Jacquot de Nantes Page #5

Come out.

Yvon, explain to Solange

she mustn't go out alone.

Now, walk slowly toward me.

Good. That'll do.

Here, Lorca,

I'll show you where to go.

You hide here.

Ren...

We'll do a full-face shot of him.

Solange, you play with your ball.

Drop it...

and turn right.

You're the kidnapper! Look.

"Soon after a

character offers her sweets,

"then wraps her in his cape."

So you stride after her

and offer her sweets.

- Do you like sweets, pretty girl?

- Yes, sir.

Then you'll get some!

Go on. Fight back!

"Six months later."

Want to be older?

No, it's for my film.

Today, there's good news:

Germany has surrendered.

Belly-dancing means moving

your belly without moving your feet.

You try. Move your head too.

Now we'll do it with the others.

I'll place you with your drum.

You, dance.

You, beat time on the drum.

We'll shoot. Get on with it.

Bang harder, Lorca.

Then, the mother arrives.

Now, listen!

We move back.

You come forward.

When you see her dancing,

you say, "Hey!"

Not now. Move back!

When we shoot.

Recognise your daughter.

But that's Solange's locket!

Mama!

What are you doing?

I'm wrapping up

my first takes

to send them to the Path Lab

at Joinville-le-Pont.

Nothing for me?

Not today, my boy.

In the Far West, when night falls

Cowboys gather round the fire

And sing an old song

About beautiful Texas...

It's going to be a fine cardigan.

Knitting takes so long. Patience.

I'm the patient one.

I've been waiting two months.

The labs reopen,

but I still wait and wait.

It's no joke. I'm fed up.

And you only

knit for Papa!

Then one fine day

the film arrived.

What excitement.

I loaded it on to my projector.

Not a thing.

It was absolutely,

totally transparent.

I had forgotten

to adjust the f-stop.

It was clear

I had to learn the technique.

What's wrong?

I want to go to film school.

We'll ask your father.

I know what he'll say:

"Are you crazy?

Thinking about films at your age!"

Learn a trade in a technical school.

You'll be a mechanic.

I want to go to high school.

Whoopee, veal with prunes!

I want to graduate.

Tech gives you a trade.

High school, nothing.

Set your minds to it for once.

Go on. Turn it.

If he picks on me again,

I'm off.

- Where to?

- Who cares?

Africa,

to teach mechanics to the Negroes.

That's it.

You clear off to Timbuktu!

Me, I'd head for Paris.

I'll load crates

or be an extra at the Opera.

They'll take anyone.

One of my mother's clients told me.

You don't have to sing,

just hammer it out at the back.

I'll be all right at the Opera then!

I won't spend my life teaching dance

I'll go to Paris, take a chance

Why teach plis and entrechats

When I want to dance at the Opera?

We are a pair of twins

Born in the sign of Gemini...

I absolutely must go to Paris.

I'm going too, but later.

Papa says I must finish tech.

Meanwhile, I make films.

With that?

As it happens,

I've had an idea for a film

and you'd be terrific in it.

Are you kidding?

You and your camera are too small.

I've got big projects.

Remember my aunt from Rio,

how flirtatious she was?

She batted her eyelashes.

She was fun.

- It's a great role.

- Wasn't she the casino gambler?

Yes, that's her.

With a scene

where you'd win lots of money.

Don't you want to?

Back to your dreams,

young Jacquot.

I've got my own.

How's it going?

I give up on actresses.

It's better to make cartoons.

The stars are cardboard

in cardboard sets.

I see. You want some cardboard?

- Can I have some?

- Of course you can.

Thanks, Mr Sweets.

Am I Mr Sweets for ever?

Can I come back for more?

Whenever you like, boy.

The boy had a project

and he needed space.

The attic next to the tires

was ideal and he made it his own.

A new life of peace and quiet began,

far from the noise of the tech,

a trifle less from

that of the garage.

What are you making?

- A ballerina.

- What's that?

A girl who dances.

Look at her with that blonde wig.

Who?

Viviane Romance.

She was in Carmen.

We saw that. It was good.

- Nice costumes...

- Yes.

It's a film by Marcel L'Herbier,

so you know it's good.

Show me.

Otherwise I don't get it.

Come on then, I'll explain.

Look.

You have a nice setup.

Don't touch. It's fragile.

Not by the camera...

It's exactly in place.

If I want the little dancer to move,

I move her leg and shoot a frame.

Got it?

It's continuous movement.

If you film an arm...

...you get continuous movement.

Now you can climb down.

I need all my concentration.

It's no damn good!

It's blurred, out of focus.

No good at all.

I've got patience.

If I had a new camera

I'd begin again.

It's nice being here with you.

I've been twice and talked to him.

He says it's a bargain.

It's that one.

It's more stable. Automatic

is better than cranking the handle.

If you say so.

Shall we go in?

It's your present.

I'm glad I have you.

This camera,

an Ercsam Camex,

was the one I used.

It shot frame by frame.

Car headlamps

are not the right thing

for lighting sets.

We're a bit short.

People are paying late.

Your chum, Mr Debuisson

owes me 2 months.

He's talking to Mama.

Hello, Mr Debuisson!

How's the tech?

My marks are O.K.,

but it's so dull.

Not again...

For an artist, it's hard

not getting your own way.

- You should see the attic.

- You've never seen it!

I can't stand heights!

- Can I see?

- Of course.

The cartoon was terrific.

That's what I want to do.

I need equipment.

Christ on a bike!

Every Sunday the same thing:

"I don't want to be a mechanic.

I want to study film making."

We got him a camera.

Now he wants lights, a tripod...

God knows what else!

- Calm down, Raymond.

- I wish he would!

You're tough on Jacquot.

He works hard.

Let him have fun.

A foreign girl arrived in Paris

Having crossed the globe

She settled in our fine country

But she had left

something behind in Chile

She had left something behind...

And I forgot to buy

a Madeira cake.

I'm not a baby.

Cake won't work.

Sweet things never hurt grouches.

You've been sitting there

for an hour fuming with rage.

You know why?

Papa drives me mad.

Don't say that. It's a sin.

So is sulking.

Laugh, you clown.

Even if you're sad!

Ask your Papa to tell you what

happened when he came to Nantes

from the country...

His "room in town"

in a drunk's house,

a Colonel's widow.

Thank you, Guilbaud.

Have a drink with me.

I'm sure it'll cheer you up.

You've drunk enough tonight.

No? Too bad for you.

You're already drunk as a skunk.

The way you speak amuses me.

As drunk as a skunk, indeed!

I'll just drink to your health.

And now the show begins...

Turn it on, Yvon.

His father agreed

to cut the door in half.

Why?

Projector noise.

The smallest cinema in the world.

I'm flattered to be invited.

You're our son's main supplier.

My supplier and friend.

Turn the light off, Yvon.

Open the curtains.

Screen!

Music!

Lights, Yvon.

Short, but very sweet!

Sailors are fun.

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