Is the Renoir house around here?
- What do you want?
- There's a job for me.
With a painter.
- Who told you that?
- Mr. Renoir's wife.
Right. We were expecting you.
- Who are you?
- Nobody.
Somebody without a family.
You lie. Mrs. Renoir is dead. Dead!
Yes?
Is he telling the truth?
That the lady has died?
You can go in, the boss is waiting.
Do I scare you, dear?
No... no.
Show me your hands.
- What's your name?
- Andre.
Andre Heuschling.
And you state...
that it was my poor wife who sent you?
She told me that I could pose for you.
The girl from nowhere...
sent by a dead woman.
I think we'll work together.
- Vermilion.
- Vermilion, of course.
- Got it.
- Sienna.
I'll add it.
Little by little, baker.
Just a little turd.
- What should I do?
- Huh?
Whatever you want.
If you pose for me...
you have to be available all day.
I'll manage.
Do you work somewhere?
Here and there.
I am an artist.
Artist?
I'll be...
What kind of artist?
All kinds.
Actress.
Dancer, singer.
Where am I?
You didn't even paint me.
What did I pose for?
Tomorrow, dear.
I can't promise anything,
I have things to do.
Come earlier.
To make the most of the good light.
Give her five francs for her trouble.
Can you give her five francs?
All right?
I charge 10 francs.
Boss? Do you mind if I move?
If I did mind, I'd paint apples.
I had a friend who was a painter,
he lived not far from here, in Aix.
He used to hide
to get away from the models...
who prowled around his studio.
What did he paint?
Apples... fittingly.
And wooden mannequins.
I could never do that.
I need life.
I love the skin.
The velvety skin of a young girl.
Don't be shy!
What are you doing?
- I'm catching animals.
- Why aren't you in school?
My father says nothing is learned there.
I thought you didn't have a family.
My brothers are fighting in the war,
my mother died and my father's idle.
- Who's your father?
- The old man.
What's your name?
Claude. They call me Coco.
I'm Andre. They call me Dde.
Are you ready?
Yes, boss, I'm coming!
Are you happy with your new model?
Her skin doesn't repel the light,
you did well to send her to me.
I told myself she was a little Renoir.
Oh... Little Renoirs.
You gave me three.
With this damn war, I'm missing two.
Jean...
My Jeannot.
What have they done to him?
Don't worry. He's okay.
Will they send him back alive?
Whole?
Come quickly, it's the boss!
Shit... shit!
Shit... shit!
Not so fast!
If you want to help me, work properly.
Show me your brush.
It's not the good one.
I told you to grab the flat brush.
Do you listen to me or don't you care?
Did you read
the book of fables I gave you?
I haven't had the time.
I've excused you
from going to school, but...
certainly not from studying.
Do you understand?
Will he stay there?
Coco, leave us. Go read your fables.
- What about the paintings?
- Well... later.
You are very modest for an actress.
Actress doesn't mean whore.
Sit down.
I have a son who's an actor.
- Pierre.
- Really?
Aeneas.
In film?
Thank God not!
The theater!
It's not much better.
- Why do you say that?
- It's not a real job.
A job where you use your hands...
to make something...
that lasts.
It lasts in people's heads.
Just wind.
Compared...
to a chair...
a house...
a pair of shoes.
A plate.
Are you always like this?
How?
Grumpy.
Never while I work.
What about the third son?
Jean?
- What does he do?
- Everything and nothing.
He'll wind up in the cavalry.
On the eve of the war...
Misfortune...
he was wounded.
Gangrene, too.
It should be us...
the old, the sick...
who should be sent there.
To the mud and the trenches.
Get up. Walk a little.
They're my father's gloves.
He can't put them on.
- Who's this baby?
- My brother Jean.
- He's handsome.
- In truth, not so much.
- And this is you?
- No, it's my elder brother Pierre.
Is he the actor?
- That's you!
- No, it's not me!
Are you sure?
I said it wasn't me.
Your mother was beautiful.
I don't know.
I knew her when she was old and fat.
Show me your tits.
- What's with you?
- Show them.
Why?
- You show them to the master.
- It's not the same.
- It's art.
- Yeah, sure.
You'll do it too.
You'll end up in the old man's bed.
Like my mother, like all the others.
Jean!
Come over everyone! Jean has arrived!
My Jeannot!
My God, so skinny!
Didn't they feed you?
They fed me in the army,
but not at the hospital.
We'll fatten you!
Come and see your father.
Are you all right? Do you need any help?
Boss! He's here!
