J'ai vu tuer Ben Barka Page #2

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Forget that sh*t, Jojo.

Boucheseiche will treat you right.

Oufkir and Frey are thick as thieves.

Their families holiday together.

Roger Frey.

The Interior Minister.

For France!

OK, I understand.

I never said I wasn't interested.

Their guy will come to see you.

His name's Chtouki.

What is it exactly?

import-export. He'll explain.

Chtouki. That's a fake name.

"Rome, the one cause

of all my bitterness!

"Rome, for whose sake

you sacrificed my love!

"Rome, which you worship,

and which saw you born!

"Rome which I hate

because she honours you. "

What's so funny?

I'm that bad?

Come on, it's really moving.

- Why did you laugh?

- A name I thought of.

All right, carry on.

"May heaven's wrath... "

Tell me who you thought of.

Anne-Marie...

A woman.

I could tell from your smile.

No! A guy called Chtouki.

The name makes me laugh.

You think I'm stupid...

Not at all.

I have to meet this Chtouki soon.

A Moroccan businessman.

He could change a lot for us.

I wish.

It's true. I'm writing a screenplay.

- On your own?

- With Marguerite Duras.

I could do worse.

I don't trust her an inch, that one.

Spare me the jealous fit.

Maybe I have my reasons.

There'll be all kinds of roles

in our story. Women's roles too.

Know who's producing it?

No one's getting rich with my ideas.

The producer picks the star.

And my star... is you!

The director needs to agree.

Why wouldn't he?

You think you're condemned

to bit parts? Maids, cooks,

pump attendants, waitresses...

You deserve better and I'll prove it.

What does Chtouki do?

Chtouki is just money.

Money I'll make with him

and stake on you.

- Will it shoot in Morocco?

- All over. It's an international film.

Time to practice.

The future's at our door. Seize it now.

"May her neighbours band together... "

"May her neighbours band together

to undermine her weak foundations.

"And should Italy not suffice,

may East and West unite against her.

"May a hundred peoples of all the world

cross land and sea to destroy her. "

You're never serious.

Ten minutes is your limit.

Ten minutes?

Watch out for trouble today.

Dubail...

Stay with us. Keep an eye open too.

Jacques Donadieu

was not only a soldier

and an officer

in the noblest sense

in other words

an officer in the French' army...

Aren't you sick of all this praise

for our dead and our killers?

How do you put up with it?

You're too fond of that sh*t -

order, hierarchy, honours.

We can't all be cowboys.

Cowboys?

I don't give a toss about it.

The Liberation. What a joke!

It wasn't a game, that's true.

You're right, it was war.

To take your mind off praise...

A passport in my name.

I'd nearly given up hoping.

You had to go high to get this.

After all my years inside...

I can really work now.

No more secret trips.

Business can pick up. Seriously.

You know what?

My name is Chtouki.

Georges Boucheseiche sent me.

Chtouki... Of course.

Mr Boucheseiche spoke about you.

You're close?

Yes, we work in different fields

him in hotels, me in the press,

but our interests converge.

You're interested in movies.

As a producer.

As a producer? Yes, of course.

I've come to ask you to produce a film.

Tell me all about it.

It's a historical film of interest

to recently independent countries.

A film with archive footage

and interviews.

A documentary?

Yes, a documentary.

On decolonization.

Decolonization! A crucial subject.

Very topical.

News programmes are a big hit on TV.

These new countries interest people.

But as for the financing...

We provide the financing.

Let's move on

to the practical details, then.

One of our compatriots

will be your historical adviser.

A Moroccan adviser.

Why not, if he knows the subject?

I'm a professional, see.

Efficiency matters.

He knows the subject -

colonialism, imperialism, capitalism...

It's his stock in trade.

His name is Mehdi Ben Barka.

Bernier has known him for years.

And I know Bernier.

Always working, always broke.

Easy to hire.

Ben Barka works internationally.

One day in Peking, then Moscow,

then Havana...

He's like an eel, always on the move.

So you want to keep him in one place?

He'll be glad

to work on a film with you,

however long it takes. You'll see.

Let's really go to town.

I'll ask Duras to write the narration

and get Franju to direct.

A great writer, a good director.

I know them well

and the subject will hook them.

Ben Barka will "hook" them too.

So tell me, what do I get in return?

The production money.

You know, a film like this

shot by a gentleman like Franju,

written by a lady like Duras,

plus archive material,

Bernier's salary, other contributions,

insurance, expenses, travel,

the advances

for your compatriot who travels...

it'll cost around...

100 mil. 100 million francs. Old francs, that is.

That sounds reasonable.

I hope you have many enemies -

it's a pleasure dealing with you.

See you, Mr Figon.

You're leaving already?

I'll be in touch.

I'll never be far away.

I'll follow you at a distance.

Discreetly.

My lucky day...

Really.

In the month prior to the meeting,

hundreds of students and children

who demonstrated in Casablanca

were shot down

by General Oufkir's police.

We now know that the King

sent Ben Barka a message

asking him to return to Morocco

in a position of responsibility.

At the same time, the secret services

were making a film on decolonisation

with Ben Barka

as its historical adviser!

I kept this for some reason.

They make good souvenirs.

I tend to keep all my articles too.

It's a sort of kaleidoscope of my life.

But this is much more coherent -

the mirror of a life's work.

He watches you.

He keeps an eye on me.

Did you see it recently?

My cellmate

would whistle it every night.

It stopped him having nightmares.

It's the music from Mr Franju's

Eyes Without A Face.

A very complex film to make.

Because of the star?

No, the subject. A fantasy film

with a scientist

as the main character.

Science takes realism

to its very extreme.

You can't cheat with a scientist.

Even to scare people.

Marguerite mentioned a screenplay...

The blackmail story?

I have better now.

That's why I've brought Bernier.

I'm warning you,

I'm not right for all subjects.

I'm sick of fake cop stories.

They're rubbish, right?

Lads who never close doors after them...

That really gets my back up.

A hood is cautious by nature.

No one takes him unawares.

The film I intend to offer you

is nothing like those films.

It's a film...

on politics.

A political film?

I've never made one. I hate politics.

It's not about politics.

It goes beyond politics.

It's a film about an evil that spread

over the world in the last century

in the name of God and civilization -

the North getting rich in the South.

You see what I mean -

Algeria, Vietnam, Black Africa...

South America too.

You want me to make a film on colonization?

Better, on decolonisation.

Think of the energy

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