My Old Lady

Hello?

Hello?

Bonjour?

Hello?

Bonjour.

Hello?

Nobody home?

Hello?

Anyone here?

Excuse me.

Hello.

Hello?

- Oh, God!

- Oh, mon Dieu!

I'm sorry. Je suis dsol.

I-I think... I think it would

be better for both of us...

if you spoke in English.

Yes. Good. Well, the door

downstairs was open, and I just...

You're Mathias.

I'm Mathias, yes.

I actually call myself Jim.

But, I like Mathias.

How do you know my name?

Matre Brinot told me

you'd be stopping by.

The lawyer, Christophe Brinot.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, the lawyer.

For the apartment. Yes.

See, I inherited this

apartment from my father.

- He died and left it.

- I'm... I'm Madame Girard.

Mathilde Girard.

Okay. Well, nice to meet you.

Do you think...

Could you show me around?

Could I...

Oh, y-yes. Yes, I could.

Of course... I could.

There are... There are quite

a few rooms upstairs.

Y-yeah. A lot.

I went up there before I saw you.

No, I haven't been up there in years.

My legs are useless.

Some of the rooms haven't

been used for, oh, 30 years.

And this... this...

is the Salon d'Hiver.

In its time it was a glorious room.

We had wonderful parties out there...

in the garden.

Wait. That garden is...

That's part of the property?

A garden like that in the middle

of Paris must be worth a fortune.

That's awfully nice.

A little out of tune, but...

It's got a nice action.

You look remarkably like your father.

Y-You knew my father?

Did he buy the apartment from you?

Didn't you speak with Matre Brinot?

The lawyer. Y-Yeah, well...

I called him.

No. He doesn't... doesn't speak English.

Not a lot, no. And I haven't

spoken French since I was a kid.

So nobody's...

ever explained the situation.

Wh-Wh-What situation?

Well, this... this apartment...

is a viager.

The word viager...

means, literally, for life.

It's a French system.

You know, for buying

and selling apartments.

The buyer gets the apartment cheaply,

you see, for what we

call a petit bouquet.

But then the buyer...

must pay the seller a fee,

you know, until the seller dies.

I don't quite follow this.

M-my father...

bought this apartment as an

investment 40 years ago.

Oh, no, 43 years ago.

It was after my husband died.

Forty-three years ago.

He owned this apartment until he died

and left it to me in his will,

which was just probated.

You must have inherited quite...

quite a lot.

No. Some books.

His watch. And this apartment.

- In total?

- Period.

Where did the rest go?

- Oh, to who?

- To whom?

- Oh, to whom?

- Yes.

I'm so sorry. I'm sorry.

I taught English for years.

I mean, I've stopped...

I've stopped teaching formally, but I

cannot stop correcting people. Sorry.

So, tell me. Where did the rest go?

He left his money to charity. He didn't

feel comfortable leaving it to me.

Except the apartment.

The apartment and... excuse me.

And... some,

French classics in French,

which should be very useful.

And... that's it. So who's been...

who's been collecting your rent?

It's not rent, you see.

It's a fee, payable to me each month.

I'm sorry. Payable to you?

- To me.

- Until you die?

And not a minute afterwards. Thank you.

Are you kidding?

- Are you kidding?

- Not at all.

It's not a lot of money by today's

standards, for an apartment this size.

2,400 euros...

a month.

And...

I'm responsible?

Well, I've been paid to

the end of the month.

- But when the new month begins...

- So...

What I inherited was a

2,400-euro-a-month debt?

Well, it seems like it, yes.

That's... perfect.

He got me again.

Are you... Are you unwell?

A bit, yeah. I...

I used the last cent

that I had to get here.

This place was my last hope.

Wh... This apartment?

Don't you have an apartment in New York?

No, not anymore, no.

Well, weren't you

planning on going back?

The plan was to...

sell this apartment and then,

I don't know, go somewhere.

I don't know. Somewhere.

Just not stay in Paris.

But you have a plane ticket home?

So, what you're saying is, I...

I own this apartment, and...

I also own you.

Yes. Yes, you own the

apartment and you also own me.

Until I die.

- After I've died...

- Then I'll just own the apartment.

- Exactly.

- How old are you?

Sorry. Please understand. I-I'm...

I'm in shock. I...

I'm completely broke.

I owe everyone I know money.

Except for a box full of French books

and this apartment, I have nothing.

Didn't you have anything yourself

before your father died?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, I had lots of stuff,

a long time ago when I was married.

- You're not married anymore?

- No, I'm divorced.

A couple of times.

Three times.

Three divorces?

One for each of my three

unpublished novels.

Any children?

I'm sorry? Oh, children? No. No.

I'm 90.

- That's a big number.

- Yes.

I've been here since my 20s.

Seventy years ago.

I was born in England.

And you stayed English.

Well, when you're born English,

you stay English.

Englishness...

is so obvious.

You have no choice.

How old are you? Sixty?

60-ish. I'm 57 and 11 months.

How did you get to be

57 and 11 months...

and have so little to show for it?

Hey. Please. Don't be subtle with me.

If you have something you want to ask

me that's a little cruel, just ask me.

I'm 90.

Subtlety's not something

that interests me.

Come with me. Come on.

Take this. You can

stay here for a while.

- Until you know what you're doing.

- Thank you.

I'll get the femme de mnage to

make up a room for you upstairs.

- Do you have any luggage?

- Just the one bag.

- That's it?

- That's it.

I think you need some air.

Take a walk by the Seine.

The night will be beautiful.

Only don't... Please don't jump in.

You'll probably fail to drown yourself

and just end up with a dreadful cold.

Dinner is at 8:
00, precisely.

Don't be late,

or I'll start without you.

I'm still six hours behind.

I'll have to charge you

something for staying here.

I always need money,

and that watch is gold.

You're a pirate, Madame Girard.

C'est vrai.

Auguste Lefebvre. Pardon.

Lefebvre. I'm Mathias Gold. Call me Jim.

- Any chance you speak a little English?

- Yes, yes, of course I do.

- A little bit, Jim.

- Oh, good.

I'm wondering

if you have an apartment...

about 400 to 600 square

meters I could see?

I might have something, yes.

Sit down, please.

- How big did you say?

- Around 400 to 600 square meters.

Yes. With a little imagination...

and a bit of money...

this could be, un vrai palace.

Masterpiece.

And... this is... how much?

Oh, the owners ask 12 million.

But I think you can make

an offer with enough...

Twelve million. And how much would

this be worth if there were a...

garden in the back that's equally,

if not bigger, in size?

Why do you ask this?

Actually, I'm... I'm looking to sell.

D'accord. And where is your apartment?

It's in the Marais.

Yeah. I inherited it.

It's... It's really big.

I've got some pictures.

- Let's see.

- See? It's two stories.

It's about that long.

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