- Second lieutenant?
- Yes.
You owe me respect, rookie.
So you're healed?
If I were healed, I'd be in combat.
If you were healed, you'd be dead.
Coco! Please!
Jean!
Jean!
Is your wound serious?
It'll get better.
I'll limp for a while.
I'll have that officer charm!
I saw Pierre in Paris.
He was demobilized.
He still needs an operation.
- Again?
- Because of his arm.
He with one arm, you lame.
Me, on a wheelchair.
With a pillow under my ass...
We'll do fine.
They'll demobilize you too.
For the moment, I'm recovering.
Time to heal the wound.
You're not planning
on going back to the front?
If the doctors say
that I can go, I'll go.
Jean...
Don't force destiny.
We must let go in life.
Like a cork in a stream.
I know your cork theory.
It's not a theory, it's reality.
Consider when I was a porcelain painter,
the arrival of machines decided my fate.
If we had continued
decorating by hand...
I'd have been
a plate painter all my life.
And happy to be one.
Eggplant fritters?
I dreamt about them.
Where is Gabrielle?
Any news, Dad?
No.
Did she come to mom's burial?
Yes, of course.
She had promised to write.
And?
The mail service these days...
She was in love
with a postman from Cagnes.
He was mobilized.
If you're still hungry,
I can make you an omelet.
No, thank you.
Any rice pudding left?
Sweet tooth, like your father.
Has he returned to painting figures?
Yes. In the studio every day.
And all thank to Dde!
Oh...
- What is it?
- Go get us a lamp.
That's it.
You'd better leave.
Jean, if you'd like to see your father.
You'll see, you'll sleep well tonight.
Good night.
Good night, dad.
Did you lose a piece of bone?
Nearly two inches.
Will it grow back?
No.
But I manage fine.
They wanted to amputate it.
It was mom who saved my leg.
Describe the war.
It's the war.
- I made you a brioche.
- Thank you!
Want to help me out?
Take a necklace to her.
Take the emerald.
The boss wants you to wear it.
Why the familiar treatment?
Excuse me.
Are you Jean?
I saw you in a painting.
I just saw you in a painting too.
He makes me fat.
He turns me into a girl.
There you go. Ready, boss.
You just...
swallowed a model for my father.
I understand you.
Renoir's paintings make you hungry.
Do you want to eat me?
Yellow six.
- Red.
- Boss?
Do you mind if I stretch a bit?
No, no.
Naples yellow.
I'm tired.
I haven't slept.
Want to know why?
No.
I met a new friend. A wonderful lover.
Could you assume a pose, please?
Whichever one you prefer.
Yeah, sure. Work comes first.
Yes. Add some pure white.
I read that a great actress
couldn't play the part...
of someone in love
without having her adventures.
What do you think, boss?
Nothing.
Nothing.
You're painting faster and faster.
All my life I was full of complications,
nowadays, I simplify.
Strokes, more strokes.
One inside the other.
They should copulate.
What should dominate the structure...
is not the drawing...
but the color.
Do you follow me?
Yes... I'm trying.
Hey!
Your father can't see through!
Your old machine won't work anymore.
How's it going with him?
Just like before.
The only times
he talks to me is to scold me.
If you think
he used to talk to Pierre and me...
Even to mom.
I wonder if
he ever said "I love you" to her.
See? The old thing works.
Did you tell Dde?
What?
That you love her.
Playing the fool, eh?
- Take back what you said!
- Stop it! Mercy!
This bitch doesn't care about us.
She has a bunch of boyfriends.
How do you know?
I've seen the guys who were
waiting for her the other evening.
No!
You live in a house where
the most beautiful paintings are hung.
And you stick this shit?
What if I prefer them?
You're a real fool.
Why no news on Gabrielle?
He fired her.
I thought she had left...
Because of her boyfriend? Bullshit!
It's mom who fired her.
She thought she was taking
too good a care of the old man.
You know what I mean.
It wasn't something new.
I miss her, Gabrielle.
More than mom?
Hang on, Jean.
- Are you ready?
- Yes.
My hat on you.
Yes.
- Not like that.
- Gently.
Let's go. Ready?
Tell us if your leg hurts.
Is it nice to be carried by women?
Coco. Stay with us.
No.
Should I add black?
At Renoir's, we refuse
to see everything black.
The picture must be something nice...
and happy.
There are enough
annoying things in life...
there's no need for me to add more.
Misery, despair, death.
They're not my concern.
And war?
Not either.
Others...
are busy with tragedy.
Can you imagine me shooting myself?
