I almost bought a bedroom set,
but I only liked the bed.
Buy the bed.
Oh, no. The pieces
have always been together.
They shouldn't be separated.
They'll bring good luck
to whoever buys them.
You are poetic.
That's exactly it, Yvette.
You're a poetic person.
Is that what you came for?
Has everyone seen it?
Thank you, Mr. Gabriel.
Painted with great sensitivity.
Starting price, 300.
Three hundred.
- Four hundred.
- Four-twenty.
Four-fifty.
Four-sixty.
Five hundred.
Madame, please let me have
the painting.
They say you're rich.
I'm not.
I can't continue bidding,
but this landscape means a lot to me.
Sit down, sir.
What is your bid?
Well?
- Wait.
- Stop. I'll lend you the money.
Let go!
Tell me why you like it...
and it's yours.
That's enough.
Madame Devries, 500?
I sketched that landscape
dozens of times as a boy.
But I was never satisfied.
It needed...
that valley and hill
in partial shade.
They don't exist.
The artist invented them.
Me, I wouldn't have dared.
At age ten, one doesn't know
the world needs to be changed.
I need this painting.
I suffocate in Saigon
without the seashore.
I do not parade my feelings
before strangers, as you do.
Especially when something moves me.
All right.
The benefit of the doubt, then.
Sold!
Madame Devries is a collector.
Sold!
Mind your own business!
Me no trafficker.
Me never traffic opium.
French officer knows me.
My madame sick...
I go get medicine.
What is the time?
8:09, Lieutenant.
No boats in the delta after 8:00.
You know what to do.
Stop! That man 's papers are in order!
You're crazy!
They didn't do anything!
In just one year,
they've drained you!
You're already glassy-eyed,
like someone lying in an opium den.
Soon this country will suck you dry.
They'll drown!
Are you proud of yourself?
I followed orders.
I leave indulgence
and generosity to you.
You're like my father.
He always said the same thing.
"Let yourself go.
Follow your instincts."
And he'd disappear
to pursue some passion.
He spread unhappiness
all around him.
I'll never be like that man.
Nobody'll steal what's in my head.
Not even eternal Asia!
Nobody!
You wanted to run away.
You're a deserter. You made me beat you.
You think mothers like
beating their children?
You're my mother and father.
Why are you here?
I'm lost.
I took a wrong turn.
Going where?
I'm looking for the occupants
of a sampan the navy sank last week.
I heard it happened near here.
So you're the one
going village to village.
You're wasting your time.
People here won't tell you a thing.
Would you know something?
Maybe.
He's called Liem.
Let him go.
You're scaring him.
His father's fine too.
He came to see me last night.
We talked very late.
I ordered the sampan sunk.
I thought the boy had drowned.
I even dreamt about it.
I kept seeing it.
Why did you do it?
I had to.
You were right.
There was opium aboard.
They're traffickers...
of high-quality opium.
Bao, the man you sank,
is a well-known supplier.
His father was before him,
and his son will be after him.
If you repeat what I've said,
I'll deny it all.
Don't you mind
how they look at you?
Why should I?
They're my coolies.
They're also men.
I'm their boss, that's all.
Commanding men is a man's job.
Men usually say that.
What's wrong?
I'm regressing back to childhood.
I had to stay this way for hours.
My head would spin.
I'd start dreaming.
Here.
About what?
The admiral who defeated
the Turkish fleet at Lepante.
He was 23.
The hero of all of Europe.
Don Juan of Austria.
What did you dream about?
I wanted to be a boy.
And now?
I don't need to dream.
Everything I love is right here.
Wait.
Don't move.
I think it's stopped now.
Don't get lost this time.
The chief is back from his trip.
What's his mood?
It's always good to see you.
A secret?
With all these people?
Luxury, mystery--
That's all it takes
to seduce a woman.
- You look tired.
- This time it's serious.
In Canton the offensive is ready.
The communists and nationalists
have joined forces.
With Moscow's blessing.
To us!
Now you have no choice.
You'll need protection.
And marriage is
the best protection.
- They're looking.
- I don't care.
No, what?
About the marriage, no.
Very well. To friendship.
Mama...
Tanh will forget me in Paris
when he meets those French girls.
Honestly, how do I look?
- Perfect.
- You always say that.
Do all French girls
have light skin like you?
The difference between people
isn't skin color...
it's this.
It's this. The taste...
the fruit.
A child who only crunches apples...
can't be like me.
