Bande à part

Le narrateur:
Franz is wondering if the world is a dream or a dream the world.

Le narrateur:
A few clues for latecomers: Several weeks ago... A pile of money... An English class... A house by the river... A romantic young girl...

Le narrateur:
We now might open a parenthesis on Odile's, Franz's and Arthur's feelings... but it's all pretty clear. So we close our parenthesis and let the images speak.

Le narrateur:
What's that big building? asked Odile. The Louvre. The whitewash is great, she said. That guy deserves a medal.

Le narrateur:
Arthur said they'd wait for night to do the job, out of respect for second-rate thrillers. How do we kill all that time? asked Odile. Franz had read about an American who'd done the Louvre in nine minutes 45 seconds. They'd do better.

Le narrateur:
Arthur, Franz and Odile beat Jimmy Johnson by two seconds.

Le narrateur:
My story ends here like a dime novel. At a superb moment, when everything is going right. Our next episode, this time in Cinemascope and Technicolor: Odile and Franz in the tropics.

Odile:
All that is new is, by that fact, automatically traditional.

English Teacher:
Today no need to know how to ask for directions or a room with a bath; today we must know how to spell 'Thomas Hardy'.

Franz:
A minute of silence can last a long time... a whole eternity.

Franz:
I'm loopy the lup, the good wolf.

Arthur:
The situation couldn't be clearer. But what's not clear is the part I'll be playing.

Odile:
No, he doesn't come to English class anymore. He says England is done for. He's learning Chinese.

Madame Victoria:
I hope you go to class and not to the movies.

Odile:
I hate movies.

Arthur:
In ten minutes, downstairs, in the car.

Odile:
How do you know I'm coming?

Arthur:
Now, in nine minutes 56 seconds.

Franz:
Sometimes, if you don't hide stuff, nobody notices. I read that in an American book.

Le narrateur:
[During the dance sequence] Now is the time for a digression in which to describe our heroes' feelings. Arthur keeps watching his feet, but his mind's on Odile's mouth and her romantic kisses. Odile is wondering if the boys notice her breasts moving under her sweater. Franz thinks of everything and nothing. He wonders if the world is becoming a dream or if the dream is becoming the world.

Le narrateur:
A few clues for latecomers: Several weeks ago... A pile of money... An English class... A house by the river... A romantic young girl...

Le narrateur:
We now might open a parenthesis on Odile's, Franz's and Arthur's feelings... but it's all pretty clear. So we close our parenthesis and let the images speak.

Le narrateur:
What's that big building? asked Odile. The Louvre. The whitewash is great, she said. That guy deserves a medal.

Le narrateur:
Arthur said they'd wait for night to do the job, out of respect for second-rate thrillers. How do we kill all that time? asked Odile. Franz had read about an American who'd done the Louvre in nine minutes 45 seconds. They'd do better. [Running through the Louvre] Arthur, Franz and Odile beat Jimmy Johnson by two seconds.

Le narrateur:
My story ends here like a dime novel. At a superb moment, when everything is going right. Our next episode, this time in Cinemascope and Technicolor: Odile and Franz in the tropics.

Odile:
All that is new is, by that fact, automatically traditional.

English Teacher:
Today no need to know how to ask for directions or a room with a bath; today we must know how to spell 'Thomas Hardy'.

Franz:
A minute of silence can last a long time... a whole eternity.

Franz:
I'm loopy the lup, the good wolf.

Arthur:
The situation couldn't be clearer. But what's not clear is the part I'll be playing.

Odile:
No, he doesn't come to English class anymore. He says England is done for. He's learning Chinese.

Madame Victoria:
I hope you go to class and not to the movies.

Odile:
I hate movies.

Arthur:
In ten minutes, downstairs, in the car.

Odile:
How do you know I'm coming?

Arthur:
Now, in nine minutes 56 seconds.

Franz:
Sometimes, if you don't hide stuff, nobody notices. I read that in an American book.

Franz:
[Reading the newspaper to Arthur] She treated me like a butler, said the lumberjack, husband of the vanished countess. The police think it's murder, but Roger says 'It's an elopement.' Futile search in bedroom slippers.

Odile:
What's your family name, Arthur?

Arthur:
Rimbaud.

Odile:
What do you see in me?

Arthur:
And you in me?

Odile:
I don't know. A husband.

Arthur:
Is that what interests you? What exactly does it mean to you?

Odile:
It means offering your breasts and your thighs.

Franz:
Isn't it strange how people never form a whole?

Odile:
In what way?

Franz:
They never come together. They remain separate. Each goes his own way, distrustful and tragic. Even when they're together, in big buildings, or in the street. Don't feel like talking?

Odile:
No.

Odile:
I'm worn out with sorrow and fatigue.

Odile:
Are there lions in Brazil?

Franz:
Yes, as well as croc... Odiles.

Arthur:
Ever kiss a guy?

Odile:
Sure I have.

Arthur:
You know how?

Odile:
Sure, with the tongue.