1
On a hot summer afternoon
on the Briare Canal...
A wagoner...
Olivier Maldone
A gypsy girl...
Zita
At the sluice gate.
Still having your eye on the girls...
You're not 20 years anymore.
Days are all alike...
The clairvoyant Missia
Much happiness...
But... it might happen that
somebody stole something from you.
In the mountains is the Ponds Estate,
that Olivier Maldone would have owned
today if he hadn't quit the family
manor in a fit of anger 20 years ago.
The only ones living there now are
Marcellin Maldone, Olivier's younger brother;
Juste, their uncle...
...and Leonard, the old family servant.
At the Marine tavern.
Put a buck in the hand...
And another one.
Your enemy is inside you.
I see a man and his enemy
in the same man...
A vagabond...
A rich man...
One of them must destroy the other.
Marcellin Maldone was
returning to the estate...
Give me your hand, Zita.
It's my turn to tell fortunes.
I see a gypsy girl
who is a gypsy girl...
...and her DESTINY...
My past... Bah! It's long
gone, who remembers me by now?
After Marcellin's death.
Leonard, I have finally received some
informations. There are traces of
he who is missing, Olivier is still
alive; he should be in
the St-Jean I'Ecluse area,
on the Briare canal.
Olivier is the owner of the estate.
He must be brought here at any price.
In the local train that stops
at St-Jean I'Ecluse.
Impossible to find one's way
in these flat landscapes!
The big dance at St-Jean
at sunday night.
There is no way to dance to this!
The old man is putting us to sleep.
Grab the accordeon, Maldone,
and make us swirl!
And now,
let's play a medley!
Ouch, that Maldone really plays
like a madman!
Tracing Olivier Maldone.
At the break of day...
You are sole master of the Estate.
I have come to seek you.
Back at the family estate, Maldone,
who seems to have settled with his
heritage, has married Flora Lvign,
daughter of a rich neighbouring landowner.
Three years have passed since
the union took place.
Already the trelldom of wealth and
contentment is weighing heavily on him.
While his uncle Juste devotes
himself to his favorite hobby...
...Olivier travels through his
estate on horse.
Olivier, why are you so restless
while free of all worry?
Why do you make Flora unhappy? You
should distract yourselves, travel...
Olivier only gets along with the hired
farmhands, who ressemble so
much the people he used to
know in his former life.
Olivier has followed Juste's advice; he
travels with Flora to escape his restlessness.
But you can't escape destiny...
Do you know who
that lady is?
That's Zita, Monsieur, the dancer,
star of the casino.
That night Flora returned
to the hotel alone.
No... here...
that's not possible...
Delighted to have dined with the past, my
dear. But... I have my life to attend to...
5 o'clock in the morning...
Olivier and Flora return to the Ponds,
but Maldone is constantly haunted.
A strike of madness passed
through Olivier's mind.
Am I turning mad?
I'm not a bad man, Flora, but I
have brought you unhappiness.
This whole thing must end.
Olivier is constantly restless. Everything
leads him back to his obsession...
Every night the prison of
contentment closes in on him...
The next day...
Your behavior is intolerable.
I am protecting Flora's happiness.
What are you, after all? A vagabond,
an adventurer of the road, a...
I have brought trouble and misery
here. Forget me, forgive me.
My duty is to go away, to leave
this place in the hands of those
who are able to ensure happiness
and peace here.
One of them must destroy the other.