I'm an Asian.
A mango.
- When will Tanh return?
- Not until next year.
Paris still fascinates him?
He asks whether I love him.
Well?
What's it like to love someone?
When it happens, you'll know.
I wanted to protect Camille.
She knew nothing about my life,
the men I'd met...
or those I'd loved.
I had had casual affairs...
the kind that leave no trace.
Jean-Baptiste met me at the house
where I grew up, near Saigon.
My father never wanted to sell it.
It contained his whole life
and all my childhood memories.
While waiting for you, I thought...
"He won't be here at 4:00.
He'll be a little late."
So I thought I'd quickly tidy up...
close the house and leave.
As if nothing had happened.
Our first meeting...
our rendezvous here, all erased.
Jean-Baptiste--
There's still time to keep
our story from beginning.
I should have fled.
But nothing existed but him.
I know he loved me too.
Prepare him the opium.
Good day, sir.
Eliane's not here.
Yes, I know.
Thursday she's at the bank.
She'd brought no one here
in years.
I'm going to tell you a story.
I'm not interested.
Oh, no, you don't!
You're in my house!
Now listen!
Father was so afraid of losing me.
He was capable of anything then.
OId Tchung told me one day...
that Father had offered
Jean-Baptiste money.
How much?
How much is your daughter worth?
Go ahead. Humiliate me, pay me!
Name a price.
Give me a figure!
100,000 piastres? 200,000?
I saw how the steward, the coolies, the
bankers were all at her beck and call!
So it'll cost you!
500,000.
If I leave her to you,
500,000.
Say it! I want to hear it!
Yes. 500,000.
No, sir.
Such things don't have a price.
You have your life ahead of you.
She and I don't. Leave her!
Jean-Baptiste?
Mister officer gone.
When will he be back?
Me not know.
"Flee, jealousy, tortures--
Wherever you are,
your soul will embrace mine."
Now, lovely archangel,
it's your turn.
Stop it.
I'm trying my luck.
An apparition!
You, here?
I've looked everywhere for you.
Talk to me, Jean-Baptiste, talk.
There will always be hours,
days and weeks to myself.
All to myself.
Understand?
The same goes for you.
We're two people.
I need you.
You're part of my life now.
I need your voice...
your tenderness, your hands--
Protect me.
You must protect me.
Stop it.
This pleading woman isn't you.
I want the world,
not a little corner like a tomb.
I want to discover the world.
Are you upset, madame?
No. Why?
Because you're crying.
Go away.
Go away. You're crazy!
Forgive me.
Jean-Baptiste!
Stop!
Stop!
Get out.
Satait, please leave.
Life continues as before.
The sound of footsteps
on dead leaves...
sap oozing from
the wounded trees...
and above all, what I loved most
and others didn't--
the smell of rubber.
I didn't believe it.
I'm so used to Guy's jokes.
- You arrived when?
- Two days ago.
You'll be staying?
Tanh was expelled from France.
What? What did you say?
He's been expelled. Positively.
But why?
She knows about Yen-Bay?
It's her country.
She's entitled to know.
Three months ago,
Indo-Chinese troops...
massacred their French officers.
So we executed the assassins.
End of story.
Not at all! In Paris, supporters
of the assassins demonstrated.
The demonstrators were jailed.
End of story.
Not at all.
It triggered solidarity movements.
They marched up the Elysee!
And Tanh was among them.
So they kicked him out.
And now?
Now it is over, Camille.
I was bad. I was punished.
On the boat coming back...
I thought about
our childhood here.
Soon this land
will be ours again.
I know my son.
Youthful follies,
bad influences in Paris--
- I know how to straighten him out.
- Money?
He'll be an oil and soap merchant,
like me.
He'll be very rich.
Richer than the French engineers.
I was against
his studying in France.
But you and your friend Guy
kept insisting.
Young people like Tanh
are this country's future.
An Indo-Chinese elite
should be created.
We are the elite,
because we are rich.
Tanh is an intellectual.
Business wouldn't interest him.
He should stop dreaming.
- What's wrong?
- I've cried a lot.
My buffalo died
and my boy is sick.
The boy took the remedy?
Yes, but he's hungry
and I need money.
You'd gamble with money.
Send me your wife.
I'll give her the sack of rice
and the medicine.
You will get nothing.
Some champagne?
No thanks, Aunt.
Camille's mother was my cousin.
We always wished for
a marriage between our children.
