Le dernier vol du flamant rose

---

French Sahara 1933

Next, I'll build a hangar

for the vehicles.

Beside them I'll put the workshop.

Have you gone mad?

What's wrong, Chauvet?

Why are you stirring things up?

Let's go talk in my office.

Duclos, take over.

THE LAST FLIGH:

Go ahead, I'm Iistening!

This is Tuareg country,

we must respect their customs.

No! It's French soil,

under my command!

If I may say so, Captain,

that's not how to handle Tuaregs.

Especially Firhoun!

He must respect my authority,

and give up his subversive idea

of reuniting the tribes.

Your protg erred

by ignoring my order.

That mistake proves his guilt.

Tomorrow I'II talk to old Limane,

after his night of prayers.

He's still very influential here.

l know him welI,

hell Iisten to me.

If you swear

no harm wiII come to his son.

Why be rough on him?

He's not aII bad.

He onIy has one idea.

Know what he wants?

More braid on his uniform.

He's using the Tuaregs

to pIay war-games.

He was sent here to clean things up.

Because I'm too soft?

Damn what they think

in Algiers or Paris.

They're not on the terrain.

Took years to get the locals

to trust me.

What'II you do next?

Re-enlist elsewhere?

We'II see.

Anyway, I'lI get posted

to a garrison back home.

I think you belong in Africa.

We're through here.

Nonsense.

I don't mean France, I mean you.

I see you leaving the army

and settling here.

Dunno... I reaIIy don't.

Limane, Iisten. This is important.

I spoke to the Captain.

He won't arrest Firhoun,

but he wants your son to give up

the gathering of the tribes.

He isn't alone

in wanting this gathering.

By refusing to obey,

you're defying the army.

The tribes don't defy your army,

they just want to meet.

We have to calm things down.

The Captain is irked,

help me and I'II help you.

HeIp me avoid this gathering.

Breathe gently...

That's still too high, Captain.

You need rest...

You can get dressed.

You know Lt Chauvet weII?

Sure...

Can he be trusted?

Unquestionably. Here...

Has being here

changed him a Iot?

In what way?

There's sea-sickness

and mountain vertigo,

isn't there a desert equivalent?

No...

WeIl, maybe there is

a kind of desert giddiness,

which mostIy affects newcomers.

Thanks, Louis.

Get some rest, Captain, huh?

I'II try.

On my next leave,

I'm going to Ma Andr's.

Heard she got some new girIs.

Last month, I had me

a white gal, barely 20.

A sizzler!...

Fresh in from Paris!

A real beaut!

That's a big change...

from the local squaws.

It's something eIse, Iet me tell you.

Well?

It's a broad!

Come in!

Marie Vallires de Beaumont.

Captain Vincent Brosseau.

I weIcome you.

PIease be seated.

Care for a drink?

No thanks.

I'm amazed Algiers didn't warn me

of your arrival.

It's about the British pilot?

Correct.

What's been done to find him?

I followed the trail by car,

to Gao.

He was breaking a record,

he wouldnt fly over a trail.

You shouId use your camel corps!

l can't assign a lot of men

to search for him.

A Iot of men? Meaning how many?

I've had no orders from our HQ.

Lancaster disappeared 5 days ago.

Every minute counts,

I can't wait for orders!

I was toId you'd help.

By Ben Gallier, a St Cyr graduate.

He's my cousin.

I know him well :

a classmate

at officer training-school.

Meanwhile, can you tank up

my plane?

No probIem, Ma'am.

Section, at the double!

Snap to it!

In open order!

Section, halt!

Right turn!

Leave in the morning.

Night flights are risky here.

Open order!

Attention!

No chatter!

At ease!

I hope the limey had

enough water on board,

or his sweetheart'll find him

roasted.

She's stuck on him,

to set out aIone!

Don't make fun, Vasseur.

She's a seasoned flyer.

Duclos inquired.

Got her pilots license at 18,

then decided to topple records.

Almost killed herseIf once.

When was that?

on an island near Borneo.

Guess who risked his life

to find her:
Lancaster.

Bet they're hot in the sack!

OK, Vasseur!

By "hot in the sack",

he means "in Iove".

Guy's a lucky loser.

Why?

What gal would risk her Iife

to find you in a desert?

At cadet school,

they taught us

how Colonel Laperrine

dosed his water in the desert.

If Lancaster has will,

hell survive.

Thanks.

What'II happen to my brother?

If your father listens to me,

we can settle it.

And if he refuses?

I'd rather not think about it.

Antoine, I'm afraid...

Come.

Tell him to smile.

I'II write down their names.

Have you convinced your brass?

Captain!

HQ won't greenlight it.

A life's at stake!

Don't act Iike them!

HeIp me, I can't manage aII aIone.

The Gao squadron

shouId search the Tenere.

I'm not a magician

who orders squadrons around!

If one of your men was lost,

you'd act fast!

Respect our allies!

BiII fought for France!

Without men Iike him,

you'd be enslaved,

not strutting in your uniform!

Why not ask your father for help?

He's an eminent general.

He tried to stop me

from coming here.

My Tuaregs are unruly.

I won't let them out

till it's resolved.

Sorry, it's a matter of priorities.

I'II find a way...

Above aII, you need rest.

You can have my room.

It's the best here.

Where are you going?

Let go of it!

Let go of me!

Let me go!

Don't stay there!

Ma'am, some food for you!

You must eat! Open the door!

I need nothing, thanks.

I'II Ieave it on the doorstep.

Antoine, carefuI.

I'm cutting branches.

Don't worry.

Hello.

I wanted to thank you for yesterday.

I did what anyone wouldve done.

I need help.

Have you talked to the Captain?

He won't help.

Problems with the Tuaregs.

You know them,

find some to escort me.

They won't go into the Tenere.

No water, too many superstitions.

Convince them, I can pay them.

Pay them?

They scorn your money.

If the person you loved was lost,

what'd you do?

Where Lancaster crashed,

the desert is dangerous.

Trying to find him is suicidal.

For people like you,

Iife is sensible or it's a dream.

Love is just a dream, right?

How are you?

I saw your son Firhoun

heading into the Tenere.

You can talk in front of him.

With him were some 60 armed men.

From which tribe?

Ajjers, Iforas, Hoggars?

I don't know. They were far away.

Excuse me...

I'm Iooking for a plane,

that crashed.

You speak French?

A plane...

That crashed...

In the dunes...

A plane in the sky...

You saw a plane?

A white man?

See any smoke?

We saw nothing.

No plane, no white man,

no smoke.

I'm sorry, they saw nothing.

Thanks for accepting

this sudden invitation.

You know why I accepted it.

We're from the same background...

Know the same peopIe,

even have friends...

We couId have met before,

but fate chose this setting

for our first dinner.

Eat! I hear

you have stomach problems.

You sound Iike my mother.

The first thing she said

when I Ieft:

"Mind your stomach."

Women astound me.

I speak of my resolve

to serve France overseas,

and she worries about my gut!

She's right...

Your resolve needs a healthy body.

I say the head decides everything.

You're a perfect example.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes