Primrose Hill

I had this dream last night.

The light is bright.

There's a woman in a park on a hill.

Below, the city crushed by silence.

The four of you are nearby.

Joëlle and Stéphane sit on the grass

while Xavier and Sonia walk below.

The woman calls your names but you don't turn.

At first, I don't recognize her

but then realize she is me.

The woman doesn't have my face but I realize she is me.

She sings. I recognize the tune.

Close the gate, Stéphane.

Xavier, what time do you start?

4 o'clock.

I finish at 8. Late opening on Thursdays.

What number on Rue Brancas?

20.

Okay?

Yeah, I'm beat.

I woke at 6 AM and couldn't get back to sleep.

I'm set to working hours.

I'm already sick of it.

You still run?

I don't have the wind for it now.

I try to walk everywhere.

It takes me 30 minutes to walk to school from my place.

You gave up smoking.

It's not that. I feel I've gone soft.

Christmas has had that effect on me these last few years.

- Not you? - Yes.

- Bought your presents? - No, not yet.

I still have three days left.

True, but three days soon pass.

Every year, I find myself wandering in stores with no ideas.

It was crazy at Montparnasse yesterday.

You should buy your presents early.

In August, say.

Sure.

Hey, I'll go and see Marc.

How did dinner go?

With my cousin? It was fun.

- You know Jérémie? - Yes, I think so.

- My Breton cousin. - Right...

He's weird. He ends every sentence with "man".

"Okay, man?"

- "Get anywhere with chicks, man?" - Tacky...

- Even with girls? - Sure, even with my mum.

"Can you pass the mash, man?" Straight up.

It must feel weird.

Sophie!

With the baby.

Okay? No kisses today, I'm sick.

Hi.

I hadn't seen your little Claudine yet.

She's brand-new.

Here she is.

- Where's Marc? - Playing soccer at the park.

- How old is she? - Two months.

- Aren't you cold? - I'll go back in.

See you.

I didn't know he had a kid.

- Two months, she said? - Yeah.

On waking, that tune haunted me.

Maybe the five of us played it.

Ever noticed that the few times you and I are together,

you talk about music?

Nothing but music.

I can't remember us ever having a serious conversation.

Serious how?

This is serious. I'm talking about an album that moves me.

See, you make fun of everything.

Either you talk about music or you get absurd.

No at all. There's nothing absurd about it.

I'm not criticizing or aggressing you.

It's just something I thought of recently.

It doesn't matter.

You think my conversation? limited?

No, that's not what I meant at all.

It's just that...

Name one time

when we talked about something other than the group or an album.

I don't know.

I don't note everything down.

There must have been times.

I don't know...

That's the way things are.

We say a lot when we talk about music.

If I mention "North Marine Drive",

try to see behind it.

What can I see behind it?

You listened to "North Marine Drive" again, period.

No, not period.

Your thesis is in musicology?

Musicology and literature.

Anyhow, forget it. I knew you'd take it badly.

By the way, what's my thesis on?

- It's on Balzac. - Balzac...

Balzac is a name, not a thesis.

What's it on then?

Forget it.

Tell me, don't give me a fait accompli.

Music and the theory of humours in "The Human Comedy".

I knew that. It's just hard to put into words.

Shit, you jerk!

I've hurt myself.

He's crazy!

Lost your childlike soul?

I see your four outlines against the light.

The blinding light on the hill.

You seem almost unreal.

I can't touch you.

You know, I saw Nathalie yesterday.

- Nathalie? - Andréani.

- You didn't? - I did.

- Where? - At the station.

And?

It was weird. I don't really know her.

Shit, she's a pretty girl. She's so cute.

It's true. A very beautiful face. Such grace...

Did you speak?

We just chatted a little.

The chick does brochures for insurance companies.

I wasn't exactly concerned. I soon ran out of things to say.

Is she in touch with others?

We talked about that.

She still sees Magali, Florent, Alex...

The living dead!

I hadn't heard those names mentioned in ages.

Zombies!

What are they doing?

Apparently,

Magali and Florent left for Brittany like they said.

Paranoid?

The thing is, I can't really tell.

Every time I find myself somewhere

with her and with him, together,

I don't know, it's as if...

It's a physical thing.

Know the title of Joëlle's thesis?

Why do you ask?

No reason, just asking.

Is it on Balzac?

Yeah, but what's the title?

What's it about?

It about humours or something.

The theory of humours?

Yeah, that sums it up more or less.

Her thesis is a joke. She's always teaching.

We were supposed to read it 3 years ago

but I've seen nothing.

I'm not complaining.

We'd need to say what we think of it.

What can I say about the theory of humours?

You liked her, right?

- Joëlle? - Not Joëlle. Andréani.

She's very beautiful.

That's not the word.

It's odd. She's a strange combination of someone...

very kind, very courteous

and very sexual too.

That's pretty rare.

She's the kind who started fucking at 12 or 13.

Because of that, they give off a sort of serenity,

calm and so on.

It's odd. I realize

when I'm on the verge of loving a woman,

it's often a woman who doesn't inspire sex.

- See what I mean? - Not really.

Got a ciggie?

Maybe I'm totally wrong. Maybe I can't see it.

I need that tension, I guess.

Invented fire yet?

Sorry.

That paradox between sexuality, gentleness and the rest.

Maybe that's all bullshit.

I think it is.

I mean, Myriam, Nathalie,

they're all pretty sexual girls.

Myriam, yeah. But Nathalie's different, see.

She's a girl who clearly likes physical love.

But there's this kindness about her,

a genuine generosity...

It's like a...

a form of relinquishment, a vocation.

A vocation? Are you high or what?

You're riled but I call it a vocation.

I'm no prude.

But your theory's pathetic.

I don't see why it's pathetic.

It's absurd. When I hear that, what can I say?

Nothing. Don't say a thing.

Shit!

Yes, Mahdi.

How's it going?

He's still in IC?

No, I'm with...

I'm with Stéphane and Sonia.

I have to be at the media library by 4.

I'll tell him.