When you adopted Camille...
that was my only condition.
The ties must not be broken.
Now she's my daughter
and I want her to be happy.
Two boys--
They'll give us two boys.
We'll be happy in our old age.
The older one
will marry a rich girl...
and our children
will care for us.
And when our time comes,
we'll die contentedly...
surrounded by our children
and grandchildren.
I hadn't seen Jean-Baptiste again,
but I hadn't forgotten him.
What did people know
about our story?
Certainly not my distress.
I hid my feelings so well.
And then we lived in peace,
under an illusion.
The thunderbolt shattered
the "Day of Tranquility."
My father and I were the only Europeans
invited by the mandarins.
They killed the mandarin!
It's the communists!
They'll kill us all!
Run!
Madame Devries, Mr. Emile!
Come quickly!
The fire was no accident!
All the rubber has burned up.
When can the work start again?
The vats need cleaning.
- Maybe tomorrow.
- Why not now?
- They're afraid they'll get shot.
- By whom?
Boom! Danger! No work.
Don't go! I think I heard shots.
You think? Yes? No?
Make up your mind!
There is no danger!
Back to work!
Raymond, start the generator.
Too dangerous.
Wait for the police.
Kim! The generator!
The Devries are alive.
There's no danger!
Get going!
Hurry up!
I won't go to school Monday.
When I'm not with you,
I imagine awful things.
That they burn the house, and...
kill you and Grandpa.
You mustn't be afraid.
If we're afraid, they've won.
Guy said,
"Be prepared for cruelty."
The crank!
Firing you for a minor illness--
that's inhuman.
After years of serving her.
That's just not human.
You can say what you want,
she's got nerve.
She enjoys humiliating people.
- I considered her a friend.
- Shut up.
I'll say this--
she'll get what she deserves.
A lack of love is never good.
That's the worst illness.
Keep on feeling superior.
The truth is
nobody here likes you.
Even the trees wouldn't grow
if they had a choice!
I pity you.
Your future looks bleak!
Everyone will leave you.
Without love, there's a smell.
It keeps you from breathing.
Good-bye, madame.
Your looks are deceiving.
Sure, you're beautiful.
But it's sad
when there 's no inner beauty.
Get in, Raymond.
There's nothing for us here.
It stinks.
My respects.
You'll talk soon enough.
They average one communist
per hundred arrests.
My respects, sir.
I'm Inspector Perrot...
from the backup contingent.
What did you get out of him?
Remove his handcuffs.
Your father came this morning.
You were always a respectful son.
Rebelling against the authorities...
is as serious as rebelling
against your dad and ancestors.
Perrot...
I'll drop him, you punch.
Ready?
Harder.
I know all about you, Kao.
Go back to your cell meetings.
Nothing has changed.
Except you'll report back to me
every week, starting next week.
If not, you'll be in Poulo-Condore
prison with your father and brothers.
All right?
Wait! To the side!
What's going on?
Stop!
Get the doctor! Hurry!
It's the prisoner's blood.
I'm alive?
You saved my life.
Leave her alone.
What's wrong?
What's the matter?
Is it serious?
Mama, I can't marry Tanh.
I love another man.
He saved my life.
I love him.
Help me, Mama, please.
My darling, my Camille,
of course I'll help you.
I promise.
Who is he?
If I don't marry him, I'll die.
Who is he?
The officer who saved me.
His name is Jean-Baptiste.
And he-- he loves you?
He will. I'm sure of it.
How can you be so sure?
You wouldn't understand.
Nobody can understand.
He's always with me.
He talks to me, smiles at me.
Sweeps me off my feet,
takes me in his arms.
I am his.
You have enough eggs?
Hurry!
You want to ruin everything?
He's not here.
He won't come.
Sure he'll come...
at the last moment,
so everyone sees him.
I'm sure he's hiding nearby,
watching you.
So, that's the surprise!
A Yule log, like in France!
A real Christmas!
Coming?
Fan it. Fan it.
The record will melt.
It's not made for this climate.
I'd like to be alone with you...
in a small mountain chalet...
with a smoking chimney,
like in fairy tales.
Stay here. No!
- I'm leaving Saigon tomorrow.
- Where to?
- Haiphong.
- Perfect.
Near the ocean.
You'll discover the world.
The decision wasn't mine.
I was transferred...
thanks to you.
A woman decides my fate.
That's how you run your colonies?
- My daughter's crazy about you.
- What?
She thinks she is.
Same difference.
- I hardly know her!
- It's not you. It's her.
Camille is young, romantic.
She thinks you saved her life.
But I didn't do anything!
You won't be able to resist her.
She's irresistible.
I wanted to save her from you.
I don't want her to associate
love with suffering.
Good night.
Save her from me?
You just want revenge.
You feel threatened by freedom.
Let go!
- You won't let others live!
- Let go!
You think you have
a monopoly on life...
and you control me,
Camille, your coolies--
That's awful.
What do you want?
To stifle Camille
like your father stifled you?
You treat people
as if they were trees!
You buy them and drain them.
You're vultures!
You've lost your mind, Le Guen!
Follow me immediately.
Le Guen!
Lili, come with me.
No, I'm cold.
I don't wish to be disturbed.
Your driver brought your clothes
yesterday while you slept.
You feel better now?
A little better.
Bring us some tea.
You, prepare the betel.
I was at the school.
It's a disaster!
Camille's in quarantine.
The other students
yell insults at her.
"Little congaie, chink."
The Mother Superior
had to isolate her.
I'll go and get her.
She refuses to see you.
You spoke to her?
Yes.
I don't care. I'm going.
Listen, Lili.
We'll get them married fast.
I'll take them to the palace.
The court has to approve
the marriage. It's the custom.
I'll speak to Camille.
You two should be reconciled.
Meet us at Hu.
I can't promise it.
You must forget that man.
I'll never understand
French people's love stories.
There's nothing but folly,
fury and suffering.
Just like our war stories.
You know the secret.
I've already told you.
Yes, I know.
Indifference.
After that Christmas Eve...
Jean-Baptiste's transfer
became a sanction.
He was sent to
the most remote outpost...
Dragon Island
in the bay of Ha-Long.
I had thought
he would refuse...
that he would quit
the French Navy.
I thought I knew him.
I didn't know him.
Sheer mockery, dear friend.
We're deep in mockery.
You either fight it
or do as I do.
Revel in it.
You can be a hero here,
but nobody'll know.
A mere drop of water
in this ocean of jade...
but it's your drop of water.
And our presence here?
Nothing.
Ghosts of the empire.
From here,
observation of foreign vessels.
Some sampans, fishermen...
nothing.
The pirates stay far away
from the bay.
Occasionally we make our presence
known to the world.
We fire the cannon at a target,
a suspicious boat.
Nothing much.
But once a month...
the celebration.
The big celebration!
The slave market.
Up north they recruit
manual laborers...
volunteers.
They have no choice.
They're too hungry.
Here's where we serve France!
The volunteers are brought here...
and under your lofty supervision
the southern buyers pick workers...
for the plantations
of Cochin China.
You need do nothing,
just be here.
For the first time,
I let someone else take over.
Madame Minh Tam
had arranged everything.
Camille was with her
and would marry Tanh.
Camille returned to her relatives.
She was shut inside the palace
for days of meditation...
and purification,
imposed by court tradition...
upon fiances.
Being a European,
I couldn't be at the ceremony.
But Madame Minh Tam had arranged
a meeting with Camille...
the day before the engagement.
I saw Emperor Ming Mang's tomb.
He was 25 when he began
searching for his burial place.
One day he found the place. It
resembled a place he'd dreamt about.
So, he designed it.
He had trees and flowers pIanted...
in gentle, continuous lines.
Not a single broken line.
Once it looked exactly
like in his dream...
he said...
"I can die."
I also dream of a harmonious place,
but to live in.
That place exists, Camille.
It's yours.
The domain is yours.
Soon you'll be my daughter.
She was so gentle,
so calm...
as if she had
accepted her fate...
to marry the man
chosen for her.
Actually, she had secretly
decided her future.
That's why she looked
so beautiful.
Tell them we know
what we're doing.
I loved her more than anything...
and I had never told her.
She was leaving for good.
She had decided
to join Jean-Baptiste.
She had chosen...
and I hadn't wanted to see it,
hadn't wanted to understand...
that she loved...
as one loves the first time.
Nothing would stop her.
Continue.
They didn't arrest her
at the Hanoi station.
She knew they'd be
waiting for her.
I remembered her father's phrase...
"In Asia one doesn't die."
I hoped he would travel with her...
and protect her.
Tai!
There 's been no progress
since yesterday.
Wait!
Wait!
Well?
I'm heading north...
to the sea.
My name's Sao.
Sao!
It's for a family.
That's enough.
You'll answer for
Camille's misery!
Camille is free!
She is living her life without
owing anything to anyone.
I'm leaving too.
You dare to abandon the sacred
altar of your ancestors!
On your knees! That's an order.
Obedience has
made slaves of us.
The French taught me
about freedom and equality.
I'll fight them with those.
Good-bye, Mother.
Cholera, most likely.
The north is cursed.
On Dragon Island they recruit
for the plantations.
There we'll get work and rice.
I often dreamed about her.
I don't remember static dreams.
I saw her walking through
the gently moving countryside.
The scenery entered her body
through her eyes, like blood.
I thought: Now she has
Indochina inside her.
We are saved.
We're going to live!
At dusk the boats
would pick up the volunteers.
They arrived by the hundreds,
hoping for a better life.
The boats took them
to Dragon Island at night...
to hide this shameful
human traffic in the darkness.
This way.
Get down.
Go on, down.
Darling!
You see them there,
docile, squatting.
Someday they'll rise up as one,
and we'll have to leave.
What happened?
The start of an uprising.
You mean a riot.
They wanted to stay together.
They tried inciting the others
with war cries.
They had to be silenced.
But the child?
A public menace!
A hysterical creature! A devil...
gesticulating, howling.
Control yourself.
They're watching.
Nobody saw what I did.
What's he doing?
Picking himself a congaie?
Do something! Go, get them!
Hurry up! Shit!
You're completely crazy.
Goddamn it!
Start the boarding.
Sao!
They didn't do anything!
You killed them!
Shut up!
Go, Camille! Hurry!
Stop her! Stop that bitch!
Run!
Run fast!
Guards, take her to the fort!
Stay where you are!
Stop them!
They'll attack!
Stop that, Lieutenant.
The bitch killed him.
She's mine. I want her!
She's in my protection.
You have no right.
Let go of me.
I want to kill her!
I want her tried!
I'm the one who'll decide that.
Get down there!
- Shoot!
- Down!
- Shoot.
- Down!
Goddamn it! Shoot!
You're lying!
My daughter's not a murderer.
Yes, a bullet in the head.
Blood, brains all over me...
my shirt, face, eye.
Enough. Put that down.
That chink may be your daughter,
but she's a terrorist, communist.
- Such hatred in her eyes!
- Enough!
If I catch her and that bastard,
they'll get what Hebrard got.
Two bullets in the head,
just like dogs!
That's enough, Castellani.
Just leave.
I'll go find her.
Nonsense. Let me do my job.
The Corsican briefed you?
You'll go with him.
Officially, he's in charge.
But you'll report directly to me.
Minh, I love her
as if she were my daughter.
Then why send Castellani?
He'll kill her.
Because he won't give up
until he finds her.
And Minh will be there.
Trust me!
What did they say?
I didn't answer my father.
Camille was mine.
What did they want?
I wouldn't discuss her
with anyone.
I felt my silence
would protect her...
that it would conceal
her having killed someone...
that time would erase it.
They headed toward
the labyrinth of Ha-Long bay.
A holy place
for all Indo-Chinese.
Mountain people, peasants,
fishermen from the Gulf of Siam...
they all know about it
without ever having seen it.
They know of the curse
of these islands.
When I heard that Camille and
Jean-Baptiste had fled there...
I read every book...
every account I could find.
They all say the same thing.
They're never seen again...
those who foolishly or boldly...
braved the curse.
They become invisible to others.
Extraordinary.
They're alive.
Save her.
I want her to live.
Take them to the valley.
I'll be there. Speak to no one.
For centuries my country
was often invaded...
but no foreigner knows
the entrance to this valley.
We'll hide you there.
You're not prisoners,
but you can't leave except with me.
Don't be afraid.
We're safe here.
I'm not afraid.
If you surrender now,
they'll pardon you.
Go see Guy. He'll help you.
He'll say it's not your fault.
Tomorrow, when I wake up,
if you're gone, I'll understand.
The water is rising.
The cave will soon be flooded.
We'll come back
after the monsoon.
We must leave.
Good-bye.
Goddamn shitty country!
Can't the old monkey help us
instead of just bowing?
He bows because you're
a respectable man. A white man.
Get some help!
Hurry!
Have you been searching long?
Three months.
It's a very difficult task.
There are things
that women know...
that we, the men, don't know.
Where are they?
Who has seen something here?
They're there?
