Inspired by "The Forged Coupon" by Tolstoy
What is it?
Today's the first.
I owe money at school.
I have to pay it back.
Other parents give much more.
Norbert, leave me, please.
Shit...
What's wrong, Norbert?
Father won't give me an advance.
I need it to pay Gontran back.
I can't help you today.
Martial, is that you? Save me. I'm on my way.
Forget that.
Look.
What do you think?
Nothing.
It's forged.
Not bad!
- Have it. - What can I do with it?
They're easy to pass off. Don't worry, I'll come too.
You really think so?
You're in no hurry.
A body is so beautiful!
Let's go.
- Where? - I know where.
We'd like a nice frame, not too expensive.
Can we see that one?
- Do you like it? - Yes.
Take it, then.
No student discount?
You must be joking. It's a fair price.
I'll let you pay.
Worried it may be forged?
Does it turn dark against the light?
I think so.
It certainly does.
- Your father gave it to you. - He didn't.
Yes, he did.
- You have nothing smaller? - No.
No, I'm sorry.
If you don't want it, we'll go elsewhere.
Thank you, madame.
You fool!
You idiot!
They seemed honest.
I've told you over and over to watch out for counterfeits.
I refused one only yesterday.
You accepted two the other day.
I'll pass them on.
Hi.
- There. - Thanks.
This one's no good.
And this one?
No good either.
This one?
I'll take them back to where I got them and change them.
I'm keeping them.
What gives you that right?
You're one of those crooks spreading counterfeits.
Do I know this man? I'll ask my employee.
You recognize me?
I gave you the invoice. This one.
Here's the copy of it.
Gentlemen, sorry to have bothered you.
Let's go.
They're mad.
This matter isn't over yet.
Perhaps you were mistaken.
How? I'd like to know that.
We must do something.
Such as what?
Find out about it.
The notes were clearly forged.
We'll pay the restaurant and get the complaint withdrawn.
As for the photo shop,
your boss should see,
simply because it's right, that you're innocent.
So speak!
I've never seen him in the shop.
And outside of the shop?
Neither in the shop nor outside.
That's all?
That's all, Your Honour.
I decided to take on this case, Your Honour,
after my client was tricked cruelly for a few thousand francs.
Yvon Targe...
I hereby sentence you to pay costs
but graciously spare you them.
I urge you to show more caution
in accusing decent people
and to be grateful for the lenience shown today.
What's worrying you?
I couldn't go back on what I had said.
How could I let two kids hoodwink me?
I can't stomach that.
Lucien was wonderful!
Buy that smart suit you wanted.
What can perjury get you if you're caught?
Nothing. Don't worry.
I see.
If you explained, they'd take you back.
I'm not crawling to them like a dog!
I passed by yesterday.
The prices weren't the same.
- Really? - I'm sure.
If the owner were here, he could explain.
Never mind, I'll take it anyway.
- Don't bother. - It's all right.
You won't deny that you've done this before.
I thought dishonest people could get along.
I won't press charges. Believe me, Lucien,
I'm very sad to ask you to leave.
I'll leave and I'll be very sad to go.
You said he was kind.
I'll be kind when I'm rich.
- Look. - The key to the safe!
- The key to the shop! - A carbon copy.
The headmaster...
He's not in. I'm the chaplain. I can pass a message on.
I don't know the boy's name
but you certainly know him.
After the Wedding at Cana, onto these counterfeits.
If one of you is guilty, which I find hard to believe,
it's a bad idea to hide because there's nothing worse.
It's better not to hide
but, on the contrary, to confess and repent.
What does Christian think?
Nothing.
And you, Geoffroy?
I don't know.
Norbert?
Me?
Not a word to your father. If the school tells him, deny it.
You must stand your ground. Understand?
Yes, Mother. All right.
That's that, then?
My son won't be bothered.
I promise not to mention his name.
Let me make up for the trouble this absurd matter has caused.
- No, no. - Yes, yes.
I want you to stay in.
This is absurd!
I can't loan you money but I have a job for you.
Stop between these two streets.
Turn the car round
and wait there.
- Is that all? - That's all.
You don't like me asking but I have a right to worry.
If he was hurt, he'd be in hospital.
We can't find anything out?
He's in prison.
They probably won't let you visit
or write before the trial.
The Court!
The hearing resumes.
Show in the accused.
We shall now hand down our ruling.
Concerning your guilt,
we find you guilty by a majority of eight.
Are there mitigating circumstances in your favour?
We feel that there are.
In view of the answers to those questions,
in view of articles 379, 381, 59-60 of the penal code,
the Assize Court, after deliberation,
sentences Yvon Targe to three years imprisonment
and orders him to pay costs
with the minimum term for the debt.
You now have five days
to lodge an appeal against this ruling.
Take the prisoner.
This hearing is closed.
Targe, you have a visit.
You've nothing else to say?
Say something!
Remember, Yvon, we parted without ever having fought.
When I come home, I'll work as hard as I can.
The three of us will start a new life together.
Where are you going? Stay!
Don't stay there!
- Okay? - No, but I have the card and code.