At my age?
It would be sheer vanity.
Shit!
That's good!
Pearl White has a new series.
"The Mysteries of New York"?
I can't wait!
I'm waiting for
the continuation of "Vampires".
I find Musidora very mysterious.
If you only knew
how easy it is to appear mysterious.
- American actress?
- And why not?
What do they have that I don't? Nothing.
Nothing at all.
You have to grab.
Grab everything, Jean.
You can't be afraid. I want it all.
I won't wait for anyone.
I don't have the patience.
What?
I didn't say anything.
You don't mind waiting,
they've given you everything.
What have they given me?
A famous name...
and money. You don't have to work.
You don't need to, you have an income.
Income?
Yes, my dear.
What else?
What is your profession?
Soldier.
No, not now.
The war isn't over.
It'll end without you.
You have to know who you are.
And what about you? Who are you?
I am who I am.
Is that a riddle?
You love mysterious women.
Musidora.
Tell me, what is your ambition?
Your big dream?
I don't know... No.
No dream, no ambition.
Never say that to a
woman you love. She'll despise you.
Believe me.
Do you despise me?
Why can't you be
an artist like your father?
My father has never
considered it like that.
He sees himself as a painting laborer.
A laborer whom they call boss?
He has forbidden himself
from being an artist.
And does that forbid everyone?
Look. At 13, he was a painter...
On porcelain. I know.
- The master wants you to pose!
- Later!
- I'm exhausted!
- No! Right now!
I don't despise you. Not at all.
On the contrary, I love you. Yes.
See you.
Dad?
Dad?
Flesh in decay.
Pardon?
Flesh in decay.
That's what
one critic wrote of my painting.
I'm told that you went to the spring.
It's not reasonable at your age.
It's precisely at my age,
just imagine,
that one should go to the spring.
You've increased the antipyrine dose.
Yes.
Yes, night is...
Right. Now we'll check the knees.
Go on.
A little more.
It's hard, eh?
Now I'd like you to stand up.
You know I can't walk.
That's what I would like to check.
I'm sure you can do it.
Stand up... and walk.
That's it.
There, you see?
I give up.
Walking...
takes all my strength.
Nothing will be left for painting.
When I can no longer use my hands...
I'll paint with my ass.
Hold it! It'll get away!
Careful.
What?
What did you say?
I don't understand what they're saying.
They said that it was fine.
How much is the film?
25 cents the meter.
If it's American, 40 cents.
- I'll take the French.
- Give me 10 francs and that's that.
- Does it include Episode 3?
- Everything is there.
In the back I've got dirty movies.
- If you're interested.
- No, thank you.
- Ten.
- Thank you.
Be careful with the film.
One spark and it blows up.
I'm familiar with explosions.
- On leave?
- Convalescent.
Ah! Lucky boy!
Would you sell me your uniform?
No, I still need it.
What regiment?
Sixth Battalion, Alpine Hunters.
We fought in the Vosges.
It's terrible over there.
Did you lose buddies in battle?
Yes.
Poor guys.
They bury them on the spot, it seems.
In mass graves.
There's no time to organize funerals.
Families, nevertheless, want one.
And we could do some business.
You point out
the distressed families for me.
And then what?
I...
I provide the lined coffin.
Lined coffin?
With a corpse inside.
I have guys
who dig up the dead in France.
What age?
What age? I don't know - 25, 30.
I'm 21. In combat...
I lost 10 years
of my life for pieces of shit like you.
- What does the badge stand for?
- Our regiment.
- Do you climb high?
- Very high.
Don't you run out of air sometimes?
We're used to it.
- You ask a lot of questions.
- Maurice, are you coming?
Not you. They're waiting for you.
For the stuffing,
we need the zucchini flower.
It's so stuffy in here.
How can you stand it?
I'm hungry.
Have you fixed anything to eat?
You fix your own food.
I can fix something.
- An omelet?
- Nothing!
We're not paid to serve you.
- And when do I get paid?
- For what?
- For my work!
- What work?
What am I doing
dressed like a whore all day?
Gabrielle was never paid.
Neither for cleaning nor
for the other stuff, I know.
What other stuff?
Fine, I know the story.
How did it end?
She got thrown out like a beggar.
Who told you that?
They're jealous, I'm not a maid.
Empress of India?
What did you say?
You'll get your pay when
we've counted the hours.
- Not those!
- Why not?
The master painted them.
So what?
Madeleine posed
and worked at the same time.
I too have posed,
and I don't make a fuss.
You start out as a maid
and you end up as a model.