Women! Where's
the tall French soldier...
small Indo-Chinese girl?
Minh! Translate!
That's it. That's it!
Finally, a lead!
Where?
They're mocking me! Shit!
How was your trip, sir?
Useful, Minh, as always.
China is a great reservoir.
And you?
I'm talking to you.
Nothing, obviously.
We've spent four months
all over Tonkin.
Informers, nothing!
Threats, nothing!
Rewards offered, nothing!
It's clear...
either they're in China,
or they drowned.
It's time to call it off.
I give up.
You'll find them.
It's your only job.
You'll find them
if it takes your whole life.
Inspector Castellani is right.
We won't find her.
She rolls up in a ball
And nibbles her knees
That rubber gal
All the things
you can do with her
She grabs you
and you turn into mush
She's something else
She'll put you out of joint
Was she your surprise?
She's quite a number
A funny little thing
She's the real thing
and she suits every taste
That rubber gal
When she's out to please you
the things she'll do
Because she's such a tease
I'll tell you, just between us
Well, that rubber gal
Is me
Yes, that's what they call me
Marshmallow is like wood
next to me
As for the snake-woman
I'm just as good as she
I'll do a cartwheel for you
and pinch my cheeks too
I hop like a bird
I taunt you
I give you the eye
But with my belly button
How are you?
All right.
I'm glad you brought me here.
- She has a nice figure.
- Ah! You noticed it too?
The champagne is on me.
Let me kiss you.
It's so good to see you, especially
with what happened to you. So awful.
How are your children?
Raymond took them with him
to France.
It simplifies things in a way.
But when I think
they're 10,000 kilometers away...
I could cry forever.
Forgive me, Yvette.
I must leave.
Won't you stay for a drink?
And I was being sincere.
You shouldn't act so proud, with
what they're saying about Camille.
There's talk about you, too,
in Saigon.
Yes, my dear Yvette.
"It's awful."
Today I staked out
a small parcel of land with Kim.
For ten minutes I thought only
of my rubber trees.
And then, while I was dressing...
I fell to my knees, sobbing.
And here I am, almost cheerful.
Sometimes the despair lessens...
as if it had evaporated, gone.
Other times, it takes over.
Swear you're not hiding anything?
Same old story:
We search everywhere.
The informers are going crazy.
We follow each lead, nothing.
She's becoming a legend...
an Indo-Chinese Joan of Arc.
You think she's still alive?
The truth! Will you find her?
Yes, I will find her.
Go in the pagoda.
Don't let anyone see you.
You must leave.
You can't stay here.
We have more important people
to hide.
Come with us, Camille.
The Party needs you.
Much later I learned of Tanh's
role and his importance.
He was among the secret heads
of Indochina's communist party.
Xuy will try to get you
into China.
That's all I can do for you.
He had convinced his friends to
protect Camille and Jean-Baptiste.
Any news from my mother?
None. Neither from
your mother nor mine.
That's all in the past.
Stay inside the wagon.
You're a white deserter.
Don't forget that.
But there's nobody!
This place is completely deserted!
There are eyes everywhere.
Put that in your ignorant
French officer's head.
You're a threat to our safety.
The French are
blocking every road.
Even leaving you here during
the performance is dangerous.
Jean-Baptiste.
Push harder.
You wanted to stay.
I warned you.
This isn't for men.
Wipe that off. You look like
a devil. You'll scare the baby.
Harder. Here he is!
It's a boy.
You have a son. A son is good.
Better than a girl.
Death to the land robbers
who starved us!
Death to mandarins and notables.
They support the French!
You're worthless cowards!
Your pay, your bonuses...
carrying on with submissive
congaies, that you know!
But when it comes to ideas,
forget it!
Because of sheep like you,
France will lose the empire.
I think I'm fighting Asia
all by myself.
I'm tired.
All right.
Disturbances broke out here, here,
and last Thursday, here.
What does that mean?
It means someone's moving along
that line, starting fires.
Agreed?
Now, who travels
on this route...
without attracting attention?
Who has been traveling from village
to village for centuries...
so that it seems as natural
as the wind or the rain?
So natural that
you don't even stop them.
Well, who?
Theatrical troupes!
Actors in our country
are free and neutral.
Since centuries ago.
The communists couldn't possibly
have corrupted them.
You've no right
to suspect them.
Yes. Well, within one week
I want all the actors...
dancers,singers
and puppeteers...
who tour in northern Tonkin
to be arrested.