I saw it clearly: 3876.
But if I leave the two blades there,
they'll spot them and we won't be able to carry on.
... in the evening, she was suffocating.
The doctor came in the night.
They decided to operate here instead of going to hospital.
It was too late. Our little Yvette died
of diphtheria on the 10th at 4 p.m.
That's what I wanted to tell you but I couldn't say it.
I'll stop there. I'm crying too much to write.
We fear death because we love life.
I wanted to keep going but a colleague has opened opposite.
After we were burgled, things were tough.
Do you know who robbed us?
Lucien, our old employee.
Him?
He was a crook.
The ease with which he lied in court!
Unbelievable.
I hear he's rich now and gives money to the poor.
Incredible amounts! But people say anything.
You played a mean trick on me.
I played one on Yvon too.
But I pity you. Take this cheque from your old employee.
It's incredible!
Incredible.
Meat for cigarettes?
What are they all staring at?
Leave him be!
His letters to his wife are being returned.
That's not true!
We're worried!
Another who needs a man around.
And some hanky-panky.
They're all the same.
You don't know who's nabbed her?
I don't advise that.
Is he turbulent?
No, calm.
A man who hasn't killed
can be worse than a mass murderer.
You grabbed the skimmer... Then what did you do?
I didn't do anything.
Did I want to kill the guard?
We think so. What do you think?
This is what I think happened...
You raised the skimmer above him.
Without the second guard, you'd have smashed his skull.
No, sir.
Solitary confinement. 40 days.
We won't meet again, Yvon.
I've decided to start a new life. Elise.
Pending
What time is it?
Six o'clock exactly.
Wednesday or Thursday?
Wednesday. Calm down, I'll be back.
Take this!
Another?
Excuse me, I always pray for suicides.
All right, Yvon?
You knew you'd be caught.
I trusted my luck.
The money you stole...
Without bloodshed, Your Honour.
Did you act out of idealism, to redistribute it?
I'm generous.
The investigation has revealed that,
along with your love of good suits.
Do you plead guilty of fraud and theft?
Given the circumstances
of my thefts and given my ideas...
Just answer our questions.
...that reject all rules of any kind,
I was hoping to be acquitted.
Or, if sentenced, to escape and start again.
Your words may go against you in the judges' minds.
Although justice is against you,
you have the natural right to be an ordinary man.
With your new awareness of yourself,
of the world's absurdity
and of the impossibility of change,
what do they tell you?
They say, "Obey!
"Stay out of what doesn't concern you.
"Wait. Everyone will be happy soon."
I won't wait around for that.
Believe me, it will bore us stupid.
I want happiness now, on my terms.
Oh, Money,
visible God, what wouldn't we do for you?
Show me your legs!
It's the knees mainly. They feel weak.
That's the Valium. It'll pass.
Is Yvon here?
Yes.
- Is that you? - Yes.
A certain Lucien says he'll see you at mass.
Don't go!
I'll get you out with me. It can be done
through the room where they stock sacks.
I have a plan.
I'll take care of you to make up for what I did.
I swear before God, anything you want.
I'll kill you before I go with you.
Neither of us is a killer.
We alone have no one on our conscience.
You have me on your conscience.
You have to answer for that now.
That's him, that's Lucien.
He bragged openly about taking his cell apart.
We knew when he'd do it.
His time isn't over.
He'll move on to higher security prisons.
- We'll never see him again. - I will.
Yvon, revenge always moves upwards.
You'd crush that louse?
You got revenge without doing a thing.
Someone fond of you protects you from afar.
A relative or a friend, say.
I have no relatives, no friends...
and no wife.
We won't meet again, Yvon.
I've decided to start a new life.
Never mind. Toe the line.
You'll leave soon and in good health.
You'll wreck your own fist, not the door.
I wouldn't let it humiliate me.
Couldn't you rebel more simply?
You're a pain.
Sit down.
I'm hungry but I can go without.
Why did you kill?
You kill for something, for a reason.
I enjoyed it.
I took very little and I've spent it all.
I remember every detail.
He fell down in front of the door.
She tried to grab the knife.
Their appearance sickened me.
Didn't you go back to revive them?
I'm not a doctor.
You'll be forgiven.
If I were God, I'd forgive everybody.
Don't panic.
My sister and her husband, the boy's parents.
They sleep on the other side of the house.
I usually cook their lunch too.
My other sister comes less often. She sleeps at the top of the house.
You're good people.
I know you won't denounce me.
Father, leave me!
- I'll tell him to go. - No, leave it.
Let me. Go away, please!
You don't know him.
You mad fool!
You deserve...
After I was widowed, he began drinking
and lost his pupils.
It's my fault. I couldn't control him.
Before, he used to respect his family.
Where are you going?
I'll be back soon.
And they beat you?
You do everything, you wear yourself out for them.
How come you don't drown yourself?
Are you expecting a miracle?
I expect nothing.
Where's the money?
I killed the hotel owners to rob them
and I've just killed a whole family.
Subtitles: Ian Burley
Subtitling by TVS - TITRA FILM