Or you start out
as a model and end up as a maid.
Not I!
She's gone mad!
You wanted me to pose, right?
Totally mad.
Look, isn't it pretty, with flowers?
What do you think? Not bad, right?
It was Renoir who painted it.
You're sick!
Do you know how much that's worth?
No, how much is it worth?
I'm fed up with Renoir!
I can't stand... the Renoirs!
- Enough!
- Let me go!
Let go of me!
What's going on?
Tell her to calm down!
Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!
Let go of me! Fuck!
She went crazy. Just like that.
Not a word to the master,
I'll take care of it.
Are you coming?
It's about to begin, it's for you.
Thank you.
Take this from me.
Have you answered
regarding your military dossier?
- Yes.
- Are you sure?
Yes.
Change your position!
Not like that.
- How, then?
- Floating.
Curved!
- I'll see.
- Young ladies!
Floating.
Suspended in the landscape.
Madeleine, move here.
An arm, there.
No flowers, no hat.
Take it off.
If you'd tell me
what you're looking for.
Painting can't be explained,
it's meant to be seen.
Go see "The Courtesans"
by Titian at The Louvre.
If that doesn't
make you want to caress them,
then you really
don't understand anything at all.
Well...
Where are you going?
To The Louvre.
- Is the boss here?
- No.
He's still working.
I'll take a snack to him.
Given his mood, I'd say no.
At his age, they paint still lifes.
Dde, can you hold him for a minute?
I'm off to the bathroom.
Don't worry if he cries.
Jean, could you come, please?
I can hold him if you want, Andre.
Dad?
Dad?
Dad?
Dad.
Are you all right?
Dad?
You have to stop,
you cannot go on.
Pain comes and go, Jean...
Beauty remains.
You've already painted everything.
I still have some progress to make.
I'll go on as long as I have strength.
I paint like a child.
But that's fine.
I've tried to paint
like a child all my life.
Without knowing anything.
Without thinking.
Can I do it?
No, dear.
It's pretty ugly.
Too soon, too late...
All actresses have one.
- Where did you find it?
- Stolen.
At Negresco, in a baroness' chamber.
She had three of them.
Let yourself go.
You're very cute like that.
Very cute.
My little dyke.
My little whore.
Does it hurt?
No.
And if I sink my nails?
Try it.
I'll hurt you.
I know.
Jean, you must promise me.
What?
We'll do a movie when the war's over.
You're the one that wants to.
No, both of us. Together.
You don't think I'd spend my life...
with a guy who paints plates!
Will you promise?
We have to find a partner.
What, some kind of military officer?
No.
It's someone who'll finance your films.
You'll be my partner.
We'll make movies with your money.
I don't have any!
What about your dad's paintings?
Aren't they worth a lot?
I promise.
Long night
eternal torment
There wasn't a single blue
corner in the sky. Men and things,
haphazardly, are rolling,
on the dark tree.
"Long Night", exclamation mark.
Long...
You OK?
I think your father found out about us.
Does it bother you?
Who cares, right?
Wait for me.
I have something to tell you.
I wanted to tell you before.
I couldn't.
And now you can?
I re-enlisted.
What?
I re-enlisted,
I'm going back to the front.
I don't believe you.
Aviation, I enlisted today.
- You didn't!
- Yes.
Jean!
They said I was okay.
I have to leave in 10 days.
Why?
Why?
I can't let down my comrades.
You can't let them down?
No.
But you can let me down?
You promised me, Jean.
You promised me.
- I'll be back.
- No.
You'll fall like the others.
Why did you surrender?
Nobody asked you to go back.
Did you think of me?
Huh? You think
of your comrades, but what about me?
You know, it's easy.
It's easy to get killed.
The canvas can be raised or lowered.
Jeannot thought
of everything, but I helped out.
It can slide to the left or right.
It is not you who moves,
it's the support.
You'll get less tired.
It's very clever. Fine.
- Anything wrong?
- No.
She's usually on time.
Didn't she say anything to you?
No.
Maybe she's sick.
Jean.
Can you send someone over to her house?
I don't know where she lives.
She's been coming here so long,
and no one ever asked? Not even you?
No.
I'm sorry.
Boss?
You can paint me meanwhile,
and then finish up with Dde.
That's nice of you, dear, but...
it doesn't work like that.
You have your whole life.
Not me.
What are you talking about?
You know very well.
She's not coming over, is she?
Did you behave well with her?
Did I need your permission?
Women...
whether a whore or a queen...
are due the same respect.