Code name: "Operation Molire."
In five hours we're in China,
Yunnan province.
You know what Yunnan means?
"The land south of the clouds."
Where are you going?
Not far. Don't worry.
With the child?
In the name of the Father,
the Son and the Holy Ghost...
I baptize you...
Etienne Marie Loic.
My baby. My little baby.
You have killed.
They'll kill you.
The child will also die.
Let them go.
We must flee.
You'll see them again someday.
For that you must live.
Flee with us.
She had no time to become attached
to you. You had just been born.
I've often wondered
whether you should know all this.
I had thought of meeting
Jean-Baptiste's family.
I didn't do it.
Neither did they.
Wait, Lieutenant. Calm down.
He's hungry.
What can I do?
Find a woman.
Congaie! Congaie!
At every stop, Indo-Chinese women
gave you their milk.
That's how the legend began.
With you.
All the women claimed
they'd fed you.
Even some who'd been dry
for years.
Even some that had
never seen you.
And then the legend included
Camille and Jean-Baptiste.
It spread across
the whole country...
from village to village...
from the border
of China to Saigon.
Why did you bring me here?
Nobody move!
Follow them!
Hurry up.
Tell me, Guy.
Why am I here?
Camille's in Poulo-Condore prison.
She's alive!
Get her out.
I want to see her.
You won't! Nobody can see her.
Not even I--
Stop! Stop talking!
You're in charge.
I want Camille.
In Indochina right now...
a hundred troupes are
performing Camille's story.
I can do nothing!
Get her out of prison! Please!
Don't you understand?
Not only won't she get out,
but she'll end up a communist!
Poulo-Condore prison is the world's
largest communist breeding ground.
You go in a criminal,
a prostitute, a nationalist...
you come out a Marxist!
And I hope that she does
become a communist!
It's her only chance!
Everyone else dies!
Now I know who you are.
Nothing!
You're nothing but words.
You're worse than a coward.
You're there.
You watch, sniff around,
and you talk!
You wonder why
I never slept with you?
I didn't want you as a lover!
Women need more than words!
Eliane!
Eliane!
Madame, this is Etienne.
Please sign here.
Him ugly.
Him a drop of mud.
You're right, Shen.
Very ugly.
Not handsome at all.
Not much big.
Not pretty, dressed "anywhen."
Not "anywhen," Shen.
It's "any old way."
The evil spirits are listening.
If we say he's handsome,
they'll harm him.
Give me Le Guen.
What'll you do with him?
I'm awaiting orders from Paris.
Let me question him.
What he knows about the
communist networks and leaders...
is of major interest to us.
Three points, Mr. Asselin.
One: Le Guen doesn't talk.
He hasn't spoken since his arrest.
Not even to my chief of staff,
his classmate.
Two: If I hand him over to you,
he might talk.
But I'd rather not.
We know your methods.
Three: Le Guen is a sailor.
His case will be
tried by sailors.
Any relevant information
will be passed along to you.
Thanks. Another example
of navy-police cooperation.
That's what makes empires great.
You've decided to talk.
I'm listening.
I have one request.
Only one.
Jean-Baptiste.
Hello.
Hello, Eliane.
They gave me
24 hours of freedom.
I gave my word.
I'll ship out tomorrow morning.
I'll be tried in Brest.
A trial here would have
harmed the navy's honor...
and placed France on trial
in Indochina.
I have one day
to settle all my affairs.
Will you take him to France
to your family?
No. I'm asking you to keep him.
Later on, we'll see.
You accept?
I wouldn't have let you take him.
You haven't changed.
I never had a little baby
of my own.
Where will you spend the night?
I don't know.
Take him to the house
in Saigon.
He should spend a night
with his father.
Do you want Shen to help you?
No, I'll manage.
I'll see you off tomorrow.
Any news?
None whatsoever.
You'll see her again.
She's gotten so strong.
Did they sleep well?
Me not know.
You didn't go upstairs?
No. Baby crying last night,
then sleep.
My Etienne.
My darling.
We're going home...
back to our home.
Madame! Madame Devries!
Swear you didn't do it!
Swear it!
That I didn't do what?
Jean-Baptiste is dead,
and you killed him.
He's in Emile's house.
The gun is in his hand.
No one kills himself
while holding his own baby!
Calm down, Eliane.
His day of freedom!
You were all in on it!
He was free, free to die...
free to get shot!
I'll fight. I'll get proof against you,
the army, the government!
Stop it!
It's the communists!
The communists.
He infiltrated them,
then he betrayed them.
He betrayed everybody.
He got what he deserved.
It's hopeless. By noon all Saigon
will be convinced it was suicide.
Seal off Mr. Devries' house.
Inform the Chief of the Cabinet
and Admiral Josselin. I'm on my way.
As expected,
it was ruled a suicide.
Fighting for
Jean-Baptiste's memory...
was like battling against
France and the empire.
So I wrote to Saigon's
leading newspaper.
It was a simple letter...
saying your father loved life...
far too much to decide
to die like that.
I accompanied him to the boat,
as I'd promised him.
Without you,
I would have followed him.
You were five years old.
I had no news about your mother
except that she was alive.
To have her pardoned,
I wrote to the president...
the Minister of Justice,
the Minister of Colonies...
and the Governor General.
None of them answered.
I didn't do anything!
I did nothing.
It's not me. It's my parents.
- They say you're--
- I'm what?
A Red! A dirty communist.
Tell them it's true.
In my beloved domain,
you had become the little king.
Bankers pressured me every day.
They wanted my lands.
I wanted to save everything
for my daughter and you.
Once Camille was free,
things would be like before.
Then, one night, Guy called.
He spoke as if there hadn't been
three years of silence between us.
Ladies and gentlemen...
bow deeply to the woman I love.
Pig!
I forgive you.
I don't.
Never mind. I'm leaving.
Don't hold back.
I won't either.
Make my last day unforgettable.
I spent half my life here,
thanks to my Chinese.
Why leave?
Dismissed, fired, discarded.
Will you have me?
You're like the Popular Front...
like the military,
like everyone.
Guy Asselin isn't liked.
Where to?
To some fragment of the empire.
The innocent are kicked out...
the guilty will go free.
Drink up, my friends.
Drink, so I'll forget my troubles.
And if you like secrets,
interrogate each other.
You know all about Saigon.
I was merely the mailbox,
the post office.
I'm relieving you
of your oaths of silence.
Tonight we tell all.
Come on.
Do I have a destiny?
Hurry back to Guy.
Men like him
shouldn't be left alone.
His type is always getting hurt.
My turn.
My turn!
Come!
- My turn!
- It's easy.
Guy knew before anyone else.
A few days later,
it was official.
The Popular Front opened the jails
and pardoned the prisoners.
Stay back!
The pardoned prisoners will be
transported to Saigon by truck.
They will be freed
at police headquarters.
Let them through!
My child, my darling.
How thin you've gotten.
The Red Princess!
There she is!
I'll carry your bag.
That's okay.
I tried everything
to get you out.
I prayed.
I'd have given my life.
I was afraid you'd die.
I've kept everything.
The house, the estate, the lands.
They're yours.
I'm not going back.
- I'm leaving.
- What are you saying?
- Please, just think.
- I've thought for five years.
It's too late, Mama.
I can't go backwards.
I have no past.
I've forgotten everything.
Otherwise, I'd have
died of sorrow.
What's his name?
Etienne. He's a wonderful boy.
Listen.
Try.
I'll help.
My darling.
I don't want him to know what I've
lived through, how I suffered.
I want him to be happy.
My darling.
Go to France!
Take him there.
Your Indochina is no more.
It's dead.
You sold it?
Yes.
Many piastres?
Many.
You buy other plantation?
No, Shen. You know I won't.
Satait and Kim and me,
we go where?
You're staying.
It was decided
with Madame Minh Tam.
Mr. Emile also stays.
And you? Go where?
I left for France...
for another life.
I brought only you.
Tomorrow France loses
Indochina for good.
The Vietnamese came
with a big delegation.
Your mother, Camille,
is in that hotel...
in room 212.
Do you want to see her?
Do you?
I don't.
You saw her?
The lobby was very crowded.
Policemen, security officers
and barriers.
I realized how ridiculous
the situation was.
I imagined throwing myself at
an Indo-Chinese woman, yelling...
"Mama!"
So I thought
a miracle ought to happen.
I hoped one of them would shout,
"Etienne, my son!"
I waited...
a long time.
Nothing happened.
So I left.
You're always joking.
No. You are my mother.
What's the matter?
I broke my heel.
"The next day, July 21, 1954...
the Geneva Conference concluded...
ending 15 years of turmoil...
and initiating the division
into two distinct nations...
of what would henceforth
be called Vietnam."