If she doesn't come back,
that has nothing to do with it.
Tell me why she suddenly disappeared.
Because I'm returning to battle.
All right.
Do what you want.
I won't hold back.
You didn't hold back Gabrielle either.
She was with us for 15 years.
She had the right to start a family.
We were her family.
I had nothing to do with it, it was
your mother insisted on her leaving.
And that suited you, as usual.
What do you mean?
You always hid behind mom.
Your famous cork theory.
It's a way
of not deciding anything yourself.
It's cowardice! That's what it is!
You piss me off!
Stop talking to me about Gabrielle.
It's Andre who's gone.
My best model since...
Titian...
would have loved her.
Her tits match her knees perfectly.
Shapely and firm.
With delicate folds,
which form something
like a golden reflection.
The flesh!
Nothing else exists!
If you don't understand, you'll never
understand anything about art or life!
Painting.
That's all you think about,
even during the war.
Go and get
your skin perforated, you idiot.
Or if you prefer...
Go and kill a brave Bavarian
who smokes a pipe.
If you think that'll change anything.
You too.
You can't live without her.
We won't
turn him into a pulp, he's solid!
- He's wobbling!
- Don't let him move!
- Come on, get on!
- I'll ride him a bit!
Catherine, there's a foal
who wants a lesson.
He's not a foal, he's an ace.
My little ace of hearts.
- What are you doing here?
- Learning to fly.
Come, darling, you'll fly with me.
Beat it.
- Enough. I don't want to see you here.
- You give me orders now?
You're not my lieutenant.
This isn't the army.
Here we have fun.
We have fun, we laugh, we drink.
- Eh!
- You have fun?
- You're hurting me.
- You're hurting her.
Who is Catherine?
Nothing. No one.
Look at you. You look ugly and dirty.
I'm not dirty.
Mad up like a...
Yes?
Go ahead, say it!
Like a bitch!
Stop it!
Stop it!
Hey, comrade, don't!
I'm not your comrade!
Are you going to calm down?
You all right?
No.
Why did you come looking for me?
You never say anything.
Or rather, that I'm a bitch.
I'm not a bitch.
Because I miss you.
Because I need you.
I made you a promise.
Forget the promise.
I'll never be an actress.
I have no talent.
You mean an American actress.
You've never tried. You can do it!
No.
Girls like me just
flip through magazines,
pretend to be femmes
fatales and wind up as maids.
We'll try!
You have to grab everything
and fear nothing. You said it.
- And when the war ends...
- When will it end?
What shape will you be in?
Will you be alive?
And what will I be?
I know what you think of me.
That I have no ambition.
That I'm a spoiled brat. And naive.
And if you wait for me, I'll return.
I want you back.
Renoir needs you.
Renoir? The father or the son?
- Madeleine, recognize her?
- Yes.
Wait. Gabrielle? Come with us.
No, no. Just the three brothers.
They're waiting for you!
Come on, Gabrielle.
Andre, come!
Keep still, please.
Thank you, that was perfect.
Did you invite Gabrielle?
No! No, no.
It must have been the girls.
Yes...
Is this a party or a funeral?
Your friend Andre
told me that you planned to make movies.
No. Nothing's been decided.
That's reassuring.
Cinema is not for the French.
It's a spectacle for the masses.
Our artistic background
is too old and too heavy.
It's strange for us
three brothers to be together.
Hopefully it's not the last time.
Jean, just what
are you doing this evening?
- What am I doing?
- Playing air daredevil.
I almost lost an arm. Why go back?
Will you bring me a gas mask?
We'll see.
Come on, rookies!
That's fine.
I'll be fine.
Is he here?
He's waiting for you.
You too, I expect.
Dad?
Your mother...
I owe her everything.
There was a riot in my blood.
She calmed my nerves.
When I met her,
I was 20 years older than her.
I was convinced that my life was over.
But no.
It was beginning.
I never would have imagined that
one day I'd walk beside her coffin.
Don't be stupid, son.
You neither, dad.
Listen...
I think you can walk over here.
Come! Come, come on.
Oh!
So? What now?
Yes! Come on!
Pierre-Auguste Renoir died in 1919,
after finishing Les Baigneuses,
his pictorial testament.
After the war, Jean married Andre
and got into cinema with her.
She would become his favorite actress,
under the name of Catherine Hessling,
until the couple's
brutal separation in 1931.
Her career was then interrupted,
while Renoir became
a world-renowned film director.
The two of them died in 1979:
she forgotten and anonymous,
he in Hollywood full of honors.